Developer/publisher: Square Enix.
Platform: PC/PS4/5/switch.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 09/03/2019
Platform: PC/PS4/5/switch.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 09/03/2019
Another game I bought on a sale around 10$.
FF8, aka one of the PS1 era FF's I never played thus far and when I started this game
I immediately understood why it probably was better to not to.
Its mostly the system really, its a huge unga-bunga of drawing magic from bosses
which makes you able to use said magic but only if you set it.
Yea you read that right, well as an FF fan I always felt a little bad for avoiding this one
so this time I bit the bullet and tried the remaster when I didn't have much else to do
so it was kind of a backburner game of sorts. I didn't take that many screenshots
but there were some really funny dialogues at times.
Pro's
- Great cast of characters.
- Serious story with some light-hearted moment&comedy.
- Triple triad is goat.
- Amazing OST.
Con's
- Overly complicated system that is easily broken and lacks balance.
- Backgrounds and FMV's were of poor quality in comparison to the amazing models.
- As great as the OST is this game really needed a lower the BGM option.
- Too easy to miss sidequest or other things making you have to read a guide like a hawk.
More rambles after the jump.
In terms of gameplay FF8 is a real piece of work, its obnoxious to put it mildly
but oh so easy to break if you put in the time and effort and so you'll realize
just how poorly balanced this game is. All you really need is tornado+quake
and 100 curagas from tents... you'll be good to go for the rest of the game.
Early game I was mostly just spamming GF's quezacotl was a real champ btw.
Story's about a bunch of students studying to become members of seed...
there are politics and most factions around the globe tend to butt heads.
Early on its incredibly hard to guess wtf is even going on tbh... it also felt like square's
own version of evangelion there's even a ruin looking like one of the invaders!
not to mention certain happenings in disc3. Well I'd say some of it is mostly influenced by EVA really.
I didn't really understand what was going on in disc 1 and 2 so this screenshot sums it up quite well.
of bosses to get your abilities back(draw/magic/item/command/GF/revive/save.)
Some of them weren't necessary like draw or save as you could save outside...
By the end I definitely did get what it was about but... not all was explained thoroughly
like you either got it or you didn't. The ending itself was nice and I liked it.
The ending song felt like it was more about Laguna and the pianist or Raine? then Squall or Rinoa
although some parts did kind of ring the same. So the song was pretty fitting still.
 |
| Squall really is huh? |
The ditz Selphie, and the clown Zell. Then there's Quistis who's the teacher...
I did like her as she had some spunk and then there was the princess Rinoa. Uh well
she's not really a princess but she was a bit special? but idk I was pretty whatever
about Squall tho ''I dreamed I was a Moron'' was a pretty good quote from him.
At times you also switch to a character named Laguna and his buddies
which I didn't really quite understood, it seems to be another side to things?
Well its best to just keep playing cuz all will be explained.
As for the cast in general, they could feel surprisingly real, they're not perfect but who is?
 |
| I will remember Irvine's full-lifes who were blown away by the last boss before I dealt the killing blow as well as how I made him my healslut at the last minute. |
The graphics are.. well the models are pretty good, they received an overhaul
for this remaster and they look pretty neat! however the backgrounds and FMV's
don't look as great. Backgrounds look washed out and FMV's look like a 360p youtube video.
Ew right? i'm sure that on youtube you'd find better quality FMV's than what they're are in the game.
So while it seems they put effort into the remaster they also slacked off a lot...
its funny how some FMV's especially in later discs looked much better than others.
They really went for the I just walked out/into a movie scene thingy and at times it
was hard to even know what way to go or interact with what. The blurry backgrounds did not
make this much better. If you're ever stuck the highest rated gamefaq guide is recommended!
The Music was pretty good though and definitely stood out! however there was
no way to lower the BGM at all so it was at a standard level that after a while
I just kind of wanted to lower cuz it was actually quite loud.
The minigame triple triad was amazing and i'd almost just be playing the entire game for it.
I already knew it from FFXIV a little but its just as good here as there.
I mean I was supposed to play the story but here I am playing a card game and trying
to earn all the cards from this one npc who must think i'm bullying him or something.😅
There's also a trophy for losing a match and a rare card... well its only fair at this point.
System.
 |
| Aww shit not like this... |
needlessly complicated with the whole Guardian Forces/GF system.
The main problem with Junctions is that its terribly explained and just thrown in your face
too quickly but once you know which spells you should get; auto add will take care of the rest.
There are Guardian Forces you have to equip which are also summons! these can
learn abilities via AP which they'll only earn if they're equipped.
