This is just stupid!

[Crop]

Word in the FFXII forum is that the VIII haters have gone quiet lately, can't let that happen -

This promising game gets so poor after the first couple of hours. That orphan plot twist? Wtf was that? Someone tell me why that didn't suck.

Triple Triad rules.



Discuss.

[Jinx]

It sucks from literally like, the three minute mark (the opening FMV is bad ass).

[Crop]

Three minutes in you get to play Triple Triad though. Then after you're done with that (two hours later) it gets so poor. So so poor.

[Colonel Angus]

Both of you crackers need to stop trippin' balls. This is one of my favorite games in the series. LOVE Triple Triad.

[Jinx]

Both of you crackers need to stop trippin' balls. This is one of my favorite games in the series. LOVE Triple Triad.

Dude, I thought we were starting to form a friendship!

I'll have to rethink things now.

[Ayen]

___ game is awful because ___. I ___ the ___ __ in the ___ and I hate the ___ that the ___ does halfway through the ___ and when the ___ ____ ____ that is just ____ and I ___ ____ ____ ____ and some more ___ why the ___ did that happen?

[Bubba]

I think this is an excellent game. I understand completely why people aren't taken with it. It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but it's still one of the stronger entries in the series.

Triple Triad is proper addictive.

[Karifean]

Final Fantasy VIII is pretty awesome. Triple Triad is great, the dungeons/scenarios are superb, and the Junctioning system is fun to play around with. And the soundtrack is second to no other game in the series. And it has Doomtrain.

[Pumpkin]

I love it! The characters are mostly interesting, I really love the love story, the world is absolutely beautiful and one of the more memorable in the series (to me anyway), the story was engaging, the game was easy and fun to play

Did it have its faults? Yes. But what game doesn't, really

Some people don't like it, but I am personally a huge fan

[Shorty]

I guess the haters decided that their repetitive caterwauling got even too old for their own ears!

[Spooniest]

FF8 has Quistis Trepe, the Renzokuken and trains.

Haters be hatin with extra hate today :colbert:

[Ergroilnin]

Aww yiish I love the weight of the hate on me :3

Now to be honest, FFVIII was my either first or second FF (I was really young okay?! I seriously don't know which came first). And while I am not really put of by the game, I do not exactly like it. Actually it is somewhere at the bottom of my best FF titles.

I do agree that Triple Triad rules, junction system isn't all that bad and the story isn't TOO crazy for FF standards but I can not help myself. FFVIII graphics are the worst for me compared to all others, TT does get boring after few (tens) hours in and the story isn't exactly that awesome and original compared to earlier titles IMO.

While I still do like the game, it is definitely the least favourite FF game of the PSX era fr me and I doubt that's going to ever change.

[Spooniest]

TT

What is this?

[metagloria]

Final Fantasy VIII is unique among the franchise in that, even though I've always loved it, I actually gain admiration for it every time I play it. I used to think VIII vs. IX was a toss-up; now I think VIII is lightyears beyond IX. There's so much creativity and innovation and uniqueness to this entry, the soundtrack is great, the feel​ is great.

[Sephex]

This is a game that I liked when it was new, grew to dislike it for awhile, and now to me it is a decent FF. A lot of the problems that people have with this game can be found across all FFs of this type (SNES,PS1 titles).

The orphanage plot twist doesn't bother me because it happened, but how poorly it was handled. They could have totally made that work if only they hinted at it better. I know there is an offhand mention of the GF memory problem in the desktop at the Garden (if I am remembering that wrong, it's something like that...I GUESS THE GFS MADE ME FORGET), but they should have incorporated that element into the story a bit more, but keep it subtle do you don't give away the twist. Show a student with memory problems. Have a NPC that obviously uses GF forget a couple of minor, but important details of their past. If it was built up like that then that whole scene could have been so much better and believable within the game's world.

[Ergroilnin]

TT

What is this?

Eh, Triple Triad?

[Spooniest]

TT

What is this?

Eh, Triple Triad?

Oh that!

[metagloria]

This is a game that I liked when it was new, grew to dislike it for awhile, and now to me it is a decent FF. A lot of the problems that people have with this game can be found across all FFs of this type (SNES,PS1 titles).

