/vr/ - Retro Games

Completed it. Hated it.

>>1218540
>Worth it?
Yes
>Run it?
Yes

It's a good game, and it's old. Stop thinking and start playing.

I started with RPGs much sooner, but FFVIII caused me to stop playing Final Fantasy games as well.

I can appreciate the few coherent qualities it has but overall I had to pass on what I felt was a series already growing past its roots. Although if you were to compare it with the latest Final Fantasy games you can easily tell it's better still by a huge margin - it actually attempts to tell a story from the heart instead of being a corporate fashion statement attempting to offend nobody and as a consequence appealing to no one. FFVIII also still looks really interesting and I have to admit that its world is really intriguing in a dreamlike way.

You can certainly run it on a netbook I think. I've seen Youtube demonstrations of netbooks running FFX so there you go.

The art direction of FF VIII always confused me. Why is everything covered in tribal tattoos and why are all the fonts Gothic?

The writing is sloppy and the gameplay is broken but the setting was appealing and I liked the characters (hurr emo angst teenagers emo hurrdurr dawsons creek emo emo).

I played it when it was new, didn't own it but borrowed it from a friend for a while. Back then I don't really remember what I thought of it, but after trying to play it again later I started to hate it. Now, I don't know. I honestly have no idea how to feel about it, because it's such a bizarre game. None of the characters aside from Squall seem to act like real people, the tone of the game seems to be wildly inappropriate at times, and the story is kind of ridiculous. Still, all of this kind of makes up a rather unique game, so I can't really hate it, but I don't love it either.

I do think the setting is rather nice, and the music is excellent. The junction system is a pretty interesting concept, and I like how you can break the game if you know what you're doing.

Not a big RPG guy myself other then tactics this was the only other one I completed. I personally disliked 7 after watching my brother play it. He bought 8 and I really got into it and the mini card game in 8 is fucking awesome. I beat 8 and was like wow then the next game went back to some child like shit so I never tried it.

Squall is actually one of the better FF main characters, despite what the internet will try to have you believe.

>>1218549
cool
i will

thanks everyone all a bunch of nice comments
pretty cool
i got a new dog today too
feeling awesome

>>1219581
Remember that it will die someday

>>1219589

Nice cherry picking.

>>1219589

Wow, I actually forgot how fun Final Fantasy 8 could be at times. I can't wait until the re-release on Steam.

>>1219328
This. Same about whole game, internet made it shit while it isn't.

I actually thought about never playing it because everybody said it sucks. But I've decided to play it and it's the best game ever
Since then I stopped believing what people say about games. Instead I just play them myself.

XIII got so much hate that I bet it's good. I need to play it someday.

>>1218540
Sorry but it isn't just you.
I used to love JRPG's but even the 2d variety have gone straight off a cliff after the psx. Maybe check out Parasite Eve, Dino Crisis, Vagrant Story, or maybe FF12.

>>1219616
There were a couple different audiences that liked the games. Final fantasy transitioned hard after ff7.

Well, its an ugly game. None of the bright memorable locations of FF7. Every single pre-rendered backdrop in that game is unique and memorable. The textures in battle are atrocious (this is a PSX problem in general, PSX can't do textures that don't wobble everywhere). Now, I'm aware that FF7 doesn't even have textures, but that still manages to look less offensive.

The music is hit or miss. Some really good tracks, but some awful ones. Compare to FF7's stellar score.

The characters are pretty boring, as are the designs. The story....is awful.

Now, I used to defend this game because I played it ~2002 or so and liked it. But actually playing it today, I find it painfully slow, completely engaging, and generally uninteresting. Time has not treated this title well, in my opinion. And I do replay FF4, 6, and 7 regularly.

If you like it, I can see why. The combat system is interesting, and the game in general certainly tried something different, which is commendable. But I'll never play this one through again.

>>1219610

http://kotaku.com/first-look-at-hi-res-final-fantasy-viii-for-pc-508161832

Just take my $10 so I can play this shit in 1080p with my Xbox 360 controller, without all the horrrible PSone graphical artifacts.

>>1219616

You know what everyone says about Squall when they're criticising FFVIII? Imagine that, x50. That's what FFXIII is actually like.

>>1219617
>Dino Crisis

My favorite JRPG.

>>1219626
lel. Only the 3d models can actually scale with resolution. Enjoy your mutilated backdrops (which comprise most of the game).

>>1219616
>XIII got so much hate that I bet it's good. I need to play it someday.

It's not even that it's horrible, it's just incredibly dull. You walk through hallways and that's about it. Combat doesn't get any more complicated than mash X and change your paradigm once in a while. I played for 20-some hours because everyone said once you get past the "tutorial" the game gets better.

It doesn't. It's still dull. Some people can get into it I guess, but I couldn't.

>>1219631
>lel. Only the 3d models can actually scale with resolution. Enjoy your mutilated backdrops (which comprise most of the game).

I don't care. I really enjoyed the FF7 re-release on Steam. They even listened to people and fixed the music, which had been botched since the original PC release.

>>1219641

You just summed up FFXII perfectly. Well done. I tried my best to enjoy it, but it was dull as hell. No amount of beautiful assets can brighten up a game that is dull to its core. I stopped playing about half-way though.

Final Fantasy VIII is a masterpiece in comparison.

FF8 is pretty fun. I find Squall and Rinoa pretty awful characters, but I enjoy Zell and I think Laguna is amazing. The draw/junction system can be tedious but it's also kind of interesting. The card game is fun. Overall it's not a bad game. It's nowhere near the level of FF7 but it's still quite enjoyable.

>>1219653
>I find Squall and Rinoa pretty awful characters, but I enjoy Zell and I think Laguna is amazing.

Zell's facial tattoo was pretty cringe-worthy in the FMV intro, but it grew on me. Laguna was the coolest character in the game, imo. I liked how he actually used a gun. Final Fantasy needs more characters than actually use guns. FF7 had Barret and Vincent. FF8 had Laguna. Balthier from FFXII should have been the main character instead of Vaan the tranny.

I really hated FFX. I never finished it because it lacked the level of exploration that I expected out of Final Fantasy games. I haven't played a Final Fantasy game since XII. I've heard mixed things about XIII, but I'm not convinced it's worth my time.

>>1218540
FF8 had a lot of good points, depth of field on a PS1 game, many nice designs, nice music, manaless combat was fun, junctioning was cool except never casting magic because using the stats was better, etc.

Problem with it is some jump the shark we wrote into a corner moments.

And ass for pacing. This game will just grind to a halt and tell you to go do something boring as hell for a while until it feels like letting you play again.

Good ideas but it shits the bed.

FF8 is literally the definition of "so bad it's good". On the surface the game is a major fuckup, but underneath it actually works pretty well in a bizzaro kind of way.

The gameplay is pretty good, the characters are ok, but the plot is fucking garbage. Stuff like that "It turns out we were all at the same orphanage but we all forgot! D'oh!" are things that 5 year olds come up with, and get asked to see the teacher afterwards. That's not good storytelling.

>>1219663
It's not. It's really, really not.

>>1219727
I repeat myself for the one millionth time.

The memory loss is foreshadowed by Quistis during a scripted battle at the start, and it's outright said in a terminal in the classroom that GFs are linked to memory loss. Also, FF8's story is built heavily on >implying , one of those implications being that Edea was pulling multiple strings to break Ultimecia's time loop.

>>1219813

It honestly doesn't matter what justifications there are for it, it's still really fucking stupid.

>>1218540
The best PS1 Final Fantasy.

>>1219818
Not even just that, the way it's presented is also such a joke. Reminds me of the Magic Schoolbus, everyone yelling "Carlos!" except in the case of the orphanage thing, it was Irving.

>>1219813
You can repeat that it was foreshadowed and it certainly was, but it makes it no less retarded. Seriously what are the odds, particularly with them from other schools.

Or how about lets bang on missles to fix them.

Or hey I pulled this key out of my ass for the super secret base.

Or let the enemy when and then with your powers combine friendship we can win.

It has a few neat deep points like the TV speaking in the background, but it pulls plenty out of its ass.

>>1219837
I always took the game to be some kind of unintentional parody of RPGs. See >>1219725

>>1219852

In order to be effective parody, it needs to be over the top enough to actually be distinguishable from the stuff it's mocking. Essentially the opposite of successful trolling, where you're subtle enough that people react as if you were sincere.

I feel like 8 is hardly the only FF guilty of having a retarded story. I mean, 7's was based around ancient aliens for chrissakes

>>1219858

Was FF8 Square's attempt at trolling their fanbase?

Were they successful?

>>1219858
Hence the word unintentional

>>1219852
I suppose but I've never had a Bruce Campbell movie stop for 20min of boredom and focus on an entirely different main character either.

>>1219864

Welp, time for me to go to bed, as I somehow did not see that word.

I have a friend whose favourite game of all time is FF8. I always ask him why, because he never really disagrees with the criticism I put forward. The only things he says are good about it are the love story and Squall's character development.

Honestly, the love story in FF8 isn't that great. Heck, FFX has a way better love story.

I'll never forget how happy I was that one of the summons (not the right word, but I can't remember what they were called) you get lets you learn an ability so that you won't have to do random battles if you don't want to. I think it was Diablo that gave you the ability. It wasn't necessarily an original concept, but coming from Final Fantasy 4, 6, and 7, I was ecstatic that I didn't have to drudge through random battles if I didn't want to.

Anyway, I'd say give the game a shot. I had a lot of fun playing it back in the day, and remember it fondly.

>>1219918
Another piece of advice; try to avoid leveling up as much as possible. Enemies scale to your level, and some GFs (Cactuar being the best) have abilities that improve your stats on level-up. If you abstain until you get him and do some grindan, your power will explode far above the enemy's.

FF8 did have the best Cid.

