Alas, yet another period of spotty gaming to be had with me lately, until I finally got a hold of one of those games that drives fandoms wild. The type that splits fans apart, y'see. This game was talked about by the mega-popular V-blogger TheSpoonyOne. Yeah, you know which one I'm talking about. Final Fantasy VIII.
You must be asking "why the hell were you playing that god-awful piece of crap?" Because when I first played this game back when it first came out, I loved it to death! I must have been, what, 13 years old. My raging hormones, fangirlism for Sephiroth, and daily watchings of Digimon had yet to be stopped - and when my dad realized I loved FFVII completely, he brought home FFVIII.
We all know the story here. Squall Leonhart is a student at a military academy called Garden, where he's not very talkative and only really does things to get by. He gets into a training battle with his rival, Seifer, and they both get scars across their respective noses. Squall is preparing to take a test - and passes the test, obviously. He goes to a party, dances with some chick he's never met before, tells his teacher to talk to a wall, and gets assigned to go on a mission with his other new SeeD graduates to help said chick liberate some town out in the middle of nowhere, they get thrown out of town there, end up in another Garden, told to assassinate the sorceress but they fail. And that's all of disc one. Yeah, I know.
One thing I noticed while replaying this game is that I liked the supporting cast. Zell Dincht is a very passionate young man who knows many things, but he's seen as annoying because he tends to over-react to things. Quistis Trepe, once an instructor of Squall's, is an intelligent woman who is very afraid to expressing her emotions openly and hides that at one point she thought she was in love with Squall. Selphie Tilmitt transferred to their Garden right before the story started and is in Squall's homeroom class. She seems so ditzy, but she expresses exactly what's on her mind and when she gets to meet the children she used to take care of in her old Garden, she reveals how supportive she really is. Irvine Kinneas seems to be an annoying playboy on the outside but he puts up a front that hides his deep, quiet nature. He falls in love with Selphie early on and is always there to support her in the end. I liked these characters. I really liked Laguna, Kiros, and Ward more than the main group, Laguna's loyalty and charm really pulled me in. His sense of humor and sense of justice are both on key, and Kiros and Ward are great supporters to him.
That leaves the two main characters, Squall and Rinoa. I have to admit it. I hate them both. I understand where Squall is coming from, but I hate how he goes about it. He's just a jerk to everyone at first, especially the chick he seemingly falls in love with when she falls into a coma. Then when he realizes that the one person in his life who actually tried to be nice to him is isn't there, he all of a sudden turns into a nice guy and does anything he can to bring her back to her true loving nature. Even though she admits early on in the game that she was in love with Seifer at one point, and every time Seifer's name is brought up she acts like she still wants to be with him until she understands that now Seifer is a bad guy and Squall is the good guy. Does this sound like a real romance? Do you see why I can't stand either of them? The romance feels so forced, and that's supposed to be the focus of this story.
....Now the romance between Laguna and Raine seemed more plausible.
Here's a Final Fantasy love story comparison for you. Did the romance between Celes and Locke make much sense to you? I think it made plenty of sense. Celes, beaten and locked away both physically and emotionally, is unlocked through Locke's caring. Celes supports Locke through his quest to revive the lady he once loved. The two of them grow with each other gradually. Or, hey, what about Dagger and Zidane? Zidane "kidnaps" her on a whirlwind of an adventure where Dagger learns how life is for normal people and the attachment grows little by little from the time they meet until the end of the game. The writers at Square can write love in a way that feels natural. (Cecil and Rosa, while they weren't falling love but were together before the story started, doesn't count in this instance.)
The junction system seemed like a great idea, with a way to control each and every single stat a character has without the use of equipment, but comes across as a micromanaging frenzy that must be meticulously set correctly to get the best possible stats. If you're really into games where you manage each and every single detail about your characters, then it might be for you. If not, then it certainly is not. It's very complicated, and as with other Final Fantasy games, there are many diverse spells and items to work with, so you literally have to go through each and every option to see what works for you. When compared to the very simple systems of yesteryear, it seems very overbearing, but it does allow for complete customization of your characters of you're willing to devote time into it. It certainly is not my favorite of the FF character development systems, however it is not the one I hate the most. Sphere Grids in FFX made even less sense to me than this!
As for battles, they all revolve around how your characters are junctioned. Like in Pokemon, you can only have four battle commands at a time, based on which Guardian Forces you have junctioned to you. The only problem with that is it doesn't seem like the humans have any unique powers of their own. They can't even use items without needing a GF to help them. It's a lot like FFVII that way, where you need to have what you want equipped on you, however, at least in FFVII you could play without materia equipped and be able to use items at least... >.> It's nothing like earlier games like FFVI where each character had the magic they learned through the help of the Magicite, and their unique ability. Setzer's slot machine, Locke's steal, Edgar's tools, etc. etc. In FFVIII, none of the abilities are unique to the characters except their limit breaks. That was also a complaint about FFVII I had, too, but it felt less obvious there than in this game.
I loved this game when I was a teenager because I was a teenager. That's who this game was targeted to, the age group that would want a story not about a couple that's been together for years like Rosa and Cecil, but one that's just started as they would be experiencing themselves. Changing emotions, not understanding who they are, graduating school and moving on with one's life... those kinds of things are very typical for kids that age to identify with. Now that I'm over the whole "in love" stuff and I've moved on with my life, I see how juvenile the overall story is. I think if the characters were, one, more around 13 than 17 it would make more for the emotional turmoil they all seem to be in. I don't see the story in the light I used to, but I still wanted to play it again. I don't know if I wanted to visit that time in my life again, as it seems I've done a lot lately with watching Digimon Adventure and listening to Robyn again. Either way, it was a good way to reflect and see how much I have changed since then.
It also opened up my eyes to how well my gaming memory can be, as I hadn't touched FFVIII since at least four years ago until three days ago when I decided to give it a go again. There are things I didn't know I still knew and remembered, secrets and sidequests and everything just stuck with me in a corner of my brain until I decided to use it again, I suppose... I surprised myself with how much I remembered - even coming down to what monsters where carried what spells for drawing, where all the hidden draw points were without needing the ability to see them. Then I wonder if/when I finally get to play my beloved Tales of Symphonia ever again, if by some chance I'll be able to do that with it.
I have no idea what I'll be playing next. So I can't give you a heads up.
Thanks for reading.
Much love,
-Suzuri
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