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How did Final Fantasy VIII become so hated ?

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Thinking about it more, I thought the world of VIII was fucking awesome. I wasn't a big fan of Squall, though I didn't dislike him. He was just ok. Certainly not my least favorite protag. But I loved VIII's world and loved exploring it. Loved the gardens too. Best mini game ever too, loved Triple Triad and collecting the cards.
 

Velius

Banned
Because the music sucks (aside from one piece which was admittedly amazing but other entries have tons of amazing pieces, not just one), the characters are insufferable, the main villain has absolutely no motive or story, and the plot device by which the cast is linked is contrived and downright autistic.

Nuthuggers notice: I think the world Final Fantasy VIII builds is remarkably refreshing. I was willing to forgive all the bullshit I was enduring up until after Disc 1 because there was a sense that things were being led somewhere. The combat/junction system is awesome.

But for a Final Fantasy game you need good characters, and a good story in which to put them. VIII didn't have that.
 

Ikutachi

Member
It's rewarding to figure out how to break the system with your own understanding of it. You have the choice to, y'know, to refrain from abusing it.
 
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Pagusas

Elden Member
I honestly loved it, it’s my 3nd favorite FF, behind 7 and 9. I think the biggest issue with it though was just that it had to live in 7’s shadow, and it just wasnt good enough to break away from that. 7 is Final Fantasy for some people, and every other game is just an imposter. That’s what happens when you have a mega generation defining hit, it makes everything else look lesser.
 
I hated it when I was younger and I remember sitting at the lunch table being the odd man out every conversation me and my friends had about it in school. Once I got a little older I remember replaying it and feeling like it grew on me a bit more.
Its not a bad game, it's not a great game, it's one of the Final Fantasy games that I felt like was pretty decent, and I've been playing them since Final Fantasy 2.
 
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Brock2621

Member
The Project Angelwing mod for this that is being funded by Patreon is looking INCREDIBLE. I highly encourage anyone with a few extra bucks to skip a burger a month and support it. I'm so stoked to have someone preserving this game like Square SHOULD be doing.
 
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lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
i remember i quit the game after only a few hours, struggling to get past even the first part of the game when I was a kid.
 

Ozzie666

Member
Also, the ending of FF8 is supremely awesome, especially for the time. The musical number, eyes on me I think it was. The direction, the hot dog eating, all of it was amazing and blew me away. 7, 8 and 9 are such a great trilogy, if you want to call them that. Somewhat similar to Persona 3, 4 and 5. So different and each their own.

I admit the plot and translation for the final boss, something was lost there. But you either love Squall and his gun blade or you love Cloud and his buster sword. Whilst FF9 has a great setting and Vivi rules them all, the main character, Zidane, is lacking to be honest. Great supporting cast though.
 
Converting items into magic using the tools you unlock is easier. The "wrong" way to play is to disregard unlocking and using those abilities, and continue to waste time drawing to farm spells, then complain about how much the junction system sucks. Like most of the whiners did when the game was new and too different for them.
But it still does nothing to address how easily breakable your characters are with the right spell junctions.
 
Isn't this true with almost any RPG? Especially older ones. You didn't need to play the game like a cuck.

Also FF8 Remaster please
No, the problem is you either play it the regular boring way, or steamroll the thing, which is unsatisfying.

And other FFs tend to be reasonably enjoyable regardless of whether you're playing to break.

Hurrrr a JRPG where you get weaker by fighting battles and get stronger by grinding a card game. Yeah not stupid at all, just stupid gamers who played it wrong.

Says the guy who would rather Dragon Quest get a Kingdom Hearts style battle system.
 
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ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
Its the first game where I hated all of the "big four" characters, story, gameplay and art direction all bleh and I was far from alone

so much hype tho everyone bought it and then no one spoke about it at all lmao we went back to replaying FF7 it was like it didn't happen

Almost like FF8 was just a bad dream

final_fantasy_viii_fan_theory.png
 
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Brigandier

Member
I absolutely loved the game when it came out, Loved how much content there was besides the main story like VII and the OST dat fucking OST.....

I liked the dreams playing as the machine gun man!!

The battle system was so bare bones compared to FFVII though and the Junction system was just derp face broken, No real major bosses to prepare for like Ruby and Emerald Weapons etc.

Some of the characters were straight up idiots like Zell... Oh yeah my hands and martial arts skills are my weapons I totally forgot.... Fucking bozo and the "memories lost via GFs" rofl good lord....

Other than that I loved the game and spent 100s of hours on it and still nearly 21 years later have fond memories of playing it.

Edit: Anyone saying VIII has shit music is either trolling or straight up has horrifically bad taste.
 
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My opinion of this game changes every ten years. Doesn't change the fact that I've beaten it five times. But after 20 years I finally understand Squall. He doesn't give a shit. I don't give a shit. At last we understand one another.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
People hate it because the beginning in awful. The whole school thing is awful. But yet the end ..is also awful, but the middle is where it really…. Is awful as well. It’s just a horrible game.
 

rahuljx

Member
It basically pissed of both old fans and new.

It followed FF7 which brought in a lot of new fans to the series who couldnt understand the changes. For the older fans it completely changed the magic system amongst other things which many found too radical.