>>1219947

>implying

Call me when your Cid jumps out of an airship, uses a bomb to blow up the massive underground tunnel, completely sealing it and SURVIVES

>>1219947
>>1219956
How about you both shut up and drink your goddamn TEA

>>1219663
>Final Fantasy needs more characters than actually use guns. FF7 had Barret and Vincent. FF8 had Laguna.
>Doesn't name the best

I actually like the idea of the junctioning system. It was just handled poorly in my opinion. Also I didn't really care about the main story with Squall. Now the story with Laguna was awesome. Had a lot of fun moments and really depressing moments. All handled really well. My favorite fact is that the battle pose Seifer does is based on the movie Laguna did against the red dragon. Small things like that I feel can really make a game. I just feel the story involving Squall and the rest are just uninteresting to me.
>>1219641
The main problem is that they try to give you the option to be any class with anyone. But by then you are already invested in 3 classes and they are that that good with the classes even if you invest CP. So the class opening is completely pointless.

>>1219942
This is a bad advice. One shouldn't try to break the game by trying "not to lvl up" on a first playthrough.

The game's scaling is just fine on a first playthrough. Draw a little, turn a few cards and items drops from battles into magics, and it's just damn fine.

Just play the game normally OP

>>1220194
> Also I didn't really care about the main story with Squall. Now the story with Laguna was awesome. Had a lot of fun moments and really depressing moments. All handled really well. My favorite fact is that the battle pose Seifer does is based on the movie Laguna did against the red dragon. Small things like that I feel can really make a game. I just feel the story involving Squall and the rest are just uninteresting to me.

There are plenty of small things like this in FF8. However, the story of Laguna and of Squall are one and same story.

Speaking of small things regarding Laguna, did you notice that the soldier that's jealous of him going to Julia's room in the bar in deiling city is actually Major Caraway (Riona's father)?
It is said (in disk3 when you talk to him in his manor) that he become general right after about that time. So in the bar in was just a grunt, but he uses his influence to send Laguna&co to war out of jealousy (which is why they get such a short and unexpected notice to go to war) in order to go recomfort Julia and be with her (that's what you learn from Raine at the start of disk2). and it worked too.

Now if Caraway hadn't done anything Laguna would have been Rinoa's father. But nope, the story of Laguna&Julia is the story of an impossible love, impossible but so strong that it went down to their respective children (Squall & Rinoa) and the love story became a story through their children.

But according to everybody who hates FF8, the love story is "shoehorned", right?

>>1220195
>The game's scaling is just fine on a first playthrough.

Not really. Unless you get a good understanding of the junction system on your play through, you'll hit a wall at the Lunatic Pandora on the first playthrough.

>>1220214
I don't know why so many people had problem with this fight.

Probably because it's the only one which requires a LITTLE bit of tactic.

Even if you're not too strong all you have to do is make sure not to use attacks that attack "all" enemies so that Rinoa doesn't get hit, and if needed, dedicate one character to healing her. That's it, and that's easy to understand even on a first playthrough where you play normally.

>>1219589
best character in that game for sure

>>1220208
I never said it was shoehorned in but I do feel its a much weaker story then Laguna. And yes 8 has a shit tons of little things like that but it's all in Laguna's parts so to me Laguna just feels more flushed out as a character.
>>1220195
But the game does a horrible job telling you anything. I didn't find card mod fun and it's too much trail and error to see what items/spells you can get. I really say just read a guide on the junctioning system and enjoy the game for what it is.

Also people who are talking about FFVII likes it's a masterpiece. Just remember one of the first thing you see when you start off the game is executive produce.

>>1220239
>But the game does a horrible job telling you anything.

There is a tutorial in the main game menu telling you everything you need to know.

But of course it won't tell you which is the best magic to junction for each stat or which magic you get when turning said item or card. No game does that, that would ruin the fun of experimenting and finding things out. It's essential for this kind of RPG.

Finding things on your own, whether it's story or gameplay related, is the most fun part of FF8. I've replayed FF8 like 10 times, and for 8 first time, I'd learn something new EVERY SINGLE TIME. That's why I consider it the best, in comparaison FF9 can be mastered in 2 or 3 playthroughs. In FF4 there is almost nothing to figure out except a couple of secret places.

It was my first FF game, before I knew what the series was. I really enjoyed it and it turned me into a fanboy for the series at large. It has serious issues but I never got the hate for it.

>>1220214
>>1220217
You mean the Adel fight? How hard is it not to use GFs/Comet. I never had any trouble with that fight.

>>1219965
worst cid

>>1218540
I loved it, music, GF's and overall story.
Hated the draw system and Squall's shitty personality.

>>1220228
You think that was Square's attempt at starting a video game related catch phrase craze, not really realizing what a douche it painted Squall as when translated into English?

FF VIII kind of killed the series for me at the time, seeing how much a trainwreck its story, system and characters felt to me in comparison to VI and VII. IX seemed like nostalgia pandering and X and onwards seemed more of the same of what I didn't like about VIII.
But over the years I've come to have a softer spot for it. The dire state of the JRPG market might be affecting my judgment, but I've also begun to appreciate it for some of its separate elements. The art direction is simply gorgeous and more inventive than in most JRPGs that succeed it.
And though I feel it should have been featured in a more solid game, it does have Nobuo Uematsu's most mature score yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s6-uYCHNRI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLwtYlaqWaU

And goddamn if I don't wish for a SHMUP that features the Ragnarok as a playable ship.

>>1219947

>>1220334
It's because between the disk transition and Adel, the monsters are all level 1, making level-ups impossible, which means you wont be able to draw good spells or get a few levels in.

>>1221453
I agree, my first time playing FF8 I got stuck at Adel. I had my character around level 30, and I didn't understand shit of the junction system.

I got there by just spamming gf over and over and over with my characters, using the auto option for junctions and never bothering to draw much.

End result was that my normal attacks did perhaps around 300-400 (I was also having 1 gf per character) and Adel had something like 65000 HP.

That fight made it hard for me to use the only way to win I knew unitl now, which was spamming GF as they would kill rinoa too easily.

>>1221473
>not just having stockpiles of Aura & Meltdown then Using Irvine's limit breaks with a rapid controller
even the weapons were a cakewalk.

>>1221504
> rapid controller
> implying that's not cheating
> implying you accomplished anything

>>1220228
Oh god that's funny. Now I have to play this fucking game because he just might be the funniest Final Fantasy protag of all.

I only liked FF VIII at firt becuase it was my first PS1 final fantasy I played when I was a wee lad.

I played it again as an adult later on, paying attention to the story and fine details, and holy shit it's the best story Square had ever written.

My favorite FF after 10. I had more fun with junction system than I did with any stat system from previous games even if it is broken. The game also had an amazing OST and nice design aesthetics. Unfortunately the story line is pretty bad and completely shits the bed when disc three starts. The party characters, sans Squall, are awful, unbearably annoying idiots who do nothing to advanced the plot. At least we have Laguna's party...

>>1220228
I have the urge to play this now.

>>1221521
>it's the best story Square had ever written
Mind explaining why you think so? I hear people complain about how bad it is all the time so I'm curious to know why you like it.

>>1220228
you forgot this

>>1221521
Yeah Laguna's story is pretty great.

>>1221534
Not him but since he's not answering, let me give my opinion.

This post has tons of SPOILERS.

The story of FF8 is great at the same time as a whole, but also in all its details.
As a whole it is an original on jRPGs, because it is far from every cliché of the medium. It is a story with no vilain. It is a story where the protagonist (Squall) admits that there is no "bad" guy, just two sides with different opinions. A story where both sides fight against each other BECAUSE they both want to kill each others. A story where, the mayor of a major town (Horizon) believes and says that everything conflict could be solved if both sides sat down and and had a discussion. Squall didn't believe him, yet he was right, if they had sat down with Ultimecia before fighting they would have both realized that they only want to kill each others because the other want to kill them, that there is no reason for fighting.
What makes it great is also the notion of fate throughout, both sides are fighting against their future, against what was foretold, and by doing that, only trigger what was foretold. You can't fight fate. That is directly linked to how the story is based on time travel and comes full circle during the ending. I'm a sucker for time travel stories and this one is the best I've ever seen.

Now what also makes this story great is all the details, and that is directly linked to storytelling. I believe FF8's take on storytelling is EXACTLY how video game storytelling should be, and the more time passes the more video games as a whole try to imitate movies storytelling which doesn't work at all and does NOT use all the potential that video games have in storytelling.

>>1225143
In FF8, everything is explained and is hinted at, everything that everyone considers bad and silly about its story. The "orphanage" plot and memory loss, the sudden find of the Ragnarok in space, Squall's sudden love for Rinoa. It's all explained and hinted at BUT, you have to look for it by talking to NPCs or reading the informations through all the means you have, remember it and put all the bits together. THAT'S video game storytelling done right. You have to go look for it and search it yourself, through gameplay, and do the maths yourself. It's not just told through cutscenes and forced dialogues. This is what I meant when I'm saying it uses some potential of the medium which is rarelly used and this is why it's brillaint.

Now, THIS reason, this storytelling technique, is exactly why the game is misunderstood by some. They claim that all that good stuff is not there, and is fans intrepration, because it's not spoonfed to them. You have to put all the bits together yourself, which is not something people are used to and which is why some people dismiss it. By the nature of the story itself, how it's a time travel story, it takes at least TWO playthroughs to fully understand and realize how good it is, how everything is forshadowed, how everything little detail is important. And that's just the main part, I've played this game around 10 times and for the first 8 times I'd always find out something new, new details regarding the story.

The story is brilliant, incredibly deep, has tons of details, BUT you have to look for it, you have to be willing to do it. if you do, yuo'll be rewarded, but if you don't, or worse, dismiss it, you won't understand half of it and claim it's terrible because you didn't get all the info or don't want to.

>>1225150

That is why people who claim FF8's storytelling is shit (I'm saying its storyTELLING, its techniques on how it tells the story, not the story itself) are part of the problem. It's partly because of them, who'd rather get video games spoonfed them a story movie-style, that the industry doesn't try and that video games storytelling continues to remain FAR from its full potential, because developers won't even try, because it's either to just copy-paste whatever works in movies and because, in any case, some people, or most people, would rather get a story like that anyway.

>>1220228
>that's no good

...

whatever

[spoilers]sums up what I think about FF8, too[/spoiler]

I think the main issue with FF8 is that it's main selling point is the emo protagonist who would rather not do anything at all but ends up doing lots of shit because friendship.

