Foreverisacastironmess123 Review of Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy VIII (1999 Video Game)

"All Existence, denied!" Always was nothing but a shining gem of a game to me...

[10/10 · 17 September 2017]

I was sorry to hear of so much hate for this game because I myself never disliked it in the least, I think it has a fearsomely distinct and special charm, atmosphere and aesthetic that's entirely its own and that has always set it well apart from the other games in the series, for better or worse as it turns out.. I think the reason that so many took such a strong dislike was simply because it had the gall to follow in the wake of FF7 which had been such a gaming revelation at the time and whatever this game was, it was certainly a world apart from FF7! However, although they're both well deserved 10/10 games in my book, I do personally like this one slightly better because I was at a certain age where I could appreciate the experience of the game in a certain special way, and this just had more of an impact on the young me and I definitely found it to be the more rewarding and enriching gaming journey, it was one of the best I ever had. Before it even properly came out I knew I'd love it after I played a demo from a magazine that had the early part of the game where you flee the scary robot spider on it. It was decidedly a much more lighthearted affair than FF7 had been, and the world it presented was visually a lot more clean and bright and much less gritty in comparison. The main theme of eight seemed to focus more on the emotional aspects of the story and characters, with running themes of loss, militarism and ultimately, the good old fashioned power of love transcending all time and space to rise triumphant above all! I was hooked on this one right from when I first played it and I was so enchanted by the style and look of it right from when you wake up in the infirmary and are free to walk around Balamb Garden and hear the first of many beautiful and emotive musical themes that truly breathed such life and magic into it all. I played this game like a maniac in my day, sometimes I played it all night through to the next day, and it's so embarrassing to say (But what the hey!)but I remember how when it struck midnight on December 31st 1999, I was quite busy battling it out with Ultimecia's final form! The young cast of cadet soldiers for hire were a little annoyingly pretty but they were a good group to get behind and all had their moments as you progressed through a story that starts with a few small skirmishes against a neighbouring more warlike academy and ends with you fighting a power-hungry villainess from the far future who's been possessing her magically gifted predecessors from the past present and future in a complex scheme to change and absorb all time and reality into herself to become a bizarre goddess whom you slowly conquer in one truly epic cosmic battle after making your way through her freaky interdimensional Gothic castle!! It's a fantastic journey that you go on even if some of the plot points get a little hazy and confusing, such as the powers of Elone and the whole Laguna Loire thing.. And Squall, while never exactly what you could adequately describe as a likable protagonist or indeed a hero, at least does slowly grow and change a little into a character that you at least understand a bit more as it slowly dawns in his thick self-centred head that he actually does love the fair waif Rinoa! I love all the finicky sequence where she's floating in space and you have to try and catch her, it's so poignant and moving, and the music always made me a little misty-eyed. And so this game, the most sensitive of the Final Fantasy games, is one that I still love and has a very special place in my heart, as it's a great moving and magical classic and will always be that to me. X