Final Fantasy VIII Review

By: Robert Ezerins

Many say that this game is too far from it's RPG roots and therefore they think that it's garbage. To those people, I say you are wrong. This is the best FF so far. There could be more characters, and I would of loved to see a few secret characters. The fighting system is the best in the series and it makes sure that the battles don't get boring by putting the enemies on the same level that you are on. As for the story, it can get complicated but if you pay attention and don't wander off you should know all of the story . Overall this RPG has it all.

SCORE
story-9.5
control-8.5
graphics-10
music-9
replay-7
fun factor-+10
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Final Fantasy VIII Review

By: David Simpson

What is the only game that has beat all sales records that were previously held by Final Fantasy VII?? Thats right Final Fantasy VIII. Selling over 3 million copies to date with a staggering 2 million before it was even released, its received the most hype that any game has ever received especially on the net and has had high expectations of it due to the success of Final Fantasy VII but the question now is, 'Does it live up to all the hype and people's expectations??'

A simple YES!

I got my copy of the game about 2-3 months ago now and I've been playing it ever since. The game boasts a new and even bigger storyline, new characters, new summons now known as Guardian Forces, a new battle control and more. Here is what I thought of it and I've broken it down into several parts.

NOTE: Final Fantasy VII was the First FF and RPG I had ever played so I will be comparing FFVIII alot to FFVII.

1. Storyline The story is the most important aspect of every FF game and any other game that is what makes all the FF games so special - because they all have a good and intriguing story which in most cases, pulls you right into the game. So is the story any good in FFVIII? Yes, in fact its the best storyline that I've encountered in any game. Just like FFVII's, it's complex, involving and more. So what is the story for FFVIII. Well I wont tell you other than what you'll all probarly know anyway.

You take control of Squall Leonhart, a moody 17 yr old, who is a student at a special military school known as Garden. There are 3 Gardens in the world that train students to become soldiers. In every Garden there is an elite group called SeeD that most students at Garden aim to join. Every member of SeeD is trained into using Magic and Guardian Forces. When a student becomes a member he or she will then be paid a salary as they are hired out for when they are needed to keep the peace in the world. Squal wishes to become a member of SeeD so he takes the SeeD entrance exam, which is a mission to Dollet (the demo which was with Brave Fencer). He successfully joins and during the garden dance held for new members, he meets an attractive yet mysterious young woman who asks him to dance. After the dance and the next day, Squall along with also new SeeD members Zell Dincht and Selphie Tilmitt, are sent on their first mission for a low salary to the town of Timber which has been under the Galbadian Army's rule for over 19 years. On the way Squall and the group collapse and dream that they are 3 Galbadian soldiers named Laguna, Kiros and Ward surveying the damage of a Timber attack. When Squall and the others wake up they discover that they all dreamt the same dream but cannot investigate now as they have a job to do. Upon arriving in Timber they meet up with the resistence Group "Forest owls" where Squall meets Rinoa, the girl at the dance. She tells Squall that they are fighting the Galbadian Army to try and restore order back to Timber. They then discover that the President of Galbadia himself has arrived in Timber at the TV station to make a worldwide announcement possible due to the reactivation of the old EM tower in Dollet. I wont say anymore about the story apart from that like FF7's it twists and turns and reveals little by little the characters past. The theme of the story and game is love and not that of saving the world like FF7's was. The game and story mostly focuses on Squall and Rinoa and their love which slowly blossoms through the game. Also remember how you knew what the whole plot and what was to happen by the end of Disc 1 in FF7? Thats not the case for FF8 you truly dont know the plot and aim of the game till the end of Disc 3 which is a good thing as the game can span out for a bit revealing info on the characters.

2. Graphics The graphics for FF8 are the best graphics in a game to date. Gone are the shaded characters and summons and enemies that were FF7, now all the characters, GFs and monsters are texture mapped which means everything is more detailed and more visually stunning although things can get a little pixely up close, the PlayStation also looks like its been pushed to it's limits too especially when you see the end bosses death scenes-truly Amazing. Also the FMV in the game is the best, it makes all the characters look life like and look so detailed since the anime look is gone and replaced with more realistic look as Square have tried to make everything look realistic. The FMV in FF8 is the best you will ever see any game...period.

3. Music Nobuo Uematsu is back to produce is finest work yet.The music in FF8 is the best he has produced and more atmospheric than FF7s for Example the Battle music near enough pulls you in as it makes every fight seem exciting and not boring and there are 2 versions of the battle music 2, Squall's world and Laguna's. Laguna's is more of an Upbeat as is many of the sounds in FF8 now making things seem modern and sometimes futuristic. As for the sound effects, they are alot better than FF7. Like The footsteps and running sounds of the characters to the sound of Squall's Gunblade everything sounds alot better and more realistic

4. Controls So have the controls changed much from FF7's? Not too much. you dont need to hold X to run and menus buttons are the same so not alot of change.

5. Gameplay FF8 boasts more gameplay than FF7. The reason for this is that FF8 is more enjoyable to play due to it has alot of exciting moments in the game ( more than FF7) and well there ae alot of secrets too that you can will get you back at playing the game to try and find them but FF7 does contain more secrets but then again Ruby and Emerald weapons were never in the Japanese version of FF7.......

