Final Fantasy VIII

The Good
Before I played FF8, I wasn't a huge fan of RPG's. The main reason was because I felt RPG's were just too technical and difficult to get into. I'm glad that this was the first Playstation game I ever bought, since I've never stopped playing RPG's ever since.

FF8 is beautiful. From the detail in the backgrounds, to the very nice cut scenes and the strong musical score. Everything about it is sheer bliss. The thing that made it so much easier for me to enjoy the game was the easy to get into battle system. Although certain things inside the battle system take time to develop, it isn't hard to get everything started. The earlier battles help to get you into the groove of things for some of the huge battles later on through out the game.

Something that many games lack of in recent times is a lasting factor. FF8 will last a long, long time. Not only is there 4 discs to get through, but trying to collect everything will take the most out of you. The addition of a card game on the side of the main story adds a nice balance to the game, and gives you something else to do instead of the same battle after battle routine that earlier RPG's sticked too.

I have to give credit where credit is due, to the amazing soundtrack. Square are one of a handful of developers that actually take time to develop a strong soundtrack to go with the visuals, and the score here mixes songs of power, love and comedy all in one. Great.

The Bad
There are moments with the graphics that don't look all that well. Blocky textures appear sometimes, thankfully not too often.

The Bottom Line
This is the best PSX Final Fantasy. It improves the visual detail built by FF7, and the overall quality and fun is a little higher than that of FF9. It will eventually be left behind by FF10 and 11, but FF8 will always find a place in my imagination. One of Squares biggest triumphs, and don't bother to even tell me otherwise.