It's interesting how VIII and XIII were both designed by the same principal game developers and both received the same divisive reaction, especially from fans of the 2D games. But FFVIII is obviously the more significant title - it was one of the most ambitious games of all time and intentionally went for the RPG throne, while XIII was made after they had already cemented their status as grandmasters and just wanted to ship an entertaining game for the new consoles.

VIII was driven and defined by the lofty goals of its team - to tell a coming of age story, a "fantasy based in reality," a tale of two protagonists, the love story, child soldiers. But the most striking ambition of VIII was its gameplay innovations. Unlike other RPGs which send players off into static dungeons, FFVIII thrust it's players into situations. Abducting a president on his train; assassinating a sorceress during a parade; fending off the Lunatic Pandora throughout a futuristic city. Square was trailblazing the future of RPGs and gaming in those days and unfortunately it's something we've lost in the console generations since. When I play the modern WRPGs that are "on top," we've somehow gone back to fighting monsters in caves again.

Unfortunately XIII did not get that creative drive because all of its lead designers were experimenting on the handheld front, which was the future for Japan at the time. Instead, they made a demo where you fight monsters in gorgeous environments and decided to set out making a game based around that concept, with a serviceable story built around it. I could actually conceive that XIII had a more rewarding plot, as every character has their own unique motivation and is fighting for someone they love. I enjoyed how the game paired them off and had them play off each other's personalities. I didn't mind the lack of strong antagonists because the true conflict took place within the characters and the knowledge of what they might become.

I liked XIII quite a lot but it was not as ambitious as the FFs of yore, least of all Final Fantasy VIII.