Final Fantasy VIII on PSN (JP)

[Wraith]

The game just hit the Japanese PlayStation Store for 1,500 Yen and, given the fact that FF VII came to the West shortly after its JP release, we can hopefully expect VIII to arrive sometime in the near future. That's a very good thing.Destructoid (http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-viii-on-playstation-network-149766.phtml), Siliconera (http://www.siliconera.com/2009/09/24/final-fantasy-viii-stocked-on-psn/)

(In General Gaming for PS3/PSP capability...)

*edit* Now confirmed for U.S. PSN. (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showpost.php?p=440709&postcount=56)

[Troggles]

This only makes me happy because it will invariably lead to FFIX being released on the PSN.

[Gorvi]

This I could actually see getting, I have a soft spot for VIII.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

I have tried and tried and tried to like VIII, but that is my least favorite FF game ever. Bring on FFIX! I have my discs on hand, but I would like to have a copy on my hard drive too. :)

[Kelegacy]

Same here. Bought it my freshman year in college and I liked it enough at first, but it turned out to be my least favorite modern FF. Well, FFX might take that award.

[Xydarc]

This I could actually see getting, I have a soft spot for VIII.
Same, I enjoyed FF VIII much more than monkey boy FF IX.

[LarsenNET]

FFVIII is my favorite. I'll buy this for sure.

[Gorvi]

Same, I enjoyed FF VIII much more than monkey boy FF IX.
IX's only redeeming quality was the awesomeness that is Vivi, otherwise, aside from II and III, it's my least favorite FF.

[Xydarc]

IX's only redeeming quality was the awesomeness that is Vivi, otherwise, aside from II and III, it's my least favorite FF.
I like the cut of your jib!:cool:

[BreakerX]

IX's only redeeming quality was the awesomeness that is Vivi, otherwise, aside from II and III, it's my least favorite FF.

Vivi is great, and I also liked Freya but that's just because I will always have a place in my heart for Dragoons.

[Kelegacy]

FFIX would be a fun play through, but again I already own the game like I do VII and VIII. I hate rebuying games I already own.

Guess I should just sell my PS1 copies and rebuy them.

[BLeeP]

I could actually see myself rebuying VIII on the PSN for a couple of reasons. One, it's my all time favorite Final Fantasy, and I feel it has one of the greatest stories in a game ever. Two, I think my copy has something wrong with it, although I can't remember what it is.

[Chris_D]

I'm a little interested in this as it's my fav of the PS1 era games, but I'm not sure I really have the time to put into such a big game when there's so much new stuff. I've been playing Suikoden 1 but that's a much shorter game.

[roboninja]

Same here. Bought it my freshman year in college and I liked it enough at first, but it turned out to be my least favorite modern FF. Well, FFX might take that award.

It's the Final Fantasy that made me stop playing Final Fantasy(s). I heard I may have missed some gems (IX in particular). So, I curse this game :)

[Chris_D]

It's the Final Fantasy that made me stop playing Final Fantasy(s). I heard I may have missed some gems (IX in particular). So, I curse this game :)

Nah, XI's almost my least favourite :).

[Gorvi]

Vivi is great, and I also liked Freya but that's just because I will always have a place in my heart for Dragoons.
Freya was a good character, but the whole rat thing was just awkward. I'm 99% sure there was a story reason for it, or maybe not, it's been a while. Aside from Vivi, the Black Watlzes were pretty damn sweet too, but that's about it.

[Xydarc]

FFIX would be a fun play through, but again I already own the game like I do VII and VIII. I hate rebuying games I already own.

Guess I should just sell my PS1 copies and rebuy them.
I fully support Sony dropping great PSOne games onto the PSN, so I want to give them financial support as well. I don't mind re-buying games I enjoy.:)

Freya was a good character, but the whole rat thing was just awkward. I'm 99% sure there was a story reason for it, or maybe not, it's been a while. Aside from Vivi, the Black Watlzes were pretty damn sweet too, but that's about it.
Vivi and the Black Waltzes were the only reasons to play FF IX.

