I have had this game since release and have attempted to get into it a few times and just failed. Usually I get to the end of disk 1 and just do not feel any need to continue. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it per se (even though I do not like the magic drawing system and the card game) but it just doesn't grab me like all the others, and I even enjoyed X-2! So is it worth giving it another go?

MAKE YOUR OWN DECISIONS!

Suppose I deserved that, sorry, and ordinarily I would agree with you but with this game I am conflicted. As I have stated I have started it several times and every time given up. I do not read walkthroughs or anything like that so have no idea where the story goes from the end of the first disk. Perhaps my question should have been something like: Does the story pick up?

If the game hasn't grabbed you by that point, it isn't likely to. Anyway, if you have to force yourself to move forward in a game, that defeats the purpose of playing it in the first place: to have fun.

My advice is to drop it and move on.

Thanks for that. It was pretty much what I expected but was hoping somebody would post about some great set piece a bit later on that would pique my interest. I don't mind a bit if a grind if there is a decent payoff. Guess this goes in the box with Shadow Hearts and Metal Saga as games not for me.

If Your stopping playing it because you dont like it, then obviously you should not continue. But if its for a particular reason, for example, i got injured at work once, was off for 2 months, and in that time i clocked up like 80 hours of FFXII. But when i went back to work, i had almost no time to play it. So i just gave up on it. And then it took me ages before i decided to carry on, by which point i needed to start again to get into it.

So after my life story..

Dont play if if you dont enjoy it. There is no need to complete a game, just to complete it.

Again thank you for your comment both you and Prak are right I shouldn't play games I don't enjoy just to complete them, I just don't like giving up on things without giving them a fair crack. Besides I have recent re-started Space Channel 5 a game I love but am dreadful at so that will keep me occupied for ages. Thank you

Here's what you do, take it to your local game store and have them wrap it in shrink wrap then ebay it as if it were new.

I did it before, it's fuckin' sweet.

I HIGHLY reccomend WETRIX for the Nintendo 64! It is a colorful explosion of euphoria for all ages!

I'm gonna be the first one to stand up and say keep going.

I absolutely loved the game from the start to the end... Have you by any chance enjoyed video games in past and than you decided to enjoy ff8 as if you were playing it then?

If it's so you might as well have fun with a major modern game or you might feel the same about that one later instead. As for playing FF8. I recommend you don't try to get into the feeling of the era it came out. (Sort off like an actor who tries to be natural and feel the character.) It's the game's work to keep you entertained, not yours. You just play it when you have time. A bit spontaneous. And if you notice it's not working, you drop.

If you're playing to be able to contribute to forums or conversations without getting spoilers, you might consider preparing an answer:"I don't know, I haven't played ff8." or maybe read a bit about it. It's the way you got info about it that made you wanna play it in the first place. Speaking of that...

If either the last reason or the interest in story keeps you going, you might find yourself a video walktrough. (I'm sure youtube has one, but you know what the resolution is there.)

You could also play it with your friend who likes it/would like it where you watch and he/she plays. And if it happens to come to a state where you'd like to take over you switch. I bet you are the type for that.

A lot of people (from my experience), including me, enjoy the FF games the most in the order they played them. Since FFVIII was the first FF game I played, I'd say it's my favorite. But you said you've played FFX-2, so this one might not grab you. Basically it comes down to this: if you don't like grinding to level up your magic stock and your characters or if the battles don't really "grab you," then I'd say put it down, because at the end of the day, it all comes down to the battles.

Well, the game definitely isn't for everyone. It has a good story, but the story only appeals to the niche market (like me), and the gameplay mechanics is also a little unusual (again, only appeals to the niche), and I understand if that turns you off.

My advice? If you cannot bond with the game and/or identify with any of the characters after playing that long, then probably it's time to move on. I'd probably already be in disc 4 by now, but I didn't feel like starting again after my game save got wiped when my gaming rig's hard disk got corrupted (plus, I got distracted by a bunch of other games for my DS).

Wow! Thank you everybody for your views they have all been very helpful especially the recommendation for Wetrix a game I'd always liked the look of. I think the annoying thing has been and probably the main reason I asked the question in the first place is I have played and enyoyed all of the Final Fantasy games and am just disapointed that have been unable to get on with this one but without being able to point at one major fault with it.

Here's what you do, take it to your local game store and have them wrap it in shrink wrap then ebay it as if it were new.

I did it before, it's fuckin' sweet.


I lol'd at this. This is why i dont buy of ebay. Still funny though. :)

FFVIII has a somewhat slow start. If my memory is right, things get interesting a little more than half-way on the second disc.

I'm gonna be the first one to stand up and say keep going.

I second that notion!

I'm gonna be the first one to stand up and say keep going.

Yeah, forsake anything you decide you'd rather be doing!

Basically, if the game hasn't been engaging to you thus far, it won't really get any better. If, however, you just didn't have the time, go ahead and pick it back up. Just decide based on how much desire you have to play the game and how much time you have available. That's all any of us really can tell you.

I have had this game since release and have attempted to get into it a few times and just failed. Usually I get to the end of disk 1 and just do not feel any need to continue. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it per se (even though I do not like the magic drawing system and the card game) but it just doesn't grab me like all the others, and I even enjoyed X-2! So is it worth giving it another go?


Okay first of all, no. You didn't enjoy X-2 because it was an absolute horrible game (made by Square Enix no doubt). Perhaps it's just driving you insane about the magic drawing system. I don't really like it myself, but it's hardly a reason for me to stop playing.

Perhaps if you ventured beyond the first disc and introduced yourself to the place in the game where the story starts to pick up, then you'd be interested.

I can guarantee that Final Fantasy VIII is a better game than X/X-2. Storyline, gameplay and characters...FFX/X-2 (yes I'm aware FFX was made by Squaresoft -- a point in Squaresoft's existence where they completely destroyed themselves) doesn't have shit on FFVIII. Anything below FFIX, really...

