Video Games : Final Fantasy 8

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from: SquareSoft

: Final Fantasy 8
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Amazon Maximum Age: 20 years
Amazon Minimum Age: 144 months
Binding: CD-ROM
Brand: SquareSoft
EAN: 0662248900049
ESRB Age Rating: Teen
Format: CD-ROM
Label: SquareSoft
Manufacturer: SquareSoft
Model: 9768
Publisher: SquareSoft
Release Date: January 26, 2000
Sales Rank: 5911
Studio: SquareSoft



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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com Review:
With its tremendous success, it's not surprising that Squaresoft and Electronic Arts have ported the mammoth Sony PlayStation role-playing game, Final Fantasy 8, to the personal computer. However, current personal-computer hardware obliterates the PlayStation's capabilities; although Final Fantasy 8 offers hours and hours of addictive role playing, its game-play graphics and sound effects aren't up to par with the PC's best.

Gamers dive into the role of Squall, a scruffy cadet of SeeD, which is an elite military unit formed to fight the war brought on by a nefarious sorceress. The game opens in The Garden, a collection of training communities for SeeD members, where Squall must perform several tasks before completing his enrollment. Squall encounters dozens of unique nonplayer characters during his journey (some of whom join Squall in combat), and while the dialogue sequences are mostly brief, the characters exude personality through posture and animation.

Despite Final Fantasy 8's inconsistent game-play graphics--spell and combat effects explode with color, but background art and character models lack detail--its cinematic movie sequences are nothing short of breathtaking. Game play consists of completing missions and exploring new places to advance the story line. Along the way, you'll battle a diverse bestiary of enemies using weaponry, magic, or Guardian Forces (immense creatures summoned to assist during combat). If you're looking for a massive, story-oriented role-playing game with the best cinematic sequences you've ever seen, Final Fantasy 8 won't disappoint. --Doug Radcliffe

Pros: Cons:

Amazon.com Product Description:
More than a sequel to the top-selling Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 8 is an entirely new story, following the adventures of Squall, a young military cadet. Aided by an unusual group of allies, Squall must deal with a desperate rival, a powerful sorceress, and his strange dreams.

Set in a world where magic and technology coexist, Final Fantasy 8 provides players with a variety of weapon, magic, and transportation options as they explore the vast game world. Maintaining the best features of its predecessor, Final Fantasy 8 allows those familiar with previous games to easily adapt to the battle, menu, and exploration controls, while providing unique story-line elements, features, and minigames to make for a breathtaking new experience. Characters and backgrounds take on a much more detailed, realistic look through enhanced 3-D graphics and are seamlessly combined with nearly an hour of stunning computer-generated cinemas.



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Greatest game ever created.
I've pass every singal Final Fantasy game out their (besides ff I, II, V XII, XI)and none had the impact of ffVIII. I still today can play this game for hours. FFVII&IV is the only other ones Worthy to be beside this game in the Final Fantasy series.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - where did my family go?
granted... this was requested by my sister. But if I had found this by accident, it still would have been the best gift I gave this season! All of us are in amazement over the game! it flows well and is a challenge. the scenes are better than I could have hoped for given the generation of the game. Overall, every game enthusiast would love this game!
A word about the person who sent it!!!Way to go! the follow up e-mail was wonderful. it got here in just a few days! you are really on the ball and I appreciate it.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - A True FF Title, But Not As Legendary
Final Fantasy VIII defintely has the look and feel of a true Final Fantasy title. The game plays well and tells a great story. It is worth the purchase for the PC version even though the graphics were not upgraded from the Playstation version. I was personally happy when the game came to PC - I don't buy game consoles anymore.

FF8 is not the best Final Fantasy title out there. In my opinion, FF7 is the best, with FF6 and FF4 (3 and 2 in the U.S., respectively) tying each other for second. Then FF5 (not released in the U.S.), then good ol' FF8. (That's my list and I'm stickin' to it.)