[Suave Peanut]

I wonder if EA (remember Square Electronic Arts?) is a roadblock to getting these released in the US? FFVII was published by Sony, so that one was easy, but I wonder if it isn't some ancient agreement with EA that is keeping us from enjoying the other Square PSone classics? I mean, I'm pretty sure Square-Enix got back all the rights after the merger, but who knows, this could explain it...

[Widgetcraft]

FFVIII has what is likely the worst writing in any game, ever. It is just astoundingly bad, even worse than some shitty budget titles or shovelware. Nothing that happens in the game makes any sense at all, and the cast is nothing more than an amazing collection of one-dimensional fucktards.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

FFVIII has what is likely the worst writing in any game, ever. It is just astoundingly bad, even worse than some shitty budget titles or shovelware. Nothing that happens in the game makes any sense at all, and the cast is nothing more than an amazing collection of one-dimensional fucktards.

100% agree. The first assignment given to a group of rookie mercenaries (whatever they are) is TO KILL THE PRESIDENT.

[Gorvi]

FFVIII has what is likely the worst writing in any game, ever. It is just astoundingly bad, even worse than some shitty budget titles or shovelware. Nothing that happens in the game makes any sense at all, and the cast is nothing more than an amazing collection of one-dimensional fucktards.
I completely disagree, but I guess that's just a matter of taste. Aside from the completely asinine orphanage crap they pull I thought FFVIII had a pretty good story (for a JRPG), with above average writing for the time.

That, and it has a fantastic soundtrack, but that goes for most FF games. The ending song also has the best version to date of the FF theme.

[Chris_D]

I completely disagree, but I guess that's just a matter of taste. Aside from the completely asinine orphanage crap they pull I thought FFVIII had a pretty good story (for a JRPG), with above average writing for the time.

That, and it has a fantastic soundtrack, but that goes for most FF games. The ending song also has the best version to date of the FF theme.

With you all the way. The game had me from the outstanding CG movie at the beginning. I can't even remember a single movie or cut scene from FF9. Cut scenes are just cut scenes, but they've been one of the big features of all the main FF games, at least since 7, and I always look forward to them.

[Savok]

No FF8's story was terrible on every level, the fact you enjoyed it is neither here nor there, it was terrible.

Bad Dudes has a terrible story, but it's so bad people love it. FF8's was story was so awful, it got kinda good at being awful, then transcended that into a realm of awful few things can touch.

Then there were the mechanics, the stupid bloody junction system which didn't do anything until you could tap the higher level spells. Speaking of which, spells were useless in general, you either chain summoned and mashed buttons until the obnoxiously long animation ended or simply normal attacked everything after you junctioned something uber into your attack making it do more damage then anything else in the game.

Not to mention how levels worked. Not only fundamentally unsound but you couldn't get Squall out the party if he was there, this meant he was always 20 lvls ahead of everyone and thus skewed enemy encounters because they lvled with you (not that any of it mattered once you junctioned something uber to attack).

On top of all this the game was made on purpose to make you have the official strategy guide next to you. Go look up Doomtrain and tell that's even remotely possible without a guide.

FF8 had all of 3 things going for it. Triple Triad, the Gunblade (weapon so god damn stupid it became hilariously awesome) and the Ragnarok.

It was the gravestone of Square as we'd known them on the SNES, they haven't made a brilliant game since.

[Mason]

The story:
is actually a little interesting if you take the evil lady at the end of time to be a version of Rinoa who wasn't saved by Squall (due to emo introversion?) from the space station. I forget the details, but it actually made sense of most of the plot.

Gameplay-wise, I didn't mind junctions and GFs, but drawing sucked. That said, I respect them for taking a stab at RPG mechanics without the traditional RPG conventions, and I wish we'd see more such attempts.

