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Thread: Let's Play the 3RD BEST GAME EVER!!! (FFVIII)

  1. #1
    Pinkasaurus Rex Pumpkin's Avatar
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    Default Let's Play the 3RD BEST GAME EVER!!! (FFVIII)

    Hai everyone, I am Pumpkin, and this is my LP of FFVIII. I hope you enjoy and stuff~
    (SPOILER)
    BUT FIRST

    Have some awesome music to enjoy!



    Alrighty, on with the show

    We start off on the beach with some strange music playing and the words that flash by magically




    And so we are introduced to one of the prettiest FF characters ever



    She takes a flower petal in her hand




    And when she opens it


    WITCHCRAFT!!!

    So the feather floats up to to the sky, which becomes darker, and a sword falls to the ground while a weirdo witch lady appears in the background



    Some more scenes flash before us including the super pretty lady and the witch lady



    Two teenagers are sword fighting



    The blonde one is an arrogant prick



    Who slashes a scar on to the excessively handsome one's face





    That young man returns the favour as some black feathers appear and a bunch of scenes from the game flash before our eyes before we arrive to the girl again



    Ash she tries to fall in to our protagonists arms



    But before she makes it, the screen fades to the title



    Final Fantasy VIII: A Love Story~

    Anyways, the main dude, Squall, wakes up in the infirmary after being slashed in the face to find himself being scolded by the doctor





    The doc, who, by the way, has no style, says she's going to call my instructor to come and get me



    As we lay in bed waiting, a strange girl appears



    Who is she? Eh, I'm sure it doesn't matter and she will have no impact on the plot whatsoever

    Moving on, Instructor Quistis arrives and she does not look impressed




    After saying she knew it would be me or Seifer, we head back and Quistis attempts to make conversation, which gets shot down. She knew it would happen though and openly mocks Squall for it



    After chuckling, Squall asks her what's so funny



    Squall fusses, saying he's more complex than she thinks, so when she asks him to tell her more about himself, she predicts his answer perfectly



    Which causes her to laugh at Squall even more as the camera pans out to reveal out location, Balamb Garden



    We head to class and do some class things and get a plot point



    She also fusses at Seifer for injuring his training partner, and the dismisses class. The class was two minutes long, she's not very good at this



    I think this is how pornos start

    But before we go see the instructor, make sure to check your desk for some nifty info and two Guardian Forces (summon monsters)



    How exciting!

    You also get some info about the world




    We learn about what SeeD is (the thing Squall is training to be)



    And learn that Quistis has her own fan club



    We also see a student with the initials Z.D. who is obsessed with hot dogs...



    After checking everything, we go see Quistis



    The prereq is fighting a giant fire demon in the Fire Cavern. I feel like maybe I shouldn't have waited until the day of the exam to take the prereq. Just sayin

    We head outside where we are bumped in to by a cute girl, anime style




    We learn that she is a transfer student and offer to show her around the Garden. We learn she will be joining the Garden Festival Committee and asks Squall if he wants to join, which he answers noncommittally



    We head to the cafeteria where we see Seifer and his minions, Raijin and Fujin. Fujin yells one word sentences (RAGE) and Raijin is the original Wakka



    Another student comes bursting in



    After being told no, he leaves feeling dejected



    After he leaves, Seifer and his posse (aka the disciplinary committee) chases after him for speeding

    We go around the Garden exploring and learning things that I'm sure are not relevant to the plot AT ALL and will not come back AT ANY POINT



    We head to the front gate to meet up with Quistis and do some stuff on the world map. Get some magic, strengthen our GFs, the usual. When ready, we head to the Fire Cavern, where we choose a time limit to complete the trial

    The less time you have remaining by the end, the better your SeeD score. I don't particularly care about my SeeD score though and screenshots take more time, so I went with 20 minutes which was more than enough. I could have probably done it in 10 but better safe than sorry.

    Inside the Fire Cavern, Quistis tries to ease the tension by bragging on herself



    We get further in without melting or dying of a heat stroke somehow



    And this dude shows up



    Which series fans will recognize as Ifrit, the fire summon

    He is very weak to ice, so go ahead and summon Shiva. This is my fave iteration of her btw



    Which will get a reaction from Ifrit




    I believe Ifrit also has Cure on him so you can cast cure on your party when you need to. Overall not a tough boss if you keep using Shiva

    As you continue to do damage, he will praise you..ish



    So question. It says the prereq test is to obtain a low level GF. So does everyone get Ifrit? Is there more than one Ifrit? If they don't get Ifrit, who do they get? Because this is like... a tiny island, where are they finding these other GFs?