Yeah, you've seen that a lot of times, but when FF8 did it was still new and interesting.

>>1225153
Thanks for the reply.

The first time I tried FF8 I was in the height of my toxic 4chan bitterness. I was a lonely, beta animefag who lived on frozen food. I fucking hated the idea of a love story and rejected the game.

I didn't complete it until 2012, I loved it then. The actual, physical plot is bad, but it serves as a vehicle for Squall and Rinoa's development (Why people bash Squall for being an angsty turd so much is beyond me...that's the point of the game, Rinoa is an external force which pushes him out of his selfish introversion and into human understanding) and the atmosphere/music are quite nice.

The mechanics are conceptually interesting, but flawed. I can't think of how, but if they could make spells worth casting, and somehow implement a way to not break your characters so quickly, it'd be the best system in the franchise.

>>1218540

>better than new jrpgs?

Yes

>good?

Fuck no. I'm distressed by this trend of children on /vr/ trying to pretend this game is good. It's better than anything that came after it (can't play 9 because of art design so won't comment on it) but that isn't saying much.

>>1218557
>netbooks running FFX
pcsx2, you mean? And, bullshit. At 10fps with no sound, maybe.

As for FFXIII et al, they're not mellow, they are just really, truly horribly written, even compared to VII and VIII. Some creative (and not corporate) higher-ups at SE are seriously talantless people who think they're great artists. Businessmen at SE are relatively O.K., it's their creatives who are at fault at this moment.

>>1218972
Apparently, your opinion of it is a quintessence of the most-voiced public opinion of the game at any given time.

>>1219813
Foreshadowing is not necessarily a sign of good writing. He's right, the whole plot twist was as silly as it was pointless.

>>1219862
No, FF8 was Square's attempt at going mainstream.

>>1219942
You are constantly more powerful than any enemy in FF8 no matter what. Conspiring to increase stats is meaningless.

>>1227653
uh

Square WAS mainstream before FF8

>>1220208
As with everything in FF, the background is vastly superior to the foreground.

>>1225143
And what makes it horrible is writing and characters, both of which are insufferably bad.

>>1225150
You keep claiming that foreshadowing somehow means quality writing. Foreshadowing, as all referencing, is a very lazy technique.

>>1227618
>can't play 9 because of art design
Wow, you're retarded.

>>1227662
No, Square was never mainstream and got bought out before it could achieve that.

>>1227684
Please explain why.

>>1227696
Just play the game. There is not a single paragraph that isn't amateurish, not a single character that isn't one-dimensional, beyond perhaps Laguna and Seifer.

>>1227692

I didn't say it was bad. What I've played of it seems good. The art design is just everything I hate about anime and nothing I like.

>>1227698
>Seifer
You spelled Squall wrong.

>>1227695

>>1227703
Squall I wouldn't even call a character. He's like a lazy personification of being 15.

>>1227618
>I'm distressed by this trend of people having different opinions than me.
I'm not a fan of this game either but why are you so offended?

>>1227706
And yet he acted more like a person and had more character development than most of everyone else in that game. There was so substance to Seifer than "he's an asshole."

>>1227705
Game mag cred wasn't mainstream, kid.

>>1227712
Seifer was a violent asshole with a tenderly romantic dream.

Squall was not human. He was barely a character at all.

>>1227690
That's not what I meant at all. It's not about foreshadowing itself, it's about HOW the foreshadowing is done.

Also explain to me why foreshadowing is a "lazy technique".

Also if you were willing to actually understand my post you'd see it's not only foreshadowing. Actually quite often you have to put 2 and 2 together with informations that comes before, but also AFTER the events, to fully understand them.

>>1227690
>foreshadowing is lazy

do you know anything about narrative

honest question

>>1227730
It's all buried under hours and hours of badly written cutscene text, though, remember? That you, and I, have learnt to disregard that in favour of the admittedly superior world-building and scene-setting doesn't change the fact that 95% of FFVIII's text is very lousy.

>>1227734
Believe it or not, I'm a published novelist. But what does it matter? Argue against statements, not with people.

>>1227735
What I'm getting from your post is "I don't like to read."

>>1227737
On the contrary, I read too much to be impressed with childish tricks like referencing a future event from later on in the story. Even amateur fanfic authors can do that.

>>1227738
Why are you avoiding the question?

>>1227742
What question? Questions bear question marks.

>>1227738
>Argue against statements, not with people.

So why the fuck are you bringing up your supposed literary career? No one asked you that shit, and it sure as hell isn't an answer to my question in any shape or form.

And FYI, being published doesn't mean anything in 2013, if it ever meant anything. If you even knew how many books were printed per year, you wouldn't be leaning on "I'm a published author" for anything.

>>1227743
>foreshadowing is a childish trick

Oh boy. I don't know if you guys want to continue here, but we have a high school sophomore straight out of English class here. Though it's probably beneficial if you actually pay attention in said class.

Know that much at least before you post any further, guys.

>>1227750
It means a professional paid me money for storytelling, perood.

>>1227748
So, you're not going to answer because he didn't add a question mark. Why did you even reply to him then? Needed an excuse to brag about being a novelist, huh?

>>1227750
>yeah and what are your CREDENTIALS sir
>here are the credentials
>wow why are you bringing it up all of a sudden?!
Whatever.

>>1227757
Squall pls.

>>1227754
>Needed an excuse to brag about being a novelist, huh?

Hey, now. Be nice. If you self-published some shlock on Amazon, you'd be feeling pretty high and mighty, too.

>>1227757

I...I don't think anyone asked for any credentials.

>>1227753
Actually, I'm a teacher.

Sage for people with no education getting annoyed at people with educations.

>>1227763
Yes he has. He asked if I know anything avout storytelling, and I explained that I am a professional storyteller.

>>1227757
Asking someone if they know what something is does not mean what are your credentials.

>>1227764

>I'm a teacher
>Won't bother to answer basic questions when asked

lol

That's a fine way to get tenured, I'm sure.

>>1227765
Just because you get paid to do it, doesn't mean you actually know anything about it.

>>1227767
Yes, backpedal some more. You asked a personal question and are now whining about a personal answer. No wonder you emphasise with Squall.

>>1227771

Pretty much.

Going by that logic, any game designer that's had his work published should be able to crank out a fun game without glitches. But we know that's not always the case.

>>1227772
I'm just stating a fact.
>You asked a personal question
No, I didn't. I'm not the same poster.
>No wonder you emphasise with Squall.
Whatever.

>>1227771
Exactly. And that's why he should not have asked about my person and whether I'm qualified to talk about writing.

>>1227775
>I'm qualified to talk about writing.

Considering you didn't answer the question, no, not really.

For someone who's apparently a published author, you sure are bad at reading comprehension.

>>1227776
Your post goes against the facts. Look up "credentials".

ITT a moron who's probably never read a book after high school tries to fool us into thinking he is both a teacher and a published author

It's good to have dreams, but delusions are pushing it.

>>1227778
You should think a little. It'll all come clear soon enough. Seriously, THINK. Use the head-meat. He asked if I'm qualified to talk about it, and I said it's my job both talking about it and doing it. THINK.

>>1227784
>He asked if I'm qualified to talk about it

This wasn't asked of you, actually.

>>1227781
You, on the contrary, sound like a very educated and well-read person. Congrats.

>>1227787
Let it go, you're embarassing.

>>1227789
>you're embarassing.
lol

By the way, you spelled "embarrassing" wrong.

>>1227779
Look, you don't need to be a novelist to know about narrative. This is something that is taught in school. Because you said "Foreshadowing, as all referencing, is a very lazy technique." he asked if you knew anything about narrative. Saying something like that is questionable. Instead of directly answering his question, you ignore it by saying you're a professional novelist, like that covers it.
Do you see what is wrong here? Also, when are you going to explain why foreshadowing is lazy? I'm waiting.

>>1227796

There's nothing wrong with foreshadowing, in fact it's a very useful literary technique. But its use doesn't make the story in FFVIII good, intelligent, or interesting. It certainly doesn't make it sensible. It's ridiculous shit.

>>1227796
How can in not cover it? It doesn't prove me right, but it certainly does answer his subjective question.

>>1227802
>Also, when are you going to explain why foreshadowing is lazy?

>>1227802
Read my post again.

>>1227803
Thank you for making a reasonable reply.

>>1227796
>I'm waiting
Foreshadowing is lazy because it's easy to do, yet it impresses the sophomores.

>>1227727
>Game mag cred wasn't mainstream, kid.

I have no idea what you mean by this, but it seems to me like you think Squaresoft just pulled money off trees to make the dozens of SNES RPGs they have and to give PSX era FFs such huge-ass budgets.

>>1227809
>Foreshadowing is lazy because it's easy to do
A lot of literary devices are "easy to do," but that doesn't make them lazy.
Please, go more in depth.

>>1227810
Mainstream does not equal profitable. Squaresoft was a niche, profitable develooer and publisher. Sonic and Mario were mainstream, Final Fantasy wasn't. But Square was certainly, unquestionably aiming at growing mainstream, especially evident in it's least popular FF, the VIII.

>>1227814
In-depth: easy doesn't equal bad or worthless. Just unimpressive.

Playing it now. First time I played it around 10 years ago, and I played to the disc 2 with all three GFs junctioned to Squall (because I didn't get Junction System). My only tactic was spamming GFs with Boost ability. And I get to the Ultimecia Castle with this 3 starting GFs.
Now I played it without GFs with junctioning and all this shit and this game is amazing, one of my favorite Final Fantasy games.

>>1227817
>easy doesn't equal bad or worthless.
And yet you use the adjective "lazy" which implies it equals bad.
>Just unimpressive
Why didn't you say "Foreshadowing, as all referencing, is a very unimpressive technique." then? At least that implies something like it doesn't make a literary piece special or new on its own.

>>1227803
I have NEVER fucking said that foreshadowing is what makes FF8.

You are misintrepetating my post on purpose, while avoiding my points, and focusing on something I didn't say just because you don't like FF8's story and don't even want to consider my points because you totally believe your opinion on the subject is 'superior' because it's your job.
Meanwhile you don't didn't provide a single point why FF8's story is bad.

