FINAL FANTASY VIII

At first, I was going to write a glowing review. Then, I was going to write a venomous one. Now, I just don't know.

FINAL FANTASY VIII isn't a good game, and it isn't a bad game. It has high points, and it had low points. At times, it shines. At times, it drags itself though mud.

Where to begin?

FFVIII is not FFVII. You are going to have to accept that. Still, a lot of FFVIII's world is a reflection of FFVII's. Elements of FFVII and XENOGEARS have been incorporated.

Esthar seem just a bit like Solaris? SeeDs sound like Etones?

The Draw system is different. FFVII's Materia system was simple. It was elegant in form and function, yet vast in possibility. The Draw system lacks the polish and shine of Materia.

The GFs have taken a cue from Pokemon, no longer just being static spells. Now, they are pets. I don't know about this one... FFVII's GFs were better. VII had three Bahamuts. VIII only has one. VII's ultimate GF was Knights of the Realm. VIII's ultimate GF is an over elaborate giant jellyfish thing called Eden.

The Limit Breaks are an improvement. They can now be used whenever HP are low. This may be FFVIII's greatest change. Change? Squall's best limit break, Lion Heart, is nothing more than Cloud's Omnislash.

When you start playing FFVIII, you will have initial second-thoughts, but all fears vanish at the close of the Dollet mission. For those who've played FFVIII, you know what I'm referring to.

From there, your proceed, going to Timber with your former teacher, Quistis, and two other graduates, Zell and Selphie. You get involved in an ill-planed liberation scheme and end up changing the entire nature of your contract.

You also blackout and have a bizarre dream following three Galbadia soldiers, Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, and Ward Zabac, as they enjoy a night on the town in Galbadia's capital, during which Laguna gets up the courage to speak with a pianist named Julia that he has a thing for.

Your rival from Balamb, Seifer Almasy, furthers the confusion, coming close to killing Galbadia's president and vanishing with an ancient witch.

He is presumed dead.

Your orders have changed.

You -- Squall Leonhart -- a Balamb Garden SeeD are to assassination Sorceress Edea. You are aided by a sniper from Galbadia Garden... Irvine Kinneas. Irvine's on of FFVIII's greatest charas. I didn't use him until the end, but I urge you to keep him with you always.

It's time for another blackout. This time, Laguna and Co. are busy spelunking through a crystal excavation site known as Lunatic Pandora. Having had enough of the military life, the three hand in their resignations immediately.

You get to Galbadia's capital, Deling City, and act at the perfect moment. Only thing is, Irvine has second thoughts. Still, with an impressive CG scene, you try to get the job done.

The parade rendition of the Sorceress theme is just pure evil, this entire area of the game is my favorite part. It's where everything comes together and everything is so simple.

You learn that reports of Seifer's demise have been greatly exaggerated, as he is very much alive and very much fulfilling his romantic dream of becoming the sorceress's knight.

You fight your rival, a fellow gunblade master, and get close to the evil Edea.

Now's where things start to get interesting. You jump to a town called Winhill and see the world through the eyes of ex-Galbadia soldier Laguna. His job is patrol the town and keep an eye out for monsters. While still a soldier, he had a thing for a pianist. Now, he's fallen for a local woman named Raine. Raine is a kind hearted and truly tragic figure. She has a young daughter. Ellone.

You return to Squall's body inside a Galbadian prison. With the help of some furry little critters named Moombas who swear that you're Laguna, you free your comrades and yourself. This is not before Galbadia launches a fleet of ICBMs at Gardens around the world.

This was when I first tried my hand at FFVIII's mini-game, Triple Triad. I was hesitant, but I wanted an upgrade to my battle report. Within three rounds, I knew how to play. It's simple... in the beginning.

Try it. It's fun. Just, watch out for the same, random, and plus rulings. You'll loose countless matches before you start to analyze ALL the cards in both decks. Then, you'll win and nothing -- nothing -- will be able to stop you. You'll have out thought the PlayStation and beaten the box. Booya!

Back to the story, you divert the missiles headed toward Balamb Garden and warn the school just to be safe. Balamb Garden then goes through an ancient transformation allowing it to become mobile.

You learn of Garden's mysterious origins and confront its financier. After dealing with him, a mysterious ship approaches. It is the WhiteStar of the seas. It is a small monitor vessel, a light cutter, under the command of an elite group calling themselves White SeeDs. This clandestine sect requests that a woman currently in the Balamb Garden come with them. Squall finds her. She is a young woman named Ellone.

Winhill Ellone? Raine Ellone? Laguna Ellone?

