Jennifer Christodoulou's Favourite Game of All Time: Final Fantasy VIII

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[ClownBelt]

It's my favorite game of all time as well. I'm not saying it's the best game ever(Persona 4 takes that) since it has quite a few problems.

@below
Those three are my main team. Zell's limit break is awesome.

[NeoBasch]

You, sir/madame, have great tastes. Both Final Fantasy VIII and Persona 4 are in my top five favorites. I would include Persona 3 as well, but that seems a tad unfair to the rest, doesn't it? I love Squall and Rinoa. Probably my favorite romance in a video game besides Drake and Elena from the Uncharted series. I also loved the mind f#ck that was FFVIII's ending. Gotta love time travel. I also loved how Seifer always made fun of Zell: especially since all of it was true.

[ThanatosDMC]

"Chicken wuss" -Seifer

Yeah, my favorite FF game.

[raWfodog]

I loved that game as well and pretty much every FF since VII. VII was my introduction to the FF series and would probably have to be my all time favorite. Every FF I've played since then has been a different yet still fulfilling experience.

BTW, I also like Persona 3 very much but I haven't played P4 yet but I do have it at home (still unopened).

[Shadow Flare]

Final Fantasy 8 is under rated i feel. FF7 was always my game but 8 was incredible. It had so many awesome bits in the game. So many FMV sequences i couldn't wait to get to. And its definitely the funniest FF i've played. Zell cracks me up. You know when a game is good when you begin caring about the characters, and FF8 definitely has that

FF8 ftw
Squall/Zell/Rinoa

[Dac2u]

It's completely under rated, I know I had mixed feelings about it when I first played it. Mostly, it was the changes made to the FF formula; when you level up, so do the enemies. I can't remember exactly why I didn't like it at the time, but I didn't. Well, I replayed it a few years back and I loved the game from start to finish, it had a great story, and great characters. Aside from the graphics, I believe it still holds up against any of today's RPG's.

[SaiyanFury]

I agree 100% that the game is underrated. I loved FF7 with every fibre of my being, but for some reason FF8 just resonated with me more. I enjoyed the heck out of it (still do). Personally, I thought the magic junction system was very inventive, albeit a bit complex for most non-RPGamers. It's still my favourite game in the entire series, and will most likely remain so.

[Dacapn]

FFVIII was a great game. It just had a few issues that took it down from epic status(imo).

1. Unlike most final fantasy games where the story starts out simple and then explodes into some sort of universe altering/ending crisis, FFVIII is pretty straightforward with no real plot twists. Your goal at the beginning of the game is to kill the sorceress, and at the end of the game...you kill the sorceress.

2. The battle system was moderately broken in that you induce your limit break quite easily, which made a lot of the fights a little too easy.

3. This biggest mistake I think was made was making the enemies level up with you instead of the bosses. Basically, because of the draw system and the fact that one of the most powerful enemies in the game was available to fight very early in the game, you could level up quickly and obtain high level magic spells before you even head into the first town. Combine that with the junction system, and you could become absolutely godly at the very beginning of the game. It's an exploit, but part of the game as well.

Other than that stuff, the game was pretty awesome.

[JoySticksFTW]

Love, love, love the game...

I just wish S-E would remake the game to eliminate the Draw system.

Realistically, you don't have to draw spells to junction with stats, but who can resist? Really

I felt the Draw system ruins the flow of the battles and game, because my who team would suck enemies dry before moving on.

Great characters and story otherwise

[kenomatic]

I love FFVIII, squall is one of my favorite characters,

i love him so much that i drew him as a girl lol

http://kenomatic.deviantart...

[SirR0bin0fS0n]

Just went and took a look at your deviant art page. Love the game and anime sketches.

I've been considering adding a new feature over at The Gamer's Thumb that showcases the gamer art of Deviant Artists.

Would you be interested in submitting a number of your sketches to my site with brief descriptions regarding the creation of each one?

[kenomatic]

sure

[MissAubrey]

A+

[Knightofelemia]

FF8 is a great game the only thing I hated about the game was a simple fact Ulticima was to easy to beat. I had more challange beating Sephiroth.

[Dacapn]

I thought Ultimicia was one of the harder bosses in FF games. Her moves were just designed to break down a character of any level. I think it was the battle system that made the fight easier.

[VersusEM]

To me Final Fantasy VIII was okay, The story was alright, battle system was meh(hated the draw system), Characters were pretty cool except for Squall. My favorite Final Fantasy's are X & XII(I know wheres VII and why is XII there. Calm down guys there are some ppl who like XII)

[wollie]

completely agree! XII is my favorite (unless you count tactics)

[magnifier]

FF8 is shit

[SolidMGSnake]

1

[dragokid]

yeah this was my first final fantasy game i played and it had to be one of the best

[SolidMGSnake]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[rakunado]

I actually preferred FFVIII over FFVII. I think it was because of all the fighting/school based anime I was watching back then, also I loved the look and design of the characters. The FMV was really exceptional at the time. The ballroom scene and the moment where the two academy's clashed sealed the deal for me. Also the card game was so addictive for me. I still think the credit FMV scene is one of the best endings ever.

[CrzyFooL]

Who?

[Redempteur]

final fantasy 8 has many problems actually they are easy to spot if you take off the nostalgia googles

the "reveal" of the past of the heroes could have worked if the reason wasn't
"THE G-FORCES DID IT because you used them too much".

But my biggest problem with the game was ....
Finding ELONE ..dammit to reach the boat i had to got At the Opposite direction they gave me !!! And when i reach the boat ... she is gone !! Seriously what the hell ??

Overall the disc3 was a gigantic mess ( the spaceship with colored monsters ? really ??? ).

Don't get me started on seifer that start as someone only to get trashed during disc 2 & 3 like nothing ..there was no characterisation for him AT ALL..

DIsc 2 again ..i just love that no matter what you do ..you can't prevent the missiles from launching ..what was the point of wandering in that base again ?

Overall ff8 had good points , the opening and the ending were awesome..the music was very good and the card game was fine ..but the construction, the level design and OMG the WORLD MAP !! the world map served no purpose .i'm still strugling to see the point of the world map in this game ..i have a flying academy yet i can't go up that small hill ..
the chocobos served no pupose at all .. ( what's the point when you got a space ship ? and before that point there is nothing to explore really )

Why do i have to buy fuel for my car ? to get stranded when i'm exploring ? nice thinking square !!

While this was not a bad game it had so many little issues , you HAVE to wonder who did the level design for this game ..

some of you will say that the cutscenes were great and i agree but seriously .. how can you give this game a free pass because of that ??

[Baka-akaB]

To each their own , it's still my least favorite final fantasy , because of characters i can't stand , with no one to redeem them in my eyes . The gameplay was fine but i prefer vastly most other ff's gameplay and battle system .

And , well feelings about the characters are tied to that obviously , but overall it's not at all a plot and story i enjoyed .

I was quite happy the much underrated ff9 did away with most things brought with ff8 .

fyi : my favorite is still ff6

[Alos88]

It was a love story and the previous game was an action movie, that's the reason many people were disappointed, that the cumbersome draw system and the shallow main cast.

[Baka-akaB]

also the love story itself wasnt really good nor interesting

[MissAubrey]

I prefer FFIX over it. Tho I would love a remake of FF8!

[Would_You_Kindly]

Love this article. ^_^ Final Fantasy VIII will always hold a special place in my heart as an awesome game with an endearing cast and story. And I admittedly also had a pixel crush on Squall. :3 AND Rinoa. >.> xD