I don't see what the matter is with games having secrets. I try to avoid guides and enjoy getting whatever I can find on my own. When I reach a game's point-of-no-return, then I look up what I've missed.

[Blue]

I find VIII to be atrocious as a story, though I still love it as a game and had a great time with it. IX is my favorite FF game and easily one of my favorite games ever and one of the few titles that I've played numerous times and I can only hope that having VIII released means I'll get IX.

[Savok]

I don't see what the matter is with games having secrets. I try to avoid guides and enjoy getting whatever I can find on my own. When I reach a game's point-of-no-return, then I look up what I've missed.
Part of getting Doomtrain is getting a ring one pixel in size during an event you can never go back to. The other part is having an exact number of several items in your inventory.

Another example, having to lose certain cards in Triple Triad to open up other ones. It's insane.

[Widgetcraft]

The story:

Who knows if that was actually what they were going for or not, though? The story is basically unfinished. No motivation is ever given for the primary antagonist of the game; she just appears halfway through and starts wrecking shit. Just one of many things that don't make any sense in that game.

[Xydarc]

No FF8's story was terrible on every level, the fact you enjoyed it is neither here nor there, it was terrible.

Bad Dudes has a terrible story, but it's so bad people love it. FF8's was story was so awful, it got kinda good at being awful, then transcended that into a realm of awful few things can touch.

Then there were the mechanics, the stupid bloody junction system which didn't do anything until you could tap the higher level spells. Speaking of which, spells were useless in general, you either chain summoned and mashed buttons until the obnoxiously long animation ended or simply normal attacked everything after you junctioned something uber into your attack making it do more damage then anything else in the game.

Not to mention how levels worked. Not only fundamentally unsound but you couldn't get Squall out the party if he was there, this meant he was always 20 lvls ahead of everyone and thus skewed enemy encounters because they lvled with you (not that any of it mattered once you junctioned something uber to attack).

On top of all this the game was made on purpose to make you have the official strategy guide next to you. Go look up Doomtrain and tell that's even remotely possible without a guide.

FF8 had all of 3 things going for it. Triple Triad, the Gunblade (weapon so god damn stupid it became hilariously awesome) and the Ragnarok.

It was the gravestone of Square as we'd known them on the SNES, they haven't made a brilliant game since.
Wow, I've never seen someone so wrong about a game. Did you actually play it?

[Mike Kelehan]

On top of all this the game was made on purpose to make you have the official strategy guide next to you. Go look up Doomtrain and tell that's even remotely possible without a guide.


I was with you until that point. That's the idea with secret, hidden things: they're secret and hidden. You're supposed to hear how to find it, through word of mouth, the internet, or a guide. Of those three, I have no question that guides are by far the least popular method of spreading that information, and Square knew it. I reached the end of the story guideless; so can you.

FF8 was easily my least favorite of the PS1 trilogy (I'd go 9 > 7 > 8), but it's worth $10 for a single playthrough. I'm not doing it again, though.

[TheEpicOfTyler]

No FF8's story was terrible on every level, the fact you enjoyed it is neither here nor there, it was terrible.

Bad Dudes has a terrible story, but it's so bad people love it. FF8's was story was so awful, it got kinda good at being awful, then transcended that into a realm of awful few things can touch.

Then there were the mechanics, the stupid bloody junction system which didn't do anything until you could tap the higher level spells. Speaking of which, spells were useless in general, you either chain summoned and mashed buttons until the obnoxiously long animation ended or simply normal attacked everything after you junctioned something uber into your attack making it do more damage then anything else in the game.

Not to mention how levels worked. Not only fundamentally unsound but you couldn't get Squall out the party if he was there, this meant he was always 20 lvls ahead of everyone and thus skewed enemy encounters because they lvled with you (not that any of it mattered once you junctioned something uber to attack).

On top of all this the game was made on purpose to make you have the official strategy guide next to you. Go look up Doomtrain and tell that's even remotely possible without a guide.

