/vr/ - Retro Games

This is one of the few main FFs I haven't play either. The junctioning / draw / whatever system is keeping me out. I'm still not sure I understand it.

I didn't like it. Great visuals but the characters are boring, draw and junction system is complicated, the 'home base' is fucking huge and takes forever to get around, animations are long if you are using summon. That's all I have to complain about so far since I didn't play very long.

>>9737684
Not worth it

It's my favourite in the series, and no it's not as slow paced as 9. If you're a retard you won't enjoy it.

The level scaling is very agressive which eventually makes battles a boring mess of summoning GFs every turn.
If you don't grind XP and use the crafting skills effectively it is pretty fun.
As long as you know that you'll have a better time than most of us. The game just does a terrible job at communicating this to you. You'll get several tutorials on junctioning magic (which is a braindead process of elimination that for some reason ff8 cultists assume is somebkind of filter) but never explains refining cards/items into spells.
>t. Doing a low level run and having fun for the first time

>>9737684
>does it have FF9's incredibly slow gameplay
Loading times are about the same, and IIRC the animations are similarly long. Its ATB, however, is faster, so you still get through battles quicker, and of course you can eventually make it so you don't fight random battles, further cutting down on that particular bit of tedium, and it's to your advantage, to boot.

>>9737730
What I hate about navigating garden is that it takes so long to speak to each NPC (for sidequests/cards/exposition) between missions, that my SeeD rank starts going down for not killing enough enemies between paychecks. You can get paid twice before going into every room.

>>9737684
This game is closer to 7 and doesnt have 9’s nonstop pointless dialogue. I think a lot of the hate for this game comes from people parroting youtubers instead of playing it themselves.

Also if you need to avoid leveling to beat the game you are really really bad at video games. It was never an issue until min maxers became commonplace.

The fucking retards in this thread who can't even figure out a simple number-go-up system

How do you remember to breathe?

>>9737902
That and being filtered by its mechanics. I don't blame the frustration but it's not a legit complaint because very few Final Fantasy's titles give you such freedom to tailor your team as FFVIII. It's a lot of fun once you nail it down and get creative with it.

If you disliked FF9's slowness from its animations and loading times, you will dislike FF8 for the slowness that comes from its menuing when you're playing it "blind" and just try to get into the mechanics yourself.

>>9737694
Its literally game breaking its so easy. Are you mentally challenged?

summons are a great way to deal damage, but they take fucking forever to animate, so look up how to get half-encounter or no-encounter abilities. enemy level scaling makes low level runs good.
the Junction shit is the easiest thing in the world. i literally cannot comprehend how the fuck do people say its complicated. 70iq shit

Great game filled with soul. Junction is easy as shit to figure out if you aren't strung out with burned dopamine receptors. Single best minigame of any FF.

Ignore the ones who say you just spam junction every turn. They have a first-grader's understanding of the combat system

I'm playing it for the first time, having fun so far. The junction system isn't too complicated and the game isn't too slow, though drawing magic from enemies can be tedious. Just got to my first Laguna section, already like him and his party, even his battle music more than Squall's.

>>9740412
>, though drawing magic from enemies can be tedious.

Get the ability to refine items into magics; then you can get your magic from item drops. You can also get the ability to turn cards into items, thus getting your magic from cards also.

It's better than 9 but not as good as 7. I didn't like the Junction system. Not complicated, but soulless and lacked the charm of materia. It's kind of a beige experience compared to the charm of 7. It's gone for more realism and more mature style with some very good orchestral music. It's a fantastic achievement, but gets more convoluted as it goes on. I remember being impressed up to getting Ifrit in the first seeD mission and it never seemed to build on that. I didn't like the weapon upgrades either, which felt a bit limited and dull.

>>9740416
Right, I'm actually following a guide so I do have Card Mod and a ton of cards from Triple Triad that I've been using for magic. I think I'm going to stop using the guide though because I don't want the game to be too easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF0FtsC-C4Q
It's a mess of brilliant moments and the lowest lows, the battle system is broken and if one RPG ever needed multiple choice love interests it's this one, music is amazing though.