Some also increase stats but what I really never understood is why do we have to set basic
combat commands up as well like magic, draw or use items? These should come by default right?
well I assumed it was just because of how its programmed and they just wanted
the player the ability to free-form and not make everyone the same which is kind of nice.
Still I am trying to understand what is best for whom and my Pea brain had
a hard time with this so I was double tempted to activate the cheat mode
which comes with the remaster just so that I at the very least could enjoy the story.
Still I atleast wanted to try to play the game normally so I ended up using a Gfaqs guide
but I just couldn't be arsed and just turned it on. Cuz if I didn't I'd just... have went and played
any other game that I'd do understand and not have to draw x9000 so I can cast cure as necessary.
Wtf... usually magic costs MP right? wtf is up with limiting it to one per usage like its some item???
FF8 strikes me as incredible grindy from having to draw magic all the time AND IT IS
most mobs don't even have anything good btw either! and like I said a player
can completely break the game via triple triad, trivializing everything.
Of course this is optional and you don't need to go all the way like get lionheart disc 1 or something.
As long as your GF's *summons* are decently leveled and got some of the basic spells
early on most random enemies will die easily... yes even the brothers which you fight in the tomb. These guys kept healing and you were supposed to cast float on them but here was I just casting
summon in between casting a cure or potion so I didn't die. Haha bruteforce works huh?
The ironclad boss was the first boss that wiped my ass but even that I managed
to bruteforce after changing my setup slightly. Thanks to the highest rated Gfaq guide
I managed to not miss the missable guardian forces from bosses too but that guide
liked to overcomplicate most of the fights and I really didn't have that much issues
aside one mob in the last dungeon called tri-point which you could even avoid althogether
and get your ability back from another boss which there are plenty off.
My biggest gripe with FF8 however is how annoying it was to switch the GF's around
everytime the party split up. That and how some of the maps are just copy and pasted
a few time to form a dungeon! the biggest offenders being the tomb,sewers on disc1
and the prison on disc2. Also there's almost no way to AoE heal except with triple
which you don't get till later... and at point healing can be done via the recover and revive abilities.
You could also sacrifice your bahamut card(s) for megalixers which is the only legit
AoE heal that even works and even cures doom! but I only recommend these it for omega/lastboss.
This game just doesn't want you to use magic at all does it? only to buff yourself or debuff a boss
which I only remember doing twice. Once on Diablos with blind and again on Bahamut blind&slow
too bad slow only sticked once on the latter but without blind it would be harder.
Which makes me go like what is even the point of magic then? its just for a stat boost!
or to make this one boss a complete joke. Also leveling up too much is useless here in FF8 as well
cuz they scale with you and stats all depend on you GF's. Yeaaa... FF8 hits a bit different doesn't it?
Hopefully you weren't level 100 by the time you faced omega cuz then u'll have one more problem!
Yep... the mainstory was hardly a challenge if you got some good junctions.
This game definitely... isn't for everyone but its great if you're one of those that loves breaking
things and want lots of freedom to do so. I swear I don't get why magic
has to be so limited but ''whatever'' as Squall would say!
Full disclosure!
I didn't really use the invincibility cheat that come with the remaster except for trash fights
or when I tried to get some optional GF like Tonberry or Cactuar the latter made me realize
this mode isn't so invincible certain attacks can still KO a character! all's fair as I managed
to go through the story fights legit and even fight bahamut legit. Just not the filler fights before it...
or the lead up to ultima weapon. Let's be real here I had no patience for ultima
and I was really just there to collect Eden. To beat ultima legit you really need to know
what you're doing but honestly the way to him was so tiresome I was like once agai
i'm here for Eden nothing more. Funny thing is I did get to A rank as I beat ultima, so it seems
bosses give more rank??? never fully understood how much you need to fight to rank up
only 10 fights to keep your rank. Anyway the main story was done without invincibility
and at times I even turned of 3x speed which kinda ruined me. But drawing spells or grinding?
I turned them on just so I can chill. I can write all this because... I obviously played this game.
I know... I could just watch a youtube playthrough but I also want to you know play the game & I did.
If you're gonna give a person the ability to cheese stuff, then naturally at times they'll use it.
I get why Square enix put it in, they're aiming the rereleases at people who want
a nostalgia trip without having to re-experience the full game as it was when they're now
much older with limited time. I can definitely imagine not all of it was fun too.As long as you're decently junctioned, got a good stack of tornado/quake/curagas/meltdown
the end of disc 3 or the main story in general shouldn't be a problem and you won't even need
the invincibility cheese. I had lionheart for Squall by that point and set up my team
so Zell had revive, Selphie/Rinoa/Irvine had recover and Squall had darkside.