FF8 had all of 3 things going for it. Triple Triad, the Gunblade (weapon so god damn stupid it became hilariously awesome) and the Ragnarok.

It was the gravestone of Square as we'd known them on the SNES, they haven't made a brilliant game since.

I don't agree with this man a lot, but I think this post is dead on. I am here to show my support for this.

I have never beat this game. I have tried 5 times, I get to about the end of disc 2 and then I lose interest.

The soundtrack is great however. The FFVIII Piano Collections is my favorite in that series. :)

[cawblen]

Wow, I've never seen someone so wrong about a game. Did you actually play it?

i'd actually say he's pretty close to the truth...the junction system broke the game regardless of whatever else people liked or disliked about the game...the junction system is the worst battle system used in a FF game to date...bar none.

[Mike Kelehan]

i'd actually say he's pretty close to the truth...the junction system broke the game regardless of whatever else people liked or disliked about the game...the junction system is the worst battle system used in a FF game to date...bar none.

You know, I liked junctioning and figuring out what were the best junctions to use. I just hated that it required drawing magic, which was just purely grinding. It's a good idea built on a huge flaw.

[Chris_D]

I wasn't a big fan of any of the combat systems in FF7 - 10, the last one I really liked was 12. I didn't enjoy having to draw so much in FF8 and I found the summons offensively long. But, apart from that I was relatively OK with FF8s combat.

[Mike Kelehan]

I wasn't a big fan of any of the combat systems in FF7 - 10, the last one I really liked was 12. I didn't enjoy having to draw so much in FF8 and I found the summons offensively long. But, apart from that I was relatively OK with FF8s combat.

So, it was fine, except the parts it did differently from standard RPGs? :)

[Chris_D]

So, it was fine, except the parts it did differently from standard RPGs? :)

FF7s summons were also way to long, but not as bad as FF8. One of the few good things about FF9 was that they brought the length of the summons down to a reasonable length and I think they may have even been skipable.

Personally, I'm not usually a fan of the turn based FF battles. They seem dull compared to a lot of other games, such as Tales, Grandia, Star Ocean.

[Mike Kelehan]

FF7s summons were also way to long, but not as bad as FF8. One of the few good things about FF9 was that they brought the length of the summons down to a reasonable length and I think they may have even been skipable.

Personally, I'm not usually a fan of the turn based FF battles. They seem dull compared to a lot of other games, such as Tales, Grandia, Star Ocean.

FF9 had the excellent feature where, if you called a summon a second time, it did an extremely abbreviated version of the summon. Like, Titan's would just be a fist coming right out of the earth, punching the enemies and causing damage. It took about one second, which made it somewhat hilarious. Part of the lighthearted feel that made FF9 my favorite of the three.

Tales, Grandia, and Star Ocean are pretty much action RPGs. Which I love.

[Savok]

Wow, I've never seen someone so wrong about a game. Did you actually play it?
End of Disc 3, I played so fucking much the timer reset and turned red. Got more then far enough to witness Squall's sudden personality change, more terrible writing.

I was with you until that point. That's the idea with secret, hidden things: they're secret and hidden. You're supposed to hear how to find it, through word of mouth, the internet, or a guide. Of those three, I have no question that guides are by far the least popular method of spreading that information, and Square knew it. I reached the end of the story guideless; so can you.
Secrets are good, I like secrets. FF8 didn't have secrets, it had ritualistic dances that required precise instruction from ancient tomes of knowledge lest you accidentally summon an Elder God instead.

And remember the Internet wasn't so common back in FF8's day. Mind you, the guide for FF9 used the Internet quite a lot, giving you keywords (read: shit you'd put into a search engine) to put into the PlayOnline site because they were too god damn cheap to simply print the info on the page.

[Zecon]

I remember playing this game so much that I almost collected all the trading cards for the card game, almost because I forgot to steal it from the omega weapon and saved the game. At least that taught me to keep more than one save.

