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    Final Fantasy VIII

    Game » consists of 16 releases. Released Feb 11, 1999

    In the eighth numbered Final Fantasy title, Squall and his band of mercenaries fight to save their world from conquest and destruction. It introduced several new concepts to the franchise, including a subplot with an alternate main character, level-scaling enemies, and the Junction system.

    Damn this game is stylish.

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    kashif1

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    #1  Edited By kashif1

    That's the one thing that stands out to me, playing it for the first time. The game isn't balance very well but it still hold up just because of how cool the whole experience is.

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    laserbolts

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    #2  Edited By laserbolts

    I'm just curious what you mean by it not being balanced very well.

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    Spoonman671

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    #3  Edited By Spoonman671

    It's definitely my favorite Final Fantasy world, and probably my favorite Final Fantasy.  The music gives it a great atmosphere.

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    fuzzypumpkin

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    #4  Edited By fuzzypumpkin

    such a good gaaaaaaaaaaaaaame

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    JasonR86

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    #5  Edited By JasonR86

    I really dislike FF8. I also have no idea how it could be considered 'stylish'.

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    killacam

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    #6  Edited By killacam

    gunbllaaaades yea!

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    frankfartmouth

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    #7  Edited By frankfartmouth

    I hope you like it, it's probably the most divisive of all the Final Fantasy games, with about equal people hating and loving it. But no matter what anyone says, there's no doubting that it had great production values and a good story. The battle system splits the room though.

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    xaLieNxGrEyx

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    #8  Edited By xaLieNxGrEyx

    Every Final Fantasy in the main series holds up just fine, if you disagree the games just aren't for you.

    You can exclude FFII I suppose before videogameking gets in here and corrects me.

    You can argue all day that Final Fantasy stories are immature and poorly written or aren't well told, but in the end they're extremely memorable, great experiences and have something that even some of the best fantasy stories can't hold up to - imagination. Final Fantasy is filled with imagination and fully realizes its world and mythos. Also the music... the music is just... phenomenal It's truly one of kind.

    I'm not saying its the greatest shit ever made, or that it's all perfection, but I never have and never will understand the hate some people have towards Final Fantasy or other comparable series. Chrono Trigger/Cross is just a thing of genius and I'll stand by that until the day I die.

    The online entires and XIII are rare exceptions.

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    BoG

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    #9  Edited By BoG

    @frankfartmouth said:

    I hope you like it, it's probably the most divisive of all the Final Fantasy games, with about equal people hating and loving it. But no matter what anyone says, there's no doubting that it had great production values and a good story. The battle system splits the room though.

    Funny, as you said, an equal number of people probably both love and hate this game. I find that equal parts of my own self love and hate this game more than any other Final Fantasy.

    I really hope you enjoy it, because I really do love the game. But seriously, I want to go back and rewrite the story past disc 1.

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    kashif1

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    #10  Edited By kashif1

    @laserbolts said:

    I'm just curious what you mean by it not being balanced very well.

    So far I've been using summons over and over again, its either I dominate a battle with summons or lose it when I can't and the area I'm in now has a massive difficulty jump for that reason. There is also the upgrade system which I really do not understand, I might restart the game while following a guide because right now, about 15 hours in, I'm really confused and feel like I've screwed my self over.

    I still really like the game and its worth more than the ten dollars I've spent on it.

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    deactivated-5e49e9175da37

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    @laserbolts The character progression in that game is kind of messed up. Level doesn't really matter, it's more the collection (laboriously Drawing from enemies) of magic spells and applying them to your base stats. Enemies scale to your level, but you can wind up in situations where your protagonist (who you can't kick from the party) is level 65 and everyone else is 25... Forcing you to fight level 50 enemies and getting annihilated.

    We complain about games being 'samey' with their mechanics, but there's a good reason why you need to be careful when overhauling them.
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    TobbRobb

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    #12  Edited By TobbRobb

    I personally really dislike both the style and gameplay of VIII, I wouldn't neccessarily shit all over it though, I know there's definitely an audience for it. That's just not me.

    And yeah, as @xaLieNxGrEyx: said. Pretty much all FFs hold up in their own way. They can differ wildly in style, so there is probably a final fantasy experience for everyone.

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    kashif1

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    #13  Edited By kashif1

    @xaLieNxGrEyx said:

    The online entires and XIII are rare exceptions.

    About FF13, I'm about a third of the way through that and really enjoying it, if I've enjoyed it so far is something later in the game gonna change that?

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    morningstar

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    #14  Edited By morningstar

    Awwww, now you made me want to go play final fantasy VIII again!

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    IBurningStar

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    #15  Edited By IBurningStar
    @kashif1 said:

    @laserbolts said:

    I'm just curious what you mean by it not being balanced very well.

    So far I've been using summons over and over again, its either I dominate a battle with summons or lose it when I can't and the area I'm in now has a massive difficulty jump for that reason. There is also the upgrade system which I really do not understand, I might restart the game while following a guide because right now, about 15 hours in, I'm really confused and feel like I've screwed my self over.

