Final Fantasy 8

[ghen]

**warning** this thread has spoilers starting about midway down


What a great game! I just had my birthday a week ago, and this was one of my presents. It starts off with the usual movie (superb ) of you and some dude sword fighting. Since both of you are using gun-blades it looks kinda funky .
In the first 5 minutes of gameplay there are 3 movies
The new system of magic is called Junction, All magic seems to derive from your Guardian Forces (new summons) which seem more.. real.. than the FF7 materia.
The story isn't too hot in the first half-hour, (your a student) but its bound to get better. Really there's not too much time for story line as you have to learn the Junction system. (its kinda complex )
When I played the demo on Brave Fencer, the game seemed quite a bit harder than it is at the moment . I have seen the game over screen twice though .
If anyone cares I'll keep you updated on my view of the game. As I progress, though, I promise to be more general .
[This message has been edited by ghen (edited October 17, 1999).]

[ghen]

well i'll assume that noone else really cares about this game.
if you do care and have any questions post them here.

[Sitnam]

i also have ff8. i got it yesterday.
im about 6 hours into it now.

i got through the fire cave in 10 min (just to brag)

[ghen]

I had no idea what the timer was supposed to be the first time around on 10min. i died before even reaching Infrit.

[Procopius]

I just got the game I played for about two hours. Went to save on the world map, and then watched in horror as the game told me I was out of slots for the file. AHHH!!! How do you guys play do you speed through the easy levels or do you stick around and max out your HP and MP?

[ghen]

hahaha proc that happened to me, only it was the very first save point >:-)
all I had to do was watch the cool beach secenery again


i run through as fast as i can. although I have been drawing quite a bit...

thats the only mistake with these FF series lately is that it's too easy
you have to run through at breakneck speed to get a challenge

here's some insight on how I play:
i still haven't taken any SeeD tests, and I have 8000 smackeroos.

current point: on the clocktower with Irvine

[Procopius]

I agree that the recent games are too easy. I liked FFVII, but the only real challenge in the game was the two optional weapons Ruby and Emerald. I tend to run around the easy levels building my characters up before proceeding so that makes easy games even easier. Today I ran around the Garden and the town and built up Squall to lv. 20, and I maxed out Blizzard, Cure, Fire, and Scan. So by the time I went to get Ifirit I killed him with one shot of Shiva. I think I might run through and see if that is harder.

[Sitnam]

Im now at deling city as Squall. About 12 hours now. I havent been getting my ppl up the highest level is 15. I beat diablos and now have him as one of my gf's.
And im not going to use strat guides. Untill i already pass any area then i will read about it and see if i missed any thing.

The gf junctions system is really cool i like it a lot.

[ghen]

Same here, although for FF7 i broke down before the end of the first game and bought the white strategy guide

i'm on disc 2 now and squall is only lv. 16

not sure who diablos is, though i am missing a GF spot.. (p.s. don't tell me )

Lastly, the best thing about this game is the card game! When it starts to get boring, you meet up with someone who has a different rule to play by

[Sitnam]

you have diablos but dont know it.

thats all i will tell you

[ghen]

I know what it is now I won't say because I'm trying to keep this thread spoiler free as much as I can.

------------------
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know
-Ernest Hemingway

[Procopius]

Sitnam how long did it take you to beat Diablos. I had Squall at lv 25 and he kicked my butt. Sending me to the end screen about six times before I beat him. And then I was out of potions, elixers, and Phoniex Downs. I was wondering who likes the draw system or the materia system. In my case I liked materia and MP I never ran out of magic points, but in 8 I have run out of magic spells to use.

[Sitnam]

its pretty simple. just have one person with 3 haste and 3 shell(halfs magic damage i think) and use that person to first cast haste on himself then on everyone else than cast the shells.

have one char (i used rinoa) with high magic and junction 100 of some spell to her magic. and stock her with a lot of cures. also make sure everyone has cures and some phonix downs.
when i beat him squall was dead and i only had selphei and rinoa alive.
to kill him u simply have questitol, ifrit and shiva each person with a seperat one. and cast these over and over. also have each person set up with item so that while you have shell on you can heal (shell will half the amount healed) forget draw you dont need it.
thats about it.

if you any more questions just ask
im not sure how much sence my explination makes.


im now level 16(squall) on disk two.

[Sitnam]

oh yeah i beat him first time around.

it was easy once i found that i had haste. they saved me after my shells wore off.

i was getting worried then i cast scan and saw that he only had 900 hp left so i hit him with shiva and ifrit.

if i hadnt had haste i would have never beat him. it gave me time to cure and still attack between his attacks.

sitnam

[ghen]

oh no! completely ruined I left the computer/playstation for the weekend and you go and stick a spoiler in.

[Sitnam]

sorry
at least its not part of the story so it doesnt ruin that.

[ghen]

lol its not a biggy
anyway, after reading the forums today i'm going to start back up... now where was I? hmm

[ghen]

status report: I just beat norg. squall's level 22.
the card game is getting good!
I'm glad its there cause it keeps my mind off the fact that the game is too linear. At least with ff7 you could roam the world map a little as you went from city to city.
This following Gardens' orders thing sucks!

[J.DeMobray]

THE GOOD:

-The Movies!! Especially the final movie! Wow , just incredible graphics! I only wish my N64 could produce that kind of imagery.
-Monsters that increase in level with your characters. I never liked how much of a walk the previous FF games became towards the endgame.
-Aura. Best spell in any FF game, Ever.
-Mmmmm, Quistis Trepe.
-Distinctive monsters, instead of the usual R.Dragon, B.Dragon, Griffin, SeaMonster, Goblin RPG crap.

