Am I completely alone??

[iluvpenelo]

Am I the only one who thinks that FF8 was infinitely inferior to FF7 AND FF9. 9 is my favourite, i really really dont like 8. i thought the story just strayed and while the story in 7 and 9 evolved, 8s storyline just changed too rapidly, it wasnt dramatic enough. i didnt think so anyway

[Polaris]

FF8 can be inferior to FF7 but not inferior to FF9! I didn't like one thing in FF7 Aeris died to soon and FF7 passed really faster... FF8 was more slow!

Edit by Big D: Please mark spoilers;)

[iluvpenelo]

FF9 is my fave final fantasy!! I didnt like 8 at all, it almost felt as if i was fighting ultimecia because i had to, as oppose to fighting necron coz i really really really really wanted to complete FF9

[Sir Laguna...]

You are so wrong!

FFVIII is not only better than VII and IX!

Is the best game Ever!

[Iceglow]

8 had a less deep level up and magic system that took longer to do than 7 yet it also had several things going for it. I prefer 8 over 9 purely cause you blinked once and you missed the basis of the story untill you play it through like 7 times. but 7 is superior in my mind but it is held back by all the different craphic engines used for FMV Ok so they had to build the engines from scratch but they should have updated all the FMVs to the same standards (thinking mostly intro and escape from crater with Rufus scenes here plus Diamond weapon getting punched through by the sister ray) it really took your breath away then also there was the anime like engine in the Sephiroth taking Jenova from nibelhiem. Any one of those engines would have improved the games presentation a lot also if they had used the character models from the battle scenes we all know the PS1 could have handled it 8 proved that but they just didn't push hard enough

[iluvpenelo]

well, i didnt like 8. at all

[spector]

how can any of you say VIII is better than IX and VII????

[SeeDRankLou]

You are not alone, but you are not unopposed either. While you will find quite a few people think that FFVIII is not better than FFVII, you will be sparse to find people who think FFVIII is not better than FFIX. I personally like all of them, I think they're all great. If I had to choose I'd choose FFVIII, but that doesn't mean I think any are superior to the other. I'm not big on comparing Final Fantasy games (unless they are sequels, in which case it's a bit justified).

[Mo-Nercy]

The thing about FF8 is that you'll get people that really really love it and will defend it to no end and those that really really hate it and will personally spit on every copy in a 10 mile radius. Meanwhile, you won't find anyone doing either with other FFs.

I'm not sure why everyone is so selective about FF8. To me, it doesn't seem at all that much different from other FFs quality-wise. :rolleyes2

[Rostum]

I prefer FFVII and FFIX over FFVIII, simply because I find them to be fun and comfortable. FFVIII is still a great game, just lacks the re-play value the others do.

[Iceglow]

the main reason people cannot be bothered to replay 8 is the draw system but I thought that added to it overall it made the game more complicated otherwise it would have been over much much sooner

[Krystic]

i replayed FFVIII 4 times. I didnt mind, maybe cause i REALLY liked it though. I dont understand why so many people hate this game. I mean come on, dont blame the draw system, it isnt bad. It's different from the whole MP thing, but so what. They wanted to change stuff up.

[escobert]

I prefer FFVII and FFIX over FFVIII, simply because I find them it to be fun and comble. FFVIII is still a great game, just lacks the re-play value the others do.

[iluvpenelo]

wtf???

um....i didnt dislike VIII coz of the draw system, i disliked VIII coz the story was too "all over the place". it moved to ultimecia too quick. thats just what i think though

[Big D]

I enjoyed FFVIII a whole lot. The story and characters really captured me.
However, I enjoy FFVII more. VIII is great, but VII remains the best ever, in my humble yet honest opinion.

If you disagree, then that's entirely up to you.

[aeris2001x2]

i do think ffVIII kicks ass, just less then ffVII or ffIX.

i dont believe its the best ff game, far from it. however its still absolute genius, just very flawed genius.

[Trumpet Thief]

chaos: Many people prefer FFVII and/or IX over FFVIII. Personally, I like all three of them equally. They have all amazed me in their own special way.

