underrated?

there might be something about this elsewhere here but i failed to see it so im posting this....
ive gone through VIII many.. many.... many times and i love it its one of my favorite games, but there are so many people who absolutly HATE it... i never realy understood why... the only thing i ever came up with is because of how much of a change it was from VII and people generally dont like change too well... i felt the character had much more emotion to them i really got to know squall and Squall is my favorite FF character... but i would like to hear some thoughts on why you think this Masterpiece is so hated and underrated... or tell me why possibly YOU hate this game....

By the fanboys here, yes, it's underrated, because it doesn't have their precious Sephiroth in it. By the world at large, it was quite overrated.

I think that, after 7, people was expecting too much from 8 so they didn't really want to pay any attention. I think it's great.

to UnGod Squall:

I have been wondering about the same thing. I absolutely worship VIII, it's the greatest thing ever, and even tho I'm right now playing FFVII for the first time and I do think it's great, it will never match VIII.
I've noticed while comparing VIII to VII and X, that in many ways it seems to be an experiment. There's a lot of stuff there that no other FF has, as far as I know. Maybe that can be one thing that angers people.
I've been trying to ignore the bad things people say about it. I know it's great, they apparently don't, so their loss. Please do visit my VIII-centered website www.geocities.com/kamruse :)

Although I do like it, I think it doesn't stand up with the other FF's, and there are a lot of things that I didn't like, like the magic being so weak, no equipment, too similar characters, almost no good abilities... Also a lot of things in the story stayed undeveloped in my opinion.

Personally I am big FFVIII fan too...
I think it is really really underrated...
lot of FF fans dislike it because it was different from traditional FF
and ppl didnt like Junction system which was a change was more complex then equipping stuff to learn it...
I think it was great great game...

No, its overated. Now Final Fantasy tactics, THAT was underated.

I agree, FFT was definitely over shadowed by FF7 due to a bad release date.
I think alot of people disliked the almost over-realism in VIII. Personally I liked it, even if VII did have a better plot.....im my opinion.

I like FF8. I like junctioning, I like the characters, and I like the plots.

*shrugs*

There's a lot of people that are a lot more picky than me. They're the ones that shun all the movies they see, etc. Unless something's *really* bad, I don't mind. And there's some things I find fanfrickin'tabulous that people are like 'wtp?' about.

but anyways, some people just like to nitpick. or they're not easily satisfied or something.

I just know it's an awesome game and I like it probably the best of the ffs I've played so far. . . which is most of them.

chaos: Underrated? Hardly from what I've seen. Although, the game is quite good, fanboys/girls really seem to get to me.

I liked FF 8 alot but i just think FF 7 was better. It had a better plot and i liked the materia system.

I dont see why, everytime someone dislikes someone else's favorite game, that person has to be discredited. It's not simply "Oh, they didnt like it" it's "They didnt understand" "It was too complex for them" "They're just blinded by VII". and so on.

No, a lot of people just didnt like it. For all the genuine reasons people have for liking it, others have just as many genuine reasons for disliking it.

people mention how great the materia system is... but i think it brought too much similarities to FFIII(VI) Esper system.... FFVIII was a huge change from the tradition rpg as a whole... i mean i love how Squall at the start doesnt even want to be the leader.... and let alone understand why everyone wanted him to be

I personally like FF8 better. I mean, why FF7 is so cool anyway?
Don't want to discredit things but FF8 has the coolest story.

I do love VIII's story, like everything else in the game, but VII's story is also great. You know it's a true FF-story when you just can't wait to hear more :)

I agree. I played it before I had heard anything about it online, and I absolutely loved it. Definitly my most favorite game ever.

Then when I got online and saw how many people hated it, it was really depressing. I was amazed how many people hated Rinoa. It makes me so sad. Yuna annoyed me far more then Rinoa ever did. (In her defense however, the voice acting is probably to blame for a lot of that...)

I suppose I'll list my reasons for disliking the game, then.

First off, what I did like. I enjoyed the overall gameplay (the feel of it, the scenes, etc) and I very much liked some of the secondary characters. The card game was very fun. The opening FMV blew me away.

