So, I just started playing VIII for the first time

Here’s to hoping it’ll be good.

Any ideas on what I should expect?

An immediate decrease in your IQ, for one thing.

Sudden loss of enormous amounts of your free time

Do you like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance? If so, you might have a good time if you can overlook some very bizarre plotholes, overall storytelling, and…….interesting game play.

You might not remember my old diggs, but just know I am quite the fan :p

An immediate decrease in your IQ, for one thing.

Why would playing FFVIII decrease his IQ? I mean, having read his posts, it’d be pretty hard for it to go much lower than it is at the moment, but still. How would playing a game make anyone’s IQ lower? All playing FFVIII would do to him would test his ability to spot a bad game in a good series.

I assume you didn’t really mean that or meant it semi-seriously, but your ‘don’t play FFVII or FFVIII because they’ll make you dumb’ comments really just show how extreme and obsessive your dislike of those games is.

I don’t accept that playing or liking any game makes you stupid. All games have fans that give ridiculous reasons for liking them and all have detractors who give ridiculous reasons for disliking them. FFVII and FFVIII included. You’re just generalising based on some silly fanboys we get on here.

Anyway, what you should expect from FFVIII. A promising first two discs in terms of plot, followed by an abysmal third and largely irrelevant fourth (as you’ve lost interest by that time). Mixed in with some highly abusable gameplay and character development that is either not existent or poorly handled.

But hey it has nice graphics and an addictive card game, and the music is pretty cool too, probably the best of any FF. If you’re like me you’ll probably spend more time playing Triple Triad than the main game.

An immediate decrease in your IQ, for one thing.

Is it safe to assume that you just hate every FF?

Unless you have some strange condition that causes you to have a stroke when you make an incorrect assumption, I’d say it should be safe. After all, I’m not going to hunt you down and eviscerate you for it.

Well, I can gather from your posts that you certainly don’t like VII, VIII, and XII. IX and X, I think you might have said positive things about, but I can’t remember.

He is a fan of FFX-2.

Harem. xDDD

Here’s what to look out for:

Until you get the Ragnarok in Disc 3, levelling up is NOT your friend. When you get stronger, so will the enemies so that just makes it harder for you.

Learn Triple Triad. It’s fun, addicting, and will make everything easier.

Learn Card (from GF Quezacoatl). It will help you learn more abilities at low levels.

When you choose a party, junction ALL the GFs among those three. When you switch to another party, use Junction Exchange.

Long list, I know…:D

thats a good thing to point out, the enemies level up when you level up (their level is the average of the 3 charecters in your party) so keeping levels lower is a better idea to ensure the damage you do is more significant.

the good thing is most battles youre forced into dont give you any exp so you only have to worry about randoms.

other than that id say stick with it, the first 3 hours or so seemed pretty slow to me but you can really get into the story. also dont try and slap squall through the screen even though he may deserve it once or twice.

Agent0042: Come on, there’s no need to be blatantly mean. This is not tagged as a spoiler thread.

Always remember to check see if a major boss has a GF to draw before killing it.

Also if you get stuck later in game just remember old faithful.

Meltdown/Aura/Renzokuken, Shot, Duel, Slots, Blue magic or angel wing

Depending on who you are using.

Keep that in mind most bosses can be beaten with that.

Excuse me for writing here, but I didn`t see any reason to create a new thread just for this… What is the best way to fight (deleted…)

its a good game, just dont get lost in the garden

Don’t mind the negative comments it’s a great game, imperfections and all. It’s an immersive story, battles are easy, the GFs Summons look great, the FMVs are great, the battle system is simple and adapts to your level of game play, Like get your whole team to lvl 100, and fight a T-rex w/o using death or doom, that T-rex will kill you faster than the final boss.

Fainaru, sorry, but I do see a reason for creating a new thread just for that. Generally, if your question has nothing to do with the topic you’re posting in and there aren’t any others about that topic on the first page of threads, you would do much better to create a new thread about it. It’s not a crime to create a new thread and it makes a lot more sense then just popping in some random thread with a question unrelated to the topic.

In any case, that was all just a roundabout way of saying "please create the new thread."

the battle system is simple and adapts to your level of game play, Like get your whole team to lvl 100, and fight a T-rex w/o using death or doom, that T-rex will kill you faster than the final boss.