Rubedo: First FFVII with the awesome storyline, and and the dark tone grabbing the player into the game. The story unfolded at the most unknown yet perfect times, and with plot twists placed at the times to make you excited. Truly a great game it was.

chaos: FFVIII was great in my eyes too. Not only the graphics, a small thing, but the tale that remained serious, yet, turned into a magically tale with sorceresses and knights, turned around. Eventually, it will give your brain quite a working, with great twists, and cool characters. I loved that game too.

Trowa: I prefered FFIX as well. Going back into the Midieval times with daggers, and wands. Zidane being a better lead, rather than a gloomy one annoyed on the spot, no offense to Squall or Cloud, for they had reasons for it. Anyhoo, the storyline kept dragging you in, never letting you out, as if you wanted to leave. I loved the mix of the black mages, to Lani, the Red Mage in the game. Truly, it brought everything of the older Final Fantasies into an epic tale.

Albedo: *Laughs maniacally* Here is the downer though. I thought all those games were inferior to the true great ones, in our opinion. FFIV and FFVI were truly great with story and characters. No one was truly the main character, and the storyline put the view of everyone into it. That's just our opinion though.

[Hinky the Pickle]

I think the main problem with Final Fantasy VIII was that it tried to be far too different from the other Final Fantasies. I'm not saying innovation is a bad thing, but too much of it can be bad. I just couldn't get into FFVIII because there was too much to learn and get used to and by the third disc I just stopped caring. I enjoy leveling up in most RPGs but in FFVIII is was such an annoying and tedious task. I prefer to get into the story at the pace I want but I just couldn't without leveling up a whole bunch first. Kind of a pain if you ask me.

[aeris2001x2]

well 2 be honest i dont see the leveling up point. the game was by far the easiest, and u could easily beat the game without a single lv up. the double edged blade of the junction systerm...

[bEoWuLfX]

you know what? FF8, FF9, an FF7 suck. How does seven have any replay value if you do everything there is to do? FF8 sucked because there was too mcuh side crap and FF9 sucks because it has even more side crap. The best Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy 5. Customization of characters plus you get galuf who was awesome. there weren't too many side quests and the final boss wasn't super easy to kill. Everyone keeps saying that FF7 is so great, try to hype something else cause it's getting old. Well If I had to rate them and exclude the hyped out 7 ff8 would totally lose to ff9. FF8 had the worst magic system, it had the cheap junction system(versus using equipment), and it had the super abuseable limit break crisis mode.

[aeris2001x2]

woah, your on a real new-school ff downer... :eek:

[Ancient Goddess]

FFVIII is probably my third favorite Final Fantasy, but it's probably close to last on my list of favorite games.

Oh, it was interesting in the first disc and halfway into the second one, but the story took a boring turn, and I found myself only playing it to finish the game because I had invested so much time and effort into it, rather than excited and wanting to play because I was actually interested in the story.

What did it in for me? Mainly the fact that they threw Ultimecia in as if it was a last minute decision on Square's part. More like, "Oh, by the way*laughs*...Edea's not really evil....just some crazy woman in the future. Who is she you say? ....Well, we'll make the rest of the story up as you continue completing your thousands of side quests."

The draw system was a bit inefficent, compared to VI and VII. You could be in an intense battle and need to cast Haste or some other support magic to insure your victory and remember in the middle of battle that you used the last one that your party had while trying to finish off that annoying random encounter with that Tonberry a couple minutes ago. It was much easier drinking an Ether and being done with it.


you know what? FF8, FF9, an FF7 suck. How does seven have any replay value if you do everything there is to do?

With the exception of FFIX, I find that I generally agree with you. FFVII has been sitting on my very dusty shelf since I beat it. I only played it twice, and that was it. It was an okay game, but it definitely wasn't the almighty game that a lot of Final Fantasy fans swear it is. Frankly, I find myself playing FFIX a lot more than any FF game...even if only to see if I can kill off Kuja faster than my time before. And at least the story was mildly interesting.

[aeris2001x2]

die ffVII haters! :D

[DJZen]

Oddly, I find myself at a point where I like FFVIII more than I like FFVII. I'm not saying that just to be oppositional either. It just felt more FF to me. I thought the love plot was terribly done and could have been better written by a 10 year old, but the gameplay itself is up my alley.



.........I LIKE STAT TWEAKING!!!!!!! :love:

[iluvpenelo]

FFVIII is probably my third favorite Final Fantasy, but it's probably close to last on my list of favorite games.