Now, what I didnt. We'll start with the battle system. I didnt like drawing magic. Contrary to popular belief, it doesnt make one an idiot to dislike the system... I found it very tedious to sit for hours and hours drawing magic, which was neccesary to junction to your stats. Square created the 'monsters level with you' deal to prevent the need for level-grinding, and just added a feature that is as tedious and useless leveling.

The characters. Rinoa is probably the most horrid thing I've ever encountered in a game. She was selfish and very childish. For example, her Forest Owls endeavor was not simply to free the city, but instead to make her father angry. She throws tantrums and essentially gets over the death of her boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend) in an hour's time and proceeds to throw herself at Squall. You have to save her at least five times. FIVE TIMES. At least, with other annoying Square girls, they could take care of themselves for the most part.

Now Squall, he was cool at first. Then, for no reason at all, he does a 180 and starts freaking out over Rinoa and falling for her. Okay, fine.

Now I could deal with those two if it wasnt for the fact that they were so important. Square completly ignored the wonderful, interesting other characters; Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Seifer, and Zell. They could have done so much with them, all they really developed was the "OMG you're all from the same orphanage you just forgot" and I use the word 'develop' very loosely.

Now, those are the reasons I dislike this game. I play FF for story and characters, and when the characters are that horrid, it makes it extremely difficult for me to enjoy.

And no, I dont love VII, either.

It's underrated by those who think it's a bad FF and a bit overrated by those who think it's the greatest game ever.

I agree, save for one thing. I think it's underrated by those who think it's the worst game ever. It's most certainly not.

Yea, FF8 is FAR from the whorst! Now, Tetris... THAT is the whorst game ever! :p
(not really... I guess there's much whorse games out there, but I really hate tetris) :D

I really like FF8, but I don't think its underrated - not like poor FF9 or FF5 or anything like that. Most people who dislike FF8 still admit that the graphics were amazing compared to 7, and that the soundtrack is one of the best FF soundtracks. However, most detractors had a problem with the plotline, which I agree is realtively weak compared to some other games:
1. Ulty came in so late in the game (begining of disc 3 was the first time we'd even really heard of her), that she was confusing as a villian. Sure, Edea being possessed was somewhat of a switch, but they dragged that on too long. To really hate an enemy you have to know who they are.
2. FF8 gave us some awesome characters, like Quistis, Irvine, Seifer, etc, but focused so much on Squall and Rinoa that we never really got to explore these other characters as much as we should have.
3. Even I thought the sudden "oh my God, we all grew up together as kids and forgot!" thing was kind of lame. They should have played up Squall and Ellone's heritage more instead - that was much more interesting and surprising, and fit with the "Fate" theme.

Long story short - its a great game, and doesn't deserve a lot of the crap it gets, but I don't think its underrated. It's still one of the most popular FFs.

As I dislike the game, I'll be the first to agree with Shiva. The graphics were great (along with the character design, which is better than IX's... I really disliked the '8 year olds with big heads' thing) and the music was wonderful.

8 year olds with big heads thing

lol thats funny stuff :D

I don't like this game. I've tried to like it and I even WANT to like it, but I just doesn't.

My first impression when I first saw the game was that it didn't look like a Final Fantasy. The realistic looks and lack of fantasy elements was a dissapointment, but I newer got an opportunity to play it for myself.

Years later, I'm playing through the whole series, and after completing FFVII, I'm looking forward to a game I've never played before, even though I didn't like the look of FFVIII. After all, I had heard a lot of good things about the game, and it could still be a good game even if it didn't feel like a FF.

At the beginning I thought this was going to be a great game, but it didn't take too long before I discovered it's faults. A boring battle system, with few good abilities and too much focus on the stats. Stats that required you to use time drawing from monsters, which is boring ... The way Ultimecia was (barely) introduced ... The summon animations took way too long time (nice for toilet breaks and when you wanted to make some tea, though) ... Most of the game felt too linear (not the worst FF in that regard, though) ... And all those times where you saw a FMV/event, then had to go search for the right person to talk to, then had to go find another right person to talk to, and then got to see another FMV/event again. Like when Balamb Garden was attacked by that other Garden.

For the last two discs I just didn't bother about all those boring random encounters, just ran from the battles instead. Even though the bosses became harder after then, it still wasn't enough to redeem the game.