Trust me. If you did, by some miracle, enjoy X-2, you will enjoy #8. Just give it time.

for me personally, i dont remember anything from the first disc except for the last part, and thats not a good thing..unlike for example FF7..don cornileus, the headquarters raid, etc.

and mr/mrs fungus, how can u guarantee anything?? playing games (enjoyment in general?) is just far to subjective

Okay first of all, no. You didn't enjoy X-2 because it was an absolute horrible game (made by Square Enix no doubt). Perhaps it's just driving you insane about the magic drawing system. I don't really like it myself, but it's hardly a reason for me to stop playing.

Perhaps if you ventured beyond the first disc and introduced yourself to the place in the game where the story starts to pick up, then you'd be interested.

I can guarantee that Final Fantasy VIII is a better game than X/X-2. Storyline, gameplay and characters...FFX/X-2 (yes I'm aware FFX was made by Squaresoft -- a point in Squaresoft's existence where they completely destroyed themselves) doesn't have shit on FFVIII. Anything below FFIX, really...

Trust me. If you did, by some miracle, enjoy X-2, you will enjoy #8. Just give it time.

You are an absolute moron.

Other people got there before me, but yeah. Even though I don't exactly love X-2, it's still about a million times better than VIII.

As for the original post: It is my opinion that the game peaks around the end of Disc 1/middle of Disc 2, after which it becomes poorly contrived and forced. If you didn't enjoy the early parts of VIII, you probably shouldn't bother with the rest. I have to say I thought the opening section of the game was pretty good, though.

Okay first of all, no. You didn't enjoy X-2 because it was an absolute horrible game (made by Square Enix no doubt).

I've never seen someone shoving his opinion down people's throats like this before.


Perhaps it's just driving you insane about the magic drawing system. I don't really like it myself, but it's hardly a reason for me to stop playing.

First of all, the structure of your sentences here is very confused. Your tense gets screwed up, and you get confused as to who's the one even playing the game.

That aside, you're being a tad presumptuous. The draw system is quite easy to master if you know what you're doing, to the point that the game becomes a complete joke.


Perhaps if you ventured beyond the first disc and introduced yourself to the place in the game where the story starts to pick up, then you'd be interested.

I disagree here. I think the beginning of this game is as interesting as it gets storywise, especially when they throw in that lovely little absolutely ridiculous plot twist that makes no sense whatsoever.


I can guarantee that Final Fantasy VIII is a better game than X/X-2.

I can't vouch for X-2 because I haven't played it, but FFVIII is definitely not better than FFX. Which horse's rear end did you pull that idea out of?


Storyline, gameplay and characters...FFX/X-2 (yes I'm aware FFX was made by Squaresoft -- a point in Squaresoft's existence where they completely destroyed themselves) doesn't have shit on FFVIII. Anything below FFIX, really...

It's a little difficult to figure out what you're saying exactly, but I'll address what I can.

FFVIII's characters were all stereotypes, and none of them changed at all other than Squall (and possibly Rinoa). Squall was just a typical emo kid that believes everybody's alone in the end and is afraid of getting close to people and who finds love with Rinoa and learns to trust people and to depend on others to help him. Rinoa just becomes afraid of being around people because she's a sorceress. And that is the extent of character development in the game. Selphie never ceases to be the spunky little kick-ass girl (one of which is in every FF game after FFVII), Zell is still an emotionally intense person that has a little trouble with self-control, Quistis remains a sort of faceless older-sister type of character, and Irvine never rises to be anything other than a self-proclaimed "ladies' man" who really gets nervous when it becomes time to do the job.

FFX, on the other hand, has the characters face all kinds of problems that challenge their values and force them to change their perspective. Tidus was irritating, I'll admit, and Yuna's character was nearly ruined by bad voice acting, but the other characters get much more focus than the supporting characters of FFVIII. For instance, Wakka is a devoutly faithful follower of the church of Yevon, but he soon sees that the church's leaders are all corrupt and that none of them actually follow their own customs. His character evolves as he begins to accept that the very core of his beliefs was false to begin with.

Looks like my off-topic post is getting a little bit too long, but my point is that FFX has significantly better characterization than FFVIII.


Trust me. If you did, by some miracle, enjoy X-2, you will enjoy #8. Just give it time.

Please pull your head out of your arse or say something in defense of your absurd assumption.

Okay first of all, no. You didn't enjoy X-2 because it was an absolute horrible game (made by Square Enix no doubt). Perhaps it's just driving you insane about the magic drawing system. I don't really like it myself, but it's hardly a reason for me to stop playing.

Perhaps if you ventured beyond the first disc and introduced yourself to the place in the game where the story starts to pick up, then you'd be interested.

I can guarantee that Final Fantasy VIII is a better game than X/X-2. Storyline, gameplay and characters...FFX/X-2 (yes I'm aware FFX was made by Squaresoft -- a point in Squaresoft's existence where they completely destroyed themselves) doesn't have shit on FFVIII. Anything below FFIX, really...

Trust me. If you did, by some miracle, enjoy X-2, you will enjoy #8. Just give it time.



To the OP: While I previously did say "keep going", at the same time ignore everything this retard said.

I missed the part where you said you actually got to the end of the first disc. That does change things a bit.
But I will say this game certainly isn't for everyone. VIII is my favorite mainly cause of the soundtrack, the dream sequences, and the way all the plans are choreographed (like the Timber train, and the sorceress assassination).

But, it was, after all, the first disc that pulled me in, and if it's not pulling you in then maybe this game isn't for you.

I've never seen someone shoving his opinion down people's throats like this before.

I have. Often. It was mean, though, because you can't hear the tone in which it was said so it's considered offensive here.


First of all, the structure of your sentences here is very confused. Your tense gets screwed up, and you get confused as to who's the one even playing the game.

I understood him completely and even managed get an idea of what mood he was when posting his comment. If you have autism or something similar, I apologize and admit my fault at writing this.