You're just like "pro" video game critics. They're unable to write a single opinion, instead focusing on a few meaningless technical aspects to build their judgement, and totally believe everything they think is Truth and Matters more than most other people.

>>1227841
Just let it go, there is no use to debate with him since he just ignores everything.

Also, the fact that you're a published novelist is besides the fucking point.

I was praising FF8's storytelling techniques because they are techniques that are UNIQUE to video games and rarely used in video games.
Because storytelling techniques in books is your job doesn't mean you're more able to judge storytelling techniques that are unique to video games, it's a whole different thing. It's like a movie director claimed he knew how to write a book. Maybe that's why you're completeling besides my point since the start.

Well this thread sure escalated quickly

im into it, though the story be lazy and the difficulty be 0

>>1227887
This is hardly the first time I've seen this, but it still wracks my brain with WTF every time I encounter it.

>>1227841
It was the only thing you mentioned as actual proof of quality if FF8's writing. Everything else was unsubstantial praise, including claims that the game is an example of true video game storytelling, which, being a cutscene laden non game, it really isn't, despite the admittedly clever and original setting.

>>1227738
Yes, and I'll have you know I have over 300 confirmed kills against al-Qaida, or however it goes.

>>1227887
>the story be lazy
Just say the story is shit and the difficulty is piss easy.

Just a thought I've been entertaining for a while, but how much do we know about the translation of FF8? The game pretty much got a flawless score in Famitsu back in the day IIRC, which at the time was still kinda hard to get. I've been wondering if some of the problems with the plot (not all of course, it's still weird) was handled better in the japanese version. FFVII I know had a horrible translation.

Anyone with any insight into these matters?

>>1228716
Leave the shitty weeabo myth to rest already. Both FFVII and FVIII had translations on par with the original writing, which was admittedly awful.

>>1228971

Really? I heard different but I guess I don't really have a good source for it.

>>1228971
>Both FFVII and FVIII had translations on par with the original writing
that's not true

>>1228971
>Both FFVII and FVIII had translations on par with the original writing
Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about.
Did you play the original Japanese versions?

>>1228994
Yes, I have. What's the difference? Both the original and the English translation are silly as sin, barely scraping ranobe-grade quality at best.

>>1229064
There are a few things wrong with how they worded things. Here are a couple examples.
http://www.lokasenna.pe.kr/ardente/etc./
You don't like the story of FFVIII, that's perfectly fine. The translation IS bad though.

>>1229095
A translation of a thoroughly lousy text is bound to be bad.

>>1229108
No. It's bad because it deviates from the original meaning. I'm not talking the story quality.

>>1229119
It doesn't deviate fom the meaning. Play the game in the original language, not Korean. The English script had a few silly slips, and so did the Japanese. It's completely wrong to say that there was nearly enough mistranslation in either game to affect the overall quality.

>>1229064
>hurr I'm too stupid so the story is shit

>>1229119
>No. It's bad because it deviates from the original meaning.
Oh, you're one of those
protip: sometimes (but not always) deviating from the original meaning is an improvement

>>1229119
>deviates from the original meaning
Much like this thread

I agree with many people in this post.

the emo schism which Square under went with FF8 never closed or healed....they cut themselves open and literally killed themselves by going emo...now there's poetic justice if I ever saw it.

>>1229572
I don't think IX, X or XII are emo. Or are you talking about different games they made?

>>1229754

I don't know man, FF8 started a weird trend of angsty pretty boys. I don't even think Van is a dude by the time they got to 12...it's a chick.

ff7, cloud was pretty emo but the other characters made up for it with their coolness (barret, cid, tifa, red)

>People over the age of 17 earnestly using the word "emo" in the year of our lord, Anno Domini two-thousand thirteen.

>>1229774
Eh, I didn't think Cloud was emo, just reserved. Well, at least before AC.

>>1229792

ya g, by AC he and his boyfriend with the silky white hair are literally "sword fighting" and arguing about who's better looking.

>>1229786

more like year of your mother's ugly twat, Anno Donini right now.

>>1218540
I love this game, the bashing it gets is from people that hate a bit of a romantic story and intentionally bust the game system by abusing the fuck outta the junction system. Them game is great, play it, & love it

>>1229754

X isn't emo, it's just fucking brain dead stupid.

>>1229825

I don't care for a completely inorganic and unbelievable romance between a piece of wood and a mental defective. The problem isn't the 'romantic' story, you twat. It's the characters, the complete failure of the narrative to be coherent or compelling or contain anyone or anything of any conceivable interest to anyone, and the meaninglessly complicated combat system.

That said, it's your business if you like it, but be aware that the 'bashing' it gets has nothing to do with people being unable to 'open up their hearts'.

Though I'll certainly grant that it's got probably the sexiest girls of any FFVIII game ever. Most likely due to how close they stayed to Amano's designs.

>>1230012
You know, if Yuna wasn't a complete doormat through the entire story and Titus didn't exist at all (And the story was simply about Yuna going on her pilgrimage and choosing the break the cycle on her own), I think FFX would've been a great game.

Actually, come to think of it, the Fayth woke up and Tidus and anything else that was their dream disappeared. So if they woke up early, would Sin have just disappeared since he was Jecht?

>>1230036

FFX was a great game, though. The story was just dumb.

What I like about VIII are the designs, the card game and soundtrack. The story is flawed. It was fine in disc 1, but things got really strange after that. The gameplay is undoubtedly broken if you know what you're doing.
There are so many things I like and dislike about this game that I don't really know how to feel about it.

>>1230036
I heard in the sequel she breaks out of the doormat phase. I can't really comment more about it since I haven't played X-2.

>>1230043
I think FFX probably had some of the most fun gameplay in the mainline FF series. The sphere grid let you customize your characters a lot, especially the expert grid, although it did cause everyone to run together at higher levels. On top of that, the arena provided many challenging monsters to fight that required a good amount of thinking on how to clear.

The story was pretty weak though.

>>1230056
>The story was pretty weak though.
Agreed. To be honest, it didn't leave much of an impression on me since I can't recall much of the story. And I played it recently!

>>1230056

What I liked most was the fact that you had to use all of the characters (except Khimari, not counting his mandatory parts) to finish the game. I'm not a big fan of when RPGs throw a ton of characters and half of them are just "whatever" like in FF6 for example.

It's kinda funny. FFX and VI are opposites for me in that regard. X has a cast full of dorks (lovable dorks, but dorks nonetheless) that you have to use in battle and VI has some really cool people that you will probably never touch when you don't have to (What up, Cyan?)

>>1230051
She had a complete turnaround in FFX-2, they probably should've done more for her personality in FFX to give it a better buildup. Change of clothes/style/general mannerisms beyond a couple of defiant lines.

I still think we should've got a prequel with Jecht/Auron/Braska with a class system like FFX-2. Sure, you know how the story plays out, but I think those three would've probably been more relatable characters than YRP. Seeing Jecht change from a drunken has been into someone who would sacrifice himself for 10 years of world peace could've been great, even if you knew it was going to happen. Young Auron would be a heck of a lot different from old Auron, and Braska's march to his inevitable death could certainly be dramatic.

>>1230036

I completely agree. It didn't happen though. It's total bullshit. Good combat though. Obviated utterly by the meaningless and choice-destroying sphere system.

>>1230068
Exactly, that's one of the great things about the gameplay in FFX. You have a full cast of guys, and you can sub them in and out in the middle of a fight to adjust your party's strengths. The only time FF6 had that sort of thing was the parts in Kefka's tower and other three party split sections which didn't make good use of a split party. It mostly just translated to spliting up your main group to compensate for the weaklings in the others since you never used them.

Sure, it breaks down late game when you've got half the sphere grid unlocked and just pick people for their overdrives, but until endgame, you rotate people in and out periodically to counter the enemy.

>>1230071
Hey, they made a prequel for VII even though we know how the story goes. An X prequel sounds great.

I enjoyed FF8 a lot. It's not perfect, but it's fun and the music is some of the best the FF series has ever had.

Loved all the missions at the beginning of the game.

>>1230051
She literally became a j-pop idol. Literally: a lead-singer of a j-pop band. And the game was god-awful.

>>1230024
You watch squall have a change in character, you all act as if he is a static character. He actually evolves through it all and becomes someone actually capable of showing compassion. Don't trash on him so much, if your actually played from start to finish you would have noticed development in his character

>>1230172
>And the game was god-awful.

Final Fantasy X-2 is GOAT

The story is awful
The writing is terrible
Everything is silly

But that gameplay. By God, THAT GAMEPLAY.

>Yuna in X-2

my pure summoner waifu turned in to a slut

>>1228661
I'll say what I like, that's the nice thing about not being you.

>>1230776
>expecting them to stick around long enough for character development to happen
these are probably the same people who think FFV had a good cast

http://www.geek.com/games/after-13-years-a-new-final-fantasy-9-side-quest-has-been-discovered-1556624/
Did you guys know about this?

>>1230940
>these are probably the same people who think FFV had a good cast

It did.

>>1231765
V had 4 monks as a cast you silly person

>>1231754
I found out about that recently, and I was disappointed that my 100% run was actually incomplete. I do not want to play again because of that.
>>1231768
And?

>>1225143
>>1225150
>>1227684
>>1227690
>>1227698
>>1227703
>>1227706
>>1227712
>>1227729

It's like I really am on /a/ discussing Naruto minus the dubs spam. I don't want to see this turning opinions into facts and question-begging shenanigans on /vr/ ever again. There's a place for people like you.

>>1227553

>The first time I tried FF8 I was in the height of my toxic 4chan bitterness. I was a lonely, beta animefag who lived on frozen food. I fucking hated the idea of a love story and rejected the game.

Funny thing is, I always thought most people on 4chan I've seen hating on Squall is because I figured that the character was a mirror reflection of their own selves. Miserable lonely shut-ins. That and for some, playing video games is escapism, and they don't wanna play a game where they play as a loser just like them.

>>1232153
What initially turned me off of FF8 wasn't Squall but the rest of the cast (the ones available early on, anyways).

I feel the game should have been called Adventures in Babysitting.