    Anyways, keep damaging Ifrit until eventually



    Yay~

    After that, we head back to the Garden to prepare for our final SeeD exam



    Stay tuned to see if we pass our exam next time~
    Last edited by Pumpkin; 06-18-2017 at 06:32 PM.

  2. #2

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    Can I expect three pages worth of DRAW DRAW DRAW or Triple Triad rule manipulation?


  3. #3

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    We head to the cafeteria where we see Seifer and his minions, Raijin and Fujin]
    * Gets horror flashbacks from that minions movie *

  4. #4
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    FFVIII had my favorite incarnation of Shiva as well.
    My friend Delzethin is currently running a GoFundMe account to pay for some extended medical troubles he's had. He's had chronic issues and lifetime troubles that have really crippled his career opportunities, and he's trying to get enough funding to get back to a stable medical situation. If you like his content, please support his GoFundMe, or even just contribute to his Patreon.

    He can really use a hand with this, and any support you can offer is appreciated.

  5. #5
    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    Best thread Ciddies 2017. I am SUPER excited about this!

    You are a winner, Ashton. You WILL pass the SeeD exam.

  6. #6

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    Aww man, I love this game! So much nostalgia and awesomeness.

  7. #7
    Pinkasaurus Rex Pumpkin's Avatar
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    Hey guys, sorry its been a while. I was having trouble with my imgur. It would say 20 images uploaded but there would only be 17 and of those 17 only some would work yada yada, but it seems to be working now so hopefully I can update more regularly!
    (SPOILER)
    Now then, when we left off we were told to go change and go meet Instructor Quistis for our SeeD exam. The first order of business is getting our team assignments. And the first member of our team is



    As if to prove her right, here comes Zell, flipping his way down the hall




    If he looks familiar, its because he was the kid trying to get the hot dogs earlier

    He introduces himself and tries to get a handshake from Squall, which doesn't go well



    He talks about how he knows about Squall's feud with Seifer and all dat




    And Quistis chimes in with some excellent news



    Yay~

    Why he's the squad leader when he's already failed the SeeD exam a few times is beyond me, but whatever. Seifer and his posse show up and Quistis wishes us luck on our exam





    And that was probably the best comeback for the situation, you tell 'em Quistis





    Sure, that checks out

    Anyways, the headmaster himself, Cid Kramer, a.k.a Robin Williams (RIP) comes to give us a speech about not screwing up or whatever



    It's long and pretty dull. Seifer and Squall are ~special~ because they're gunblade specialists. Again, why put your only two gunblade specialists on the same team? But whatever

    Off we go on our exam in this hideous green and yellow car



    I know this is a fantasy game but that's just more fantasy than I can handle

    On the way, Zell tries to make friends with Squall by asking to touch his gunblade. Squall stays silent



    So Zell, feeling impatient, gets up and starts shadow boxing





    The older I get the less clever that nickname seems. Chicken and wuss are both basically ways of saying coward so its like he's calling him coward coward. That's not clever. That's just dumb.

    Quistis gets up and fusses at them to settle down and Squall changes the subject to the mysterious girl in the infirmary



    Unfortunately, Quistis has no idea who he's talking about as she didn't notice anyone

    GHOST CONFIRMED



    We get out of the car and get on to a boat to head to our destination.

    Xu, another SeeD member, arrives to give us our mission details while also poking fun at how many times Seifer has had to retake the exam



    Anyways the mission info




    It goes on for longer but that's the gist of it. Then we get cool boat FMVs



    And we get to see some explosions because nothing says battle like explosions



    And then they do a thing that was actually pretty neat for the time where there's an FMV of the ships arriving and then the characters come out



    Also, as tempting as it is to talk to everyone in an RPG and to talk back to Seifer, those things will affect your exam results so be careful.