The orphanage plot twist doesn't bother me because it happened, but how poorly it was handled. They could have totally made that work if only they hinted at it better. I know there is an offhand mention of the GF memory problem in the desktop at the Garden (if I am remembering that wrong, it's something like that...I GUESS THE GFS MADE ME FORGET), but they should have incorporated that element into the story a bit more, but keep it subtle do you don't give away the twist. Show a student with memory problems. Have a NPC that obviously uses GF forget a couple of minor, but important details of their past. If it was built up like that then that whole scene could have been so much better and believable within the game's world.
I don't really have a problem with the orphanage twist as-is, but this is a really good point that makes a lot of sense.

[Kalevala]

And it has Doomtrain.

Yes, but can you suplex it?

I didn't think so.

[Jessweeee♪]

And it has Doomtrain.

Yes, but can you suplex it?

I didn't think so.

No but you can punch dolphins at a mustachioed cactus the size of a building. (http://youtu.be/0NHC-9xcveY?t=1m53s)

[Ayen]

Everybody knows Sabin was using performance enhancers to lift that train. Sabin is a fraud!

[Spooniest]

Everybody knows Sabin was using performance enhancers to lift that train. Sabin is a fraud!

FFVIII hating I will tolerate. FFVI hating I will tolerate. I will, on a good day, even tolerate Sabin hating.

Train Suplex hating is not allowed. You are hereby banished from Potos village. Now get out of here!

[Ayen]

Everybody knows Sabin was using performance enhancers to lift that train. Sabin is a fraud!

FFVIII hating I will tolerate. FFVI hating I will tolerate. I will, on a good day, even tolerate Sabin hating.

Train Suplex hating is not allowed. You are hereby banished from Potos village. Now get out of here!

I'm taking all the potatoes. All of them!

[Omni-Odin]

I never have anything but good things to say about this game because it gets enough hate. I think it's amazing. A graphical and musical achievement. The game with more balls than any other game in the series because it tried to change things up. Here try this. Ok didn't work for some. That's okay, because FFIX is on the way to throw waves of nostalgic, simplistic leveling and a lighter plot your way.

Btw, I in no way dislike IX or think down upon it. I just thought it was easy and predictable. I respect VIII because I thought it was challenging.

The orphan plot twist....ok I get where people are coming from and I guess it's been a while since I played it, but isn't there more than just the NPC that hints at memory loss? Maybe I'm forgetting, but I thought there was.

Also, was there any need for that twist? Or was it just a way to connect the characters to Edea after she was set free?

[Spooniest]

I never have anything but good things to say about this game because it gets enough hate. I think it's amazing. A graphical and musical achievement. The game with more balls than any other game in the series because it tried to change things up. Here try this. Ok didn't work for some. That's okay, because FFIX is on the way to throw waves of nostalgic, simplistic leveling and a lighter plot your way.

Btw, I in no way dislike IX or think down upon it. I just thought it was easy and predictable. I respect VIII because I thought it was challenging.

The orphan plot twist....ok I get where people are coming from and I guess it's been a while since I played it, but isn't there more than just the NPC that hints at memory loss? Maybe I'm forgetting, but I thought there was.

Also, was there any need for that twist? Or was it just a way to connect the characters to Edea after she was set free?

It was, in the parlance of storytelling, an ass pull.

It gets all of the characters' backstories out of the way in one neat stroke, to make more room in the story for the romance plot.

T_T Cheap, superficial storytelling does not appeal to me. But I forgive FFVIII because after the insane mindscrew of FFVII, it just wouldn't have been possible to generate something more shocking or insane.

Cuz FFVII is kind of uh...out there. The plot development is overall well done, but the way the plot resolves is complicated and very talky. If you are paying close attention, and can read through the awful awful translation, it is pretty intricately set up and a real "Aha" moment.

FFVIII realized that to try to top something like that would be futile, so it went with a simpler, more down-to-earth story, with less focus on cerebrum and more focus on sensory stimuli. The focus of the characters is much more limited as well. You are mostly watching Squall or Rinoa or some combination of the two for almost the entire game.

