Much has been said how combat is pointless since levelling up causes enemies to scale with Squall's level, thus making encounters something to avoid. even if the execution was fundamentally flawed and poorly thought out. This is going to clear things up about Final Fantasy VIII and prove that it did have a good idea with some interesting results. Over the years it was the target of many memes that have been bald-faced lies about the gameplay, and how its systems work. Moments like this are peppered throughout the entire game, lending a truly cinematic feel to the adventure's picturesque moments.įinal Fantasy VIII is often a misunderstood JRPG, and has been frequently been mischaracterised due to its experimental nature. Even more ambitious are the sequences when Squall can be controlled during entire animated sequences which must have been utterly mind-blowing to see in 1999.
Every two-dimensional backdrop is rich with detail and full of life, since this was around the time when the artists figured out how to make the scenery animate in a loop. Square spared no expense during VIII's development, and it shows in its production values and overall world design. It's up there with the intros to Resident Evil 2, Chrono Cross, and of course Final Fantasy VII. The sweeping operatic score and fast editing against an amazingly choreographed sword battle between hero and rival, is epic in the classic sense of the word. Nobody can argue that VIII makes an incredible first impression the opening CGI cut-scene remains one of the most powerful intros to any PlayStation. It has a lot of detractors for good reason and it does have its fans - also for good reason. Cubed3 analyses if Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is the best way to play this often overlooked PlayStation classic.īefore Final Fantasy XV or XIII, the most divisive entry was VIII. Now anybody can finally play Squall's journey on all eighth generation consoles, and with some new visual updates and added cheat modes.
The only way anybody could legitimately experience Final Fantasy VIII was to dig up an original copy with a PlayStation 2 (or PSOne), or to buy it off PSN and play it on a PlayStation 3, or either of the Sony portable devices.
It was a bold project and would eventually become one of the more elusive titles even after Square and Enix merged, rarely getting any attention due to the unfortunate circumstances of the original source code being lost. Things like realistically scaled 3D human character models with life-like animation, movie-like production values in CGI cut-scenes, and a mature story, packed into a fully realized fantasy RPG, was a daunting task, and was something the world had never seen in 1999. Many experimental hits such as Parasite Eve were a sort of proving ground for Square to test out some new technology that they would fully utilize in their much more ambitious RPGs specifically their flagship Final Fantasy franchise. After the monumental hit that was Final Fantasy VII, how could Square hope to follow up with it? The intrepid RPG developer found itself in a creative renaissance during the '90s where they were putting out such daring and enduring titles that would shape the industry for decades to come.