OMG I dont understand whats wrong with u ppl...
y do u want to waste ur time drawing magic from a monster, and then complain its boring...
when all u need to do is simply refine cards and get spells...
It even gave u the freedom of no random encounters...
If u dont play game efficiently its not games fault...

btw I agree with what someone said before that is there is ant underrated it would be FFT... :(

i dont understand how some people say they draw magic for hours... ive gone through VIII like 10 times at least and ive never spent hours JUST drawing magic... refining cards and the wizard stones is the easiest way to get magic spells, and i very much agree... that its not the game fault if you dont exploit the games easier methods... it appears to me that a lot of people just arent open to this game, they find the things they hate before accually thinking about it... its hard to appreciate a game when you start off hating it...

Why draw at all? :greenie:

Way to ignore every other point everyone's made, UnGod and Des.

Refining cards and items was just and boring and dumb to me as drawing magic. It was a stupid system. I suppose that makes me an idiot, right?

Yeah I agree with Abominable, some people just don't like certain things. The game had many aspects that I could see certain types of people being discouraged by.

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Refining cards and items was just and boring and dumb to me as drawing magic. It was a stupid system.

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THANK YOU.

Everything about the battle system reeked to me. EVERYTHING. I personally didn't even like the fact that the monsters leveled up with you, bc then no matter what I did the battles were still just as annoyingly difficult. GRRRRR.

The story was ok, I enjoyed it.....I just can't stand going through the horrible gameplay just to experience the story again. Blah.

Love FF8, but the battle system can go to hell.

i understand your reasons for not liking it, but that same reason is a reason why i DO like it... a lot of final fantasys to hold a love/hate relationship with a lot of people, we could go forever on who is wrong and who is right, but really no one is right and no one is wrong... its not like im here to change someones point of view, i was just wondering if anyone else felt the same way i do about FF8... a lot of people do... a lot of people dont

This game is the best ff ever made and will be because everything about it was brilliant, so it was under-rated in that sense. i think some people didnt like it because it was a more serious game than it predocessors, which some lifetime players of ff didnt want to accept. i hope that they make another game like this, or even better a sequel of some sort ;)

Yes, but no one is insinuating you're dumb for liking it, so please do us the same favor.

The Junction/Draw system was not difficult, it was annoying.

And FFVIII fan... really, gimme a break. More serious? There are plenty of serious FF games. I really dont think it was that terribly serious anyway. There were plenty of funny, odd scenes in there, as much as any other really. The main theme wasnt that it was serious, but that it was romantic, and while almost every FF had a bit of romance, this one made it the main focus. Which can be good, but in VIII it just served to spotlight two characters and shun the rest.

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Originally Posted by FallenAngel411

Everything about the battle system reeked to me. EVERYTHING. I personally didn't even like the fact that the monsters leveled up with you, bc then no matter what I did the battles were still just as annoyingly difficult. GRRRRR.

The story was ok, I enjoyed it.....I just can't stand going through the horrible gameplay just to experience the story again. Blah.

Love FF8, but the battle system can go to hell.

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XD. Since when was a monster in FFVIII hard anyway?

The intressting thing is... in my opinion, the battle system was the good part of FF8. Story and characters could have been done much better but the battle system was great. The only bad thing was that you could be a god by just drawing/refining a few times... and that the battles where to easy. But other than that, everything about the battles were perfect. Oh, and I also have to say that most magics sucked when used. Since your stats are being wasted when you're using spells, they should have been extremely powerfull, not extremely crappy.
But that's just my opinion. :cool:

it's pretty cool when meltdown does consistant 9999 damage though ^_^ one of the more useful spells.

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Originally Posted by rubah

it's pretty cool when meltdown does consistant 9999 damage though ^_^ one of the more useful spells.

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Yea, there's a few usefull spells. But 95% of the spells in the game are just crapp. And the few spells that actually are good are almost overpowered instead. Aura and Meltdown can turn a tough foe into a Bite Bug.

You gotta have balance somewhere.

it's like having 1/2 * 2/1 and getting 1, instead of just 1*1 to get 1.