That aside, you're being a tad presumptuous. The draw system is quite easy to master if you know what you're doing, to the point that the game becomes a complete joke.

If you balance in FFVIII it's absolutely fun to play it. If you want challenge than you normally wouldn't go hunt for magic(magic=power, right?), and would instead level up by fighting(In everything a human does one normally wants to move on a more difficult task after finishing the last task making FF8 system very natural. To me at least. But it's a bit different in other FFs so there's no wonder some people don't like it).


I disagree here. I think the beginning of this game is as interesting as it gets storywise, especially when they throw in that lovely little absolutely ridiculous plot twist that makes no sense whatsoever.

Actually the plot made sense to me. But you probably know how it is. "everyone" that has ever played Final Fantasy says the best about his/her first FF. FF8 was my first FF and is my favorite video game. The problem is that people expect the Final Fantasy in the next Final Fantasy, if you know what I mean.



I can't vouch for X-2 because I haven't played it, but FFVIII is definitely not better than FFX. Which horse's rear end did you pull that idea out of?

"I've never seen someone shoving his opinion down people's throats like this before." A bit hypocritical to say FF8 is definitely not better than FFX afterwards. With the horse rear thing and all.


It's a little difficult to figure out what you're saying exactly, but I'll address what I can.

FFVIII's characters were all stereotypes, and none of them changed at all other than Squall (and possibly Rinoa). Squall was just a typical emo kid that believes everybody's alone in the end and is afraid of getting close to people and who finds love with Rinoa and learns to trust people and to depend on others to help him. Rinoa just becomes afraid of being around people because she's a sorceress. And that is the extent of character development in the game. Selphie never ceases to be the spunky little kick-ass girl (one of which is in every FF game after FFVII), Zell is still an emotionally intense person that has a little trouble with self-control, Quistis remains a sort of faceless older-sister type of character, and Irvine never rises to be anything other than a self-proclaimed "ladies' man" who really gets nervous when it becomes time to do the job.

OMG!!! That's SOOO shallow. Character development!!? I liked FF8 realism far more than FFX's far fetched character adjust ability. It's soooo much dependent on personal preference it made me mad after reading your post. The other things you wrote made sense, more or less, but here it just gets defensive.


FFX, on the other hand, has the characters face all kinds of problems that challenge their values and force them to change their perspective. Tidus was irritating, I'll admit, and Yuna's character was nearly ruined by bad voice acting, but the other characters get much more focus than the supporting characters of FFVIII. For instance, Wakka is a devoutly faithful follower of the church of Yevon, but he soon sees that the church's leaders are all corrupt and that none of them actually follow their own customs. His character evolves as he begins to accept that the very core of his beliefs was false to begin with.

I found the scenes very badly directed. (btw, most voice acting sucked, not just Yuna's.) It was like the game kept pressing play and pause button the whole time. It was just too much waiting for me. I'm more comfortable with all interruptions pilled up like in ff8(drawing great magic early in the game for example). Oh, and if I may, I was expecting so much more from the last boss battle and there were too few Aeons(I loved the improvement of their usage, though. It was something I wished FF8 would have. And than I see it in FFx. It's like a dream come true, except it actually just goes in that direction but it's definitely not there.)

Shortly, I think FFx had "all" FF8 needed and the other way around.


Looks like my off-topic post is getting a little bit too long, but my point is that FFX has significantly better characterization than FFVIII.

I guess I did similar where my point is that it mostly depends on person.


Please pull your head out of your arse or say something in defense of your absurd assumption.

Ah well, I suppose I could admit that he/she had your post coming (...now that I have calmed down a bit. Or maybe I DO have double personality. Nah, I just see FF8 as my favorite and it just bit me...) And I in fact really liked FFx, but playing FFX-2 seriously ruined it for me.


stuorstew, I think you should try playing FF8 on a computer on an accomplished emulator so you can download a save file where you last stopped playing (possibly the one that already has 100 of each magic). And you can use the button that turns frame rate off to speed up boring parts(like drawing.) If you wanna try just ask me how to get it all(for free of course(not that that's the way I played FF8))...You know what? You could also skip it and try Warcraft 3 with expansion pack if you are into popular oldies. All good games are a big (sometimes urgent) waste of time, you know. You might as well get addicted to fitness instead. It becomes the same thing as drawing does(which really adds to FF8's realism! Get it?).

I have. Often. It was mean, though, because you can't hear the tone in which it was said so it's considered offensive here.



I understood him completely and even managed get an idea of what mood he was when posting his comment. If you have autism or something similar, I apologize and admit my fault at writing this.



If you balance in FFVIII it's absolutely fun to play it. If you want challenge than you normally wouldn't go hunt for magic(magic=power, right?), and would instead level up by fighting(In everything a human does one normally wants to move on a more difficult task after finishing the last task making FF8 system very natural. To me at least. But it's a bit different in other FFs so there's no wonder some people don't like it).



Actually the plot made sense to me. But you probably know how it is. "everyone" that has ever played Final Fantasy says the best about his/her first FF. FF8 was my first FF and is my favorite video game. The problem is that people expect the Final Fantasy in the next Final Fantasy, if you know what I mean.




"I've never seen someone shoving his opinion down people's throats like this before." A bit hypocritical to say FF8 is definitely not better than FFX afterwards. With the horse rear thing and all.



OMG!!! That's SOOO shallow. Character development!!? I liked FF8 realism far more than FFX's far fetched character adjust ability. It's soooo much dependent on personal preference it made me mad after reading your post. The other things you wrote made sense, more or less, but here it just gets defensive.



I found the scenes very badly directed. (btw, most voice acting sucked, not just Yuna's.) It was like the game kept pressing play and pause button the whole time. It was just too much waiting for me. I'm more comfortable with all interruptions pilled up like in ff8(drawing great magic early in the game for example). Oh, and if I may, I was expecting so much more from the last boss battle and there were too few Aeons(I loved the improvement of their usage, though. It was something I wished FF8 would have. And than I see it in FFx. It's like a dream come true, except it actually just goes in that direction but it's definitely not there.)

