Final Fantasy VIII

The Good
After the previous game conquered the masses with its visual splendor and drama, Square decided to go all the way with pomp and fanfares, and released one of the series' most hyped and controversial installments.

However, if you look beyond the often needlessly flashy exterior, you'll find quite an interesting game within. There are some rather extravagant features in the gameplay system. The series' trademark summons (now called GFs) have turned into a universal equipment of sorts, which determines the character's attributes, resistances, and teaches them new abilities. Armor is gone completely, and instead you junction magic spells to your attributes to raise them. This sounds like a crazy, convoluted idea, but once you get the hang of it you might even enjoy the flexibility. Add to that the complexity and the variety of GF-junctioning, the large amount of special abilities those GFs can learn, the usage of GFs themselves as summon spells, the fact that many of them are optional, and you'll get quite a bit of stuff to tinker with.

Though the game is noticeably less open-ended that the previous installments, there are still secrets to discover, including character-related sub-quests, optional boss battles, and large amounts of powerful items to hunt for. A fairly sophisticated card game can be played against various NPCs, yielding even more cool stuff to the player in case of victory.

The melodramatic story of Final Fantasy VIII is not without merit. I liked its soap opera-like tone, its unusual focus on modern-day teenagers instead of knights in shiny armor. Take a look at the famed love story, for example. Old RPGs showed a main hero with big muscles killing the bad guy and getting the girl as a result. Here, the love relationship develops slowly, in an "episodic" fashion, with attention paid to mundane details and crudely presented, but somehow endearing psychological traits. The setting has a certain "1960's vibe" mixed with old-school optimistic sci-fi, reducing medieval fantasy elements to a minimum.

There are plenty of emotional scenes in Final Fantasy VIII, with the famous dance scene stealing the show. That scene is probably the closest thing to TV drama-like entertainment you'll encounter in the world of video games. Generally, the CG movies in this game truly enhance the atmosphere. Instead of being just pointless eye-candy, those (mostly short and silent) sequences serve as little dramatic intermezzi that refresh the narrative and help to emphasize important events by taking them "out" of the gameplay.

Final Fantasy VIII has exquisite visuals. The "realistic" characters were a correct design choice for a game that attempted to move away from epic fantasy towards modern-day melodrama. Graphical details constitute a great deal of the game's special atmosphere: pay attention to some of the characters' clothes and outfits, decorations on the streets in towns, train design, etc. Gorgeous, stylish pre-rendered backgrounds and real-time 3D battle graphics surpass everything the PlayStation has seen before.

The Bad
The gameplay system of Final Fantasy VIII ended up being too ambitious, over-complicating things that should have stayed the way they'd been before. Some of the decisions made by the designers of this game were puzzling, to say the least.

One big problem with the system is the stubbornness with which the designers force the players to use GF attacks and limit breaks over and over again. I understand that boss battles should require more than simply tapping the attack button; but regular battles that drag themselves is a major mood-killer for a Japanese RPG.

The unskippable GF attack animations, admittedly gorgeous, are simply too long, and watching them again and again is a painful process. What's worse is that the player feels too tempted to use them all the time, because they are completely free. Putting a penalty on GF usage (health or MP-draining or whatever) would have at least balanced that part a bit.

An alternative to GF attacks are powerful limit breaks; but you can execute them only if the character in question is on the verge of dying. It sounds interesting in theory, and really proves helpful against bosses; but using this technique against regular enemies again means prolonging the battle. Same applies to the dubious magic-drawing: why can't I just buy spells instead of wasting turns upon turns on getting them from enemies? Regular enemies tend to have ridiculous amount of HP and also inflict ridiculously low damage on your characters. Put all of the above together and you'll have an idea about how tedious and unrewarding the battles of Final Fantasy VIII can become.

Some of the gameplay features in this game simply make no sense. Why do I get paychecks that diminish if I just wander about and don't follow the storyline? Discouraging exploration in an RPG is a cardinal sin. Even worse are enemies who level up together with the player-controlled characters, disrupting the balance and further increasing the player's desire to skip battles. In a Japanese RPG, where combat normally occupies a much more significant portion of the gameplay than in the West, this design flaw can prove lethal.

