So I was sitting here wondering why I like X-2 over 8 and comparing their pros and cons. I decided one major reason I found 8 so boring was the cast of heroes. A good set of prtoagnists to play as definitely increases a game’s enjoyment and I don’t think I really liked any of FFVIII’s heroes.


Let’s start with the main hero and heroine; Squall and Rinoa. Their love story is contrived. Squall treats her like dirt all through Disc 1 pretty much. In disc 2 he actually was thinking about other things and hesitating while the entire party screamed “go save Rinoa!!!!”
Then BAM. Disc 3 and Squall can’t live without her. Now I fully appreciate the idea of not valuing something until it’s taken away but I think relationships should have foreshadowing and hints. Yes I guess you could use the front of the game and simple logic to deduce they’ll end up together but an in-story explanation would have been preferable.

As for the characters themselves...Squall is too easy so I’ll just focus on Rinoa.
Again, sudden abrupt character development with zero foreshadowing. In Trabia, she suddenly decides she doesn’t like to fight or want to fight.
“Well gee, aren’t you the head of a terrorist group? And aren’t you gonna fight in possibly hundreds of more battles after this?”
Rinoa: no needs for concern. By disc 3 this entire plot point will be forgotten as much as Seifer and Squall’s rivalry.

We move on to Quistis. She is blond and uh...bossy according to Irvine and thought she loved Squall.






Right.

Now we move onto Zell. He’s hyperactive, tries to b ea know-it-all, easily annoyed and likes hotdogs.





Right.

Finally we have Irvine. The man who obviously has problems firing things other than his gun as he hits on every woman around to compensate. I guess this was supposed to be funny...but it wasn’t.

Oh and then there’s Selphie. She’s cute so I’ll let her slide.

So that’s why I found 8 so dull. The heroes have to support the story and they failed horribly in this game for me.

Which cast did you find the worst then?