Story gets very messy?

Daenerys

Daenerys

The Last Dragon
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Is it just me, or does the story kinda spiral off on a random tangent and just get very very messy about halfway through disk 3?

I thought the storyline in the first two disks was excellent. Disk one established the characters and set the scene for the rest of the game excellently, and ended on a cliffhanger. While disk 2 saw the battle of the gardens, and also ended with a good cliffhanger.

Now with Disk 3, I thought it was interesting until they got to Esthar. If I recall correctly, they were going to Esthar to meet Dr Odine, since he was an expert on Sorceresses, to try and help Rinoa? And then, next thing I know...we're in space.

And then there's a big deal made about the Lunar Cry...and nothing's really made of it again O_O

For me, the storyline just gets majorly screwed up during disk 3. Maybe I need to replay it, but as far as I recall, that's how it goes. Disks 1 and 2 are fantastic, Disk 3 makes no sense, and Disk 4 is all about killing Ultimecia. xD
 
It does in a way... I have played through the game 2x now (one being summer 2008) and it made a lot more sense the second time through it.


I will say that most people who tend to complain about the Story in Final Fantasy VIII say it get's boring around mid to end of disc 2 and into disc 3.

Personally I do agree with you on one point for sure, the whole lunar cry and the monster that most be wiped out seemed to have come out of no where and just as fast as this plot in the story was thrown in it seems to be removed.


However, I LOVE disc 4 and Final Fantasy VIII has probably the best ending in any Final Fantasy game to date.
 
Ashadelo said:
I will say that most people who tend to complain about the Story in Final Fantasy VIII say it get's boring around mid to end of disc 2 and into disc 3.
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Yeah the end of CD 2 or CD 3 can usually end up killing the game for players. The random sudden plot-twist at the end of the second CD of finding out everybody grew up in the same orphanage or the sudden storyline jump that happens throughout CD 3 ..

You know this may sound bad- but still don't really understand
The Time travel/ Time compression..

The game's storyline does do a big massive flip during the 3rd CD almost.. SeeDs and the Gardens are not the most important thing about the storyline anymore.. It's the lunar cry and Adel and some random Doctor with a strange accent xD
Though don't dislike the 3rd CD mean we get to see a different side to most characters during that part of the game and Final Fantasy games always explain how monsters came about and CD3 shows it with the Lunar Cry.. glad they added the Lunar Cry otherwise monsters would have no reasons for being there..
Plus CD 3 has the Rangnork :tighthug:
 
I agree, once you hit Esthar the story loses some footing. All characters but Rinoa/Squall become obsolete and if I was a party member I would question exactly why I'm heading into space in the first place.

The story in general loses interest for me when that very gimmicky of a twist is shown, that they were all at the same orphanage. For some very whack ass reason, Irvine, the only member who remembers felt like it wasn't something to mention or hint.

From just the perspective of Squall, the goings on are interesting and his back story is just as absorbing. Though sadly everyone else suffers from being just an acquaintance for hire. I can give an example... Zell? All I remember that was of importance is that he punches things and his mom holds his likeness in card form.

Oh and that he's chicken shit...
 
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I would say that it gets messy as soon as at the very beginning of Disk 3. (apart from the orphanage plot twist, I'm not even going to mention that, I think EVERYONE knows and realizes how ridiculous and random it was)

I found it strange that as soon as Rinoa fell into a coma Squall immediately went insane and desperate over the very thought of her. If you remember, when she is left hanging on a cliff (for what must've been at least half an hour, with the Garden in constant motion and periodically colliding with another Garden. How the HELL did she survive that? anyhow...) when Squall learns the news he doesn't even react. After being confronted by Zell for the SECOND time he simply folds his hands and gives up on her... Sure, he ends up rescuing her (after giving a lengthy speech and stopping to help another girl find a kid that ran off), but only due to chance. And then suddenly he's distraught to the point of punching walls in front of other people and begging her to call his name? I mean, WHAT? Squall showing emotion? And why the sudden change in his feelings in the first place?

I don't remember the 3rd Disk in precise detail (haven't played the game for 6 years, only at its beginning atm), but from then on the game pretty much took a profound path along the loveline. I have to admit, I like it, but it really is strange and unexpected after everything...
 
You might link his obsession after the orphanage plot. Rinoa goes into a coma because some parasitic bitch transfers her powers and Squall being appointed at Seed leader. It's all to familiar plot of hero finding himself, only the pacing is much quicker then it was in VII.

The story just becomes a bit ridiculous, going from a grand scale garden battle to monsters being unleashed from the moon. Then it proceeds to Rinoa being dumped in space like trash.

You proceed to see a classic scene and ride back in a gigantic space ship. Now you're fed some mess about time compression, somehow to the VIII squad it doesn't sound to weird. So they travel through time to the parasites era.

She is then defeated, for only to have Squall lost in the flow of time. The parasite who is not dead yet goes back in time to do what she does best, but Squall "intercepts" a younger Edea and tells hers what's going to happen.

Hmmm....
 
