Best and worst parts of the game!

[chionos]

Best: CARDS! woo! Also the early fmvs with the garden, like garden crashing into Balamb...the fishermanlol.

Worst: Squall, I just hate the character. Just one of the worst characters in FF, and certainly the worst lead character in the series.

[Flying Arrow]

It bugged me too; you were basically forced to enter the Castle with not much else to do sidequest wise. Wasn't it due to memory limitations of the disc though? Having to store all the pre-rendered backgrounds of every single city, town and cavern onto one disc (disc 4) would've been impossible. Still though, I get what you mean

I'm pretty sure that it does have to do with memory limitations, but it was a huge disappointment especially after VII did such a good job with its world. I find it's almost always a bad idea to change a game's structure like this, especially if it's the last thing the player will take away from the game (being the end and all).

[Gamblet]

It bugged me too; you were basically forced to enter the Castle with not much else to do sidequest wise. Wasn't it due to memory limitations of the disc though? Having to store all the pre-rendered backgrounds of every single city, town and cavern onto one disc (disc 4) would've been impossible. Still though, I get what you mean

But it looked kind of cool when you went to the world map on the final disc and there were magical barriers around every city.

[Benjirino~!]

Best: The escape from XATM092. That entire scene is incredibly fun, and I'm always torn between destroying it and letting it chase me so that I can see that brilliant FMV and seeing Quistis wreck the living crap out of it.
Worst: D-District prison, without a doubt. Repetitive running up and down the same corridors? What is this? A Hannah-Barbera cartoon?

[Darylisgogo]

best: disk 2 Fisherman horizon kind of a nice refreshing breather in the game relax and enjoy storyline a bit and take a little break after all the hectic stuff at the beginning of disk 2. i almost wanted to say Trabia garden for the same reason.

worst: i'd have to agree with many here the prison was by far the worst.

[Silent Warrior]

Best... Well, it was probably too long since I played it for me to make a qualified choice, but now that I've seen it in writing, I actually thought that the return to Garden after Missile Base (NORG/Cid? Evacuation/gallivanting in the basement) was pretty intense.

Worst: As much of an anticlimax as it was when I finally came face to face with Ultimecia (we... got off on the wrong foot, ya), I think the last Laguna-sequence bugged me the most, actually.

[Leigh]

The best: I liked the fact that the game and scenario seemed to genuinely revolve around relationships with each other. I found it refreshing that the game focused more on the emotions of the characters. This in opposition to the usual recycled fare we normally get from an RPG; a bunch of generic archetypes who have to save the world from some mass impending doom.

The bad: The focus on romance was a wonderful addition. The outcome of this fantastic idea was decidedly woeful in my humble opinion. The whole saga was badly thought-out, and the chemistry between Squall and Rinoa was lacklustre at best, until the latter fell into a full-induced comatose state. I know a few men possibly prefer women like this, but I found it bizarre that the transformation of Squall is instantaneous upon the onset of Rinoa's condition. The same man who didn't flinch when she was being attacked by beasties during the segment dealing with the assassination of Sorceress Edea until heavily prompted by Irvine.

Probably read too much into this! haha

[MJN SEIFER]

^ If you thought that Squall "suddenly" got feelings for Rinoa during her coma, you did the exact opposite of reading too much into it, you missed most of the storyline. The romance between Squall and Rinoa was beautifull and brilliantly handled.

The following was initially written as a response to someone else - it is directly quoted, but it should portray my views.

Well, the key differences are that I liked the characters, and you seemingly didn't - so you may not take what I say seriously, but please, hear me out.

Firstly, I didn't find Rinoa annoying - she's one of my favorite characters in FF. I also noticed the chemistry in the relationship between her and Squall early on in the game, even when they are having their (deliberately) childish fights, which is a given sign in fiction (and real life in some cases). And yes, Squall was "silent", but that was because of his background - he'd been let down so many times in life he had given up expecting anything was going to get better.

It may seam like I'm starving for attention here, but I am just trying to help you understand my point - I actually went through a "Squall" like phase when I was younger (before I played FFVIII) - my life wasn't anywhere near as bad as Squall's, but a lot of things where happening, friends where leaving I was just not very good at making friends - I identified with Squall because of this, I have said this before, but he is my favorite FF character.

