Need persuasion

[Erased]

I've gotten really borderline on this game(I'm neutral on liking it or not) Can anyone persuade me to play it? Besides the opening theme song and the well... opening... how quickly can I get into this game? DON'T tell me its like 7, because I don't have the patience to play that game(its graphics) I need a reason to play it though. Yeah, yeah... most of you think its the best FF ever. So, why? why should I play it over say... finishing FFX? or Xenosaga? or Chaos legion? why should I start and finish this game before those? Need a reason and/or info on the game plz ^^

[kikimm]

I will try to persuade you to BUY it, but I won't try and persuade you to play and finish it before those other games first. There's no reason why you should have to drop everything else for this one game. It's fairly long.

Okay, I know some of the arguments here are going to be that thre's barely any character development for any characters besides Squall, and Rinoa. This is true, to a degree. Yeah, Square could have done a lot better, but what thre is, is excellent. Within minutes of meeting the hot-tempered Zell, or Irvine, self-proclaimed ladies man, I loved them, and you already get the feel for the their character. They have DEFINITE personalities, and act accordingly. These are some of my favorite characters---they wouldn't be on that list if I barely got to know them. Squall isn't anything like Tidus, or Zidane, or any other main character that I know of. He's an a-hole, anti-social, and cold. However, I still didn't hate him--i love him, because he's done so well. He's very believable---unlike some other main characters, you really get inside his head, know exactly what he's thinking.He grows and changes throughout the story, which is interesting to watch. Now, the other set of characters, aren't done as well, except for the relationship that the three of them had. Laguna, the main one, is done very well, is memorable...you really feel for him, after learning everything he's been through.

This game isn't a thing like 7 (which you should play. I used to hate graphics that weren't up to my standards, but I've gotten over that-the game is truly amazing, and now I see why so many people love it. but that isn't the point). Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I couldn't say. Yes, it's still save the world before --insert evil name-- destroys everything, but that's every Square game, and thy do it well.

IMHO, the game is VERY VERY fun. I know a lot of people hate the junctioning system, but I love it. Once you understand it, it's actually really simple. To me, battle wasn't a horrible thing. The battle-song didn't get on my nerves. Everyone's limit breaks are cool, and fun to watch. There isn't a whole load of minigames to participate in, but have you heard of Triple Triad? It seems like everyone's in a craze about this card game. Maybe you could even call obtaining some of the GFs (Gaurdian Forces)...sub-quests. There is lots to do in this game besides following the main story to keep you entertained.

It seems like graphics matter to you--you won't be disappointed. True, the in-game grapgics aren't FFX quality (heck, nothing is), but they're a huge improvement over 7---they (the character designs) are much more realistic. Maybe it's just me, but FF8's CGs are almost the same quality as FF10s. There is a lot of them, which are all exciting to watch. There's a string of about 4 or 5 of them at the end of the firt disc which I will never forget.

Argh...this was longer than expected. I feel like thre's more I want to say, though, so i might get back to you on that...later.

[Sacred Phoenix]

I really enjoyed this game, the thing is, it's totally different from all of the others, you can relate alittle more to the characters cause they are all human, and it has a touching story. Now it's a little more of a love story than all the others, but you get really awesome GF's (summons) and the graphics are WAY WAY better than 7. The music is really cool and the CG videos are perfection, totally amazing, and there are lots of them blended perfectly in to the game. It can be a little tedious because of the draw technique, but it can be fun at the same time. Plus you have to do a little work , for upgrading your weapons, but the limit breaks are well worth it. And to all that have bad coments about the junctioning system, it's really not bad at all. It is totally non linear like 10, charachers aren't cartoony like 9 and the graphics are now where as bad as in 7. I truly think that you should give this game a shot cause i know i really enjoyed it. Oh and the ending is like no other final fantasy, it's wonderful. So give it a try!!

[Trumpet Thief]

Play it over Xenosaga? Get real...

And another thing, you should still play FFVII, for graphics aren't everything; the character development and storyline are great. Anyhoo, I still think FFVIII rocks.

The music is very well done, especially the beginning theme Fithos Lusec Weicos Lithosec, as well as many other pieces. The graphics, as you can tell, are probably the best on the PSI. The storyline is pretty good, though I found FFVII and FFVI's better. And if you like love themes, then that might be another reason to get this game.

But, never play it over Xenosaga. Same with any other game. Finish that one first if you haven't. Just in case, I'll give you a review of XS.