    We head to the central square, which is the area we are to secure



    After fighting off some baddies in the central square and meeting a doggy friend, Seifer starts to get impatient until the dog alerts us to some more soldiers. We hide to see what they're up to



    It seems that they're all headed for the com tower in a large group. Seifer decides we should go after them and Zell pitches a fit because it's not their assignment. As for Squall



    This upsets Zell who doesn't understand why he's agreeing with his rival, but we end up going because captain's orders

    We see a Dollet soldier on the way



    But before he can tell us much more



    He gets attacked by a giant snake and dies



    We fight the ugly snake, which isn't super challenging, and we do so with the help of our new summon, Ifrit!



    And Quezacotl



    The murderous snake is defeated and we head further in where Seifer is just raring to go




    And so off he runs by himself and Selphie, the girl we showed around the Garden earlier, shows up to deliver a message



    After falling off a cliff



    She's resilient though so it's fine



    It may look like she's making a silly face but that's actually the brain damage



    She needs to speak to our squad leader because she has new orders for him so she asks where he is



    And so we chase after Seifer.

    Meanwhile, on top of the com tower



    Wedge tries to tell Biggs that a monster shaped shadow has been appearing above them, but Biggs is not concerned



    Yeah, it's probably nothing

    Selphie, Squall, and Zell arrive on op of the tower just in time to see that Major Biggs finished the necessary repairs



    The tower starts shaking and a wrench falls off, which allows the game to show us how high up we are



    Too high up

    We also see a satellite activate and start sending out laser beams, as they do




    Biggs is satisfied with a job well done until he turns around and sees us




    But Seifer, who has decided to make a appearance, prevents him from leaving.

    BOSS FIGHT TIME






    After beating on them a little bit, something else decides to finish the job. Although note that Wedge has cure if you need it to cast without going in to your stock of magic



    Which leads to our next boss fight!



    Before you beat on this thing though, make sure you draw the next summon from it!



    Once you do beat it, it weirdly explodes and disappears from existence



    Er... yeah

    Anyways, now that Seifer is back, Selphie can deliver her message




    And then he ditches us again.

    We head back down to escape but it seems Biggs has another plan up his sleeves




    And so we get attacked by this thing



    If you've played this game enough, done enough grinding, or have access to cheats, go ahead and beat it like I did for some points. If not, just keep running away. Not worth game overing for it

    And what happens if you don't defeat it? Well, that's something I'd like to keep as a surprise for those who haven't played it yet but SURELY WILL SOME DAY but it's cool and it involves this



    After escaping and withdrawing, we return to Balamb with our SeeD exam concluded



    Did we pass our exam?

    Find out next time~
    Last edited by Pumpkin; 06-24-2017 at 03:29 AM.

  8. #8

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    I love this game. I just recently beat it.
    "The Real Folk Blues" by Seatbelts ft. Mai Yamane

  9. #9
    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    I remember playing through the SeeD exam the first time round and thinking "This is gonna be better than FFVII!" It didn't quite live up to it in the end but this is still an excellent entry in my opinion.

    Fun fact: I have never defeated X-ATM092

  10. #10

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    Zell has always had my favorite entrance cutscene! This is reaallly making want to play this game again.

  11. #11
    Pinkasaurus Rex Pumpkin's Avatar
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    On our way back from our exam, we stop by Zell's house, which is in Balamb
    (SPOILER)


    You can play cards with her if you want

    You can also get this bit of info



    Man, all this Galbadia stuff going on. Hopefully it's no big deal!

    So we head back to the Garden and everyone goes their separate ways



    On the way back we overhear a conversation between two people discussing how the Galbadian Army was after the Radio Tower, which is odd because



    The student asks me if I know why that is, and because I'm a super good student, I have the answer




    Hey, wow. And Squall is 17. WHAT A COINCIDENCE

    We also overhear Xu, Quistis, and Headmaster Williams talking about the mission




    WE GET IT, THE TOWER

    It's almost like this is an important plot point or something, geez

    Then we head down to hall to find Seifer sulking



    Xu and Quistis arrive and Quistis tells him that he didn't care about doing the right thing, he was just looking for a fight



    Xu doesn't like Seifer insulting her fellow instructor and lays in to him



    This visibly upsets him and Xu and Quistis leave as Cid comes to comfort him



    Unfortunately, Cid can't properly comfort him before he's pulled aside from the faculty



    After Cid leaves, the faculty member has a few things to say about how the Garden is not a non-profit




    After that lovely talk, the announcement we had been waiting for finally arrives



    Raijin, the female Seifer groupie, is not pleased



    Then again, she rarely is

    A faculty member (yes they all have the stupid yellow hats) arrives to tell us who passed. First up is our buddy Zell



    We also get called forward



    And we head upstairs for our graduation thingy



    That's a pretty sad number. The four are Squall, Zell, Selphie, and some rando

    Cid starts making a speech about how we are mercenaries but one day we will fulfill the true purpose of SeeD but before he can tell us what it is, Faculty Member interrupts him again

    Also, turns out the rando is a bit weird



    .....

