This review contains spoilers
I wanna say first of all that Quistis is pretty hot and Rinoa is probably my fav of the main heroines from the PS1 trilogy (sorry Aerith and Garnet).
I would like for everyone to formally apologize to me for making me think that FF8 was mid or not as good as the others cuz it was amazing.
The junction system is pretty straightforward, put magic into a stat and watch as that stat gains nearly the max amount of stat points, and certain magic works better with certain stats.
That definitely made the game pretty easy for the most part, and the only part I really had trouble was the final boss where I refused to go out and get better junctions cuz I wanted to keep my flow, but otherwise the entire game is easy. That doesn't make it boring though, the junction system is fun to abuse, and getting to absolutely body enemies is a joy especially when you get Ultima as early as Disc 2 and proceed to abuse that draw point.
Character-wise, Squall is pretty equal to Zidane and Cloud for me, he has a great character arc that's enhanced by everything from the main antagonist to his supporting cast to his romance to even the names of the final boss themes, it's that well-done. And the music, it's great, Uematsu always does great work. I think this work is my 2nd fav of the PS1 trilogy, behind 7 and above 9, but those final themes really amplify the experience, though unfortunately they're not as catchy as Grand Cross or One-Winged Angel, but the themes surrounding those songs really help amplify them.
I think this supporting cast is one of my favourites. They feel significantly more involved and developed than 7's was, and actually being forced to at times play with characters I wasn't at all familiar with actually made me appreciate them more. Rinoa, again, is my fav heroine as she really is able to prod at Squall and make him think more than he wishes to. Half of his group having undiagnosed autism also helps in making him realize he's a bit too much of a loner for his own good. And Seifer being a reflection of him, it's all good shit and handled amazingly well.
And motherfucking Laguna, literally the SINGLE best girlfailure in Japanese media history. He's incredibly hilarious and an amazing foil to Squall's serious and moody attitude. Kiros and Ward, Laguna's buddies, also bounce well off him and act as true ride-or-die besties.
There's a couple negatives, mostly in that the menus are still making me accidentally exit out of them even 45 hours into the game cuz I'm both an idiot and the menus are unclear. Another negative is the level scaling, you level up too much and you end up making the game harder on yourself, but the same if you level too little. There's a balance, but as long as you take the time to junction appropriate magic into your stats and actually level up weapons (unlike me where I only did that in post-game cuz I didn't wanna farm materials) then you'll do fine despite how kinda jank the level scaling can be. But to make up for that, the ending is absolutely beautiful and it's def my favourite of the PS1 trilogy, it hits all the right notes.
This game is a solid 10/10 like the rest of the PS1 trilogy. It's worth your time, it should be remembered more fondly too, I hope more people realize how awesome it is.
(Spoilers also, but holy mother of fuck "Maybe I'm a Lion" is such a PEAK boss theme name cuz of what that means for Squall like that's so PEAK they were fucking COOKING with the finest ingredients)
I would like for everyone to formally apologize to me for making me think that FF8 was mid or not as good as the others cuz it was amazing.
The junction system is pretty straightforward, put magic into a stat and watch as that stat gains nearly the max amount of stat points, and certain magic works better with certain stats.
That definitely made the game pretty easy for the most part, and the only part I really had trouble was the final boss where I refused to go out and get better junctions cuz I wanted to keep my flow, but otherwise the entire game is easy. That doesn't make it boring though, the junction system is fun to abuse, and getting to absolutely body enemies is a joy especially when you get Ultima as early as Disc 2 and proceed to abuse that draw point.
Character-wise, Squall is pretty equal to Zidane and Cloud for me, he has a great character arc that's enhanced by everything from the main antagonist to his supporting cast to his romance to even the names of the final boss themes, it's that well-done. And the music, it's great, Uematsu always does great work. I think this work is my 2nd fav of the PS1 trilogy, behind 7 and above 9, but those final themes really amplify the experience, though unfortunately they're not as catchy as Grand Cross or One-Winged Angel, but the themes surrounding those songs really help amplify them.
I think this supporting cast is one of my favourites. They feel significantly more involved and developed than 7's was, and actually being forced to at times play with characters I wasn't at all familiar with actually made me appreciate them more. Rinoa, again, is my fav heroine as she really is able to prod at Squall and make him think more than he wishes to. Half of his group having undiagnosed autism also helps in making him realize he's a bit too much of a loner for his own good. And Seifer being a reflection of him, it's all good shit and handled amazingly well.
And motherfucking Laguna, literally the SINGLE best girlfailure in Japanese media history. He's incredibly hilarious and an amazing foil to Squall's serious and moody attitude. Kiros and Ward, Laguna's buddies, also bounce well off him and act as true ride-or-die besties.
There's a couple negatives, mostly in that the menus are still making me accidentally exit out of them even 45 hours into the game cuz I'm both an idiot and the menus are unclear. Another negative is the level scaling, you level up too much and you end up making the game harder on yourself, but the same if you level too little. There's a balance, but as long as you take the time to junction appropriate magic into your stats and actually level up weapons (unlike me where I only did that in post-game cuz I didn't wanna farm materials) then you'll do fine despite how kinda jank the level scaling can be. But to make up for that, the ending is absolutely beautiful and it's def my favourite of the PS1 trilogy, it hits all the right notes.
This game is a solid 10/10 like the rest of the PS1 trilogy. It's worth your time, it should be remembered more fondly too, I hope more people realize how awesome it is.
(Spoilers also, but holy mother of fuck "Maybe I'm a Lion" is such a PEAK boss theme name cuz of what that means for Squall like that's so PEAK they were fucking COOKING with the finest ingredients)