Standing up for FF8

[Example]

Hmmm pretty good points maybee.

HOWEVER:

• " The Drawing System Sucks " !

You don't have to stand there and draw 100 Bizzard spells. You just need to draw as much spells as you desire and then escape from battle. You don't even have to kill the monster you are facing. In fact you don't even have to obey to this system as you can easily get magic from drawing monsters into cards or playing the card game and turning monster cards into items.

True, but when you start out you're expected to draw as many spells as you can until you learn the ability to refine. Also the game does a poor job of explaining its mechanics to you, which leads to a lot of confusion.

• " Apart from Laguna, the characters are so annoying " !

Final Fantasy VIII is guilty of doing something a bit different and that is that the game focuses on teenagers. I've seen alot of people say that they either still relate to Squall now, or they related to Squall alot as a teenager. Same with Rinoa. The characters act a bit wild and rebellious because they are teenagers. They don't know themselves yet and they are working it out. Though as the game goes on, you can see them change. Squall becomes more caring, Rinoa becomes less selfish, Zell becomes more calm and shows leadership qualities, Irvine has a moment where he shows he can be more serious, Selphies shows that her carefree and "crazy " persona is nothing really but a shell. Quistis even calls out Squall's BS at one stage, instead of just letting it pass. Final Fantasy VIII does teenagres a bit more realistically, which some may enjoy as they can relate, or some may feel frustrated by. Though fans seem to forget that the main cast is a bunch of confused seventeen year olds.

Except they act more like they're seven as opposed to seventeen. Especially Rinoa, the most brainless and vapid bimbo in existence. Also some characters i.e Quistis simply drop out of relevancy once their arc is over and they do absolutely nothing for the rest of the game. Except I'm kinda wrong on that example as Quistis doesn't even have a proper arc, she tries to open up to Squall, he tells her to smurf off, then she just stops being relevant without having learned anything. Hell the one time she actually does something meaningful - when she tells Rinoa what a useless retard she is - she almost undoes it when she decides to abandon her post in the middle of her mission just to apologize for hurting her feelings. I mean, come the smurf on.

• " Ugh, that Junction System " !

And ? What's so awful about it ? Equip a GF. Choose what you what the GF to learn. GF learns the thing. Enjoy some new gameplay. Equip, test and experiment with magics. Enjoy ! Not a torture lol. Also, as others have found out- you can also learn how to abuse it and have fun breaking the game.

I think we've already covered this before, but you forgot to mention the level scaling which trivializes every battle and further takes away from the sense of progression. Oh and it makes every character play the same, which is always such a big problem for everyone with the materia system in VII, but it's okay when literally any other game does it.

• " I hate Rinoa, she's annoying !"

Rinoa is a naive and rebellious seventeen year old that wants to get "revenge on daddy " at the beginning of the game. Though she's the first to have the confidence to call out on Squall's BS, and she helps him open up and become a better person, by just being honest with him and letting him know what a arsehole he can be sometimes. She does start out to be immature and reckless, but at least she tries ? She is a damsel for a massive amount of the game, but you have to remember she's the only one that isn't a trained SeeD. She was only a impulsive and very naive rebel fighter that easily could've ended up in prison during her train plan. But Rinoa is a good Final Fantasy heroine. Why ? Because she becomes less selfish as the game goes on. Would you give up your freedom and sanity to be locked up and sent into space ? So others could feel safe ?

Still doesn't change the fact that for well over half the game she's annoying as hell, does nothing but get in everyone else's way, and she's defined by her contrived, one-dimensional obsession over Squall, even though he does nothing but brush her off, but more on that later. She's the very definition of a manic pixie dream girl.

• " I hate Squall, he's a ass " !

Fair enough. I love Squall. Squall is one of my favourite MC's, but Squall can be a horrible person. I feel like you either like Squall because you feel like you can relate/ did relate, or you just don't want to be around him at all. Though this isn't a bad thing, as the game cuts away to the Laguna Dreams and you can spend 20-30 mins playing as somebody more sensitive.
Final Fantasy VIII gives you a escape from the MC if you despise him.

Actually in retrospect I like Squall, at least until a certain infamous twist takes a steaming trout all over his characterization. He's the only one who actually does act his own age, I mean sure he can take his jerkassery too far but in some cases he wasn't ENOUGH of a jerkass. I know it sounds crazy, right? But I'll get to that in a moment.

• " The Squall/ Rinoa romance is forced and is one of the worst FF romances ever " !!

Hello ?! Did you pay attention to the game at all ? The game says many times that Squall has trust issues, fears that people are going to leave him one day, is pessimistic, pushes people away, and struggles to open up. It's a non-brainer that he doesn't open up till Rinoa is in a coma and feels like he's taken her for granted ! There is also the fact that the dance between Squall and Rinoa is more than just a cute dance. It's symbolic of their relationship. Rinoa never gives up on him and Squall stops being a dick, and opens up and dance perfectly with her. There's also Squall's face when Rinoa cutely walks away from him. Squall opened up, and Rinoa walked away. Squall's facial expressions show sadness.

Except neither of their actions make any sense. Why is Rinoa so obsessed with Squall in the first place? Why does Squall suddenly decide he can't live without Rinoa, and just contradict his entire character up to that point, when she's done nothing but annoy the trout out of him (and everyone else) and has proven to be a much bigger liability than ally? To be honest I don't know why Squall doesn't get angrier and try even harder to push her away the more she tried to get close, when he did that to literally everyone else in the game. And the way the rest of the team actually has to intervene and force you two together (i.e when Rinoa is dangling from a ledge and the others insist that YOU have to be the one to save Rinoa when literally anyone else could, because it's not like you have more important things to do i.e commanding and managing an entire army in the middle of a battle) only highlights how little chemistry there is between them.

• " But the orphanage plot-twist " !

It's lighty foreshadowed with the Balamb Staff mentioning that GF can cause memory problems, and Irvine refusing to shoot Edea. And this is Final Fantasy ? IN THE SAME GAME THE SCHOOL FOR SOLDIERS CAN FLY.

As I've said before, the orphanage twist is bad and not just because it's a convenient excuse for everyone to feel closer together. Also maybe it's just me missing something but if Squall has amnesia, why does he act so aloof and distant 24/7? I mean, if he can't remember having a trout childhood, why does he feel the need to push everyone away from him? He 's constantly trying to avoid something he shouldn't remember happening from happening again. And he never once stopped to think about why he acts the way he does? Just seems silly to me.

This game isn't trash. Just misunderstood. That's the tea.

Maybe(e), but it does have legitimate flaws.