/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.1765414]

Hey /vr/, I'm thinking of playing FFVIII after my playthrough of IX.

I've taken a couple looks at videos and it all honestly looks awesome to me, but the junction and draw systems sound pretty daunting. Is it all really that bad, or is it completely manageable?

[Anonymous No.1765416]

The main reason you should play any JRPG is for the story. Otherwise your just in it for the grind.

The story isn't great and is pretty boring in my opinion.

[Anonymous No.1765420]

>>1765414
If you ask me the card game makes up for the main battle system.

VIII is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it affair though. Just jump in and if you don't like it put it down.

[Anonymous No.1765540]

FFVIII is highly misunderstood. I hated it for the better part of my life, after playing it as a young'n and completely failing to grasp the concept of the junction system. I even had the Prima guide (still have it), but couldn't wrap my head around it. I made it to the battle with Adel at the beginning of disc 4, where she has Rinoa trapped in her arms, and could not fucking beat her because I wasn't properly junctioning magic.

I recently replayed it and when my understanding finally came full circle, I breezed through the game almost effortlessly. The aid of a speed feature was instrumental, because I just junctioned 99 of everything from every monster with every character. I recommend giving it an objective playthrough, OP. Ask around here if you have trouble grasping something. It's really pretty simple, it's just poorly explained in game. But it's a neat system - I kind of enjoy the lack of MP. Reminds me of Chrono Cross.

>>1765416

That's stupid and also incorrect. If an RPG has a good enough battle system or an engrossing soundtrack/aesthetic/world, the story can take a backseat. Baten Kaitos is a good example of that.

FFVIII's story isn't very interesting when taken literally but the ideas in play are fascinating. Gardens, SeeD, GFs, futuristic military academies merged with fantasy sensibilities. It's one of the most inventive games in the franchise. And the weird shit during the ending with Squall's face opening up and Rinoa blurring in flashbacks made the story feel ambiguous to me. Maybe not in line with the theory of Squall being dead since disc 2 but something was definitely intended beyond a simple love story.

[Anonymous No.1765639]

If you play it pay attention to how summons/drawing works at the start.
Then get mad at how op it is.

[Anonymous No.1765654]

>>1765416
>grinding
>FF8

Everyone point and laugh.

[NESfag No.1765658]

It's completely manageable because of the following :
- you can turn items into magic, too
- you can turn cards into items (and therefore into magic)
- the game is totally fair and does NOT expect you to have 100 of every available magic for every character at all time. People who complain about it are people who feel like they 'NEEED' 100 of every magic for all chars at ALL times just to fullfill their OCD. The problem is the OCD of these people, not the system.

Just remember two things : teach your Guardian-Forces the abilities allowing you to turn items into magic (they're at the bottom of the list) ; and since enemies/bosses will level up as you do, don't stupidly grind as in overleveling, because THAT will also make you have to draw more magics.

Also read the in-game tutorials, and make sure to always check what you can draw from a boss.

[Anonymous No.1765695]

>>1765414

[Anonymous No.1766932]

>>1765695

[Anonymous No.1767112]

>>1765414
I always just used the auto-junction feature in the junction menu.

Your only concern will be to stock enough good magic for junctions (abuse the shit of Draw command and card games and then card refinement), and use the auto junction to auto-optimize your character.

[Anonymous No.1767116]

>>1765414
Story is there, but it's told poorly and leaves a lot of things to implication, and the stat junctions make things really unbalanced.

If you want a serious challenge though, don't junction any spells to your stats. The game becomes much more difficult. (though you might want to junction shit to your strength at least or the elemental/status attack slots)

[Anonymous No.1767117]

>>1765695