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I love this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: May 25, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Before I bought this game, I read the mixed reviews. With some hesitation, I placed the order and got it.I am not a hard core RPG player, just an occasional user.I got hooked on it and the story. I learned to use the junction system and, perhaps because I had not played any of the previous FFs, liked it. People complained of the random battles. I did not mind them, since the story moved pretty well. But having a slow computer, or a low memory 3d accelerator card may turn out the GFs animation pretty slow.With a 16MB memory graphics card, the animations ran pretty well. After the dollet mission (5 hours into the game) I found myself not needing to call out the GFs as much (only to fight bosses) since the characters had gained strength, experience, and magic to fight the random battles. So you dont have to sit and look at the GF animations for the millionth time as other reviewers claim. I loved the story, it wasnt simple nor complicated. The dialog is believably coming out of 17 years old characters(teenagers can take this however they want to). Ah, yes, get a decent game pad. Being a nintendo player, I did not mind that the keyboard was not fully supported. If you are a gamer, you should have a decent 3d card, a flight joystick, and a game pad to suit the different games you buy.

A Titular Entry in the Final Fantasy Series

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: January 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got started on the RPG video game trail when I was a young lad playing Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars on my Super Nintendo (also from Squaresoft/Square Enix.) Since then I've played many, from Final Fantasy VII to Shadow Hearts: Covenant to Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose. But the one game out of all of the RPGs that I played never affected me in the way that Final Fantasy VIII did.

At first I found it a bit confusing. The Junction system baffled my mind until about six hours into the game, and occasionally I was given a lot of overworld freedom without enough of a description of where I should be going, leading to frustrating games of Trial and Error.

But I remember seeing the graphics at the time and being floored. I thought they looked photorealistic, and while they look slightly dated today, they haven't aged badly.

The real meat of the game comes from its story though. At first it seems fairly cliched. Quiet mercenary hero, stirrings of an oppressive military regime, damsel in distress, etc.....But soon I was shown the most complex, diverse world I've seen in a game other than The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

The characters all felt truly human; I was attached to them like no other characters in a game. I felt their pain, I felt their happiness. Even the seemingly stereotypical evil rival of the main character, Seifer, inspired sympathy from me.

In an effort to make the all the characters seem tied to each other, though, Squaresoft made some things feel a bit convoluted during the middle.

But all in all, the game captivated me. The story felt real and right to me, and I couldn't have been more satisfied with the ending.

Goodbye real life...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: October 02, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Two words - damn amazing.

The story is great. Everything you would expect from a Square game and more. Character development is well-done (even though Squall is a bit of a prat), and it's hard not to become attached to them while playing.

The GF's (new to FFVIII) are incredibly well-animated, and will leave you feeling good about spending all that money on your graphics card. :)

Squaresoft have perfected the art of FMV, as far as I can see. FFVIII features seemless blending of FMV into game sequences, and even supports layered polygon characters over the top of the movie during the game. Very impressive.

RPG's aren't famed for their replay value, but FFVIII has bags of it. Tons of sub-quests will keep you busy, and the ever-changing plot takes on a few new meanings every time you play.

There are one or two slight niggles I found with the game. Like I mentioned above, the GF's look pretty damn nice. But trust me - you'll be grinding your teeth when you're forced to watch Shiva do her thing for the millionth time. Couldn't there have been a "skip animation" option or something?

And then there's the music. Some tracks (like the intro track and the title song "Eyes On Me") are well written and enjoyable. Others (such as the world map music) make you want to turn your speakers off. Not quite up to Square standards, IMHO.

Finally, there's the baddie. Oh, I'll grant that there's nothing *wrong* her as such. It's just that she seems a little *boring* after the great fruitcake that Sephiroth was in FFVII. :)

Final verdict? Yeah, it has a few problems with it. But you really should buy it, 'cause you can't live without it.

Final Fantasy VIII... Need I say more?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 16
Date: January 24, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy VIII is easily the best RPG out there. With it's incredible graphics, great music and character interactions, the player feels as if they're in the games. It has an engaging plot and the atmosphere induces many different emotions from the player. A love story with magic, mystery, and evil intentions. Another "Best Seller" in the making from Squaresoft.

I Gotta Hand It To Em'

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 19
Date: January 17, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This game is incredible! It has a great storyline and it rocks when it comes to graphics. Works espcially good with the ATI Rage 128 video card. I had a bad experience with the demo, but it turned out to be OK. Nothing's really wrong with this game except the whole special weapons thing is frustrating.

A True FF Title, But Not As Legendary

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: August 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy VIII defintely has the look and feel of a true Final Fantasy title. The game plays well and tells a great story. It is worth the purchase for the PC version even though the graphics were not upgraded from the Playstation version. I was personally happy when the game came to PC - I don't buy game consoles anymore.

FF8 is not the best Final Fantasy title out there. In my opinion, FF7 is the best, with FF6 and FF4 (3 and 2 in the U.S., respectively) tying each other for second. Then FF5 (not released in the U.S.), then good ol' FF8. (That's my list and I'm stickin' to it.)

I am going to assume that you are reading this review as an avid RPG gamer or a diehard Final Fantasy fan. With that assumption, I will leave out all the great details of the game since, as I said before, FF8 is a true Final Fantasy title. Therefore, you know it rocks. But I'd like to focus on the drawbacks if I may be so bold, and explain why it ranks below the Super Nintendo versions and its PC predecessor. All in my humble opinion, of course.

