Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)

Introduction

Squall is an emotionally stunted teenage mercenary who has finished his final exams. He is now eligible to get sent out to do real wet-work and other dangerous missions (Wait… hold on. There are teenage mercenaries? Most of them are orphaned? Yeah because teenage mercenaries are killing soldiers and leaving their children parentless. And then the cycle propogates itself. Cid… you monster). His first mission gets messy and embroils his academy into a war. This war then gets messy and embroils the world in a conflict over relative time and space. Throw in a couple of romances, some kooky characters, some sweet settings, and a leveling up system that made my head spin and we’ve got a game.

Apparently this is what leveling up looks like… uh… umm…. I’ll get back to this later.

History

Another Final Fantasy game with the same old crew. It’s bizarre to think that most FF games begin with Yoshitaka Amano’s art and then those designs get extrapolated and integrated by writers and graphic designers into a cohesive product but that’s how it happens. Squall’s and Seifer’s trademark scars just started as something interesting Amano added to the designs and they turned into a symbol of bitter rivalry and parallel ability. Or how the card game came into being because they were popular in Japan at the time and so they made one, the simplest things provoke design and expansion (And then how those simple designs can get blown out of proportion).

Somehow that first image becomes the second. (And the Final Fantasy desire for more than the usual number of belts begins. Also, Jesus, Squall have you ever gone outside. He looks damn near translucent.)

Final Fantasy VIII was also the second game to get a release for PC. It had sharper but more jarring visuals, slightly worse background images, and more midi sounding music. It was also more difficult to control with a keyboard instead of a keyboard (X is the gunblade trigger, what were these guys thinking?). Steam’s PC port even includes a magic booster which provides Squall and his friends with a pool of simple spells to start the game with (Which would make sense considering they’re learning in a university that specializes in the application of magical warfare). When I was growing up it was also strangely difficult to find a computer that it ran well on.

Fun Fact: This is the first Final Fantasy with an ongoing internal monologue.

Funner Fact: This is the first Final Fantasy game with realistic models for characters.

Final Fantasy VIII was released on September 9th 1999. It’s competition was Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage (PS1), Heroes of Might and Magic III (PC), and Ape Escape (PS1).

Nostalgia

This is the first Final Fantasy game that I completed. There may have been a Gameshark involved and a lot of swearing but that doesn’t change the fact that I beat it. It was difficult even with a Squall with maxed out stats, one overpowered character does not an effective party make. And there are some fights that can’t be won with brute force alone. I didn’t do as much exploring as I would have otherwise and I didn’t figure out how to make the Junction system work. I’m so glad I revisited it and gave it an honest go though. Delving into it’s systems was one of the major points of playing and even if it meant a few saves that were basically unsalvageable and starting over… there was also a lot of cursing involved.

Also, navigating the debug menu was a giant nightmare.

Gameplay

It’s a Final Fantasy game so get ready for some angsty and over the top characters (Now don’t confuse those groups), turn based combat, a plot that’ll make your head spin a little, some minigames, and a brand new system that isn’t seen before or since.

Our angsty protagonist is Squall, an emotionally damaged young man who finds himself unable to trust anyone or anything but himself. Someone who keeps his feelings bottled up inside because it’s impossible, and therefor foolish, to truly relate to anyone or anything… ugh. Sorry, but playing as this guy can get a little oppressive. I see his point of view and how he got there from being abandoned as a small and impressionable child and that he’s still young, young enough to snap out of it or change in any way. But it’s still difficult to hear him think and talk about it all the time like he doesn’t see the adoration and care that his companions have for him. But, having been this way myself (Oh past me, you’re always worse than present me), I can understand where he comes from. I didn’t want to see the way others cared about me because that would mean having to admit that I could or should do the same for them. And in the end Squall breaks these nasty habits at least a little bit.

I bet he thinks he’s so deep. If he brings an acoustic guitar to my party I’m gonna throw him out.

The over the top characters are basically the rest of the cast. They’re all uproarious and compelling in their own ways. With only six main party characters it’s easier to develop them. Unlike Final Fantasy VI and it’s cast of 14 characters, 5 out of 6 of these characters get development and closure (This is even a bigger fraction!).

Look at these bright faced young people. Time for their spirits to get crushed.

The plot can turn into a jumbled mess a little bit though. When time travel gets involved and The Doctor is around to explain it away things are bound to get messed up.

