7. Final Fantasy VIII (1999) – PC
There is something about investing 40 hours of time getting to know some beautifully realized characters and their lives that leads itself to absurd levels of emotional attachment given the medium within which the characters exist. I am the first to admit, however, that I really like the population of Final Fantasy VIII
As a game, Final Fantasy VIII is not perfect. The story starts off slow, and the draw system is a bitch. To use magic, each character must draw the spell of choice from a certain enemy that carries the desired spell, and stockpile it like an item. Each time you use magic, you use up one of your stockpiled magics. Also, you can junction specific magics to certain character attributes, boosting their effect, but this practice is ineffective unless you have stockpiled a substantial number of the applied magic (you can carry up to 100 of each). So, between drawing magic for offensive use and drawing magic for attribute juctioning, it all adds up to a lot of time-consuming collection. This takes away from an otherwise fun combat system. Another gripe is the excessively long summon animations. They are gorgeous and tremendously satisfying…the first 20 times. Thankfully, there is an option to turn on abridged summon animations.
I make it sound like this game sucked. Ah, but you forget that this list has a heavy emphasis on story, and this is where Final Fantasy VIII really shines. This game is all character development. Every key player is fully fleshed out and tested. You play as Squall, a too-cool-for-school SeeD student at Balamb Garden: an elite military training school. The game opens with one of the coolest introductions I have ever seen. It’s a 5-minute CG montage backed by Nobuo Uematsu’s triumphant Liberi Fatali. The introduction serves to illustrate one of the game’s foremost character dynamics, the rivalry between Squall and fellow bad-boy student Seifer. This is one of my favorite relationships of the game. What begins as violent antagonism, eventually builds to mutual respect, not cliché friendship like one might expect.
The other great relationship is with Rinoa; Final Fantasy VIII is, after all, a love story. The romance really does work and never feels too girly. Squall takes most of the game to warm to Rinoa’s charms, but he is just so used to being alone that it takes a series of critical events to warm him up. This leads to the performance of one of the series’ most iconic songs: Eyes on Me. Chinese pop star Faye Wong was reportedly paid 1 million dollars to record this song, and she insisted that there be only one take. Yikes. Thankfully it turned out really nice, in a sappy J-pop kind of way.
The ending is really moving, featuring one of the longest CG cutscenes in the franchise. Every character gets a final moment, and the most sentimental ones come from some of the side players. Laguna’s final revelation, as he stands by the grave of the woman he left behind, is profoundly heart-breaking. I loved every second of Final Fantasy VIII, and if you can get past the tedious draw system, a marvelous journey can be had.
There is something about investing 40 hours of time getting to know some beautifully realized characters and their lives that leads itself to absurd levels of emotional attachment given the medium within which the characters exist. I am the first to admit, however, that I really like the population of Final Fantasy VIII
As a game, Final Fantasy VIII is not perfect. The story starts off slow, and the draw system is a bitch. To use magic, each character must draw the spell of choice from a certain enemy that carries the desired spell, and stockpile it like an item. Each time you use magic, you use up one of your stockpiled magics. Also, you can junction specific magics to certain character attributes, boosting their effect, but this practice is ineffective unless you have stockpiled a substantial number of the applied magic (you can carry up to 100 of each). So, between drawing magic for offensive use and drawing magic for attribute juctioning, it all adds up to a lot of time-consuming collection. This takes away from an otherwise fun combat system. Another gripe is the excessively long summon animations. They are gorgeous and tremendously satisfying…the first 20 times. Thankfully, there is an option to turn on abridged summon animations.
I make it sound like this game sucked. Ah, but you forget that this list has a heavy emphasis on story, and this is where Final Fantasy VIII really shines. This game is all character development. Every key player is fully fleshed out and tested. You play as Squall, a too-cool-for-school SeeD student at Balamb Garden: an elite military training school. The game opens with one of the coolest introductions I have ever seen. It’s a 5-minute CG montage backed by Nobuo Uematsu’s triumphant Liberi Fatali. The introduction serves to illustrate one of the game’s foremost character dynamics, the rivalry between Squall and fellow bad-boy student Seifer. This is one of my favorite relationships of the game. What begins as violent antagonism, eventually builds to mutual respect, not cliché friendship like one might expect.
The other great relationship is with Rinoa; Final Fantasy VIII is, after all, a love story. The romance really does work and never feels too girly. Squall takes most of the game to warm to Rinoa’s charms, but he is just so used to being alone that it takes a series of critical events to warm him up. This leads to the performance of one of the series’ most iconic songs: Eyes on Me. Chinese pop star Faye Wong was reportedly paid 1 million dollars to record this song, and she insisted that there be only one take. Yikes. Thankfully it turned out really nice, in a sappy J-pop kind of way.
The ending is really moving, featuring one of the longest CG cutscenes in the franchise. Every character gets a final moment, and the most sentimental ones come from some of the side players. Laguna’s final revelation, as he stands by the grave of the woman he left behind, is profoundly heart-breaking. I loved every second of Final Fantasy VIII, and if you can get past the tedious draw system, a marvelous journey can be had.
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