I’m going to be honest, this is my favorite final fantasy game

Some people still arent ready to accept that Final Fantasy 8 is great

When I told a friend that I thought Squall was too whiny and emo, he responded by saying "well how would you feel in his situation?" and this just radically altered my perspective. Squall owes NOTHING to anyone. He's a literal child soldier thrust into a conflict that makes no sense. The best example to think of is right after the ball scene when Quistis brings Squall to the training ground at night. She is abusing her authority and absolutely should not be putting her student in a position like this. How unbelievably inappropriate and awkward this is (it's a makeout spot!).. but unless you actually stop and remind yourself that Squall is a person, a 16yo orphan child (and what if he's autistic? No one knows because no one cares, all I know is fuck him for not charging into war fervently enough and wow how dare you not be emotionally vulnerable also!), and his teacher is just dishing out all her laundry onto him then having the nerve to judge him for not responding how she wants or whatever, then weirdly people just go through this game and think "it's so weird that Squall is so emotionally distant". That's the most normal and relatable thing about him!

Laguna isn't just the president of Ishtar, he is Squall's father. That's where the connection of the dream segments came from, and Rinoa is Julia's daughter. Which is why 'Eyes on me' is such a beautiful song...

Squall starts opening up slowly. During disc 2 and especially after all the Rinoa incident during disc 3. He starts to care not only for Rinoah and his partners but he learn to care how to care about his Garden. At the end of the day its a traumatized child overwhelmed for the situation.

Some things about final fantasy 8 didn’t work quite as well as some had hoped, but it definitely has its place in series. It gave us triple triad and of course gunblades

I feel like you missed so much. Laguna being Squalls father. Seifer idolizing Laguna growing up because of the film, he poses the same way. So many connections to family and generational trauma, how connected the characters were. It isn't perfect, and the losing memories and coming together moments could have been more memorable but this is one of the most ambitious FF stories and certainly one of the most emotional if not the most emotional.

FF8 is definitely the most deserving of a remake in the style of FF7. Not only does the story fit more with the remake changes, it would solve a lot of the misconceptions and misunderstandings people have of the characters. One of my favorite FF games. Also they do flat out say Laguna is Squall's dad. Talking to Laguna's party when you meet him proves that.

Squall is a very well written character, especially for his time, and I love you get to see his thoughts in real time, and how he develops through the game

One thing I like about the plot was the entire conflict is pretty much a predestination paradox. Ultimecia learns about her prophesied defeat at the hands of SeeD, which triggers a series of events that leads to her and Squall being transported to the past, where they meet a young Edea. Ultimecia transfers her powers to Edea before dying, then Squall gives Edea the inspiration to create SeeD, and pretty much shape his own destiny. And this where the prophecy comes from, which Ultimecia learns of in the future, and then it loops 🔁

There are some very small references to the effects of GFs on people who junction them losing their memories but it just wasn’t talked about enough during the lead up to the basketball court. If they ever do a remake they can easily remedy this, have conversations where people ask squall and other party members about where they grew up or their childhood, and have them get hit with some kind of mental block, have them discuss it and brush it off as the GFs effecting them. The plot device of GFs causing memory loss is fine as a concept but just needs to be built up and developed along the way much more than it is in the original

I never worried myself with the level scaling honestly when you use the junction system efficiently you still end up more than strong enough regardless of your level

FFVIII was the game that made me a gamer. I had to secretly buy a used Playstation at the mall Gamestop because my parents were very anti-gaming. FFVIII was the first game I played on it and I was enthralled and became obsessed with JRPGs from that point on. I still think the cut-scenes in this game are the best of the time period and the opening credit sequence is one of the greatest of all time. Oh and the music is just spectacular! Squall will always be my favorite FF protagonist. His distaste for everyone and everything gives me life. Oh and the gun-blade is just the most badass weapon ever. The story is so multi-faceted and mysterious and I love the crazy mix of futuristic landscapes, trippy dreams, evil sorceresses, and gothic fantasy. I adored the triple triad game and the GFs/summons are breathtaking. The game also has some really memorable funny moments. It may be an unpopular opinion but I thought Zell was hilarious and his limit break was so much fun. And as far as antagonists go, Seifer is one of the best (I actually bought an enamel pin that depicts a face that is half Squall/half Seifer with crossed gun blades behind it, it's so freakin' cool). I will always hope they do a full remake of it, but since it's so divisive, I doubt that will happen. And I also might be completely biased because the game has such sentimental value to me and I smoked a lot of pot in high school.

