People talk about Final Fantasy games - Frankly, they talk about roleplaying games - Way above the level of enjoyment I think anyone actually gets out of them. You get this moment, when you ask someone what their favorite RPG is and their words just stop making any real sense. From Final Fantasy to the Witcher, to Baldur's Gate and back again, it all just comes off as 'good lord I need to justify this skinner box so hard'. I'm not saying these are bad games, not at all, but it sure does end up feeling like it when you sit down and play them again. Except the original Final Fantasy. God that game is just a bleak void of a skinner box. Argh.
Anyway, I mention this because Final Fantasy Eight is or was probably my favorite in the series, insofar as actual FF games and not like FFT or weird spinoffs or whatever. FF8 is the one I went into expecting was super bad, then found I actually just like every element of it. People bemoaned every element of it, often to the point of absurdity - Squall is extremely Cloudlike, and yet he was derided for elements he shared with the FF7 protagonist - and in the end uh, to be honest, the game didn't seem that bad. Seriously Cloud and Squall both do the '...' thing. Cloud, I guess, gets a bit of a pass since he actually has brain damage and then gets more brain damage over the course of the game, but still...
On the other hand coming back to this game, well... It's a little bit of a strange one, isn't it? The feeling, not the game. The game is pretty Final Fantasy ## you know? Like FF7 I was expecting to come back to disliking it but just playing it anyway because memory is a fickle thing. Here I came back to something I have actual nostalgia for and just being like man, this is just the damn oddest thing.
I mean yeah, the skinner box, the loot thing? FF8 drops much of that element, and I started to wonder by the end if the loss of big lewtz was a big part of why a lot of people really didn't "get" it?
To briefly acknowledge the port, FF8 has the same problem that FF7 did with the Xbox One controller and not recognizing it at the title screen. Once you click X, and thereby are in game, it works mostly fine. There is an issue that the game relates instructions to you on screen using button numbers. I would advise against changing these, or at least, getting accustomed to the numbers as to what they actually reference because I read while doing the Dollet "thing" that changing them can end up giving you bad information. As for Dollet, there is a forced point in the game where you must use the escape command, which on the xbox one controller is holding down both analog sticks. Supposedly this can't be changed, I never tried, since I just googled the issue and finished the section.
Apparently the game has the 'bad' music files from the earlier PC release; I can't really speak to that, but the music did sound a bit lacking, so I installed the Roses and Wine mod... But I'm honestly still not sure it made any difference.
Right from the get-go I feel like FF8 doesn't sell itself very well out of the box. FF7 began with showing Aeris and Midgar to sort of tempt you toward considering these things, while FF8 does this bombastic and somewhat confusing set of clips of Riona and the sorceress(es?) juxtaposed with Seifer and Squall fighting. Its loud, clashing and just comes off as far more in love with spectacle. Sure, Rinoa is sort of in the same role and all, but its just so in your face about it. I understand this is sort of what FF games became, but it really felt like like FF7 was the turning point where there was a "learned the wrong lesson" moment. Shortly afterward, it stands out that the character models don't look like lego men abominations, and then you get into the junction system, to which you go "Ooooh.... Oooohhhh ... over-complication, nice..."
I mean don't get me wrong. Both games are out and out easy. But FF7, you put the orb in the hole and there you go. Here they tell you to junction your GF and like .... what. The tutorial is several minutes long, and written by a moron. The game goes "this is where magic goes, so we'll skip this, since we don't have any" and I'm thinking why are we doing a tutorial now then? Or why can't you give me magic? It is literally an item in this game, you draw it from enemies! You can trade it between characters or make it out of items or whatever else. It has its own inventory screen, sure, but it isn't something distinct or different.