Oh, it was interesting in the first disc and halfway into the second one, but the story took a boring turn, and I found myself only playing it to finish the game because I had invested so much time and effort into it, rather than excited and wanting to play because I was actually interested in the story.

What did it in for me? Mainly the fact that they threw Ultimecia in as if it was a last minute decision on Square's part. More like, "Oh, by the way*laughs*...Edea's not really evil....just some crazy woman in the future. Who is she you say? ....Well, we'll make the rest of the story up as you continue completing your thousands of side quests."

The draw system was a bit inefficent, compared to VI and VII. You could be in an intense battle and need to cast Haste or some other support magic to insure your victory and remember in the middle of battle that you used the last one that your party had while trying to finish off that annoying random encounter with that Tonberry a couple minutes ago. It was much easier drinking an Ether and being done with it.



With the exception of FFIX, I find that I generally agree with you. FFVII has been sitting on my very dusty shelf since I beat it. I only played it twice, and that was it. It was an okay game, but it definitely wasn't the almighty game that a lot of Final Fantasy fans swear it is. Frankly, I find myself playing FFIX a lot more than any FF game...even if only to see if I can kill off Kuja faster than my time before. And at least the story was mildly interesting.


my sentiments exactly. couldnt have said it better

[m4tt]

You are so wrong!

FFVIII is not only better than VII and IX!

Is the best game Ever!

Opinions are not wrong. You may not agree with them, but they are not wrong.

In my opinion, FFVIII was the worst game ever created. I'd rather play Pong for 70 hours than FFVIII.

[Megumi]

Ooh my, this is more of a question of different opinions, not so much as the gaming quality... Personally, I wouldn't even go and compare them since all the games are so different. FFVIII was just simply so out there... If you think of it the same way (straightforward) as FFVII or IX, it'll just be like a creation of a 10 year old kid, sure. But when you add such things as the R=U theory, it suddenly gets a whole lot more interesting. That pure logics that everything wouldn't so happy ending-like at least facinates me, though I myself might be "out there", too. My opinion is that either the people at Square were really cunning or simply extremely LUCKY. But for its "mystical" atmosphere, FFVIII was more than just finger muscle work for me. It actually raised some interesting thoughts, for example of time-paradoxes and time. Something that a game very rarely does...

[iluvpenelo]

as for those time theory paradox things, chrono cross raised them in my mind. and the HIS DARK MATERIALS books

[aeris2001x2]

dont forget the Legacy of Kain-Soul Reaver seris. those had fantasic time pardadoxs. :)

[Codak]

You either like it or ya don't.

Why continue to keep thinking about things you feel to be negative? No wonder some of you hate this game, you're full of thinking about the bad things in it and not the good things.

And if you can't think of anything good to say, don't say anything at all. All you're doing is annoying people that disagree with you. :rolleyes2

[aeris2001x2]

yeah thats right, stop picking on ffVIII :D

[Codak]

Stop picking on everything.

[aeris2001x2]

yeah, worship ffVII instead! *transmits brainwashing waves to ensnare victims*

[Ancient Goddess]

You either like it or ya don't.

Why continue to keep thinking about things you feel to be negative? No wonder some of you hate this game, you're full of thinking about the bad things in it and not the good things.

And if you can't think of anything good to say, don't say anything at all. All you're doing is annoying people that disagree with you.

Well, I can't speak for everyone here, but I was responding to the original question, which iluvpenelo asked if he was alone in thinking that FFVIII was inferior to the other Final Fantasies....generally in a thread like this one, you'll hear a lot of people discuss the bad points in the game, in order to prove their point that it is indeed inferior, as well as agreeing with the person who start this thread.

And as for annoying people who disagree with me, everyone's entitled to an opinion, and being on a forum tends to allow people to express them. Everyone doesn't agree with everyone...it's a fact of life.

[aeris2001x2]

imagine how boring life would be if we all agreed :(

[Codak]

I'm not saying agree.

It's just antagonizing for someone to begin a discussion that contradicts the purpose of the place their discussing in.

Someone wouldn't walk into the NRA Headquarters and yell at the NRA leaders simply because that person opposes personally owned firearms.