There seems to be a lot missing from the Squall analysis. He literally jumps out of a spaceship to save Rinoa. There's also more to his feeling of loss than him missing his sis. He can feel the loss of his memories and friends, too. Also.. it's not a coincidence all the orphans are part of this... Cid was married to her after all.

You have to remember, Irvine remembers because he wasnt using GF before the party. So him not pulling the trigger makes so much sense.

They mention GFs impact your memory disk one on the terminals in the first classroom. Irvine is from a school who doesnt use GFs which is why he remembers everyone at the orphanage.

Irvine didn't pull the trigger because he was the only one who remembered Edea was their Matron. The sorceress was basically his mother. Another easter egg is Amnesia Greens. It makes you forget abilities GFs have learned. Another way to show they make you forget? There were actually 3 Ragnaroks. There's a cut scene you get when you speak to Laguna, that explains the Adel backstory. It shows the 3 ships is how they launched Adels prison into space and how the lunar base was built to watch over her prison. After the mission the Ragnaroks became unresponsive and were lost around the station. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/m9ecd5hluJiul58.htmlsi=iqWmfOwjqY4MhOJJ Here is the cutscene. A lot of players actually miss it the first time around. So Laguna basically defeated Adel and that's how he ended up as President of Esthar.

Final Fantasy VIII is a game that requires multiple playthroughs and/or A LOT of digging through lore to get a handle on the plot. A good chunk of the things that seem to come out of nowhere, like the memory loss explanation via GFs and the existence of NORG are hinted at extremely early in the game. Where? At Squall's classroom terminal. There's also an entire information section in the tutorial menu (sort of like the datalog from XIII) explaining different aspects of the world, like why monsters come from the moon. There's missable dialog from NPCs about an ancient god named Hyne who created humans and has a direct connection to sorceresses. There's just A LOT of information that the game doesn't tell you up front. Maybe Squaresoft wanted to encourage multiple playthroughs, but what most people get out of it is confusion without a second look. I applaud the worldbuilding, but the execution sadly feels misguided.

You know, I'm going through a rough time in my life, but your video brought me some joy. I appreciate your approach to classic game reviewing.

Since this was my first FF, it holds a special place in my heart. I see my own bias though, and if i played it for the first time today, i probably wouldnt like it too much. Ff9 is still my fave, but FF8 is in my top 5 favorite FFs for sure.

How could you expect Irvine to pull the trigger on the woman who is essentially his mom?

Gotta respect this games ambition, following the crazy success of FF7 they could have played it safe. Modern games often refuse to take risks and innovate on tried and tested models, but at least here they (literally) tried to shoot for the stars.

Squall is a very accurate depiction of a young person dealing with trauma stemming from issues caused by abandonment, that's why he seemed externally cold/distance. And of course the game is going to confuse you if you forget sis aka ellone exists, like you've done. She links the present and the past with people whom she was close to (squall at the orphanage and the man who literally raised her, Laguna)

7:33 The motorcycle soldier getting cleaved during the massive fight has always been one of my favorite moments in gaming as a kid playing this game.

First of all, SPOILERS…….I love how the story never explicitly tells you that Laguna is Squalls father. But after multiple play throughs it becomes more obvious. That’s why to me the best part of the story is the sad love story between Laguna and Julia…..since Laguna is Squalls dad and Julia is Rinoas mom- they can never love and be together otherwise Squall and Rinoa would never be born. The story is actually really deep.

I remember loving this game when it first released. I loved playing a Final Fantasy game that looked so realistic. It had some of the best music I'd ever heard, arguably the best mini game ever, and it had a cool story and world. The draw magic system was a huge change and I think even back then that mechanic made or broke the game depending on your tolerance for it. I was in my early 20's and had a lot more tolerance and patience for stuff like that than I would today, which is why I've never chosen to go back and revisit this entry. I'll live out my remaining years with the fond memories I have of this controversial game. Great video, Matty. Happy Holidays to you and everyone else reading this!