    Also, Zell and Selphie are skipping around happily over there. Good for them

    We head back to the hallway where everyone is waiting, including Seifer, and it's awkward for a minute. But then Seifer decides to be a big man and start applauding. Everyone else follows suit



    And we get our report card!



    In case you're wondering, the 5 pts is because I had bunches of time left in the Fire Cavern, I think. But a rank of 8 is actually pretty good. 6+ is where you want to be! Not too shabby~

    Afterwards, its time for a celebration



    We get on our nifty new SeeD uniform and



    Yeah

    At the party Squall acts like his typical wallflower self and Zell comes over to congratulate him




    Zell leaves and gets pestered by Selphie to join the Garden Festival Committee




    Afterwards she comes to ask us to join and I say sure because you don't really have to do anything anyway and I prefer playing as nice Squall



    She walks away happy and then Squall spots a pretty lady in the crowd



    Who spots Squall back




    And then comes over



    Squall gives her the silent treatment, as he does, but she doesn't give up, instead trying her hand at hypnotism




    When that fails, she just drags him on to the dance floor



    Sure enough, Squall awkwardly fumbles about at first, almost falling on her at one point



    He tries to leave but she drags him back



    The poor dancing continues as they bump in to another couple



    But the girl has no apologies



    After that, Squall miraculously starts dancing better just because and the dance ends with magical fireworks because video game




    When she give you dat look

    Seriously though, they would have the prettiest babies

    Unfortunately, the romantic night ends when the girl notices the person she'd been looking for and takes off



    Squall gets off the dance floor and gets some fresh air



    This is something a girlfriend says to her boyfriend when they're going to break up soon, not something an instructor should say to her student

    Go home Quistis, you're drunk



    SEE?!



    THIS ISN'T HELPING

    Anyways, she tells us that's her last order and marches us through the dangerous T-Rex filled training center to go to this secret area





    (She's 18 now)

    Squall, however, gives zero craps about her story





    Daaaaaaang



    Look at her droppy eye. She is 100% drunk, let's be honest here

    So we head back to the entrance, probably with some awkwardness, when we see the girl from the infirmary in distress



    She's being attacked by a giant wasp thing so we step in for a BOSS FIGHT



    If I were you I would focus on offing two of the round dudes on the ground and draw some Protects and whatever else you need from the last one. The wasp will just occasionally do things like drop him on you



    Or roll him in to you



    When you have what you need, take out the round dude and focus on the wasp. The round dudes are much more harmful on their own. And if you stat Junction sleep to your attack you can keep the wasp dude asleep for the fight if you cast his own magic at him

    Once that's done, two dudes in white suits show up for the girl



    WHERE WERE YOU GUYS FIVE MINUTES AGO!?

    And so they take off and we leave, and Quistis leaves us with some parting words



    On our way back to bed Zell has some news for us



    We got new rooms, yay!

    We head to bed and are woken up the next morning by Selphie




    There's also a new weapon magazine on the desk!

    Tune in next time for our first official SeeD mission~
    Last edited by Pumpkin; 06-26-2017 at 05:05 AM.

  12. #12

  13. #13
    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    Quistis is clearly one of those weird people that have raw onion in their salad.

    Oh man, that "Go talk to a wall" line is brutal and really put me off Squall. I don't care if you're naturally quiet and introverted. That is just really unpleasant.

    Xu is hot.

  14. #14

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    Yeah that talk Squall and Quistis had made me finally decide that Squall is a total jerk. Also "Waltz for the Moon" is one of my fav FF tracks ever! I love that scene.

  15. #15
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    It's time to get ready for our first official mission as SeeD!
    (SPOILER)
    But first, if you head back to your desk, you can see that Selphie has already gotten started with the Garden Festival Committee!