Shortly, I think FFx had "all" FF8 needed and the other way around.



I guess I did similar where my point is that it mostly depends on person.



Ah well, I suppose I could admit that he/she had your post coming (...now that I have calmed down a bit. Or maybe I DO have double personality. Nah, I just see FF8 as my favorite and it just bit me...) And I in fact really liked FFx, but playing FFX-2 seriously ruined it for me.


stuorstew, I think you should try playing FF8 on a computer on an accomplished emulator so you can download a save file where you last stopped playing (possibly the one that already has 100 of each magic). And you can use the button that turns frame rate off to speed up boring parts(like drawing.) If you wanna try just ask me how to get it all(for free of course(not that that's the way I played FF8))...You know what? You could also skip it and try Warcraft 3 with expansion pack if you are into popular oldies. All good games are a big (sometimes urgent) waste of time, you know. You might as well get addicted to fitness instead. It becomes the same thing as drawing does(which really adds to FF8's realism! Get it?).

I think the main reason FF1, Prak, etc are picking Ironfungus is not because he likes FF8, but because of his ridiculously shallow assumption that "since X-2 is OBVIOUSLY terrible and he enjoyed it, then he's gonna love VIII". And you're defending that? FF8's my favorite game as well, but him saying that is a disgrace to FF8 fans.

I have. Often. It was mean, though, because you can't hear the tone in which it was said so it's considered offensive here.

Well, one should be aware of the difficulties of communication over the internet as opposed to in person.


I understood him completely and even managed get an idea of what mood he was when posting his comment. If you have autism or something similar, I apologize and admit my fault at writing this.

Unnecessary personal attack. I was simply pointing out that his sentence structure was really sloppy, which indicates a lack of effort on his part.

If you balance in FFVIII it's absolutely fun to play it. If you want challenge than you normally wouldn't go hunt for magic(magic=power, right?), and would instead level up by fighting(In everything a human does one normally wants to move on a more difficult task after finishing the last task making FF8 system very natural. To me at least. But it's a bit different in other FFs so there's no wonder some people don't like it).

You can personally place arbitrary restrictions on yourself when you're playing virtually any game, but good games make it so that you can't wipe the floor with all of the bosses with nothing more than knowledge of the game's mechanics. If you junction magic properly, you can take most bosses out in two physical attacks in FFVIII, and I don't think I'm wrong to consider that a flaw in the battle system.


Actually the plot made sense to me. But you probably know how it is. "everyone" that has ever played Final Fantasy says the best about his/her first FF. FF8 was my first FF and is my favorite video game. The problem is that people expect the Final Fantasy in the next Final Fantasy, if you know what I mean.

But the whole "Orphanage Twist" (*SPOILERS*) was very poorly executed and came out of nowhere. There was nothing in the game at all to hint that the characters had known each other before they came together; Irvine just very abruptly says "Oh, by the way, we all grew up together! AND Edea was our Matron." And the response is "Oh yeah! We forgot that because we equip GFs."


"I've never seen someone shoving his opinion down people's throats like this before." A bit hypocritical to say FF8 is definitely not better than FFX afterwards. With the horse rear thing and all.

I was using a colorful metaphor that I'm particularly fond of, and I backed my opinion up with details about the game. He just sort of shouted out what he thought really loudly without even trying to say why.


OMG!!! That's SOOO shallow. Character development!!? I liked FF8 realism far more than FFX's far fetched character adjust ability. It's soooo much dependent on personal preference it made me mad after reading your post. The other things you wrote made sense, more or less, but here it just gets defensive.

I don't really see how my post was defensive, but would you care to explain what was more realistic about FFVIII's characterization? Give me more details.


I found the scenes very badly directed. (btw, most voice acting sucked, not just Yuna's.)

I disagree here. Yes, Tidus and Yuna both had horrendous voice acting, but Wakka, Lulu, Auron, Kimahri, Seymour, and Maechen, for example, had rather well-done voice acting. And what exactly was bad about the direction of the scenes?


It was like the game kept pressing play and pause button the whole time. It was just too much waiting for me.

So you didn't like how the gameplay bogged down with long cutscenes? In that case, I agree with you, and I especially wasn't fond of the excessively long time periods where you were simply traveling across terrain. Of course, the reason for this is that they removed the world map screen to keep everything proportioned properly for size, although, admittedly, I kind of wish they hadn't done this.

However, this doesn't nearly so much affect the quality of the storyline as it affects the gameplay. In fact, the slow pace of this game is because the story gets very much of the focus.


I'm more comfortable with all interruptions pilled up like in ff8(drawing great magic early in the game for example).

THAT is a matter of personal preference entirely, but the quality of the game isn't. Sure, there is a level of subjectivity, but there are objective elements of a game.


Oh, and if I may, I was expecting so much more from the last boss battle and there were too few Aeons(I loved the improvement of their usage, though. It was something I wished FF8 would have. And than I see it in FFx. It's like a dream come true, except it actually just goes in that direction but it's definitely not there.)

Of course, the reason there are so few Aeons is the way they relate to the plot. Come now, you don't really wish the game had 15 CLOYSTERS OF TRIALS, do you? Because that would make me murderous.

FFX made a lot of experimental changes to the battle system, and we can probably leave that subject by saying some were successful and others weren't.


Shortly, I think FFx had "all" FF8 needed and the other way around.

I think there's truth to that, but I still believe FFX has a much better-written storyline.


I guess I did similar where my point is that it mostly depends on person.

Again, there is some level of objectivity in analyzing a game's quality, but yeah, my original post was largely in response to his pig-headed post stating "FFVIII is better than FFX and FFX-2" as an absolute fact and providing no examples to support that idea.


Ah well, I suppose I could admit that he/she had your post coming (...now that I have calmed down a bit. Or maybe I DO have double personality. Nah, I just see FF8 as my favorite and it just bit me...) And I in fact really liked FFx, but playing FFX-2 seriously ruined it for me.

