Grudge Reviews 11/6/2009

The War Doctor · 11-06-2009, 01:12 PM

Even I'm shocked at the rapidity with which my review feature's timeslot went from Wednesday to Wednesday Or So. Anyway, now we return to my Final Fantasy marathon for the eighth installment (and the third of which I've reviewed), and I must say I wasn't looking forward to this one. So let's just get it over with shall we?

Final Fantasy VIII
Playstation, PC
Squaresoft
1999

Opening Comments
Hot on the heels of Squaresoft's (now Square-Enix) mega-blockbuster Final Fantasy VII came Final Fantasy VIII, to the initial joy and eventual disappointment of many. I played this game before I ever played FFVII, or any Final Fantasy for that matter, so the blow may have been lessened in my case, but now, years later, I can finally see this for what it is: a mess.

Story
Players are thrust into the role of broody, anti-social Squall Leonhart, a young student mercenary (who has the dubious honour of being the most divisive protagonist in the history of Square's flagship franchise - some (myself included) like him for his complexity, while many hate him for his sheer arseholeishness) who becomes caught up in a war of independence between the small, peaceful nation of Timber and the expansionist Galbadia, led by the enigmatic Sorceress Edea. Meanwhile, he forms a bond with Timber resistance leader Renoa Heartilly, and must decipher the meaning of his dreams, in which he becomes a bumbling - but ultimately courageous and kindhearted - Galbadian soldier named Laguna Loire.

For all the game's many faults, I believe the storyline of FFVIII is its strongest point. Apart from a rather jarring moment in the latter half involving a trip to space, it is really not too bad - I'd even go so far as to call it genuinely good. It's deliberately less epic and sprawling than previous Final Fantasys, focusing more on the characters than the events surrounding them. The characters are believeable, and (with the exception of Selphie, Zell and Seifer) even likeable - especially the protagonists of the secondary plotline, Laguna, Kiros and Ward. Things do get a little more apocalyptic towards the end, but for the most part it's a subdued, intimate look into the relationships between Squall and the people around him.

Graphics
FFVIII represented a great leap forward (or backward, depending on who among the enormous FF fanbase you ask) for the series graphically - rather than superdeformed cartoon characters, characters were now realistically-proportioned and looked like.. well, humans. Not only that, but the game also showcases stunning (for the time) FMV sequences, sometimes with (somewhat) controllable character models superimposed over them. It's a minor, purely aesthetic touch, but it's a nice one.

The graphics of FFVIII ultimately didn't truly show what the PS1 was capable of, but they came close and still look reasonably well today.

Soundtrack
Like the story, the soundtrack is much more subdued than previous offerings from the series' composer Nobuo Uematsu. Whether this is deliberate or not I don't know, but for me it means no epic, rousing, moving tracks (with the notable exception of the opening number Liberi Fatali), but rather more ambient, atmospheric music. It won't send shivers down your spine like Dancing Mad, and it won't intimidate and astound you like One-Winged Angel, but the soundtrack of FFVIII is pretty decent stuff.

Gameplay
At this point you might be wondering, "hang on, he called this game a mess, but so far this review has been pretty positive. What happened?" Well, I'll tell you: so far, I've liked everything the game has had to offer - a mature storyline, good graphics and a decent soundtrack. But sadly, for every high note the game has to offer there will always be one discordant, grating low note to drag it down: the gameplay.

Square have never been known for taking one winning formula and running with it. Instead they seem intent on changing something with every game they make. Now, this is by no means a bad thing - Final Fantasy III gave us the Job System and Summoners. Final Fantasy IV gave us the ATB system. Final Fantasy VI gave us changeable parties. But sadly, as many times as Square have done something right, they've done something horribly wrong, and Final Fantasy VIII is the most glaring example of this.