I love it because it puts you directly in charge of managing their stats. Anyone can be what you want them to be

Nowadays I can see the flaws in it, but I'll never love another game like I loved FFVIII when I was 13.

Anytime a game is too tedious to play, I'm immediately out.

This was my gateway RPG. Played it in highschool and realized there was a whole genre out there I didn't know existed. I actually still have my copy with the receipt from the purchase in the game case.

I played the first ten Final Fantasy games this year, all on the Nintendo Switch. I began with the Pixel Remasters before continuing on with the HD remasters of 7, 8, 9, and X. Final Fantasy 4, 6, 8, and X stood out to me the most. And, of the NES games, I found 2 to be the most enjoyable. It seems I have a preference for the even-numbered titles. Final Fantasy 8, in particular, left me with the best memories, as I found its game world more captivating than the others. Regarding gameplay, I view the XP system as a vestige of the older Final Fantasy games. For me, the primary purpose of battling is to defeat enemies, gather loot, and craft it into usable items and magic. Collecting AP for the special skills on the Guardian Forces (GF) comes second, while gaining XP isn't a significant focus. I thoroughly enjoyed character building in Final Fantasy 8, making it one of the most enjoyable character-building systems in an RPG for me, reminding me a little of The Witcher 3, which is my all-time favourite game. FFX would be a close second for the FF series. Having multiple options for building characters isn't a flaw; it provides flexibility in acquiring magic. Personally, I enjoyed alternating between gaining cards, crafting them into magic, collecting magic on the map, and defeating enemies to collect loot for magic. While I did use drawing in the opening hours, I'm happy that there were other options, because I hate drawing. After the first few hours I only used the skill on one character to GFs and the occasional rare magic spell - actually, just one, as I did load up on a spell called Aura. I played a lot more than likely most people would play, as I became engrossed in customizing GFs with scrolls to transform my characters into god-like beings. Consequently, when I finished the game, I crushed the end of the game-similar to my experience with other Final Fantasy games, except for FF5, which had a frustratingly slow leveling up process. I only counted the one battle with 3 stages, not millions or whatever and it didn't kill any pacing of the game - and this isn't exactly odd for a Final Fantasy game, as FF6 ended the game with a five stage battle. It's a tradition that started with (if my memory hasn't crashed) FF4 which had a two stage battle. The story in Final Fantasy 8 didn't seem crazy to me. It bears some resemblance to FF4, where instead of Zeromus on the moon controlling Golbez, it's Ultimecia in the future controlling Edea. Laguna's role as the President of Esthar is coherent; he led the revolt overthrowing the sorceress Adel and confining her in stasis in space. Ultimecia's attempt to unify her lineage with Adel's, seeking godlike power to remake space and time, is a central theme. In fact, I'm wondering if maybe the story and gameplay were different in the original FF8, because what you're describing is often similar, but not what I played. Maybe the Laguna storyline was cut down in the original version of the game, I believe what I played was kind of like a Director's Cut. But I'd recommend playing the HD Remaster on Nintendo Switch to get the full experience. Anyway! Exploring the world map reveals additional bits of the story. The sorceresses' connection to the God Hyne, who waged war against humanity in the distant past and was split into multiple pieces, including the sorceresses and guardian forces, adds depth. This narrative resembles the one in Final Fantasy Legend 2 (SaGa 2), where the Goddess Isis was split into magicite, spreading around the world, turning users into gods of different worlds. Moving on to my favourite aspect of FF8-the world itself. I enjoyed the dynamic Balamb Garden, with its evolving setting as the story progressed. The characters would say different things, discussing current events, some people would leave the Garden, others would die. Then there was the blog maintained by Selphie if you logged into the school's network, it provided a unique perspective on world events. I loved the different aesthetics of cities, reminiscent of historical settings, along with the beautiful town music, created an enticing game world. The Shumi tribe, often referred to as "aliens," and the corrupt Norg added depth, with the Shumi's arctic village standing out as one of my favourite locations in any game. The civilization is built on top of the ruins of hyper advanced civilizations, and uncovering those ruins and how some of the surviving technology is used, really added to my enjoyment of the world as a whole. In summary, Final Fantasy 8 is my favourite, with Final Fantasy 6 a close second. FF8's ambitious scope and expansive world made it stand out for me. While I could have finished it sooner, the additional content and exploration opportunities extended my playtime to around 75 hours. Currently, I'm focused on working through major Mega Drive, SNES, and Playstation 1 RPGs after completing Gameboy and NES classics. Maybe one day, I'll delve into FF11-16, excluding the online ones.

