Notice the devisiveness of most of the customer reviews of this game... There is a reason for this; FFVIII is a definite love/hate title. It's rare that I find anyone who says "Eh, FFVIII was OK."

The 'thing' about FFVIII is, it strays away from what "RPG" has meant to most videogame RPG players over the last 15 or so years. It breaks many RPG traditions, even more than FFVII did. Meanwhile, many companies are still recycling the innovations made many years ago in previous FF games. If you're new to the RPG genre and have no pre-existing bias, you would be a fool not to give this game a try. It's a must. However, if you are a long-time FF fan, you will fall into one of two catagories:

A) Conservative- these are generally the people who hate FFVIII. They discovered the FF series with FFI or IV or VI, and to them, THAT is what an FF game has to be... when an FF game moves away from the earlier style and sensibility of the series (2D 8 or 16 bit graphics, ultra-lighthearted script, a story even a five year old with down syndrome could grasp), they scream bloody murder and "WORST FF GAME EVER! A DISGRACE TO THE FF NAME!" They would rather play half-baked cookie cutter RPGs like Suikoden. They know what they like and that's all they want. They would be happy to play the same games over and over and over for eternity, just change the names of the characters and slap a new title on it and they'll think they're playing something new.

B) Progressive- we also started playing FF on the NES or SNES, but these fans are in love with not only the FF games themselves, but they also value the actual EVOLUTION, DEVELOPMENT, and GROWTH of the series. Sometimes accused of being "masochistic" or "mindless" Squaresoft fans, the truth of the matter is that over the course of many years and many games, we have seen Squaresoft time and time again show that they simply tower above the competing videogame developers. Square and their games are not perfect, but they certainly come closer to perfection than anyone else. FFVIII is no exception.

One of the best features of the game is the cast of characters, and their characterization. These are perhaps the most-fleshed out and realistic characters ever seen in an RPG. Each one has a very distinct and well-defined personality. (And when anyone says that Squall, the lead character, has no personality, please ignore them. He does have a clear personality... which just so happens to be extremely low-key, calm, and cool.) The story itself is unlike any other RPG you've ever played. Rather than the the complex and grandiose epic that was FFVII or the operatic and sweeping FFVI, FFVIII is a bit more along the lines of a mystery intertwined with a romance. Gameplay is also radically shifted from the norm. Magic spells are taken from enemies rather than learned by leveling or unlocked from items. These spells can then be attatched to a character's various stats in order to boost them. For those who love micro-management, it's heaven.

I believe FFVIII to be a true masterpiece, and I recommend it to all gamers, with the exception of bitter and closed-minded "old skool ff fans".



Recommended: Yes