I'm Addicted To.... Final Fantasy VIII?!?!

[Tempest]

Yes it's true, I'm now addicted to FF VIII. I don't know why so many people consider this to be one of the worst Final Fantasies, I think it's a great game. I'll admit the junctioning and item refinement stuff took me awhile to understand, but now that I know how they work I find it very interesting.

I think what turned most people off was how drastically different FF VIII was. The magic system is totally wacked out, as you don't learn spells at level up or have magic points. Instead you draw spells out of monsters and store them up. The Junctioning system is very odd, not only do you basically become attached to a Guardian Force (think Espers), but you learn abilities from them as well. Not only that, but you can junction magic to your abilities (such as Fire magic to your strength) and the bonus is related to how many of that spell you have. Also, you don't get money from defeating monsters, instead you get a paycheck from the army you work for. Other strange things include gaining items from refining playing cards (now you know where that damn card game in FF IX came from), upgrading weapons with parts (you don't buy new weapons), and Limit Breaks that require you to enter button combinations (not to mention Limit Breaks only occur when you're low on life). FF VIII certainly doesn't resemble any other FF game I can think of.

I think it's a refreshing change from the stale old FF formula, but I guess it didn't take. Almost none of the new changes were ever used again. I'm just happy that I ignored all the critics and gave it a try, I really like it.

Oh and in case you don't remember... DON"T POST SPOILERS WITHOUT WARNINGS!!!!!


Tempest

[Nature Boy]

I'm one of those who slam it. And it's the drawing of magic from enemies that I dislike so much. I'm pretty impaitient and the battles just take way too long when you have to factor in drawing stuff from bad guys. I mean, I'd sit there and prolong a fight for ever just to build up my magic arsenal. It's not something I enjoyed.

[Tempest]

Yeah I suppose it does prolong the battles, but I think it's cool that everyone can learn magic simply by drawing it out of a creature. Also trying to stay alive against some powerful monsters just to draw spells out of them is sort of a challenge...

Another nice part of the magic system is that you don't have to worry about spell points. Want to cast 10 Blizzard spells in a row? Now problem as long as you have enough. And the ability to draw a spell out of a monster and kill it with it is sort of funny...

Tempest

[Nature Boy]

I know what you mean. It is definitely an interesting idea.

And I suppose you should expect that sort of thing from an RPG. They're all about micromanagement. It's just that this type of micromanagement meant that I'd spend way too much time fighting otherwise meaningless battles and not enough time advancing the plot. I'm all about advancing the plot. I need to finish this game so that I can go out and buy another game

[Tempest]

One thing that I did notice (and I hope it changes later on in the game), is that spells right now seem to be less useful than the GF. Why would I want to waste time casting a spell when I can wipe out all the monsters with my Guardian Force? Maybe this will change when I get more powerful spells?

Tempest

[Nature Boy]

Is this the FF where you couldn't shorten the summons? That also drove me nuts. I wouldn't use the damn things because they took to long. Maybe I should've. It's been so long since I played any of those PSX FFs and they're all jumbling together in my wee noggin.

[Tempest]

Yeah they had the full animation, but during that time you could boost their power by pressing the square button (if you had boost). Very odd idea. It also hurts after awhile...

Tempest

[Cheese]

I love the junctioning system. I loved trying out the different magics in different slots trying to find the most effective combinations. The draw system I thought was maybe good in theory, but kinda failed in the practice. If it didn't take so goddamn long it most likey would have been more effective.
While I think 7 is my fave, 8 is really an underrated game. Glad you are addicted to it.

[kainemaxwell]

The Junctioning system and the fact that you find parts to upgrade weapons really turned me off. That and I felt the plot and storyline was too scifi-ish and the whole Sourcress thing was kinda lame.

[Sylentwulf]

As usual, I'm with ya on this one Tempest, I really liked Final Fantasy VIII. More than FFX honestly (One of my least favorite). As I recall it was even fairly challenging (A rarity among most final fantasy games post-16 bit). Probably the only thing I didn't like about FFVIII was the "paycheck" idea. But I liked the rest of it!

P.S. if anyone hasn't checked it out yet, you have to download the "music video" Eyes on me done with all in game cutscenes, REALLY good.

[maxlords]

Well, I bash FFVIII, as well as FFVII and FFIX. But it's not cause of the complex battle system and whatnot. I liked that. What I hated was the stories. I found them tedious, boring, and slow, and I didn't get into any of them. I found FFVIII's story especially incoherent and ridiculous, and I couldn't identify with ANY of the characters at all. Not to mention the obscene length of the game...it just went on and on and on... So as a result, I can't stand the new FFs, and FFVIII in particular. But you're right, the battle system is pretty damn cool I just play RPGs for the stories (I know they're cliche, but I like em) and I hated the PSX FF stories.

[WiseSalesman]

Glad you're enjoying it Tempest! Actually, I prefer FFVIII to both seven and nine (one of whcih I hated, and one of which didn't hold my interest).

[theaveng]

Drawing magic from enemies is not a new idea in the FF series. The "wild boy" (sorry forget his name) in FF6 was able to learn spells from enemies. Ditto Quina in FF7. So FF8 is not using a new idea, just spreading it to all the characters instead of one.

[WiseSalesman]

A) Quina was in FF9, not 7.
B) Blue magic and drawing magic are quite a bit different. Using a draw command, and magic being assigned a quantity like items is quite a bit different than being smacked by an enemy and learning its ability.
C) The guy you're talking about FF6 is Gau. He learned an enemy behavior pattern, not it's techniques. When selected, he would go berserk in that behavior. You had no control over him.

[kainemaxwell]

Which FF titles was the first to use the Blue Magic concept anyhow, was it V?

[WiseSalesman]

Five, as far as I know.

[portnoyd]

Probably the real FF3 (not FF6). Blue Magic was probably a class to pick for your Onion Kids. From what I've told, FF3J is the best FF overall.

And FFVIII sucks the fat one. A story that made me want to commit suicide. Yeesh.

dave

[WiseSalesman]

Hmmm. You're entitled to your opinion, but I actually really liked the story until about halfway through the third disc (at which point I felt it went down hill). I mean, during the first couple, it really felt like you KNEW the characters, and I thought that, for the most part, the dialogue was brilliantly done.