The ambitions of the story are severely hampered by strange, poorly explained, and needless plot twists. Maybe much of the quality has been lost in translation, but the writing doesn't improve at all over the previous Final Fantasy offerings, which were, frankly, never too good to begin with. The awkward and messy writing hurts Final Fantasy VIII more than it did the early installments, precisely because this game tried to disengage itself from "childish" fantasy elements and declared itself realistic and mature.

Plot holes and unsatisfying explanations become more abundant the more the game abandons its melodramatic tone and plunges into the depths of supernatural cosmic battles. Square didn't dare to pursue their new stylistic approach to the end and inserted a trivial, obligatory "save the world" grand finale, which seemed to have been torn out of context and pasted into the game without any good reason. And again, this damages the game more than it would a more traditional Japanese RPG.

The Bottom Line
Square surely took chances with Final Fantasy VIII. It alienated many fans and is still seen by some as the black sheep of the franchise. While I do not consider it a bad game and appreciate its artistry and its aesthetic value, I have to agree that too much patience is required to wade through lengthy summon animations, weird design elements, and inane plot twists.

The Good
First let us mention game's preferences, as they're all just plain marvelous. Game comes on five CDs (I'm, of course, refering to PC version), one is just for installation, so basically, there are only four to play along with. As for the graphic and animations, they're breathtaking, and I think I'm really falling for that japanese creations (let's get one thing straight, though... I don't like anime like 2D, I'm a pure fan of 3D animations, hehe, exceptions can be games with animations like 'Outlaws' or 'Lands of Lore'). After playing this game, I'm trully sorry SquareSoft haven't put more of their games through the process of transporting them to PC platforms.

The story puts you in role of Squall Leonhart, not so friendly and sociable guy, due to past circumstances, who ended in a military school for mercenaries. Your only worthy opponent is Seifer Almasy, who cares a bit more about his ego and a dream to become sorceress' knight then anything else, and is pretty determined to keep away everyone that tries to prevent that (it is him who gave you that scar in the intro animation, just soon enough for you to do the same present for him, hehe). However, your fighting teacher is a hot babe that everyone enjoys her presence, but no matter, you always seem to keep distance... that is, until you first saw your falling star. Is it possible to catch a falling star? Well, you're just about to find out that as you play along :)

This is my first Final Fantasy game I even played, and no matter how people claim this one has a bit tougher controls and whole thing to settle along, it's possible to master everything just as you play along, as you can always refer to ingame help and mentor. Fighting is definitely not turn-based (those who claims it is are wrong), but you speed and ability to strike depends in a certain time limit (if you have higher levels, you'll be faster, etc.) so that could trick those who think it's turn-based. It is definitely real-time, as even when you're choosing what to do and how to strike, enemy won't just watching you calmly.

Game uses just a keyboard, without a mouse, and you're moving your character(s) very similar to those in 'Alone in the Dark' games, only way faster and smoother. In many occasions you'll be given to choose with whom to play and/or do a certain mission, and the experience will go to the characters with you play at the moment. However, magic can only be used if you assigned a certain GF (Guardian Force) to your character, so you'll have to switch that from time to time... actually, quite a lot. Characters are all well designed, animated, and have a story of their own, but that story just happens to connect all of ya (which you'll uncover more once you play the game).

Animations in the game (excluding intro and ending animation) only consists of sound, and the music (which is probably midi) is on its own, so I must admit music is greatly composed to suit in every situation when played along with a piece of any animation at the given moment. Nobuo Uematsu is surely now on my top list of game composers :)

The Bad
Nada! Not a single thing! I only hope SquareSoft will stop doing so much game for consoles and concentrate their future more towards PC. I mean, first, graphic on PC is waaay better then on some silly Playstation which can only be used for games, second, how can you guys even play games on that silly thing instead of keyboard? Third, I'd really like to see some games like 'Parasite Eve' and newer 'Final Fantasy' games for PC. I know, it needs to be taken care of wether it will pay off the transportation to PC, but so far, I'm sure that both games, Final Fantasy VII & VIII were accepted on PC equally as on Playstation. I hope even more. If not, then something's wrong with the population on this planet, I'll sayeth :)

The Bottom Line
Hey, trust me one this one, you don't have to be a Final Fantasy fan to like this game. I wasn't... but be prepared to become one once you try it, hehe. That's the price of playing it, I guess, hehe. Beside the great story, wonderful animations, amazing character motions, really creative effects, speechless and breathtaking music soundtrack, there's at lest a reason to get this game for PC instead of PSX, since you'll enjoy more with better graphic and everything. Not to mention how prices for consoles are so much higher then for PC (which is still a mystery to me). You shouldn't say no to this game if there's any adventure, action, rpg, fantasy, sci-fi or love spirit in you. Trust me on this one :) Yeah right, as if you should listen to this review, anyway, lol!