I completely agree. I remember having to relearn how to play after I spent a week or so leveling up to 100 on the Island Closest to Heaven. Wow, I can’t just bust my way through enemies anymore without strategy or healing 😮

I completely agree. I remember having to relearn how to play after I spent a week or so leveling up to 100 on the Island Closest to Heaven. Wow, I can’t just bust my way through enemies anymore without strategy or healing 😮

Haha I so agree with that statement. Its like mindlessly killing tonberrys as well. you go in to a normal fight and I thought. Oh Diablos has gone back to his normal shite self and is no more use to me again. Must use other gfs which now will massacre things.

Don’t mind the negative comments it’s a great game, imperfections and all. It’s an immersive story, battles are easy, the GFs Summons look great, the FMVs are great, the battle system is simple and adapts to your level of game play, Like get your whole team to lvl 100, and fight a T-rex w/o using death or doom, that T-rex will kill you faster than the final boss.

A level 100 T-Rex isn’t that hard if the magic you have junctioned is good.

A level 100 T-Rex isn’t that hard if the magic you have junctioned is good.

Use Blind on Stat-Atk Junction and he is harmless pretty much.

Anyway, what you should expect from FFVIII. A promising first two discs in terms of plot, followed by an abysmal third and largely irrelevant fourth (as you’ve lost interest by that time). Mixed in with some highly abusable gameplay and character development that is either not existent or poorly handled.

But hey it has nice graphics and an addictive card game, and the music is pretty cool too, probably the best of any FF. If you’re like me you’ll probably spend more time playing Triple Triad than the main game.

I am a little curious as to what were some of your favorite features on Final Fantasy VIII?

Play the game. That way, you can formulate your own opinion of whether or not it’s a great game in your eyes.

Don’t mind the negative comments it’s a great game, imperfections and all. It’s an immersive story, battles are easy, the GFs Summons look great, the FMVs are great, the battle system is simple and adapts to your level of game play….

Ditto*

Dont forget countless hours at collecting tools for upgrading weapons.

I just played cards endlessly cause the enemies killed me too many times. xD

THIS GAME I HATE

I can’t get over the whole GF thing which you should encounter sometime later in the game.

It just adds to what I thought was an already horrible story and makes it even worse.

The only good thing about it was the Triple Triad card game.

IX’s a much better game, play that.

Heck, I think VII’s probably better too. Sure, the materia system is broken, but it’s not as broken as the freaking Draw system.

Play Tactics too. That game is awesome.

Also, Suikoden I, Suikoden II, Suikoden III, and Suikoden V.

IV is really bad, but still better than most Final Fantasy games.

Ditto*

Dont forget countless hours at collecting tools for upgrading weapons.

I am a huge fan of synthesizing, and the system for upgrading weapons here is nice, light, and enjoyable. It isn’t as time consuming or involved as in XII, but I still really enjoy it and I’m glad that a synthesis system is in a game I love so much.

If only Pokemon had one. They should definitely deepen the Poffin making process in the next generation. Something more than just "berry & stir." Hunting for ingredients would be an awesome addition, imho.

i agree may. the idea of going out and collecting screws, steel pipe, dragon shards, etc always seemed more logical to me than getting some points in an arena or beating some lame minigame with zero time. youre using the weapon to battle monsters, so you should have to battle monsters to get it.

i agree may. the idea of going out and collecting screws, steel pipe, dragon shards, etc always seemed more logical to me than getting some points in an arena or beating some lame minigame with zero time. youre using the weapon to battle monsters, so you should have to battle monsters to get it.

Yea, i guess, but when you had to battle 40 cockatrices before you battle 1 Marlboro who gives you 1-2 Tentacles of the 8-12 you need, will wear anyone out.

Yea, i guess, but when you had to battle 40 cockatrices before you battle 1 Marlboro who gives you 1-2 Tentacles of the 8-12 you need, will wear anyone out.

I still say getting drops in VIII is less time-consuming than in XII. Believe me, I have gotten to the point where I will not put up with wasting LARGE amounts of time waiting on drops. In XII, the chain system helps you out quite a bit, but I did not bother with the ridiculous processes of getting a Danjuro or a Yagyu Darkblade.

VIII’s drops just seem to come quicker and with less rigamarole.

I still say getting drops in VIII is less time-consuming than in XII. Believe me, I have gotten to the point where I will not put up with wasting LARGE amounts of time waiting on drops. In XII, the chain system helps you out quite a bit, but I did not bother with the ridiculous processes of getting a Danjuro or a Yagyu Darkblade.