(of course 1/2 would be scan. Hateful thing)

Wow i couldnt agree more..FF8 is AMAZING!!!! It's the most original FF by far and i respect that phenominly (er however thats spelled :rolleyes2 ) like someone stated earlier pepole cant adapt to change...especially pepole who dont appreciate things for what they are...but without change *gulps* everything would be the same....and thats **Boring** and noone likes to be bored :p i can understand why pepole would hate it...but you gotta respect it...if you dont then you dont understand FF and you dont understand rpgs and above all you dont understand PANDAS!! (ok maybe not pandas..or rpgs..but ff definatly :cool: )

my favorite one so far :) . the best memories lie in there :love: :p . i had a great time in FF7 too, but FF8 was the one that started it all :jap: . i started to write my own fanfics and everything after it :jap: . i don't think it was underrated ;) , but it sure seemed to be that way for FF9 :mad: .

ill tell ya what, i have been playin the game since feb. and i am stuck on disc 2. i think the graphics are terrible. i really got into the game until i got stuck. i never use walkthroughs or cheats i like to figure it out. i just beat ff9, today, it was excellent. my fav one is ffx of course, and i still have all the other ones to play.

another thing ive noticed, is it seems to me that a lot of the ones who really dont like it are the ones who picked up on the FF series around IX or X.. its hard to play a modern game and go back to one which in every way is obselete.. ive tried getting a few of my friends into VII and VIII but they talk crap on it before they start because of they "blocky" graphics... they just cant get over that to get into them.. but right now he got X and loves it because it has better graphics and such...

ive been playing FF since the US release of FFII in 1991 so when i look back at VII and VIII graphics i still see them as amazing, sure 9 and 10 have sharper graphics and a bit more developed features, but that doesnt remove any of the greatness of VIII or VII does it?

I've been playing FF as long as you have, UnGod. Good way to generalize people, though.

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it seems to me that a lot of the ones who really dont like it are the ones who picked up on the FF series around IX or X.

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Nope. While technically I played ff5 first, I played ff8 after a year or two of playing ffx and x-2.

The graphics were a bit of a shock, but I got used to them quickly. So really unless you have a lot of materialistic (graphicalistic?) people, it's a null point.

very true, but im just saying that there are a lot of people who put graphics above anything else when picking up a game, and when people look back at VII and VIII they just dont even give them a chance... sorry if i was misunderstood

That's really not the case with the Playstation FF games. People are obsessed with VII, it's their big hit and still sells copies. The graphics are far worse than VIII, so that isnt the reason people arent liking VIII. I played VIII as soon as it came out, so it was top of the line graphics for me.

FFVIII...

Gameplay? Decent.
Graphics? Good.
Music? Awesome.
Story? Downright awful.

No real villain. No secondary character development. Cheesy lovestory. Useless whore as a love interest.

C'mon, Squall wasn't even in love with Rinoa. Who in their right mind would be? We all know that he really wanted to get some "gunblade practice" in with Seifer.

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Originally Posted by UnGod Squall

Squall is my favorite FF character...

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he's my fav. too that's why i'm rinoa besides other reasons....!!! :tongue: but it is a really good game it was the first one i bought!!!!! :D :D :tongue: :tongue: :D :D

haha, well im glad at least some people agree with me, i love all the games, they all have their ups and downs(very low amount of downs in my mind) this debate will never end... everyone telling their side of whats wrong with it, and others saying how awesome it is.. but one thing im going to say is the people who dont like it or 9 or 10 saying the whole series is going to sh** when the games sell and they will continue to sell because of people like me who will continue to buy them ( and most other Square products) when they are released

SQUARE WILL LIVE FOREVER!!!!!

no game is perfect :mad: , but FF8's one of those near-perfect one i've played... :D

I Liked the story! I thought Squall's story was very beleiveable. A few people (Here and Elsewhere) That he changed too much. I don't think he did. I think he was showing signs of that side all the way threw. To all thoes who think Squall Had a bad story please play the game with you're Eyes open!

I think the game is horribly, horribly overrated by some people. I hated it more than any other game I've ever played. I'm not saying it's the worst--that credit probably goes to Superman 64--but it's my least favorite. But then, FFIX is my favorite game in the series (I'm not going to try and argue that it's the BEST one) and a lot of people disliked it, so, oh well.

