Final Fantasy 8 - I hated it when it came out

[rbelmont000]

Should I give it another try?

My best friend had a Playstation when the game came out and he was a terrible gamer, so I got to play through the first disc or two discs for him. I never liked it very much. I didn't enjoy the characters, save Laguna, and at least in the earlier half of the game the GFs were really over powered.

Should I give it another try now? Was the second half of the story more interesting than the first (somehow I have ignored/forgotten spoilers so I don't know what happens)? Does the draw and GF systems ever become interesting?

Give me some input. And for reference, I liked FF 4, 6, 7, and 9.

[chupon]

If you have the time, give it another shot. I'm right there with you loving 4,5,6,7,8, and 9. Then the series kinda fell off for me too.

I think right now they are all for sale on PSN - $5!

[Dylan]

Should I give it another try now? Was the second half of the story more interesting than the first (somehow I have ignored/forgotten spoilers so I don't know what happens)? Does the draw and GF systems ever become interesting?

Uh, the first half of the game is when the story is actually good. If you didn't like it then you definitely won't like the disaster that comes after it. Besides that, the junction system leaves a lot to be desired at any point in the game.

[MrPopo]

Should I give it another try now? Was the second half of the story more interesting than the first (somehow I have ignored/forgotten spoilers so I don't know what happens)? Does the draw and GF systems ever become interesting?

Uh, the first half of the game is when the story is actually good. If you didn't like it then you definitely won't like the disaster that comes after it. Besides that, the junction system leaves a lot to be desired at any point in the game.

The characters don't really get better, and there's a massive WTF plot twist that you may or may not have seen. I feel like the junction system was an interesting idea that failed in execution (much easier to card mod some OP stats onto your char and skip drawing from enemies). I'm glad I played through the whole game but I don't know if I'll ever play through it again.

[tintinmayo]

You don't have to worry about the GFs. They get kind of useless later on when it comes to damaging the enemies. The only ones that are still useful as summons are Diablos because his damage is fraction based, and Carbuncle due to the buffs. Odin's insta kill doesn't work on bosses, and while Eden can break the damage limit, it's still a lot less than what you can do with Squall's limit break. The GFs towards the end are mainly useful for junctioning and their bonuses.

As for the characters, I dunno. I liked the way they were developed. A lot of people hate Squall because he's too OMGeMo!1, but he develops a little bit of a backbone towards the end. Quistis' creepy crush over Squall also turned out to be not really a crush. Seifer's rivalry was also fleshed out a bit, and Zell being a mama's boy was funny.

I think a lot of people hate FF8's story because it was not this big epic "fight for the fate of the universe" thing, but focuses more on the key characters - how they relate to each other, their relationships, etc. While FFVII was about this ancient alien virus monster thingie and all the people caught up in its story, FFVIII was about the orphanage and Edea. The thing about the sorceress, the politics, etc were just framework. It's probably why the twist seems out of place, because it was not the point of the story.

I believe it's the same thing with FFXII. Lots of people hated its story as well, probably because it's story is once again scaled down. There's no universe-ending or cosmic threat. Even the war takes a backseat to Balthier's story. The complaints about Vaan being a bland protagonist is valid, but it can be excused because it seems like the real protagonist of the story is Balthier.

[Retrogamer0001]

You don't have to worry about the GFs. They get kind of useless later on when it comes to damaging the enemies. The only ones that are still useful as summons are Diablos because his damage is fraction based, and Carbuncle due to the buffs. Odin's insta kill doesn't work on bosses, and while Eden can break the damage limit, it's still a lot less than what you can do with Squall's limit break. The GFs towards the end are mainly useful for junctioning and their bonuses.

As for the characters, I dunno. I liked the way they were developed. A lot of people hate Squall because he's too OMGeMo!1, but he develops a little bit of a backbone towards the end. Quistis' creepy crush over Squall also turned out to be not really a crush. Seifer's rivalry was also fleshed out a bit, and Zell being a mama's boy was funny.

I think a lot of people hate FF8's story because it was not this big epic "fight for the fate of the universe" thing, but focuses more on the key characters - how they relate to each other, their relationships, etc. While FFVII was about this ancient alien virus monster thingie and all the people caught up in its story, FFVIII was about the orphanage and Edea. The thing about the sorceress, the politics, etc were just framework. It's probably why the twist seems out of place, because it was not the point of the story.

I believe it's the same thing with FFXII. Lots of people hated its story as well, probably because it's story is once again scaled down. There's no universe-ending or cosmic threat. Even the war takes a backseat to Balthier's story. The complaints about Vaan being a bland protagonist is valid, but it can be excused because it seems like the real protagonist of the story is Balthier.

Carbuncle doesn't "buff" anything - he casts Reflect on the entire party and that's it. Doomtrain is extremely useful and might be what you're thinking of, as he casts every negative status ailment in the game on enemies.

[tintinmayo]

oh yeah. Sorry, I misused the word buff. But I still meant Carbuncle. Being able to cast reflect on all the characters in a single move was pretty useful (I breezed through Edea because of him). And yeah, I guess Doomtrain also counts as an example of a GF that's useful.

[Zing]

It's hard to say. I strongly disliked Final Fantasy III when it was released. There are several other games I disliked at first but later loved (Spyro, Ape Escape). I have learned to give every game at least two opportunities to show me what it has.

That said, I have also learned to not pressure myself to keep playing supposedly good games after I have given them a proper amount of play time, no matter how much time I have "invested" (Breath of Fire, Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana).

[ZeroAX]

I've beaten this game like 3 times, and that says a lot since I have never beaten my favorite Final Fantasy (6) a second time.

Lot's of memorable moments, amazing score, beautiful art, fun and fast battles once you learn to junction everything you got on super strong physical attacks.

I guess though the game is really nostalgic for me too. More than any other FF game actually. Which is weird since FF6, 9 and 7 (in that order) should be very nostalgic for me too, but for somereason they don't make me feel that way :/

[Valkyrie-Favor]

This game has a lot of really cool things. It possibly has more really cool things than the 'best' Final Fantasy games. Unfortunately, it also has a lot of terrible writing and design decisions.

It seems like you're interested in this game again; just give it a try. If you plan on getting 99 of every spell or whatever, just play it on an emulator so you can "fast forward" at 500 FPS.