This review contains spoilers
Not going to lie but this was the hardest final fantasy game to get through for me. It's by no means bad, In fact I think it's an incredible RPG, but coming out of 7 and into 8 was a bit too jarring for me.
The biggest improvement from 7 is the production value and presentation. This is one of the best looking PlayStation games I've ever seen. The pre rendered background are much more detailed and includes more motion which makes the environments feel more alive. The FMV cutscenes are also have improved quality and there are much more of them. Making this the biggest FF game with 4 discs which if I was alive back then would've blown my mind. The graphics and character models are just so much more improved. They've gotten rid of the chibi over world designs, but now all of the characters are the same model and are more resident evil like. Which goes to show how much they've handled the hardware. This games graphics are also beautiful. This game must be played on a CRT TV with component or RGB output to get the fullest experience. The PS3 remake looks like crap with the smoothed out graphics in my opinion. Overall graphics are amazing.
One thing I'm not too sure about are the characters. The game focuses all on Squall (dumbass name) and the relationships he creates whit his other party members. But once Riona (I named her Rino :)) comes in the game then shifts to Squall's and Riona's relationship. Which is really well developed, but none of the other characters really get to shine here. They have their moments here and there but it really never leads up to something. While ff 7's characters all grew in some way throughout the journey, ff 8's characters never really seem too. Which sucks cuz I love all of them.
The villain is also kinda stupid well technically multiple villains idk. The way they explained the villain to me was kinda confusing. They pull the bait and switch mind control garbage which really annoyed me. While you saw Sephiroth's mental state decline throughout ff 7 making him more scary and threatening as time moved on, here, shes just here to be the evil person and I never really felt any of the steaks or anything. Overall great characters that needed more time in the spotlight
The story is also engaging and fun but there were a lot of parts that made me scratch my head. In the middle of the game they reveal that all of your party members except Rinoa grew up together in an orphanage which is supposed to add more depth to the characters but honestly it changes nothing and is never brought up again. They also reveal the the GF have been messing with their memories which made the forget all of that. I really wanted them to expand upon that but they never do. It's still a great story I just think a few things flew over my head.
But the worst thing about this game is the combat. They made it confusing and hard for no reason. They want you to focus on using your GF's and to strategies using junctions but using GF'S took way too long and made any combat too long and boring. They also got rid of the "all" command which was super frustrating and forced me to rethink my entire strategy WHICH WASNT FUN!! this game kept taking away what made the previous games so fun so you could I guess have more fun with more limitations? I hated the combat so much I just threw in some GameShark codes in the middle of disc 3 to get me through the rest of the game. I tried to do side quests to get me stronger but like 80 percent of them require me to do triple triade card game which I disliked a lot so I never bothered with it. But I guess that's how you got stronger so the whole game was just me struggling every battle.
I do wanna say I like this game. But it takes away too much from 7 for me to fully enjoy it. But it's a fantastic RPG that everyone with a PlayStation needs to play.
The biggest improvement from 7 is the production value and presentation. This is one of the best looking PlayStation games I've ever seen. The pre rendered background are much more detailed and includes more motion which makes the environments feel more alive. The FMV cutscenes are also have improved quality and there are much more of them. Making this the biggest FF game with 4 discs which if I was alive back then would've blown my mind. The graphics and character models are just so much more improved. They've gotten rid of the chibi over world designs, but now all of the characters are the same model and are more resident evil like. Which goes to show how much they've handled the hardware. This games graphics are also beautiful. This game must be played on a CRT TV with component or RGB output to get the fullest experience. The PS3 remake looks like crap with the smoothed out graphics in my opinion. Overall graphics are amazing.
One thing I'm not too sure about are the characters. The game focuses all on Squall (dumbass name) and the relationships he creates whit his other party members. But once Riona (I named her Rino :)) comes in the game then shifts to Squall's and Riona's relationship. Which is really well developed, but none of the other characters really get to shine here. They have their moments here and there but it really never leads up to something. While ff 7's characters all grew in some way throughout the journey, ff 8's characters never really seem too. Which sucks cuz I love all of them.
The villain is also kinda stupid well technically multiple villains idk. The way they explained the villain to me was kinda confusing. They pull the bait and switch mind control garbage which really annoyed me. While you saw Sephiroth's mental state decline throughout ff 7 making him more scary and threatening as time moved on, here, shes just here to be the evil person and I never really felt any of the steaks or anything. Overall great characters that needed more time in the spotlight
The story is also engaging and fun but there were a lot of parts that made me scratch my head. In the middle of the game they reveal that all of your party members except Rinoa grew up together in an orphanage which is supposed to add more depth to the characters but honestly it changes nothing and is never brought up again. They also reveal the the GF have been messing with their memories which made the forget all of that. I really wanted them to expand upon that but they never do. It's still a great story I just think a few things flew over my head.