The first thing that will hit you is the Junction System (and trust me, it will hit you - in the form of one of many long, unskippable tutorials), a nigh-incomprehensible system in which a character must have a GF (the game's version of Espers or summoned monsters) junctioned to them to use magic or items. Once you get your head around this, another thing hits you (accompanied by yet another tutorial) - the Draw System. In this game the only way to get magic (at least for a while) is to draw it from monsters in battle, or from "draw points" dotted around the world. This in itself wouldn't be too bad, except instead of magic points (MP), you have a limited stock of each spell. Again, not terribly bad... until you realise that the best way to improve your character (and indeed the only reliable way, because enemies get tougher every time you gain a level) is to junction magic to your individual stats - meaning when you use junctioned spells, your stats will decrease, forcing you to simply stockpile them. It's incredibly confusing, and even if you manage to figure it out, it will annoy you to no end, especially when you have to switch GFs between characters and junction them all over again (which you will be forced to do many, many times).

About the only good thing I can say about the gameplay is the optional card game Triple Triad. Obviously not everyone will like it, but as it's totally avoidable it shouldn't be an issue, and obsessive collector-types (like me) who can get their heads round the relatively-simple rules will enjoy it. However, it's not without its flaws. The biggest issue with Triple Triad is that the rules change depending on where you are; some rules make the game easier, some make it punishingly hard, some are just annoying, but even that wouldn't be a problem if the rule changes didn't somehow spread like gonorrhea, forcing you to globe-trot to change them back again.

Closing Comments
Well. Like any entry in an established franchise, Final Fantasy VIII has its fans and its detractors, and on balance I'm pretty sure I'm one of the latter... and it's a shame, it truly is. This game could have been so much more; it could have been a worthy successor to Final Fantasy VII. It had so much going for it: a good story, good characters, good music, but thanks to the atrocious gameplay it was ultimately a disappointment. Some people love it, so I won't advise you to avoid it - give it a try. It's not the worst game out there, nor is it even the worst Final Fantasy (that award goes to FFII, a game to be avoided at all costs). Where it is good it excels, but where it is bad it is utterly exhausting. All I can say is approach with caution.

Bleeding Angel · 11-06-2009, 07:41 PM

Final Fantasy again i see :P

I liked 8, it wasnt the best game ever and got totally annoying when you switch characters to laguna because i hated that aspect of the game, and yeah near the end its like wtf? because everythign moves into space and then the whole end of the world thing. It started off a good enought story, but then with everyone falling in love with each other and the plot going all over the place it just kinda started to lose me.

But im always going to stand by and say 9 was the best for me, id reccomed you buy and play it because you are missing out if you dont :P

The War Doctor · 11-06-2009, 07:46 PM

I have a ROM of FFXI and thanks to you I'm REALLY looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to not having to junction anything anymore.

Personally I liked Laguna, I just thought his storyline, while less interesting, had more likeable and believeable characters. It was also funnier ("I need to scratch my feeeeet!").

The space scene though... Christ, that just came out of nowhere. Sure, the little love scene with Squall and Rinoa was nice and Eyes On Me is a great song, but it really didn't have to be in f*cking SPACE.

Bleeding Angel · 12-06-2009, 02:34 AM

Jeez i remember that space scene and the little mini game of catching her as she wandered in space, cept it took about what 5 mins and i missed her a few times because i stopped paying attention after 30 secs.

I never liked Laguna and his gang much, though i remeber the classic line "I dreamt i was an idiot". But i think what let the game down the most was the ever expanding plotline, it started off simple then just got way to complicated.

You will like 9, so i will be looking forward to seeing a reveiw of that. Im stil through my playthrough of it at the moment. I just love the lightheartedness of it all, and the storyline doesnt get anymore confusing like in the past games, oh and they have moggles, lots of them, so adorable.

The War Doctor · 12-06-2009, 07:58 AM

Oh, that godforsaken space minigame... thankfully there are far less minigames in VIII than there are in VII, but the space one did my head in.

But I couldn't stop laughing the first time I lost and read the message "Rinoa was lost in space... forever." It was just such a weird thing to happen in a Final Fantasy game...