First, the magic system for FF8 is the greatest drawback in my opinion. It removed the idea of magic points (MP). In the old titles, if you had 350 MP, and you used a Cure 2 spell, it would decrement to 325/350. You'd have to replenish eventually or simply run out. In FF8, however, the magic you use depends on two factors: (1) you have to "Draw" the spell out of enemies (the amount you draw determines how many times you can use the spell), and (2) the strength of the magic you use is determined by the amount you drew (up to 100 effectiveness/capacity).

If that all sounds confusing to you, it is. It still doesn't make any sense to me, and I think it almost killed a great game. But Squaresoft is reknowned for altering each release with something totally different. Too bad the magic system in FF8 was such a flop.

Second, the funnest part of the other titles, I thought, was the coordination of items (like weapons and relics) to progressing skills. (Which FF7 nailed perfectly.) FF8 only allows a milder version of this coordination. Character development isn't such a focus in FF8, I think.

Lastly, to be quite honest, the most fun part about the entire game of FF8 for me was the card playing - not the actual game itself or the storyline. In fact, exploring the FF8 was actually dull for me! (I was surprised to learn this, too!) But when I found places to play that wonderful little numbered card game, I found myself spending hours doing just that. I was hoping Squaresoft offered a side version of the card game that I could trade FF8 in for.

The card game for FF8 was supposed to be like the Chocobo development offered in FF7. However, like I said, the card game turned out to be the best part of FF8.

To give some slight pros, I would say that the creatures with which you do battle were rendered quite nicely in FF8. I also appreciate a lot of the bosses (especially the Twins). The graphics are also good enough for the RPG genre - I don't complain about that stuff when playing RPGs.

To close, if you never bought FF8 and stuck with only FF7 and your Nintendo titles, you'd be alright, in my opinion. But if you want it all, FF8 is not a total waste.

Mature and compelling, but more of a story than a game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: November 11, 2000
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy VIII has one of the most complex Final Fantasy games ever. It doesn't have the usually RPG "Evil villian wants to destroy the world by summoning a ancient magic/monster" fair. Instead it deals much more with magic and the use and abuse of it. There are many nuiances in the world that make it seem like it is truely living and breathing. FFVIII also has a much more mature theme, love. Though the main character is at first a pretty cold fish, later on he warms up to the female lead. Though this is a great game, I do have a few gripes: 1)Not much exploration(chocobos have a much more limited role this time around) the game is pretty linear and what few side quests there are usually involve lots of fighting and having a strategy guide handy. Several of the side quests pretty much require you to know exactly where to go and what to do because the in game clues aren't very helpful. All the islands, penisulas, continents and mountains have names in FFVIII, but this is far from being a novelty, some of the side quests make you go to these specific places and run around until you (A) get into a fight, or (B) find something after frantically pressing the 'X' button. 2) The fights can be long, while the light show is spectacular, it gets a little annoying after a while. Especially some of the summons later in the game that take almost a minute to do. While you won't be sitting there dumbly watching the same flashing lights go off again and again (during the summons you can push buttons to increase the damage they do) it still gets to be a little monotonous, sort of like a pokemon game. Overall I say this game is definately worth while. Though as the heading states, it's more like reading a good book than playing a actual game. Though it is very involving and a enjoyable experience, I would have liked to have been able to see more of the world.

Most spectacular RPG game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: January 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I played Final Fantasy7 and i thought it had an extremely good story-line but final fantasy 8 does too.

When i first started finalfantasy8 and looked at the intro movie i was amazed. The ff8 graphics are the best i have seen in any game ever. The people are sure realistically animated. Even hair moves. Now alot of people complain about ff8 not being like the traditional cartoon people of the other ff series. But I think the game schouldnt stay with the cartoon people. As the technology improves so should the final fantsy series. I was rather shocked when i heard that final fantasy 9 is going back to the traditional graphics. The Junction system is also much better than the Materia system, just because its harder doesnt mean itas bad. Youll only completely master and see how usefull and great the junction system is once you beat ff8 and thats part of the fun. The battles are much more exciting than ff7s do to the new system and GF and the tons of spells. The stroy of final fantsy 8 is also great. I wont say its better than ff7s but at least the same good. Throughout the whole game your hoocked and must play on because its so exciting. Like in ff7 you always think you know the end or how the story continues and usually it turns out to be something else.

All in all i love this game really much because it combines story and awesome graphics in one.

Oh...My...Gawd...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: February 25, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have just finished this game, and am still winding down. This game is the best RPG I have ever played, and probably the best game I have ever played... ever. The charaters are so cool they could freeze heck. The graphics are phenominal, unlike FF7, where it looks like they made Dragon Ballz 3-D and changed some characer appearance. And last, but no least, the story is one of the best so far! By the time I had finished, I found myself quite literally going through some sort of emotional crisis.
(I WANT THE STORY TO CONTINUE!!!!)
Anyway, I'd say that if you haven't played this one, do it. It's worth the money. And It's WAY better that FF7.

Absouluty spell binding

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: June 04, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This is the first Final Fantasy that I have played. The graphics are amazing. The story in it's self is truely compelling. It's addictive I must say. I get on and find myself spending 6 hours on it and when I do get off it seems like I have only been on for a short amount of time. I am also new to the world of RPG's. This is my first one actually. I recommend this for any new gamer or RPG player. The battles are challenging yet at the same time not impossible. Also I love the love story between Squall and Rinoa. When I first looked at this game the price kinda overwelmed me. But I decided to try it out and pay the $40. I took it home and installed it and started playing and it was worth every penny I spent on it. No RPG or Final Fantasy fan should be without this game. It is an awsome addition to any collection.

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