Final Fantasy VIII (1999)

I had such a great time with this game!

The junction system was kind of half-baked but also very fun. I would like it to make a comeback after some revamping as it turned summons into something more than spells with long animations and I absolutely loved it although on the other hand grinding spells was kind of tedious and a bit counterproductive since leveing party made beating the game harder and discouraged me from actually using them.

The graphics were a huge step forward, comparing to Ff7 and the music was just as great. But there are downsides to this game too. The story is a nonsense, that is even worse than FF7 and perhaps it is not told very well, as I saw multiple resources online for people trying to figure out what happened in the game they had played. There wouldn’t be such a demand for them if the story itself was logical and well told. Ot also drags for a bit too long. Occasionally, there are some horrible design choices which make playing without a guide very frustrating at best but thankfully we’ve got many of them available for free. The worst of them all was the remastered PC version which was way inferior to fanmade engines available for FF7 and 9. It felt as if I played the PSX version enhanced with an emulator rather than a remastered and also deprived me from using any modded content available on the web. I wish i hadn’t read that Reddit comment praising it.

Insights from @thelemonadestandman YT Link: 2zcYnelNDrQ

I was replaying FF8 not too long ago, and while replaying the SeeD exam, it had me thinking about why Squall, Zell, Selphie specifically passed the SeeD exam and not Seifer, and why you get penalized so much for talking with the other characters during the exam. Typically I wrote it off in my head as just quirky game mechanics (which it is that too) and story going the way it has too. But this time it suddenly occurred to me that what the Garden Faculty who are loyal to NORG are looking for most are mindless soldiers to promote. Seifer didn't follow direct orders and he failed the exam again. Meanwhile Squall, Zell, and Selphie all followed his directions which were against orders but he was in charge and issuing orders as a superior and they were promoted. Furthermore siting quietly and not interacting with your peers rewards you with a higher score on the exam. The goal of which is likely to prevent personal connections between these super soldiers Garden is producing. These are all qualities I'd imagine the NORG faction Garden Faculty want from the best of the best SeeDs, people who will do as they're told by who ever is in charge, regardless of who they're being directed to fight or if it contradicts previous goals. Especially if a situation were to occur and all the students were told to turn against the quirky Headmaster Cid in favor of an unknown investor who actually legally and financially owns Balamb Garden even if they have no personal loyalty to him.

In that way, NORG-alligned Garden Faculty probably saw Squall as one of the more controllable SeeDs they had. And Cid hastily signing away Squall's group to Rinoa's cause for an indeterminate amount of time for little pay to Balamb Garden was probably his way of keeping Squall's group out of NORG's control. Ironic, because while the outside world see's Squall as a confident and unquestioning soldier, we get to peek inside his mind and he's constantly at war with himself and what his goals are.

Finally finished! Took 6 months, to the day.

[Major Spoilers for the Ending Below]

Not gonna lie, for a while there I was convinced they just killed Squall off in the ending cutscene and was mortified. Like damn, that would have been so cold of the devs after all he'd been through. I think I would have liked it, but for different reasons than I like the ending as it actually is.

Also holy shit the way the game goes full horror for a bit there before revealing he's okay was a lot. It made me realize how much I'd enjoy a Final Fantasy with a darker psychedelic tone kind of like that ending scene but across the whole game. The FMV scenes in this game are jaw-droppingly good imo. Like every time one showed up I couldn't help but be in awe at how well they've aged. They must have been even more insane to watch back in 1999.

I'll probably write up my full thoughts on the game tomorrow. I need to process everything a bit.

You are absolutely unsure what to do, you stumble upon things as you go and start feeling things in a way you did not know until now. It is the first time you experience this so everything feels uncertain and new, but it is so exciting, so enthralling.

That is how first love feels.

Man I cannot comment on this game without enormous bias. This was my first Final Fantasy, the one that turn me into an absolute FF maniac (wink). I have played from start to finish three times in my life, and still holds up as a really entertaining piece of media. I got to admit that during the third playthrough (when I was like 29), the cracks in the story stuck up like a sore thumb: the teenage milicia, the convulted time travel, that lackluster final villain (Imagine if Rinoa=Ultimecia was canon, dayum). Then again: Man, I cannot comment on this game without enormous bias.

It was the first one, not only my first Final Fantasy but my first JRPG ever, so that guarantees at least one more star than it objectively deserves.