[Mike Kelehan]

And remember the Internet wasn't so common back in FF8's day.

Not as ubiquitous as it was now, but I think most webs of friends had at least one guy with access.

[Savok]

I have no real life friends.

For the record I did have the Internet back then, along with GameFAQs. Computer wasn't in my room, made things hard, plus I do prefer working it out myself but FF8 made that an impossibility.

[Mike Kelehan]

I have no real life friends.

For the record I did have the Internet back then, along with GameFAQs. Computer wasn't in my room, made things hard, plus I do prefer working it out myself but FF8 made that an impossibility.

But you WERE able to work the main game out for yourself. You just weren't able to access a secret, hidden, side feature that was totally unnecessary to finish the game and, in fact, made it significantly easier. Doomtrain was the modern equivalent of a cheat code. Was Contra a worse game because the game itself didn't give you a clue as to how to get 30 lives?

[Savok]

Doomtrain is content, a cheat code is a cheat code.

[diablopath]

Final Fantasy 8 was my favorite FF game.

Until I played FF9.
And FF7.

[Mason]

Who knows if that was actually what they were going for or not, though? The story is basically unfinished. No motivation is ever given for the primary antagonist of the game; she just appears halfway through and starts wrecking shit. Just one of many things that don't make any sense in that game.
The whole point of my post was that there were some interesting views of the plot that make sense of much of it. No one has to buy into those interpretations, but they do make it hard to claim that it's impossible to understand the plot.

Like I said, I only dimly remember the details, but
the big bad was Rinoa from a timeline where Squall failed to save her (due to apathy, introversion, lack of confidence, all the stuff everyone hated about him). She stayed locked in the space station's stasis chamber until the "end of time," at which point she (now Ultimecia) tried to use her powers to go back to the time she remembered.

I guess this is partially for revenge, as she takes over and destroys Esthar and puts a crystal through Squall's chest, but also partially an attempt to reclaim her old life and love. The game plays out in a timeline where Squall mans up enough to save his Rinoa and kill crazy future Rinoa, breaking the cycle.

Paradoxes spring up like mushrooms and causality is completely out to lunch, but the basic motif of mixing up lots of phases/outcomes of a single relationship is neat. The meet-cute and wooing can't really be separated from the abandonment, apathy, and vengeful loathing, as they're all interconnected. I'll cause nothing but turmoil by making the comparison, but Silent Hill 2's story actually covered a lot of the same territory.

I neither know nor care whether or not this resembles what the game's writers intended.

[Widgetcraft]

The whole point of my post was that there were some interesting views of the plot that make sense of much of it. No one has to buy into those interpretations, but they do make it hard to claim that it's impossible to understand the plot.

But it is all speculation, because again, the game was unfinished. Judging by the rest of the game's plot, it seems just as reasonable to assume that the big-bad-boss is just that; a big-bad-boss, with no further motivations beyond that. They were throwing plot points and characters at the player seemingly at random.

[Ultima Thulian]

I dunno, I think pretty much every Final Fantasy game had a shitty nonsense story, but the stories could prove entertaining (sorta like MGS...shitty story, but very entertaining nonetheless).

That being said, I have a soft spot for FFVIII, and it has the best soundtrack of any FF. FACT.

The only Final Fantasies I enjoyed in terms of story are X and War of the Lions, and they're stories aren't great, they are just good in certain parts.

[Gorvi]

But it is all speculation, because again, the game was unfinished. Judging by the rest of the game's plot, it seems just as reasonable to assume that the big-bad-boss is just that; a big-bad-boss, with no further motivations beyond that. They were throwing plot points and characters at the player seemingly at random.
How was it unfinished? And Ultimecia had a motive: to bring about Time Compression, though I don't remember exactly what that was supposed to accomplish. She controlled Edea, and she controlled Adel. She may not have been introduced until later on, but she was the reason shit was happening all along.

[Widgetcraft]

How was it unfinished?

