Ff Viii

[K10]

best game ever, voice your oppinions

[MaxofSteel]

You mean Final Fantasy 8? :confused:

Its not the BEST game ever, but its defintely one of my favorites of the FF series.

[K10]

yah i meant final fantasy 8...it certainly has if not the best storyline out of all the final fantasies...

[Leslie Lee III]

I thought it was easily the worst of the Final Fantasy's I've played, with a horrible storyline.

[Six One Trey]

Lame. Lame. Lame. And I own it. I thought FF8 was the lamest FF game I've ever played. FF7 is where the best story line is at. And FF9 is good. X is good and X-2 is lame. I'm waiting to get 12, but 8 is definately the lamest I have played in the FF series.

[DarkSoldier]

I put forth the opinion that Final Fantasy VIII is the weakest game in the series, and reinforce my position with the following points:

- There is no incentive to level up, because monsters level up with the characters.
- Junctioning magic to stats means that the system discourages the use of magic.
- The system discourages exploration by penalizing your SeeD rank, the only source of money in the game, if you don't advance the plot.
- The orphanage plot is abrupt, with absolutely no foreshadowing of any kind.
- Relationships between characters feel abrupt and forced; q.v. Cid x Edea (abrupt), Squall x Rinoa (forced).

[Mike Pothier]

Well, it was better than FF7's, up until the lame orphanage twist. The story just kinda petered out after that. That the problem with story heavy RPGs that are too long. After a while, its like they don't what to do anymore, so that add anything to fill up the time. Gotta hit that magical 60th hour.

[K10]

Lame. Lame. Lame. And I own it. I thought FF8 was the lamest FF game I've ever played. FF7 is where the best story line is at. And FF9 is good. X is good and X-2 is lame. I'm waiting to get 12, but 8 is definately the lamest I have played in the FF series.

FF8 has a way better storyline than FF7 what u talkin bout

[Guy1]

Personally, my favorite Final Fantasy Game was number 6.

[MaxofSteel]

FF8 was awesome, but its second only to FFX, which is my #1 fav FF game of em all.

[Mike Pothier]

Personally, my favorite Final Fantasy Game was number 6.

Hell yes. Third best game of all time, after LttP and Chrono Trigger.

[Sparda]

FF8 had it's flaws and never went back on beating the game and hate the junction system, but the story is pretty good and the game's system itself is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the crap of FF10. God I hate that game. I can't stand listening to that crap "yeven this yeven that" blah blah blah. Storyline was'nt that great and the leveling up system.................. you get the point and no world map to run around in :(. It's one of the juicy part of FF games and they took that out of 10. Also hated the main character Tidus. 10-2 was just a poor knock off of Charlies angels.

My favorite FF game hmmmmm Can't choose between 7 and 6 so I rank them together. 2nd best is 4. It was my first FF and it left a huge impact of wow along with 6 and 7 was fun as hell not cause of storyline but the characters background and beginning to love them personally and what not. System they have is fun as hell too and the mini games are actually kept fun while rewarding at the same time.

[Sanagi]

FF8 is my favorite of the post-16-bit era of the franchise, barring FFTactics. It's a wildly different experience and the multifaceted system gives you a lot of options for spending your time as you see fit rather than just leveling up or watching the (admittedly lacking) storyline unfold.

[The Fury]

I the worst of the Final Fantasy's I've played.

Lame. Lame. Lame....I thought FF8 was the lamest FF game I've ever played.

that Final Fantasy VIII is the weakest game in the series.

So...what your saying is that it's still good? :)


I think, while the story needed improvement. The magic system is so far, imo, the best compared to other FF games.

[Hiromi]

The story was good imo even if it did have weak elements. The first half of the game was superior to the second half in any case.

[Xero Kaiser]

FF8 was ass. Zell was the only redeeming quality in that entire mess of a game

And are the guys who made FFT and FF12 the only ones at Square who know how to write a story?

