Review Statistics

Times Read

1,536

Comments

11

Reviews

Game

Plot Synopsis

No plot synopsis or other information available for Final Fantasy VIII

Screenshots

Final Fantasy VIII Cover Squall and Rinoa Hugglez Final Fantasy VIII OST Squall's Griever Necklace

Story & Playability

The world has changed and in this time of advanced technology and devastating magic, an evil sorceress known as Edea corrupts the largest military power through various manipulation, deception, and magic. Conquering the world is too small time, so she focus on something bigger than the world� space and time. To counter the evil sorceress, head leaders control and manage combat training school. These schools are called Gardens and train elite fighting forces known as SeeD. SeeD is the protector of man and the only defense the people have against the evil sorceress.

The story is very interesting but confusing none the less along the line. The most intriguing part of the story is actually controller 2 different main characters throughout the game through flashbacks. This was a very interesting way to go with the game and added to the fun. Anything you did in the past (during Flashbacks) affects the geometry of the present day. For example: if you move a rock in the past, the rock will uncover a nice treasure or draw point later. During the game you will meet up with various underground groups that will help you on your quest along the way. A lot of cut scenes which doesn't distract from the game itself but add to it over all.

Rating

8 (good)

Graphics

Just like I said before about Tetsuya Nomura, I love his art work. That is no different in this game. The characters are happier this time around rather than mad like in Final Fantasy VII. Most of the characters struggle with there own hardships and soon the loner main character, Squall, soon comes into his own destiny and helps the others over come not only their fears but help them grow stronger out of them. He seams like a complete a-hole at the start but slowly turns more heroic and helping later on. The character designs this time around are more "fancy" sort of speaking. With a lot of aesthetical elements like trench-coats, furry jackets, sweaters around the waist, cowboy, and one guy who seams to be Mike Tyson's new tattoo inspiration. Truly more details this time around.

In the 3D world, this one brings it up a notch from Final Fantasy VII. This time around they didn't go for the anime-style look of FF7 but more with a modern and practical style. The CGI scenes are astounding and much more detailed as well. The game is worth watching the opening scene alone. The battle sparring battle between Squall and Seifer is one of the points in the movie where you realize who takes thing a bit too far.

The weapons this time around are not just swords but gunblades. Basically Squalls gunblade is a modified broadsword mixed with a revolver, as Seifers is a rapier mixed with a Beretta. The game has not really described how the gunblade actually "functions". But in certain scenes with Seifer we see that you can indeed shoot the gun blade. Various times he shoots in the air to make a point or to be herd. The other characters have more of the same ol' weapons (whip, gloves, shotgun, tri-chucks, and a boomerang) and others have a huge anchor and Voldo-like hand scissors and a machine gun.

Rating

8 (good)

Sound

One of my favorite OST's of Nobuo Uematsu, not THE favorite but one of my favorite soundtracks. There�s more chocobo music this time around which ain't bad. Some of my favorites are Julia, Ride on (Ragnarok theme), Man with the Machinegun, Ami, Only A Plank Between One and Perdition, Fragments of Memories, Fisherman's Horizon, Roses and Wine, and of course Eyes on Me. This game comes close to actual vocals with a song that features Faye Wong singing. The sound track is long and the last CD has very pumped music from the end of the game. Definitely one of the best soundtracks dished out in the Final Fantasy series. The piano collections aren't half bad as well.

The sound effects are even a notch better than Final Fantasy VII's.

Rating

9 (very good)

Fun

Final Fantasy VIII is a rush, the new Junctioning system is a very nice feature. Sadly I did not enjoy the 'draw' magic feature and the Guardian Forces. I guess I got too use to material and liked that. But the features of Guardian Forces add to the game play. Leveling up not only yourself but you GF's as well. By doing that you get new junctions to use, new attacks, and etc. By the way, an interesting new thing about GF's is the select feature. Later on the game while pressing select you can increate the damaged done by a GF by pressing select and then when the icon pops up you press square [] as fast as you can.

A nice side feature is the card game. By playing the card game you can get more and more cards which you can morph into items, rare items, ammo, parts, etc. for weapon upgrades.

The story of how everybody is sort of linked is rather weird but I guess it works. This time around the limit breaks involve more tactics and quick button pressing. This adds a lot to the game play, now you're not just pressing X all the way through a battle. The Lionheart looks VERY awesome when done correctly.

Overall this game is very much worth the time. There are some features which really didn't appeal to me but then there are others that I really enjoyed and felt that it made the game play a lot more fun.

Rating

8 (good)

Final Verdict

8.17 (good)

Reviewed by SplinterCell, 2y 37wk ago