>>1232153
Except that Squall is really talented and good looking and not a loser at all.
He's just focused and stoic in a Vegeta/Sasuke way.

>>1232160
>good looking
Such as, Quistis basically throws herself at him in the dinosaur garden and Rinoa at the ball scene.
IIRC a couple girls at the school hit on him too when he passes his entrance exam. All of the teachers praise his talent, he's actually a way better student than Seifer.
He basically had no reason to be emo, at all.

>>1231979
Exactly. This board has taken a SIGNIFICANT drop in quality commencing roughly a month ago.
I feel they would be much happier wallowing in their own filth of arguing, obnoxiousness and general shitposting in a more relevant board.

>>1231768

>Monks
>Not berserkers

>>1232378

FF threads have always been like that and always will be, doesn't really say anything about the board

>>1232164
Squall came off as having some sort of mental illness than being emo to me.

>>1233831
He was just really gassy. Zell's crusade to replace the entire lunch menu with hotdogs had a rather devastating effect on Squall's delicate digestive system, and so he spends most of his time fighting back nausea and diarrhea; you wouldn't be very friendly either if your asshole could pull a Krakatoa at any moment. And to make matters worse, he's got all these sexy women clinging to him, so he can't even let off some stealthy squeakers for momentary relief.

>>1232164
>He basically had no reason to be emo, at all.

Except for missing his sister. Who he believes abandoned him.

>>1233927
This would make a lot of sense.

>>1233993

Who he doesn't even remember at the time he's being a little bitch about it.

>>1234013
It's a wonder he remembered some of her because of the GF.

He still felt abandoned though.

It's not until later on that we learn why.

>>1233993

>be attractive, intelligent, capable
>women falling all over themselves for your dick
>NO MUH SISTER I'M SO SAD WHY IS THE WORLD CO COLD!?

At most that would justify a vague melancholy, not the masturbatory self-pity Squall wallows in.

>>1234570
>vague melancholy

That's what it is. He barely ever even mentions his sister in his internal monologue. It comes out like two or three times before he actually meets her in the game.

>I'M SO SAD WHY IS THE WORLD CO COLD!?

Sometimes I get the impression everyone just mentally blocks out the game they played and replaces him with a character that's easier to lampoon before they start unleashing the bro-psychology and "lol fuckin beta, man up, id be all ovr that pussy dude" tirades in FF8 threads on 4chan. I know that was "hilarious" all-caps satire, but he doesn't say things like this. What's the point of trying to discuss characters in a game if you're just going to rewrite them in your head so you can be angrier about them?

>>1234591

It is not a vague melancholy. He acts like a total asshole and treats everyone with disdain and disgust. He manages to be simultaneously ridiculously awkward AND profoundly capable. He's an annoying, pointless piece of shit.

The game is not well-written, but you're free to like it. Just don't pretend it's anything but what it is.

FFVIII is a masterpiece in that there's no other game like it.
That said, if you aren't an invincible god by the beginning of disc 4, you're done.
Game's over.

>>1234013
>>1234020
He remembers having a "sis" but he doesn't remember Ellone as a person.

Anyway:
>setting is rather nice
>the music is excellent
>I like how you can break the game if you know what you're doing.
>The card game is fun.
>Finding things on your own, whether it's story or gameplay related, is the most fun part of FF8. I've replayed FF8 like 10 times, and for 8 first time, I'd learn something new EVERY SINGLE TIME
These are the reasons I will forever love FFVIII despite it also having numerous flaws.

FFVIII is my favorite game. Go for it OP. But do it with an open mind, don't try to judge it harsly and try to just enjoy it instead of thinking of everything you've heard about it.

I never understood why people think that the whole orphanage thing is silly. I mean, I always thought it wasn't random that the 5 of them met up again, but it was Cid(and Edea to a degree, before she went evil) manipulating everything and all of them so they would end up together and would fight Ultimecia. Why did Cid take on Rinoa's mission for almost no pay? To get all the 6 of them together. Why did he make Squall commander? Because Cid knew he would be the leader for the team to defeat Ultimecia. I know Squall never told Edea when he went back in time, that those 6 would be the ones to defeat Ultimecia, but Squall gave her the idea of Garden so I always assumed that Cid and Edea placed all the pieces on the board so it would play out right.

>>1238016
People think it's stupid because like so many other things in the game it can't be explained without retconning the botched writing and inventing new plot to excuse it like you just did.

>>1225143
>>1225150
>>1225153
Now I remember why NESfag terrifies me.

>>1238464

>>1238584
It's a right one, though.

>>1238505
He's just overall retarded, is all. Calling FFVIII's endless cutscenes good video game storytelling's just an icing on the ass cake.

>>1238016
Squall was the second-worst candidate after Irvin.

The whole team were god-awful candidates precisely due to the orphanage backstory, where a sorceress was their substitute mother. The whole justification for them getting together work against the consistency of the story.

FFVIII was so stupid, even 1998 kids didn't think it was good. I mean, the people who thought Final Fantasy VII was well-written said VIII was a failure.

Personally, I only know a few big-budget games that have worse writing than VIII: it's FFXIII and the 3rd Birthday. Those two were outrageous.

>>1238464
>it can't be explained without retconning
Retconning what?
No, seriously, I haven't played this in years so I'm not sure what you're talking about.

>>1238016
>but Squall gave her the idea of Garden so I always assumed that Cid and Edea placed all the pieces on the board so it would play out right.

Exactly because it's what the games wants you to assume. It's not even farfetched at all, they were all there so they were the first and, as orphans, the perfect candidates for Edea&Cib's soldiers-school. The only part of 'luck' is that is how they meet up with Irvine again later on.

But now you see, since the game only makes the player ASSUME it and does not TELL it in big bold letters, there will always be people who will claim that it's not there and that it's made up by fans, people like >>1238464 , and that, even though during the (optional) dialogues with Edea at the lighthouse at the end of Disk2 Edea fills in a LOT, leaving only a little to be assumed.

>>1238617
Except for the ending, pretty much none of the cutscenes in the game work as storytelling elements. They're there to showcase cool action scenes.

I find it funny that one of the least popular Final Fantasy games gets more hate than the popular ones.

>>1238687
>Except for the ending, pretty much none of the cutscenes in the game work as storytelling elements. They're there to showcase cool action scenes.
You're thinking FMVs, not cutscenes, dimwit. Crap, you were way cleverer when /vr/ was new.

>>1238690
He's claiming that we're making up the story because, after everything the game showed him, he was unable to assume and understand on his own the little that had to be assumed and understood by the player.
All because FF8 is doing intelligent storytelling. Too much for a video game, it seems. FF8 is a game that thoughts people who played video games would be able to put 2 and 2 together. How wrong it was...

I have a question. Where did Ellone get her powers from? Was she a sorceress too?

>>1238710
This discussion only persists because weird people claim weird things about the game. It's happening in the FFIX thread, too, where someone says Zidane, Freya, Quina are mistranslations and should be Jitan, Flyer and Cuisine. I'm not kidding, namefag's crazy justifications of FFVIII's god-awful storytelling ("because there IS explanation to the horrible mess of a story in optional cutscenes! so YOU are poorly written, not the game!") seem like nothing.

>>1238736
>Zidane, Freya, Quina are mistranslations and should be Jitan, Flyer and Cuisine
I was in that thread, that was hilarious.

>>1238735
Think something up yourself and then seek for an optional NPC quote to vaguely seem to justify your idea. It's the only way with FFVIII.

>>1238716
For some reason you seem to believe that "has explanation" makes the plot good.

FFVIII's story is a mess not because there are explanations to it's fantasy bullshit, but because the characters are poorly written, the dialogue is terrible, the pacing is all over the place, so is the tone, and the whole story is incoherent.

No, it's not well-told, nor is it an example of good video game storytelling. It's told as poorly as humanly possible.

>>1238747
Uh, thanks for the passive aggressive reply, but never mind, I just found out the answer.

>>1238756
It's called "sarcasm", fuckwit.

>>1238754
>the pacing is all over the place
>using pacing as criticism

>>1238770
But pacing is perhaps the most important aspect in linear, time-based forms of art.

>>1219596
It's called proof by counterexample.

>>1238754
Again, this is just your opinion. I didn't have any problem with the dialogue, Squall is probably the most realistic of all the FF heroes because you get to read his honest thougths, I didn't find the story incoherent the way I interpreted it not anymore than other FF's at least. I found FFIX's story really weird, though I haven't played it in like 8 years, however I had no problems with FFVIII's story at the age of 14. I also really like the art design and the music is topnotch.

Your opinions isn't anymore right than mine. Really, it's all about tastes and opinions.

>>1238770
Pacing is a valid criticism because these games are attempting to be cinematic. And pacing is extremely important in cinema.

>>1238773
I never had the impression that its pacing was "all over the place," just painfully slow.

>>1238803
I didn't have problems with the dialogue either. The dialogue had problems o it's own: it's badly written.

Squall is not realistic. The depiction of his teenage angst is, but a human being can not consist of that alone. When Squall grows out of it, he stops having any personality at all.

At age 14 I thought FFVIII was the coolest, because I haven't read much back then and everything was impressive. I also used to confuse the good music and graphics with good storytelling and gameplay. Now I'm wiser.

>>1238770

Pretty smug for someone with an obviously uninformed opinion.

And it's happening a lot lately, too. Is this board turning into /v/?

>>1218540
>I posted it again!

>>1238825
>I also used to confuse the good music and graphics with good storytelling and gameplay.
I used to do that too. 8's gameplay needs tweaking since it's too easy to break it. The storytelling...I don't know. Did anyone else feel like it was written by someone completely different after disc 1? That's when it started to fall apart.

>>1238829
>Is this board turning into /v/?
Where do you think a lot of people came from?

>>1238825
You would think 14 year olds are their target audience, not older guys analyzing and looking for flaws 15 years later. So if you thought it was cool at 14, as a lot of people did, wouldn't you say Square managed to reach it's goal then?

Really, Squall has tons of personality. Just because Squall goes through a change doesn't mean he loses his personality. In fact, having the main guy go through changes and learning something on the journey is like the basics of good storytelling. I don't see why you think he loses his personality. Feel free to explain why, give some examples or whatever.