[titanfan]

Did you start this thread just to see the controversy?

I'm in the "Worst FF ever" and in the "One of the worst RPGs ever made" camp.

The system wasn't the greatest, but I've dealt with crappy RPG systems before--if the storyline was good. This storyline was awful.

I like classic RPG storytelling: "A bunch of diverse characters from different parts of the world join together to battle evil. Along the way, we get individual character development from each character as they visit their homeland, learn their backstory, etc."

In Final Fantasy 8, the game wasn't really about the characters. It was about stopping the bad guy, with a bad romantic subplot thrown in. All of the characters had the same background, and didn't play uniquely enough to the point where you got to know them. (Other than the generic Selphie is a klutz, Irvine is a ladies' man, etc.)

There was some cool storyline elements in there, but ultimately I prefer classic storytelling style and we didn't really get that. Quistis was my favorite character and I knew nothing about her.


The magic system is so far, imo, the best compared to other FF games.

AAAAGH! Tedious and boring drawing magic out of creatures. (And I refused to play that card game--it's an RPG, not a card game)

[Jmacq1]

Throw another hat in the "Worst FF" camp. It's the only one I never finished. Mostly due to the tedium of the "draw" system and the fact that I felt absolutely no connection to any of the characters/didn't care what happened to them.

If you can't make me interested in the characters in an RPG, you may as well call it quits right there. I'll forgive a lot of mistakes as long as the characters entertain me. FF 8 failed to deliver on that front (for me, anyway).

[Leslie Lee III]

Why the story sucked:

1. You're a indifferent girl-man.
2. The orphanage stuff was absurd and unnecessary.
3. They switched main villians in the middle. I spent 30 hours wanting to kill this chick, but now I'm not supposed to and it's some chick from the future?
4. You don't get to kill that knob with the facial tattoo. Since when does your arch-nemesis get a happy ending?

[Xero Kaiser]

Facial Tattoo? Do you mean Zell? He wasn't your rival....that'd be Seifer.

I don't blame you losing interest and forgetting who was who

[The Drunkard Kid]

Facial Tattoo? Do you mean Zell? He wasn't your rival....that'd be Seifer.OTOH, I still wanted to kill him. I mean, his idiocy is basically why Selphie's old Garden got razed.

Though Squall wasn't really indifferent; he was very professional, and wondering why the heck everyone gave him the keys to SEED and told him to save the world a week after he graduated. It mighta been nice for Cid or Edea to *tell* him he was the foredestined saviour or at least make up some story to convince him as to why he's suddenly in charge.

Switching Villains is a pretty time honored tradition, especially in FF, though Ultimecia was kinda incomprehensible. The orphanage plot did suck, and I could never get myself to like Irvine since he was the one that introduced that dreck to the storyline...

I'm given to understand that the real secret behind the Junction system was in refining magics, but you get that ability fairly late in the game. I never really felt the lack, cause I spent most of my fights just using nothing more than a couple of my healing spells and tearing up my opponent with my junctioned strength and any useful spells I can draw from my opponent. Meltdown was an awesome move, though.

I thought that Seifer got a happy ending because he wasn't really a bad guy, just a pompous jerk who got mind controlled by the Sorceress due to his dream of being a knight. He did lose his girl to Squall though, if that helps.

[yeoman]

Why the story sucked:

1. You're a indifferent girl-man.
2. The orphanage stuff was absurd and unnecessary.
3. They switched main villians in the middle. I spent 30 hours wanting to kill this chick, but now I'm not supposed to and it's some chick from the future?
4. You don't get to kill that knob with the facial tattoo. Since when does your arch-nemesis get a happy ending?

You know, pretty much every one of those complaints could be leaveled against FFVII.

I'm of the opinion that VIII is the weakest of the main line of games (Counting X-2 in place of XI since one is a true console RPG and the other isn't.)