Squall is "silent", but we know from his thoughts that he does want to be more open, deep down there are many scenes that without these insights that would make Squall seam a much more uncaring person than he actually is.

Squall doesn't just "suddenly" fall in love with Rinoa - it happens gradually, like most Medias with a storyline FFVIII doesn't have a set timeline, so we don't know how much time has past between their first meeting, and time he acts more caring. Further more, he didn't begin to love her when he was in a coma either - it had been developing through out the game. There is definitely passion during the dance scene, He seams generally concerned for her safety when the Igniouns(sp?) have her cornered, just before the battle starts (even though, to me, they really don't look like they are make that much of an attempt to attack her - infact they look somewhat playful ) After the battle Squall is initially shocked by Rinoa's reaction - he says it's because he assumed she was "used to battles", but I think it's because he isn't used to people displaying emotion in front of him. No one, not even Quistis (who is revealed to have had a crush of sorts on Squall in the past) has shown this much in front of him. His demeanor then changes, he reassures Rinoa, that everything is ok and basically tells her to "stay close to [him]" There is a touching moment in the battle coming up where Rinoa states that she's alright if Squall is by her side - After that battle Squall is almost killed, and Rinoa reacts more directly and personally than anyone else (admittedly the only other people present are Irvine, Seifer and Edea, and none of them are going to react!) If you look at Squall during that scene - he seams to be more focused on Rinoa that anyone, or anything happening in that scene.


In disc two - there are some optional scenes of them together. Squall is still learning how to act around people, but the two of them seem to have neutral understanding of how each other are now, Rinoa makes comments on how Squall is "expected" to act a certain way. When there is a ceremony for Squall becoming the leader there is a very romantic scene between him and Rinoa - we see how close they are now becoming, and once again Squall's thoughts are there to help us understand that Squall has the potential to change and Rinoa is helping him do just that. She seams to be pushing him to talk about something, just to see if he will open up, he of course doesn't, but his thoughts show us, that he is simply scared that if he does then it will all be for nothing - nobody stays around Squall. He's not the kind of person to be loved, but why would he care so much about some one, he supposedly doesn't care about.

I also think the infamous orphanage scene (which, I absolutely loved, but I have a whole article in writing as to why) was semi instrumental in getting Squall to open up more, he has time to think about this even in game time, he had lost so much more than he ever realized, and now sees that every one (sans Rinoa) went through a similar time as him when he was younger, I think he felt a bit more assured then. I also think it gave him more strength to open up with Rinoa.

Then the coma does take place - I didn't find his actions a change in character, I saw it coming. I really thought that Squall was falling in love with Rinoa as far back as disc 1 although I think that might have been more "I find her interesting" type of love, at first, but as time went by (remember we don't know the exact timeline) they got closer, and his love for her developed, he just needed to accept that he felt something for her, and get over his fears of losing someone again. You basically have to read between the lines sometimes - this is a shortened version on why I found Squall and Rinoa such a compelling couple, I may right a full article on it one day (it will take a while, so don't expect it to be instant - I do so many projects at once).

Thanks for reading this, I'm sorry if it was long, but it needed to be.

[Leigh]

^ If you thought that Squall "suddenly" got feelings for Rinoa during her coma, you did the exact opposite of reading too much into it, you missed most of the storyline. The romance between Squall and Rinoa was beautifull and brilliantly handled.

The following was initially written as a response to someone else - it is directly quoted, but it should portray my views.

Well, the key differences are that I liked the characters, and you seemingly didn't - so you may not take what I say seriously, but please, hear me out.

Firstly, I didn't find Rinoa annoying - she's one of my favorite characters in FF. I also noticed the chemistry in the relationship between her and Squall early on in the game, even when they are having their (deliberately) childish fights, which is a given sign in fiction (and real life in some cases). And yes, Squall was "silent", but that was because of his background - he'd been let down so many times in life he had given up expecting anything was going to get better.

It may seam like I'm starving for attention here, but I am just trying to help you understand my point - I actually went through a "Squall" like phase when I was younger (before I played FFVIII) - my life wasn't anywhere near as bad as Squall's, but a lot of things where happening, friends where leaving I was just not very good at making friends - I identified with Squall because of this, I have said this before, but he is my favorite FF character.