The Kvush

The Junction system. I want to be angry at it because it’s a byzantine and nearly incomprehensible mess but I can’t stay mad at it. It provides the ability when connected with other systems, like the card game, allows characters to become very powerful very quickly. A system that provides nearly full character customization with the navigation of a few menus and the application of the player’s mind. And I know that everyone hates on the draw system for being a dumb, tedious, waste of time and it is but it’s not meant to be the primary source of magical charges (The only spell I draw is a few scans at the beginning of the game). It’s clear that items and Guardian Force refinement abilities are meant to be the main source of magic and that draw is meant to snag a few precious spells or Guardian Forces from bosses. So I loved figuring it out and loved having mastered it but there was a long time where the Junction system just didn’t make sense and I think the game has a bad way of conveying how it works.

Wait… wait! I see it now. You “equip” the magic to the stats. Why didn’t the game just phrase it that way?

Time Compression, I don’t know if it’s brilliant or supremely fucked up. I’m going to say it’s both, call it a night, and then ask Cthulhu to turn the lights out for me before he comes to bed.

The gunblade. Just… its existence can make fans cream their jeans and haters froth at the mouth. I think it’s an interesting idea for a cutting weapon to pierce thick hide and then inject an explosive shell into the wound but… it’s super impractical. And that was just my head canon on it. I think the game tries to say that it just fires bullets out of it’s invisible sword barrel. I dunno, it looks cool but it sounds so dumb.

The Gush

I love the card game. Screw all the haters, this game can get really strategically satisfying. Between the spread or abolishment of rules, the manipulation of those rules, and how their simple natures can change the game in big ways next next rules region is always full of surprises. There are also web sites that support the Triple Triad game if anyone has a hankering to play online with an expanded card set.

The music in this game is great but it was made by Uematsu and Uematsu doesn’t make bad stuff. At least he doesn’t make bad stuff at this time anyway.

The summons in this game are awesome. Because they’re usable multiple times in fights and have to be equipped to characters it’s a viable strategy to rely on GF attacks to dominate the opposition.

Besides, if you could summon this guy in real life to throw needles at your enemies you would.

The environments and backgrounds of this game look really good. Sometimes I marvel at things for a little while. And sometimes this marvelling leads to the discovery of sweet hidden passages.

These two places are part of the same location! And that location tells an impressive tale.

I also can’t think of a Final Fantasy game before it that was able to produce as much spectacle as the Garden fight from Disc 2. This is just madness, and there are even more scenes of the bloodshed.

I really like the character of Seifer Almasy. He’s got all of Squall’s emotional trauma but none of his reservedness. He’s loud, belligerent, dangerous, and inspiring but in the end that’s what captures him in a cult of personality lead and staffed by himself. He’s young, idealistic, and confused about his life but is unwilling to share that with anyone. And to top this all off he’s extremely capable. It’s like if Tyler Durden had all of the skills but none of the direction. When I was younger I didn’t understand his motivations at all but being all growed up it’s plain for me to see his rampant confusion and unwillingness to bring it to light.

Golden dialogue right there.

The Kvetch

Quistis is a really interesting character, or she could be. She’s the oldest of the bunch and the only female in the party who isn’t romantically involved (Well, except her obvious desire to fuck Squall around the beginning of the game which gets destroyed in the cold emotional black hole Squall has instead of a libido). But we know almost nothing about her. We don’t know where she trained, what her aspirations are, or what she’s all about.

This game is chock full of pointless side quests. There are so many little side activities that are not worth the player’s time. Some of them give Guardian Forces and that’s super cool and rewarding but Mr. Monkey’s quest line offers simple healing items that can be purchased from up scale shops. And don’t get me started on the obfuscated BS they expect of the player when it comes to the PUPU alien quest line.

The monsters scale with the player. Oblivion should’ve learned their lesson from this game. The average level of the party is used to determine the level of monsters and their statistics react accordingly with stronger monsters getting stronger faster and weaker monsters not seeing that big of a boost. This leads to a problem where players who are confused by the Junction System try to grind enemies to make up for it and then get left even further into the dust by enemies that they’re even more ill matched for. It leads to some interesting abuse with party balance and Junction manipulation but it feels like mean trick on an unsuspecting player.

The Verdict

Find your walk through or a friend who can help you cheat the system because I think this game is damn good. It’s certainly not as good as its review scores might suggest (10/10 my ass Playstation Magazine. I’ll go as high as 8/10 and not one point higher. [I would go for 7.5/10 but I have to make dumb number jokes]) but it’s also not as bad as it’s harsh critics would say. I recommend it to those that enjoy the byzantine or complex if only for complexity’s sake. There are too many wonderful moments, characters, places, and secrets to pass this one up.

Next Week: Brave Fencer Musashi (PS1)

Final Fantasy VI (SNES)

The top image is the japanese box art and the bottom image is the US box art. Did we ever get shafted.

