FFVIII Love Story

Let's discuss this here, so we can stop derailing Shorty's thread :monster:

I like it. The only part I didn't like was the floating through space stuff. That was overly cheesy for my tastes. But the rest I liked. I feel Rinoa pulled Squall out of his shell. And I've gone from hating someone/being annoyed by them to being in love. It happens.

I thought the love stroy helped us see a bit deeper in to Squall and who he was as a person. He was very guarded and closed off, but replaying it, I can see that a lot of the time he WANTS to open up, and Rinoa helped him do that. The scene when he's carrying her near FH is really touching to me.

I'm in agreement with you and touched on this briefly during my Final Fantasy VIII review. I saw the chemistry between them as early as disc one when Rinoa scolded how cold he came across to his companions and you see them growing even more if you have Rinoa in your party when you go to warn Balamb Garden about the in-coming missile strike, followed by that one scene on Fisherman's Horizon and their kinda, sorta date after his promotion a few scenes later.

I actually did like the space stuff, except for the fact that Rinoa should have been long dead after her life support gave out but that's another discussion.

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Originally Posted by shion

And I've gone from hating someone/being annoyed by them to being in love. It happens.

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:stare:

ANYWAY, I enjoyed the story. I thought it made sense for the characters, and yes it was incredibly cheesy in some place, but whatever. I had assumed and accepted that was the direction they were taking with the relationship from the get-go, so it worked.

lmao if you don't think Zell/Pig-tailed library girl is the best romance in any FF

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Originally Posted by shion

I feel Rinoa pulled Squall out of his shell.

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That is the whole story. You summed it it up perfectly.

I wonder how it would've turned out if they had gone the "Aerith-route" and let Rinoa die in space, and the party's motivation for the finale would have been vengeance. Even better if they had given you the option to go out and try to save her only to have it result in a bittersweet Game Over (because no convenient Ragnarok was there) as they slowly continue to drift until their eventual demise. That would've certainly... left an impact.

More ontopic, I think Squall's "sudden affection" for Rinoa at the start of Disk 3 wouldn't have seemed so sudden to some if the party members hadn't scolded Squall for giving up on her literally 1 hour before when she was hanging off the side of Balamb Garden.

I liked it for how it added depth to Squall's character. He is probably one of my favorite FF protagonists due to how different he is in what he says, what he thinks and what he feels. People call him a whined, when in fact he was acting like a professional, only we got to see his thoughts on the matter. People call his affection for Rinoa sudden, when even he was in denial about what he felt towards her. I've been ther, I can relate.

While the story itself is cheesy, and Rinoa does fall a little flat in the personality department compared to Squall (but really, who in FFVIII doesn't?), the way it changed Squall in what I consider a really natural progression (as in he's not suddenly a nice guy) is something I really appreciate.

Yeah, I think a lot of people really don't realize how much of what we see from Squall is his thoughts. He doesn't whine or complain hardly at all, he just mentally screams at the incredibly difficult positions he's thrust into. When Rinoa's hanging off the side, you can tell he wants to help her, but he's balancing the current slaughter of people under his command against what he wants to do, which is go save her. And everyone yells at him for it. Why did they put him in charge and give him their "full support" if they're going to complain when he actually acts like a leader and puts his command above his personal life?

This sort of thing happens a lot. Squall is shoved into frustrating and awkward positions, and has to cope with responsibilities and situations he never wanted. And going through those is how he grows up. Rinoa helps to pull him along and put him in more such situations, and I think their feelings develop fairly naturally as they both mature together.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

Yeah, I think a lot of people really don't realize how much of what we see from Squall is his thoughts. He doesn't whine or complain hardly at all, he just mentally screams at the incredibly difficult positions he's thrust into. When Rinoa's hanging off the side, you can tell he wants to help her, but he's balancing the current slaughter of people under his command against what he wants to do, which is go save her. And everyone yells at him for it. Why did they put him in charge and give him their "full support" if they're going to complain when he actually acts like a leader and puts his command above his personal life?

This sort of thing happens a lot. Squall is shoved into frustrating and awkward positions, and has to cope with responsibilities and situations he never wanted. And going through those is how he grows up. Rinoa helps to pull him along and put him in more such situations, and I think their feelings develop fairly naturally as they both mature together.

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Agreed so much and the others reaction in that moment annoy me. Squall's the only one acting how a leader is supposed to act and getting harped on and then later in disc 3 those same people are like, "Rinoa? Come on, man, there's more important things going on!" I wanted to throw blunt objects at them.

I liked the part where he was carrying Rinoa on the train tracks. Though if I were him I would have been making steam engine sound effects to make her laugh in order to see if she was faking being in a coma or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Sephex

I liked the part where he was carrying Rinoa on the train tracks. Though if I were him I would have been making steam engine sound effects to make her laugh in order to see if she was faking being in a coma or whatever.

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I almost forgot about that moment. I agree, I love it. That was the sort of scene that made me really fall in love with Final Fantasy VIII's characterization. I thought that Squall's thoughts and feelings were so honest and understandable then. He was so torn up, but still just so dang dedicated to finding a way to help Rinoa.