6. Guardian Forces Yup their back!!!! the summonable beasts to help you on your quest but this time they are back with a vengence. Shiva, Ifrit, Leviathan, Bahamut, Alexander, Odin even Gilgamesh and a whole lot more make their return to FF8 that look more detailed and have more visually stunning attacks than ever. Actually the GFs play a more important role than previous FF games being that you actually need them if you are to succeed in winning the game. The GFs are infact part of the Junction System, Read below, and thus you need them if you want the Draw,Magic or item command. In several Japanese magazines they said that the strength of the GFs made the battles unbalanced due to that they were too strong thus letting down the game however i think they are wrong, true during Disc 1 they are a little too powerful but after Disc1 you find out you'll need to them alot more than you think as the bosses almost depend on you using GFs to defeat them otherwise you wouldnt stand a chance and also remember all the enemies and monsters in FF8 get stronger making it tough for you. Also remember how you used to get most summons in FF7 at the wrong time? Ifrit for example when you first get him you cant use him alot due to that the bosses that follow are all Fire protected like the GI ghost and Jenova also you couldnt use Shiva or any other earlier Summons later in the battles due to that they were too weak so im glad to say this has changed. Since the GFs are like characters themselves with experience points, and youll use them even in the last battles for example Shiva is the fist GF you receive and youll most likely use her in the last battle due to that she increases in strength throughout the game.

7. Magic System FF8 boasts a new and improved Magic system based around something called Junction and Draw. I wont go too deep in explaining how this works other than that Draw is a new command that allows you to gain new magics by "stealing" it from enemies and monster and stock piling them since MP are not present in FF8. The Junction system allows you to use the magic you have drawn to be used to make you fight more advantageously. For exmaple if ya was to give Squall the ifrit GF a new window will open with 4 commands at the top, underneath that the magics Squall has and under that his HP, Striking power etc etc with spaces next to them followed by numbers showing the strength, HP etc etc. By giving Squall the Ifrit GF you can junction or attch magics to Striking power and elemental defence increasing his attack and protecting him more, Each GF has its own junction value that can increas HP, Speed, etc, etc.

So there you have it the Review of THE best game to the Playstation to date!!! a Game that has so many plus sides to it that includes a Good solid story, Characters you wont forget, a gameplay more games wish for!!

So the Downsides? For me theres only 2:

The Laguna Senarios - They aren't annoying or anything it's just that their aren't enough. Whenever you take control of Laguna and his comrades it's a nice touch to the game that is actually quite vital to the storyline but when you retake control of Laguna say after you've been Squall you seem that theres a gap in his story. For example, one scenario you're in the small town of Winhill when you leave him he still is, then when you retake control of him you find that your somewhere else and that sometime has passed like years and months meaning you miss alot of his story which I think is very annoying as you dont know how Ward came to remeet up with Laguna, how did he get to Winhill etc etc.

Second downside- You wont ever see these characters again as Square never make a Sequel with the same Characters which is a little upsetting as Square has put so much time and effort into making the characters seem real.

Oh and as for the Ending.......Well normally a games ending can usually be the downside for alot of games, FF7 suffered this but FF8 does not. The ending is definatly worth the price alone. That's all I'm saying.

Number Score
Storyline: 10 out of 10
Graphics: 10
Sound: 9+
Gameplay: 9
Controls: 9

Difficulty: Medium-Hard (it changes)

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Final Fantasy VIII Demo Review

By: Vartkes Akmakian

So, been wondering if it's worth getting Brave Fencer Musashi for the FFVIII demo? Take my word for it YYYYYYESSSSS. This is the longest and best demo I have ever played.

First off let me tell you that when you see this mark (*) next to the word demo that means its like that in the real game too.

THE GRAPHICS: The graphics in this demo* are some of the best that you'll see on the PlayStation RPG. The characters have very realistic looks and animation and they are not super deformed that gave the demo* a very good look. The CGs can only be discribed as W~O~W or WHOA they look better than FFVII's. FFVIII'S DEMO'S* CGS ARE THE BEST YOU'LL EVER SEE ON THE PLAYSTATION.

THE MUSIC: The music gets you really pumped up and puts you in the perfect mood to play. At first I kinda hated it but it gets really good. I really like the music when the spider is chasing you.

THE CONTROLS:the controls are perfect with the D-PAD or ANALOG when you use the analog the character's movement's speed depends on how hard you push the analog stick. The vibrating is good too.

THE BATTLES: The battles have a good amount of depth (for a demo). They are better than FFVII's you can tell by just playing the demo the magic system kicks A**. And the limit breaks look soooo cool you could even make them longer by pressing R1 at the right time. You could make the attack stronger too. The GF looks awsome. FFVIII's GFs make FFVII's look silly they really are that good.

THE STORY: Okay so could the story shine in the demo? Mostly yes you can't expect an epic story from a demo. But FFVIII's demo's story was good enough that it got me interested and wondering what will happen next.

THE SOUND: I already talked about music so let me tell you about the sound effects. There are more and better sound effects in FFVIII than FFVII. When enemies die you could hear them yelling the scream of death. Wait till you hear the CG's sound effects. And that cool sound when you get into a battle.

THE WRITING: The writing board looks very nice.And reading it is very interesting and the words are clear and not blurry.

So over all this is the best demo on playstation.You really should get it. ANY OTHER REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD GET IT: There are a lot more reasons but I'll tell only some of them. First of all it gives you a very good idea what FFVIII is gonna be like. It's fun. And it's a good training that gets you ready for the real game. BRAVE FENCER MUSASHI which is with FFVIII is a good game too. I love it so be excited about BFM too. Even the strategy guide for BFM has a section for the FFVIII demo.

These are the demo ratings. The real game should have better scores.

Graphics:10
Music:9.5
Control:10
Battle:8.9
Story:8.5
Sound:10
Writing:10

Overall:10 (Perfect)

In other words go and buy the FFVIII demo, not only becuase its THE LATEST FINAL FANTASY DEMO BUT FOR BFM TOO.