And yes, junctioning is - conceptually - basically just leveling up your powers through a somewhat different manner. Leveling in the same vein is actively discouraged, or at the very least, entirely pointless, while the Draw/Junction system replaces much of the mumbo-jumbo from the other systems with a simple unified stat pool. RPG players, generally being tight pants wearing sperg lords, grow upset that you need to take time to minmax, but it largely doesn't matter. FF8 is an easy, relaxed game, so while the system is eye-glazing boredom to sit and figure out, you actually don't really need to worry too much about it. (I'll talk about the draw system in more detail in a bit)
I can not over-emphasize how easy the game is. I did not power level, at all, or even try to level. I ended up at 72, but only the main character was anywhere near that high. I did draw up to 100 for a couple key spells, and the game is just a joke. The Tonberry King was hitting for 156 on a character with 4k health. I saw the game over screen four times while while playing. I died to: a QTE, an optional boss one-shotting my party in 10 seconds with three chained back to back to back instant death, the same thing but on a non-optional boss and accidentally using a limit break
Also very early into the game, you have a prolonged "boss fight" in which you punch a boss you can't kill as it chases you back through the map of Dollet. It is the definition of excruciating boredom, since you can just draw cure spells off it and it will literally never kill you, or do anything, beyond bore you. But then Quistis kills it with a machine gun, which is basically awesome in every way.
The visual style in FF8 is also beyond weird. I don't mean that in the bad way, the game is plenty creative and I think I can see a lot of lasting impressions, from this game, on my perception of quality world building in games. But the strange mix of anime style high school students and military operations and an academy and gunblades is just discordant. It is bright and colorful, with an interesting palette used that reminds me more of the Phantasy Star series of games, especially PSIII, than most other FF games I've played. Some of the mid to late game scenery does not feel at all like previous FF games, though the generation of FF gamers more accustomed to the modern stuff might feel at home.The game is better looking than FF7 but the somewhat discordant styles can create a clashing product. FF7 feels more unified, while FF8 feels more daring. Esthar, the sorceresses and Deling are all really awesome looking, and the Ragnarok is just an amazingly piece of work. But then stuff like the one tomb you visit, the goofy sewers, the over-use of cut/pasted JPGs really contradicts the good work and drags down the flair of the game.
I think FF8 has the best FF music, but a lot of it really really sounds just like FF7. I'm not sure if they're the exact same tracks or if the mod I downloaded replaced them with FF7 tracks, so maybe that is on me. Compression of Time is just an amazing, not video gamey at all track.
The story and characterization in FF8 is ... And this will probably draw a groan from people who like the other games more ... Largely what I consider the high point in the series. Due to the nature of the leveling and draw systems put in place, the game is almost entirely narrative driven, and the narrative moves at a very reasonable pace. Except for one thing, which we'll talk about in a bit. I mean the story-telling the pacing of combat and the like, urgh, not so good...
The game is at its core based on a pretty reasonable hero character. Squall is reluctant to develop emotional bonds, but he is not a reluctant soldier. In other words he is willing to do his duty and never backs down, but he struggles with being peaceful and being friendly. The reasons for his attitude are explained over the course of the game, and I honestly feel like he's very well rounded, and his romance is well handled. Cloud merely meets Aeris, and she is in love with him basically instantly. Tifa was in love with him before the game began, and simply continues along a predetermined course. The memory loss element in FF7 is much stronger than it is here - and yes, that is the one thing - but the relationships are far more carefully examined. Squall is pretty cold to Rinoa to begin with, and gradually warms up over trials and tribulations. I think people might dislike the story because it doesn't really have any grand depth to it and honestly it is just a love story about two people growing to like each other in a bad situation, as opposed to some rosy hop skip instant one true pairing horseshit.Outside of Squall and Rinoa, the other characters get a lot of dialogue and personality, with a lot of little touches. One of my favorite, albeit weird, elements of FF8 is the fact there are points where your party members leave the active party and just ... Loiter around. You can talk and interact with them, as characters, which gives them a chance to have personalities. The game actually tries to use all six of your party members in a variety of scenes, and although the junction switching can get annoying, it makes for a more rounded depth to the cast.
The story behind the basic boy meets girl is interesting as well, although the world building in FF8 is inverse to the characterization the absolute worst. The world is just so dead and unpopulated, but the history and specifically the time-travel angle is really fun stuff. There is a lot of weirdness and the story gets very strange, but that is part of the charm to the game. It really moves through a lot of different eras and ideas, which is an interesting way to deal with the pre-destination / time travel theme that goes through the story.Admittedly the story rather falls apart in the third and final acts, which some extremely disjointed scenes and some rather odd plot twists that feel a bit jarring. There is - I guess this is a spoiler, which I prefer to avoid, but it doesn't spoil anything so - a bit in the third disc or so where they introduce the idea the moon is basically made of monsters, and there is like a giant monolith that summons them to the surface, which seems like a pretty big deal! And then nothing is ever done with this and it is never referenced as anything beyond a plot device that in and of itself didn't really need to be where it was.