I again haven't played X-2, but I actually liked FFVIII quite a bit too. I just think its plot and character development aren't as well done as FFX's.


stuorstew, I think you should try playing FF8 on a computer on an accomplished emulator so you can download a save file where you last stopped playing (possibly the one that already has 100 of each magic). And you can use the button that turns frame rate off to speed up boring parts(like drawing.)

There are good ways of getting magic in the game that aren't nearly so time consuming, and I know them, so you should ask ME for help. *sticks tongue out*


If you wanna try just ask me how to get it all(for free of course(not that that's the way I played FF8))...You know what? You could also skip it and try Warcraft 3 with expansion pack if you are into popular oldies. All good games are a big (sometimes urgent) waste of time, you know. You might as well get addicted to fitness instead. It becomes the same thing as drawing does(which really adds to FF8's realism! Get it?).

If we're suggesting unrelated games now, then I'll say to play Super Mario Bros. 3. Really, that game is so damn good.

I seem to have caused a bit of an argument here which was never my intention, sorry. Ironfungus I appreciate you taking the time to read my thread and to give your opinion but I can assure you I did enjoy X-2 as I found it to be on the whole a fun lightweight coda to X with suitable music and the mission based structure made it easy to fit around work and family commitments, and I'm really not sure you can blame what seems to be a lot of peoples dislike of this game on Enix as you seem to be suggesting (if this was not your intention then I apologise). Do not forget Enix were responsible for the Dragon Quest games, Actraiser and Star Ocean (I think) all of which I consider to be very good games. Also do not forget that Square Enix have produced some very good games since the merger FF XII, Radiata Stories, Code Age Commanders and the new Star Ocean are just a few that spring to mind so I'm not sure changing the suffix Soft to Enix is that much of a factor. So perhaps the best advice I can give you would be to give X-2 another go and you may find it's actually a bit of a laugh but if not then I think it is best that we agree to disagree. Unbeginning thank you for your kind offer but I am not sure my computer is an old G3 iBook and I do not think it is up to the task. Again thank you for all your comments but I think I am resigned to just not ever finishing this game, however if there is ever a version where the script is like the one in the fiction threads then I will be the first to buy it.

Well, one should be aware of the difficulties of communication over the internet as opposed to in person.

Ummm... yeah.


Err... SPOILERS, LOTS OF LOTS OF SPOILERS... ...ahead.


Again, there is some level of objectivity in analyzing a game's quality, but yeah, my original post was largely in response to his pig-headed post stating "FFVIII is better than FFX and FFX-2" as an absolute fact and providing no examples to support that idea.

Unnecessary personal attack. I was simply pointing out that his sentence structure was really sloppy, which indicates a lack of effort on his part.

I don't really see how my post was defensive, but w...

He/she did put very little effort in his post(and I did switch from Yahoo Answers to blogs because of lack of seriousness there), but it was visible what he/she meant and you criticized his/her post's clearness too.(Or maybe I understood it more easily because English is my second language and I'm used to "extracting" as much meaning as I can.)
I think you were defensive. You said that the characters didn't develop and that that's the reason they weren't as good as in FFX. (That's a personal preference.) And I think FFX had more stereotypical characters too. Tidus is from the city and he acts like a child even towards the end. (not at the very end, though) Meanwhile all the soldiers of Yevon stay there and don't even "emote" at hearing what's going on. It's like they aren't even characters...
Anyway, you just wanted to burn the poor guy/girl without doing the same mistake as he/she. Maybe he/she just had a bad day or something.



You can personally place arbitrary restrictions on yourself when you're playing virtually any game, but good games make it so that you can't wipe the floor with all of the bosses with nothing more than knowledge of the game's mechanics. If you junction magic properly, you can take most bosses out in two physical attacks in FFVIII, and I don't think I'm wrong to consider that a flaw in the battle system.

I guess. I seriously think Square should add a few difficulty levels (in FF8 they could have limited the magic stock limit to like 35 and GF summoning to 2x per battle on hard difficulty, for example, and it would probably make the game half the better already.) in future games.



But the whole "Orphanage Twist" (*SPOILERS*) was very poorly executed and came out of nowhere. There was nothing in the game at all to hint that the characters had known each other before they came together; Irvine just very abruptly says "Oh, by the way, we all grew up together! AND Edea was our Matron." And the response is "Oh yeah! We forgot that because we equip GFs."

I think there's truth to that, but I still believe FFX has a much better-written storyline.

OMG, that orphanage twist. I HATED that part the first time I saw it. It was WTF. But you put it in a way it sounds even worse than it is. The GF thing was a suggestion by Irvine and they "bought" it because they didn't have the means to explain the not remembering(Squall later says that it must have been because of GF he forgot...something... and Rinoa says it's just an excuse). It kind of made sense that they were form the same orphanage because everyone was manipulating in FF8 (Ultimecia, Edea (before she becomes a puppet for a while), Cid (Some girl in garden says (it think she was Xu) something like "You hardly became Seed and you got your first mission already, I guess they have high hopes for you." And he got Quistis for an instructor a lot. I bet the Cramer's planned to keep the orphanage kids from the start.(Zell was also kept in the Garden and Selphie and Irvine were drawn back too(probably because of Cid's desperation when he lost Edea))), Ellone (I don't remember so well, but I know she did.), Laguna(and bragged about it)... You know what? Thanks, if you never said all this I could never have gotten this flash!


I was using a colorful metaphor that I'm particularly fond of, and I backed my opinion up with details about the game. He just sort of shouted out what he thought really loudly without even trying to say why.

Ok, then.


I don't really see how my post was defensive, but would you care to explain what was more realistic about FFVIII's characterization? Give me more details.

I disagree here. Yes, Tidus and Yuna both had horrendous voice acting, but Wakka, Lulu, Auron, Kimahri, Seymour, and Maechen, for example, had rather well-done voice acting. And what exactly was bad about the direction of the scenes?

