Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation, 1999)

As an avid follower of the FF series since its inception, I've played each one and am a steadfast fan of all things FF. Final Fantasy VIII is a welcome addition to this lineup, with great graphics, incredible cut scenes, a more mature and intense storyline, highly customizable characters and gameplay, and many other unique features that are almost too many to list. Many reviewers seem to be disappointed that it wasn't "as good" as FFVII (or other games in the series.) However, one of the dependable features of FF games is that each one is clearly different than the rest. Characters, storyline, gameplay, even the "mood" of each game are unique and continually evolving, not stagnating. Any RPG fan would love this game, which gives you countless hours of gameplay and a very high re-play value. I highly recommend it to any lover of RPG or fantasy.

PROS
- Compelling, fascinating, rich storyline with unforgettable and personable characters, from the heroes to the bosses, and unique features (such as the "dream sequences") that really add to the mystery and drama of the plot.

- New junction system allows you to "draw" magic from opponents and allows for high level of customization for your characters and gameplay.

- Darker, more mature theme with sinister villians, plot, and battles; not lighthearted gameplay as some past FF games.

- Incredible, more true-to-life realistic graphics (for its time) and the use of nearly an hour of cutscenes ("mini-movies" that highlight pertinent scenes in storyline and enrich the gaming experience with lush, beautiful sequences.)

- Outstanding musical score.

- Interesting side quests including an engrossing card game; cards can be "cashed in" for valuable items which makes the game even more entertaining.

- Great replay value with interesting side quests.


CONS
- Leveling up takes many hours of gameplay.

If you liked any of the Final Fantasy, this is another home run hit. Rather than copy and paste you information, just know that this is another beautiful complex story style RPG game with great CGI and 80+ hours of game play.

Pros:
1) Great Story
2) Self Contained finish to the story
3) Beautiful CGI (though not as good as VII)

Cons:
1) Long hours to power up player
2) VERY VERY hard to beat without fully exploring everything. I suggest you get a guide if you want to spend less time and enjoy the story of the game.

Now here is a game for ANY roleplay addict. I've had the game for several years now, and the graphics STILL blow me away everytime I play it.

It's not for those that have really never played a roleplay game before, I'm afraid.. It's fairly tricky, and very mind boggling in some spots if you don't have the guide. But, even without, it is an amazing game to get emmersed in. It has a ton of side quests and little games to play along with the actual plot line, and the entire story, thank goodness, doesn't revolve around some horrible love triangle.

A definate must for any rpg gamer to have!

FFVIII is by far one of the best video games that God has put into my hands. FF8 has better graphics than 7 and a much darker feel to it. During the course of the game: you experience multiple plot twists, you can upgrade your weapon to unbelieveable proportions, learn cool summons and magic, and repeatedly humiliate your arch rival, Seifer. For all those reasons previously mentioned, I declare, that this game(Final Fantasy 8)is squaresofts masterpiece.
P.S. FF7 buffs will plead that 7 is better. I'm telling you now they are wrong, there just mad that they don't have the necessary skills to complete such a massive RPG and they're still in a state of suicidal depression because, AERIS IS DEAD!!

What can be said about final fantasy games that hasn't been said already? They're amazingly in-depth, polished and thorough. Final Fantasy 8 was no exception. I have personally spent upwards of 300 hours playing Final Fantasy 8 and somehow I always feel drawn back into the story every time I put it back in my drop-top PS1. Of course, Final Fantasy games aren't for everyone so here i represent both sides of the debate...

Pro's...

-- Incredibly detailed story-line. Novel quality.
-- Graphics were cutting-edge for the time. And still nowadays dont make me want to vomit. like most older polygon games.
-- Intuitive magic "draw" system allows for endless customization of your characters.
-- LONG game. Anywhere from 25 to 60 hours, depending on how far you want to take the story.
-- Replay Value is out of this world. Just like a good book this game is worth a second, third, and fourth read-through.
-- Character design creates interesting relationships between lead characters, but also ties in many characters not directly related to the story.
-- Soundtrack is out of this world. Absolute genius.

Con's...