There are huge gaping holes in the plot. It reads like something a first-grader might write.

And Ultimecia had a motive: to bring about Time Compression, though I don't remember exactly what that was supposed to accomplish.

...The time compression thing is what she was actually doing, she has no motive to do it. It was never written into the game, because it is unfinished (or written by first-graders, take your pick).

She controlled Edea, and she controlled Adel. She may not have been introduced until later on, but she was the reason shit was happening all along.

Reminds me of Dragonball Z once it got to the Buu saga.

"There is this sorcerer, he is super-bad. We need to kill him.

He has a demon servant, who is also super-bad.

Oh shit! They've taken control of Vegeta! We're boned!

Oh crap, the sorcerer wasn't our biggest problem, he has summoned Majin Buu!

Fuck me, after we killed Buu, he split, and released a smaller, eviler, more powerful Buu!

Great, we won; most epic story evah!"

[Chris_D]

Wow, if you managed to get through that much DBZ without quitting (I did too!) then I can't see why you wouldn't have been fine with the story in any of the FF games :p.

[Widgetcraft]

Wow, if you managed to get through that much DBZ without quitting (I did too!) then I can't see why you wouldn't have been fine with the story in any of the FF games :p.

Because DBZ didn't take that long, it's characters were less irritating (I know, right), and it didn't have drawdrawdrawdrawdrawdraw.

Then again, I didn't really watch the whole Buu thing; I gave up halfway through when it was originally airing on Toonami back in the day. They had already lost me with Cell being killed off, resurrected and then rekilled like seven times.

[Chris_D]

Well, the Buu saga from the initial tournament is about 100 episodes or so, 40 hours of viewing. Not surprised you bailed!

[Gorvi]

There are huge gaping holes in the plot. It reads like something a first-grader might write.
Such as? Aside from the incredibly asinine orphanage garbage.
...The time compression thing is what she was actually doing, she has no motive to do it. It was never written into the game, because it is unfinished (or written by first-graders, take your pick).
Again, where are you getting this unfinished thing from? As far as the motivation for the time compression, it's been nearly 10 years since I played the game, so I really can't argue that one way or the other. However, I did play it through twice around after it was released, once on my own and once playing along with my wife (then girlfriend), and I really don't recall that being a problem.
Reminds me of Dragonball Z once it got to the Buu saga.

"There is this sorcerer, he is super-bad. We need to kill him.

He has a demon servant, who is also super-bad.

Oh shit! They've taken control of Vegeta! We're boned!

Oh crap, the sorcerer wasn't our biggest problem, he has summoned Majin Buu!

Fuck me, after we killed Buu, he split, and released a smaller, eviler, more powerful Buu!

Great, we won; most epic story evah!"
See, you can stand watching DBZ to even that point, something that I find to be so awful that even 15 minutes of it is unbearable. We each have things that we can't stand, I guess for you it's FFVIII.

[Widgetcraft]

Such as? Aside from the incredibly asinine orphanage garbage.

You know, I'm mostly going to draw from Spoony's review (http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/category/final-fantasy-viii/page/3/) (the real review starts around part 4) of it, since it has been like a decade since I touched the piece of shit. That really says a lot right there: I thought this game was lame and immature when I was in my early teens, watching the worst parts of Dragonball Z.

1) The whole broadcasts are blocked thing brings up all kinds of issues, pointed out by Spoony: If it has been seventeen years since anything has been broadcast, why would the people they're trying to reach have televisions, since they are said to not have the cable that they send transmissions on these days? How would repairing a giant broadcast tower fix things; why wouldn't they have done that seventeen years ago when the interference blocking broadcasts began? Why do they have that huge TV set up in Timber after all of these years, still repeating some kind of weird message ? Why would they still have a broadcast station maintained and staffed in town after seventeen years of no broadcasts? How were Biggs and Wedge able to use a remote control to control that robot spider if radio transmissions are blocked?