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Originally Posted by MJN SEIFER

I Liked the story! I thought Squall's story was very beleiveable. A few people (Here and Elsewhere) That he changed too much. I don't think he did. I think he was showing signs of that side all the way threw. To all thoes who think Squall Had a bad story please play the game with you're Eyes open!

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He did change too much. He did a complete 180 for no real reason. And guess what? I did have my eyes open! Both times!

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Originally Posted by UnGod Squall

another thing ive noticed, is it seems to me that a lot of the ones who really dont like it are the ones who picked up on the FF series around IX or X.. its hard to play a modern game and go back to one which in every way is obselete.. ive tried getting a few of my friends into VII and VIII but they talk crap on it before they start because of they "blocky" graphics... they just cant get over that to get into them.. but right now he got X and loves it because it has better graphics and such...

ive been playing FF since the US release of FFII in 1991 so when i look back at VII and VIII graphics i still see them as amazing, sure 9 and 10 have sharper graphics and a bit more developed features, but that doesnt remove any of the greatness of VIII or VII does it?

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I can see why alot of ppl are like this, especially fanboys. (not trying to diss your mates here or anything) But all they are care about is the fighting and the graphics. They dont much care about the actual STORY, which is what FF is all about. The friends you've tried to get to play the earlier ones obviously dont play games for the value of the storyline and getting to know the characters. They just care about the adrenline fights and supershinyprettygreat graphics. Well, graphics a good game do not make, as Yoda would say. :D Its their loss.

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Originally Posted by TheAbominatrix

He did change too much. He did a complete 180 for no real reason.

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Allthough I am the first person to admit that I really liked FF8, (its probably in my top 3 fave FF's) I have to agree with this. I generally liked the Squall/Rinoa thing but I have to say it was so.................wtf??!! at first. I mean, he completely ignored her, really badly. And that bit when he saved after the Edea parade? from those 2 statues-come-to-life? She was on her damn knee's next to him and he was just shaking her off! Like she was worth nothing! And then he's all "Rinoa! I cant live without you .etc Say my name!!!" It was too much of a 180 for me...but like I said before, I do actually like them together. It just should have been developed way better then it was.
I know the whole thing of 'You dont know what you've got till its gone' applys to Squall when Rinoa is in a coma....but its taking it abit far. It should have been showed earlier that he really had feelings for her. Because you can argue alot that he was such a loner he didnt know how to deal with his feelings let alone showing her them, but theres a limit to how far that arguement can go.

I still love them though :D

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Originally Posted by amratis

I can see why alot of ppl are like this, especially fanboys. (not trying to diss your mates here or anything) But all they are care about is the fighting and the graphics. They dont much care about the actual STORY, which is what FF is all about.

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That's what I hated more than anything about the game, actually, and I've played V, VI, VII, IX, X, X-2, and Tactics Advance.

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Originally Posted by Azar

That's what I hated more than anything about the game, actually, and I've played V, VI, VII, IX, X, X-2, and Tactics Advance.

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I was kind of talking about FF's in general and not just VIII, but anywho.
VIII doesnt have the best FF story in my opinion, but I really liked it most of the time, I love playing through it and getting swept away by it again. The whole....'orphanage' scene still makes me shudder though.

edit - I havent played as many as you, but I've played VI,VII,VII,IX,X and X-2

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Originally Posted by TheAbominatrix

He did change too much. He did a complete 180 for no real reason. And guess what? I did have my eyes open! Both times!

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In what way did he change to much? He was ALWAYS like that he just wasn't open at first. That's the only way he changed - That he was eventualy able to open out. It's very belivable - I used to be like that.

He wasnt always like that. His inner monologue and actions protrayed one type of person, and then he abruptly changes into another. He treats Rinoa like dirt, and then without warning is obsessed with her. Those changes could be feasible if given time, but they were not. People do not change so abruptly for no reason at all. And no, he didnt have reasons. His monologue tells us so.