VIII is disjointed as all get out for one thing. There's some intresting characters and plot buried in there, and some amazing AMV (Especially given it was for the PSOne). A remake could make it work a lot better, but as is it's easily the weakest of the series. Not counting Mystic Quest.

[Serik]

I borrowed my friend's copy and promptly returned it after discovering the horrors of the draw system. After playing FFVIII for only 3 hours, I also agree that it's the worst game in the series (excluding X-2 and XI).

[Leslie Lee III]

You're right. The knob was in the trenchcoat, the tool had the jammie shorts and facial tattoo.

The cowboy was the one guy who seemed sort of cool for a bit, then he turned out to be a girlpants with performance anxiety.

[Leslie Lee III]

You know, pretty much every one of those complaints could be leaveled against FFVII.

Girl-man? Perhaps, but the villian remained fairly consistent and you absolutely berserk him at the end of the game. Very satsifying and made you seem less femish.

FFVII's unnecessary plot twist with the clone/Zach stuff was lame, but not nearly as lame as the orphanage. It was more, "WTF?" than, "OMG, lame."

[Xero Kaiser]

You know, pretty much every one of those complaints could be leaveled against FFVII.

There wasn't a "we all grew up together but forgot!!!111" subplot in FF7. They didn't swap the main villian halfway through the game with someone who didn't show up until the end and only had one or two misspelled lines of text. It didn't seem like your nemesis had much of a happy ending either, being dead and all

If by "every one of those" you actually meant, "one of them.....maybe" then I totally agree



The cowboy was the one guy who seemed sort of cool for a bit, then he turned out to be a girlpants with performance anxiety.

Irvine. Yeah, I've never seen a potentially cool character spiral into complete crap quite like that before

[The Fury]

AAAAGH! Tedious and boring drawing magic out of creatures. (And I refused to play that card game--it's an RPG, not a card game)
Reading replies like this and many above makes me think you lot got stuck on the DRAW only.

There was far more to it. The magic system was based on the GFs, each GF liked and disliked a character, this The GFs learnt new abilities that made the character they were junctioned to better. Once you had drew magic or created it using the GFs new abilities, you junctioned it to certain attribute, increasing the characters stats and powers when they attack.

Yet you lot think it's only DRAW. it's not the draw System. it;s the Junction system.

It's a heck of alot better then FFX linear path grid system.

[titanfan]

There was far more to it. The magic system was based on the GFs, each GF liked and disliked a character, this The GFs learnt new abilities that made the character they were junctioned to better. Once you had drew magic or created it using the GFs new abilities, you junctioned it to certain attribute, increasing the characters stats and powers when they attack.


I understand that, but you still had to *draw* 99 spells of each type for each character that wanted to use them. Regardless of how the rest of it was, you still had to draw the crap out of everything.

[The Fury]

VIII is disjointed as all get out for one thing. There's some intresting characters and plot buried in there, and some amazing AMV (Especially given it was for the PSOne). A remake could make it work a lot better, but as is it's easily the weakest of the series. Not counting Mystic Quest.
Nothing against Mystic Quest. (gotta love SNES emulators) but FFVIII is not the worst.

Of course in my view it's like if it si the worst. It's still better then most games.

[The Fury]

I understand that, but you still had to *draw* 99 spells of each type for each character that wanted to use them. Regardless of how the rest of it was, you still had to draw the crap out of everything.

No, you didn't. 20 was all you needed of anything really. getting 99 is a waste of time. The main aim is to level up and gain abilities for the GFs. Magic is just the extra. It is the GFs that give you the abilities and powers, the +40% strength or whatever. Once you had the abilities of the GFs you hardly ever had to draw anything as you could convert other magic or even better, Items that were just sitting aroudn into magic.

I think it sounds like many of you gave up on it before getting into it.

[Serik]

I think it sounds like many of you gave up on it before getting into it.

Even if that's the case, don't you think the game is a failure if it discourages people from playing past the first few hours?