The Good
Greaaat graphics. As far as eye candy goes, Square pulled everything they could get from the psx. The characters and enviroments now sport great textures, and great animations, not to mention amazingly-blended fmv sequences, which even nowadays hold their own against most other competitors.

Well..... There are some nice gameplay gimmicks like the draw system and whatnot....and...er...There are also great graphics!!! And uhmm.... did I mention the graphics? Oh yeah, the intro is pretty cool (but for those of you that claim it's the best one ever I encourage you to check the SPECTACULAR Privateer 2 intro).

The Bad
It comes with an officially licensed Pop Song and starts with a music video. That pretty much says it all. If you are one of those that get all misty-eyed with a bunch of "epic" images and a thumping classical song then congratulations, FF8 is gonna be for you. If you on the other hand are among the ones with gray matter in the skull then welcome to hell.

To sum it up FF8 is a tough nut to swallow. Why? Crap Gameplay, Crap Story. Historically these have been the two saving graces of videogames, if you can have both you have a golden hit, if you don't, then you just concentrate on having one (Doom, console rpgs, etc.) but FF8 blows on BOTH accounts. Let me explain, as far as gameplay goes: it is a console rpg, so that means that right from the start it's seriously impaired, I'm talking super-linear structure, simple game mechanics, etc... but FF8 introduces a series of features that make things even worse. Let's see, since everyone liked those flashy summon animations on FF7 then the game will be much more entertaining if we concentrate it all on that feature, right? Wrong. The developers decided to focuss the entire fighting gameplay on these summons (now called GFs) by making all enemies extremely powerful and hardwiring fighting skills to these GFs (which you must "junction" to yourself in order to say, cast magic) which point out another problem, you'll find out that your main focuss is to upgrade the GFs, nevermind the characters themselves. Of course, the deductive player will soon find out that due to the over-the-top nature of fights, summoning GFs is the only viable way to win, and here is when we get to the heart of the problem: you have to cast and watch these (lavishly done admitedly) animations oooover and ooover and oooover again. These animations run 3-5 mins each and turn fights into 40 min affairs, add to that that they are straightforward simple fights devoid of any strategic angle and you have a borefest in your hands. You are only required to sit there between animations and select which one to play until the monster you are trying to defeat is dead. To quote an ex-girlfriend of mine: "Are you actually playing this or what?"... I didn't know what to answer her.

Ok, so the gameplay is crap, what about the storyline? Lots of games have been saved from oblivion by the legions of pseudo-intellectual freaks that are content with having nothing more than "interactive books"... well this isn't one of them. For what I dare say is the first time ever, Square has blown it in what regards to the storyline/creative content. For starters there is a major turn to melodrama instead of epic-ness in the story, "hooray!!" says you "no more stereotyped super-heroes that save the world, right?" Wrong again. The move just focuses the stereotypes even more, since the game puts character development and relationships in the front seat. A tricky feat to accomplish right, since you have to have VERY well designed characters. Characters with dark shadowy pasts are usually popular, because they keep everything in shrouds and your imagination fills in those blanks, it's not the most original aproach, but it allows you to easily connect with your character because you essentially turn him into what you want and you don't pay attention to the cliches and stereotypes going on around you. Square had this down to a formula but they decided to forgo it in order to tell the stories between the characters here and now. Bold move, but suddenly we are disconnected from that sense of involvement that we had before and we are told to sit back and watch as the story unfolds by itself. Of course, when we do that we can't help but watch everything we have missed out before. Such as the stupid stereotyping taken to the extreme with the "dark and misterious character" "the anmesia solution to complicated plots", the stupidly incidental plot (you never drive the action, stuff in the game just "happens" around you) the plot holes, etc. Understandably enough, the main plot gets weaker as the characters become more prominent in the spotlight, but the whole thing just comes appart because it doesn't have any good characters to deal with. Every one in the game is supposedly "for real" but in reality they are the lowest forms of the sterotypes that have plaged videogames from the beggining with the added bonuses that they are super-heroes / part-time 20-something models / fashionably cool / and even Rock Stars!! (yeah, I'm not kidding you here).

