Final Fantasy VIII
My Past, My Future

STORY

One thing you can say about the FF series is that their stories are long, in-depth, and elaborate. FF8 story is no different. Now the story starts off with members of the Balamb Garden known as SeeDs. SeeD is a special task force. The group of SeeD is lead by Squall (hero). Squall and his teammates have been assign to assist a small liberation group trying to free the town of Timber from Galbadian control. While on assignment, it turns out that the country of Galbadia itself has been taken over by an evil sorceress. SeeD next mission is then to stop the evil sorceress from taking over the world. From here the story starts to unfold. Along the way members of SeeD will start to experience flashback in a dream like sequence of a man name Laguna. The flashback will help tell the all important big plotline of FF8 story. The presentation and story telling of FF8 is done beautifully. You have a blend of the present day story featuring Squall unfolding while at the same time experience yesterday's stories about Laguna. The question is which of the two stories presented to us is the main focal point of the story? And who indeed is really the main character of FF8, Squall or Laguna? This is a beautiful and somewhat sad story.

Score: 9/10

CHARACTERS

FF8 main focus is on the three characters of Squall, Laguna, and Rinoa. Most of the character developement centers around these three. There are other great secondary characters involve in this game as well but their background isn't told in the extent of the three mention above. However all the characters are connected to one another and each of them has his or her own personalities. You can't help but pick and choose who you like the best or and who you hate the most. My personal favorite is Laguna. I relate to him the most. Probably my second favorite rpg character.

Score: 9/10

  GRAPHICS

What can you say about the graphics? Awesome? Unbelievable? or Spectacular? No doubt that FF8 graphics are stunning and the FMV sequence are great as ever. The polygons characters are much more detailed and more human like than FF7 polygons characters. THe 3-D background graphics are extremely detailed and done well. Graphics wise, FF8 is probably the best out there.

Score: 10/10

MUSIC

FF8 have a very impressive sound of music and special effects sound. There are some really good memorable tunes in this game that's sure to become classic. The music can speak for itself.

Score: 10/10

GAMEPLAY

FF8 gameplay is somewhat similar to FF7 but then again it's not the same. The game is very straight forward and easy with random encounters. The controls and stuff are the same including the use of limit breaks and summon spells. Only this time the summons are called Guardian Forces (GF). Now there are a few things that I should mention about the gameplay.
First, the game uses a command system that let you pick and choose which commands you want. Instead of the usual item, magic, defend, ect, added to your command. You have to pick which of the commands you want as part of your overrall commands. As the game progresses, more commands will be made available to you. Second, the game doesn't use MP but instead a draw system for magic. You must first draw magic from monsters or bosses before using it. Once drawn, you are given a choice of either using magic right away or stocking it for later use. The amount of magic you can se depends on the amount in your inventory. The game also uses a system called junction. Basically the junction system allows you to junction your magic inventory to give a boost to a fighter's individual stats such as status defenses or elemental defenses. The amount of boost added to your stats depends on the magic you are junctioning and the amount of that particular magic you have. Finally the game uses weapon upgrade. Now upgrading weapons is probably the only way for you to have an advantage over the enemies since all the enemies are basically on the same level as your main characters. Now inorder for you to upgrade weapons, you need to acquire the necessary parts. You can get parts through monsters by mugging or by modifying cards. (see extras for cards).
Battel System: The battle system is pretty much the same as FF7. You have 3 members each taking turn in real time battles. The use of attack and magic and such are all there as well as limit breaks. Only this time limit breaks are alot harder to activate and they require you to take part in using the limit breaks themselves as oppose to just sitting there watching the special effects. Other than that, the battle system is pretty normal.
Overrall the gameplay is pretty average. The junction system is nice but not really necessary. The draw system is unique but gets boring after awhile.

Score: 8/10

EXTRAS/REPLAY

There's not much in terms of replay value. No multiple endings or any secrets that you might miss out on. Oh, there's some hidden GFs but you can get those the first time around. As for extras, there's not much in extras as well. Square decided to get rid of the mini games in favor of a card game. By playing the card game, you can win cards. Each card can be modify into an item. Items can range from weapon upgrade parts to healing items. Still the card game is pretty boring after awhile. FF8 is really weak in the extras and replay section.

Score: 4/10

Final note: FF8 have a tough spot to follow after FF7. FF7 has excellent characters and an emotional story behind it. While FF8 isn't as good compare to FF7, it is good on it's own. You just wish the game could've offer more in terms of gameplay and added extra value. It's still a game you definetly want to put on your list as a must buy.

Final Score: 9/10

~Chi