Final Fantasy 8

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine	Final Fantasy VIII PC Official Strategy Guide (PC GAME BOOKS)

Customer Reviews:

i don't accept mediocrity from square (except XI). [Posted on 2005-11-19]
This game was merely average (at best). It was only good enough to keep me playing--which is not very good, giving the current game famine. The juncture system and the magic system needlessly waste hours of time. Everytime you get new magic, find a new GF or change characters--which happens FREQUENTLY throughout the game (magic is obtained by drawing it from monsters or from draw points) you have to stop for a few hours and reorganize. Furthermore, using the juncture system, you you can only obtain 100 units of magic. You don't want to use this magic on enemies because it is "junctured" to your status (strength, vitality, elemental, etc.) and using it will weaken you. Also, there is less reward for fighting monsters (you don't attain magic from leveing up) and you don't attain money from fighting (instead you basically recieve a pay check every so often--$ is depedent on your seed rank--which you can obtain by taking tests). Even if you did recieve money from fighting, you can't buy anything interesting, (i.e. armor, weapons)only items (tents, potions, etc). I miss the elements that play off good ole' american materialism--damn red japanese (kidding). Anyways, the story was average, characters were average. Don't bother unless you are really bored.

A Titular Entry in the Final Fantasy Series [Posted on 2006-01-19]
I got started on the RPG video game trail when I was a young lad playing Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars on my Super Nintendo (also from Squaresoft/Square Enix.) Since then I've played many, from Final Fantasy VII to Shadow Hearts: Covenant to Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose. But the one game out of all of the RPGs that I played never affected me in the way that Final Fantasy VIII did.

At first I found it a bit confusing. The Junction system baffled my mind until about six hours into the game, and occasionally I was given a lot of overworld freedom without enough of a description of where I should be going, leading to frustrating games of Trial and Error.

But I remember seeing the graphics at the time and being floored. I thought they looked photorealistic, and while they look slightly dated today, they haven't aged badly.

The real meat of the game comes from its story though. At first it seems fairly cliched. Quiet mercenary hero, stirrings of an oppressive military regime, damsel in distress, etc.....But soon I was shown the most complex, diverse world I've seen in a game other than The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

The characters all felt truly human; I was attached to them like no other characters in a game. I felt their pain, I felt their happiness. Even the seemingly stereotypical evil rival of the main character, Seifer, inspired sympathy from me.

In an effort to make the all the characters seem tied to each other, though, Squaresoft made some things feel a bit convoluted during the middle.

But all in all, the game captivated me. The story felt real and right to me, and I couldn't have been more satisfied with the ending.

Time never ages this game [Posted on 2006-08-03]
I played this game for the first time on the Playstation console. It was my starting point to the FF series. I had alot of fun with this game and I was impressed with the large story that unveils over 40+ hours of game play. Now 5 years after I played the game on playstation I have started the series again on the PC. Just as it was 5 years ago the game is still just as fun as I remembered. The story draws a personality with the characters that you can lose yourself in. Excitement and, sadness to action and, drama, this game is number 1 in my heart. Most people, as said in previous reviews, love this game 100% or, hate it 100%. most who hate this game love FF7. I have not played FF7 all the way through (only first 5 minutes) but, this game is still my favorite. However, I would like to see FFX and FFX-2 on PC.

A True FF Title, But Not As Legendary [Posted on 2006-08-31]
Final Fantasy VIII defintely has the look and feel of a true Final Fantasy title. The game plays well and tells a great story. It is worth the purchase for the PC version even though the graphics were not upgraded from the Playstation version. I was personally happy when the game came to PC - I don't buy game consoles anymore.

FF8 is not the best Final Fantasy title out there. In my opinion, FF7 is the best, with FF6 and FF4 (3 and 2 in the U.S., respectively) tying each other for second. Then FF5 (not released in the U.S.), then good ol' FF8. (That's my list and I'm stickin' to it.)

I am going to assume that you are reading this review as an avid RPG gamer or a diehard Final Fantasy fan. With that assumption, I will leave out all the great details of the game since, as I said before, FF8 is a true Final Fantasy title. Therefore, you know it rocks. But I'd like to focus on the drawbacks if I may be so bold, and explain why it ranks below the Super Nintendo versions and its PC predecessor. All in my humble opinion, of course.

First, the magic system for FF8 is the greatest drawback in my opinion. It removed the idea of magic points (MP). In the old titles, if you had 350 MP, and you used a Cure 2 spell, it would decrement to 325/350. You'd have to replenish eventually or simply run out. In FF8, however, the magic you use depends on two factors: (1) you have to "Draw" the spell out of enemies (the amount you draw determines how many times you can use the spell), and (2) the strength of the magic you use is determined by the amount you drew (up to 100 effectiveness/capacity).

If that all sounds confusing to you, it is. It still doesn't make any sense to me, and I think it almost killed a great game. But Squaresoft is reknowned for altering each release with something totally different. Too bad the magic system in FF8 was such a flop.

Second, the funnest part of the other titles, I thought, was the coordination of items (like weapons and relics) to progressing skills. (Which FF7 nailed perfectly.) FF8 only allows a milder version of this coordination. Character development isn't such a focus in FF8, I think.

Lastly, to be quite honest, the most fun part about the entire game of FF8 for me was the card playing - not the actual game itself or the storyline. In fact, exploring the FF8 was actually dull for me! (I was surprised to learn this, too!) But when I found places to play that wonderful little numbered card game, I found myself spending hours doing just that. I was hoping Squaresoft offered a side version of the card game that I could trade FF8 in for.

The card game for FF8 was supposed to be like the Chocobo development offered in FF7. However, like I said, the card game turned out to be the best part of FF8.

To give some slight pros, I would say that the creatures with which you do battle were rendered quite nicely in FF8. I also appreciate a lot of the bosses (especially the Twins). The graphics are also good enough for the RPG genre - I don't complain about that stuff when playing RPGs.

To close, if you never bought FF8 and stuck with only FF7 and your Nintendo titles, you'd be alright, in my opinion. But if you want it all, FF8 is not a total waste.

where did my family go? [Posted on 2007-01-04]
granted... this was requested by my sister. But if I had found this by accident, it still would have been the best gift I gave this season! All of us are in amazement over the game! it flows well and is a challenge. the scenes are better than I could have hoped for given the generation of the game. Overall, every game enthusiast would love this game!
A word about the person who sent it!!!Way to go! the follow up e-mail was wonderful. it got here in just a few days! you are really on the ball and I appreciate it.

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