The dialogue is not any worse than other FF games. Really, I can't see it. All FFs have some weird and cheesy dialogue, some because of translation and some because that's part of JRPGs.
I don't confuse good music and art with gameplay and storytelling, but I do think they add a lot to the game. I don't have any problems with the storytelling and I think the gameplay was okay. But again, it's just opinions. It's not a fact that it is a good or bad game, however it is a fact that some people enjoy it a lot while others don't.

I just got to the end of disc 3 for the first time last night. This game is so fucking bizarre. There's so much ridiculous shit going on, but nobody seems to react appropriately to it. There doesn't feel like there's any sense of impending danger, because almost everyone in the game acts like a chuckle-head. That's pretty much my biggest gripe with the game, everyone except Squall acts so goddamn goofy and it ruins the entire tone of the game. I feel like it's some kind of self-parody that I'm not getting or something.

I don't hate the game, but I can't take it seriously at all.

>>1238861
>You would think 14 year olds are their target audience, not older guys analyzing and looking for flaws 15 years later. So if you thought it was cool at 14, as a lot of people did, wouldn't you say Square managed to reach it's goal then?
No. 14 year olds are stupid. Even clever people are stupid when they're 14. Aiming at them already is a kind of artistic failure.

Again, the music was great and so were the visuals. Story and gameplay were terrible, but I didn't care for wholeness of experience back then. Because I was a dumb kid.

>>1238873
Oh come on, you can't seriously think teenagers aren't a huge part of their target audience? Do you honestly believe Final Fantasy games are made for all you wise old men only?

>>1238861
>I don't see why you think he loses his personality. Feel free to explain why, give some examples or whatever.
He stops being angsty, but gains nothing, and there's nothing else to his character. That's why I think that.

>>1238882
They are, but target audiences have nothing to do with artistic integrity. Yet even as a business, Squaresoft tanked, remember? On the verge of bankruptcy it was bought out by a competitor.

>>1238863
Yeah, it's stuff like that is why I asked if anyone else felt like the later parts was written by someone else. It's really strange and I don't know what to make of it.

>>1238873
>Aiming at them already is a kind of artistic failure.
Does aiming at an older audience make it anything any more artistically successful?

>>1238841

Nowhere is sacred...

>>1219616
the people ive encountered that liked 8 are the ones who just want to hate on 7 but still think 9 is pretty gay. I wanted to like 8 a lot but idk, never did it for me. The card minigame is pretty fun, I like the upgraded designs (i now prefer the VII style though), but the junction system was too much, it just made the game that much more grindy. And I like a good amount of grind, but this wasnt rewarding at all. I got until disk 3 but it kept freezing at one section and I just gave up on the game after that. Character development wasnt the greatest but its a jrpg, what are you expecting?

>>1238873
Artistic failure maybe if you don't like commercial stuff. As for a business it's not a failure at all aiming at such a large audience.

>>1238920
I really enjoy 7,8 and 9, aswell as most of the games. However. I'm not super critical. I play games to have fun, if I don't like a game I wont finish it, I'll leave it and simply move on. So far all FFs have been entertaining enough for me!

Hey maybe I have bad taste or whatever, but imagine all the fun I have being able to enjoy all these games.

>>1238902
Aiming at audiences is not a valid artistic choice at all. It's a business decision. Bad writing only a teenager can appreciate can be explained through that, but not justified.

>>1238942
>I eat shit and I just don't care! Fuck it, anything goes! It's all good for me!
Decent way of coping with reality. Me, I prefer to not enjoy the unenjoyable.

>>1238942
Dont get me wrong, I did have fun with it at the time, but it was a bit of a chore by the end. It was mostly the draw system that I didnt like. To me the materia system was the biggest thing since powdered milk, so when 8 came out I was wondering how they could top it, and to me it felt like they shit all over what they couldve done. It just left a bad taste in my mouth, I liked it for what it was but I would never go back and replay it

>>1238956
When you grow up you'll realize it's okay for other people to like things you don't like, and vice versa

>>1238981
Are you sure you're replying to the right poster? Because, if you are, you're not making any sense whatsoever.

>>1238986
Yes I am, and it only doesn't make sense because you're a self-centered child.

>>1238956

>"if I don't enjoy a game I'll stop playing it"
>somehow you interpret that as "I LOVE SHITTY GAMES GIVE ME SHITTY GAMES I LOVE THEM"

please spend more time formulating your thoughts. please think before you speak. if you don't properly understand what the other party is saying, try rereading their message in order to understand it better, in order to facilitate higher-quality discourse.

>>1238996
>>1238997
You don't have to get so angry as to reply twice.

You said you were laid-back about shitty games. You don't seem laid-back even about internet arguments, though, so, I say, liar.

>>1238965
Yeah I can seen that the junctioning system isn't the most fun, and I agree. However it didn't really stop me from enjoying the game. I don't care that much about equipment and things in games, I'm all about exploring and just playing you know? I don't care if I have the best or not, in fact I wont probably know if I have the best or not as I try to avoid all info and reviews of a game before playing it the first time. Obviously that's not always possible, and with a game series like FF there is certain things to expect and it is hard to not compare it to older titles, but I try to go in with an open mind. If it is a game I really enjoy I might re play it to get the top stuff. However if I didn't like it so much I will just move on and accept it was not for me(only FF game so far I didn't finish and got bored of is FFXIII-2), but hey others might enjoy it. Not everything is made for me so no problem, I will find something else I like, and I'm not very picky.

>>1239013

Just because two people responded to you doesn't mean you need to backpedal and scream samefag.

>>1239020

The more humorous part is that both of those posts went up in the same minute, and with 4chan's "new and improved" post cool-down, it's clearly not the same person.

>>1239013
>You don't have to get so angry as to reply twice.
You are intensely stupid

>>1238981
>>1238996
are me, the rest is someone else

>>1239025
You DON'T have to get so angry, junior. Now, get on-topic.

>>1239030

>only remotely upset-sounding posts are yours

Nobody else is even swearing, but you're just out here screaming your head off.

>>1239028
I also think his reply was meant to me as I said I enjoy most games and have a lot of fun because I'm not very critical, but the fun part is, I was typing this reply >>1239018
and when I was done he had accused all those other posts for being angry me and I hadn't even seen the posts yet. The joys of 4chan.

>>1219965
>How about you both shut up and drink your goddamn TEA

Best Cid by far. I really identify with his character for some reason. Maybe it's because I'm a cynical asshole with a nicotine addiction, and I share his beliefs on about everything.

>>1219967
I can't believe I forgot Irvine. Cool character, although I seem to remember him being a bit pompous.

>>1220427
>And goddamn if I don't wish for a SHMUP that features the Ragnarok as a playable ship.

That should have been a minigame like in FF7.

I think one reason why FF8 is seen poorly in comparison to FF7 is because it lacks distinguishable Acts. FF7 had 3 disks, and each disk corresponded to its numerical Act. Disk 1 being Act 1, etc. The problem with FF8 is that I can't recall it having a clear story arc. By the time you rescue Rinoa in space, I feel like the game should have concluded. Disk 4 seemed like a chore for wrapping up the story, and with Squall and Rinoa's love being well-established at that point, it seemed shoehorned into the game because they had already wrapped up the main motif.

>>1237949

>card game
>fun

I guess good for you if you get something out of it. I agree that the music is wonderful and the setting is lovely. The problem with the setting is the problem of every FF since; there's absolutely no thought behind why anything is the way it is. It's all just concepts the art department thought were cool.

Similarly, I love the character design, and how close it sticks to the Amano style. They should try that in a new FF game, among a lot of other things they need to change. The characters themselves though are awful, and written just as shit-poorly as the rest of the game.

Next to 10 and everything after, it looks like a fucking masterpiece, though.

If I enjoy something I don't find it shitty. You however seem to find a lot of things shitty. That doesn't make your opinion more important, it just makes your world full of shit. You are like stan in that south park episode and I feel sorry for you.

>>1239075
>Irvine being pompous

I had to look up pompous to see if there was some Definition 2 shenanigans going on here. Irvine is the most relaxed, easygoing one of all. He's the only one who remembers the orphanage, admits extremely early on that his swagger is because he's insecure, and openly cares deeply about his teammates.

>>1239116

This thread is officially a cancer.

>>1239139

Nah. It's an alright game.

But no seriously fuck VIII

>>1239116
No, he's like Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket.

>>1239116
No. He's like Private Pyle from Full Metal Jacket.

>>1239141
It's not entirely devoid of it's positive sides, but it's far from being an "alright game".

>>1218540
The Junction system is pretty crap and Squall is easily one of the worst JRPG protagonists I've had the misfortune of playing. It's a shame too, since everyone else is pretty likable save for him and Rinoa which by extension makes me think that their romance was shitty and abrupt.

The setting was pretty good too.

>>1227701
>The art design is just everything I hate about anime
What? Just wow. It's quite a good game and is basically just a 3D version of FFVI's style with the big heads and small bodies. You're giving up one of the higher-tier FFs for a profoundly stupid reason but you must realize this yourself.

So, in how many final fantasy games to people's memories get fucked with?

>>1239468
Depends on what you mean by "fucked with". Here's a few off the top of my head:

Galuf in V
Terra in VI
Cloud in VII
Fucking everyone in VIII
Zidane in IX

Probably something in IV, I can't remember.

>>1239468
Terra, Cloud, most of FF8, Zidane has memory issues if I recall correctly.

>>1238956
You could at least try not to be a complete asshole. You aren't making anyone who dislikes this game look any better.

>>1239174
It's average gameplay wise but below average story wise. I can't hate it, I had too much fun with Triple Triad.

>>1239127
Dude, it has been since a week ago.

For fucks sake, sorry I asked someone why they thought VIII's story was good for a change. I didn't expect it to turn out like this.

>>1239389

>3D version of FFVI style

It absolutely is not. People are profoundly misguided when they say that. I think it was Hideo Manaba who did the design for 9, not the superb Yoshitaka Amano.

Actually, 8 is more like a 3D version of the FFVI style. You're just plain wrong about this.