    She even hosts a public diary there that you can check whenever you come back to Balamb




    She also shares her worries about her first mission



    She also worries if her teammates are going to be nice

    So we head to the front gate to receiver our mission. Selphie is already there and Zell shows up on a hoverboard



    ...Which is quickly confiscated for violating Garden rules



    Also, I like how three of the recent graduates are going on this mission, but that one rando dude is just nowhere to be found. Poor guy. It's not easy being a random NPC in video games

    So Cid gives us our mission. We will be heading to a place called Timber



    When we ask if it's only the three of us...



    It seems they wouldn't normally even take this job

    Anyways, our mission is set, but first, we talk to Cid again to get a special item



    The magic lamp he gives you contains the GF Diablos. By defeating him you gain him as a summon. It's been my experience that he starts off near useless but his growth is great. He also gets harder to fight the longer you put it off I think, so might as well get it over with. Just head to the world map, save, and use the item



    This is a tough fight. He likes to Demi your party to get them weak



    And then he pulls crap like this



    Thankfully, Selphie's limit break is pretty good and I landed on Full-Heal quickly



    (Don't worry, I revived Zell)

    After you defeat him, he joins you



    So we head to Balamb to catch a train and see how the folks are doing in town



    Yes, we stop by to say hi to Ma Dincht. Afterwards, we head to the train station



    You will need 3000G to board the train but since you're SeeD now, you receive a regular salary, so it shouldn't be a problem. You can also improve your SeeD rank by taking tests under the Tutorial section of the menu

    We get on the train which Zell and Selphie are mega hype about




    Selphie even makes up a cute train song since she loves trains





    Inside the cabin, Zell gives us a history lesson on Timber



    Gee, a lot of stuff sure did happen 17-18 years ago




    After the history lesson, Selphie comes stumbling in



    But what seems like harmless drowsiness soon starts to affect all three of our heroes, accompanied by a horrible high pitched sound



    After the group passes out, we find ourselves playing as three Galbadian Soldiers named Laguna, Kiros, and Ward



    The greyed out text is our main group wondering what's going on



    As it turns out, Laguna got his group lost. Again.

    No worries, a little while later they find their vehicle and head back to their home of Delling City




    After they disembark, Laguna suggests they hit the bar for some drinks. He isn't fooling his friends though, who know he's not going to the bar to drink





    This is probably the best representation of real world friendship in any Final Fantasy game

    Also, Laguna's parking caused a jam



    So despite what he said, they do indeed head for the bar. We also get some helpful commentary from Selphie



    Kiros and Ward tell Laguna to go wave at his crush, which he goes to do when suddenly



    And so Laguna limps around the piano like a moron before finally waving at the pretty lady and going back to his seat



    Where he receives support from his friends



    Julia, the pretty piano lady, arrives to talk to Laguna, so his friends scurry away to give them some privacy. She asks him if his leg is doing okay



    And then she makes the first move



    Remember how I said his friends gave him some privacy? Yeah, well, the camera pans out to show the entire bar crowded around their booth listening in. So Laguna agrees to meet Julia in her room

    When he arrives, Julia tells him to take a seat. So he awkwardly tries out a few. Julia doesn't seem bothered



    After making her move, she offers Laguna some wine, and Laguna starts blabbing on like a moron for who knows how long



    Apparently at some point he passes out drunk



    We will assume Julia was a perfect lady and did not touch his peepee while he was passed out. After he wakes up, he finally starts letting Julia talk

    Here is some nice atmospheric music for you!






    She shares with him that she isn't a great lyricist, but thanks to him, she thinks she can finally write a song thanks to him. Aww

    Just as they start to get close though, Kiros shows up to keep the game T-rated



    After that, we end up back with Squall, Selphie, and Zell, who are understandably confused about what happened. Some take it a bit better than others




    They then realize that they all had the same dream



    Realizing this is super odd, Selphie suggests they focus on the mission for now



    They agree and shortly thereafter, we arrive in Timber. We are quickly greeted by the person we're supposed to meet and, after giving the password, he asks us to follow him



    You can stop by the souvenir shop though



    We follow the man, named Watts, to a rickety little train, where we meet a resistance group, lead by a man named Zone. Before the meeting starts though, we get asked by Zone to wake up their 'Princess' which upsets Squall because they weren't hired to run errands. Zone also rejects Zell's handshake. Poor guy



    That's it for now, next time we will go meet this Princess and find out what we have to do to help the resistance!

    Stay tuned~
    Last edited by Pumpkin; 06-29-2017 at 05:23 AM.

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