>every final fantasy is about changing your destiny
>FFVIII is about accepting your fate
What did they mean by this?

in my experience people who love 8 are the most easily offended.

game is really great in disc 1, then just falls off a cliff. Squall is unlikeable and immature, which is funny because Tidus gets way more hate even though he's much more mature
the plot of ff8 is absolutely awful, biggest wasted potential I can think of

>>9740412
music in FFVIII is so good

>>9740549
my man, i must ask......... how is every final fantasy about changing fate at all
does that word even show up in the games
and, how is the final mission in VIII not exactly and only about changing fate
literally what the fuck are you talking about, explain yourself

>>9737730
>draw and junction system is complicated
>>9737694
>The junctioning / draw / whatever system is keeping me out. I'm still not sure I understand it.
proof that people disliking FF8 are brainlet.

>>9737781
>which is a braindead process of elimination that for some reason ff8 cultists assume is somebkind of filter
>>9737694
>>9737730
these 2 were filtered by it.

The junction system takes some getting used to, but you can break the game in two over your knee once you've got it down.
The entire game has level scaling applied, so trying to grind exp and get overleveled actually makes the game harder. Stay underleveled and exploit the junction system for a cakewalk.
The atmosphere is pretty charming and unique for FF, worth it for that experience alone.

The story is absolute dogshit though, unless you get balls deep in headcanon and fan theories. Any claim otherwise is pure contrarian cope by people who don't want to be seen saying their favorite FF is one that other people like.

>>9740484
Refining items and magic makes the game so easy. Triple triad doesn't raise your level and you can turn monsters into cards/items without gaining experience (iirc) so you can junction like death to attack and water to life and just steam roll.

>>9737684
>he still hasnt played the best game in the series

>>9740713
>Squall is unlikeable and immature
how is he immature lmao, he's the most mature person in the entire franchise at age 17 lmao

>>9741448
>the best game in the series
Nobody is talking about 6
But they should be

the best game of all time
what a great game

>>9737684
I played it for the first time recently too, having skipped it growing up. It's a good game, all the PS1 FF games were. The draw system sucks, no two ways around it, the actual cool part of the system is junctioning GF skills, the drawing is totally superfluous to making those skills work and making any puzzle boss a joke since the answer is always draw their magic against them. In fact the only real bosses in the game are Ultimecia and Omega who are admittedly fun. The middle part of the story is basically a mess, it's just a giant roundabout to get to time compression arc from sorceress arc. Squall is a great main character, no idea where his bad reputation came from, I was surprised to realize he's just Jotaro Kujo.

>>9741461
The first half of 6 is the greatest FF ever then the second half comes and ruins everything but you can say that with every FF

>>9742041
>no idea where his bad reputation came from
Everyone was expecting someone like Cloud
>he's literally Jotaro Kujo
>literally the worst Jojo protagonist

>>9737781
>The level scaling is very agressive which eventually makes battles a boring mess of summoning GFs every turn.
Literally junction fire magic to your strength. GFs are only good for their passives.

Recommending to stay underlvld for a first playthrough is a terrible advice. The kind of advice that shows the kind of player people who recommend that are since, on a first play, that is only worth doing if you use a guide. Staying underlvld is for people who already know things about the game, on a blind play you're going to have a lot more trouble doing this AND you'll be missing out on a tons of cool stuff.

This comes from someone who did a no lvl up run before it was cool and before there was even a single guide about it. Unless you're the kind of person who plays JRPGs with guides because you absolutely HAVE to know how to break the game, don't do it.

>>9737694
It's not complicated. Lemme sum it up

Guardian Forces (summons) can be equipped to a character. GFs have passive abilities that will unlock slots on the equipping character's stats. Magic can be equipped to these stat slots to increase them, the amount and type of spell determine the amount it's increased by. Simply put, Guardian Forces function somewhat like classes do in the job system games, determining your stats and the commands you can use.

Though an interesting mechanic, the buffs from equipping magic combined with the game's level scaling means the optimal way to play is to avoid gaining XP and junction magic to strength and HP for limit break spamming.