Squall went through some very traumatic moments as a little kid, abandoment on several occassions, loneliness, exclusion. This can mess with a person's head, make them grow up with severe personality and social skill problems, which Squall has several of. Basically, Squall dealt with all of this by putting up a wall when he was really young, and that wall stayed so ever-present that it became who he was, even to himself. Sometimes when a lie is portrayed as truth for so long it becomes truth. Rinoa circumvented that wall, and made Squall feel something other than pain, especially when she went into her coma. And this event broke through Squall's wall, made him see that all the problems of his life--his bad personality, his unwillingness to speak, his apathy, his bad social skills, his inability to like anyone on any level--were all really his doing. She made him look at himself, something he had probably never done because he didn't care. While Squall's monologue during his moment of revelation could have been MUCH better worded, that is what happened. The writer's of this game left a lot of Squall's character to circumstance and implication, which is sometimes a bad thing.

I find FFVIII to be a bit underrated, but FFVIII is an aquired taste, some people just aren't going to like or understand it, and that's just the way it is.

I was wondering when you would get here xP Anyway, SRL knows how I feel about that, I really dont agree with his explination and I never will. VIII's character development was horrid, even with the two characters they did focus on.

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Originally Posted by TheAbominatrix

I was wondering when you would get here xP .

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Yeah, I thought I'd chime in for sport. :D

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Originally Posted by SeeDRankLou

Yeah, I thought I'd chime in for sport. :D

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xP Curse you, SeeDRankLou! Cuuuuurse yoooooou!!

:D

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He treats Rinoa like dirt, and then without warning is obsessed with her.

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The idea is that he couldn't admit what he fealt - so he got around it by keeping away - I never really thought he "Treated herlike dirt" though - that's exagerating

I really dont think so. He gave her the cold shoulder and made it abundantly clear that he didnt want her around. He never makes any indication at all that he has feelings he doesnt want to admit, and that's saying a lot given that we have his inner monologue on display constantly. One minute she annoys him, the next he cant live without her.

I'm probly anoying you now but I think the fact he acted that way sort of dropped hints to what he fealt.

Ok...well if he didnt treat her like dirt...how would you put it?

Using my example from earlier, when him and Irvine save her from the Lizard statue things in the Parade-sequence she's on her knee's next to him, hanging on to his arm and he literally just shakes her off, quite roughly actually, he doesnt even LOOK at her. Generally you get the impression he only saved her because he couldnt just let her DIE, not because he cared personally for her but because he would have saved anyone he saw in trouble. If you were starting to have feelings for someone...would you treat them like that? Especially after what's just happened, he doesnt even act friendly towards to her. He's like "Meh, get off me"

Like I said before, once it gets into it, its believeable (or at least I find it so), its just really badly developed before hand, and again, there is only SO FAR you can take the "he's a loner, he doesnt know how to handle/show his emotions" arguement. Even if you were seriously introverted like Squall is...you wouldnt treat her the way he does there.
Edit - And there are numerous more examples of this throughout the game before she goes into the coma.

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Originally Posted by amratis

Ok...well if he didnt treat her like dirt...how would you put it?

Using my example from earlier, when him and Irvine save her from the Lizard statue things in the Parade-sequence she's on her knee's next to him, hanging on to his arm and he literally just shakes her off, quite roughly actually, he doesnt even LOOK at her. Generally you get the impression he only saved her because he couldnt just let her DIE, not because he cared personally for her but because he would have saved anyone he saw in trouble. If you were starting to have feelings for someone...would you treat them like that? Especially after what's just happened, he doesnt even act friendly towards to her. He's like "Meh, get off me"

Like I said before, once it gets into it, its believeable (or at least I find it so), its just really badly developed before hand, and again, there is only SO FAR you can take the "he's a loner, he doesnt know how to handle/show his emotions" arguement. Even if you were seriously introverted like Squall is...you wouldnt treat her the way he does there.
Edit - And there are numerous more examples of this throughout the game before she goes into the coma.

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Uhhh! He didn't look at her because he wasn't used to it - Actually it was that scene that made me think "I bet they Match up later"

And I was right!

You can interpret it how you want, and we can interpret it how we want. He treated her like dirt. Of course, I cant say I would have been any nicer given how much she annoyed me, but I know I wouldnt have turned around and been head over heels for her.