On the other hand the unfinished threads or shallow, brief moments generally give the impression you're sort of skirting along a world and not necessarily that the game is rather unfinished (although, to be honest, it really is...) And it has my favorite airship. But onto some negatives!
The loot system in FF8 is probably, as far as I know, the worst loot system in any FF game. I certainly haven't played them all and I doubt I ever will, but loot ... The draw system replaces most loot related issues, and as your GFs develop you can junction more drawn magic into slots. This is a Good system, outside of the other issues surrounding it, since it rewards consideration and you can really get into minmaxing at various stages of the game without massive commitment.
Certainly you can, and do, make some use of refine over the course of the game, but for all the added complexity the game really doesn't get a lot out of it. Because of the leveling and draw systems, you end up with the scaling on refine just being ridiculous. You have to kill hundreds of a given enemy to fill your draw pool using refine. Or ... Draw from a single enemy for 10-13 rounds of combat? It doesn't really make much sense and doesn't feel tested. It is helpful for topping up a spell you used, but otherwise is just irritating.
Stripping out most of the garden variety, skinner box loot elements, just generally doesn't improve the flow or reward cycle of the game. While it is interesting, what it basically does is reduce character progression to the draw system, making the game feel ... To be frank ... Really weird. Combat is something you want to actively avoid, but your SeeD rank goes down if you run or use encounter-None, so the game obviously wants you too. But really, you shouldn't, and you actually don't really need money so...
SeeD rank is the source of your pay cheque. Nothing in the game drops money. That's right, no gold, no real loot, no reason to level. Weird game!
On top of that, some of the refine system makes use of turning things into or just otherwise obtaining things as cards, for the triple triad card game. I remember liking triple triad as a kid, but here, the game just doesn't appeal to me enough to grind this as well as the general progression of the game, especially since triple triad is entirely removed from the game's systems. Certainly the minigames in FF7 were a little weird or clunky, but the game at least tied them in, somehow, if completely hamfistedly. Here, oh well, who cares...
As a small footnote, like FF7, FF8 has achievements and doesn't have steam trading cards. The lack of steam trading cards for either of these games baffles me, as I'm pretty sure some Square games do have them and "anime" trading cards see a lot of action. Regardless, FF8's achievements are a good bit weirder than FF7's. There are no achievements for the optional "weapon" style bosses, but there are achievements for things you'll never do and the card game.
Anyway, the draw system... At a basic level, the draw system allows the game to remove a lot of other smaller systems and combine them into one larger system. There is no armor in FF8, and leveling offers little in the way of stat gains. Your level your Guardian Forces, who then open up the ability to "junction" stats with Magic that you draw from enemies in chunks of 1-9 at a time. Drawing is free and takes up one action. You can also 'draw' a spell and immediately cast it, which is relevant if you just want to pull a spell rather than casting then re-drawing, or whatever else.Drawing replaces just about everything, and while people complain about it, the problems with the system aren't really with drawing itself. I do feel like the biggest issues are that you can't draw past the stat bonus limit so using junctioned spells is a bit annoying, and the limitation on drawing being set at 9 is just ridiculous. I can see the limit being useful when it comes to fighting bosses and tempering access to higher level magic, but the limit is just grindy poo when you're just trying to fill a stock of 100 "Cure" or whatever. Inventory management is, like all FF games I've played, absolutely terrible and sluggish. The system would work a great deal better if the inventory system wasn't atrocious, but they always are.
The biggest issue with the draw system is the absolutely moronic design that the characters hold the GFs and junctions, as opposed to the character slot. It is pretty simple to figure out a way to streamline all of the junctioning hassle: Basically, party slot A, slot B and slot C are junctioned. Characters are put into the slot, and take on those abilities. Instead you spend time swapping crap around, or getting confused as to who is carrying what, or having random characters end up with random stuff. None of this is necessary, and shows serious inability to think outside the cookie cutter RPG box, in spite of the fact the game is predicated on new interesting (at the time) ideas!