This is definitely one of the most Disney feeling games of the series.

>>9742048
the second half is the only interesting part
the first half is a nothingburger, the only memorable segment is the ghost train and the transition from the 1st to 2nd half itself

Rinoa is so fucking awful as a character i still don't understand how they thought it was a good idea to make her and Squall's "feelings" the forefront of the story and logo.
The game would be far better if it was entirely about Laguna and his mature relationships with Raine.

>>9742065
Don’t avoid XP. Higher level enemies are just as easy to kill with a well junctioned party and drop better equipment, have better drawable spells, and source AP for ability learning. Plus the toughest optional boss in the game is automatically level 100, so you might as well enjoy the benefits of higher stats. The game is incredibly easy as it is, you don’t need to aim for even weaker enemies.

>>9742242
the whole "don't level up" thing is an overcorrection for people who are absolutely SHIT at junctioning but decide to lvl up to "get stronger" all the same ignoring their junctions thus making the enemies stronger while keeping themselves weak
as long as people actually bother to engage with the game's main systems (junction/refine) lvling is a non-issue
like yea if you got to lvl50 and you have 80 firas junctioned to strength and 33 shells junctioned to hp of course you're gonna have a bad time cause you haven't been paying attention anyway

>>9737684
I suggest the remake so you can have encounter off from the start. Makes the game awesome, and since the levels scale there is no point in grinding except to card

>>9740713
The plot is great if you understand the Rinoa situation. If you're in denial then it's a pretty boring plot, but not as bad as 9.
>Squall is immature
He's literally still in school
>falls off a cliff
Disk 2 starts very weak but starting with the battle of the gardens it picks back up. That's still some of the best CGI in all of FF in my opinion, and one of the coolest battles. The prison section was horrible though, what were they thinking

>>9742210
Laguna is such a non-character that it's baffling to me so many people like his story. It feels like a barely developed side story that kind of goes nowhere

I decided to play through the game again recently and I'm still finding bits of dialogue I've never seen before.

>>9742404
There is a lot of Laguna content that is easy to miss, like all the Timber Maniacs magazines you pick up adding entries about him on the Garden computer. After you do the Shumi Village quests you can revisit later to see them finish the statue which also shows you a flashback with him. Most guides don't mention the conclusion because it doesn't give you anything extra, but it's a nice scene.

>>9742430
as I said you can replay the game 10 times and still find things you've never seen. The amount of details and love given to this game is amazing.

>>9737684
FF8's gameplay is redundant and the story is even worse than X-2. The funny thing is nobody has been able to say what they like about FF8's narrative, ostensibly because there isn't anything to be liked. They thus spend more time attempting to prove the existence of its allegedly deep story instead of actually debating the content of said story.

>>9742537
this tbqh.
people often criticize FF9 (and there's definitely things to criticize about that game) but that's because many things in that game are just very well-done. FF8 is a contrarian's choice, a divisive 2deep4u game and naturally that attracts the kind of people who write essays about why [thing] is actually amazing and you're stupid.

Why yes, I do use my junction abilities wisely to get all of my characters' unjunctioned stats absolutely maxed, how did you know?

>>9742404
This. People just scratch at the walls looking for things to like about FF8 because the game is so flawed, but you want to like it.
It was made by very talented people, but something must've went wrong in development

>>9742605
This.

>>9737684
I beat it for the first time as an adult last year.
I enjoyed playing it.
It is one of the weaker titles in the franchise.
The Junction system isn't a bad idea, it's essentially just equipping consumable magic onto stats to edge you out against Oblivion-style level scaling. Hell, the Draw command might've been tedious, but it scratched a particular autism in me. Getting max Double on every character from the first boss was based as fuck

However, the tutorial explaining it was meagre, and the Junction screen UI is so objectively bad graphic designfag here that I understand why it's hard for some to absorb it.

The story is a mess, with convoluted layers of high concepts like memory loss, ego projection/remote viewing through time, child soldiers, mind control, space station containment facilities, monsters falling to earth from the moon, etc, and God damn does it rush you through those things without much time to soak it in.
Squall is a pretty grounded character given his backstory, but Rinoa is genuinely awful, and makes their romance feel so cheap given how important it is to the story.

