Love the game, hate the story

[Orphan Martian]

It's an old game, and everyone's complained about it, but the plot really is the worst. Here's a perfect example:

When Galbadia Garden attacks on Disc 2, Rinoa ends up dangling from a cliff. Zell promises to save her, then runs away to find Squall. Squall just tells him to save her and do whatever it takes, which is what he was trying to do anyways. WTF does any of that accomplish except waste time?

After learning that his girlfriend is barely hanging onto the edge of the garden, Squall decides the best course of action would be to ram their gardens together. Again, WHAT!? He is actively trying to murder her! By all accounts Rinoa should have been a bloody smear at the end of Disc 2, but somehow she is saved by Squall and his Deus ex Mechasuit.

This game could have been a classic if the writers weren't complete idiots.

[iitu]

I'd say the main story itself is pretty good, but yeah there are flaws in the other parts of the story. And the fact that the game lacks common sense and everything is done the hardest way, eg. you just can't go ahead and help Rinoa out by using a rope or something, but you need a damn jetpack thing to do that. Then again if you'd always go the easiest way the game would quickly become boring. So why not ram some gardens together to save one person.

Then again all FF games have weird story changes and don't make much sense.

[Orphan Martian]

You make some good points, and I know FF has always had weird stories with bizarre twists. However, in FF7 and 9, the dialogue is well-written and the story keeps its pace up. There was rarely a time where I felt like the characters were talking too much, and if they were, stuff was actually happening as they spoke.

I can't tell you how many times I sat in FF8 spamming X while characters went on and on and on. These scenes were numerous and offered nothing else besides tedious exposition, something the other games managed to deliver with at least some excitement. Take Cloud's flashback of when he first goes to Nibelheim, tons of exposition but also excitement and action. You fight a dragon, you discover the Mako hybrids, Nibelheim is torched, Tifa is nearly killed, you duel with Sephiroth, SO MUCH happens.

Now look at Squall's flashback of the orphanage, all exposition while people stand around talking on a beach and nothing else. Occasionally you will have to actually walk to a person to continue the dialogue, a weak attempt at breaking up the monotony. They could have easily made this scene more engaging, for example, Selphie could have had a flashback to when she actually fights her first GF, and let the player experience it firsthand. One simple boss fight would have made that flashback bearable.

Most of the dialogue is horrible filler: "The elevator stopped." "Squall, what should we do?" "What else. Let's go." Seriously? Does the player really have to be told that the elevator has stopped and they're supposed to exit through the ONLY door on-screen? It's stuff like that which constantly interrupts the flow of the game, and makes the story tedious and even condescending.

As for the actual plot, it's really aimless and meandering. Someone actually wrote up a great summary which showed just how spontaneous the plot points are. Seifer has zero motivation for joining Edea, and his entire arc is honestly pointless and weak. The orphanage twist has already been ripped to shreds, since neither Cid or Irvine bothered to say anything, even when Irvine is ordered to snipe out the woman who raised him, which he apparently remembers since he hasn't used GFs for that long. In hindsight, this is actually a great reason why Irvine couldn't make the shot, because he remembered Edea as his mother-figure, but they never bother to address this in-game. They could have really developed his character with this, but instead left it up to the player to give these bland carboard cutouts any depth or personality.

The game does nothing to support the idea that everyone knew each other, and supporting characters like Cid have to actively hide the fact for absolutely no reason other than to keep the big twist a surprise. It's completely unnatural and forced.

The reason I still like FF8 is because the gameplay is really fun, and I love the design of everything. The characters look cool, the GFs look amazing, the ships and the world look beautiful, and every single cutscenes is excellent. This is a beautiful game without any soul or logic, which really makes me sad. It seems like they had some great ideas for locations and action sets, but when it came time to connect all these places with a coherent story, they dropped the ball big time.

Fortunately I'm past all the lame story, and can focus on maxing out my characters. :P

[MoogleMcGee]

Well there is a theory out there that the game is basically done at the end of disc 1. Check it out here http://squallsdead.com/

[Orphan Martian]

@Shirayuki - The thing is, Irvine remembers the orphanage first and reminds everyone else about their past, so I'd think Irvine would recognize Edea in at least some capacity. Maybe he saw her but didn't believe it was actually her, though the similarities still made him choke. It's a small detail that I think makes the story a bit stronger, so please let me have it haha.

During the Garden Battle, I actually really like how they put Squall in a position where he has to choose to help the garden or the girl he likes. It sounds great on paper, it was just executed horribly in game. Putting Rinoa in such a bad spot, then having Squall ram the ships together, only to luck out and save her through sheer coincidence? It was unbelievable even for Final Fantasy. Rinoa should have been squished or fallen to her death, no doubt.

I know every FF has its ups and downs, but I've been replaying 7-8-9 and 8 just feels the weakest story-wise. Everything else is great, but this is a story-driven game and having a weak narration really brings it down. I will admit though, I think the terrible English translation has a lot to do with it. I've read some of the Japanese translations and they're much more interesting.

@Sepheroth - Don't you dare post that Squallsdead junk here! Lol I kid, but honestly I think that theory is kind of boring. Squall got hit in the shoulder by a magic icicle, and was saved by magic and Moombas. I see no reason he couldn't have survived. If the ice had gone through his heart or head that would be a different story...

Have you heard of the Rinoa=Ultimecia theory? I thought it was going to be silly, but it actually makes sense given the story. They use a massive quote from Rinoa that sounds eerily like Ultimecia's plan to compress time. Unfortunately I think it's just a fan theory and not intended, but there's nothing in the game to disprove it, either, so in my head Ultimecia is the original Rinoa from before the time loop started.