VIII’s drops just seem to come quicker and with less rigamarole.

Good point, i’ll have to start xii again soon, i’ve completed viii 6-7 times.

Why would playing FFVIII decrease his IQ? I mean, having read his posts, it’d be pretty hard for it to go much lower than it is at the moment, but still. How would playing a game make anyone’s IQ lower? All playing FFVIII would do to him would test his ability to spot a bad game in a good series.

I assume you didn’t really mean that or meant it semi-seriously, but your ‘don’t play FFVII or FFVIII because they’ll make you dumb’ comments really just show how extreme and obsessive your dislike of those games is.

I don’t accept that playing or liking any game makes you stupid. All games have fans that give ridiculous reasons for liking them and all have detractors who give ridiculous reasons for disliking them. FFVII and FFVIII included. You’re just generalising based on some silly fanboys we get on here.

Anyway, what you should expect from FFVIII. A promising first two discs in terms of plot, followed by an abysmal third and largely irrelevant fourth (as you’ve lost interest by that time). Mixed in with some highly abusable gameplay and character development that is either not existent or poorly handled.

But hey it has nice graphics and an addictive card game, and the music is pretty cool too, probably the best of any FF. If you’re like me you’ll probably spend more time playing Triple Triad than the main game.

I am a little curious as to what were some of your favorite features on Final Fantasy VIII?

See the bolded stuff. 🙂

I love FF8, it is what got me into the series. I first played it at the age of 8 when it first came out. Of course I was a little too young to understand all of the aspects of it, but it grew on me. It is probably still my favorite today, even after playing pretty much every other out there. Yes, even FF7, you smacktards. The Junction system and the ability to collect summons (GFs) is what really got me hooked, not to mention the amazing cast of characters and beautiful music.

Well, I can gather from your posts that you certainly don’t like VII, VIII, and XII. IX and X, I think you might have said positive things about, but I can’t remember.

are you kidding prak loves ffvii

I love FF8, it is what got me into the series. I first played it at the age of 8 when it first came out. Of course I was a little too young to understand all of the aspects of it, but it grew on me. It is probably still my favorite today, even after playing pretty much every other out there. Yes, even FF7, you smacktards. The Junction system and the ability to collect summons (GFs) is what really got me hooked, not to mention the amazing cast of characters and beautiful music.

I agree on the music.

And who can forget the porno mag hunt!!!

so captain whats the deal you like it so far?

give some feedback

Don’t mind the negative comments it’s a great game, imperfections and all. It’s an immersive story, battles are easy, the GFs Summons look great, the FMVs are great, the battle system is simple and adapts to your level of game play, Like get your whole team to lvl 100, and fight a Marlboro w/o using death or doom, that T-rex will kill you faster than the final boss.

fyp. That’s a tough fight in an otherwise effortless game.

Here’s take on it: It sucks. It’s the worst story of all the Final Fantasy and it’s made for nothing more than 2nd Generation FFVII eye-candy hoars…. Anyone that thinks this games story made sense is seriously lacking in the I.Q. department or they haven’t read a book before… Play FFVI or below first.

FFVIII has a fairly ridiculous story with a couple of VERY stupid plot devices, but it is kind of fun. Look up my Junction Guide in the notable threads and forum charter if you want an easy way to breeze through this game; otherwise, just remember that cards are pretty much more fun than the rest of the game.

It’s not a fucked-up story. From Wikipedia:

Final Fantasy VIII begins as Squall duels with Seifer in a training session outside the military academy known as "Garden". The two cadets scar one another’s faces and are returned to Garden for treatment.[16] Meanwhile, the Galbadian regime invades the Dollet Dukedom, forcing Dollet to hire the Balamb Garden branch of "SeeD" — Garden’s elite mercenary force — for aid. SeeD uses the mission as a field examination for its graduation-eligible cadets,[17] and with the help of his instructor, Quistis, Squall passes its prerequisite and is assigned to a squad with Zell and Seifer. In Dollet, Seifer abandons his team halfway through the mission, forcing Selphie to accompany Squall and Zell for the duration. After the mission, SeeD halts the Galbadian advance; Squall, Zell and Selphie graduate to SeeD status; and Seifer is disciplined for acting against orders.[18]

Shortly after graduating, Squall meets Rinoa, whose attitude and approach to life are apparently the opposite of his own.[19] Assigned with Zell and Selphie to help her Galbadian resistance, Squall learns that a sorceress named Edea is the mastermind behind Galbadia’s hostilities. Under orders from the Galbadia and Balamb Gardens, Squall and his comrades — now joined by Rinoa, Quistis and Irvine — attempt to assassinate Edea.[20] Despite a nearly flawless execution of the plan, the party is defeated and detained. Squall’s party also learns that Seifer has left Garden to become Edea’s second-in-command.[21]
Students from Balamb Garden battle Galbadian soldiers.
Students from Balamb Garden battle Galbadian soldiers.