I hated it the first time I played and almost gave up. But then I started understanding how the new system worked. Restarted it, and now its one of my favourite FFs till date.
 
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6502

Member
1. It replaced an intuitive materia system with kackhanded nonsense.

2. The plot.


It was not unfair criticism. Look at the reception ff9 had that very same gen - this shows it was not the fan base which was an issue.
 

Griffon

Member
It did not magically became hated. Personally back then in 1998 I found the game pretty underwhelming to begin with.
The magic system sucks donkey dicks and the characters and plot are way way worse than FF7.

Nothing changed.
 

Joyful

Member
I dont hate it but every time i play i get bored eventually and cant finish it much like 9

the ost is godly ofc
 

Rickyiez

Member
My favourite Final Fantasy too , people just don't know how to appreciate a great game . Yes it might be unbalanced but it's still very fun pulling out 9999 everytime I hit R1 on Squall attack . The game also has an amazing fantasy world that I yearn to be in .
 
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DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
This game is definitely a relic of the “throw a bunch of wacky gameplay systems at the wall and see what sticks” era of Squaresoft game design.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
This game is definitely a relic of the “throw a bunch of wacky gameplay systems at the wall and see what sticks” era of Squaresoft game design.

I know, right? That's how it felt, and how it feels. Just a lot of whacky systems tossed into a pot. Weird-ass experimental crap that really only works on paper.
 

bit_blaster

Neo Member
Just like Final Fantasy 2, it had a very non orthodox method of levelling up which was off putting to some. It also had a lot of hype around it because of 7, people were basically expecting FF7 part 2.

The worst flaw imo is how the story unfolds around the third act, but if you can tolerate the draw/junction system its not a bad game, certainly better than what the series is now. The Triple Triad card game was addictive, and the game deserves credit for its character designs, they are some of the best in any JRPG I've seen.
 

Thaedolus

Member
I can’t think of any level scaling system that’s ever been fun and the junction shit was basically impossible to figure out without a guide.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
They were a joke!! Didn't need much prep

I think Omega Weapon is fairly tough. I did prep for him. Yes you can The End him by opening the disc lid on the PS1. And you can spam holy wars. But I beat him legit, and he requires a certain setup, stats and knowledge of his attack sequence to plan accordingly. You want to be a max health for megiddo flame, and for Terra Break you want to have selected Defend. He was tough because Lionheart NEVER procced in my fight. And I didn't have fast ammo as well.

Ultima Weapon is interesting. Because this guy has ridiculous speed and a factor of randomness. He wiped me once or twice in the Remaster. I think he did multiple light pillars without interruption and I died.
 
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sunnysideup

Banned
How can we have an ff8 thread without mentioning the demo



It was the most bad ass thing i had ever seen. All action, cg glory, mixed with realtime graphics, D day attack on the beach, explosions, chased by a giant robot spider down the streets..

BOOM BANG

And then i got the game?! Fucking floating high school melodrama.
 
I absolutely loved the laguna arc when i was a kid. Surprised it's not getting mentioned more on the internet.
Also all the female characters were total hotties.
The futuristic city blew my mind.
The school stuff was super cool (teens could relate).
Card game was insane.

Overwall I think the tone of the game is a bit too melancholic all the time.
Combat system is broken

As everyone said, it's a solid tier 2 PSX JRPG, ie today with updated graphics it would be considered god tier by everyone
 

yurinka

Member
I assume because it was released after FFVII, which for most was very impactful being the first Final Fantasy (and probably JRPG) they ever played. And well, maybe because it wasn't that iconic. So their hype level was too high but without the impact of the first one they got dissapointed.

I have some friends who back in the day they played the SNES FF games and always say the best in the series are FFVI and FFV, and claim that if for most people their favorite is FFVII is because they didn't play these ones.
 
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Xeaker

Member
CD 1 is great.
After that the game falls apart. Weak story, weak dialogues and horrible romance that comes out of nowhere.
 

Lady Bird

Matsuno's Goebbels
Triple Triad is better than the Combat System itself. Not only is the mini-game more enjoyable, it's also your best tool to upgrade your characters once you obtain the Card Mod ability.

There were a lot of interesting ideas that Square tried with VIII, it was a very experimental game that also ended up being highly bizarre and broken to play. But there's probably a good game design concept to be salvaged out of it. The idea of extracting magic from different monsters and locations, equiping it and gaining different effects based on what spell you equip and where is pretty cool in theory, even if messy and unpolished in the way it was executed.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
How can we have an ff8 thread without mentioning the demo



It was the most bad ass thing i had ever seen. All action, cg glory, mixed with realtime graphics, D day attack on the beach, explosions, chased by a giant robot spider down the streets..

BOOM BANG

And then i got the game?! Fucking floating high school melodrama.


Yeah but FFVIII gets real rather quickly. Within 5 minutes you're likely in Ifrits cave. And the Dollet mission is soon after that. As the other poster said, CD1 is great. I agree. Dollet, Timber, Deling City, tomb of the king side mission (find your way is one of the best dungeon themes ever imo), assassination, its awesome as fuck. You're really revolting against a vile sorceress ruler.

Demo was fun. Rinoa was there, didn't speak ofcourse. They had their casual outfits. And it has a music track that I think is unique to this demo?
 
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