[Ancient Goddess]

It's just antagonizing for someone to begin a discussion that contradicts the purpose of the place their discussing in.



The topic was discussing how FFVIII was a bad game, or one of the least bests. If you read some of the posts, you'll notice that many people agree with the one who began the thread, and expressed their opinions about how they disliked FFVIII. We weren't exactly negative about it....just adding our input.

I'm not intending to come off as a b****. I know that a lot of people tend to draw that conclusion about me, and I just wanted to clear that up, before you start taking my statements more seriously. I just like stating my opinion.



imagine how boring life would be if we all agreed

Indeed.

[Del Murder]

Yes, it was inferior to VII and IX. It was still good though.

[Iceglow]

yeah, worship ffVII instead! *transmits brainwashing waves to ensnare victims*

Hah but my mind is just too powerful for one person to ensnare instead I will ensnare you to worship of all games Barbies driving game mwahhhaahaahahahahaha *evil laugh*

[Codak]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! :eek:

[Sir Laguna...]

And I'm just saying that FFVIII is far superior to previous FF, not only in a Technical way... its... its just much better. :tongue:

[GhandiOwnsYou]

Really.... Do we HAVE to do this every two freaking days? is there someone, ANYONE who can put a sticky topic at the top of the page? Maybe an Official Banning of VIII bashing posts? even a CONSTANT VIII bashing post just to centralize it. I mean, jebus. I HAVE to have posted in eight hundred of these things. We get it. FFVIII is a black and white topic. You hate and want to demolish each copy across the globe, or you love them and want to cuddle up next to your Squally Plush. Maybe even a LIST.

For:
Societyz Antidote

Against:
ILuvPenelo (No offense to you, just needed a random against name)

That would clear it up right fast. Nice Succinct tally of the Pos/Neg votes. But JESUS STOP MAKING THESE TOPICS!!!!! *rolls eyes*

My Rant is over. And in hopes this will be the LAST of these topics (which FLOOD the FFVIII forum) I hereby cast my Positive Vote for FVIII.

EDIT: Don't double post next time. -SD

[Ouch!]

Major spoilers below, be warned.

I have to agree with Ancient Goddess. The first disc and a half of FFVIII was awesome. I especially loved the beginning. I loved trying to beat the Fire Cavern as fast as I could and then trying to take out X-ATM092, that thing was awesome. Then shipping off to do the train mission and capture the fake President. Then through Galbadia, to the King's Tomb where you could go off to fight the Brothers, then back to Galbadia to assassinate the sorceress Edea.

The whole first disc, every step of the way, had something interesting for you to do. The plot wasn't anything special, but that's because it was still developing. What it developed into was a monster.

The second disc lost everything the first disc had. It slowly turned into list. Do this, then this, then this. With a couple things on the side that were available but nothing special. At the end of the second disc, it just turned for the worst. It was horrible. Ultimecia was so irritating. She has to go down as one of the worst villains ever.

I like a villain to be present at some point, egging you on as you go. Sephiroth (or JENOVA if you go by that theory) kept you chasing him the whole game. You knew who he was. You could identify him as a bad guy. Kuja was introduced at the end of the first disc and slowly became more prominent, but you had other people to hate as well. Even in X you had Sin to identify as an enemy. VI had Kefka. IV had Golbez, you always had someone to push you along. FFVIII had Edea, until they wrote her off as possessed and then she lost all her powers and wasn't even a threat anymore.

Not to mention the love story. For the first two discs, Squall writes Rinoa off as an irritation. He doesn't have any feelings for her, except during the dance, but that was when he didn't know her and it was just curiousity. Then after she goes comatose, he starts flipping out about how much he loves her and that he might never hear her voice again or anything like that- he sounded like Cloud after Aeris died, but he had actually showed affection before that.

Not to mention Square's use of time travel. It just confusing everything. You have to be very careful when you use something like time travel, especially when you're going to make it very important in the story. They never made it clear exactly what time compression was going to be like. Past, present, and future together... then why, when time compression began, did we only see Ultimecia's castle in the future? I know it wasn't complete but even still, there wasn't any hint of the past- which would have been slightly more interesting.

Sure, I have beefs with the other games, but I can't write as much as I have about why they suck.