However, this doesn't nearly so much affect the quality of the storyline as it affects the gameplay. In fact, the slow pace of this game is because the story gets very much of the focus.

I hated it when in FFX something happened and than the game showed the reactions of each character one by one. It's like someone would say "I'm actually dead for 5 months" and than one would say "what?" and than that annoying second or half goes by and than it's "huh?!!". And as if it wasn't (sorry, but I'm getting a bit angry and I'm gonna get sloppy, just bear with me) enough retarded there's got to be another "Oh, no!" later while all the characters are patiently waiting for others to finish being shocked so it's their turn to show how they tell they are shocked.
When they were just about to attack Yunalesca (which means they were going to take their time to 'just about to attack Yunalesca') I felt like watching fu***** Power Rangers. It was different ways the characters just took their time, but it always ruined it when it didn't fit in the heat of events. That's what I meant by saying "bad directing and realism"(sometimes the same character made so many 'oh's and 'huh?'s I just wanted to slap the box, As I implied, I'd rather spend that waiting drawing 'Scan's). These things go well in comic books but not in a video game.
Some characters had ok voice acting, but less important characters didn't.



So you didn't like how the gameplay bogged down with long cutscenes? In that case, I agree with you, and I especially wasn't fond of the excessively long time periods where you were simply traveling across terrain. Of course, the reason for this is that they removed the world map screen to keep everything proportioned properly for size, although, admittedly, I kind of wish they hadn't done this.

Yep!



THAT is a matter of personal preference entirely, but the quality of the game isn't. Sure, there is a level of subjectivity, but there are objective elements of a game.

Of course, that's what I meant. But I don't think FF8 is a good example for 'to objectively define quality'. I mean. The Junction system is very capable of winning a battle on it's own. But isn't Junction system a part of the game rather than just the battle? Even if it doesn't count as a way of maneuvering, not being a real part of the game still makes it a difficulty selector and character personalization tool. I bet you could than say that people mostly don't see it that way and the drawing system was in fact a really bad idea. I think it is waaaay dependent on the person playing the game(and his mood ect.).



Of course, the reason there are so few Aeons is the way they relate to the plot. Come now, you don't really wish the game had 15 CLOYSTERS OF TRIALS, do you? Because that would make me murderous.

Oh, no. Please, don't. I found those trials interesting at first, but very annoying soon enough. I'd rather play sudoku all day. But they could add some different ways of getting them. You know that temples were there just because of taboos. It were faiths that mattered.


FFX made a lot of experimental changes to the battle system, and we can probably leave that subject by saying some were successful and others weren't

Same for FF8.



I again haven't played X-2, but I actually liked FFVIII quite a bit too. I just think its plot and character development aren't as well done as FFX's.

Oh, about that, hehe :-D , funny thing that, I played FFx-2 twice before FFX and it totally ruined it for me. O:]



There are good ways of getting magic in the game that aren't nearly so time consuming, and I know them, so you should ask ME for help. *sticks tongue out*

I know that. I played FF8 long ago, but I finished it whole like 5+ times. And I probably wasted even a lot more playing favorite scenes/fights/side...things.



If we're suggesting unrelated games now, then I'll say to play Super Mario Bros. 3. Really, that game is so damn good.

OMG, that's like the first game I didn't have to go to neighbors to play. I was a kid back then and everybody was bragging how much they figured out, but I was a fu***** genius back then and totally kicked-ass in everything I tried so sooner or later they could just sit and watch and envy. (But I lost my concentration because I started suspecting I was gay and it totally ruined my life(I always took everything I could seriously so I literally thought people were going to kill me if they knew.) so I'm not/can't be so smart anymore because for a while I was practically paralyzed by depression(like 2 or 3 years of "no" brain usage). Ok, maybe I needn't have written that. Nah, I'll leave it here, I constantly complain like an old grandma (since then) anyways.)

Sorry for writing any grammar mistakes or anything inconsiderate or too arbitrary or too weak reasons, but I'm getting really sleepy and I have test tomorrow and shouldn't have been posting today anyways. i'll fix it later.
Oh, stuorstew, I think you made a good decision. If you didn't like FF8 this far, you'd probably not like it later. Try Super Mario Bros 3 instead(playable on snes, I could suggest an emulator, but I think it's better played retro style).

I think the main reason FF1, Prak, etc are picking Ironfungus is not because he likes FF8, but because of his ridiculously shallow assumption that "since X-2 is OBVIOUSLY terrible and he enjoyed it, then he's gonna love VIII". And you're defending that? FF8's my favorite game as well, but him saying that is a disgrace to FF8 fans.

Nope. I was defending FF8 AND I hate it when someone has a bad moment and writes something he/she better didn't and than everybody gangs up on him/her. So I wanted to even the scales just a bit but not irritate others too much.

Besides if one liked FFx-2, but not FF8 and the other liked FF8, but not FFx-2 than it would basically make sense to say those games are liked by a completely different population. That would make me not agree on 'if you liked FFx-2 you would love FF8'.

Ok, now I SERIOUSLY need to get some sleep. Read you later.

I liked both VIII and X-2...

Err... SPOILERS, LOTS OF LOTS OF SPOILERS... ...ahead.


Still applies, JFTR.


He/she did put very little effort in his post(and I did switch from Yahoo Answers to blogs because of lack of seriousness there), but it was visible what he/she meant and you criticized his/her post's clearness too.(Or maybe I understood it more easily because English is my second language and I'm used to "extracting" as much meaning as I can.)

It was clear after I laboriously "extracted" meaning from it, but the idea is that you make it so that people don't have to do that to understand you. It's like replacing "you" with "u" and that sort of thing.

Oh, by the way, your English is pretty impressive as a second language. Of course, to us Americans, learning a second language at all is a fairly rare thing (one reason why we deserve our "stupid Americans" stereotype).


I think you were defensive. You said that the characters didn't develop and that that's the reason they weren't as good as in FFX. (That's a personal preference.)