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Originally Posted by MJN SEIFER

Uhhh! He didn't look at her because he wasn't used to it - Actually it was that scene that made me think "I bet they Match up later"

And I was right!

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He wasnt used to it? So he acted like a complete JERK to her? Even squall being emotionally retarded....he WOULDNT have acted that way towards her if really cared he would of at least helped her up or something, hell you'd do that for someone you didnt even KNOW.

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Rinoa: I was scared... ...Really scared.

Squall: It's over now.

Rinoa: I was scared... I was really, really scared.

Squall: You're used to battles, aren't you?

Rinoa: I couldn't...I just couldn't. I couldn't fight alone...

Squall: (...You're not ready for all of this.) Better get going. I
haven't forgot your order. Just stay close to me.

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So where's the "Meh get off me!"? He seams ok here and Like I said this where I got suspicous of them. The only part which seams cold is the "You're used to battles" but he stops this when he finds she isn't. I really think this was the first sign of the game.

You're using just the script as an example. I'm talking about the body language, their physical actions. Watch that scene again and tell me if you honestly think he comes across as comforting.

I was playing the game as a typed the above...

Honestly, I like FF8, and in the past have written lengthy posts dissecting the characters, including Squall and Rinoa, and explaining why they behave the way they do. However, that was a long time ago and I don't feel like repeating myself.

THAT SAID, I believe it is theoretically possible, given a slew of motivations, for Squall to have done a 180 in the game. Given his crummy life and the issues he needs to go through - yet his expressed desire for change which occurs in his dreams, it is plausible. However, the problem is, we DON'T SEE IT IN THE GAME. As a graduate playwright and a screenwriter, I can give my professional opinion, that in FF8 Square did the following:
1. They came up with some great characters with interesting, complex backgrounds.
2. They came up with a great ending in which those characters had grown and changed.
3. They completly failed to evolve the characters from point A to point B in a logical or belivable manner.

Squall and Rinoa are a great idea for a couple - their differing backgrounds and personal issues should have a great deal of effect on one another, but we don't see it. We discover these things about the characters, some gameplay happens, and suddenly the characters are acting completely differently, with no real evidence of emotional change. Square really needed to work in Squall's softening towards Rinoa much more gradually - perhaps he doesn't act different in front of her, but keeps looking when she leaves the room, or argues with himself. Something. But they didn't, not really.

And thus, we have a lot of people who are irritated by the storyline and characters for just that reason. And although that didn't wreck the game for me (perhaps because I've rewritten it a bit in my head - lol), it really annoys others, and I don't blame them for that.

Well said, as usual, Shiva. I definitly agree.

Who cares what other people think. Screw the stupid reviews. If you want to play a game, play it.

Some people just HAVE to have everyone think they're right. It's pathetic.

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Originally Posted by TheAbominatrix

Well said, as usual, Shiva. I definitly agree.

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Thanks! :)

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Originally Posted by strawberryman222

Who cares what other people think. Screw the stupid reviews. If you want to play a game, play it. Some people just HAVE to have everyone think they're right. It's pathetic.

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Well, exactly. Everyone reacts to the game differently, so all opinions should be respected.

I'm a people and I like it...

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Originally Posted by MJN SEIFER

I was playing the game as a typed the above...

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That isnt answering my question.

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Originally Posted by amratis

That isnt answering my question.

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Ok then YES my opinions are still the same.

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Originally Posted by MJN SEIFER

Ok then YES my opinions are still the same.

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So, basically you're saying Yes, you do think he came across as comforting in that scene then? Ok

my brother hated all the ff games cause of turn based fighting

What turn based fighting?

Personally I think some people started the game rather biased
Because

1) the gaming magazines came down on it rather hard

Many people say it was hyped, but this was a time that I didn't have internet yet and thus I bought every freaking gaming magazine I could get my hands on (this includes english, french, german etc...) and they all dissed the game rather harshly

2) It wasn't ff7

We've all been there, you meet these characters, the great plot and you want to know what happens next...but those days, ff's didn't get sequels so boo on the next bunch for not being your friends from the last adventure
Boo on the new system because it isn't what you are used to
(Know what, I love the junctioning system, I used to *hate* the mp system with a vengeance after getting used to junctioning...not anymore now, I got used to the mp system again and I love it to bits, however I still prefer the junctioning system for its freedom)