You crash the Garden into Fisherman's Horizon and take a brief rest, allowing stock to be taken of the present situation.

You pilot the Garden to Trabia, finding its Garden bombed. This was Selphie's home. She only transferred to Balamb recently. All her friends were in Trabia.

With renewed fire, you make your way to an ancient light house, searching for the past. You learn the common link between Squall, Zell, Selphie, Quistis, Irvine, Edea, and Seifer.

With the knowledge fresh, you find Galbadia's Garden hovering toward your position.

The following fight contains some of the game's best CG work. The arrangement of students is also something to note. The entire Garden is in formation, organized by magic type.

Squall and Co. board the Galbadia Garden and fight their way to the top.

You fight Seifer, Edea's Knight, and Edea herself.

At the close of the fighting, you learn that Edea is nothing but a pawn of a sorceress from the future.

Rinoa has turned cold and there is nothing that can be done.

Determined, you take Rinoa to the hidden country of Esthar, once ruled by the sorceress Adel.

From there, you are shot into orbit via means of a large cannon.

You observe the Lunar Cry and find Ellone, the reason behind the Laguna dreams.

Rinoa becomes possessed by Ultimecia, the sorceress from the future, and frees Adel, sleeping inside a special containment device.

The orbiting station is evacuated, its president kicks and screams as he is pulled out.

Squall goes back to save Rinoa. The two are left adrift in space. They should have rightfully died, but an old lost Esthar ship shaped like a dragon appears below them.

After clearing the ship, Esthar control guides you home. Now is the first time that you hear "Eyes On Me", a song written by Raine for Laguna long ago.

I then learned of Raine's fate. I went to the tutorial menu and into the terms. I went to "Eyes On Me". I found out what happened to Raine. I found out in the coldest way possible. She is a tragic character.

Back on Earth, things move quickly.

This is when I broke to get the ultimate GF and Squall's ultimate weapon. It was as I was running around, trying to find the parts that I needed to remodel the gunblade that I first grew tired of this game. It became as task. There was no joy. But, once you return to the plot, you'll slowly rebuild your faith.

When you return to Esthar, you find its president... Laguna. Through the game, Laguna and his relationship to Squall have been built up and up. Now, it is revealed in an anticlimactic matter-of-fact sort of way. There is no time to let it sink in, as you must stop Adel. Laguna's story stops here. There is no wrap up. There is no crucial part played by Laguna in the final moments. He does not fight along side Squall. He does not deliver the final blow.

There is no pause. There is no respect. There is no closure.

You must stop Adel.

You do this simply enough, fighting Seifer one last time.

Now, everything comes together.

Ultimecia compresses time, allowing her to exist forever and at all points at once.

You raid her castle and finish her.

That's FFVIII.

So much was worked up to and left off to the side. So much violated the Chekov Principle. The entire mention of Squall's ring was pointless. Why give it a name? Yes, the final GF shares its name, but they are unrelated. If the Griever GF was either summoned from or compressed in Squall's ring, it would have been worthwhile and have added to the story, but it didn't.

The single shining example of the Chekov Principle in FFVIII is the opening FMV. The single working model is Squall and Rinoa's conversation. The field of flowers is the beginning, middle, and end. The feathers -- the angel's wings -- are Alpha and Omega.

One example from four discs. One example from four discs. There is a lot more working against the game than there is working for it.

Still, the single most upsetting point is not located in the game itself. Everyone I know who owns a PlayStation has told me tales of their memory cards blanking out. I was there when Pause's did that.

Now, it was my turn.

At the very end of disc III, my memory card stops. After half an hour of copying and trying to make sense of it all, the card goes dead, erasing all that was stored there.

This fueled my hatred for this game. I was fully prepared to bash it thoroughly.

Still, with records better than a Nazi officer, I used an emergency backup.

It's just that all of what I did in disc III no longer exists. I can no longer load aboard the orbital station or any other point. I can no longer view the CG scenes quickly. They're all gone.

I gave up on getting the final cards or even exploring the world map in disc IV. I wanted to end this.

I did.

I defeated Ultimecia.

I fought her.

I fought Griever.

I fought Griever-Ultimecia.

I fought True Ultimecia.

I was still upset.

My image of the game was stained.

Then, however, I watched the ending.

The finale wraps up all the loose ends. It does more than it has to. It concludes Laguna's tragic tale. It shows us what happened to Seifer. The latter's my favorite part.

The finale does so much that it mends all the tears and rips that I felt for FFVIII.

It doesn't end there.

No.

The credits continue to have CG elements.

The credits bring you more emotion and life.

They show the characters as real people.