After escaping detainment, the team splits into two units, both of which are controlled by the player in separate scenarios. Squall’s group stops an internal conflict at Balamb Garden incited by NORG,[22] SeeD’s financial supporter, while Selphie’s squad interferes with a Galbadian missile attack on the Balamb and Trabia Gardens. The missile launch forces Squall to turn Balamb Garden into a mobile fortress to avoid the attack, leaving the facility temporarily uncontrollable until it collides with the docks at Fisherman’s Horizon.[23] While Squall negotiates with the mayor of the town, Galbadia invades in search of a girl named "Ellone",[24] who had been staying at the Garden until recently. Galbadia is unable to find Ellone; she eventually escapes to Esthar, the game’s technological superpower. Throughout the game, Ellone sends Squall and his allies into a series of flashbacks set seventeen years in the past.[25] The scenes center on Laguna and his two friends, Kiros and Ward. During the flashbacks, Laguna changes from Galbadian soldier to the self-appointed defender of a small country village, and then from the leader of a resistance movement against Sorceress Adel to the president of Esthar.[26]

Meanwhile, Squall deals with personal conflicts fueled by the game’s ongoing developments,[27] such as Balamb Garden’s Headmaster Cid appointing him as SeeD’s new leader,[28] and his increasing love for Rinoa. During an investigation of Trabia Garden’s ruins, Squall and his comrades learn that — with the exception of Rinoa — they were raised along with Seifer and Ellone in an orphanage run by Edea; they later developed amnesia due to their use of Guardian Forces.[29] It is also revealed that Cid and Edea had founded Garden and SeeD to defeat evil sorceresses.[30] After these revelations, the full forces of Balamb Garden and the Galbadian army, led by Squall and Seifer respectively, engage in conflict. After Balamb defeats Galbadia, the player learns that Edea is merely an unwilling tool for a greater sorceress known as "Ultimecia",[31] who resides in the future and wishes to compress all time into a single moment; it is for this reason she has sought Ellone.[32] A conclusive battle with Edea forces Ultimecia to transfer her powers to Rinoa, allowing Edea to survive, but leaving Rinoa frozen in a coma. Squall becomes obsessed with waking her and seeks the help of Dr. Odine, a renowned scientist living in Esthar.[33]
Squall and Rinoa embrace after he frees her from confinement in Esthar.
Squall and Rinoa embrace after he frees her from confinement in Esthar.

While Rinoa is being treated on Esthar’s space station, Ultimecia uses her to free Sorceress Adel from her orbital prison. Ultimecia then orders Seifer to activate Esthar’s Lunatic Pandora facility, inciting a rain of monsters from the moon that sends Adel’s containment device to the planet’s surface.[34][35] Having selected Adel as her next host, Ultimecia abandons Rinoa in outer space. Squall rescues her, and they return to the planet on a derelict starship. However, delegates from Esthar isolate Rinoa for fear of her sorceress abilities,[36] forcing Squall to rescue her. Laguna apologizes for the incident and announces Dr. Odine’s plan to let Ultimecia possess Rinoa and use Ellone’s power to compress time, as it would allow Squall’s group to confront Ultimecia in her era.[37] To do this, Squall’s team infiltrates Lunatic Pandora, defeats Seifer and Adel, and has Rinoa inherit her sorceress powers.[38] Time Compression is thus initiated, allowing Squall and his friends to travel to Ultimecia’s era to defeat her.

With Ultimecia defeated, the universe begins returning to normal; however, Squall is nearly lost in the flow of time as he witnesses the origins of the game’s story. When a dying Ultimecia travels back in time to pass her powers to Edea, Squall informs Edea of the concepts of Garden and SeeD that she will create.[39] Afterward, he is warped back into the timestream where he is trapped until finally being rescued by Rinoa. At the end of the game, Squall kisses Rinoa during SeeD’s victory celebration.