2) The whole group panics when they find out that the president is at the broadcast station (where they were headed, to kidnap him), with the guards that they were sure he would have. Why would they panic if things were going exactly as expected? Why do they get so pissed off with Seifer after he captures the president; that is what they were trying to do to begin with? Then they make a big deal about Zell mentioning that they're from the gardens while they are in front of the cameras; where else would they be from? They have gunblades and their clothes have SeeD logos on them. How many of these mercenary organizations exist, and why don't we meet any of the others? Nothing about this segment in the plot makes any sense at all.

3) How does Rinoa find out that the Owl's base has been destroyed? There aren't any radio transmissions, and they're likely hundreds of miles away. Why do they assume that Seifer is dead; they were standing like five feet away from him when he swore allegiance to the sorceress and left with her?

4) How is it these people aren't more curious about the way they keep passing out and having shared flashbacks to the memories of other people?

5) Why would people be cheering for the sorceress to begin with? Especially after she murders the president? After she begins to threaten the entire world with an apocalypse?

6) Why the fuck would you give the assignment to kill the most dangerous figure on the planet to a sniper who has never kill anyone before? Hell, a rookie sniper who was practically raised by her (we find that out later, but it is something that Cid should have known, since he was married to her). We've seen him kill people at close range at this point.

7) The anti-magic field is stupid in general; why would something like that only show up one time in the entire game? If it is easy enough to make for prisons to have them, why wouldn't they be used in combat? Why not use them on the Sorceress? Why can't Selphie cure Zell due to the field, when I can use magic in-combat during this sequence? Why introduce it at all if that is the case?

8) Where do Ellone's powers come from? Why is she the only one who has these powers, in the history of time? Why does Ultimecia need her, when she can apparently possess people (like Edea) in the past anyway? Why doesn't she just approach them directly to ask for Squall and the gang's help? Why does she try to change the past when she already knows that it is impossible? Why would the SeeDs hand over Ellone to these other people, without doing anything to stop them?

9) Why would Irvine never point out the fact that he, and the other party members, all grew up together in the orphanage? That they were raised by Sorceress Edea? Never find it strange that none of them remember him, or knowing each other? Why is he the only one who remembers? None of this is explained.

10) Why would Squall try to change the past, when we already know that it is impossible?

These are just the plot holes; things which directly conflict with other parts of the story. They are actually the least stupid part of the game. The glorious amount of idiocy really lay in the writing of character dialog (more painful than the three [i]Matrix movies, easily; watch the review), terrible plot outside of the holes (let's kill the main character in an extensive cinematic, and then reveal that he is actually just fine two minutes later) including numerous deux ex machinas and plot conveniances, meta-game mechanics, asinine secrets, general unpolished nature of the game overall and finally: Eyes On Me.

Again, where are you getting this unfinished thing from? As far as the motivation for the time compression, it's been nearly 10 years since I played the game, so I really can't argue that one way or the other. However, I did play it through twice around after it was released, once on my own and once playing along with my wife (then girlfriend), and I really don't recall that being a problem.

The main antagonist has no motivation for doing the things that she does, that is a pretty key sign of it being unfinished. You don't remember her motives because they don't exist; she just pops out of no where, and starts wrecking shit. Nothing is explained, she just appears, and you go after her, end of story. As I said, being unfinished is really the best possible explanation for the game, because if you want to believe that they actually had the time to polish it, and this is what they came up with, then you're basically admitting that the people behind the game were talentless hacks (this is actually more likely).

I honestly have no idea as to how Square made something this terrible. They've never done anything nearly this bad before or since.

[Gorvi]

I really wish I had played the game more recently so that I could form some sort of substantial argument, as I know some of that is just wrong, but anything that I say may very well be distorted by memory over time, so I'm just going to leave it that I don't see it that way.

[Troggles]

I really wish I had played the game more recently so that I could form some sort of substantial argument, as I know some of that is just wrong, but anything that I say may very well be distorted by memory over time, so I'm just going to leave it that I don't see it that way.