I didn't feel that FFVIII's charas were as memorable as those in FFVII. Even VII's minor characters, like the Turks had more personality than Zell and Rinoa. Still, the credits give you all the personality you could hope for.

But, was it worth it?

In XENOGEARS, I fought for those who couldn't. In FINAL FANTASY VII, I fought and killed Sephiroth because he killed Aeris. In FINAL FANTASY VIII, I fought because I could.

When you confront Bahamut, he asks you why you fight. Squall's reply is that it's his nature.

But, the fighting wasn't the point. FINAL FANTASY VIII was a love story. It was between Irvine and Selphie, Laguna and Raine, and Squall and Rinoa. The battles and conflicts were incidental. They are plot devices, nothing more. The story was a pure simple love story. Two happy. One tragic.

The characters may not have been as memorable as those of FFVII, but they are memorable in the long run. The music may have had high points, but just didn't match of lasting quality of FFVII or XENOGEARS.

FFVII ended with the powerful "One-Winged Angel". XENOGEARS ended with the equally powerful "Alpha and Omega". FFVIII's final battle had below average music, not an operatic note in sight. I don't know why the Sorceress's theme was not used.

Still, the fighting wasn't important.

The story was.

But, was the story lasting? Was the story powerful? Was the story moving? Or, was it the CG? Was it the technology?

You fought because you were supposed to. You loved Rinoa because you were supposed to.

RPGs require the gamer to supply to fire, but the relationships did seem empty.

They seemed lacking.

There wasn't the emotion contained in FFVII or XENOGEARS. There wasn't that drive. Aeris.

They DID seem lacking, but with the finale CG, they were full.

If anything, this game is a testament to the final outcome. Its ending more than makes up for any and all short comings. You cannot judge it or any RPG until you've seen the credits role.

A friend of mine put is best. The word that he used was "depth". FFVIII just doesn't have the depth of other games, namely FFVII.

I can still play FFVII today, booting up a game just before entering the North Crater.

Will I want to play FFVIII in 2002?

FFVII was an epic. Its characters were perfect. They were individual and clearly defined. You knew what you were doing and why you were doing it. You were asking Planet for help. Its end was an end to an epic, concluding the major story while leaving each of the characters absent.

FFVIII was a love story. True, you had to believe in it to work, but it was a love story. The characters weren't as distinct and developed as those in FFVII or XENOGEARS, but they were good. The end was not an end to an epic, but an end to the characters. It answered all the questions. It made you laugh and it made you cry. It was a wrap of the the personal tales. It concluded their stories, and their stories was FFVIII's story.

Throughout the final battles, I could not help but realize the paradox. If you killed the sorceress from the future, she could not go into the past, and you would not have gone to the time-compressed world to kill her, so she would have existed and gone into the past, so you would have killed her, but then she wouldn't have...

You get the picture, but with what happens and the events surrounding her death, the paradox becomes self-contained. Squall can but only watch as he sees it start all over again.

He can only stand there as the cycle of fire begins anew, guiding it along with knowledge of things yet to come.

I've already spoken of FFVIII's weak characters several times before, but I must do so again. I've said that they seem shallow and transparent, their personalities only coming on in the final CG cutscene. Still, Irvine and Selphie are characters that will stand the test of time. I cared more about their impromptu romance that Squall and Rinoa's thing. Also, Laguna, Kiros, and Ward are by no means weak. They are FFVIII's three strongest characters. The funny thing is that they have the least screen time. I really want to see them in a game by themselves.

In FFVII, Sephiroth was always there. You knew who he was. In FFVIII, you had no idea of Ultimecia until disc III. You fought Edea up until then. You hated Edea. Then, you were told to love her. Seifer just vanished. You went on, not sure why. FFVII ended in the heart of Planet. FFVIII ended in an old castle. The impact isn't the same. You don't even see Ultimecia until your final battles.

Seifer, too, goes though changes. I had hated him in the latter half of the game. I was not against what he was going or what he stood for, but I was against his character. He was left empty. He was never fully given emotion. The whole "why not" attitude was about him, as it was about the whole of the game. Seifer then just faded off. I would mutter of how Sephiroth could took Seifer down.

Then, the final FMV. Seifer's end. It will make you completely change your views on him. He's like a blurry reflection of XENOGEAR's Ramsus.

Poor Laguna.

The final FMV will completely change your views of Seifer and Laguna and of the entire game.

But, that's just it.

Is the game good or is the final CG cutscene good?

Is it the story or is it the technology?

Is it one or is it the other?

Or, is it something less or something greater?

---

Peter Tatara
10.16.1999

http://www.klink.net/~tatara/DFFQI.html