Final Fantasy VIII opinions

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OK, I've had this game for years and never really played it. I started a few days ago and, sweet cream on an ice cream sandwich, is this game complicated! Does anybody remember this game being so complicated? FF7 had a lot of depth but I don't recall it being this hard. I haven't played an RPG in several years so maybe I'm just really rusty. I spent over an hour in the tutorial and I still feel completely lost. Give me your opinions on this game (if anybody can actually remember when they played it;)). Considering I only play the occasional RPG (one per year, max) I'm wondering if this is even worth my time. I'm not worried about the graphics just the extremely deep (too deep?) gameplay. Let's hear it.
 
Yes it's worth it. FFX had a much more complicated system imo

The system isn't conventional but it's really not that complicated. I had a better reply but I accidentally erased it, umm, just know that you can tap the square button during a summon to give it a "boost" but you gotta pause when theres an X. Summons or GFs are a big part of the game
 
It's not deep, they try to make it harder than it actually is. Instead of using MP, you draw spells from an enemy, giving you a certain amount of spells, like an item. Now, you can assign certain spells to certain stats(like Attack, Defense, ect) to increase that stat. Stronger assigned spells mean higher stats. AND, the more of the spell you have, the higher the stat is also. Near the end, you can basically become invincible by assiging 100 Ultimas to everyone's stats. It's kind of a broken system that way. As for GFs, they have a different set of experience points. These experience points allow them to level up and get stronger when assigned to a person, and the points also allow them to learn skills that apply to the person equipped to the GF. Also, NEVER forget to draw from bosses. They have incredibly useful spells and even GFs! I missed a few GFs beause I forgot to do that.

And don't feel stupid, I was mid-way through disc 2 before I fully figured it out. Before that, I was abusing GFs summonings like mad.
 
Yeah, just make sure you draw magic from enemies (it gets boring sometimes when you just want to plow through the storyline, but this is an RPG...). Also, don't worry about the card game unless you haev nothing better to do. It's more of a waste of time than anything else.
 
A lot of people like VIII's unique system, I'm not one of them. It isn't the supposed complexity (I loved FFX's system, in contrast), it's just how... mind numbingly tedious a lot of it is - since it's based on sitting in battles and drawing near endless amounts of spells, and keeping them just to maintain their boosts.

Meh, if you like the story/environment... play through it, but if the only reason you're playing it is for the game system... I'd recommend drop-kicking it for something better.

All humble, personal opinion of course... I have a VERY irrational hatred for FFVIII that isn't fair at all =)
 
Hey guys, I just started to play this game and I've got one question. Is this the type of RPG where you need to keep all the members of your party equally leveled up? For instance, are there events in which you need to use all six members and split them into two groups? No spoilers please, and thanks in advance.
 
im like 20 hours into it and i really dont feel like finishing it, too much pointless grinding for those magic things, and it's extremely annoying.
 
[quote name='Ma12kez']Hey guys, I just started to play this game and I've got one question. Is this the type of RPG where you need to keep all the members of your party equally leveled up? For instance, are there events in which you need to use all six members and split them into two groups? No spoilers please, and thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]


the game adjusts to your level, so no matter what level your guys are, the enemies will always use abilities around your level and what not. so leveling up isnt much of a part of this game.
 
i liked the story, but the GF, junction, draw etc etc system just ruins the game. i tried to replay it recently and just couldnt do it.
 
I love it. One of my favorite stories. The Battle System was beautiful back when it first came out, especially since it was fairly new to RPGs that each character was so distinct in how you used them. I couldn't go through it again though. I'll still pop it in to mess around every now and then maybe play through the first couple hours. I usually just load up my save and play with all the toys. So many memories of joy when hitting R1 and feeling the rumble of the Gunblade and the insane amount of rumbling when you summon a GF. The card games pretty fun too. Back then I was able to score some actual cards from Japantown.
 
I got about halfway through FFVIII and got very bored. I think I dumped this to play something else that was big at the time, maybe Suikoden II or Chrono Cross. I hated Squall, he was such an emo. But I did like the gunblade.
 
[quote name='CouRageouS']I love it. One of my favorite stories. The Battle System was beautiful back when it first came out, especially since it was fairly new to RPGs that each character was so distinct in how you used them. I couldn't go through it again though. I'll still pop it in to mess around every now and then maybe play through the first couple hours. I usually just load up my save and play with all the toys. So many memories of joy when hitting R1 and feeling the rumble of the Gunblade and the insane amount of rumbling when you summon a GF. The card games pretty fun too. Back then I was able to score some actual cards from Japantown.[/quote]

the card game was the best thing about ff8
 
The card game is kinda important, if you can get all the high level cards, you can mod those into rare items or spells. Also first time I played through it, it didn't seem that complex, replaying it a couple of years ago, I couldn't believe how I could've enjoyed the game so much, looking back with fresh eyes, I too hate the whole long wait watching the summons, and the magic/junction system. Overall I still love the game though.
 
