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Out of all console RPG’s that I’ve played, Final Fantasy VIII is the biggest disappointment. Although I wasn’t expecting much (I bought the game on a whim), I got less than I ever imagined. There are just so many aspects of the game that seem insignificant or deficient.
The first thing to go wrong with Final Fantasy VIII is that the plot is totally predictable. As usual, our heroes will destroy the Ultimate Evil known as the “Final Boss,” thus restoring harmony to a shattered world. Even more painfully obvious is that Squall and Rinoa are going to fall in love. With the plot known before one even opens the four-CD jewel case, the only option Square had was to try to make the obvious seem interesting. That still shouldn’t be a problem, right? After all, we all watch our favorite movies over and over again, long after we know every nuance of the plot. So what keeps us coming back for more of these same movies? Interesting characters, for one. This is another area in which Final Fantasy VIII fails.
In attempting to create characters with unique personalities, Square tosses out type-cast cardboard cutouts, each possessing a rigid personality with no variation whatsoever. Selphie never stops being peppy. Zell never stops being hyper. Squall never stops being apathetic. The characters in Final Fantasy VIII are so one-sided and robotic, that one finds it difficult to think of them as real people. Not only that, but most characters only really matter (story-wise) for a short time (which is shortly after they’re introduced), then they fade into oblivion for the remainder of the game, offering up only inane banter and an occasional suggestion. The villains aren’t interesting either. We don’t know anything about the Final Boss until about halfway through the game. (This is weakly explained away.)
So what about gameplay? Will we be permitted to guide these characters to glory? Will we be able to involve ourselves in the plight of Squall Leonheart? In other words, now that we have a predicable plot and a forgettable cast of characters, will the game at least offer up some challenge and good gameplay? Unfortunately, the answer is no. It’s as if Square hoped that the story would carry us through the game, so they designed the gameplay and battles as not to be intrusive into the story.
As far as challenge goes, some of the biggest challenges of the game involve finding entrances and exits in the pre-rendered backgrounds. Walking around the screen rapidly pressing X is not a legitimate source of challenge. Then there are the battles, which the game encourages you not to engage in. You are offered cars, trains and paved roads to travel on in the world map, given “encounter no monster” abilities, and are often prompted to run from battles. Perhaps the battle system’s biggest fault is the number of ways in which it lends itself to abuse. The player simply has too many advantages. From unlimited and overpowering limit breaks to invincibility potions to unlimited use of Guardian Force summons, it’s difficult to lose battles.
Importance of battles is further lessened by the revamped level-up system and money system. As opposed to the well known (and worn) experience system in many console RPGs, Final Fantasy VIII gives a level up every 1000 points. However, the easier level-ups don’t make much difference, as monsters level up with you. But if Square had done away with level-ups altogether, there would have been an outcry similar to the one caused by revamping the traditional magic system.
The aforementioned magic system consists of drawing magic out of enemies and map points instead of having cast spells drain Magic Points. Drawing quickly becomes very tedious. Accrued magic may be junctioned in order to raise statistics, a process allowable through assigning a Guardian Force (GF) to a character. The Guardian Forces operate much like the Espers in Final Fantasy VI; they give the characters bonus abilities, and may be called upon in battle. The GF animations are rather long. The animations cannot be skipped, but this is needed to prevent further abuse of the system.
A summary of why Final Fantasy 8 failed as a game:
1) There’s no motivation to fight the Final Boss. What has the Final Boss done to incur the wrath of the characters and the ire of the player? In Final Fantasy VI, Kefka commits so many vile undertakings that we cannot wait to see his demise. The Final Boss of Final Fantasy VIII threatens the player with many abstract events that simply don’t anger or frighten us one iota.
2) A weak cast of characters. Instead of deep, intellectually stimulating characters, Final Fantasy VIII gives us modish teens whose only goals are to make younger players consider them cool. Their lines are uninspired and their personalities mechanical.
3) Irrelevant characters. Other than looking cool (or trying to, anyway) and spouting one-liners, the supporting cast of characters really has no reason to exist. The game tries to explain this away (albeit poorly), but it’s just not enough to warrant the characters involvement in the story.
4) Cliché plot twists. Sure, every RPG has a hackneyed plot twist or two, but Final Fantasy VIII covers them all. From “surprise” family trees to amnesic former acquaintances, it’s in Final Fantasy VIII.
5) Predictable plot. If it’s Final Fantasy game, the Final Boss is the ultimate evil. So not only do we know who we’re fighting even before we know who we’re fighting (even without knowing who we’re fighting), but we also know that Squall and Rinoa fall in love. No, that’s not a spoiler. You were expecting maybe Zell and Irvine to become bedfellows?
6) Utter lack of gameplay. Final Fantasy VIII’s story isn’t enough to keep me from noticing how little active gaming there is. About eighty percent of the game’s activity is pressing buttons to advance text and running around aimlessly. There’s almost no reason to fight enemies other than bosses; the game actually seems to discourage fighting.
Instead of having a game where surprising revelations are interspersed with interesting and challenging gameplay, we end up with a game that offers up some critical button pushing in order to advance sentences which all too often have little relevance to the plot of the game. This is exacerbated by the fact that the game’s plot is so weak and predictable.
Final Fantasy VIII is essentially a bland, disjointed story haphazardly sprinkled with bits of gameplay here and there. About the only good thing to say about Final Fantasy VIII is that no good ideas were wasted in it’s making. All too often, I have seen great ideas poorly executed in videogames. At least Final Fantasy VIII was doomed from the start, so there’s no lingering thoughts of what could have been.