THE BAD:

-No equipment? I want my Genji Armor! I want my Relics!
-The Story. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but those of you who are on disc 3 or later know what I'm talking about. Also: Really, really, really, really hate Laguna's side-plot.
-I don't like having my "fantasy" character flying what looks like the Dragon Zord from season 3 of Power Rangers.
-Monsters that increase in level with you characters. Why does it have to take 5 minutes to beat the same monster I was killing in two rounds at the beginning of the game?
-There aren't enough Summons/GF. Even with all of the side quests and grabbing Tonberry, Bahamut, and Eden there are a total of 16. (And none of them are as cool as NeoBahamut or Knights of the Round.)
-The music. Most of it seems recycled from the previous game. I expect at least one piece of really memorable music from each FF, along the lines of Celes' Theme or Aeris' Theme.

THE UGLY:

-My roomate insisted on singing part of Kid Rock's "Cowboy" every single time Irvine was on the screen. WHY!!!!
-Least impressive final boss EVER! And that includes the Orc General in Star Trail: Realms of Arkania.

OVERALL: * * (of 5)

I hold Squaresoft to a higher standard with console RPG's. I'm still looking forward to Chronotrigger II, and Final Fantasy Anthology.

[Sitnam]

Ok aura is not the best spell ever.
big guard is from ff7 is. haste wall on the whole magic party for the cost of a single wall.

i beat norg on level 17 or 18 cant recall exactly.

i like the no equipment. it makes the player have to have some brains to do well.
i like junctioning but its too strong. Just like in final fantasy tactics once you got to job level ninja your unbeatable. and in ff8 once you get one hundred second level spells per person winning is a forgone conclusion.

i beat the missle base boss and picked the 10min timer ! on level 14!
had 20 secs to spare.

[J.DeMobray]

Sheesh, it was just an opinion. . . .

Anyway, WHY I LIKE AURA:

1) It turns your characters into the Limit-Breaking-A$$-Kicking-Killing-Machines-From-Hell.

2) Wall and Haste are nice, but you know what? What's your defense when you use Wall? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR DEFENSE IS!!!!! A perfect Renzokuken, finished with the Lionheart does more damage than anything else in the game.

3) Invincible Moon works against the final boss, who otherwise has a vicious attack on par with Emerald Weapon's Beam Attack. With Invincible Moon (or Holy War) going, any of the enemies gets to curl up and die. Best way to access Rinoa's Limit Breaks? You guessed it; Aura.

4) You like Haste? Buy some Amnesia Greens and teach your GF's the Auto-Haste ability.

[ghen]

you ******* i'm never posting here again. this was suposed to be a keep as many names/ plot stories out of it as you could kind of thread.
I just finished off norg and I already know the plot sucks, but I don't need you to tell me details! The graphics are too good not to play the game through a few times, don't ruin it for me before I even get through the first game!

p.s. I didn't read much of your post so I don't know if you already said this.. but they did make the game much harder from FF7.. the only time I remember dying then was against carry-armor the first time
i've died on stupid stuff about 5 times already. (mostly 'cause I didn't have GF equipped.. had another ability instead)


damnit! it censored @sshole!
------------------
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know
-Ernest Hemingway


[This message has been edited by ghen (edited October 01, 1999).]

[Sitnam]

Why do you care about the names?
We havent given away the story.

i was just saying big guard is superior on effect + efficiency.

surely mime and KoR + w-summon was far superior damage wise to anything in ff8. but i never use either on the final boss. spells that produce ridiculous amounts of damage such as KoR are just for fun.

im not slamming your opinion just expressing mine about dumb spells like KoR. Aura is the same. it sould be for fun in my opinion. but it isnt fun when the opponent uses it though : (

[ghen]

ok i couldn't stay away it wasn't you sitnam btw.

I could care less what you say about ff7 everyone and their grandmother has played that game through

Personally I could watch KotR for hours on end at the end-game its wonderful to see all those 9999's come up! I also got kicks out of using it on annoying animals like the elephant by the chocobo farm.

I did just notice another plus for ff8 though.. the monster hp and your hp are closer than they usually are, I never really did like the fact that tonberry from ff7 needed quite a few 9999's to kill him when he only dished out 2000-3000. (or whatever he did) It just adds to the realism they were going for with the new character designs.

[ghen]

I was thinking about what I said, and I take it back. If the game doesn't get any better than go ahead and spoil it I don't care anymore. I'm now officially in waiting for the anthology.

[Sitnam]

I like the story so far. but it is as linear as xenogears was. ne1 play xenogears?

i cant wait for anthologies either.

[ghen]

I would have gotten that but Resident Evil 2 came out. I'm also officially waiting for RE3.

[J.DeMobray]

I have Xenogears, but it's sitting in a box next to my Playstation with a couple other games that I've picked up but haven't had the time or inclination to play yet. (Hybrid Heaven, anybody?) My roommate played Xenogears for a while, and wasn't too impressed. He said that in particular the Gears all seemed dull, and that the story line was extremely linear.

[Sitnam]

The only thing xenogears has for it is its story. The battle system is extremly simple but the story is better than ff7 or ff8.

[ghen]

I happened to like the story in FF7.
FF8 in comparison looks like it was written by a bunch of monkeys I'm still playing though until one of these games come out:

FF anthology
Saga Frotier 2 (great battle system in the first even if it did get tedious)
Resident Evil 3 Nemisis
Water-Starcraft
or
Warcraft 3
nothing else seems appealing at the moment