I really hated the GF and Junction system, so I quite after 10 hours or so, I think.

OP, I'd say most RPG's don't have a battle/leveling system this "complex" at all, so just pick up FFIX if you're not enjoying VIII.
 
I don't remember it being too complicated, but then again I followed the guide for the game.

I really liked FF8 and I think it gets a lot of unfair negativity just because it wasn't FF7.
 
I think FFVIII was a couple years ahead of its time when it was released. I remember being frustrated fairly often with it originally, and by the end I was just ready for it to be over.
About two and a half years ago I decided to play through it again, and I actually enjoyed it more than most RPGs I had played around the same time. It's not perfect, by any means, but it's still a great game. I think it's much better than FFX, but that's not a view shared by many--still, it's definitely worth the time you put into it.
 
[quote name='AshesofWake']the game adjusts to your level, so no matter what level your guys are, the enemies will always use abilities around your level and what not. so leveling up isnt much of a part of this game.[/quote]Yeah I know the enemies level up with you, but I was just concerned about the other 3 reserves that I won't use; and then suddenly needing them to battle to progress the story.
 
This was the first Final Fantasy I played. I bought it on the PC simply because the opening movie looked awesome. I loved this FF, the simple interactive parts like pulling the trigger at the right time, or mashing keys to boost your Guardian attacks. I also really liked the draw system. Tying your attributes to a spell was awesome. The story was good, and Selphie is one of my favorite characters to use out of any of the other FF games.
 
[quote name='The Crotch']I wouldn't really call it too complicated. Just way more time-consuming than it needed to be.

Find draw spot. Open menu. Go into chracter menu. Swap out "item" for "draw". Close menu. Draw magic. Open menu. Go into character menu. Swap out "draw" for "item". Turn off machine.

Normally, I don't mind wading through menues and that sort of thing. My favourite genre is the SRPG, and that's full of things that drag on for way too damn long. FFVIII just took it to a whole new level.

And, yeah, there was a lot of shit in there that was just too convoluted for its own good. But mostly it was the "I don't wanna fucking bother with this!" that did it in for me.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I agree. There was so much junk to go through to deal with the GF's and Junctions and such that it just made the game too tedious and not fun for me.
 
It isn't really complicated at all, the plot pretty much sucks but some characters (Laguna and his scenarios) make for a great game overall. The sidequests are the best of any Final Fantasy to date, make sure you do them.

Enemies level with your characters so you only need to make sure you have tons of spells to junction.

The final dungeon is one of the best parts of the game, so make sure you suffer through the awful love story to get to it.

Whoever said X was deeper was wrong, X is the simplist and least interesting FF to date (although I still like it).
 
I didn't mind the gameplay system in FF8, and I'll always have good memories of it growing up, since it was the first FF some of my friends played. I just wish the whole school theme lasted much longer. I was also very dissapointed in how the story turned out overall. I never beat the last boss, I had to watch the ending clip on the internet.

Whenever you hit the plot twist and the game changes scope, I was pissed, since the villians of the game overall were terrible. There weren't enough deep characters in it that I hoped for. The Laguna parts were cool though.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']
Whoever said X was deeper was wrong, X is the simplist and least interesting FF to date (although I still like it).[/QUOTE]

I'd say XII was the simplest and least interesting, at least as far as characters, plot, leveling, etc. I did really enjoy XII in spite of that though, thanks to the new mechanics and mark hunting.
 
[quote name='Backlash']I'd say XII was the simplest and least interesting, at least as far as characters, plot, leveling, etc. I did really enjoy XII in spite of that though, thanks to the new mechanics and mark hunting.[/quote]

You have a point, I kind of exclude FF XI and XII, they seem like a new series.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']
Whoever said X was deeper was wrong, X is the simplist and least interesting FF to date (although I still like it).[/QUOTE]

I completely agree, other than the liking it part. It's not even that it's a bad game--it's really not. It was just such a disappointment for me, and coupled with the constant praise it gets, the game just makes me sour. It's easily the most overrated game of the last generation, in my opinion.

Hearing the same people who are on their knees for FFX bash FFVIII makes me cross-eyed.
 
I liked FF8 when my buddy and I would light up a spliff and plow through a couple hours of it. I look back and time has been good but not great to FF8. That being said, I would probably pick up a PSP remake of FF8.
 
I can't believe I am the first to say this in the thread.

Final Fantasy VIII sucks extreme amounts of ass.

I gave it a fair shake and played to the beginning of the third disk. Here is why I thought it blew:

The summons are way to fucking long and the whole time you have to mash buttons to boost its effectiveness.