Squall is "silent", but we know from his thoughts that he does want to be more open, deep down there are many scenes that without these insights that would make Squall seam a much more uncaring person than he actually is.

Squall doesn't just "suddenly" fall in love with Rinoa - it happens gradually, like most Medias with a storyline FFVIII doesn't have a set timeline, so we don't know how much time has past between their first meeting, and time he acts more caring. Further more, he didn't begin to love her when he was in a coma either - it had been developing through out the game. There is definitely passion during the dance scene, He seams generally concerned for her safety when the Igniouns(sp?) have her cornered, just before the battle starts (even though, to me, they really don't look like they are make that much of an attempt to attack her - infact they look somewhat playful ) After the battle Squall is initially shocked by Rinoa's reaction - he says it's because he assumed she was "used to battles", but I think it's because he isn't used to people displaying emotion in front of him. No one, not even Quistis (who is revealed to have had a crush of sorts on Squall in the past) has shown this much in front of him. His demeanor then changes, he reassures Rinoa, that everything is ok and basically tells her to "stay close to [him]" There is a touching moment in the battle coming up where Rinoa states that she's alright if Squall is by her side - After that battle Squall is almost killed, and Rinoa reacts more directly and personally than anyone else (admittedly the only other people present are Irvine, Seifer and Edea, and none of them are going to react!) If you look at Squall during that scene - he seams to be more focused on Rinoa that anyone, or anything happening in that scene.


In disc two - there are some optional scenes of them together. Squall is still learning how to act around people, but the two of them seem to have neutral understanding of how each other are now, Rinoa makes comments on how Squall is "expected" to act a certain way. When there is a ceremony for Squall becoming the leader there is a very romantic scene between him and Rinoa - we see how close they are now becoming, and once again Squall's thoughts are there to help us understand that Squall has the potential to change and Rinoa is helping him do just that. She seams to be pushing him to talk about something, just to see if he will open up, he of course doesn't, but his thoughts show us, that he is simply scared that if he does then it will all be for nothing - nobody stays around Squall. He's not the kind of person to be loved, but why would he care so much about some one, he supposedly doesn't care about.

I also think the infamous orphanage scene (which, I absolutely loved, but I have a whole article in writing as to why) was semi instrumental in getting Squall to open up more, he has time to think about this even in game time, he had lost so much more than he ever realized, and now sees that every one (sans Rinoa) went through a similar time as him when he was younger, I think he felt a bit more assured then. I also think it gave him more strength to open up with Rinoa.

Then the coma does take place - I didn't find his actions a change in character, I saw it coming. I really thought that Squall was falling in love with Rinoa as far back as disc 1 although I think that might have been more "I find her interesting" type of love, at first, but as time went by (remember we don't know the exact timeline) they got closer, and his love for her developed, he just needed to accept that he felt something for her, and get over his fears of losing someone again. You basically have to read between the lines sometimes - this is a shortened version on why I found Squall and Rinoa such a compelling couple, I may right a full article on it one day (it will take a while, so don't expect it to be instant - I do so many projects at once).

Thanks for reading this, I'm sorry if it was long, but it needed to be.

Sure, it is a fair and valid argument and I don't completely disregard the gradual development of feelings for the two leads. I found the direction of Squall's character to be quite an extreme degree of change upon the onset of Rinoa's condition. The piece is romantic, but seemed to be heavily hurried along for the purpose of moving the story forward.

Perhaps I am asking for too much, when there is a greater plot evident in the game that can only be so long. Although Squall and Rinoa's romance is also a very central piece, especially bringing another level of dimension to the Squall-Seifer relationship.

I do take on board your views. However since I am more of a fan of romance writing rather than fantasy...I forget sometimes that this game is coining a balance between the two. Personally I don't give a hoot about magical powers haha!

Asian literature has been known to be fond of melodrama so having reflected...the transformation formula doesn't seem too absurd if I look at it comparatively to other forms of writing throughout the far east; Korean TV Screen-writing, Cinema, etc.

I will replay the game shortly as I haven't done so for a few years. I guess I will either reiterate my conclusion or form another opinion.