Music- The music is great! The two ending theme's Kokoro and Pain will make you want the sequel to come tommorow. Although it doesn't have as many battle themes as the FF series do, quality over quantity, and it has a lot of quality.

Storlyine- You might think it starts off boring in the beginning, but after you get through the middle of the game, so much action and storyline will come in that you could wish that there would be a time to settle down. Sadly, there won't. The villan, Albedo, is probably the best villan to date IMO, and he's a lot more evil, and *surprise* has a reason for his insanity.

Graphics- You can tell they are great can't you? And no matter where you go you can see clean backgrounds, and detailed character designs. Graphics are very good.

Replay Value- You won't get the storyline the first time playing. I thought that MOMO's mother has talking about someone else when she said a genius took over Vector. I fully got the storyline the second time playing, yet I still want to play 'cause it's just so fun.

Wow, I've been able to stray this topic way off. Bottom line, get FFVIII it rocks, but if you haven't already, get Xenosaga first, it really rocks!

Edit: Sorry if I was being rude. I'm just stressing what a great game Xenosaga is.

[Linus J]

as you lvl up the monsters and bosses lvl up, meaning: You can equip "no-encounter" pretty early and walk through the game at like lvl15 and if you know somewhat what you're doing it will be easy as hell, heck, I defeated the last boss of disc1 in 1 strike. And due to not encountering anything the game will go through pretty fast.

[Polaris]

You can name the G.Fs with strange names! Die, laugh, play card games, see increadble FMVs... see Squall and Seifer killing each other!

This is one of teh best FF ever, so do it! Play it and you won't regreat!

[Mo-Nercy]

In a nutshell, FF8 is one of the most "unique" Final Fantasy's because Square had added several new elements to the gameplay and if you have already played a fair number of FFs, you'll probably either be pleasantly surprised or deeply disappointed. It happened to be my second FF ever so I didn't really have much basis for comparison at the time, but many will argue that FF8 is one of the lesser FFs. Usually their reasons are "FF8 is teh suk!" which translates to "The aspects of this game are far to unconventional of a benchmark FF so it's hard to judge it, really. I'll just assume it sucks." They support their arguments by saying there's a lack of character development, the storyline "dies" after the third disc and to this I have no comment, I still managed to find the game fun due to the sheer uniqueness of it all.

[Jolts]

Oh geez, another "graphics means more than it should" type of person. FFVII was one of the best (sold more than FFVIII and FFIX...I'm not sure about FFX).

Anyway, the one reason you should play this game: The Bahamut summon animation is AWESOME!
Well, that reason may not be good enough for you, but it really is awesome, if not legitly, you should at least use a GS just to see Bahamut (Doomtrain was pretty wicked, too).

[SeeDRankLou]

FFVII was one of the best (sold more than FFVIII and FFIX...I'm not sure about FFX).

I just read somewhere recently that FFVIII has officially sold about 1.5 million more copies worldwide than FFVII, and is Square's highest selling Final Fantasy game (not highest grossing, just highest selling). Not to take away from the goodness of FFVII or anything, I'm just saying.

I really love FFVIII, and I agree with most of the comments people have made about it. This is the first time that a video game's story engrossed me so much that I actually came to tears while playing it (....twice). The story, while embedded in itself and hidden in certain places, is one of the three best that Square has done yet. I would recommend you buy this game.

But by all means, finish FFX and play Xenosaga first, also good games. Just don't leave FFVIII on the back burner too long.

[Ultima Shadow]

You can name the G.Fs with strange names!

Name Angelo something like "my ass". I laughed in atleast 4min when they explained how to use Rinoas limmitbreak.

Oh, and "my ass recover" saved my butt many times! This game sure is funny.

[Erased]

I'm getting a lot of things about graphics... 1) I watch( and like) Code: Lyoko 2) I watch(and love) Legend of Twilights Bracelet. 3)I don't mind the graphics in star wars: Obi Wan(Yeah, I know the game is short, but its fun) I'm not one to mind graphics very much, but 7's are just so outa date I'd reather play it on a smaller screen(it just seems more fitting.) I played through FF9 just fine...(thinks of more visually unattractive games...) Ummm... Ocarina of Time and every other Zelda game out there(besides Soul Caliber II and Windwaker) They don't have the greatest graphics

[Jolts]

One of the games I have the most fun playing (when I have someone else to play it with), is Pong. No real graphics there, just two color (black and white), and only a couple of white rectangles moving up and down to bounce a white square back and forth to see who can get the most points. I couldn't care less about the graphics, so long as I have fun playing the game.