[The Fury]

Even if that's the case, don't you think the game is a failure if it discourages people from playing past the first few hours?

From my perspective it was a success so I have a scewed view on this, like infact many other will. I'd say no as there are instances in this thread where people have said they liked it...as many as the people who didn;t like it and as every gamer is different then no.

Also, it sold millions so definately no.

[Jmacq1]

Even if that's the case, don't you think the game is a failure if it discourages people from playing past the first few hours?

*Dingdingding!* We have a winner!

I wouldn't say it's impossible for others to enjoy (since clearly some people do), but FF VIII more than any other game in the series (X-2 notwithstanding, though at least I finished that one) is probably the most polarizing of the FF series.

It really seems like the fanbase either loves it or hates it, and most of the complaints that I've heard skew towards the gameplay (Draw/Junction system).

Oh, and numbers sold isn't necessarily an indicator of success in terms of a quality game. I paid for the game, but that doesn't mean I ended up liking what I spent my money on.

Heck, I wouldn't even say it was a low-quality game. Clearly it had very high production values. It was just the gameplay and lack of engaging characters that killed it for me. I made it about a quarter of the way through the second disk before I finally admitted to myself I wasn't enjoying the game, and that was that.

Sure was pretty, though.

[GozertheGozarian]

Certainly not the best in the series, but still better than 9.

[yeoman]

There wasn't a "we all grew up together but forgot!!!111" subplot in FF7. They didn't swap the main villian halfway through the game with someone who didn't show up until the end and only had one or two misspelled lines of text. It didn't seem like your nemesis had much of a happy ending either, being dead and all

If by "every one of those" you actually meant, "one of them.....maybe" then I totally agree



Sephiroth isn't even *mentioned* until you get to Shinra Tower. And he doesn't really start to become the main villian until he offs cast members.

And replace "We all grew up together" with "Cloud, what you thought happened, didn't happen to you at all. Happened to some other guy. Whose girlfriend you tried to make time with."

[The Drunkard Kid]

Certainly not the best in the series, but still better than 9.
We shall have to agree to disagree on that front.

Agree to disagree, violently, of course, considering that FFIX was my favorite PS FF by leaps and bounds. A return to each character having unique skills that don't require you to have the crap beaten out of you for a long time to activate (though they did have those, too), a villain with a personality and backstory that was fairly deep, and an awesome retro factor as well.

[Yun Lao]

Final Fantasy VIII has always held a special place in my heart; not because of the storyline, nor gameplay. Though it may not be best in my opinion after playing IV, VI, and Tactics, but it was my first Final Fantasy and probably my first rpg.

[Sanagi]

3. They switched main villians in the middle. I spent 30 hours wanting to kill this chick, but now I'm not supposed to and it's some chick from the future?
*cough* Final Fantasy 4 *cough*

[Xero Kaiser]

Sephiroth isn't even *mentioned* until you get to Shinra Tower. And he doesn't really start to become the main villian until he offs cast members.

It only takes a few hours to get out of Midgar completely. It usually takes a while for the main villain in a RPG to show up anyway, so it's not that strange. And that's quite a bit different from literally popping up during the last 10 minutes of the game and having absolutely no build up until that point


Also, it sold millions so definately no.

Yeah, but it's almost universally regarded as one of, if not the, worst in the series. This sort of thing happens when you can ride a much more popular (FF7) game's back

[titanfan]

I remember seeing sales figures somewhere and FFIX is the worst selling of the FF games. (This was after X, I haven't seen numbers for XI and XII) Considering that one was my favorite, I was surprised.

I'd like to blame FFVIII for being so bad and scaring people away from the franchise myself. :)

All of the Final Fantasy series were big commercial successes though.

[cactusmaac]

I thought it was decent when I played it and still like it better than FF 9 and FF X-2 which was easily the worst FF put out.

Didn't find it too difficult and while the story wasn't that interesting, it kept me intrigued enough to put in some fairly long sessions. Supporting cast was terrible though. I read all the names in the thread and can barely remember anything about them.

