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Final Fantasy VIII was released 15 years ago

Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
468px-Ff8_art.jpg


Among the handful of mainline FF games I have yet to play and actually beat.
When I first played it, it didn't click with me sadly, and every attempt since has failed. I have it on Steam so I'll attempt to actually beat it that way.

IMHO, this game could really go with a proper re-translation based on all the theories etc I've skimmed through about its story.

Libra Fatali
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfd9krEsr-k

Regular Battle theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btHMMDz27hw

Force Your way
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54r8t_5ayto

Man with the machine gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jho-peCAKs

The extreme (final boss theme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01nHv7HkxU0

What're you fav. moments and memories from playing this game for the first time?
 
D

dc89

Member
Ah I love Final Fantasy VIII.
Man with the machine gun is one of my favourite tracks for sure.

My earliest memories of playing it was not actually realising it was out until I saw it in Blockbuster, I rented it immediately. I was 10 years old. Four discs, holy moly!!!!

After renting it I must have bought it with some birthday money or something (my birthday is Feb 6).
 
R

Reveirg

Member
Would love for S-E to revisit that universe. So much untapped potential!

Tizoc said:
What're you fav. moments and memories from playing this game for the first time?
Click to expand...

So many... it's the first FF I've played on release date. I was 11 years old back then!

For some reason, the train traveling felt really special. I was really looking forward to those Laguna parts too.

Can't believe it's been 15 years!
 
A

A-V-B

Member
15? Shit. I remember being a kid and playing that sweet demo where you landed on the coast and invaded the town.
 
Werewolf Jones

Werewolf Jones

Gold Member
Disc 1 was the best disc and Liberi Fatali was the best opening to a Final Fantasy game by far. Not a favourite of mine personally however.
 
A

Anteater

Member
good times, I love the theme of the game, hated all of the characters though other than Laguna, but I liked their designs and they fit well with the world they created.
 
K

kurisub306

Member
I remember getting the limited edition soundtrack for this game what felt like a year before the game even showed up in the US. It's still one of my favorite FF soundtracks. I found the game itself to be so-so, but it was so fun going through and seeing how all the songs that I had engrained in my head were being used. To this day I still think FF8 had the best credit sequence, it went perfectly with the music.
 
I

iMerc

Member
one of my fav FF's.
was hooked from the moment it started.

that intro battle between seifer & squall was something to behold, and i though rinoa was the prettiest girl i've ever seen in a video game. lol. (actually, come to think about it, it still think that).

i thought the cast was fantastic, although they didn't seem to have as much 'chemistry' for me as the cast of FF7.

I actually loved the junctioning system, too. i didn't find it confusing at all, it was a perfect fit.

also, sorceress adel is a tranny.
 
B

Banzai

Member
inb4orphanagetwist

Great gameplay, good world/characters, most addicting minigame of all time, LEGENDARY ost

but yeah, orphanage twist.
 
U

urfe

Member
Long GF animations and overall battle loading times ruined it for me.

I could've put up with the bad story to enjoy the spectacle if it weren't for the above problems.

Great music though, still listen to the soundtrack.
 
D

Defuser

Member
Junction system, card refine, magic refine. All of these are fun to abuse and experiment on. Oh and the triple triad, that card game is like crack.
 
E

Earthpainting

Member
Really like the music of this one. The parts of the game that'll stick with me are the Laguna sections. Kind of wish the whole game was like those.
 
R

raven777

Member
This was the first FF game I went and bought at store day 1.

Overall it wasn't as good as I had hoped for, but it had some fantastic elements.

I generally loved the art direction of the game, probably one of my favorite in this regard. Also the battle music, both normal battle and boss battle, are my favorite in the series.

The CG of Esther city showing up was one of the gaming memories that I will never forget. Also the opening CG was just stunning. The ending song was also amazing.

Its shame that some of the elements really hindered the overall game. I really hope they do a full remake of VIII but I know it will never happen.
 
marcincz

marcincz

Member
My favourite game for long time and favourite jrpg I've ever played.
Fantastic, brillant, wonderful game.
I spent in this world over 200 h hours. Played 3 times.
 
Z

ZeroX03

Banned
I wouldn't consider it the best Final Fantasy, but it's definitely my favorite.

<3 FF8


EDIT: Now I want to go and replay this, thanks a lot. *adds to backlog*
 
U

u_neek

Junior Member
Remember reading about this in OPM UK after having completed VII and being EXTREMELY hyped.

It pretty much lived up to my expectations and I would love to see this kinda setting in an RPG again instead of the usual Japanese fantasy worlds. Luckily it seems like XV will give us exactly that.
 
C

CaptainSlow

Member
My favorite game of all time. This game was my childhood. This is the ONLY game I play every year. I play it every summer to relive my childhood summer vacations of playing Final Fantasy all day long. I fucking love this game!
 
F

FireVoa

Member
Coincidentally replaying the game again atm. It's still as charming and endearing as when I first played it all those years ago. My favourite FF game, period.
 
GlamFM

GlamFM

Banned
I loved it at the time, now I realize that this is the point where FF started going in the wrong direction.
 
Q

Qblivion

Member
I bought a used copy at gamestop late in the ps1 cycle and couldn't get past an early cutscene due to the first disc being scratched. Never ended up coming back to that game :/
 
N

normanski

Neo Member
15 years?! Now I feel old...

Originally I struggled with it. some of it was down to expectation after the beast that was FFVII (still arguably my favourite game of all time), I struggled to get to grips with the Battle System and at times Squall reminded me too much of myself back then (although I always loved him as a character and still do.)

I did return to it as an adult though after a mate of mine at university helped me understand the benefits of the battle system and how to properly use it to boost the stats and I really warmed to it, so much that at places I feel like it really does rival FFVII in places (in fact I love it so much I even own two copies as a back-up on top of the one I bought off PSN),

Favourite moments:

- The opening Intro (Epic).

-The graduation dance (Still arguably the best cutscene ever. The acting, direction and pacing is phenomenal in that scene).

-Fighting the crab at Dollet (finished him off before the time limit).

- The ending of disk one once Edea deflects Irvine's shot.

- The Garden Battle. All of it. One of the greatest set-pieces in all the Final Fantasies and really gets the heart pumping (and emotions when Squall has to step up and become the leader you knew he would be).

-The revelation at the orphanage.

-The future city.

-That ending!

Damn I knew I shouldn't have read GAF now before going to work! I feel like calling in a sickie now and playing this awesome game one more time!
 
M

Mr YuYu

Member
I absolutely loved 7, 8 and 9.

Bought a Vita a few days ago. Allready looking forward to replaying these games :)

Lets hope they hold up. Nostalgia here I come!
 
N

normanski

Neo Member
GlamFM said:
I loved it at the time, now I realize that this is the point where FF started going in the wrong direction.
Click to expand...

I understand why people say this but for me it's FFX. I made it through to the end but the characters weren't half as interesting and the world far more limited (Tidus is still an annoying douche in my book).

Do I even have to mention the travesty of FFX-2? god that game broke my heart, along with FFXIII it's the only Final I have ever traded.
 
M

Mr YuYu

Member
normanski said:
I understand why people say this but for me it's FFX. I made it through to the end but the characters weren't half as interesting and the world far more limited (Tidus is still an annoying douche in my book).

Do I even have to mention the travesty of FFX-2? god that game broke my heart, along with FFXIII it's the only Final I have ever traded.
Click to expand...

I quite liked all mainline Final Fantays games up to 12.

13 was the first mainline Final Fantasy game that didn't click with me.
 
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