Squall is whiney, emo, unlikeable asshole main character.

The draw system is irritating and needlessly complicated.

They didn't make it look cartoony, so imo it didn't age well.

Overall, the story was cool, but it was painfully boring to progress the storyline while having to endure the terrible gameplay.
 
I just got to the third disc today and the game is pretty good as a whole. I just don't like the fact that there's no way to skip the summon cut-scenes, and drawing magic every time you found a new spot is too long and tedious. I mean the battle/draw/junction system is cool once you get the hang of it, but when that happens, it becomes too easy to manipulate. They could have made sifting through the menus a bit easier too because everything feels so cluttered when spending at least 40% of the game on it. In addition, I was kind of pissed about just finding out how to actually get those critical hits (pressing R1) with Squall's Gunblade though.#-o

Is it just me or is it easy to get lost while on the world map/ship? Having a compass to toggle on or off on the screen would have been a nice touch. Other than that, the music is awesome, the graphics are pretty decent, the story is great so far, and the characters are likeable (each with their own sense of identity). Yes, Squall can be emo, but you can see his character grow as the story progresses.

Overall, I like it so far, especially when you get that ability "No Encounters" to avoid those random battles. I mean I can see why people can hate the game, but I guess it's just a hate it or love it affair when it comes to FFVIII.
 
i am surprised no one has mentioned this before..

but I bought a Poketstation specifically to play a mini game for this game (now you can pick up pocketstations for "fairly" reasonable today, but when this game came out they cost like 70 bucks, i think i spent another 30 getting acceseries for it.. yeah this was my "i'm way too into japanese stuff" phase.. ) but the mini game was kinda cool and it gave you unique items for the game..

But i also played with a guide (like i did with so many RPGs when i was 12-15) but.. it was enjoyable.. i don't think i finished the game though but i did love it.. i even liked squall he seemed like the most "real" FF character to me.. even though FF7 is kind of everyones' sacred cow (much like Zelda's ocarina fans) I found the graphics to be "light years" ahead of FF7 (and i think it came out like a year or two after it) and i like FF8 more then FF9..but maybe about the same as FF7.. (i loved the techno fantasy themes of FF7 and who didn't love the "date" sequence)..

I haven't replayed square's PS1 era RPGs but playing the ones from atlus (like Persona.. didn't like it at all.. and Thousand Arms seems interesting and i'll probably play through it) but nothing compares to Square's majestic RPGs and FFs had their haydays on the PS1
 
[quote name='WinnieThePujols']I've never got past the second disk. I've got to the "sniper scene" a few times... I don't know what makes me stop playing. I'm actually getting somewhat of an urge to play it again just typing this...

I definitely do want to beat it someday, thats for sure. Great? No. Good game? Yes....[/quote]I say the story picks up after that "sniper scene," so you should definitely beat it some time. I'm still on the third disc, but so far the story is pretty good.
 
This game lost me at the "Orphanage scene" I think.

I wasn't a big fan of the game but it had it's moments, particulary the final bosses (FANTASTIC MUSIC for both of them) and the ending was really good too.
 
I started on this game and got about half-way through the 2nd disc (and now completely forgotten the storyline/what I was doing with it :lol: ) before I decided to play the series from the beginning. I'll get back to this one day.

What I liked about it was the fact that most of the characters are 18/early 20s/college age instead of high school/young people that most japanese-made RPGs seem to do. Not only that, but the music in the game is some of the best I've ever heard. The Balamb Garden theme actually makes somewhat sad (just like the Gattaca theme from the movie).
 
Damn... am I the only one here who beat the game but can't remember what most of these people are talking about?:lol:
 
This game is in need of a remake more than FF7 IMO. Great characters, but some of the story needs some work (lol our memories were erased!!1) and the battle system needs an overhaul. It's a really great game that would benefit a lot from a true remake.
 
Absolutely worth it. Battle system becomes your best friend when you figure out how to use it to your advantage.

And the story is wonderful. FF8 is easily one of my favorite RPGs, and that's saying a lot.
 
Okay guys, I got a question for those who have gotten Rinoa's ultimate weapon (I think it's called Shooting Star). I'm currently on Disc 3 and I'm missing an item called the Force Armlet, and it's supposed to be rarely dropped by an enemy called Ochu. I also have the Rare-Item ability junctioned to Squall to up my chances, but still no dice. All I keep getting are Wizard Stones and Ochu Tentacles. Is there any other way to get the Force Armlet? Thanks.
 
[quote name='Totshy']Im pretty sure you can refine a force amulet using one of the create items abilities[/quote]I think you can refine items from a force armlet, but not into one. I don't know, maybe I read the chart wrong, but it just won't drop.
 
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