But the worst thing about this game is the combat. They made it confusing and hard for no reason. They want you to focus on using your GF's and to strategies using junctions but using GF'S took way too long and made any combat too long and boring. They also got rid of the "all" command which was super frustrating and forced me to rethink my entire strategy WHICH WASNT FUN!! this game kept taking away what made the previous games so fun so you could I guess have more fun with more limitations? I hated the combat so much I just threw in some GameShark codes in the middle of disc 3 to get me through the rest of the game. I tried to do side quests to get me stronger but like 80 percent of them require me to do triple triade card game which I disliked a lot so I never bothered with it. But I guess that's how you got stronger so the whole game was just me struggling every battle.
I do wanna say I like this game. But it takes away too much from 7 for me to fully enjoy it. But it's a fantastic RPG that everyone with a PlayStation needs to play.
A flawed but extremely underrated Final Fantasy. The vibe of the world is one of the best in the series. The story stumbles and genuinely doesn't make sense in some parts (the orphanage...), but it also goes places that no other FF game has since and is a truly unique entry in a long running series.
- Developing on the technology and things possible to do on the PS1 within the RPG genre.
- The plot is good if sadly hindered by some of the characters in it.
- Outside of 2-3 tracks, the OST is not that memorable.
- I'll finally talk about the gameplay in FF, this has actual good gameplay with its mechanics and keeps it varied with mini-games (the card game) and side quests to attempt to keep the game interesting.
- The plot is good if sadly hindered by some of the characters in it.
- Outside of 2-3 tracks, the OST is not that memorable.
- I'll finally talk about the gameplay in FF, this has actual good gameplay with its mechanics and keeps it varied with mini-games (the card game) and side quests to attempt to keep the game interesting.
This game is an odd one, as it has so many great pros but also so many nefastous cons.
First of all, the setting is really cool, I love the idea of the witches, and the gardens, and the first third of the game is really mystique and charming, you really are clueless of what's going on (in the good way).
The music is absolutely amazing and memorable
It's so much better graphically than VII, the 3D models were great and the CGI was super good!
The character designs are really cool, especially Squall's, Edea and Ultimecia.
It features the first big vocal theme in the saga, which i love, Eyes on Me is such a beautiful tune.
The game also has another cool feature, which is a second party/main narrative going on at the same time as you advance with the main one.
It also has interesting spacial/sci-fi elements, which I adore.
And lastly, the love story is really beautiful and charming, its kinda like a...soap-opera?
Now, the cons...
I feel like the combat system is really bad, I hate the menus and the customization that this game had, I didnt like how enemies leveled up either, and the worst was having to grind enemies to make the link system work properly.
The story had so many plotholes and problems, It's such a mess to explain, honestly, I'd like a Remake to see if they can improve/fix so many of these problems.
And the worst thing, the side characters, they are all super bland and awful, which is something that cannot be forgiven in a Final Fantasy, everyone but Squall and Rinoa have 0 personality in the party, if anything, Quistis and Irvine have a certain charm, but that's it.
Anyways, I love this game, but its flaws are very evident too, give it a try you all!
First of all, the setting is really cool, I love the idea of the witches, and the gardens, and the first third of the game is really mystique and charming, you really are clueless of what's going on (in the good way).
The music is absolutely amazing and memorable
It's so much better graphically than VII, the 3D models were great and the CGI was super good!
The character designs are really cool, especially Squall's, Edea and Ultimecia.
It features the first big vocal theme in the saga, which i love, Eyes on Me is such a beautiful tune.
The game also has another cool feature, which is a second party/main narrative going on at the same time as you advance with the main one.
It also has interesting spacial/sci-fi elements, which I adore.
And lastly, the love story is really beautiful and charming, its kinda like a...soap-opera?
Now, the cons...
I feel like the combat system is really bad, I hate the menus and the customization that this game had, I didnt like how enemies leveled up either, and the worst was having to grind enemies to make the link system work properly.
The story had so many plotholes and problems, It's such a mess to explain, honestly, I'd like a Remake to see if they can improve/fix so many of these problems.
And the worst thing, the side characters, they are all super bland and awful, which is something that cannot be forgiven in a Final Fantasy, everyone but Squall and Rinoa have 0 personality in the party, if anything, Quistis and Irvine have a certain charm, but that's it.
Anyways, I love this game, but its flaws are very evident too, give it a try you all!