You have the usual sidekick-like characters that offer comedy relief at the expense of plot integrity and general ambience (hey dude, we are in the middle of a war but let's have a rock concert yay!!!); the baddass antagonist to the main character; the mentor-like mother figure; the hero; and of course, the main love interest.

These last two deserve a whole chapter on their own, for starters every female character in this game is responsible for a regression of epic proportions that would make Virgina Wolfe rattle in her grave (anyone notice how all the female characters wear skirts or short thights? :D This game would be a perfect ad for Gap!), but Riona alone has taken female characters back 10 years at least, especially since she is supposed to be the "strong-willed and modern" chick. Bullshit. Riona spends the whole game acting as a damsel in distress barely capable of producing an adult tought. She starts out as a rebel leader of sorts but by the second quarter of the game the developers apparently forget about that and have her act like a ditzy (free-spirited for the politically correct) bimbo.

As for the main character Squall has got to be the most stupid character ever to grace a computer game, you see, in the culturally inept elite circles image is associated with attitude, so for instance if you wear leather you are a badass (see Britney Spears => I love Rock & Roll), if you have tattoos you are a badass, if you speak "l33t" you are hacker, if you have body piercings you are baaad, etc, Get it? Well, the idea behind Squall is that he is "real" and that of course means acting like an asshole and being an obnoxious bitch (because in the simplified world of Square character design flawed equals "real") and since FF8 is a "really real" game and not like "those other fantasy games", Squall gets to act like an asshole a lot. And I do mean a LOT. One of the reasons it is so hard to connect with Squall is because he is just an asshole! Early in the game you see his best buddy (dunno how the hell he can put up with Squall) aproach and extend his hand to congratulate him. His reaction? Ignoring him and looking somwhere else... Is that supposed to be "real"?? If I were Zell I would have broken the motherfucker's nose... and that's just the beggining. Through the course of the game you'll see him bitch and moan and crawl into fetal possitions and storm out of rooms like a histerical bitch (no, I'm not making this up). Of course, Squall by himself is nothing but an annoying bitch (much like Episode 2's Anakin), the problem arises when he is shoehorned into the game just because he's the lead character. You'll scratch your head in disbelief as everyone treats him nicely just because he's the main character, you'll have a brain stroke trying to figure out how they can name an asshole like him the leader of humanity's last stand or how Rinoa falls madly in lover for him....

And of course, the icing on the cake comes in the form of a mushy-feely coat of cheap sensibility aplied to the game, if you look at it closely the game's whole point is to mix the right amount of mushy strings to make the emotionally challenged among us go "ahhhh" with a sad misunderstood guy and a harsh cold unfriendly world and then just when you think it's all so mean and nothin's fair... Whammo! Love conquers all!! yay!!!!! Most people will end this game tear-stained thinking they have actually tought something when in reality they have lost precious time and swallowed four discs of pure teenie-booper crap....Either that or the rules of the universe just switched and a sequence where the lead and the female interest find themselves acting like schoolgirls and cuddling and speaking about their feelings while the officially licensed Touchy-Feely Pop Song (tm) plays in the background are actually meaningfull and touching moments.

The Bottom Line
To sum it all up: Am I an nutcase? Everyone loves this game! Why am I the only one to point out these things? Well, you see, we videogamers need to be less forgiving about the content of our products if we are to be taken seriously by the world. This game is a perfect example because it is pure unadultered CRAP. And, because it made it's translation to another art-form. No, really. FF8 is in spirit the same as FF: The Spirits Within, it changes some characters and doesn't have chocobos, but at it's soul is the goddamned story of Squall's inept existance, it even has a crappy touchy-feely sequence in space!!!

So what happens??? FF8 is praised by everyone in the videogame community, and the game sells millions, while FF:TSW is regarded as nothing but a flashy and hollow overpretentious crap by the motion picture community.... Are we surprised then when the masses regard computer games as kiddie stuff? Of course, I'd like to point out that while the psx version of the game was a success, the PC version bombed terribly, which makes me particularly proud of being primarily a PC-gamer :)).... There is a lesson to be learned in here kids, maybe I'm not as nutz as you think :)