By "defensive," do you mean that I was backing my own point of view with details? I'm not quite sure we're using the same meaning of the word; I interpret "defensive" to mean that I'm assuming that what people say are personal attacks.


And I think FFX had more stereotypical characters too. Tidus is from the city and he acts like a child even towards the end. (not at the very end, though) Meanwhile all the soldiers of Yevon stay there and don't even "emote" at hearing what's going on. It's like they aren't even characters...

Ok, I think our discussion is best served to talk about all of FFX's characters BESIDES Tidus, because he was really a crappy character. He was a stereotypical American frat boy type that's unnecessarily cocky, brattish, and irritating. I can't stand him, really.

Lulu, for example, was a character with many complicated aspects. Notice how she becomes angry every time Wakka suggests that Chappu might be alive. You think this is irritation at Wakka's inability to accept the truth, but later you find out that Chappu planned on proposing to her before he died. This changes your point of view about her responses to Wakka in that you realize that SHE is grieving deeply for him and cannot emotionally stand to hear a contradiction of what she's had so much trouble accepting. If you can forgive the ridiculous fanservice outfit she wears, which I won't deny is pretty incongruous in this game, you can see that Lulu is a very complex character that is well-developed.


Anyway, you just wanted to burn the poor guy/girl without doing the same mistake as he/she. Maybe he/she just had a bad day or something.

If that is the case, and he/she says so, then I will apologize for my personal attacks.


I guess. I seriously think Square should add a few difficulty levels (in FF8 they could have limited the magic stock limit to like 35 and GF summoning to 2x per battle on hard difficulty, for example, and it would probably make the game half the better already.) in future games.

I think it would've been best if the stat bonuses from junctioning magic weren't so massive. The way they are used, it's almost entirely necessary to junction magic to have a decent party, but if you do it properly, they kill bosses in two hits and take an incredibly long time to be killed.

I differentiate the subjective and objective analysis of this battle system in particular; I actually enjoy using the junction system and wiping the floor with bosses because I just have that kind of personality (albeit only in video games,) but I think the battle system would be better if you had to junction magic, but it didn't make the bosses as easy as Garland from FFI.


OMG, that orphanage twist. I HATED that part the first time I saw it. It was WTF. But you put it in a way it sounds even worse than it is. The GF thing was a suggestion by Irvine and they "bought" it because they didn't have the means to explain the not remembering(Squall later says that it must have been because of GF he forgot...something... and Rinoa says it's just an excuse). It kind of made sense that they were form the same orphanage because everyone was manipulating in FF8 (Ultimecia, Edea (before she becomes a puppet for a while), Cid (Some girl in garden says (it think she was Xu) something like "You hardly became Seed and you got your first mission already, I guess they have high hopes for you." And he got Quistis for an instructor a lot. I bet the Cramer's planned to keep the orphanage kids from the start.(Zell was also kept in the Garden and Selphie and Irvine were drawn back too(probably because of Cid's desperation when he lost Edea))), Ellone (I don't remember so well, but I know she did.), Laguna(and bragged about it)... You know what? Thanks, if you never said all this I could never have gotten this flash!


You see, THIS is why that plot twist was badly executed. If the game had bothered to explain any of this stuff and to give a detailed backstory of how all of the characters were brought back together, it would've been great. Instead, the game just sort of cheaply gives you a "by the way" and moves on.


I hated it when in FFX something happened and than the game showed the reactions of each character one by one. It's like someone would say "I'm actually dead for 5 months" and than one would say "what?" and than that annoying second or half goes by and than it's "huh?!!". And as if it wasn't (sorry, but I'm getting a bit angry and I'm gonna get sloppy, just bear with me) enough retarded there's got to be another "Oh, no!" later while all the characters are patiently waiting for others to finish being shocked so it's their turn to show how they tell they are shocked.
When they were just about to attack Yunalesca (which means they were going to take their time to 'just about to attack Yunalesca') I felt like watching fu***** Power Rangers. It was different ways the characters just took their time, but it always ruined it when it didn't fit in the heat of events. That's what I meant by saying "bad directing and realism"(sometimes the same character made so many 'oh's and 'huh?'s I just wanted to slap the box, As I implied, I'd rather spend that waiting drawing 'Scan's). These things go well in comic books but not in a video game.

Ahh, I see what you're saying. The flow of a lot of the dramatic scenes was not good because the characters each gave a reaction as though it had just happened. I would guess this occurred because Square hadn't really mastered the techniques involved in spoken-dialogue scenes with text written at the bottom, or because the translation into English of each character's reaction, which the translators attempted to match with the lip-motion of the characters, didn't turn out very well.

In any case, this is a subject area that's difficult to compare to FFVIII, which, of course, has no spoken dialogue. Your complaint is very legitimate, but it doesn't very heavily influence the quality of character development.


Some characters had ok voice acting, but less important characters didn't.


I think the opposite is true, actually. Tidus and Yuna are clearly the most important characters, and their voice acting is horrid.


Of course, that's what I meant. But I don't think FF8 is a good example for 'to objectively define quality'. I mean. The Junction system is very capable of winning a battle on it's own. But isn't Junction system a part of the game rather than just the battle? Even if it doesn't count as a way of maneuvering, not being a real part of the game still makes it a difficulty selector and character personalization tool. I bet you could than say that people mostly don't see it that way and the drawing system was in fact a really bad idea. I think it is waaaay dependent on the person playing the game(and his mood ect.).


Well, that's why I was addressing a specific aspect of the Junction system rather than the system as a whole. I consider the fact that you can easily defeat bosses in two physical attacks with the right magic junctioned a flaw in the design, but I don't think this means the system as a whole is bad.


Oh, about that, hehe :-D , funny thing that, I played FFx-2 twice before FFX and it totally ruined it for me. O:]

Hmm, that sort of kills a LOT of the mystery in this game, and that's kind of important to experiencing the plot. That's rather unfortunate.