[The Fury]

It only takes a few hours to get out of Midgar completely. It usually takes a while for the main villain in a RPG to show up anyway, so it's not that strange. And that's quite a bit different from literally popping up during the last 10 minutes of the game and having absolutely no build up until that point.
I think i clock at about 2 hours to go through Midgar at the start of FF7...I think.

Of course it usually does take a while for the main villain to show...except in FFX, Sin was in the opening sequence.


Yeah, but it's almost universally regarded as one of, if not the, worst in the series. This sort of thing happens when you can ride a much more popular (FF7) game's back
What I kidna find odd is that many of you are saying it's the worst in the series. But not a bad game.

In my view all the FF games I've played have been great. Even FFX-2 was good, if you stepped over the cheesyness that is. And any worst of these is still good.

[The Fury]

I read all the names in the thread and can barely remember anything about them.

I read somewhere a little while ago about how some person said most the characters in the game were uninteresting but Squall made up for all of it.

They said the way he reacted to people at the start of the game was odd to see in the hero of a game. People telling him their problems and him reacting by just saying "I don't Care" and stuff. Not exactly the characteristics of hero.

[Xero Kaiser]

What I kidna find odd is that many of you are saying it's the worst in the series. But not a bad game.

Well...no, the game isn't "Bubsy 3D" level crap, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a bad game.


People telling him their problems and him reacting by just saying "I don't Care" and stuff. Not exactly the characteristics of hero.

That was his problem. "I dont' care", "I don't care", "whatever", "stop bothering me" then 10 seconds later it's, "OMG I luv u R1noA"

[The Fury]

That was his problem. "I dont' care", "I don't care", "whatever", "stop bothering me" then 10 seconds later it's, "OMG I luv u R1noA"
His reactions ot things was what I'd expect though, people were saying he's this and they made him a leader? Even he questioned why. The odd thing, like someone said here, it was forced even the character saw it. And I do not remember once where he admitted any love...I think he was just going along to get him some action.

[Mike Pothier]

That was his problem. "I dont' care", "I don't care", "whatever", "stop bothering me" then 10 seconds later it's, "OMG I luv u R1noA"

Errr, no. Even when Squall finally gave into Rinoa, he never turned into a love sick puppy. He was still a quiet brooding jerk, he just finally learned to trust a few people. But he never went through such a dramatic personality shift that some people make it out to be.

[cactusmaac]

I read somewhere a little while ago about how some person said most the characters in the game were uninteresting but Squall made up for all of it.

They said the way he reacted to people at the start of the game was odd to see in the hero of a game. People telling him their problems and him reacting by just saying "I don't Care" and stuff. Not exactly the characteristics of hero.

His sullen bitchiness wasn't very endearing.

[The Fury]

His sullen bitchiness wasn't very endearing.
Which is the point I'm making. Most heroes of stories are welcoming and chatty. Squall said no more then 2 words to anyone and didn't really care about anyone either.

[Agent Helix]

How compelling.

[Leslie Lee III]

My favorite part was when Rinono, Winona, whatever was getting kidnapped and he just stood there and did NOTHING. He just sort of let it happen. And you're supposed to be playing as this guy? Very engaging how you had to be told by your tool companions to actually put some effort out.

[The Fury]

My favorite part was when Rinono, Winona, whatever was getting kidnapped and he just stood there and did NOTHING. He just sort of let it happen. And you're supposed to be playing as this guy? Very engaging how you had to be told by your tool companions to actually put some effort out.
That was weird.

I love it. :D

[cactusmaac]

I did like Rinoa. She was a well-written character and much better than the sappy love interest I was expecting.

[The Fury]

Another good thing about FF8.

It had a Biggs and Wedge. Quite dominant ones as well.

[Sanagi]

FF8 has my favorite battle theme since the good old FF4 boss music. And it's in 5/4 time, which is fun.