I played Final Fantasy VIII for the first time fifteen years ago. Despite loving the music and the visuals, I never progressed beyond disc 1 because I found the story and characters (Squall aside) to be bland. And then there was the junction system, which...well, everybody has already talked about that a million times. It's really neat in concept, but tedious in practice. (I would love to see it attempted again with some things adjusted.)
Anyway!
2020 happened, and I figured it was finally time to knuckle down and finish the game that splits opinions like Squall splits skulls.
And…
I still think the first disc and a half of FFVIII is a total tranquiliser of a game. I'm sorry. I nearly quit like ten million times. The jailbreak sequence at the start of disc 2 was especially dull. That said, something changed when I reached Fisherman's Horizon. The writing there, when you talk to some of the NPC's... It's hot shit, am I right? Like, suddenly it's firing on all cylinders. The dialogue is charged. The skits are funny. This energy bleeds out into the subsequent scenes, too. It's the strangest thing. Your characters start meshing more, and the jokes start zipping.
One of my favourite moments was right after FH, when you put together a band with your characters and set their instruments and perform a song with them for two of your party members to dance to. It's whimsical. It's cute. It's a little stupid. Like, that's the kind of thing I play Final Fantasy for. Everything is going to hell, but then your oddball characters take five and do something that totally eases the tension. It's like smiling at someone you love, moments before the moon crashes into the Earth. It's beautiful. Another example of a scene like this is the date in FF7, when you can get Cloud to kiss the wrong person in the play, and then they twirl off stage.
From FH onward, I really did enjoy Final Fantasy VIII.
Now, a sudden improvement in the writing didn't fix all the problems. The characters didn't actually get any richer, they were just used better. The gameplay didn't improve, but it felt like less of a problem because, well, at least the dialogue was hitting cleaner. And the plot... well, I quite liked the plot from then on! I know most people complain about how wacky it gets, but I think it became a lot more entertaining when it stopped making 100% sense.
(By the way, my favourite thing about the game, soundtrack aside, is the way Squall thinks to himself the whole way through the story, because he's afraid to voice his feelings. Sometimes he answers other people's questions in his head, but forgets to answer out loud, and they're like, yo, you there? and I just find that really great.)
Well, I've talked long enough about this one. Am I going to play it again? Probably not... Would I recommend it? ... ... ... Tentative yes! I'm as surprised as anyone.
Anyway!
2020 happened, and I figured it was finally time to knuckle down and finish the game that splits opinions like Squall splits skulls.
And…
I still think the first disc and a half of FFVIII is a total tranquiliser of a game. I'm sorry. I nearly quit like ten million times. The jailbreak sequence at the start of disc 2 was especially dull. That said, something changed when I reached Fisherman's Horizon. The writing there, when you talk to some of the NPC's... It's hot shit, am I right? Like, suddenly it's firing on all cylinders. The dialogue is charged. The skits are funny. This energy bleeds out into the subsequent scenes, too. It's the strangest thing. Your characters start meshing more, and the jokes start zipping.
One of my favourite moments was right after FH, when you put together a band with your characters and set their instruments and perform a song with them for two of your party members to dance to. It's whimsical. It's cute. It's a little stupid. Like, that's the kind of thing I play Final Fantasy for. Everything is going to hell, but then your oddball characters take five and do something that totally eases the tension. It's like smiling at someone you love, moments before the moon crashes into the Earth. It's beautiful. Another example of a scene like this is the date in FF7, when you can get Cloud to kiss the wrong person in the play, and then they twirl off stage.
From FH onward, I really did enjoy Final Fantasy VIII.
Now, a sudden improvement in the writing didn't fix all the problems. The characters didn't actually get any richer, they were just used better. The gameplay didn't improve, but it felt like less of a problem because, well, at least the dialogue was hitting cleaner. And the plot... well, I quite liked the plot from then on! I know most people complain about how wacky it gets, but I think it became a lot more entertaining when it stopped making 100% sense.
(By the way, my favourite thing about the game, soundtrack aside, is the way Squall thinks to himself the whole way through the story, because he's afraid to voice his feelings. Sometimes he answers other people's questions in his head, but forgets to answer out loud, and they're like, yo, you there? and I just find that really great.)
Well, I've talked long enough about this one. Am I going to play it again? Probably not... Would I recommend it? ... ... ... Tentative yes! I'm as surprised as anyone.