Final Fantasy VIII

The Good
This game had a epic long story that featured film-like CGI scenes with vibrant color and realism. This game/movie would have made the Final Fantasy Movie #1 in the box office, if they would have used the story (taking out all of the game-like resemblances such as battles and the long waits when you travel to other places) In place with some plot twist and some cuts, this movie would dominate the box office, except it lies besides Final Fantasy VII in the video game world.

The Bad
The game has a long drawn out plot that didn't suit a video game. Sometimes after defeating it once, it will begin to collect dust. Boredom will overwhelm you. As always it will leave a mark in the beginning for better games to come.

The Bottom Line
If you are a Hardcore Final Fantasy fan or love a good romantic story this is a game for you. Forget going to the movies looking for a better love/ action story. this is the one you'd want.

The Good
I liked the final battle. It is very difficult, but the more difficult a battle is, the greater is the satisfaction afterwards, when you see the beautiful ending video.

I think the music is beautiful. The songs are very finely composed, and it fits a lot the characters of the game.

The game has a good story. It has a lot of emotion, and is very deep. It shows a lot about the good side of a human being, and I liked controlling the main hero. The main characters are very attractive. I don't think at all they are stupid. Squall is very cute! He always tries to show he is so "cool", but actually he has the warmest heart. And the girl, Rinoa, is really cool - she is very brave, an active girl, and in the beginning she even took Squall's hand and forced him to dance with her. This was a great scene. I also liked that scene where Edea, the "mother", when she didn't recognize the little Squall. It was great, and quite philosophic, because you couldn't know any more what was real and what wasn't, and there was an illusion of time, where all times were mixed and confused, I liked this. It is hard to find a general concept of the game, but it is clear the script writer tried to BRING you something, even something about which he is not very certain himself - this is like Socrates said: "What I know is that I don't know anything". I liked the game's story very much because it wasn't black/white, there was no clear conclusion to what happened in the game, so it wasn't dogmatic. It brings the honest people a good feeling, because it teaches to be brave and never to give up. That's why it's profound.

The graphics are wonderful. I don't have any problem at all with the realistic character design, because I saw "Final Fantasy IV", and this is a big development since those times. In "Final Fantasy IV" characters look like little children. This is not my style. I understand this is the traditional Final Fantasy style, but I prefer the way the characters are made in "Final Fantasy VIII" or "Final Fantasy X", and NOT the way they were made, for example, in "Final Fantasy IX". I know some people say this "childish" style is for letting you more space for imagination, but I think a game should be more concrete in this sense. I like to see a relationship between realistically looking people, and not grown-up people who look like children.

The Bad
The monster animations are very beautiful, but it's a pity you have to watch them each time. It is beautiful when you see it for the first time, but then you don't want to see the same thing over and over again. They did it better in "Final Fantasy IX", where there were sometimes full animations, and sometimes short ones. Other than that, there was nothing wrong with this game.

The Bottom Line
Beautiful scenes, many different characters, great music, great animations, a touching story. You will not regret if you buy this game.

The Good
Everything! I have played this game 10 times and loved every minute of every time. The storyline is great, once you figure it out. You will imagine that you are Squall in your free time for years. The characters are convincing, an improvement over the crappy characters in final fantasy vii, which my three year old brother could have improved on (or even my dog). They actually seem to have emotions and feelings, instead of being mindless robots. The fighting is good. One can go on side quests to make himself more powerful, and then it pays off when you're beating bosses by the hundreds. It is nice that it is possible to play the game with minimal understanding of the game's functions, but once you learn how to junction magic, it makes you more powerful. An altogether amazing game. Also, the triple triad mini-quest is awesome!

The Bad
When you go from one scene to the other, it takes 10 hours for the scenes to load. After each battle, you have to see how much experience you get, which takes about 22.763 hours, even if you run away! Some parts of the storyline just drag on and on (especially in the third disc), although it is not that bad. The bosses are not that hard, especially the second time around. The limit breaks are too easy to use, and do way to much damage. Finally, the GFs take about four minutes each time, and when you are summoning multiple GFs (especially Eden) it is just so boring. However, these are minor details, there are more good things about the game than bad things.

The Bottom Line
AWESOME. BUY IT. YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!