The game should've been longer, no joke, because there's genuinely sick ideas in there.

>>9742537
>we forgot we all spent our formative years in an orphanage together because we spent too long using this game mechanic which has no other bearing on the plot besides explaining this absolute contrivance
Any merit FF8's story might otherwise have is completely undermined by this.

>>9742438
Just wish the cutscenes had more tangible rewards aside from the card stuff. Hidden cutscenes are neat and all, but you can always just YT them.

>>9742850
sidequests, rather

I like it. The story is kinda sweet, but also very surreal. but from what i remember the card game was the best part. I prefer 9, 7 and tactics to be honest. Worth a playthrough or two though. I also liked the summon animations and the beginning section quite a bit.

>>9737684
It's fine. It's got some really cool mechanics. I really like the idea of magic being a finite resource that you can use to boost your stats. There's the potential for some great strategy if the gameplay is properly balanced. Alas, the gameplay is not properly balanced, and is easily breakable basically the second you first leave Balamb Garden to go to the Ifrit cave. The game becomes an absolute breeze if you have a basic understanding of the Junction system and the willingness to level up GFs.

It's still a decently fun romp, but the story kinda loses me right around when the orphanage storyline starts getting introduced. I definitely prefer FF7 and FF9 over it.

>>9741319
>>9741324
All they had to do was explain it better. I haven't played in a long time, but people here said it's just applying stats to your magic or something. Just say that and I would've understood it better. Instead they bring up these menu options, guardian forces, etc and when I go to try it everything is greyed out and you can't practice until later.

It was all moot anyways because even if it didn't have it the game would've been boring anyways.

>>9737684
Need a proper retranslation, it's actually worst than FF7, so many subtleties are missing.
The whole personality of Squall has been changed

>>9737684
>is it good?

>game is almost universally reviled by fans of JRPGs and haters alike
>even Final Fantasy fanboys hate it
>retard comes to /v/ to ask IS THIS GOOD
KILL. YOUR. SELF.

>>9743406
>retard comes to /v/ to ask IS THIS GOOD
Of course he did, this is the only place where someone will answer that question with "yes".

Disk 1 is very conventionally good/acceptable. Definitely give that a try.
The other disks, try if you want to see what writers might produce if they dont give two shits about logic. Pulling out the Moon Cry outta nowhere still baffles me to this day, in a good way. I know it makes no sense, but i enjoy it because of that.
In this world, you can enjoy things in many ways.

>>9742418
based hotdog enjoyer

>>9743373
are there any good retranslations?
I remember reading that whatever they translated as squall saying "whatever" is closer to "sorry", and that just completely changes the characterization. even last time i played through, there is pretty much nothing about squall that is edgy except how he whatevers a bunch of people. his character seems more in line with like, shinji or something, where hes struggling with the ideas of duty/responsibility than some edgy white teenager like so many people like to meme.

>>9743835
>T.chicken wuss

>>9737684
It's the worst 3D Final Fantasy game. Even 13 has more compelling gameplay.

>>9743845
Yeah, thats true. Admittedly, the initial segment with Squall telling Quistis to go talk to a wall is pretty impactful, and early, but every final fantasy has that retarded part of the audience that overreacts to some little thing and lets it completely warp their perception of the work. It is fucked up how bad some niggas miss the whole point of shit because they like buzzwording more than reading the work.

>>9737684
It's not great but not awful. If you try to compare it directly to Ff6,7,9 or 10 it's lacking but by itself it's okay I guess. The story overall sucks even if I did actually like the romance aspect of it.
The worst bit is that everyone but the two leads are basic nothing characters for the vast majority of the game to the point I remember barely anything about them besides like 'chick that likes trains' and 'HOTDOGS'

>>9742537
The story is fine. It’s not great, and you’re certainly right that it isn’t the strongest part of the game. The battle system is fun, and it provides as much challenge as you want it to. The set pieces are great, and the story is just an excuse to string them together.
But to counter your point, here are some things about the story I like outside of the “deep” bullshit:
I like the time travel. It’s silly, but it adds mystique and intrigue.
I like that Edea is their orphanage matron, it makes the player question why they’re doing what they’re doing.
I like the Laguna segments, it’s a fun and silly contrast to Squall’s more serious parts.
I like that Squall is more confused about his emotions than anything. All this shit is forced on him and he breaks down only to build himself back up stronger towards the end.
I like the Eloine memory manipulation stuff. It’s a fresh idea.

