Jennifer Christodoulou’s Favourite Game of All Time: Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII was one of the less popular Final Fantasy titles, but for me, it was my very favourite (and not just because I had an epic pixel crush on Squall.) This game was my friend when I was bored, a hug when I was sad and a distraction when I was trying to avoid school work. Now it’s the game I rely on to assure me that everything in the gaming world is going to be ok, even when we’re plagued by awful games made of suck and consoles that collapse on us.
Final Fantasy VIII follows Squall Leonheart and 5 other hilarious, lovable individuals through a story involving love, war, and a very addictive card game. Squall is a student at Garden, a school that functions like any we might see in the real world. Students can board there, where they learn English and Math just like us. They sit through boring history lectures and spend hours in the library pretending to read books. And then they go to the training centre and fight monsters to train for becoming a mercenary. Ok, so it’s not exactly like the schools we have in our world, but when you spend 12 years fighting to leave the education system, who wants to play a game that chucks you right back in there?
Squall and the majority of his party are SeeD’s, (yes, SeeD’s who come from Garden. Ha ha, get it out of your system) which basically means they’re trained to be lean, mean fighting machines. As the story progresses you find out that the evil Sorceress Edea is planning to take over the world, and so it’s up to the SeeD’s to defeat her for the sake of humanity. Kill the bad guy and save the world is really all there is to it…for the first 2 discs anyway.
One of the things that makes the Final Fantasy series so powerful is its ability to pull you into the world they create and the story they weave. And everybody knows one of the most important aspects of a good story are the characters in it. The later Final Fantasy games haven’t been quite so compelling to play, as they lack the intriguing lovable characters of the earlier titles. Final Fantasy VIII brings gamers back to a time when game characters were awesome people, with back stories that went deeper than what was written in the instruction booklet. The characters in this game are ones that we can all relate to on some level, and this is why we love them.
There are 6 amazing individuals in FFVIII, and chances are you’ll see qualities of your friends in these people, because they’re just that detailed. There’s Quistis, the super organised, structured nerd and Selphie, the happy-go-lucky girl who’s always finding the silver lining. Squall is your lone wolf, ‘I don’t need the world and the world doesn’t need me’ character, whilst Rinoa quite happily leans on the people around her for support. Finally, there’s Zell, the hot-headed martial artist, and Irvine the team sleaze. If you don’t have at least one friend that matches the description of one of these people, then I think it’s time to get some new friends.
Final Fantasy VIII doesn’t give you a window through which to view the game; it gives you an open door. Walk through it and you’re right next to the characters. You’re inside their world; inside their lives; watching them grow and change from the people they are in the beginning to the mature people they are at the end. When they laugh, we laugh, when they cry, we cry and when things get too hard for them, every fibre in your body wants to hammer the X button until they pick themselves up and make everything ok. That’s the difference between good character development and the character development in Final Fantasy XIII where it’s a bit like ‘Oh, you’ve just been shot? Righto then.’
While Final Fantasy VIII does boast a rather complex magic and weapon upgrade system, once you have the hang of it, you’ll see that it’s pretty awesome. The junction system employed in this game allows you to have low level characters that hit for thousands, with loads of HP, and defense that’s almost impossible to break through. And for all those that complain ‘I don’t get it!’… I first played this game when I was eight years old. I got it. If you can’t, maybe there’s something…personal you need to work on…
Final Fantasy VIII is never going to be the masterpiece of gaming that VII was, but it definitely doesn’t fall as short as some people say. This game possesses all the qualities of any good Final Fantasy game: it is funny, it is moving, it is completely overly dramatic, and it will take over your life for as long as you play it. I first played this game when I was eight years old. I am now 20, and if I had to count up how many hours I’ve dedicated to this title over those years, I’d probably be pretty severely freaked out.
05 Aug 2010, 2:57 am
this is still my favorite ff game it had everything and did everything right. thank you for posting this article!
05 Aug 2010, 6:49 am
characters in this game seem complex at first glance but when you finally realise *Spoiler* that all of them came from the same orphanage and that they forgot about it due to GF’s usage then you know… The story and the characters themselves become weak all of a sudden. This tiny little piece ruined thed game for me big time!
But I still like it because of the beautiful music, epic seamless CGI sequences, the card game, great locations and Quistis. I replayed the game when it came out on the PSN and it was so easy too, that battle system let you overpower your characters from very early in the game. lol
05 Aug 2010, 6:50 am
I love all the three psone final fantasies. Psone is probably my favorite console of all time as I am primarily a JRPG gamer. When I harken back to the psone days I remember FFVII, VIII, IX, Chrono Cross, Vagrant Story, Valkrie Profile, Grandia, Dragon Quest VII and a host of other RPGs ( and action games too). Psone moved gaming into the mainstream but still opened its arms to the hardcore gaming crowd ( unlike cough….wii…)
Final Fantasy VIII is probably the most despised FF RPG ( FFVII was divisive, but not despised), not because of its flawed(but fun) battle system or sterotypical emo characters, but because the people who enjoyed it immensely before has since grown up intellectually and emotionally that they feel a bit tad ashamed of having liked the high school opera gaming equivalent that is FFVIII. Because of the shame and the feeling of elitism they despised a game with as much passion as how they worshiped it 10 years ago. Looking back, I feel a tad dissapointed and embarassed for all those websites praising the high heavens FFVIII and showering it with 9s and 10s in reviews years ago and including them in top 10 overrated games articles. It just shows how elitist and naive the gaming news industry has become. They love bashing games normal folks like, or used to like, in the name of showing they have a more acquired or sophisticated taste.
Final Fantasy VIII is certainly not the best game ever, but to some people, including myself, it certainly is one of the best games and it certainly qualifies as one of the best games of ITS TIME.
05 Aug 2010, 6:50 am
“The forests of Timber sure have changed, but the Owls are still around.”
05 Aug 2010, 6:50 am
It’s not one of the favourite in the Final Fantasy series, but its a great game. Yes they’re good characters, but I didn’t like that they were all together as children and didn’t remember qhen they grew up, i just didn’t buy it.
05 Aug 2010, 10:47 pm
There are so many points in Final Fantasy plots that are so far-fetched though. I don’t really think they’re meant to be believable… which is why the game is called Final FANTASY not Final Believable Things That Could Happen in Reality
04 Sep 2010, 3:23 am
Hi jennifer,
I can’t believe you feel exactly the same way about this game as i do. exactly the same! I first played this game when i was eight too! i had an addiction to it almost, I loved the story more than the gameplay really its kind of like a book. i always thought i had some similarities to Squall (silly). I could feel some emotions from the game as the story progressed as with no other game even book for that matter. I had went through a rough childhood and could always go to a final fantasy for an escape especially this one. i’ve played this one more than all the other final fantasys’ and i love all ff’s ,dont get me wrong hehe. a lot of talk about this game is that the story is confusing,dumb and not creative but boy do i disagree. im writing this because i have to say this is my favourite game of all time as well.
07 Sep 2010, 12:30 pm
Hahaha that’s a little creepy how much of that comment I related to. But yay! Glad to hear you feel the same way! It’s nice to know I’m not alone in my love and slight obsession of this game.
I also thought Squall and I were more alike, but as I grew up I realised that I was really a Rinoa at heart.
God I’m a loser
11 Sep 2010, 7:02 pm
Hey , nothing wrong with that. I’m sure almost everyone can relate to a Final Fantasy character. It’s just a matter of being creative and open minded i guess. =P