I absolutely love this game. Its been my favorite game in the franchise my whole life

Yeah, FFVIII is weird. I love it. And the garden battle was the coolest thing I had seen in a video game for a while. It gave me chills. And I interpreted Squall's development as a lone wolf who becomes a leader. And a lover.

Yea the story of this one took me multiple tries to not only understand but appreciate. For example I didnt understand why Ultimecia could send herself back in time yet needed Elone to get farther back. Then the realization that she was actually only making use of a machine that could only return to the point it was activated really blew my mind a bit.

I feel like your interpretation of Squall is really simplistic. He is shown to care deeply about the characters and everyone's situation, and it's not just just that he's distant and standoffish (which of course, he is), but that he's been repeatedly put into a leadership position - and when Rinoa is scared after she brings the amulet to Edea, he's not comforting in the way she would want him to be, yet he's strong and provides this stability in that moment, so they get through it together. You can see some kindness in the scene even though he's still maintaining his trademark emotional distance. idk when people call him "emo" I always just think you heard other people say that and it made it so you didn't really think more about what the narrative is communicating about him. That said, it's fine for you to not respond well to the character. I just think there's so much more to him!!

So um, a few things. Laguna is Squall's father. This is confirmed, though there's no direct mention of it in the game, there are strong hints (if you talk to Kiros and Ward in the Ragnarok after Laguna briefs you about the plan to defeat Ultimecia they both allude to Laguna being Squall's father and Raine being his mother). This also makes Ellone Squall's half-sister. Squall in discs 1 & 2 has the attitude of being realistic in the outcome of things. He says things like getting your hopes up is bad, reality isn't so kind, saying positive things is just for reassurance. He's also a dutiful soldier who (very reluctantly) accepts his leadership role of SeeD when it is thrust upon him. He tosses all of that aside in Disc 3 when he leaves to take Rinoa with him to find Esthar, though. He abandons his duties, friends, mission all to attempt to find a way to save her, and even admits (to an unconscious Rinoa but mostly the audience) that he actually cares about what other people think of him, so he tries to be as cold as possible to shut them out. But it's really the moment he throws himself out into space to save Rinoa that his character development takes the biggest leap. He has no plan, no hope, just a burning need to save her. They're pretty lucky it worked out. And yeah, he has a bit of a relapse and shock moment when Rinoa is taken and the others have to snap him out of it. So when he rescues Rinoa and finally gives her the hug she wanted when they reached the Ragnarok, that is the completion of his character arc. This is the type of game that makes a lot more sense on a second play through. Things make more sense when you realize Cid and Edea knew Squall was the one who was destined to take out Ultimecia. Ellone and Squall being taken to an orphanage shortly after Laguna leaves and Raine passes away is the main reason Ellone was trying to change the past. You see Garden Attendants repeatedly interrupt Cid and call him away "for a meeting" as a means to keep him from getting too close to his students and keep him as a figure head so Norg could keep control of Garden at the beginning of Disc 1. Irvine is hesitant to shoot Edea because she's his matron, and he doesn't tell the party about their past (he kind of tries to at first) because up until the basketball court scene, he doesn't really get a chance to. They're either preparing to assassinate their Matron (and if he's the only one who remembers that, perhaps that's a good thing?), escaping a prison, separated due to the missile crisis, or trying to get Garden out of Fisherman's Horizon and encourage Squall to open up to them. He's probably wrestling with the decision to let them know that Edea was their former Matron the entire time and it's not until the basketball court that he finally decides to tell them everything. (I do find it weird that Seifer suddenly remembers this as well, and also somehow 'knows' that they all remember by the end of Disc 2, though).