>>9744065
>it makes the player question why they’re doing what they’re doing
No it doesn't, Ultimecia is evil. Edea coulda sucked me cock and I'd still pull the trigger

>>9744065
i think the specific variant time travel part takes lots of balls to pull off. nobody else is doing time compression out there. or not that ive heard of

>>9744291
>this part makes you think
>no it dosnt
use your brain

>>9742743
>>9742537
>>9744065
>>9744291
>Ultimecia is evil.

The one "2deep4u" thing the game makes the player question, if the player is willing to engage with the story, is exactly the entire question of good vs evil.

Once you think about the story, you will realize that Ultimecia is doing what she is doing only for survival. Due to the time travel shenanigans, it was foretold in history books that Squall&co will come to kill her, so she knows this and thinks the only way to stop fate is to control time & space itself (little does she know this is exactly what brings her downfall).

tl;dr, Squall&co want to kill Ultimecia because she wants to kill everyone. And Ultimecia wants to kill everyone because Squall&co want to kill her.

At the end of the Disc 1, Squalls thinks to himself something along the lines of "there is no good and bad guys, only divergence of opinion". This doesn't just apply to the situation at that moment, but to the entire game.

Then, in Fisherman's Horizon the mayor says conflict could be solved if only the two parties sat down and shared their point of views. This also applies to the entire game. Squall shrugs it off due to his military upbringing, but if they'd talk with Ultmecia they'd realize they only want to each others BECAUSE they want to kill each other; and thus may even be have been able to break the time loop just like that.

>>9744438
In other words FF8 goes way beyond the typical "good vs evil" story. For a JRPG it's a lot more mature and makes one reflect on the sense of militarization: bring up people to do war, of course they'll know nothing but war.

This is btw another interesting point about Balamb Garden that should make the player think on the entire "good vs evil" theme:
>enrolls orphans
>teach them to become soldiers starting an age when they barely start to be able to read
>make them use weapons that WILL damage them physically and mentally at the same time, knowingly

This is the "good" guys.

I just started it and I love it, don't understand the hate.

>>9744438
>you will realize that Ultimecia is doing what she is doing only for survival
No shit, but I'm not some pussyfooting libtard avoiding doing the right thing because where I'm from we cure fuckwits with a bucket of water. Once the bubbles stop coming, they've stopped being retarded.

>>9744438
>Then, in Fisherman's Horizon the mayor says conflict could be solved if only the two parties sat down and shared their point of views
Liberal communist logic. Only children and retards think that having an unlimited pool of sympathy is like the cheat code to life. You win at life by vanquishing dastards

>>9744483
weird. it's almost like you actually have to spend a lot of time with something before you can form an opinion about it

>>9743798
If you explore the menu under tutorial there's a segment that just talks about the lore of the world and you can read about lunar cry from the beginning of the game.

>>9737684
I love Final Fantasy VIII

>>9743845
there are a LOT of parallels between ff8 and evangelion, i would assume it's a direct inspiration

>>9742242
Avoid xp and only level up when you get all the stat bonus at level up skills to make gaining levels worthwhile

>>9744616
That's like the GF memory loss plot point though. The fact they mention it in a menu at the start of the game doesn't make it any less nonsensical and contrived when it's introduced to the narrative.

>>9744672
The memory loss is talked about by various NPCs throughout the game

>>9744680
It's still contrived because it impacts nothing besides the asinine "Oh we just forgot we all knew each other as kids :^)" twist.

>>9737694
The junctioning system sounds ludicrous on paper, but it's a WAY simpler than it sounds. It's basically just magic armor that you can buff by DRAWing more magic out of enemies.