I know that. I played FF8 long ago, but I finished it whole like 5+ times. And I probably wasted even a lot more playing favorite scenes/fights/side...things.


I've played it quite a few times too, as a matter of fact.


OMG, that's like the first game I didn't have to go to neighbors to play. I was a kid back then and everybody was bragging how much they figured out, but I was a fu***** genius back then and totally kicked-ass in everything I tried so sooner or later they could just sit and watch and envy. (But I lost my concentration because I started suspecting I was gay and it totally ruined my life(I always took everything I could seriously so I literally thought people were going to kill me if they knew.) so I'm not/can't be so smart anymore because for a while I was practically paralyzed by depression(like 2 or 3 years of "no" brain usage). Ok, maybe I needn't have written that. Nah, I'll leave it here, I constantly complain like an old grandma (since then) anyways.)

Glad to see such a great game hasn't been forgotten. SMB3 can hold its own with any of the so-called "great new games." People tend to forget how incredibly much fun those 8-bit games could be.


Sorry for writing any grammar mistakes or anything inconsiderate or too arbitrary or too weak reasons, but I'm getting really sleepy and I have test tomorrow and shouldn't have been posting today anyways. i'll fix it later.

Hey, posting on internet forums is WAY more important than studying for tests.


Oh, stuorstew, I think you made a good decision. If you didn't like FF8 this far, you'd probably not like it later. Try Super Mario Bros 3 instead(playable on snes, I could suggest an emulator, but I think it's better played retro style).

I second that. SMB3 truly is one of the great games of all time.

It's come to the point where I don't even read what has been posted, that is how ridiculous this has gotten. Perhaps I should unsubscribe...

You should stay. You might learn a thing or two. Even possibly change your ideas on a few things you thought you were sure about.

Like whether or not I like FFVIII? I believe my opinion on that game is engraved in stone.

Like whether or not I like FFVIII? I believe my opinion on that game is engraved in stone.

Like the fact that whether you like a game and whether you think the game is well-made are two different things.

Like the fact that whether you like a game and whether you think the game is well-made are two different things.

To be honest, I haven't really been paying attention to any of your posts in this thread, or any others for that matter. And, on the contrary, whether or not you like a game and whether or not you think it is well-made are, in fact, one in the same. Both are opinions.

To be honest, I haven't really been paying attention to any of your posts in this thread, or any others for that matter. And, on the contrary, whether or not you like a game and whether or not you think it is well-made are, in fact, one in the same. Both are opinions.

Oh crap, you CONTRADICTED me. I suppose I should admit defeat.

Can you explain, then, why I like FFVIII but think it's a poorly-put-together game at the same time? Both are opinions, but one is more objective than the other, and they are definitely not the same. Unless you want to tell me that "Crank That" is as well thought-out a piece of music as Mozart's string quartets.

I seem to have caused a bit of an argument here which was never my intention, sorry.

Don't worry about it, it happens on a daily basis here :)

I seem to have caused a bit of an argument here which was never my intention, sorry.

One of the main things that gives this forum its name is always being at each other's throats.

Oh crap, you CONTRADICTED me. I suppose I should admit defeat.

Can you explain, then, why I like FFVIII but think it's a poorly-put-together game at the same time? Both are opinions, but one is more objective than the other, and they are definitely not the same. Unless you want to tell me that "Crank That" is as well thought-out a piece of music as Mozart's string quartets.

I'll stand by what I said: both are opinions. While I agree with you that one is more objective than the other, what it all comes down to is this - you are dragging on a discussion that really isn't as deep as you may think.

Your comparison isn't really relevant to what I was saying, so there's no reason for me to address it.

As an impartial observer, I declare FF1WithAllThieves the winner because you failed to directly address anything he said. And I see a relevance, so if you don't, that's your own problem.

I was unaware that we were competing for the "top spot".

As for me not addressing anything that FF1WithAllThieves said:


Your comparison isn't really relevant to what I was saying, so there's no reason for me to address it.

Congratulations, though.

I typed two sentences. The second one makes most of that post completely useless.

The point is, if you're going to argue with someone, do it properly or refuse to engage in it in the first place.

I have to agree, it was one hell of an argument.

I prefer the word 'debate' when it comes to the internet. Usually in an argument, personal attacks followed by getting in each other's faces are involved.

I prefer the word 'debate' when it comes to the internet. Usually in an argument, personal attacks followed by getting in each other's faces are involved.

Both are relatively pointless in "cyberspace". In the end, nobody really cares.

Debating in cyberspace and in real life are the same thing if you ask me. Arguments are different because on the internet, it means nothing. You have internet tough guys who will talk shit just to talk shit when in real life, they won't.

I'll stand by what I said: both are opinions. While I agree with you that one is more objective than the other, what it all comes down to is this - you are dragging on a discussion that really isn't as deep as you may think.

Where does the depth of the discussion have any relevance? My only point is that it is possible to analyze the quality of a game with enough objectivity to have a relevant discussion of a games pros and cons. A debate is, by definition, a presentation of facts and the analyses thereof to support an opinion. Without something that's variable with perspective, the debate has no purpose.


Your comparison isn't really relevant to what I was saying, so there's no reason for me to address it.

If that's the case, what you were saying wasn't relevant enough to be posted in the first place. I assumed you meant the whole discussion was entirely pointless because it's too subjective; if that's what you meant, then my comparison was quite relevant.

A debate is, by definition, a presentation of facts and the analyses thereof to support an opinion. Without something that's variable with perspective, the debate has no purpose.

Thanks, Webster. You win.

Thanks, Webster. You win.

If you mean DANIEL Webster, then yes, you're right.

I meant the dictionary.

Clearly you didn't get my allusion; Noah Webster was the famous lexicographer whom you were referring to, and Daniel Webster was a famous orator from early 19th century-America who had great talent in debating.

Thank you Mr. Britannica.

Do you mean Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who initiated the competitor encyclopedia, the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, with his essay, the Preliminary Treatise on Method?