>>1238754
>For some reason you seem to believe that "has explanation" makes the plot good.

No, this has nothing to do with what I was saying. What happens is that someone (you it seems) claimed that the said explanation didn't exist. So what I said is, yes it's there, but it's left to the player to assume the remaining bits and to understand them on his own.
THAT is ONE of the reasons why I consider storytelling good in FF8, in other words, it's not the fact that there is explanation, but rather how the explanations comes to the player.

>>1238717
Oh ok I misunderstood that, my bad. Still, yes FF8 is very cutscene driven. But contrary to the other Final Fantasy in which it's MOSTLY the cutscenes and forced dialogues in the main course that tell the story (99% of it anyway), in FF8 it's not the only thing. The other is left to the player to find out by exploring, by putting together what is willing to discover little by little through gameplay. And that, is another of the reason why I consider FF8's story good. And I have already explained that in the thread but for some reasons you refuse to even acknowledge it, dismiss it and instead focusing your angry replies on things I didn't say and misintrepetation of what I've said.

and finally I think FF8 did more than just "target at a 14years old" audiance. That, or it overestimated this audiance. Well, it overestimated his audiance anyway. Like I've already by doing something different, something that you wouldn't expect to see in a video games and even though it's only possible in a video game : by needing the player to find important stuff on his own, either through gameplay or through assumig the very little that had to be left assumed, FF8 thought its audiance was intelligent and had matured enough so that video games can evolve into this direction.

It was the same gameplay wise with the junction system.

The result? A failed experiment. People who understood neither the story nor how the gameplay worked.

>>1240628
and also a divided fanbase.

The afterthmath? FF9, or aka "let's not even try to do something else anymore and just re-do what we've already done"; and then FF10 and FF13, or aka "corridor-cutscene-corridor-cutscene". Because, after FF8, they knew that people who too dumb to understand any other. Don't blame them for making corridor-cutscene games, blame the players that were not willing (or simply too dumb) to understand any of FF8. Or blame yourself.

and that is why I consider FF8's storytelling so good. It fucking tried, it didn't spoonfeed me or treat me like a dumb baby.

>>1240632
Your claims about FF8's stirytelling are simply ridiculous. It's plot is misguided nonsense, and it's horribly ploted and eritten. Nobody in this thread is asking for justifications for in-game happenings when both the happenings with their justification, and their delivery (despite your sillly claims) are some of the worst even among Squaresoft games.

No, people aren't too stupid to undersrand FF8. People ITT are to intelligent to fall for it's chldish crap. The game reads like a child wrote it and then an adult editor glanced over it once and left in a fix or two here and there.

>>1240632
What did you think about the plot itself? I don't think it was difficult to grasp, but it was too surreal for me.

>>1240628
>had matured enough so that video games can evolve into this direction
Which direction? 8 is the direct precursor to 13, both in writing and gameplay. It's story is equally laughable, characters equally inhuman. And it's "dungeons" were already tunnels - it just didn't have a minimap to make it obvious.

>>1240643
Is VIII your most disliked game? You've been going at this strong.

>>1240652
Believe it or not, it's my favourite FF. It has the best music, and the art direction is amazing. But I'm not so dumb as to call it's story good. Even cinematically, it's god-awful; and as a piece of video game storytelling it's nit nil, but a nregative, what with non-interactive cutscenes taking more than 2/3 game time.

>>1240654
The direction in which video games develop their own kind of storytelling instead of copying blockbuster movies.

But it's too late for that now, but at least it tried. And now it's hopeless and we'll never get something other than movie wanabees corridor cutscenes. But what does it matter, FF8 is a good example showing that it's what people want anyway. Even though it's a shame I'm fine with that, the majority decides, but only as long as they're not the same people who complain about corridor-cutscenes and movie-like storytelling in games

>>1240657
>Believe it or not, it's my favourite FF
From your other posts, I never would have guessed.
>Even cinematically, it's god-awful
I find this aspect of it charming. The story gives a "so bad it's good vibe" to me.

>>1240658
It's not too late.

He funny thing is games like FF8 were the ones who kept ruining that for us. Claiming that it was an attempt at video game storytelling is like claiming that genocide is a misunderstood attempt at humanitarianism.

The few talkable NPCs who have something interesting to say are elements of wirldbuilding, which was admittedly lovable. But the story itself, the plotting and the delivery were a) 100% cinematic, and b) terrible as sin.

>>1240662
I am anonymous, and I haven't made a lot of posts. There must be at least a dozen people talking in here, you know.

>>1240665
Sorry, I was assuming you were the same guy from earlier.

>>1240658
But FFVIII IS nothing but corridors and cutscenes.

You're fucking delusional, you are.

>>1240671
>But FFVIII IS nothing but corridors and cutscenes.
wat

>>1240657
>as a piece of video game storytelling it's nit nil, but a nregative, what with non-interactive cutscenes taking more than 2/3 game time.

What you are purposely dismissing, or being not realizing, is that in the vast majority of OTHER video games (and especially jrpgs) the WHOLE storytelling happens in forced non interactive cutscenes. If you go talk to NPCs they'll have NOTHING interesting or useful to say, it's all jokes and meaningless. There is nothing to find out about the story on your own. Nothing meaningfull that the player has to go find on his own and understand by himself.

>>1240651
I think, even the plot itself is great and mature. It stretches far from your video game cliché, it's neither one of the hundreds of thousands versions of "save the girl" nor it is "good vs evil". In FF8, your enemy is not a vilain, she's not evil, she's just like the playable characters as they both only want to protect themsleves from the others as both want to kill the other only because the other wants to kill them.
and plot wise the whole time travel story, directly linked to the notion of fate, is done in a brillant way. It's one of my favourite time travel stories as the characters and their enemy even use time travel WITHIN the story created by time travel.

>>1240674
Think. All dungeons are curving, but single-way tunnels with occasional dead-end appendices. Exactly like XIII.

>>1240675
Whoa there, play a jrpg that isn't Final Fantasy or a clone of it. Play a Dragon Quest game or something.

>>1240676

I thought you were being reductive and purposely leaving out the gameplay. Nevermind, my mistake. I see the context now.

>>1240654
The only thing 8 and 13 have in common is that they both have realistic looking characters and that the environment are more futuristic.

In terms of storytelling they are as far from each others as you can get in the main FF franchise.

In terms of gameplay, FF8 has the most complicated system, the one which you have the most to do and the most freedom. In FF13 the game pretty much plays itself.

>>1240675
>it's neither one of the hundreds of thousands versions of "save the girl" nor it is "good vs evil
Is this sme sort of joke? You keep saving the girl and fighting the evil murderous witch throughout the whole game.

Are you going to quote Squall outright, blatantly saying "no cliches in my game, she wornt evol" now in defence of it's writing? Are you? Were you going to?

>>1240679
Well okay, please name me games that are heavy on storytelling elements that can only be found in video games and i'd LOVE to try them. It's not that easy to find them really.

>>1240682
To be fair, Squall in-game said there was no good and evil in this case. Just two sides against each other.

>>1240684
Dragon fucking Quest. 3 and 5, also 4 and 6. Cutscenes are short and only serve as framing for actual story, which is pieced together from NPC text and overworld adventure gameplay - puzzles, problem-solving, resource management.

>>1240690
Which is the opposite of good storytelling. The character is blatantly saying that it's cliche-riddden plot is not cliche because it feels so. The script literally tells the player what to think, as if it was a show aimed at kindergarteners.

>>1240682
You save Rinoa like twice, it's not the main theme. The murderous witch is never said to be evil. She has not evil motives given, the only motive said for her actions is that she wants to create a world in which only her can live and, when you meet her at the end boss fight, she tells she recognizes Squall as the legendary Seed fortold to come kill her. Her only motive is that she wants to kill Seeds because she knows Seed want to come and kill her.

>Are you going to quote Squall outright, blatantly saying "no cliches in my game, she wornt evol" now in defence of it's writing? Are you? Were you going to?

Yeah I can do that.

>>1240695
>The script literally tells the player what to think

It's not that simple. It's not told in the same context, you have to figure out yourself that it also applies to themVSUltimecia

>>1240684
>>1240691
Let me even provide you with an example.

No spoilers, it's just a random scene in DQ4.

No cutscenes. There is a house with a man and a woman. Thete's a bard singing outside.
Daytime quotes:
Man: I wish we could be together.
Woman: We can't, I'm to old for you.
Nighttime:
The man is sleeping in hus bed. The woman us outside next to the singing bard.

No cutscenes, just pure video-game-type storytelling.

>>1240698
No, you're saving Rinoa for the majority of game time.

>>1240701
Does it have to happen or can the player miss that? Does it matter within the main story?

Anyway I guess I could try a Dragon Quest. Which is the best then?

>>1240705
You can miss it. It's noc text in a random house. You only need the bard later in to progress in the story; but this, if you catch it, makes you remember tge bard really well for later, when you need to find one.

>>1240704
1) during the fight between the 2 universities in disk 2 you happen to save her because you fly by, it wasn't even his aim to save her, it wasn't even the purpose, it just happens by accident
2) you go save her in disk3 after you're back from space when she's jailed for being a witch. It takes only 3 mins top and isn't part of the main narrative, just a quick tool to reinforce the relationship between the 2

That's it. Anyway stop nitpicking, this doesn't even matter, you know it's far from the main plot contrary to the thousands and thousands of "save the girl" video game stories.

>>1240710
You also save her shit as the Timber mission. You keep saving her shit in Deling. You keep saving and saving and saving her repeatedly, you dumb fucking piece of shit. Nesfag, are you trying to start a row? I'll jab you in the whatever, I swear on me pap.

>>1240710
I would like you to show me where saving the girl is the point of the story, as opposed to defeating evil.

In ff8 you fight he evil sorceress, and you happen to save a pretty magical girl with a sad world-destroying destiny that you avert. It can't get triter thn this, can it?

ff8's world is original, but it's story sure as fuck isn't.

I liked all Final Fantasys up to 9. Haven't played the newer ones.
I don't think I could decide between 7, 8 and 9.
I like them equally and each is great in it's own way.