Final fantasy 8 is my favorite as an adult, growing up it was always the 13 series since that was my introduction to final fantasy alongside dissidia, something about the world, the characters and how relatable squall is to me just gets me, that and I played through the entire game while tripping on acid so 😭

It's crazy watching the reactions to this game. I played it at launch and if not for that I never would have touched a final fantasy game. I was a teen at that time and maybe that was why I really understood how Squall was relatable in all of those situations. Has anyone thought about him just being insecure? Sure, he proves to be extremely powerful but to an insecure kid he is always thinking there's something out there even more powerful. Sure, Rinoa and Quistis are romantically interested but that is hard for an insecure kid to notice. He was abandoned and was literally taught to be strong despite that. How do you build that strength? By not cultivating those relationships. Let's be honest some of us have had the situation where a girl is practically throwing herself at you but you don't notice it because your head is elsewhere. You realize more about what you should have said or done AFTER you made the wrong decisions. This entire approach to Squall's decision making made sense when you look at it from that perspective. I was mad when he didn't say the right things at times too but after Rinoa became unresponsive and ALL he could think about was HER I completely understood. Sometimes you don't know you love it until it's gone. Losing Rinoa like that made him push past the insecurities and say "I don't care if it hurts I'm going to get her back." Arguably one of the most human characters in FF history. I loved the literal months it took me to finish this game. The story was so compelling. I didn't have any issues with the memory loss reveal because it is sprinkled in conversations and if you read the notes at the beginning of the game when you access your desk it LITERALLY talks about it. Also the people who are talking about it were employees of Garden which BTW was foreshadowing the whole conflict behind Master Norg's shady business practices. My only with this game was the whole Laguna side story. It felt like there wasn't enough happening in the game to know what happened to Laguna. Even with that problem all I am saying is that I may have not had the conversation with the random NPC that has the information that puts it all together. That's the kind of game this is. Still the best FF by far in comparison to them all. That junction idea was meant to keep you on your toes and draw everything to the max. I'm over 40 and I still have arguments with my friends about who had the strongest Squall. If you have max strength with Flare junctioned but also have 100 death spells as an elemental attack then You are not afraid of any random encounters. I didn't worry about anything until that underground research lab came along in my search for Eden. So much fun I wish I could wipe my memory and play it again.

This is definitely my favorite Final Fantasy game next to 10 and 7. That card game you can play was really addicting.

Getting a strategy guide with every Final Fantasy game was a ritual for me. Completed the purchase. Same with souls games. I have a guide for FF4 to FF15. Only souls game I don’t have a guide for is DS2. Coincidentally the only souls game I haven’t beaten. The sekiro and bloodborne guides are so nice.

My favorite Final Fantasy and in my top three favorite games ever, so it's always good to see some coverage on it. I adore the characters, gameplay and Disc 1 is incredible.

My favorite game of all time, Squalls journey is just so relatable to me

Honestly? This was my favorite one. Seeing Squall grow throughout the game was actually a joy to watch. they happen slightly, and aren't always noticeable, but it happened often enough. I thought them tieing the GFs into why they don't remember was a fun twist and at that point, It really felt like the "Fantasy" was back in Final Fantasy. All the crazy that happened. the WTF moments felt like I was really in another world. I wish other FF games went off the rails the way this game did, instead of laying out everything at the start. I get why people didn't like it. but I loved it. Same thing with FF13. I actually really enjoyed the story. the only thing that put me off from 13 was the battle system.

yesss. glad youre getting back to old jrps/rpgs matty. i havent been watching retro rebound as much lately because of the anime games ive no interest in, but i will definitely come around to hear whag you think of any old rpgs/jrpgs and classic games. thanks for the content as always!

8 is amazing glad you were able to experience it. I beat it when I was 12 no issues but I think as gaming has evolved into the same few games reskinned with slight skill/mechanic variations we've forgot how diverse games used to be. The story is weird but that's final fantasy baby.

This game has one of the most under-appreciated pieces of video game music ever: the Fire Cavern Theme

what i remember about FFVIII: -EB (electronics boutique) putting that opening FMV on display at all hours of the day at the mall. -the assassination scene (that ice spear's a lotta damage) -space scene with eyes on me

The actual Laguna side was cut and never made it to release, originally Laguna was supposed to get half the game with his own overworld, etc, while leading the resistance against the other sorceress. Instead we get a few playable parts with him and then what was supposed to be his entire side of the game was reduced to him telling Squall a summary of his activities.

this is the first RPG i ever played and it changed my life

7, 8 and 10 are my favorite FF games. I'd love to see 8 remade. Or really any turn based FF game remade. And properly remade.