That said, FFVIII succeeds in its immersive qualities where FFVII drops off. You do feel like you are in this world, no question. The character proportions are well done, and the free-roaming map is pretty seamless, unlike FFVII's.

And FFVII is missing a little bit of human warmth that FFVIII has in spades.

I really think that was the basic idea: we did a dark one, now let's do something nicer.

[Rin Heartilly]

I don't understand haters than hate on FFVIII for silly things like graphics or one thing that happened in the story. Anyway IMHO this is why FFVIII doesn't deserve the hate:

1. Best overall FF soundtrack - I'm not even being biased, it consistently has the best music. Other FF's have stand out tracks but VIII consistently has awesome tracks. The only FF's that come close to VIII's consistent awesome music is IV, VI and VII.

2. Most addictive mini game: Triple Triad. 'nuff said.

3. Most attractive main cast of characters: This sounds really shallow....but none of the main cast are ugly. Squall, Seifer, Irvine, Zell and Laguna are all attractive along with Rinoa, Selphie, Quistis, Edea and Ellone are all beautiful too. This point probably only matters to teens but whatever~

4. Most immersive open world: When exploring the world map, places/cities feel like they are actually connected to the world that they're in. You see train lines running too and from cities on the map and it makes it feel like there's actually things going on inside cities when you aren't in them. The npc's in most places are often worth talking to and are entertaining and sometimes hilarious.

5. Trains: Trains are awesome.

6. Coolest looking summons: The summons/GF's are also the most consistently cool and there is tons of them. Shiva, Ifrit, Bahamut, Diablos look awesome. Jumbo Cactuar and King Tonberry are iconic and funny. Carbuncle and Boco are adorable and Cerberus, Leviathan and Doomtrain are badass.

7. Best Odin: I'm biased on this one, but he always chopped foes up for me :D

8. Best/coolest airship: The Ragnarok looks like a big red dragon that has little robotic arms and claws, it shoots lasers and has huge rockets!

9. Moombas: :D

10. Junction system was innovative for its time: It could make you a broken killing machine, you could change the difficulty in game by messing with your magic preferences, you could experiment with endless combinations of magic for boosting stats, creating immunities, adding elements to you attacks...etc

11. (Bonus) It's still better than XIII: Yah...I went there :S

I haven't even gone into the story or characters or anything but I really don't understand why it gets as much hate as it does. Some people are just picky I guess hehe

[Galuf]

FF VIII always changes for me. its pretty good. not the best, but pretty good. it has moombas. a pretty good soundtrack ( though i say IX VII VI and V all beat it) and like rinoa above me said: its still better than xiii :)

[MissH]

Bubba and I have been playing this for what seems like an eternity and I have TOTALLY lost interest. It seems to have gone on forever and has just been unnecessarily dragged out. As I've lost interest I find I'm now totally confused on the plot. Bubba assures me we've not long to go and I will finish it but I much preferred FFVII.

[Omni-Odin]

and like rinoa above me said: its still better than xiii :)

Lol, I feel like 15 years from now I'll be responding to a thread defending XIII because my '20s' were so nostalgic. And we'll be saying things like, "Welp, at least it's better than XXII is"

[Perducci]

This is a game that I liked when it was new, grew to dislike it for awhile, and now to me it is a decent FF. A lot of the problems that people have with this game can be found across all FFs of this type (SNES,PS1 titles).

The orphanage plot twist doesn't bother me because it happened, but how poorly it was handled. They could have totally made that work if only they hinted at it better. I know there is an offhand mention of the GF memory problem in the desktop at the Garden (if I am remembering that wrong, it's something like that...I GUESS THE GFS MADE ME FORGET), but they should have incorporated that element into the story a bit more, but keep it subtle do you don't give away the twist. Show a student with memory problems. Have a NPC that obviously uses GF forget a couple of minor, but important details of their past. If it was built up like that then that whole scene could have been so much better and believable within the game's world.

Basically all of this.

[maybee]

Does just mentioning Final Fantasy VIII on this forum cause a debate ? Because it's never really a pure and solid discussion on the actual game, storyline and plot. It's just somebody saying I hate this game because reason -----
Or somebody saying I love this game because reason -----

It would be nice to have a good talk about this game, rather than just the anti fandom vs the fandom.