I am going to assume that you are reading this review as an avid RPG gamer or a diehard Final Fantasy fan. With that assumption, I will leave out all the great details of the game since, as I said before, FF8 is a true Final Fantasy title. Therefore, you know it rocks. But I'd like to focus on the drawbacks if I may be so bold, and explain why it ranks below the Super Nintendo versions and its PC predecessor. All in my humble opinion, of course.

First, the magic system for FF8 is the greatest drawback in my opinion. It removed the idea of magic points (MP). In the old titles, if you had 350 MP, and you used a Cure 2 spell, it would decrement to 325/350. You'd have to replenish eventually or simply run out. In FF8, however, the magic you use depends on two factors: (1) you have to "Draw" the spell out of enemies (the amount you draw determines how many times you can use the spell), and (2) the strength of the magic you use is determined by the amount you drew (up to 100 effectiveness/capacity).

If that all sounds confusing to you, it is. It still doesn't make any sense to me, and I think it almost killed a great game. But Squaresoft is reknowned for altering each release with something totally different. Too bad the magic system in FF8 was such a flop.

Second, the funnest part of the other titles, I thought, was the coordination of items (like weapons and relics) to progressing skills. (Which FF7 nailed perfectly.) FF8 only allows a milder version of this coordination. Character development isn't such a focus in FF8, I think.

Lastly, to be quite honest, the most fun part about the entire game of FF8 for me was the card playing - not the actual game itself or the storyline. In fact, exploring the FF8 was actually dull for me! (I was surprised to learn this, too!) But when I found places to play that wonderful little numbered card game, I found myself spending hours doing just that. I was hoping Squaresoft offered a side version of the card game that I could trade FF8 in for.

The card game for FF8 was supposed to be like the Chocobo development offered in FF7. However, like I said, the card game turned out to be the best part of FF8.

To give some slight pros, I would say that the creatures with which you do battle were rendered quite nicely in FF8. I also appreciate a lot of the bosses (especially the Twins). The graphics are also good enough for the RPG genre - I don't complain about that stuff when playing RPGs.

To close, if you never bought FF8 and stuck with only FF7 and your Nintendo titles, you'd be alright, in my opinion. But if you want it all, FF8 is not a total waste.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Time never ages this game
I played this game for the first time on the Playstation console. It was my starting point to the FF series. I had alot of fun with this game and I was impressed with the large story that unveils over 40+ hours of game play. Now 5 years after I played the game on playstation I have started the series again on the PC. Just as it was 5 years ago the game is still just as fun as I remembered. The story draws a personality with the characters that you can lose yourself in. Excitement and, sadness to action and, drama, this game is number 1 in my heart. Most people, as said in previous reviews, love this game 100% or, hate it 100%. most who hate this game love FF7. I have not played FF7 all the way through (only first 5 minutes) but, this game is still my favorite. However, I would like to see FFX and FFX-2 on PC.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - A Titular Entry in the Final Fantasy Series
I got started on the RPG video game trail when I was a young lad playing Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars on my Super Nintendo (also from Squaresoft/Square Enix.) Since then I've played many, from Final Fantasy VII to Shadow Hearts: Covenant to Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose. But the one game out of all of the RPGs that I played never affected me in the way that Final Fantasy VIII did.

At first I found it a bit confusing. The Junction system baffled my mind until about six hours into the game, and occasionally I was given a lot of overworld freedom without enough of a description of where I should be going, leading to frustrating games of Trial and Error.

But I remember seeing the graphics at the time and being floored. I thought they looked photorealistic, and while they look slightly dated today, they haven't aged badly.

The real meat of the game comes from its story though. At first it seems fairly cliched. Quiet mercenary hero, stirrings of an oppressive military regime, damsel in distress, etc.....But soon I was shown the most complex, diverse world I've seen in a game other than The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

The characters all felt truly human; I was attached to them like no other characters in a game. I felt their pain, I felt their happiness. Even the seemingly stereotypical evil rival of the main character, Seifer, inspired sympathy from me.

In an effort to make the all the characters seem tied to each other, though, Squaresoft made some things feel a bit convoluted during the middle.

But all in all, the game captivated me. The story felt real and right to me, and I couldn't have been more satisfied with the ending.

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