8 is one of my top favorites, especially as you get some of the hidden story context scenes and are able to piece together some of the otherwise out-of-place elements.

I actually resonated with squall. He wasn't the guy who cared about no one. He didn't smile not because he hates everyone. He was an introvert who had a sad life. He just wanted to be left alone. Not everyone wants to be around whacky, giddy people. Again that doesn't mean squall hated them.

I love the game, I think it's my 4th or 5th favorite FF game. For me it's just behind 7, 6, 10 and maybe 12. But everything you're saying here is still valid. I like Squall a lot, but like you said about him being in Kingdom Hearts, he's really cool in Kingdom Hearts. I feel like I cut the character slack in FF8 because I played KH first. I know they're different continuities and they're not connected at all, but playing KH before FF8 helped for me because I knew Squall was actually a good guy in the end. Squall in KH is definitely written to be an older version of the character.

Zell is great in combat. He's incredibly fast and his limit break is good. However, he needed more character development and back story to make using him more enjoyable

I actually loved the gameplay. I played this as a teen and figured it out without the internet. There is nothing more amazing than equipping your sword with 100 deaths.

My favorite Final Fantasy game. I was a senior in high school when it came out. I remember naming Rinoa the same name as my crush at the time lol. I really identified with Squall.. I was surprised years later to find so many people hating on it online.

The first time I played it, I also thought the whole "we grew up together, but forgot" aspect was absurd. But, on a replay, I realized that they mention very early on that using GFs causes memory loss. Of course, that still doesn't account for the astronomical chances that they all just happened to end up travelling together.

My favourite Final Fantasy, my favourite cast, story, music and the world.

This was my first FF and my favorite and this is my absolute favorite, glad you were able to experience it

Wish I could agree with you, but I played this when it was new and I loved every second of the game. As a 10 year old, I didn’t really understand the junctioning system or knowing that the leveling system was scaling with the enemies. I was young and it confused me. But everything else was amazing. And now I love the junctioning system. It’s still my other favorite in the series along side FF7.

I was 11 at launch, and ff8 was simple to me, honestly it wasn't difficult. A bit tedious having to draw with every character. Even at 11 I knew to unlock card mod, I knew to convert spells and tools to magic and knew how to get powerful quick. But it wasn't until ibwas 12/13 and on my like 3rd playthrough I switched to saving everything and using what I needed and when for ultimate weapons and the side quests.

One of my very first experiences with video games was playing ff8. When I was about 5 my sister and I would play my older brother's save file while he was away, using up all of his magic. By the time he realized he was so upset he quit playing it altogether and never played another final fantasy. Good times 🙃

At the beginning of the game on Squalls Computer there is a article about the G.Fs and the memory lost effect. That was a great foreshadowing

I just beat this Friday night for the first time. It was a good game and the junction/ triple triad I appreciated more than when I didn’t understand as a kid. Been working on finishing all of the single player numerical titles and only have 4 and 5 left! Btw big fan of the channel and these breakdowns! Glad to see you’re enjoying a bunch of old classics!

The key thing to remember when it comes to the romance between Rinoa and Squall, particularly how rushed it seems, is that they're teenagers. Teenage romances are quick and awkward like that

So glad to see you play this game. Final Fantasy 7-9 are three of my favorite games of all time and I think 8 doesn't get the credit it deserves alongside the others from its era.

Irvine being scared to pull the trigger was such a great moment for his character.

I'm glad to see you play this one as it was my favorite Final Fantasy game. I didn't learn until I was older that this game had enemy level scaling. I got stuck about halfway through the game.

My all time favorite gaming experience, FF8 is crazy good.