The problem people have with 8, I think,
is that it's kind of a break from the previous games.

Final Fantasy was always about the subversion of common fantasy and game clichés while actively making use of them.
I think that's what set the series apart from others.
So it was to be expected that 8 would be different from 7
but many western fans (mostly the american ones btw) didn't like the change of style.
In japan on the other hand it was very popular because of it's high school slice of life style.

As for the gameplay; I never cared much for it.
For me Final Fantasy is about the characters, the world, the story and the atmosphere.

>>1238920
>Character development wasnt the greatest but its a jrpg, what are you expecting?
Actually jrpgs usually have 10x more character development than any wrpg ever,
mostly because they're so story driven.
Planescape Torment is a rare exception.

>>1240718
I don't see how you "save" her in Timber, you help her with with the train mission because it's your job. Had forgotten about Deiling yyeah, but my point remains that it's not the main plot of the game to save the girl.

>>1240726
>In ff8 you fight he evil sorceress

There is no "evil" in Ultimecia; She's no the pure evil archetype like Kefka, nor the mad revengefull type like Sephiroth/Kuja. The only moment in which it is said taht "sorceress=evil" is when Zell says that, and which he says after Rinoa is a sorceress, so at that moment he realizes (and so everybody else includig the player) that he's wrong in calling sorceresses evil.

>>1240790
>There is no "evil" in Ultimecia
Taking over the entire world and freezing time for no fucking reason while absorbing time itself which is basically sucking up one of the fundamental concepts of existence is pretty evil.

>>1240790
She wants to destroy the world for personal gain. Stop being stupid, FFVIII's story is as basic as they get. That's what makes it's writhing narrative particularly stupid.

>>1240802
>for no fucking reason
The reason for doing all the shit she did was to prevent Squall from killing her.
In the end she is still evil, but she didn't do things without purpose.

>>1240808
She was a wise sorceress who could control time and destroy nations. Her falling for a childish self-fulfilling prophecy is bad writing.

>>1240825
>Her falling for a childish self-fulfilling prophecy is bad writing.
If she didn't, then the game's events wouldn't have happened hahaha

>>1240829
Which makes the story convoluted and dumb as it is.

>>1240837
Yeah, for it to not be so dumb, a lot of it would have to be re-written.

>>1240843
Or just imagined, like Nesfag did, bless him.

>>1218540
try playing legend of dragoon?

>>1240865
But that's eve worse. My God, Legend of Dragoon is much, much worse than even the FFVIII. At least FFVIII has a distinct artstyle.

>>1220427

FF7 and FF8 both felt like adventures in living worlds when played at that time. It helps that the characters were generally likeable and varied.

I still chop onions when Laguna visits Raine's grave.

I disliked FF9 as I had no interest in the story and generally disliked the characters.

FFX was a return to form and the last I ever played.

FFVIII was an is my favourite FF instalment. Emo and angsty? Sure. But "Fuck the world! I'm gonna go get my girlfriend" made me happy.

>>1242979

>on /vr/
>liking FF10

I think this board is now becoming a cancer.

>>1243523
>People who like things that I don't are cancer

No, anon, you are the cancer. X is my second favorite FF game. It loses out only to V for me.

>>1243528

No, people who like things that are flagrantly horrible are cancer. And that game doesn't belong on /vr/. It isn't good enough, or old enough.

>>1243551

X doesn't belong on /vr/ but literally the only reason it doesn't belong here is because it's a PS2 game. Your opinions on its quality are irrelevant.

>people who like things that are flagrantly horrible are cancer.

X is "flagrantly horrible"? I do believe that is subjective, good chap.

>>1243551
Well, I agree it isn't /vr/ related but let's not start a discussion about X.

>>1243551
Might not be old enough, but this isn't some sort of elitist forum, this is after all 4chan.

I just beat VIII last night for the first time. I feel like it got a bit better near the end, when it actually started explaining some of the shit going on with its time travel shenanigans and we finally got down to business with killing the fucking bad guy.

I feel like the game was trying to be two things, with the whole love story between Squall and Rinoa and the actual overarching story of Ultimecia and her dumb plan, and ended up not doing either of them particularly well. The whole game seemed rather unfocused to me. That said, I can't really hate it. Square tried to do something different and I can't fault them much for that. There are a lot of interesting ideas in the game, I just wish they had presented them better.

>>1218557
Agreed. I never played the Final Fantasy games when I was young, but I started playing select ones a few years ago at the request of friends. I enjoyed many, but when I played VIII, man, what a stinker. All I could think while I was suffering through this miserable pile of garbage is that all of its praises are hinged entirely on the feeling of nostalgia. So many people told me it was the "best" game in the series, or at least their personal favorite, and eventually I figured out why.

Squall is the ultimate fucking weiner emo character. His position is the position that all of my emo, anime-loving friends wanted to be in back when they were in middle school, which is when they played this game. They wished that THEY were an abrasive loner with a nonsensical weapon that had hot teen girls surrounding them at a school where they learned how to be assassins. It's the fucking teenage dream. That, and the plot was just complicated enough to SEEM like it was deep and meaningful, while still remaining completely retarded. This is without even scratching the surface of the retarded battle system that, in hindsight, seems like it was different just for the sake of being different.

If anyone plays that game for the first time as an adult and claims to like it, they must have some serious problems.

But since you already own a pair of nostalgia goggles, you'll be okay, OP.

Final Fantasy VIII is one of my favorite game. It seems like you'll either love or hate it, so you will just have to give it a try OP.

>>1243565

>some of the most pointless, annoying, stupid, poorly-written, horrifically-designed characters in the series' history (which is saying a lot)
>incoherent, tryhard bullshit 2deep5u plot about theism/atheism and technology
>visually interesting, high art concept world ruined by having absolutely no internal self-consistency (to be fair, 8 and pretty much every game in the series after 10 are all dragged into the muck by this debilitating flaw)
>another utterly pointless minigame segment (a la Triple Triad) for pedants and autists
>not flagrantly terrible

Don't get me wrong, if Tidus had been taken out of the game entirely, the character designs had been carried over more precisely from Amano's drawings, the dialogue was entirely rewritten to be not stupid and terrible, Yuna was made into an interesting character, the world was rethought and reimplemented in a way that made it actually sensible, and the story focused entirely on Yuna and her journey towards death, it probably would have been one of the better games in the series. But that isn't the world we live in.

Again, you are of course free to like it, but don't pretend it isn't what it is. The waft of underage b& is coming off you.

Hello, /vr/. I was thinking about getting Final Fantasy 7, because I haven't tried it yet. I either hear it's the best Final Fantasy, and those who say it's overrated trash. What do you guys think about it?

>>1245213
It's a ridiculously overrated game with a horrible fan-base and shitty unneeded "sequels" and spin-offs.

However the actual game itself is genuinely good and you should definitely get it if you haven't played it yet.
Just the fact people have played and enjoyed FF7 during three different decades should say something about it.

>>1245881

>so this

What really grinds my gears (and it's not directly the game) are the theories these fans come up with. particularly the end.
there was a new one last month even, people just can't seem to accept the ending for what it is. a simple happy ending, I guess Square didn't want to fuck up the last scene like they already did with most of the story.

>>1245213
When you get 2 conflicting opinions like that it's usually a good indication that it's worth playing at least.
same with VIII and VI.

>ctrl+f
>Gackt

you can't have a FF VIII thread without Gackt, /vr/

>>1246153
>What really grinds my gears (and it's not directly the game) are the theories these fans come up with
Pic related, you have no idea how much I agree with this.

>new one last month
>new one
>NEW one
We already have R=U from 2003, Squall is dead from 2010 and the Rinoa is an evil mastermind behind everything one from 2009. What is it this time?

>>1246275
>mfw gackt seems like a bretty cool guy from all the talk and comedy shows he's appeared on

smarter than fuck too

>>1218540
>is it going to be worth it?
Yes. One of the FF games with the best cast of characters.

>>1246294
>best cast of characters

What makes you say this? Personally, I found most of them to be rather uninteresting or even downright obnoxious. The characters were probably the biggest problem I had with the game.

I'd just like to say that FFVIII is wonderful and way more bold than many other games in the franchise. Disc 3 is just one wonderful miracle of goofy and blatant sexual symbolism.

>>1246293

I think he's mostly a drama queen and the only audience he has are retarded teenage fangirls though... well maybe they're in their 30s now, Gackt must be in his 40s already.
Musically he's supposed to be good, Malice Mizer was decent, but when he went solo it showed that he was in it just for the dosh. Also his plastic surgery lead him to bizarre levels of freakiness.

>smart

I don't know... the guy is a parody of himself at this point, and not so sure about how relevant he is. I don't have a very positive opinion about him as a whole.

I remember getting to like some kind of parade or something and Princess Edea was present. It was about that point I started to realize I didn't like this game very much. It felt like by that point I had just been spent on trying to care about the story anymore. But I carried on, intrigued by just how in the world they can wrap all this together story-wise.

The battle system was fine and to be honest I liked the summons I thought they looked really impressive for the time. The characters weren't even that bad and mostly believable but god did I find Rinoa's writing to make her very annoying. I like the slightly creepy Centra Ruins where Odin was. I'm not even sure why I guess it was just a really out of place and spooky for being in the middle of the open world.

I know that there is a story and somehow the plot comes together but by the end of the game I had no idea what the fuck happened except "the boss is dead and time is fixed and basically everyone is good now." I've also tried to read synopsis entries on various wikis and still I can't explain or remember just how the fuck any of this shit worked. I remember some very old guy in the bottom of Balamb who somehow has something to do with what's happening, then Edea is somehow inhabited by Ultimecia and what makes Edea turn? At one point Rionoa goes all batshit because she's being possessed or something in space? Hell if I know.

I'm not saying you have to fully understand the plot of a game to like it but when I have no perspective on just how we get to a certain place or event it just builds this disinterest for me in what's happening. This is why I eventually just stopped caring, I got all the way through then watched in amazement as a cut scene shows off just how fixed everything is without really telling us how or why.

It's okay if you like this game it's definitely playable and I'd say it's even above average. But with the story I just don't know what the fuck to make of it.