Product description
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Game Synopsis
In a time of both sophisticated technology and powerful magic,
an evil sorceress corrupts the world's largest power
through manipulation and deception, enslaving mankind to do her
bidding. Her goal is not something as simple as world domination;
but to completely conquer all of space and time.
To counter the turn of events, various leaders head combat
training schools, known as Gardens that turn out elite fighting
forces. Known as , they defend, serve, and protect humankind
from the sorceress. The sole purpose of these academies is to
vanquish the sorceress and save humanity, as we know it, although
they take many other assignments for the right price.
A small, loose-knit group of SeeD graduates find themselves
wrapped in a much bigger endeavor than simple combat.
Now, a blade spet, together with a diverse group of
young heroes, must set aside his fears, face the emotions he's
run from, and become the leader that he never wanted to be.
.com
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SquareSoft has always had a sure-fire hit when releasing any of
their Final Fantasy titles, and Final Fantasy VIII should be no
exception. The basis of a good RPG (role-playing game) has always
been the story; spectacular graphics are secondary. Final Fantasy
VIII's involved and interesting story line is filled with great
twists, well-developed characters, suspense, and romance. As an
added bonus, the graphics are beautiful. Everything--from the
low-lit jazz club to the steam-filled railroad tunnels--is
gorgeous and perfectly sets the mood and tone of a scene.
The game mechanics are standard fare for an RPG: acquisition of
items and spells, turn-based combat, experience points earned in
combat allowing advances in levels. From exploration to battles
to dialogue, Final Fantasy VIII has it all. However, Final
Fantasy VIII falls to that great weakness of RPGs: random
battles. While necessary for advancing in levels, the battles
occur with such frequency that they can grow annoying, making for
a tedious game experience.
The epic storyline spans four discs--over 40 hours of
gameplay--and is based around a mercenary cadet who finds himself
caught up with an underground rebel faction. He winds up in a
plot to assassinate the sorceress who has just seized power from
the president.
You could complain of limited replay value, but this gripe is of
no consequence: the game is such a satisfying experience, it
doesn't require replay. Final Fantasy VIII is easily worth both
the hype and the wait. You can't buy a much better game. --John
Cocking
Pros:
* A story to beat all stories
* Characters worth caring about
* Hey--it's from SquareSoft
* Stunning animations
Cons:* Too many random battles
* Combat is, as always, turn-based and offers minimal excitement
* Weak souls might give up after two or three discs of play
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Review
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I've been a Final Fantasy fan ever since the day the Nintendo
Power strategy guide first arrived in my mailbox. Poring over the
pages, I just knew that I had to play this game, to live in this
other world. Heroes and villains, magic and mystery, epic quests
and noble causes were all waiting to unfurl before my eyes. And
ever since I vanquished Chaos, I've been hooked. Each of the
English games has been analyzed, replayed, and studied as if it
were a sacred text - and I'd be lying if I didn't acknowledge the
Final Fantasy series as the primary impetus behind my Japanese
studies.
But after the seventh game, my seemingly limitless faith in the
series began to falter. Final Fantasy VII was an excellent title,
to be sure; but with a Final Fantasy game, "excellent" is never
good enough. Some sections seemed like they were straight out of
a Hollywood summer blockbuster: flashy, impressive, but
ultimately unsatisfying. It was with some trepidation that I
awaited Final Fantasy VIII's release: Would it be a return to the
series' roots or a further digression into flash and bness?
In the end, any qualms I had were for naught; Square has finally
understood how to use the power of the CD properly. Fear not.
Final Fantasy VIII is a masterpiece.
The core of any Final Fantasy game has always been its story, and
Final Fantasy VIII's story is the best the series - and likely
the genre - has ever seen. With Final Fantasy VII, Square showed
that it had mastered the epic; with VIII, it shows that it has
mastered the personal. The characters and their relationships are
all extremely believable and complex; moreover, the core romance
holds up even under the most pessimistic scrutiny. The decision
to eschew a cast of dozens and focus on a central cast of six
major characters appears to have been a wise one. The characters
don't seem like base archetypes or generic "heroes," but like
actual people.