[Codak]

In a war-torn world, you think your enemy leaders are gonna just stand in front of you? =p

Pretty nice review though.

[mtyclb]

FFVII was better than FFVIII & FFIX combined.
But I think FFVIII was better than FFIX.

[Ancient Goddess]

Not to mention the love story. For the first two discs, Squall writes Rinoa off as an irritation. He doesn't have any feelings for her, except during the dance, but that was when he didn't know her and it was just curiousity. Then after she goes comatose, he starts flipping out about how much he loves her and that he might never hear her voice again or anything like that- he sounded like Cloud after Aeris died, but he had actually showed affection before that.


I totally agree with you. I think Square was centered on trying to throw in a variety of elements that appealed to everyone, and the romance setting is something that failed miserably.

I can see Squall getting used to Rinoa because they work together, and fight occasionally, but yeah...the point when they decided to "reveal" Squall's feelings towards Rinoa was a shock to me. I mean, the first time I played it, I knew that if there was a romance, it would have to be of Squall and Rinoa...but the funny thing is, they went into more detail about Quistis' feelings for Squall than Rinoa ever did. Square might as well made them hook up instead of their other choice.


In a war-torn world, you think your enemy leaders are gonna just stand in front of you?

No, but I'd expect a significant character in the story to be a little more present than Ultimecia was. Kuja in IX you met in the first disc. Kefka was in the beginning as well...even Sephiroth made cameos in the start of the game. They said nothing about Ultimecia's presence until at least the third disc. When she was unveiled, I found myself wanting to cease playing because the idea of Square throwing her in as a second thought seemed too unrealistic to me. I know it's just a game, but if they wanted people to take it a little more seriously, they'd have to do a better job than that.

[nik0tine]

They are all great games. They are all very unique in their own way, and for me, it's very hard to say one is better than the other. However, FF8 does have a special place in my heart, as it was what introduced me to the series.

[GhandiOwnsYou]

The whole thing is an FF VIII/ IX spoiler

except she wasn't introduced in the end. her NAME was, but considering you had been fighting against her various possessions since TIMBER, you can't really argue that she was "thrown in".... And for the Kuja Comment, may I ask who the final boss was in Ix? Granted, its been a few years, but as i remember, it was some kinda of random cosmic doodad dealing with Time. how is that Kuja again?

[aeris2001x2]

The whole thing is an FF VIII/ IX spoiler

except she wasn't introduced in the end. her NAME was, but considering you had been fighting against her various possessions since TIMBER, you can't really argue that she was "thrown in".... And for the Kuja Comment, may I ask who the final boss was in Ix? Granted, its been a few years, but as i remember, it was some kinda of random cosmic doodad dealing with Time. how is that Kuja again?

the last boss was clearly Death incarnate but he appearedbecause the cosmic battle against Kuja had proved(to him) that all life exists to end .

So while he was the last boss, he was not directly manipulating Kuja or Garland or what ever. . so he is not the main villain.

[Ancient Goddess]

The whole thing is an FF VIII/ IX spoiler

except she wasn't introduced in the end. her NAME was, but considering you had been fighting against her various possessions since TIMBER, you can't really argue that she was "thrown in".... And for the Kuja Comment, may I ask who the final boss was in Ix? Granted, its been a few years, but as i remember, it was some kinda of random cosmic doodad dealing with Time. how is that Kuja again?

Actually, I do somewhat agree...but the fact is, Square didn't do a good job explaining things 'til the end. They lead you to believe that it was Edea and they didn't really mention anything about possession until Disc Three. Some people may call that pathetic thing a plot twist, but I call it a joke. And when they did explain it, or try to, it devalued the game. The crew was like, "Well, we don't know what to do or fight since Edea's okay.....oh wait, there's someone else in the future? Let's go!".

And no, Kuja was not the final boss in IX, but he was the villian in it. He actually played a more significant part than Ultimecia did. That was my point. I don't think it's been said that Kuja was the final boss, just the villain in it. And aeris2001x2...that is a good point.

[iluvpenelo]

First off, Im a dude. Secondly, i (personally, ME) agree with zaphier and ancient godess, ultimecia came from nowhere and i found that insanely irritating. and also, the fact that they were all in the same orphanage when they were little?? i found that absolutely ridiculous.