I for one LOVE the story, and I think it’s ingenious.

Okay, Smacky, what did I say earlier? READ A BOOK! Not only do you think this story is "ingenious" but you only COPIED and PASTED… FROM WIKIPEDIA AT THAT!!! Clearly proving my point that you can’t even build your own pedestal for this horrible, HORRIBLE story you eye-candy ****! (don’t take me seriously on that, but YES!) … Sure it had potential, but it was HORRIBLY executed at that… Now until you can make your own statements instead of copying and pasting from some other source… Ah, you gedda STFU from The Khan…

P.S. Rinoa is Ultimecia…

Not enough evidence to support "Rinoa is Ultimecia," and I think a plot device that interesting would have been milked for all it was worth rather than subtly presented.

Anyway, FFVIII’s plot device of the "GFs Thing" was horribly executed. It just came out of nowhere and clearly showed itself as a very cheap excuse to introduce a completely ridiculous plot element.

Also, you need a spoiler tag.

Expect alot of this:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=CiToL55zwRI

Except that if you waste time drawing Fire with one character without bothering to set the cursor to memory, you are a dumbass.

Even if the story is decent-good, something so important as the gameplay (its a videogame after all) is horrible.

1. My name is NOT Smacky.
2. Shut the fuck up, I’ll decide what I want.
3. Yeah it’s from Wikipedia, but who fuckin’ cares.

Yeah it’s from Wikipedia, but who fuckin’ cares.

If you’re going to use a Wiki article as your argument instead of using it as support for your own words, no one will care. They won’t even care about what you have to say.

Expect a long drawn out battle with the final boss that takes at least an hour and a half to beat. Oh, and make sure to draw EVERYTHING, especially from bosses as a lot contain GFs. Lastly, BOOST.

Here’s take on it: It sucks. It’s the worst story of all the Final Fantasy and it’s made for nothing more than 2nd Generation FFVII eye-candy hoars…. Anyone that thinks this games story made sense is seriously lacking in the I.Q. department or they haven’t read a book before… Play FFVI or below first.

Have you played either X or V, those are definitely below VIII.

Final Fantasy V is a legitimately good game, even if the plot is a little bit silly.

And Final Fantasy X made an overall improvement to the series in a lot of aspects, including graphics, FMV, battle system and voice acting.

Have you played either X or V, those are definitely below VIII.[/QUOTE]

Hey, believe that if you want Jackson, but I beg to differ… At least in X AND yes, even V (I hadn’t finished) at least you understood and connected to these characters and their plight; VIII, I couldn’t connect to ANY of these characters because of the way they reacted to situations was… just fuckin’ DUMB AS HELL!!!

Oh, Quistis, you’re a highly trained mercenary for hire, that decides: Hey! Let’s jeaprodize the mission to assassinate the scourge of the planet (Sorceress Edea) to apologize to some ditzy girl you met TWO DAYS AGO!!!

Yeah, that makes sense… And Selphie!!! No amount of illegal or legal drugs could make me connect or understand that ignorant tart! In fact, I recommend drug addicts view only scenes with Selphie just to see what their brain on drugs is like!

Her attitude towards a nuclear holocaust is disturbing… If there were some quiet scene where we finally see Selphie break down to the harsh reality of what happened to the only ‘family’ she grew up with, (a sidequest of sorts even), that would have worked… But NO, just like this whole fucked-up, lame-ass story, they just conviently wrap things up and move on to the next idiotic part of the story that doesn’t even connect in the least!

At least in FFX, they introduced you to the world exactly as the main character Tidus was: A traveler from another time and as he learned and understood the way of the world of Spira, so did the player…

And by the way, I only spouted out the Rinoa is Ultimecia bit because it’s an actual interesting aspect to think about this potentially good story that failed in execution just fuggin’ horribly… If anything… Thanks to Fate and Time Compression… Rinoa IS the Final Sorceress… Hence why I believe (not proving anything, just stating my mind) is/could be, the Final Sorceress: Ultimecia…

Okay, so first this was a thread by somebody who was starting out with the game for the first time and wanted to know about it. (And I’m sneakingly suspicious it was a joke thread anyway.) Then somehow it became a debate about the game’s overall merits (which we already have a chartered thread (Thread 9566) for anyway) and now we’re debating the quality of various FF games? Honestly, I’m not sure why I didn’t close this before now, but I think it’s more than run its course.