>>9737684
it is only slightly better than the ff7 cringe antagonist of being an amnesiac edgelord

>>9737694
yea it is reversed, story is better, but the magic system in ff8 is shit . ffv7 story was more cringe, but at least the materia system was good

>>9742850
might as well just watch a longplay at that point then faggot

>>9737684
It's ass cancer, everything wrong with JRPGs

>>9744438
> in Fisherman's Horizon the mayor says conflict could be solved if only the two parties sat down and shared their point of views. This also applies to the entire game. Squall shrugs it off due to his military upbringing, but if they'd talk with Ultmecia they'd realize they only want to each others BECAUSE they want to kill each other; and thus may even be have been able to break the time loop just like that.
>In other words FF8 goes way beyond the typical "good vs evil" story. For a JRPG it's a lot more mature and makes one reflect on the sense of militarization: bring up people to do war, of course they'll know nothing but war.
>this anime tier writing is deep for a weeb
The absolute state

>>9745374
It brings more than that but only if you're willing to think for yourself and put two and two together. If you did that you'd realize the "good guys" harmed orphans knowingly while even the "bad guys" (Galbadian university that became enemy) wouldn't do it.

>>9737694
>>9737684
It's good if you play it normal.
Listen to all these fags who tell you how to break the game, and now the game sucks.
>>9737730
There's nothing complicated about draw and Junction.
Draw magic from the enemy, equip it to shit for a stat boost. That's it.

The rest of your complaints? Play on an emulator with fast forward hot key, or the remaster with the same thing.
>>9737781
Refining cards breaks the game. It's not needed to know.
>>9737792
You don't need any of that bullshit. Stop being a completionist fag and ruining your own fun like so many autistic midwits do with so many games that weren't balanced around getting 100% (which is 99% of games)
>>9737902
>>9738036
It was immediately hated for not being 7-2 you fucking zoomers. Ff7 was baby's first final Fantasy so they expected 7-2 and got something different. They also hated the amnesia twist, which i don't care about spoiling because it's not even that big of a deal.
>>9740713
Squall gets better AFTER disk 1.derp. Also, ff7 and ff9 are ALSO better on disk 1. World of balance is better than world of ruin in ff6. That's the whole franchise bro.

>>9741341
The story is great. No it's not my favorite. It's still great though. The gf cause memory loss thing is dumb, so what? Ff7 has fucking cait sith for fucks sake, everything that involves him is gayer than the amnesia twist.
>>9741446
Breaking the game is anti-fun. Just play normal.
>>9742065
Anti-fun autism.
>>9742151
Retarded nonsense. 4 and 9 are, this isn't at all. This game is weird scifi. I like all of them btw. Your post is just retarded.
>>9742210
Laguna is better.
>>9742398
6-10 all have amazing plots and it's the rest of the series that have shit stories.

>>9742537
The plot of a sorceress from the future trying to possess a sorceress from the past, is really cool. The game is esoteric and maybe you're just a retarded nigger.
>>9742605
Both games are great. Faggot.
>>9742743
The story isn't flawed. The amnesia twist is hin5ed at but the bad translation doesn't help. It's not a coincidence, they're all drawn to eachother and that's why they reunite.

>>9742831
Nah. They're drawn to eachother by magic and fate ya fucking retard. It's also explained right in the beginning that gf cause memory loss. The twist doesn't even matter.

>>9743856
No.

>>9744660
No. So unnecessary. Niggers like you would min max a fucking barny game.

>>9737694
>The junctioning / draw / whatever system is keeping me out
Yeah I played it when I was a kid and found this to be annoying even when I had the time/patience for this bullshit. It's not difficult, just tedious. It's a shame because I really fucking love the world, artwork, music, etc. The story is up its own ass but has some neat moments. I might just grab whatever that last version was with its cheater modes and just have a sort of walking tour of FF8 and skip through the battles.

>>9746916
>It's not difficult, just tedious.