-- LOT'S of talking. (if you dont like that sort of thing)
-- Random Battles get repetitive when trying to solve puzzles.
-- No armor? in an RPG? what's up with that?
-- Summon spells are either over-powered or completely worthless.
-- Draw system can be completely over-powered if used properly.
-- CONSTANT changing of parties gets to be a hassle over time.
-- The overall color of the game is very dull and dark, (until you get to Esthar near the end of the game). It's kind of depressing at times.

Regardless of the little qualms about this game, it's definitely one for the ages. Music schools in Japan actually teach a few of the pieces from this game in their curriculum because of the depth of them. Nobuo Uematsu is a genius and if anything, this game could be bought purely to listen to his gorgeous soundtrack. Whatever your reasons, pick up this game NOW before final fantasy fanatics drive the re-sale price up even higher. ^_^ Happy gaming!

As a true fan of the FF series I have bought & played them all. This one is definatly made for the older crowd as it displays love between some of the characters & the language is more adult. It is very exciting & long lasting.
As a die-hard rpg gamer as I am, truly, no rpg games can compare to the FF series! The graphics are amazing, the stories are good & the gameplay gets harder as you go along making for an exciting end. But dont fret, most of the FF games gives you 1-200 hours of good gameplay!!
A REALLY good purchase!
Happy gaming!

I played this game for the first time 4 years ago and since then it has been my absolute favorite game. The story is one of the best i have seen in a game, the characters are great and the graphics were fantastic (considering time of release). Recommended to any RPG fan, final fantasy fan, anime fan and well everyone else :)

Final Fantasy 8 for PSX doesn't have the voice capabilities of present-day games but the graphics, especially the GF Summoning sequences, are top-notch! The Junction system used to equip abilities can be a little confusing at first especially to new RPG players, but proves invaluable once understood, and the game does provide a tutorial to make it easier. The music in this game is also incredibly well done!

All in all, this game is riviting and definitely worth playing from beginning to its amazing end!

FFVIII is easily my favorite Final Fantasy released to date. The plot starts immediately and is constantly full of action. My favorite aspect are the multiple side quests, and especially the card game; one of the best things abuot the cards is that they can be changed into items that you might need to use for weapons upgrades, or to refine into spells. Also, the junction system remains my favorite. I love the added offense and defense it provides for particularly difficult battles while training. Fighting Malboros is pretty nasty without junctioning status defense. ~_~

One thing that threw me at times was how long some of the non-cinema sequences were, when you couldn't control the character and basically read dialogue boxes for 15 minutes. That aside, the CG cinemas were absolutely beautiful, and the opening is easily the best of any game I've played.

This game can be beaten in anywhere from 20 (speed playing, no sidequests) to 80 hours (taking time to level all your characters up, completing all side quests, etc.). If you're looking for a challenge in your final battle, I don't recommend going into it fully levelled up; however, if you're playing for the story and side stories, fully levelling up to get to that wonderfully fun, 20 minute plus final sequence, definately go all the way (and it's easier to get some of the GFs the higher level you are). But be warned: the enemies in this game level up with you; so the higher level you are, the higher level they are- to a point.

Definately a must have for any RPG player.

In my opinion this is the best final fantasy on the playstation console. It has better graphics than ff7 has and also the story line has more twists in it. The movie you get at the end after beating the final boss is more than rewarding. During the game you can upgrade you weapons and change your set ups, like whos mainly summoning and whos going to heal. The side card game Triple Triad can get addictive and keep you playing that alone for hours. The only set back in the game is the drawing magic. Drawing can get old pretty quick.

I had never played Final Fantasy until a couple of years ago and I am saddened that I had missed out on it until then! I owned a Super Nintendo when I was little but always played the Mario games and never tried these. I highly recommend you play it and own it but I will warn you it's very addicting!

this game is a classic. it is probably my favorite game of all time. the battle system is innovative and fun. the junctioning system is really crazy and enables you to make really uber-buff characters. it has an amazing soundtrack. it has great graphics for the system it is on. great characters great story line. all around amazing, fun, and great game.
buy it now!!!

I gave the game a good rating because it kept my attention ever since I started playing it. It wasn't hard to understand, but then again it wasn't so easy that it was boring either. The game was one of the best games that I've in a long time. However toward the end of the game, when i tried to run the game on the last disc, it keeps freezing up. I'm not trying to complain, but it really sucks when it won't even let you get to the final boss. What should I do?