I just played it for the first time this summer and all his arguments are pretty much valid from what I remember.

[Wraith]

Confirmed for U.S. PSN, though no specific date given, just "coming soon."

PSN Stores (http://www.psnstores.com/2009/12/final-fantasy-8-coming-soon-us/) via Destructoid (http://www.destructoid.com/final-fantasy-viii-coming-to-us-psn-157994.phtml)

[Suave Peanut]

Fuck. Looks like I'll have to buy it again. At least I can finally retire ye olde black box copy!

[Purple Santa]

Any game that has this much heated discussion over a game that is 10 yrs old, I need to play. I always wanted to play it since it was the one after "the best RPG ever" when that was released. Any game after that has to be a letdown for so many. I do remember reading a ton of reviews on the game and of course stating it couldn't hold a candle to VII. I want to see what all the fuss is about.

[Suave Peanut]

I think they're both great for their own unique reasons. I have very fond memories of both.

[Goronmon]

I might have to check this out, I think my only experience with FFXIII was watching someone play for 30 minutes or so.

[jpublic]

I don't care what anyone says, I had a lot of fun with this game. Spoony and his hating posse can go to hell, FF8 was fun.

[Chris_D]

I definitely liked FF8 more than 7, and of course way more than the terrible 9 (which a lot of people like for some reason). There are a ton of problems with it though, mainly regarding pacing and gameplay.

[Blue]

Oddly enough, I asked for this and IX for Christmas as I couldn't find a copy local. If I don't end up with it, I might just get this. I'm not much on digital content as I like having a hard copy of everything but I might crack.

[BlackPete]

VIII's gameplay was fun, the plot was entirely nonesense, and Squall was a dickhead that I wanted to throw off a cliff. I hated playing as that emo guy who stayed emo until like 80% of the way through the game before he became merely semi-emo.

[Zecon]

I enjoyed this game, but not as much as 6 and 7.
It's still better than anything SE has put out in the last decade, though.

[Chris_D]

VIII's gameplay was fun, the plot was entirely nonesense, and Squall was a dickhead that I wanted to throw off a cliff. I hated playing as that emo guy who stayed emo until like 80% of the way through the game before he became merely semi-emo.


What I'm thinking of are the draw system and stupidly long boosting summons. Such time wasters.

[ClannerDelta]

8 was more nonsense than most FF's. Whatever, though. I don't expect something to make a lot of sense when Final Fantasy is in the title. I want interesting art, good music, and the JRPG mechanics I love.

Still, not as good as every other FF I've played. Those that like it more than IX should make sure to wipe off their mascara before writing their tear filled posts about how wrong I am.

I like Mason's ending better, btw. Adopting it as intended.

[Chris_D]

The problem with FFIX was that the story and characters bored me to tears. When an FF game does that, it's in deep trouble. I can't even remember much about the rest of the game. Was glad to finish it (back in the day when I finished most games I bought) and put it back on the shelf, never to be touched again.

[Xydarc]

Squall > Monkey Boy

FFIX should have been about ViVi's story.

[Blue]

FF IX is genuinely one of my favorite games ever and easily my favorite FF. To each their own, definitely, but I absolutely love that game. VI is a close second.

[Suave Peanut]

IX is the one that got me into the series. I then played VII, followed by VIII. I love them all equally and in their own ways. I can understand liking one better than another, but hating one of them while adoring others? Weird.

[Cyndair]

Because DBZ didn't take that long, it's characters were less irritating (I know, right), and it didn't have drawdrawdrawdrawdrawdraw.

Then again, I didn't really watch the whole Buu thing; I gave up halfway through when it was originally airing on Toonami back in the day. They had already lost me with Cell being killed off, resurrected and then rekilled like seven times.

Ohhh but come on! When Gohan went SS2 and disintegrated Cell with a one arm kamehameha it was pretty much the most badass thing ever.