3)No silver spoon

Rather harsh title, for which I apologize but it's the best I could come up with right now. The junctioning system was complex. Don't come running now that I'm telling that it was too complex for certain people or something. It wasn't. It was just complex.
Hell, first 3~4 times I couldn't leave garden without dying; I didn't get it. I somehow made it till the end without junctioning magic, I just got the GF part & the facts you had to appoint 'draw', 'GF' before you could do anything else than attack. So meh to the ff8 is for intelligent people only myth :rolleyes2 imho we can toss that one out of the window ^^ (there is an ff7 version of this myth to, I feel the same about that one: out the window I say ^^)
But along the way I slowly had begun to understand what we were supposed to do with the system and playing through the game a second time, I got it ^^ and I loved it.
The storyline wasn't handed to you on a silver platter either. In ff7 you could walk through the moving story on a paved path. Ff8 gave you a lot of exploring to do, if you went out of your way to adventure you could find out a lot more about your characters. Checking your computer in garden and walking around was a great way to really *get* the story and if you've done that it would surprise me that you should still think the story just focused about Squall and Rinoa. It did, like everything always focus around main characters, but the others were also very well develloped ^^ You just had to go out of your way a little, still I can understand no one would do that for a game they don't like. Which brings me to the next little item: the slow slow slow start of ff8. Many people I know were turned off by this. Things only really start happening at the (SPOILER)parade and then you're usually about 17 hours in the game (raise your hand if you could find that freaking (SPOILER)tomb right away, I sure couldn't.) Now it's considered a ff trademark to jump right into the acting in the beginning of the game: 5 min in the game you're already battling away right? Not so with ff8. I like the calm, it really fits with the story and sets the mood right imho. It gives you the chance (if you take it and don't stubbornly and mindlessly play on like an addicted fool like yours truly) to get to grips with the battle system. And each replay I really appreciate the slow start because it fits so well with the story, the calm before the storm, 'daily life' before the whirl of events that is to follow. But I can understand that some people were turned off by this.

4) The pc conversion

...was crappy...They did their best for the pc conversion of ff7, better graphics and polished up the music. They didn't do that for ff8 and that was a *big* turnoff after ff7's conversion for some people.



I like both ff7 and ff8. To bits even. But if I have to pick favourites: it would be final fantasy 8. Because while it might start off slow, it does pick up speed and keeps it. Final Fantasy 7 started of brilliantly and maybe even better than ff8 but I lost my drive around the half of the second disc (SPOILER)where it became a matter of 'keep chasing Sephiroth untill the end", yes the lucrecia bit and such were still very very good but after that it was just a great game imho, rather than the brilliance it showed in its first half

Just two things I would like to touch on:

(SPOILER)Ultimecia:

Imho there was no *switch* in baddies, you only see her in her true form. So while I can understand it, I can't share the same opinion as people who claim that you need to have a clair view of the 'baddy' right from the start. I like story twists like that.

Rinoa:

This is the only thing which I consider 'crap'. Why would she be 'slutty'?
I 've explained it more softly in the past, time and time again. If you want to read please look up my older posts, I'm tired of typing the same thing over and over again and wasting server space with the same things. I'll just do a little bit of comparing. Was Rinoa so different from Aeris or Tifa in that light? No. If anything Tifa was 'worse' in the behaviour that people hold against Rinoa. However I don't consider Tifa 'slutty'. I like Tifa's character ^^ (And no I don't think Rinoa is the ff8 version of Tifa, if anyone would be that it'd be Quistis, with Rinoa filling Aeris part. But I see them as different characters who just have certain characteristics in common)

Wow, this became a rather long post ^^ my apologies

Rinoa was far more alike to Aerith. Both were very very flirty. Tifa was very very shy with her feelings and never revealed them. Rinoa is very unlike Tifa.

Your reasons are valid, though of course there are many many other reasons, most of which have been stated in this thread. I would like to touch on the FFVII thing though, because I remember people on the internet all thinking FFVIII was a continuation of FFVII, these people of course having never played a Final Fantasy before VII. It was quite annoying, and I'm sure it pissed them off when Cloud didnt return for another game.