To put it simply, Final Fantasy VIII is one of the most stunning and beautiful games you will ever play. It features an engrossing amount of customizability between your characters and everything from their abilities to their actual stats. The gameplay alone makes for breathtaking spin on turn-based RPG combat in a way that only Squaresoft's flagship series could muster. They also took the opportunity to introduce a fascinating card game that will literally determine how much of the rarest items and most unique summons you'll be able to find. Those fortunate enough to have imported a pocketstation will enjoy the portable Chocobo game which is downloadable and can yield additional items.
It's a startling departure from the usual look and feel of the series, FFVIII displays a more "grown-up" feel in everything from adult (read: NOT Super-deformed or Chibi) look of the characters and your environments to the gritty content and timelessly romantic story that will move you to tears.
The entirety of the game is a unique experience from beginning to end, but fortunately the game goes on for quite some time (at least 50 hours to game's end) and the amount of sidequests, ultimate weapons and hidden monsters will ramp up that play time significantly. It's an amazing game that only keeps getting rarer, if you don't already have it you should scramble your resources into securing it because I promise that you won't reget it.

I bought this game because, I love final fantasy and havent played this one. The reason why I used ebay, is because this game is pretty hard to find around here. Plus the payment was easy and quick, plus I didnt have to go anywhere. I love it!! Love it because the game was brand new and sealed just like out of a store. Thanks ebay for making this site.

Compared to the other games in the series (FF II, FF III, FF VII, FF IX) this one just isn't as good. Yes the graphics are good, the card game is addictive. The major drawback is the draw magic system, you have to draw magic from monsters sometimes 1 spell at a time(Ultima). This slows the game down a ton. Plus the ending wasn't very good. If you need a good RPG check out FF II or FF IX, I think these are the best in the series. I have played even some of the Japan versions through emulators and I have beat all games in the Final Fantasy series twice except this one. Apparently some people like it, but take some expert advice and buy a different FF game.

Not as good as its prequel (really what game is better than Final Fantasy VII?). But all considered, this game still kicks ass. And to think, these Final Fantasy games were originally meant for the Nintendo 64. Wow....good thing they werent. Other wise I would have to be playing them on my (non-existant or non-wanted) Wii. That would suck. Play this game today. i command you. Otherwise you will be thrown into the bog of eternal stench (oh yeah...that was for all you David Bowie fans out there. You know what im talking about)

SquareSoft has always had a sure-fire hit when releasing any of their Final Fantasy titles, and Final Fantasy VIII should be no exception. The basis of a good RPG (role-playing game) has always been the story; spectacular graphics are secondary. Final Fantasy VIII's involved and interesting story line is filled with great twists, well-developed characters, suspense, and romance. As an added bonus, the graphics are beautiful. Everything--from the low-lit jazz club to the steam-filled railroad tunnels--is gorgeous and perfectly sets the mood and tone of a scene.

This one was probably my favorite. I never really got that much into final fantasy 7. The hype surrounding 7 was so huge, the second I got to the second disk, I was so disapointed with it, I just couldn't continue. The only good characters were Cloud, Sephiroth and thats about it. The only reason people even cared about Tifa was because of her "tomb raider"-like rack.

Anyway, back on-topic. Final Fantasy 8 is often criticized for the card system involving monsters that you battled. I myself didn't like the system either, however the beauty of it was, you didn't need to use it. It was more in there for the sake of putting more into the game if you ask me.

The characters are all pretty cool, and if you've played kingdom hearts before, the main character from 8 shows up several times, although with a different name and slightly longer hair. (I forgot what his new name in Kindgom Hearts was, but in ff8 his name is Squall LeonHeart). Probably the coolest thing in the game is Squall's gunblade. As you go for a melee attack if you hit the right button at the same instant that the blade makes contact with the enemy you will also shoot the enemy as you slice through them. Very nice extra damage bonuses.

You will meet up with alot of other very likeable characters as you go along through the game. One of the stranger sides to the story however, is while some parts of the game you are playing as Squall and his company, there are what seem to be flashbacks or visions of someone else's adventure. This machine gun wielding mystery man is on the run, and I won't spoil the twists for you here.