[Bubba]

Lol, I feel like 15 years from now I'll be responding to a thread defending XIII because my '20s' were so nostalgic. And we'll be saying things like, "Welp, at least it's better than XXII is"

FFXXII released in 15 years sounds optimistic to me. They'll be more likely to still be working on the compilation of FFXV.

You'll have
- FFXV
- FFXV-2 - Fixing the problems of FFXV whilst simultaneously creating new ones
- FFXV-3 - The game that no-one wants but SE needs to make in order to tie up the loose ends of a story that no-one understands

PS Vita Exclusives
- FFXV-Crisis Talks - A minor character from FFXV has their back story revealed through a series of awkward conversations.
- FFXV-Dirge of Circumcision - A male protagonist from FFXV goes on a murderous rampage following a botched operation to remove his foreskin

Mobile games
- Cidney's Auto Repair - Touch screen game in which you must fix all manner of cars interspersed with gratuitous cleavage shots.
- Final Fantasy Cutz! - The FFXV characters open a hair salon. Different hairstyles available to decorate your characters for an upgraded package of only £15.99!
- Sim Chocobo - Interact with other chocobos in a real chocobo town! Laugh as your chocobo finds a job as an estate agent then whilst you're at work, your chocobo wife cheats on you with the blue chocobo across the road. Meanwhile, your 15-year-old chocobo daughter is pregnant and your 12-year-old chocobo son has been caught with cannabis at school. Oh the laughter!

[Forsaken Lover]

Does just mentioning Final Fantasy VIII on this forum cause a debate ? Because it's never really a pure and solid discussion on the actual game, storyline and plot. It's just somebody saying I hate this game because reason -----
Or somebody saying I love this game because reason -----

It would be nice to have a good talk about this game, rather than just the anti fandom vs the fandom.

HI I'M THE ONE WHO REALLY RUNS THE GARDEN OH SHIT I'M DEAD NOW AND WILL NEVER BE MENTIONED AGAIN

There's your "plot" in FFVIII.

It's a whole ton of good ideas slapped together with very little thought to cohesion or logic. As we all know, just because you like several different types of foods, it won't make them taste good when you drop them all in a bowl together

[NeoCracker]

Does just mentioning Final Fantasy VIII on this forum cause a debate ? Because it's never really a pure and solid discussion on the actual game, storyline and plot. It's just somebody saying I hate this game because reason -----
Or somebody saying I love this game because reason -----

It would be nice to have a good talk about this game, rather than just the anti fandom vs the fandom.

HI I'M THE ONE WHO REALLY RUNS THE GARDEN OH SHIT I'M DEAD NOW AND WILL NEVER BE MENTIONED AGAIN

There's your "plot" in FFVIII.

It's a whole ton of good ideas slapped together with very little thought to cohesion or logic. As we all know, just because you like several different types of foods, it won't make them taste good when you drop them all in a bowl together

I always feel dirty when agreeing with you.

*Goes to take a shower*

But yeah, so many things that happen in FF VIII just feel tagged on and inconsequential.

[Ayen]

They GRRM'd Norg hard on that one.

I feel they were trying too hard to top FFVII and that's probably why most of the crazy ideas were added in whether or not they made any sense to the current story. I can still enjoy the game despite this because it's so blatantly insane at times it becomes fun. It helps that none of the characters annoyed me, either.

[maybee]

HI I'M THE ONE WHO REALLY RUNS THE GARDEN OH trout I'M DEAD NOW AND WILL NEVER BE MENTIONED AGAIN

There's your "plot" in FFVIII.

It's a whole ton of good ideas slapped together with very little thought to cohesion or logic. As we all know, just because you like several different types of foods, it won't make them taste good when you drop them all in a bowl together

...Did we play the same game ?

[Forsaken Lover]

The one where a random NPC in the first town explains more of the plot than most of the cutscenes?

I still loved that. My last playthrough I found this person in Balamb who explains all about Hyne and the origin of Sorceresses. It was more detailed and informative than the datalog entries on either.