What is your opinion of Final Fantasy VIII?

[Pike]

It's been a little while now since this game hit store shelves. What do you think of it these days?

[Pumpkin]

Love it love it love it

[Egami]

It is not among my favorites but it's a nice game.

[Ayen]

Top three easily.

[Vermachtnis]

I'm not a fan. I only really liked Selphie and Laguna. Zell was okay too. I hated Squall and Rinoa. Triple Triad was awesome though. And the Junction system was neat. But Drawing was dumb.

[Sephex]

Game gets too much flak, but it's not one of my favorite ones. I've said this before on the site, but most problems people have with this game can be found in many other FF games, which usually get a pass.

[Loony BoB]

Definitely one of my top three in the series. Probably second favourite Final Fantasy after VII. The gameplay is seriously fantastic, and the story isn't bad either (although it definitely needs to be taken with more than one pinch of salt).

[Bubba]

Great game. Obviously flawed (like every FF game) but not to the extent that some people make out.

I've had plenty of playthroughs and thoroughly enjoyed each one.

MissH is definitely not a fan though.

[maybee]

Top 3 for sure !

I love it and look forward to re-playing the game, almost every year.

[WildRaubtier]

best robots = best ff

[sharkythesharkdogg]

I really enjoyed this game. It's one of my favorites, so obviously I think it gets a bum wrap. I think it suffers from what all games in a series go through. It tried to address the complaints of the games feeling stale and similar, while also maintaining that FF feel. I think it did a great job of trying new things in a lot of areas while also clearly being a Final Fantasy. Clearly, not everyone agrees. :shrug:

I'm pretty sure it's the only game where I bothered beating the ultimate weapon. I may have done it in VII.

[Aerith's Knight]

Still in the top 5 RPG games, but I think it plays better now because we've figured out the ridiculous combat system. If you know what to equip, and where, the game becomes all about your enjoyment, and isn't that what matters most?

Also,

Dun dun dun dun dun *clap clap* dun dun *clap* da da dum da dum...

Smurfing triple triad.

[CimminyCricket]

I love the game so much I played it for 15 hours straight once in high school. Not my finest moment.

[Ceiladora]

I love it immensely, and it has Moomba sweeties, hot dogs, awesome schools and stratospheric music along with breathtaking cinematic adventures. :)

Plus it opened up our eyes on a real element; Time Compression. It does happen everyday and every moment of our lives. FFVIII explored the actuality of it and how machines much like Junction Machine Ellone are used to speed up time in what we do, and how we handle globalization. So some of the game did hit close to home for me in some fractions. :D

[Jessweeee♪]

FFVIII is like the best because it is so real

there's dinosaurs inside the school
the school flies/sails
the school flies/sails with dinosaurs inside of it
also the dinosaurs came from the moon

[Ceiladora]

FFVIII is like the best because it is so real

there's dinosaurs inside the school
the school flies/sails
the school flies/sails with dinosaurs inside of it
also the dinosaurs came from the moon

:lol: It is fun seeing T-Rexaurs skulking about inside a school. I'm sure if you feed them hot dogs, they might act a little friendlier. ;) But meh. :ffvilaugh:

[Bubba]

Dun dun dun dun dun *clap clap* dun dun *clap* da da dum da dum...

Sorry AK, but I'm pretty sure it's...

Dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun dun-dun-da *clap clap* dun-dun *clap* da-dun-dun *clap clap* dun-dun *clap*

[Forsaken Lover]

It is largely believed to be responsible for stealing Xenogears' budget. Or Chrono Cross'. Or both.

In any event, that is enough to write it off as a crime against humanity. Those games are both infinitely superior to FFVIII.

Now let's see...things wrong with Final Fantasy VIII....
1. Gameplay is so easy that it makes me realize that we were all super dumb babbies growing up. The Junction System is more easily broken than FF2 with its "hit yourself to get stronger" strategy. Even if you don't use the card game, refine some Tents into Curagas when you head to Balamb and suddenly the game will never be a challenge again.
In fact the game is so insultingly easy that you never have to work at anything. Because they didn't think the Monsters-Level-Up-With-You thing through. Never Level Up, never fight fucking anything + Junctions = Tapdance on every boss' ass. Suddenly you're Level 15 fighting Level 15 bosses while you have 255 stats. The game rewards you for not doing anything.

2. The Story is a trainwreck. I think my favorite part is something I realized on my last playthrough. If you go to Balamb at the start of the game and talk to some random kid you hear all about the legend of Hyne and the origin of Sorceresses. THIS IS NOWHERE ELSE IN THE GAME. Critical backstory here and only available from a random NPC at one point in time.

3. I don't hate Squall and I don't want to get into the argument about how sudden his falling in love with Rinoa was. None of that changes the fact however that there is a scene where he literally loses his goddam mind and screams at all of his companions. Selphie even asks if he's gone crazy. This scene is never spoken of again. I want to gather three of my friends and just scream "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!!" and run out of the room. If none of my friends ever seek me out after this or call a therapist for me, they are no longer my friends.

But I guess I'm asking a bit much here. I mean, the collective personality and significance of the non-Squall and Rinoa party members makes the FF1 party look like they're from frickin' Xenogears. You can't rely on Selphie or Zell or Irvine or Quistis to contribute anything to the damn story or to have a reason to exist really. They're all equally useless and could easily be written out of the game.

4. Seifer was the only good antagonist in the game and he vanishes for most of Disk 2 and 3. What the hell was up with that?

5. Ultimecia is more worthless than Zemus.

[metagloria]

Suddenly you're Level 15 fighting Level 15 bosses while you have 255 stats. The game rewards you for not doing anything.

Not to say anything about the rest of your critique, but this is just incorrect. At level 15, even with the strongest spells junctioned, you can't get your stats above 100-150. Actually, even at level 100, you can't get most of your stats to 255 unless you use the stat bonus abilities from GFs (which I finally did on my most recent playthrough).

[Forsaken Lover]

It was hyperbole. And since the game offers you abilities like HP+80% and Str + 60% even if you don't have max stats, you're gonna be a gajillion times stronger than the Enemy Scaling system thinks you are.

[Kyros]

As for #3 on that list I don't see that entirely accurate from your viewpoint. No, they don't bring it up again, but the game also alludes to the fact a lot happens you, the player, aren't seeing. The main example of this is when they reference to the dream world when seeing the world through Laguna's experiences. You never see them discuss when they decided to start calling it that or even see all of their conversations regarding it. Because of this I always presume this is why the character development for Squall/Rinoa doesn't seem as fluid at times.

[Rez09]

I think pretty highly of the game, flawed though it may be. I enjoy collecting the cards and refining magic, I like the GF system and junctioning, and I loved some of the story segments (like hijacking the train and the Dollet mission). It isn't one of my favorites, but I think it's a solid enough title.

[FFIX Choco Boy]

VIII? They never made a FFVIII. They skipped it.

[Galuf]

out of the 12 i have played it is 10 on my list so pretty low. i voted Eh... it had its moments. ofcourse that may change if i play it again

[Ceiladora]

I wouldn't mind being Ultimecia's pet knight. :) ;) not one bit! :D