Needless to say the graphics are very nice for a playstation 1 game, the battlesystem and interfaces are all as easy as ever to use, and the story is phenominal.

If you like good rpgs, or are a die hard final fantasy fan, definetly look into getting this gem of a game (its pretty easy to find a cheap but good condition copy).

At the time I purchased FFVIII, I already had Final Fantasy VII and IX. I am a big fan of the Role Play genre of video games, and have long been a fan of Squaresoft's hit series.

Eight differs from the other Final Fantasies that I own (listed above) most notably in the character's visual design. The characters are very elongated. This must have proven rather popular for Final Fantasy because all of the 'episodes' following Nine have had the same, more realistic height of it's characters. Personally, I liked the cute, cartoon-like characters of Seven and Nine, but Eight does have it's merits.

One of the things I have really enjoyed about the Final Fantasy universe, is that they never use the same mechanics for learning and using magic in each saga. The 'Draw' system of acquiring and using magic has not been very popular, and I must admit that especially in the beginning of the game, it is a pain in the butt to get your characters to a working level of magic. This requires many battles spent sustaining your enemy just so that you can get every last bit of whatever particular spell or spells that enemy has.

The summons in this episode, I think were rather genius. The player has the option of naming each of the 'Guardian forces' acquired during game play. Currently, I have a theme going of short names beginning with the letter 's'. It is nice to have the control over what beneficial talent the GF's learn, and who they share that talent with, facilitating every status benefit of the characters.

Of note Eight has the first appearance of the card game. While I like the more refined version presented in Nine, it is nice to see that evolution. It is difficult to a)keep all the additional rules straight, and b)make sure the rules you don't like don't spread, but having the challenge of collecting as many cards as possible is fun too. Even if you don't like playing the card game, there are advantages to collecting the cards. One of the abilities of one of the GF's is the card mod ability. This ability allows you to change cards into useful items. So the cards are worth collecting, especially the rare cards. Using the card mod ability with some of the rare cards is the easiest if not the only way to obtain a large amount of some of the rarest objects in the game.

Over all, while there are some cumbersome parts of the game, it is definitely worth owning.

Yes... Squaresoft have finally decided to let the characters be something more than either digimon look-alike pixels or cuboids joined together... in FFVIII, you see life-sized characters that are beautifully constructed! The 3D environment is beautiful and a big improvement from FVII... The characters are all realistically made and the cinematics in the game are also breath-taking! The battles involves timing and not just plain selecting of Attack! or Defend! like most RPGs out there... The timing for the gunblade and the GF boost makes every second of the battle exciting (yes... even during a 3 minute long summon) This is really a game worth trying with its unique GF system and Junction System! Though i still prefer FFVII's materia system, FFVIII also has many plus points worth mentioning! Overall, this is a game all RPG-lovers should try! =)

This game is one of the best final fantasy editions in the series. we will make this simple, so you can get off the computer to buy one on our ebay store or at a local retail store.

PROS!
-Creative Juntioning system to allow complete customization of characters strengths and weaknesses.
-Another beautiful score creating ambiance for the game's critical points.
-A fully customizable magic system --- you can give the characters any kind of magic!!
-A cast of memorable characters who are easy to relate to, making the game seem more surreal.
-New exclusive worlds!

CONS
-Repeating Draw system, which makes stocking magic annoying and difficult
-A few plot holes that leave the player wondering what really happened. They could have improved the plots!
-Characters seem to have been randomly thrown together.

OVERALL RATING
4/5

GO BUY YOURS TODAY!

This game, like many other Final Fantasy games, has a great story with many twinsts in the plot line. This game has a darker storyline than most of the previous games. While perhaps not as deep as ten, less touching than seven, and not quite as "fun" as nine, it still has it's own charm. The draw system for magic is quite unique and can enhance ones enjoyment in playing this game. Unfortunately, this game has one drawback. It is difficult to fight bosses without using GFs constantly. Even at the beginning of the game, GF's do damage in the 500-1000 range while weapons won't even do 100 damage even considering criticals. (An exception here is Squall if you time his attack correctly and crit.) However, if you are just looking for a deeper story than twelve and a turn based battle system with a new twist on magic, this is the game for you.