I love ff8..it will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first RPG i really got into too. It made reading fun again. Before i played it when i was in 6th grade..i haven't read anything for fun in a one year. Only if i had too for school. Besides for that stuff; i really enjoyed the story & turn base combat. Man i liked the story

Matty nooooo! Haha I loved FF8 I played it when it came out. I was like 15/16 at the time so I really did enjoy it at the time. I loved everything about it and even plying it back multiple times years later I still love it. The junctioning I didn’t even understand in my first playthrough until pretty much the very end castle haha. However I do see the flaws too but I think ultimately it holds up as a brilliant game from its time. It’s probably my second favourite FF game. I remember genuinely tearing up during the squall/rinoa space section. And man Ultimecia’s castle was awesome! Glad you played it! :)

Man, this game takes me back. It’s one of my all time favorite final fantasy games. I remember playing it up in my room back in 2000-2001 in middle school when I got this game for my birthday that year. It definitely hasent aged well for sure, but you could do some badass things with the junction system. I definitely agree with you that the game is clunky. I’m glad you had a chance to play the game. And tripple triad is the shit. I play the mobile game they made as well as I love playing it in final fantasy 14. I’m glad they added it to that game.

I loved 8, coming off from my fave game which was 7, the music was stellar, the characters iconic, the story may have gone over my head as a youngling but I love just the epicness. I may have spent forever at fisherman playing the band scene and listening to it

FFVIII despite all the flaws, is truly something special within the entire final fantasy franchise. Plus come on Squall is so cool, and that intro brings chills!!! Squall and Cloud are my fav protags!

I think the junction system could have worked if there was a single pool for magic rather than every character having one. You could then assign different amounts out of your total to a party member to adjust stats. Whatever remains can then if you choose be used in battle. That way magic doesn't effect stats, you just use the remainder instead. It could make magic feel more valuable and usable and lower the amount of need to draw. As far as the story, I really liked disc 1 and wished the story could focus more on keeping the game grounded before going full on fantasy. I also wish Ultimecia had more screen time. I feel her goal isn't well fleshed out or explained thematically but I do like how she tries to be Squall's foil. Her whole time compression is essentially cutting everyone and everything out so all that really remains is her in her own world; rather than reaching out to touch others. Laguna was terrible though. I couldn't stand that guy.

I played this as a kid when it released and replayed it a couple of years ago... this is the MOST accurate review I have ever heard of it.

It’s just a fantastic game of its time. You can’t play it as a man in your 30s and critique it like a game from today. If you’d played FF8 as a 13 year old like most of us, the story issues aren’t really issues. FF8 is elite, and I’d love them to create a concept for a game where you junction resources you can draw or win from enemies to make yourself stronger. Also… Triple Triad is the greatest mini game ever.

Great video revisit. I played this upon release in 1999 as a teenager. I was weirded out by the lvl system , but powered through it. In hindsight and now as I get older - I actually enjoy it A LOT more. Especially since so many of my favorite JRPG's of yesteryear are exploitable and easily broken. I like that i can keep ff8 difficult as I play through it in recent years.

I remember I put fira on Strength for everyone before I even left for the first mission because I was grinding JP and got the mid-magic RF skill. I was so overpowered it was crazy. Every battle, I was extracting magic and refining it to the next level until I finally got other abilities to refine magic out of mostly items. Ultima was a BITCH to get 100 of though. I managed to get it for 2 of my chars but didn't feel like grinding energy crystals anymore. The first 100 was from ultima weapon, and the 2nd was either drawpoints in the shumi village, energy crystals and the island closest to hell. A few others were cool Esuna for status defense is ALWAYS good and vital when it comes to attacking Malboros.

FF8 is certainly in my top 5 favorite games from the series

Squall is definitely the most relatable FF protagonist for me

As someone who’s tried to get into 8 a dozen times, this was an awesome video to watch, thanks Matty!

8 is one of my favorite FF. Lot of FF8 side quest builds and completes the world and explains a lot of Laguna's backend of things and why he ended up missing. Failed to be there for the people he loves. The story of Rinoa's linking to the group is not from the orphanage, but from Laguna's side. Julia loved Laguna and waited for him. Wrote Eyes on Me for him. Was crushed that Laguna never returned and married Galbadia's military commander Fury Caraway. Laguna and Raine are Squall's parents. Raine took care of Ellone. Laguna was alway on a mission when Raine pasted away sending Ellone and Squall to the orphanage which Laguna lost track of them. Laguna and Julia didn't end up together, but their kids did.

