Square revolutionizes the Final Fantasy series yet again with their latest addition: Final Fantasy VIII. Each Final Fantasy game possesses some quality which separates them from each other. With Final Fantasy VIII, these differences indicate that Square has once again reshaped the mold of the traditional RPG. The differences lie in the superior graphics and new battle system. The graphics alone, sporting realistic looking characters, mark a sharp contrast between FF8 and its predecessor, FF7, which has much more comical and non-realistic character detail. In addition to this, CGI movies throughout the game seem to blend in with the detailed polygon characters in a way that makes them seem even more real. The battle system also gets changed in the transition to FF8. There is more of an emphasis on magic experience and its utilization in battle than in any other Final Fantasy game. Players must "junction" high level magic to their character stats in order to become powerful enough to make it to the end of the game. One major difference in terms of magic is that players must "draw" the magic knowledge from enemies in battle. This creates more of a sense of reward for the player in that they earn their skills, rather than learning a spell at a certain experience level and relying on spell points (which have always been hallmarks of previous Final Fantasy games).

Despite these changes, there are still some cons to FF8. For one thing, if a player has not mastered the art of "junctioning magic", then the game becomes exceedingly difficult later on (as it did for me). Once this skill has been mastered, however, the game essentially becomes one where the art of battle takes the center stage of the game play. Many people may like this, many may not. Also, FF8 is fairly linear in game play. There is still a lot of things that one can do, but no where near as many things as in FF7.

Overall, in my opinion, the pros of FF8 far outweigh the cons. For example, the things that a player can do in the game to dissuade the linearity are actually somewhat complex. The best of these features is an actual card game that the characters can play within the main game. A player can collect cards from any character, change the rules of the games, and even transform enemies into cards (or cards into rare items). Players can collect items in battle to customize and upgrade their characters' weapons. There is also the option to upgrade the characters' own abilities through the use of "Guardian Forces", monsters which aide the characters by junctioning their abilities to a character's stats.

Even though there are some cons to FF8, the game system in this Final Fantasy addition actually works well. Besides all these features, there is, of course, an amazing story line complete with incredible music, highly developed characters and an ending which puts FF7 to shame. I definitely recommend FF8 to any RPG fan or fan of the Final Fantasy series.



Recommended: Yes