    I still really like the game and its worth more than the ten dollars I've spent on it.

    You can use GFs to practically brute force your way through most the game without much thought at all. The junction system is also extremely easy to abuse and your characters can become overpowered very early in the game.
     
    I'm also of the opinion that the mechanics are bit too entwined for their own good. You spend time grinding up skills for GFs so you can equip spells on to the different unlocked stats and slots. The spells can only be acquired from the very time consuming process of drawing them from enemies. The more you have a spell the better the stat boost. So it is in your best interest to keep all your spells stocked as high as possible, sadly actually using said spells cause your stats to decrease so you constantly run the risk of maybe forcing yourself to spend time draw farming. And I don't know about you guys, but this encouraged me to ignore spells and just spam the hell out of GFs.
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    Quarters

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    #16  Edited By Quarters

    Still the only one I like of the series. Severely underappreciated. Though I do admit, a lot of the gameplay mechanics are super weird/janky. Still not a big fan of junctions.

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    RVonE

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    #17  Edited By RVonE

    I absolutely love the environments in this game. Combined with some fantastic music it's all very atmospheric.

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    EuanDewar

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    #18  Edited By EuanDewar

    It's my favourite in a series I don't like.

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    AlexW00d

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    #19  Edited By AlexW00d

    @kashif1 said:

    @xaLieNxGrEyx said:

    The online entires and XIII are rare exceptions.

    About FF13, I'm about a third of the way through that and really enjoying it, if I've enjoyed it so far is something later in the game gonna change that?

    If you enjoyed the beginning of the game you'll be fine. It's the beginning half that's awful. When it opens up it gets better.

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    BoG

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    #20  Edited By BoG

    @AlexW00d said:

    @kashif1 said:

    @xaLieNxGrEyx said:

    The online entires and XIII are rare exceptions.

    About FF13, I'm about a third of the way through that and really enjoying it, if I've enjoyed it so far is something later in the game gonna change that?

    If you enjoyed the beginning of the game you'll be fine. It's the beginning half that's awful. When it opens up it gets better.

    Now, the majority of players say this, and I'm going to admit upfront that my opinion is not the most common, but I really disagree. Most people told me that the game opened up and got better at chapter 11, but I felt that it was still pretty weak. This may have been my least favorite part of the game. Yes, you're not running in a straight line, but aside from that the game is exactly the same. The missions are all uninspired monster hunts, and it's a pain to travel around. I was actually happy to get back on rails.

    On the other hand, just about every piece of music in chapter 11 is absolutely amazing.

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    Video_Game_King

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    #21  Edited By Video_Game_King

    Yea, this could be developed a bit more.

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    SmilingPig

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    #22  Edited By SmilingPig

    If you like cutting yourself, holding your breath until you pass out or feeling the burn of an open flame on your arm, than yes FF8 is for you.

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    DrDarkStryfe

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    #23  Edited By DrDarkStryfe

    I love the title, even though it kinda falls apart in the final act. The Junctioning system was a fun idea, but really easy to abuse. I also found it funny that you can get Squall's ultimate weapon before the end of the second act, less than half way through the game.

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    joshthebear

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    #24  Edited By joshthebear

    Good god do I hate this game. The characters always seemed bad and I could never stand the mechanics.

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    Gravier251

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    #25  Edited By Gravier251

    Yeah, the mechanics with it are pretty easy to abuse/break. And the draw system did get fairly tedious. With 99 of certain spells junctioned to the right stats they vastly increase in power. Then for the most part you can keep someone like Squall low on health and just spam circle of whatever it was that skipped between party members. The way they handled limit breaks means that you can just flick through everyone till one triggers then use it. There is even a spell later (Aura if I recall right) that induces you into a state that constantly grants limit breaks. That coupled with junctioning and getting ultimate weapons like Lionheart means you can just cull bosses in next to no time.

    I recall running into trouble just using GFs the first time I played the game with them not hitting as hard as characters potentially can and having longer animations to go through. I also vaguely recall you get penalised for using them? Might just be that they drop your SeeD rank and paycheck or something.

    Really enjoyed the game back in the day, though in retrospect the mechanics and draw system especially were quite painful.

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    laserbolts

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    #26  Edited By laserbolts

    @kashif1 said:

    @laserbolts said:

    I'm just curious what you mean by it not being balanced very well.

    So far I've been using summons over and over again, its either I dominate a battle with summons or lose it when I can't and the area I'm in now has a massive difficulty jump for that reason. There is also the upgrade system which I really do not understand, I might restart the game while following a guide because right now, about 15 hours in, I'm really confused and feel like I've screwed my self over.

    I still really like the game and its worth more than the ten dollars I've spent on it.

    Ahh yes I forgot all about that stuff. It's been years since I played it and I couldn't remember it being that bad but I guess it is.

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    xyzygy

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    #27  Edited By xyzygy

    XIII and VIII are both the best in the series IMO. They both did so many things differently and I love them for that. (From the ones I've played so far)

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