Sigh... When you try to connect all the dots like that, they form something really damn obscure. I think FFVIII was never fully complete. Too many cliffhangers and plot twists. It's like watching a movie without reading a book it was based off of firsthand. Technically makes sense, but just feels weird.
 
I agree that the story goes bit "woah" on disk 3. I personally prefer the first 2 disks because like it was mentioned you get to know the characters more and had some good cliffhangers. I still adore the game to this day, but when I still play it now, I kinda chuckle to myself when Im about to embark on disk 3 cause thats when my brain has to kick in :D
 
Well its been a while since I have sat back down with FF8 but in reply to the OP, I would agree with you that the story does sprial off indeed. I remember playing through it and then being utterly confused as to what happened. I suppose (joke) that square soft said 'guys we can't go anymore then 4 discs otherwise it will be stupid' so they had to cram it into the four discs and plot twist the story to lead to its sudden outcome.
Indeed the story spiralled off there, but I wasn't completely thrown off it was when I heard we had to fight Ultimecia in her own world i was like wait?!?! first were students then were seeds then were like the planets last hope. Either way after several play throughs it will come more clear to you.
 
I just think the game tried to fit too much into its plot. Like you said, it's about schools, and it's about sorceresses, and it's about summons erasing people's memories for some reason, and I don't know why Lunatic Pandora is in the game. It's like they had all of these ideas and threw them together when they probably didn't need all of that in the game. I still love it, but some of it did seem to come from nowhere.

(I mean, I know they had to think of a reason why no one recognized Edea from the orphanage, so GFs had to erase memories, but... it was something so minor, but it was always my least favorite part of the game.)
 
Nahhh, put ANY woman that you may have seen as a child (or hell, even last week) in weirdass clothing and plaster her with makeup, and there's no way you'll ever recognize her. :D That part made perfect sense.
 
Stevie Nicks said:
Is it just me, or does the story kinda spiral off on a random tangent and just get very very messy about halfway through disk 3?

I thought the storyline in the first two disks was excellent. Disk one established the characters and set the scene for the rest of the game excellently, and ended on a cliffhanger. While disk 2 saw the battle of the gardens, and also ended with a good cliffhanger.

Now with Disk 3, I thought it was interesting until they got to Esthar. If I recall correctly, they were going to Esthar to meet Dr Odine, since he was an expert on Sorceresses, to try and help Rinoa? And then, next thing I know...we're in space.

And then there's a big deal made about the Lunar Cry...and nothing's really made of it again O_O

For me, the storyline just gets majorly screwed up during disk 3. Maybe I need to replay it, but as far as I recall, that's how it goes. Disks 1 and 2 are fantastic, Disk 3 makes no sense, and Disk 4 is all about killing Ultimecia. xD
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I don't know which part of the story you don't understand, but as i know, Squall go to Esthar to meet Ellone, he believed that Ellone's power can bring Rinoa's memory back. When they meet Odine, Odine agreed to help them. Squall wanted to meet Ellone, and she was on the space.
Well then, Luna Cry was a " stone" which can called monster from the moon to the Earth ( if i remember exactly). Ultimecia ( in the end of diks 2 ) possed into Rinoa and order Seifer to conquer the Luna Cry, rescue Adel- also active that "stone" .
@p/s: i had collected all the Timber Maniacs, and check it from Squall' personnally computer ( class- 2nd floor- Ballamb Garden), it wrote about Laguna's itinerary. But i didn't got much information about the nation war bettween Galbadia and Esthar. Could some one help me, please?
 
I enjoyed the first 2 disks a lot. Then yeah, it gets all over their seed goals and stuff. However, it's impossible not to appreciate those free moments of the both disk one and 2...
 
At the beggining of disk 3 Ultimecia has possessed Rinoa's body and she is uncoscious, trying to fight her off. Squall and co take her to see Dr. Odine in Esthar, who tells them that Ellone is on the space station and can help Rinoa. They take her on to the space station and her treatment begins.

Sorceress Adel is also on the station, who was the ruthless ruler of Esthar years before that Laguna and co sealed and put on the space station. This is all going to Ultimecia's plan, as she wakes of the possessed rinoa and causes her to free Adel, who is the one that Ultimecia really wants to possess. Rinoa is sucked out into space and Squall proceeds to rescue her.

At the same time, Seifer activates the Lunatic Pandora which is a giant facility that calls creatures to fall from the moon to the planet, which is where all the monsters originally came from but this causes the "Lunar Cry" to happen, which will overtake the world with monsters and cause Adell's containment facility to fall to the earth in the Lunar Cry.
 
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The lunar cry and Squalls sudden feelings towards Rinoa does get kind of random..

But you know wouldn't of mind a 5th CD to explain the Lunar Lagunas backstory and Squalls feelings towards Rinoa a little more clearer, though liked the 3rd CD the best till the Time compression felt like that was the most random and it jumps on you unexpectedly it goes from saving Rinoa from Time Travel where Time Travel was never mentioned in the game before or there was no hints no clues no preparing for it none
=_=


 
Selphie said:
The lunar cry and Squalls sudden feelings towards Rinoa does get kind of random..

