Ah, yes. Final Fantasy VIII. I remember seeing the first screenshots and hearing the (fake) MIDI. Now, It's finally out, I could finally play it. And play it I did. Now that it's over, I can give my final thoughts. So without fiyther ado..
Cluelex's Final Fantasy VIII Review
GRAPHICS- Well, this would be the best place to start. The graphics in Final Fantasy VIII are Alm The prerendered backrounds will blow you away. The FMVs are smooth, cimemanic and beautiful (examples- opening, ending). Which interwine perfectly with gameplay. One second, you're running down a hallway. The next second, you're running down a hallway with a huge explosion tearing the hall apart chasing you. And if you don't make it.... Most will remember Final Fantasy VII's gouard shaded characters. Blew off the sence of maturity, right? Final Fantasy VIII's characters are texture mapped, tall and very real, and don't lack the maturity. As for the animation, amazing. The character move aroud like real people and whenever they say something, the give gestures relating to what they're talking about. I know, it sounds kind of stupid, but when you actually see it, it's really cool. It's like there's an animation for everything they say.
SOUND- Like I said in my Sountrack review, the music it great. But now that I've heard all the tracks in the scenes they belong in, I have mixed feelings. Some of the music fits in wonderfully,(Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosce) some of it doesn't(SeeD) and some of it makes the scenes hair-pulling annoying.(Residents) Faye Wong (a popular Hong Kong pop star) gives us a stellar song called Eyes On Me Which plays in the ending and another special scene between Squall and Rinoa. The sound effects are the ones that really steal the show (in my oppinion). Footsteps have been added. Everyone has a different sound (since they all waer different shoes.) Sthe sound effects aren't as primitive anymore. Explosions sound like explosions, punches sound like punches. My only complaint is Squall's footsteps. They're VERY annoying.
PLOT- The initial thought of a theme of love could turn off many people (I'm talking to you, Tyler.) but it's not too bad if you give it a chance. The story is about a young soldier named Squall Leonhart. With all his friends (whom he's just met.) Single handedly save the world. The story revolves around Squall and Rinoa. (The cold harted sociopath and the sweet, caring and cheery person) Then there's the other characters, Quistis (Serious, down-to-the-point instructor), Zell (The over-active dude always looking for a fight), Selphie (Happy, energetic, annoying), Irvine (Sheer overconfidence) Edea (Big, bad soceress) and Seifer (Big, bad soceress' knight). Quite a crew, eh? Actually, they're the most realistic bunch of RPG characters I've ever had the pleasure to play as. Nothing makes them stand out. They're just ordinary people who happened to get caught up in the insanity and ultimatly become the heros of the world. To summerize the whole plot, it's a emotional roller-coaster with laughs, anger, frusteration, saddness and awe that will stay in my memory for a long time.
SYSTEM- Okay, Espers were cool and easy. Materia was okay. Final Fantasy VIII's Junction is awesome. You can change almost anything about your character. You start by first junctioning a GF to a character. GFs are the summon monsters of FF8 ranging from almost human (Shiva) to...things. (Eden) After you do that, you choose what commands that character will have (magic, draw, item, GF plus more commands you're GFs can learn.) After you have drawn lots of magic from enemies you can Junction it to your attributes. (cure in HP to raise your HP, fire in attack to increase attack. The moreof that spell you have, the highter the attribute goes up.) The system is fun, complex and easy to use. (to me..) There's also an auto command that will Junction the character automatically with the most efective spells where they work the best.
FINAL THOUGHT- All in all, Final Fantasy VIII was an amazing trip into another world that was prefectly worth my money and my time and I can't wait to get my first disc back so I can play it all over again.
SCORE
Graphics- 10/10
Sound- 9/10
Plot- 9/10
System- 10/10
Difficulty- medium
Average Time to Finish- 60 hours
My Time- 63:56
Replayability- 8/10
Fun- 9/10
AVERAGE--- 93/100