Introduction

1000 years ago civilization as we know it was nearly wiped from the face of the world in a conflict known as the War of the Magi. Humans and beings knows as Espers wielded magic in countless battles. Humanity had to rediscover the power of steam and the most basic of industrial technologies. The Empire– it’s seriously just the empire? Whatever, just remember kids empires are evil and kingdoms are good!– has rediscovered Magic now and is gathering power at breakneck speed. You take the roll of a group of 14 exceptional individuals that have gathered from the disparate corners of the world– even the Empire itself– to fight the Empire.

Whatever you like, this game has a character for you. It’s got 2 kids, an androgynous mime, a yeti, and a samurai–  if you want it, they got it.

History

I bet I know what all y’all are thinking right now, “If the game is final fantasy 6 then why does the box have a roman numeral three on it?” Good question with a simple answer. Final fantasy 2, 3, and 5 weren’t released in the US. Final Fantasy 4 was the second Final Fantasy game that was released in the US so they marketed it as Final Fantasy 2 to avoid confusion– which would eventually create the confusion you’re feeling now, presumably. So when Final Fantasy 6 came out in the US they called it three to continue the trend. So that’s why it’s VI on the Japanese box and III on the US. With that out of the way, let’s talk about some other stuff!

This is the first game in the series that series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi was not intimately involved with, or at least not as involved as he wanted to be. Different characters were designed by different developers and it makes the game piecemeal but in a good way. They took the elements that they liked and turned them into wonderful quilt of a game. The game has no clear protagonist and I believe this large combined effort is the cause.

Fun Fact: This game was developed in a year– that’s just insane to me.

This game was released in the US on October 20th 1994. It’s competition was Sonic and Knuckles (Sega Genesis), Warcraft (PC), and Donkey Kong Country (SNES).

Nostalgia

Video Game rental stores– they were illegal in Japan and I can see why. Lemme just say that my family was super poor for awhile — they eventually started paying me in videogames for my good grades. In the meantime we would rent games because we couldn’t afford to purchase them. It was 7 dollars for 5 days. Now, that’s fine for a game that you can beat in 5 days but Final Fantasy VI requires an attention span that a 12 year old just can’t sustain in order to beat it in so short a time. I would rent it time and time again just to play through the first few hours because my save file would always get overwritten by the time I could get it back. Oh… damn… I should have written this section on limited save files– I am the worst blogger. God, I would play on a higher leveled save file and I couldn’t understand what was going on because I didn’t know the plot and I would feel bad for messing with someone’s game.

Bottom line, if we had saved the money we spent renting this thing over and over again without getting anywhere we could have bought it. It was a scam renting this game out pure and simple.

I’ll see you in hell.

Gameplay

As is usually the fair in Final Fantasy games there’s the plot and some combat, and ne’er the twain shall meet. The plot is rife with spoilers and learning as the story unfolds is most of the enjoyment so I’ll just talk about the basics. The world is split between free states and the Empire– I’m still harping on it for being just THE Empire. (This just in: It’s actually called the Gestahlan Empire. Named after it’s emperor, Gestahl.) The Empire is centrally located on one continent and the free states are divided and not militaristic so they’re having a hard time repelling the Empire, especially since the Empire discovered Magic and Magi-tek– Oh man, it’s like Magic and Technology put together! I just like the word, it rolls of the tongue — if the tongue was an assembly line. People from all the free states have banded together to form a group called the Returners, who are going to fight the Empire. I never understood why they were called the Returners. What are they returning from– are they saying not to call it comeback because they never left? I dunno, it’s a cool name but I don’t understand why they use it.

This world is filled with people who are willing to fight the Empire, some may need a push but they’re more than able. These people are Terra, the enigmatic woman who has been brainwashed by the empire and forced to use her natural magic powers to kill innocents– by the way, that natural magic thing is really important. Locke, a pure-hearted thief– I mean treasure hunter– who works for the Returners. Edgar, the flirtatious king of Figaro who appears to help the Empire but really colludes with the Returners. Sabin, Edgar’s twin brother who abdicated the throne in order to follow his dreams of becoming a martial artist. Cyan, an honorable samurai in the service of the Kingdom of Doma. Gau, a feral child who has survived the harshest wilderness in the world. Celes, a tomboy general for the Empire who is considering defection. Setzer, a gambling free spirit and pilot of the world’s only airship. Shadow– very original guys– a taciturn ninja who works for the highest bidder. Relm, a peppy young girl who can bring her drawings to life for a short while. She lives with her grandfather Strago, who can keep up with his granddaughter and has learned the ways of many monsters. Mog, the urbanite moogle whose dances can summon the forces of the world. That’s 12 characters! And it’s not including the 2 secret characters.

Look at all these guys!