But you know wouldn't of mind a 5th CD to explain the Lunar Lagunas backstory and Squalls feelings towards Rinoa a little more clearer, though liked the 3rd CD the best till the Time compression felt like that was the most random and it jumps on you unexpectedly it goes from saving Rinoa from Time Travel where Time Travel was never mentioned in the game before or there was no hints no clues no preparing for it none
=_=
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I'm not sure that I agree. I think Ellone sending Squall et al back into Laguna's consciousness was a form of time travel. When you find out that Ultimecia is in the future, you know that either the party will go forward in time, or Ultimecia will come back in time, and if Ultimecia had the power to come back in time she would have.
I think why disc 3 seems messy is because everything happens at once, they go into space, the lunatic pandora is activated, Adel comes to Earth, Rinoa becomes a sorceress, Squall rescues Rinoa. All that happens in a very short space in time. In the first two discs, there's a sense of time passing, Squall gives Rinoa a tour of the Garden etc etc.
 
I think that any game that goes on as long as the FF games is going to get a bit messy, but FF8 really wasn't all that bad at it. I still don't get the ending of FF7, and I think I do with 8, so that's what I'm going on.

I didn't really find Squall's love of Rinoa sudden or suprising, I could see the signs from when they meet. The space thing was a bit out there, but made sense after a little thought. It's the only place they could keep the socceresses that they couldn't escape from.
 
Stevie Nicks said:
Is it just me, or does the story kinda spiral off on a random tangent and just get very very messy about halfway through disk 3?

I thought the storyline in the first two disks was excellent. Disk one established the characters and set the scene for the rest of the game excellently, and ended on a cliffhanger. While disk 2 saw the battle of the gardens, and also ended with a good cliffhanger.

Now with Disk 3, I thought it was interesting until they got to Esthar. If I recall correctly, they were going to Esthar to meet Dr Odine, since he was an expert on Sorceresses, to try and help Rinoa? And then, next thing I know...we're in space.

And then there's a big deal made about the Lunar Cry...and nothing's really made of it again O_O

For me, the storyline just gets majorly screwed up during disk 3. Maybe I need to replay it, but as far as I recall, that's how it goes. Disks 1 and 2 are fantastic, Disk 3 makes no sense, and Disk 4 is all about killing Ultimecia. xD
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You hit the nail on the head. I couldn't agree more. In fact, I'll add that while the game itself is still fun when the story starts to sag, the game just suck on disc four. Like, the battles are pretty fun, I love fighting Omega Weapon with just the female characters, for instance. But they're not any more fun save for that one boss, (he's not hard enough, though*) they're just fun for the variety. It's so ass that you can't enter the towns anymore. Even if they just turned into ghost towns or something, that would've been more interesting than, "Uh? Bright whiteness? Can't go there...."

And I just think it's a shame because I like to keep a record of as far advanced in the game as possible until the final dungeon/battle/whatever, and after I beat it still keep that record and still play it occasionally. But with FF8, they basically make this not desirable. Because that far in the game, there's no towns, no people to talk to save for the CC group. It's bullshit. (I'm new, can I say that on here? If not, I apologize... I would've figured not by the agreement, but I saw this smiley: :holyshit: and figured it'd be okay.)

* They were on the right track with the system of having the monsters and bosses levelling up with you in this game, but I think they should've taken it one step further and, where really hard bosses are concerned, not all bosses, the game should've been able to detect how well you've utilized your GF abilities or if you've spent a lot of hours boosting stats, and stuff, and adjust the bosses to be proportionally harder. (So that it'd still be easier and arguably worth it to boost your characters and max your GF's, but it would also be still challenging.)
 
Well Squall starting to like Rinoa was pretty random i'll give you that, but that's not the major problem in my opinion.

For some reason i was never a big fan of the time travel plot. I was getting used to the idea that Edea was the main villain at least that's who she seemed to be, even during all the games promos...the simple fact that you never hear about Ultimecia until disk 3 is already bad enough for me.

Don't get me wrong i love the game, but ever since Rinoa was possessed and after the Garden War i guess...the story stopped making much sense at least that's my view about the subject.
 
I heard the story was cut to make it fit 4 discs. That they initially wanted to do more but having 5 discs would have been too much so they shortened/condensed it. Shame really, I do think parts got a bit messy half way through/towards the end of the game. The Time Compression, Ultimecia, Squall and Rinoa, Laguna, etc. I never liked the fact Ultimecia was introduced so late into the game and we hardly knew anything about her. The game was still brilliant though, and it's not as if things didn't work.

With the Squall and Rinoa love story... You could say that when Rinoa fell into a coma Squall missed her company and realized his true feelings her. For that to happen to someone like Squall it would have had to take something dramatic. Plus it would make for a better story. Perhaps they should have shown something before that happened though as it just looked like Rinoa was pestering him and that he didn't like her. The kind of personality Squall has though forced himself not to get involved or care for her/anyone, but he couldn't remain that way when something bad happened to her. So some can see that as sudden and not realistic.
 
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