Sadly all this info was scattered across the internet but it should be easy
to look up where to get those things.
 |
| Yep this was the end game and bosses dropped like flies because of darkside hitting for 9999. |
Darkside ability is very important cuz it makes the last two bosses of disc 3 a joke
the guide I used even made a big deal out of Mobile type 8 but he went out like a fly
and his attacks could be dealt with a quick recover. So once again no you don't need
the invincibility option for the main story at all. You can even get tornado/quake
at disc 1 which makes things even more of a breeze. Just becareful on disc 4
when you try to get your commands back... you can do it in any order so if tri what's
his point is too hard get revive back from another boss preferably the art room boss.
Omega was the hardest boss but as long as you got 9999 hp on all plus defend on two characters
it should be easy enough, just revive Squall if he dies and remember defend stays on till you act again.
Megalixer is the only real AoE heal in the game and I had to sacrifice my bahamut card
but at this point its a loss i'm willing to make because I don't play cards anymore.
The final boss went swimmingly? still had plenty of megalixers left to survive]but then
near the end the boss blew Irvings full-lifes away, good thing it like died in the next two hits
but man I was like nooooooooooooooo~ my healers gonna die! Apparently if you want
to avoid your important spells flying away put them in the last window as the game
can be manipulated on only blowing stuff out from the first few windows.Final thoughts!
would have played it, due to the counterintuitive system and all.
It is still very much an FF game but I can't help but see how it was inspired by evangelion at times
mostly cuz Squall is a depressed/moody teen and then there was centra ruins/lunatic pandorra.
This game was fairly serious but at times it would go and try to be comedic, if they didn't
I think this game would be really stiff so I am glad they tried to make the player laugh at times.
I haven't played FF1 to 5 and 11 but have played all others but let me say one thing...
this series can't be truly defined. Each entry is different in its story and gameplay. FF8 no matter
how obnoxious in its systems is no exception. The cheats are handy but 3x speed has ruined me.
No encounters is nice but it also exists in the game as a GF ability. Invincibility wasn't truly invincible
but still nice if you wanted to collect all GF's and can't be arsed to come up with a good strat for
the cactuar or just want to snag eden from ultima. Needless to say even if you use this
you still have to put in effort to play the game, its just easier to draw from mobs without
having to heal. FF8 also makes me grateful later games have AOE heals cuz boy this game needed it.
Yea like I said above somewhere is that you could use triple but there's still manual input... oh well!
During the story there were also some dumb minigames but atleast it had a retry as much as you like
so even if it took 3 tries I was like whatever let's move on. Triple triad on the other hand was
actually fun! can't say the same about the chocobo minigame but atleast you could call for help
and mount it like instantly so its once again a whatever moment.
 |
| This is one of those moment... |
Do I recommend Final Fantasy VIII remaster? well it depends on how much an FF fan you are
and still want to play this one warts and all. I liked most of the characters they had charms
or lack thereof? mostly Squall ''whatever'' tbh. The romance was kind of lacking this time?
but it wasn't the focus, neither it was in 7. Although Cloti or Claeris both had potential in that game.
Still in 8 there was a spark between Rinoa and Squall, not like in 10 but it was there
still you really gotta pay attention to the hints and interactions and I kinda disliked that.
Story is decent though, but they never truly explained everything and expects the player
to just you know get it. They also seem to focus on comedy at times which is nice
cuz without it I think FF8 would have been really bland with little to know flavour.
As a PS1 rpg its still up there and plays like 7 and 9 where you navigate your character across
a background. It is old so it doesn't have any of the QoL improvements new rpg's have
so it might be hard to find side quests or the magazines. Thankfully guides exists for those
and fully recommend you look them up if you plan to play this still. I definitely needed one
cuz I was poking so hard around everywhere trying to find the interaction points which
weren't marked and then there was the obel lake and pupu quest... AAAAAA~
 |
| Funniest quest in the game! |
Anyway the general gameplay is just why??? its actually not even that different from other FF games
they just had to make it needlessly complicated and summons still save your butt.
Drawing spells was a chore and managing junctions was annoying cuz they looove splitting up.
Obviously I wasn't really a fan of it... maybe some are but not me!
I think it can still be an entertaining journey? the characters were pretty fun
and it was interesting to see what the story was even about tbh.
Sadly I found the Laguna segments to be more fun/interesting early on than the main plot...
idk if that is good or bad, its just that FF8 is a bit of a sleeper in terms of general plot
which doesn't really come together till later on in the game. I did like the main cast of this game
but hmm this wasn't really my favorite FF game to actually you know play.
For what its worth its a decent FF game with a great cast of characters! its system
is too counter intuitive to be enjoyable for me and I didn't even really get it till I was almost done.
Its definitely understand why people get turned off by the gameplay system in FF8.
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