Each character has different abilities that they can employ in combat. I find it super fun to find combinations of characters that compliment each other very well. Characters can attack as well as cast spells– did I say cast spells? I meant to say that magic is dead… dead forever… yup… forever.

The music in this game is some of the best for the Super Nintendo. It was composed by Nobuo Uematsu so you know it’s good– if you know who that guy is, I mean.

This music is so notable that there is an entire album devoted to remixing it. It’s called Balance and Ruin and I highly suggest checking it out.

The art and animation for this game is shockingly good for the time. Characters had more mobility than ever — They were able to blink, man! They could raise there arms and could move around out of pixel alignment which allowed them to express things that couldn’t be expressed in previous games. The animations of magic are also really satisfying, it looks like these enemies are getting messed up.

It might not look like much now but it was revolutionary at the time.

The Gush

Sabin suplexes a train, you heard me. Sabin can suplex a train, check it.

This could be the whole section, but I guess I should say more.

 

The villain’s motivation is wonderfully simple. There’s nothing wrong with crazy being a character’s motivation especially when they have so much character behind it. I also rate him as one of the greatest villains of all time just because of the sheer amount of havoc and death he causes. He also rates as one of the most glamour filled final fights in game history. His boss fight has 4 stages. These aren’t multiple forms mind you, this guy’s just got 3 waves of minions to fight before you even face him. And to top it all off, the music is fucking wonderful.

I’m just going to say it again, but the art for this game is beautiful.

Just take a look at this image. That’s the Imperial capital and you’re going to infiltrate it with that airship. How small, defenseless, and exposed do you feel right now? They’ve got you beaten dead to rights, if that searchlight hits you that airship is getting shot down. They out-man, out-gun, and over-power you in every single way. And if you don’t defeat them then no one will– that’s some Lord of the Rings stuff right there. Good luck.

The sketches are just jaw-dropping.

Is anyone ready to be a Samurai yet?

Or maybe a ninja? Whichever you choose, you win.

There are 14 characters in this game and it never feels like any of them are being shortchanged. By the end ten of them get closure to their personal stories. The game was designed to have no protagonist and it gives the player the opportunity to pick their own.

If you asked me to pick a favorite character I wouldn’t be able to. Every time I choose one I immediately think of a reason to pick someone else. I want to choose Shadow because he’s got a mysterious past that we get to piece together but then I remember some spoilery things that happens with Locke but then my mind turns to Relm’s spunky attitude and it never ends! They’re all just so goddam compelling.

You know what’s awesome!? Dogs! Shadow’s got a dog. It takes hits for him and dishes out the pain. It’s something small, but it gives him so much character and life. The dog’s name is Interceptor and he “eats strangers,” if that’s not cool I dunno what is.

This game runs the gamut of emotions. I cried, I cheered, I laughed– did I mention that this game can be really funny. And it’s not just the translation, but that doesn’t hurt it.

Mistranslation or non-sequitor? You decide.

This game has serious choices with serious consequences. I’m not going to spoil it but just remember, leave no man behind.

The Kvetch

Do you remember that part where I said you could pick your protagonist? Well sometimes the game chooses which characters you have to play and that can rob you of your protagonist…ness. But hey, you’re favorite guy or gal is probably busy doing something else in another location– certainly something really awesome — while these guys also do something important.

This game is really buggy. Thankfully most of the bugs are so obscure that you’re unlikely to find them but some are just game changing. The evade stat doesn’t work, you heard me. You evade attacks based on your Magic Block stat, not the evade stat. In addition, the dark status effect doesn’t do anything. Try blinding an enemy? It has no effect. Then again it doesn’t effect you either so it’s not all bad. Then again, the dark status effect indicator makes it look like you’re character is wearing sunglasses so…

Certain spell combinations can break the game, enabling the player to defeat all enemies in two casts with the exception of some bosses. Some would say this is a plus but I disagree.

This game can be a completionist’s nightmare. There are a lot of segments that are points of no return with sweet loot behind you. Some abilities can only be acquired in certain parts of the game and are LOST FOREVER if you don’t get them. Certain scenes only trigger in mutually exclusive circumstances, so if you did A and not B then something happens but you can only see the other thing if you restart the game and then do B and not A.

Get your strategy guide kids because there are secrets hidden in senseless places all over this game. It wouldn’t be so bad but some of them are only available the first time you enter the room and that just seems unfair.

The Verdict

It might come as a shock to you, dear reader, but I fucking love this game. I still play through it once a year. I don’t feel nostalgia blinded by this game, I feel nostalgia enriched. When I got the full version and could stop renting it my world was splite between high school homework and this game for 2 weeks until I beat it. I personally think it’s the best in the series. Agree? Disagree? Hash it out in the comments.

Next Week: Fallout 1