When I first played the game, I was about 11 years old at the time? I did share the opinion that it was a brilliantly written love story. I just seemed to contest the view a little more as I grew older. Probably through reading other novel that dealt with love as the integral plot line. I will agree though, that for a video game, this is the best love story a developer has come up with. There maybe others but I don't find too much time to play new games these days so I may be misinformed on that part.

Take care.

[Silent Warrior]

Leigh: Regarding best videogame love story... You haven't wooed Jaheira in Baldur's Gate 2, I take it? True, that wasn't the main point of that game, as Squall+Rinoa is here, but that's grade-A stuff. Slower, true, more adult oriented (... no, they keep their clothes on; adult in ANOTHER way), but I found it more moving. And there weren't really that many conversation paths to follow that actually moved it along, either... Good stuff.

MJN SEIFER: Good reading, that. Squall's shock after the Iguions completely passed me by, however. Maybe I'm too not-japanese.

... Heh, I just did the maths! When I first played FF8, I was about the age of the protagonists!

[Jiro]

The beginning of Disk 2 up until after Balamb Occupation is my favourite series of events in the game. You could include the ending of Disk 1 but going through the sewers pisses me off every time.

[~ Kain ~]

Best- The back story involving Laguna
Worst- Can't use Ultima because then my stats go down... MOST not all GF's being pointless in battle(as an actual summon, not their abilities etc.)... Lvl.5 Death... And number one the world map. It felt so empty and never hooked me in. FFIX,VI, IV had world maps that were creative and didn't have TONS of meaningless areas. (The railroad tracks early on were nice but nothing more comes to mind)

[Forsaken Lover]

It's not really the best part of the game but since we're only allowed one Best and one Worst I figured I might as well make a theme of it.

Okay kiddies, let's talk about elementary storytelling.

BEST: There is an Evil Empire because there is always an Evil Empire in Final Fantasy. (well maybe not FFX but stop contradicting me! <<) The "President" of this totalitarian expansionist not-Evil Empire is some putz who no one really cares about.

Enter a real villain in the enigmatic Sorceress. Who is she? What is her objective? Who knows or really cares. Everyone pisses themselves when she comes around and it's only too apparent that the magically powerful epitome of evil itself won't just stand by and serve the aforementioned putz.

The situation is so dire that one of the not-Empire's generals enlists your aid in killing The Sorceress. That's right bucko - it's a straight-up assassination. Things like charging into the Evil Empire's Castle o' Doom and fighting them seems honorable and righteous but putting a bullet in their head is much more grizzly and makes you realize that SeeD is actually a mcercenary group and NOT a traveling band of heroes. (an idea that is lost like so much else in the wake of FFVIII's trainwreck of a narrative)

I adore the conspiratorial nature of the whole thing. It's almost like we are the second gunman.

Anyway, the whole atmosphere leading up to the assassination is rife with tension and expectancy. Not to mention great frickin' music.
Final Fantasy VIII - The Stage is Set [HQ] - YouTube

It's time to take that evil witch down!!!!!

WORST:
Quistis: D'aawwww shucks. I just can't arrange a murder while my conscience hurts because I called a stupid brat...a stupid brat.

...
...
...

Well gee, looks like we better go through this sewer level to escape on time.


You know the Obligatory Sewer Level that everyone says is pretty much guaranteed to suck and probably be the worst part of the game?
THIS IS WHY.

All that suspense, all that dramatic build-up, all that atmosphere...it's gone, sinking beneath the feces-filled water that is the most fitting metaphor for FFVIII's storyline.

[blackmage_nuke]

best: Catching rinoa in space. It's very romantic if you read the instructions. I also liked all the fmvs, especially any which involve balamb garden flying

Worst: The thing where you had to kill 8 monsters of the same colour or something on the ragnarok.

[Dr. Acula]

Best: The escape from XATM092. That entire scene is incredibly fun, and I'm always torn between destroying it and letting it chase me so that I can see that brilliant FMV and seeing Quistis wreck the living crap out of it.
Worst: D-District prison, without a doubt. Repetitive running up and down the same corridors? What is this? A Hannah-Barbera cartoon?

This!!