THE GOOD:+Beautiful soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu
+Striking CGI cut scenes
+Graphic Engine/Character artwork
THE BAD:
-Lackluster, muddled storyline
-Disastrous Junction system
-Blasé, cookie-cutter characters
-Quirky game play elements
(Warning: Review may contain various spoilers
(Warning: Review may contain various spoilers.)
SUMMARY:
From the moment the game starts and sounds off with the epic and powerful score of "Liberi Fatali", I expected great things. The opening cut scene featuring the duel between the main characters, the ever-stoic Squall Leonheart and his narcissist, annoying rival Seifer Almasy. In this moment of powerful music and intense scene, I knew Square had made another masterpiece. Boy. I was wrong.
The game starts off well-enough. Many have found fault with the setting of this game. Final Fantasy VII and it's immediate predecessor, Final Fantasy VI (III in Japan), both had the steam-punk air to it. The previous Final Fantasies before that had the traditional medieval flair. It seems as the numbers progress, so does the technological advances. The semi-futuristic setting worked fine, but would have worked better had the story been in lock-step with it. You take control of Squall, a future member of Seed (an elite, mercenary-esque group) who, with his teenage instructor, trudge through the tutorial portion of the game by heading to a fire cave to capture Ifrit, a Guardian Force (GF; this FF incarnations version of the "Summon")
Cue first stage of disaster. The Junction System. While at a first glance this very innovative idea would seem interesting and useable (as does Communism when it's on paper), it falls apart. This is the first Final Fantasy game that truly allows the player to control the stat-growth of their characters. However, the growth is determined by 1) How much magic you have the character draw and 2) the power behind the spell you're drawing. Once magic is drawn, you can assign it to a stat (assuming that one of the GF's you have equipped is able to affect that stat). Sounds simple, right?
Not so. In battle, you must use magic or suffer through horrendously long GF sequences which reduce you to mashing the square button repeatedly in order to boost damage. Or you could always physically attack, but don't be surprised when you don't do enough damage to balance out the need for GF's or spells in the first place.
The draw system was an interesting idea, but in the end it was the victim of developers who tried so hard to be innovative, yet fell short of practicality.
So we're back to the story. After your tutorial, you're sent on a storming the beach of Normandy, err...Dollent mission to secure the small country from the invading forces of Hitler. Erm, Galbadia. My bad. At any rate, it soon becomes clear that the big bad in this game is the sorceress Edea. The mysterious woman usurps control of the Galbadian government in order to destroy SeeD (which operate out of three different Gardens throughout the world) and take over the world. Sounds pretty basic.
Along the way you form your party with all the regular, cookie-cutter characters. Stoic, wannabe tragic main character? Check. Overly-peppy, prone-to-squeals character? Check. Romantic, idealistic pretty girl? Check. Rough and tumble womanizer? Check. You get the idea. I've seen many people claim that this is the best cast of characters in a Final Fantasy game. I would most certainly have to disagree. As a matter of fact, there is nothing remarkable about the characters in this game. As the story develops and it becomes clear that the enemy is not Edea, but the sorceress possessing her and that sorceress happens to be located where the party must utilize time compression...yeah, it pretty slips and breaks its back at that point. Well, by the time you actually GET to that point, the story is pretty much a piece of swiss cheese to the max.
I don't want to give away too much, but let it be noted that a certain side-effect of using Guardian Forces is memory loss. Let's look at that for a moment. Why would ANY sane person use them? It messes with your brain. And the question is almost brought up once all your party characters (minus Rinoa) realize that they all grew up in the same orphanage together. And, let's add the cherry on top... All under the care of Edea! (Yes, she was, at the beginning, the crazy witch who you were sent to kill...)
Perhaps it is at this point the story REALLY slips up. Or perhaps it's the contrived, half-hearted attempt at a love story? (Which Square-Enix was able to get perfect in Final Fantasy X) Everyone has their own opinion.
While Final Fantasy VIII can boast an impressive soundtrack (once more due to the genius work of Nobuo Uematsu) and the first vocal song performance in the series (Aria de Mezzo didn't count since it was all just beeps and buzzes), it cannot make up for the shambling storyline.
Add in a few endgame problems (Tonberry anyone?) and you've got yourself a game that COULD have been, but like a young child wearing his father's shoes, it tripped and stumbled.
"Final Fantasy VIII" was released in 1999 by Squaresoft.
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