Quote Originally Posted by Goldenboko View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Yaridovich View Post
Is VIII's battle system really that much different from IV-IX, and X-2?

Or are you referencing the junction system rather than the battle system?

I don't think VIII would have been better as a movie. For one, it'd be longer than the Lord of the Rings movies, and those were pretty long.

I think that if it wasn't a game, I'd prefer a novelization rather than a film. Square has think about bad movies anyway.

Maybe Fabio could be on the cover as Squall.
Junctioning influenced the Battle System. Magic became useless, and even if it was useful, using it would weaken your characters. Skills like "Revive" made life useless. It became "Attack, Limits, Heal" and little else. I found little challenge in any of it because of this, most work was done in Junctioning before the battle.
But you removed the challenge by paying such a lot of attention to the battle system. For example, in the Ratchet & Clank series, you can (threw some serious work, especially in 4) get hold of the R.Y.N.O, which makes the game a breeze (especially in 4). But this doesn't mean Ratchet & Clank has a bad combat system in general. I have chosen to use this weapon that destabilizes gameplay.

So, if you want a challenge in VIII, then don't put in the Heal ability, or Junction as heavily as you have. It's the same thing with people who moan that XII plays itself, because you equip gambits, and then it beats the bosses for you. If that's a problem, don't equip gambits. Although I think that many people find a walkthrough which tells them what gambits to use, because they themselves can't play the game themselves.

I like the idea of VIII as a series. I don't think the game is short enough to make a movie. Here's my estimate.

Disc One:
  • Opening Scene
  • Infirmary (which is important because it introduces 2 important characters)
  • Dollet Mission (no Fire Cavern - use a flashback or something to explain GFs)
  • Graduation + Ballroom Dance
  • Quistis & the Training Centre
  • The Timber train ride + Laguna flashback
  • Timber Mission + other important Timber stuff
  • Galbadia Garden
  • Deling City
Disc Two:
  • Escape from Prison
  • The Missile Base
  • Balamb Garden - Faculty fight, re-activating the shelter, the fight with NORG etc.
  • Fisherman's Horizon
  • Balamb Town (although this could probably be cut)
  • Trabia (this would take a while - you've got Selphie's grief, and "the GF made us forget" scene which would take a while)
  • The Gardens Fight (this would take even longer - you've got Squall's "motivate the troops speech", rescuing Rinoa, fighting Edea a couple times, getting knocked out, etc).
Okay, I'm not going to continue, because I think my point is made that the game is way too long to fit adequately into a movie. And, I even forgot half of the flashbacks. But a series would have been awesome.