Squall Leonheart is a student at Garden, the world's foremost
academy. His classmates are a motley bunch: the b
but good-natured Zell Dincht; the b but ill-natured Seifer
Almasy; the childlike Selphie Tilmitt; the precocious Quistis
Trepe; and the personable Rinoa Heartilly. After a successful
training mission, Squall, Selphie, and Zell are all inducted into
the elite combat-unit-for-hire, SeeD. Their first mission:
assisting a rebel organization in the capture of Galbadian
president Deling, who is set to announce a new alliance that will
bring Galbadia glory and triumph over its nents. This
alliance is not with any faction or nation, but with a powerful
sorceress named Edea.
Don't worry that the schoolyard trappings make Final Fantasy VIII
seem like "Teen Beat RPG," though; these engaging characters
experience some of the most epic, grandiose events imaginable.
While the plot may begin at an academy, it eventually spans the
entire globe - and beyond. The twists and turns the story takes
will leave you reeling; at the end of disc four, you'll laugh at
the misconceptions you had about the plot with which you first
began. A great deal of credit for the story's attractiveness must
go to the graphic design. The first Final Fantasy through the
sixth featured super-deformed, or SD, heroes: squat body, huge
head, saucer-plate eyes. Final Fantasy VII was a hodgepodge of
conflicting graphical styles; the field models were SD, the
battle models were non-SD, the FMV was mostly non-SD (with a few
SD exceptions almost humorously juxtaposed). With Final Fantasy
VIII, Square has taken the series fully non-SD, and it's all for
the better. The more mature plots of recent titles seemed at odds
with the quirky, cartoony look with which the series began.
Involving, personal, and emotional stories are far more
believable when they come from, well, people, not short,
bizarrely shaped cartoon characters. While the SD style suits
many games, it's not the best choice for every RPG - and it
certainly isn't the best choice for Square's latest Final
Fantasy. In Final Fantasy VIII, the field models always match the
battle models, which always match the FMV models. Always. This
coherency of design is the game's greatest visual asset over its
predecessors.
The graphics are absolutely breathtaking. The detail in the
backgrounds is frighteningly meticulous, and almost all
backgrounds contain some animated elements. Battle sequences are
nicely textured, and the sheer number of battle environments is
borderline obsessive. Most full-motion video sequences are well
integrated with gameplay, eliminating jarring "cuts" to and from
CG sequences. Words don't do the graphics justice; neither, for
that matter, do stationary screens. The motion and animation
are what set Final Fantasy VIII's graphics apart from the rest.
Both the FMV and in-game graphics are extensively
motion-captured, and the difference is stunning. Characters don't
just move around the screen; they act. The dance sequence on the
first disc is equal in every way to Final Fantasy VI's famous
"opera house" sequence. Square has proven that it has the
biggest, baddest graphic artists and sound composers in the known
world. Now, size no longer matters; they're going to awe you with
majesty. While the limitations of the PlayStation hardware rear
their ugly head from time to time, the sheer artistry and detail
of the movement, the models, and the textures are beyond
reproach. The mind reels at the thought of what Square can do
with the next generation of gaming machines.
The sound, while excellent, is perhaps the game's weakest point;
the music doesn't match the perfection of Final Fantasies IV, V,
and VI. Of course, almost no video game has ever equaled the
aural bliss of Nobuo Uematsu's SNES trilogy - but the bar was
set, and Final Fantasy VIII falls just short. Even so, Uematsu is
still a certifiable genius, and the soundtrack is very good, with
more "quality" songs than Final Fantasy VII's. Even Faye Wong's
pop sensation "Eyes on Me" is surprisingly inoffensive. Sound
effects are excellent during FMV sequences, but only average
during battle and gameplay sequences. The promised "Dolby
Surround Sound" is mostly unnoticeable. Voice acting would have
added a great deal to the FMV sequences; the game sometimes feels
like the most beautiful silent film ever made.
Battles take place in the traditional RPG "active time" system:
Your characters and their nents take turns unleashing fury
(or defending furiously). Final Fantasy VIII introduces (in
traditional Japanese RPG style) several new "systems" for you to
learn and master: the draw system, the guardian force system, and
the junction system. --Andrew Vestal
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