I played this game several times when it first came out and would always grind heavy to have amazing stat boosts and junctions in the early game, and I never felt the game was too hard with the scaling, even when I was in the late 80's or early 90's in the end game. Maybe it's because I understood the junction system, but the game is definitely not too hard when scaled up. Grind to your heart's content if you feel the need and have JRPG experience. 😁

Sensational game. Would love a remake. I think it's the most cinematic of all the retro FF games.

[characters travel to space in a futuristic video game] this guy: ummmm square enix are you HIGH????!!!

This was the first FF game I played, I had no idea what I was doing, but it never frustrated me because I just brute-forced my way through it and enjoyed the story so much. You don't have to optimize or min-max anything to beat the game or any of the optional content. I don't know if its still my favorite FF anymore, but it was my favorite game for a long time

I just love how ridiculous this game is. It’s my favorite in the series even though it’s definitely not the best. This also has one of the best soundtracks and FMV’s.

I played VIII when I was 11 or 12. I was perplexed just about the entire time. I don't think I ever actually finished it... Just got too hard and too complicated and the plot started going off the rails. I think it was beautiful and evocative at the time, and easily one of the coolest looking and most interesting gameplay I'd ever seen as a kid... But I'm glad to see that even as an adult it's an overwrought experience. When I played X a few years later it was more my speed, and even now, going on 20 years later, that's still a first rate experience that I can still recall a lot from. VIII, while enjoyable at times and really unique and impressive in its style and scope, is just too... Complicated. I think it makes for a great piece of video game history, and ideas and aesthetics and plot lines and character-archetypes and game mechanics from it ought to be mined and reforged into future games. There's a huge wealth of ideas in there, but it feels unfocused and underdeveloped in the back half, like they had too many mechanics and story elements on their big white board and had to tie them all together and were too proud to erase anything. I hope people who grew up with it find ways to take inspiration from it and reuse ideas it left uncooked in '99, but I don't have an abiding need to go back to it a quarter century later.

This was the first Final Fantasy game I ever bought. I watched a friend play FF6 on the SNES, but I never owned an SNES and I skipped FF7 and got this when it came out.

Got introduced to the FF characters via KH too, and I’ve been a fan of the FF series ever since.

I loved 8 and 7 and then 9 became my favorite and now the hype for 7 is back with the remake

I've seen a lot hate from this masterpiece of a game IMO 8 is the best in the series, ppl who hate this gem seriously doesn't really know how to play the game. you can make this game hard or easy depends on the players skill level.

FfVIII is phenomenal. Great presentation, good memories. One of the best!

I think on release the cutscenes, music and summon animations were really mindblowing for the time. I played FF8 as my first FF coming from Pokemon Blue and it competely blew my mind watching Quezacotl compared to crappy Pokemon animations. I was immersed in that world and thought it was the coolest game I had ever played. Also loved gunblades, Renzokuken and Squall and Rinoa. Good times

Crazy that such a shit Final Fantasy is sandwiched in between 2 GOAT Final Fantasy’s

Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite game of the franchise. VII is next, then VI. I have never understood why people hated on this game! It is the first game I ever 100%, I have 100% games since then, but this game will always be special in my heart because it is the first game I had to know every inch of...Thank you for making this video! SUBBED!

You said everything I was thinking about FF8. Everything. Good video

I absolutely loved the ending. FFXV really went off the deep end with its finale, but I don't feel the same way about VIII and will never understand the hate for it.

Squall is an asshole but can slowly get better, but it can go right over most player's heads because the game lets the player choose some of Squall's responses during the story and you can respond like an asshole and that's it or you can answer as an asshole who is getting better and it makes Squall's story arc feel more natural, once Squall has to deal with being constantly forced to work with people, put into leadership positions he never wanted and having the attention of a happy ray of a sunshine like Rinoa, it all makes Squall break his mental barriers and develop his emotions. Rinoa herself says that Squall missed out on so much and he did, that's why he always rolls back to being a distant asshole whenever he feels things are back to normal, he will change and painfully push out of his shell when the situation demands it but he tends to go back inside right after.