An In-Depth Analysis of Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy VIII is one of those games that has divided fan opinion for over a dozen years.

[DivineAssault]

great game! i spammed the last boss by staying with low HP so my limit breaks fill right back up lol

It was no FF7 but it was a great game.. @ the time, having your teammates running with you around the map was pretty awesome.. It took place in a college which was also pretty cool.. idk i liked it.. Squal was a lil B**** tho but that gunblade was cool

[WildArmed]

Hahaa, I just used Aura (stole form Seifer). I spammed Lionheart sooo many times.. soo fun!

Irvine's limit breaker was super fun to use too!

FF8 is easily one of my fav. FFs.

[Lovable]

Same...FF 8 is my favorite from the whole series.

[Irishguy95]

Hmmm/ Squall was a douche for a reason/ Alot of people don't understand why people can be conserved about their relationships/ As a person who has had low self esteem in the past...I get it. But still Squall was an not explained until a long way through the game, so he just seemed like an *** for no reason for long(which is people's problem with him mainly)

Anyhow, the draw system sucked sure, but Junctioning was not complicated at all, but

You did not have to use the draw system! Author ses it himself, you loved playing triple traid, did you know there were abilities to turn cards in items and items into magic? Drawing/stocking itself was stupid whitoch is why I didn't use it. Example, "1 tent = 10 Curaga's" you could also turn the 'brothers' cards into 100 earthquakes

Drawing was useful for other stuff though, such as using an enemies magic against them Diablos/Demi

[INehalemEXI]

Yup, great game, Aura was handy.

[TiberusX87]

This isn't journalism, it's a self-indulgent opinion piece. You're just one of many who are divided on EVERY final fantasy title.

[TiberusX87]

What I wrote back to the Author:

Why is it so hard to have hope for the series when Final Fantasy XV is being lead by Hiroyuki Ito and a completely separate team. The same team that were behind VI, IX & XII (Which I take you liked a lot more).

What I find infuriating is that the fans don't seem to acknowledge that there are more than one core development team (& various Directors). X-2, XIII & XIII-2 were all directed and developed by Motomu Toriyama and his Team. They are completely separate from Ito's team and again from Nomura's team (Vs. XIII).

It's not Enix that caused the demise of Square. The team behind VII, VIII & X is just not the same since Hironobu Sakaguchi left and Yoshinori Kitase took to the producers seat. Toriyama just doesn't have what it takes to please those fans, and I am sure come the next round for that team they will get someone else in.

That all being said, Ito's team is yet to let us down and Nomura just takes his time because he is a perfectionist and his game was announced way to early. FF isn't dead, the old fans just don't click with Toriama's vision for FF and that's okay because we're in for two games that will be completely different.

There has always been opposition to every core title in the Final Fantasy franchise. The series would have died if it stayed with the same developers and creative minds each entry, and for every fan that hates the "next" entry, there will be 2 new fans, and a fan of one of the previous games to come back. I have no doubt there will be another entry into the series you enjoy yet, and another you will not.

/long post.

[hkgamer]

Agreed.
Hope the rumor about XV is true.
Nothing much to add

[Xperia_ion]

I only used draw to get GFs, you can get all the magic you need by using MGrefine and Card refine, you noob. LOL, anybody who honestly sat through the whole game drawing for hours is a moron and couldn't read their GFs abilities.

[BitbyDeath]

'So I spent the better part of the past two days playing through FFVIII again'

2 days isn't very long for a final fantasy game.

FF8 is the best in the series IMO.
Yes the GF animations get repetitive but it is still a million times better than the recent versions of summons where you have to control them.

It's too bad the Triple Triad mini didn't stick around for other FF games. Spent many hours playing that.

[GupX19A]

FFVIII is fantastic. I've finished the game maybe 6-7 times now and each time, I've found a way to make my end game characters more powerful/game-breaking.

[izumo_lee]

Although this game has had the same effect in fan opinions like the now infamous FF 13 there is no doubting that the character development in FF 8 is one of the best in the series.

I remember not caring about Squall at all during the first half of the game but as the story unraveled & his character becomes more fleshed out he started to grow on me. He becomes a character that truly becomes a hero by the end of the game.

Like FF 13 the battle system is hit/miss to some but i found it different & refreshing. Drawing magic & junctioning them to your character can create different combinations. Not everyone character will be the same & that is kinda cool.

I didn't mind the GF animations cause it was there for a purpose of boosting the power of the attack. Besides the strongest attacks in the game are the limit breaks & the summoning was there just in case you wanna see the animation. The only one i used a lot of was Cerberus cause he can cast double/triple magic & has some of the best abilites.

The game gets flagged by some for no reason & i find that upsetting at times. The game had the unfortunate position of following up on one of the most influential games in history...it did pretty well for itself considering that fact.

[drkronic]

Honestly the draw system ain't bad when your drunk or high. I actually found it pretty fun that way

[AsimLeonheart]

FFVIII is the first FF game that I played and it is my favourite. The battle system was just AWESOME. It seemed difficult to me as well in the beginning but as I played I learned it. My favourite thing is the status effect system which is very effective. I love using "pain" in status effect and see the enemy writhe in pain and suffering. LOL. The towns were so atmospheric and beautiful. I just love walking around Balamb city and Balamb Garden. Just walking around listening to the sound of waves, water, seagulls and the soft and soothing music. There were many sidequests and a world map to explore as well. It was such a great experience when I discovered the "deep sea research facility" and obtained Bahamut. Squall became my favorite character and the love story was so charming. "Eyes on me" became my favorite song and the rest for the music was great as well. Anyone listened the theme from Griever's adn final Ultimecia's fight? I played it for the first time in 1999 and I still love it. In fact most of the RPGs from 90s are AWESOME! Xenogears, Chrono Cross, other FFs, Legend of Dragoon and Vagrant Story. I REALLY miss those days.

[AsimLeonheart]

Man, I fell for your trap and gave you a hit. It is no use insulting you because you probably love it. Most of the people today have lost self-respect and become shameless so they do not feel the insults. In my part of the world insult is still considered a bigger blow than an injury because people have honour and self-respect in them. Anyway FFVIII is my first and favourite FF. I played it at the time of its release and I will love it forever. I do not mind what others say, although it does hurt me a little when people lack the sense to appreciate something good. Oh well, there is a saying in my country that suits you "A monkey is incapable of appreciating the taste of ginger".

[Nerdmaster]

I opened the link thinking "oh, great, another guy creating qualities on a game that doesn't have any". I was surprised to see that he wrote exactly what I think about the game. Great read. He just forgot to mention that the opening of the game is actually a trailer, not an opening. It's a great trailer, but a terrible opening.

[vahnDragon]

i love final fantasy 8 in everything about it even a little bit more then 7 a little bit