Pacing and world building in FF8 is just messy. I mentioned the Dollet chase, but the game is more than happy to be boring or weird, often to the point of just reveling in it. Even more so than FF7, some town maps are just incredibly tiny, and moving from point A to point B is often a weird affair. Things are often simply thrown down, and many of the character relationships don't make any sense.For example, the start of the game has Squall and Seifer dueling with swords as a training experience. The thing that really stands out about this is how, after this point, the relationship of the protagonist and whatever you want to call Seifer is defined as rather hazy. But moments ago they were training with each other, and then they barely seem to know each other, then they do more and it just goes all over the place. It is really indicative of a very loose, poorly plotted story, although the larger narrative is interesting.
A good example of the pacing, just in general, is the assassination set up in disc 1. You're on the payroll, somehow, of a political leader to kill ... It doesn't matter. What does matter is they describe the mission to you in painful, stupid detail and then you walk to where you're supposed to go ... And you have to go back and talk to that very same political leader, as opposed to the game designers actually thinking you know having this all happen in plain sight with the political leader in tow is a little suspicious? The game has these constant jarring flipflops, between dragging you along or forcing you to do stupid things to satisfy its weirdly paced story triggers.
Another good example is near the end of disc 2, you're engaged in a huge battle and the game is so poorly set up you often just feel uninvolved or confused as to how to trigger the next step of the battle. There is no feeling of tension, something that eludes final fantasy games on a whole almost all of the time.
Also key to the pacing of the game is the map design and level layout. It is the worst in any game I have ever played. It is that boss from Syndicate, it is grinding 0.1% drops in MMORPGs, it is ever spike pit and lava trap, it is medusa head. It is not just bad it comes off as intentionally terrible, as though the map design is built by someone completely alien to the concept of level flow and pacing. You will wander around like a moron if you play this game without a guide. I really can't express just how horrifyingly terrible it is. There are buses in Deling city that actually take more time to get around the city with, the sewers and mazes are just the same JPGs cut and pasted over and over. I can take or leave elements of the draw system and the loot system and I really like the characters and story but FF8 is the bottom of the barrel, worst, cheapest, laziest and just a million other bad words when it comes to level design. I actively hope that the person who made these lazy, excruciating maps was then hit by a bus.Seriously, how hard is it to paint a couple different pixels in all these damn brown tunnels? Or to not have the party go off screen into a closet that you can't progress forward from? There are points on Lunatic pandora where your characters go off the screen and ... Then nothing. Is there a door there? Am I missing the key? I have no idea and the game never told me.
What is "user feedback"?
I mentioned in the FF7 review that the world of FF7 feels oddly barren and already dead. FF8 has that problem in spades. Several of the cities do have people, who sit on benches, run around and have what feels like lives, but there is very very little beyond the general linear course of the game. This problem is never as pronounced in earlier FF games, and is often completely absent from WRPGs like Baldur's Gate, but here it is just ... Well, as long as FF8 is (and it is a hefty amount of content) it feels like the game was cut short. The world map is pretty big and about 95% of it is completely empty. The two capital cities are weird in scope and design, but they are basically the limits of the human population. Lots of ideas are glanced over, but left generally underdeveloped.
As an aside, the game harps on about "sorceresses" who can use "sorcery". In the original writing of the game, this is closer to "witches" which helps a lot of the context that the game otherwise kinda forgot about.
It feels like there is EXACTLY enough to support the game's plot elements, and then a few tiny sidequests. You get that same weird feeling you get in FF7 where they talk about how the world is going to end and everyone is going to die and... There's like 10 people? Who cares? I don't care about the 7 people in Cosmo Canyon, ok?
All in all, comparing FF8 to RPGs in general is an interesting experience. The game is very different, with a different and in a lot of ways actually really good systems. I found myself switching up some of the junctions, and if you read strategy guides, you can really mixmax the system in a lot of interesting ways, but that mostly felt unnecessary. FF8, like many Final Fantasies, feels very unfinished and honestly rather lacking polish. The game's core story is good and its characterization is stronger than FF7 due to actually focusing on building a party then staying with them, but everything past that is just rather weirdly lazy.
I still really liked FF8, though I think if they were going to remake a FF game this is the one that could use it the most. The weird half-finished, jarring pacing of FF7 is kinda crucial to the whole Jenova/Amnesia thing working as well. FF8, on the other hand, suffers for its underdeveloped world or just how the world is laid out, and loses a lot of its momentum at key points where the game flow isn't good. The last act of the game is just strange, and feels completely out of place, but it is a beautiful looking zone that feels really weird.
FF8: worse than I remembered, but still okay.
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