Stop playing like an autist and think you NEED 100 of every magic for every character slot and then again and again when new magics are given. The game is never balanced around having to do that, it would be the equivalent of maxing out all your materias in FF7 as you get them. Draw a little, turn some items into magics, turn some cards into magics, use the magic sources in the field, that's it.

>>9737684
As a kid I thought it was bland. Now I appreciate the dreamlike quality of the world, this place that's controlled by time travelling sorceresses. It's very beautiful and frightening. Unfortunately, the game is still not very good. It breaks the rules of traditional FF balance/progression in a lot of neat ways, but the least tedious way of enjoying it is to play an in-game card game. If that sounds good to you, you'll have fun.

>>9746935
>The game is never balanced around having to do that
I'm way underequipped for the final boss. I'll try and get my save file off my memory card via my PS2 if you're really curious, but I can't beat the final boss. A successful bout with Adel (after a billion tries) took 40 minutes

>>9746935
Even so, there’s just enough of that shit to make me not want to play it.

>>9746935
When I replayed FF8 recently I only allowed myself to equip the same number of magic as my level, but it can be any magic so I can still do the card mod shenanigans. Also a basic class system (knight, monk, hunter, mage). Was fun.

>>9746895
i really like FF8 setting on top of the story too.

>>9737684
>>9744451
I jerked off to Rinoa's tits all the time. Had the strategy guide and cummed to her small B cup pale tits.

>>9749810
I call them tits, not boobs, because I don't associate them with the letter B

>>9749889
thanks for clarifying

https://youtu.be/EN0JaJN_fwU

Not sure why so many people hate the junctioning system. It's just a variation on the job system of previous FF games just as materia in FF7 was. I think any preference for any particular game over another boils down to the art direction of each individual game. Me personally I stopped after FFX but that was also about the time I stopped playing console games.

Also, curious about other anons, did you find that no one else your age played the FF games? I might post a new thread about this later.

>>9749938
>Not sure why so many people hate the junctioning system
It's pretty simple, really. People didn't feel like the mechanic was explained clearly enough when they were retarded children and the menu for it wasn't the most intuitive, so most of them never grasped how to use it effectively, and those who did generally weren't huge fans of the idea of stat boosts being tied to your supply of spells.
I personally thought it was kind of neat once I understood it, but that's why people hated it.

>>9749938
>did you find that no one else your age played the FF games?

Are you serious? FF8 was all the rage when I was 12.

I remember this specific commercial fondly. Also, I liked the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhPPn1En0KI

>>9749954
I mean there is a fucking complete unskippable tutorial for it in the first 10 minutes of the game that shows you exactly how to go through the menu and junction.

>>9750550
Yes but the system is fucking retarded, tedious, and game breaking. FF8 fucking sucks, the story is stupid, the characters are shit, and the world doesn't make any sense.

>>9744451
>enrolls orphans
>teach them to become soldiers starting an age when they barely start to be able to read
>make them use weapons that WILL damage them physically and mentally at the same time, knowingly

Yes... SeeD will make sure there is always a home for a soldier who craves the battlefield

>>9744657
>there are a LOT of parallels between ff8 and evangelion
No, there fucking aren't. Evatrannies are so fucking delusional.

>>9750565
Just shut up and admit you're too stupid to play a game made for Japanese elementary school children. Go cry to your government for the fluoride they put in your water that cut your IQ in half.

>>9750592
your defence would be a lot more compelling if you tried to sound less autistically assmad that someone called your favorite game a heap of shit

>>9741341
>trying to grind exp and get overleveled actually makes the game harder
I didn't know this when I played it, grinded a lot. Never had any problems with encounters despite that, except with Malboro's. Dropped it some time on Disc 3 because I was really bored.
FF8's highlights are really really fucking good, but the rest is just so mind-numbingly boring I couldn't take it anymore.

>>9750817
>I didn't know this when I played it, grinded a lot. Never had any problems

That's because it's not true. Leveling up brings many benefits. Getting to the same proportionate level of power without leveling up requires a lot more work.

It's the number 1 NPC meme about the series, the 2nd one being "hit yourself in FF2".

>>9750838
you never tried staying underleveled and it shows, ironic that you're calling that strategy the NPC one while asserting that people should stick to the most NPC way to play imaginable

>>9751016
>you never tried staying underleveled and it shows

I did a no lvl up run at the age of 14 or 15 only. using prior knowledge I had acquired myself from several playthroughs.
I did it before it was hip, before there were a single guide written about it, while you're the one reciting stuff heard from others. it was tons of fun, but doing that to be worth it not only requires a lot of prior knowledge of the game (or, a guide) so you know exactly what to do and how, and a lot of work to get magic and AP.

Meanwhile, just playing the game normally and AP and magic are a lot easier and less time consuming to acquire. Not to mention other benefits of lvling up such as innate stat boosts, enemies dropping more and better items, being able to draw magic more efficently etc

>>9742430
>I decided to play through the game again recently and I'm still finding bits of dialogue I've never seen before.
The level of detail in FFVIII's world and setting is what draws me to it. It was completely unmatched up until FFXII and you can see a lot of stuff they probably intended to show/display was left out despite it's huge monster/boss encyclopedia and all the additional terminology (and mythology) in the main menu to supplement much of what they couldn't directly integrate in the game.

>>9742537
>They thus spend more time attempting to prove the existence of its allegedly deep story instead of actually debating the content of said story.
I think FFVIII's narrative and storyline is horribly presented, but I don't think they were lacking ideas. It just falls flat when it executes said ideas, which is what draws fans to "provide its allegedly deep story" - not because it's not "there" but because instinctively they know the writers were just not competent enough to express those ideas.

The "plot twist", for example. Taken at face value, the whole amnesia thing just sounds like a dumb fucking concept to create an element of surprise for the player halfway through it. But it ties directly into the game's theme, where all these prophetic children fated to save the world are brought together despite the various uprisings after they left Matron's house - some were isolated and left in the care of the one person who knew of their alleged importance (and when things are set in motion by Ultimecia, Cid maneuvers them all to the best of his ability towards that path - it's particularly interesting to follow this on a second playthrough) but others were adopted and lived seemingly normal lives or were raised in the polar opposites regions of Balamb. (cont.)

What's even more tragic when you think about it, is that all these orphaned children by war are reunited together yet again for the purpose of war, which is one of the main themes of the story too (that is what leads to the rise of Ultimecia and it's a constant through Laguna's story of the narrative). I don't think this is all coincidental and just falls together because fans are reading too much into it - it's just ideas the writers had but could not convey adequately and fucked up when using certain plot-devices to present them.

>>9744291
>Ultimecia is evil.
Ultimecia was hated and persecuted before she was even called Ultimecia probably. The game never spells this out for but there are several passages in disc 3 and some supplementary information after the story ends in Ultimania that proves the world knew about her existence. How do you think SeeD would treat potential sorceresses in the future that could bring about the annihilation of mankind?

>>9750571
Never realized that FFVIII projected Big Boss' ambition much more purposefully and sympathetically than whatever that fucking asshole said to Snake in MG2:SS.

>>9737684
It has a really good card game system

>>9751694
>Never realized that FFVIII projected Big Boss' ambition much more purposefully and sympathetically than whatever that fucking asshole said to Snake in MG2:SS.
You never realized it because it fucking didn't. You're only seeing it because the game failed to convey it effectively and someone else had to lay it out for you.

>>9750125
All of my friends were way more into sport games, Tony Hawk, etc. back then. No one at my school liked JRPGs.

>>9751691
I disagree with this. I think the story being what it is and how it is is perfectly intentional.

On the surface level you have "good vs evil" by the book JRPG stuff, because it is what players want and expect. But below that if the player is willing to engage with the story there is more, much more, that dare to questions the very fabric of your "by the book" JRPG story.

Had the later stuff been forced on players, the players who only want and care about the first half would have hated it.
Meanwhile, someone willing to engage with the story more is indeed more likely to be interested in the behind the curtain stuff.

For a mainstream JRPG selling million copies and what is typically expected of that, it was the only way to do more. The only flaw is the writer's logic is thinking that even the people who only care about surface level stuff would be able to put 2 and 2 together.