[CleanWater]

Guys, really... The history is awesome. Specially the Laguna parts.

[CleanWater]

Originally posted by Shirayuki474:

Originally posted by CleanWater:

Guys, really... The history is awesome. Specially the Laguna parts.

Though there is nothing I dislike about Laguna party I always hate when action is switching to them. Maybe because it is kinda comedy-type and FF VIII is the dark one part.

I think the Laguna part is what makes the game history so rich. Also, the Laguna history is very sad most of the time if you stop to think about it.

- He didn't married the girl he liked. She thought he died in the war.
- Ward become mute.
- Elone was kidnapped and his wife died while he went to save her.
- Didn't finished the game yet, but I also think he didn't meet his son (Squall), and even know about him.[/list]

[CleanWater]

Originally posted by Shirayuki474:

Originally posted by CleanWater:

I think the Laguna part is what makes the game history so rich. Also, the Laguna history is very sad most of the time if you stop to think about it.

- He didn't married the girl he liked. She thought he died in the war.
- Ward become mute.
- Elone was kidnapped and his wife died while he went to save her.
- Didn't finished the game yet, but I also think he didn't meet his son (Squall), and even know about him.[/list]

About father.

There is no direct proof that Laguna is Squall father, yeah this theory has many hints but it is the same as with theory ''Squall is dead after 1cd'' or ''Rinoa is Ultimecia''. Also the main point against it is that Laguna is meeting with Squall at some point in the game and he didn't say anything about that subject.

Of course he won't say anything. He don't know Squall is his son. If not, what use Elone (wrote Eilleen before, my bad ) wanted Squall to change Laguna's past so badly? To let Laguna learns about his son before his wife passed away in the birth.

[CleanWater]

Originally posted by Shirayuki474:

Originally posted by CleanWater:

Of course he won't say anything. He don't know Squall is his son. If not, what use Elone (wrote Eilleen before, my bad ) wanted Squall to change Laguna's past so badly? To let Laguna learns about his son before his wife passed away in the birth.

Maybe so but don't you think it is not good enough, such story content should give us DIRECT proof, not exactly letting Squall know it but somehow, anything.

When I first played, I reached the final boss but didn't defeated it. Now I'm playing again from the beggining. So far, I noticed a lot of things I didn't the first play. I realized the story itselfs highlights everything in a subtle way.

Most of Elone's quotes highlights this fact (Laguna is Squall father).
And, if I recall well, Kyros quote how Squall resembles his mother (the woman in Winhill which Laguna lived with).

[ayoPAT]

This game was rushed. It had production time of only a year. And it shows.

[Do0gle]

I played and completed FFVIII this year, and it took me a long time to get over being such a critical bastard about so many stupid things present in this game, that you simply don't have to put up with in VII and X. This wasn't a nostalgic trip for me; I didn't return to this game years after playing it, so there was no childlike awe to bypass the flaws - just purely playing the game for what it is. What can I say? I started this game, I'm a big fan of the FF universe and titles, I was gonna see this mother through until the end.

While this game is objectively poor in the delivery of logical gameplay and development in some placed (I lost hours of my life fighting off the big crawling machine on the first mission for xp gains, not knowing that you can't actually destroy it, you have to run... why didn't they make that clear for me? WHY?), at some stage in the playthrough, I became completely charmed by the themes of fate (and an attempt to alter it) , time manipulation, destiny (especially in relation to the orphanage and the characters' relations) , and exploring origins (that being the whole Laguna section, which quite frankly adds tremendous depth to the story) . I have to admit, when I clicked the Rinoa = Ultimecia theory into place, a light turned on, and my appreciation for this game spiked. I know it's probably not for lots of reasons, but I still gaze out from behind the cutain of reason through the window of ignorance for a glimpse at a much more exciting world that MAKES SENSE from time to time. All and all, I have certainly benefited from FFVIII.

There are some great functions in the gameplay, too. Junctioning, triple triad, traversing the secrets on the map, the three character roam, abilities, limit breaks. I feel like the whole style of the game integrates an advanced technological age with a sort of aged aesthetic - Balamb looks like a dated hospital, the architectural designs seem not really what you'd expect from a civilisation with the powers of space travel. To me everything seems a bit manual, old fashioned, even down to Ultimeicia's Castle . It makes things feel a bit odd, but in that respect interesting, and when you connect the dots in links thematically.

If you're starting the game anew, stick with it, because you'll find there are things you'll pull out of it that you'll connect with and make sense of. You just have to be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ about for ages with loads of unnecessary gameplay, and segments of the plot that are downright frustrating and nonsensical. I'm corssing over from PS to FFVIII on steam now, and I've booted it up to find that the music is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mess, and the graphics have been tampered with, so now it's over to modding this mess. Even after I've put the effort in, I'm still labouring after it....

[CleanWater]

Originally posted by Shirayuki474:

Originally posted by CleanWater:

When I first played, I reached the final boss but didn't defeated it. Now I'm playing again from the beggining. So far, I noticed a lot of things I didn't the first play. I realized the story itselfs highlights everything in a subtle way.

Most of Elone's quotes highlights this fact (Laguna is Squall father).
And, if I recall well, Kyros quote how Squall resembles his mother.

There are many highlights as well that Rinoa is Ultimecia (appearance and Griever) or that Squall is dead (ending ball scene and Ultimecia words), the problem is FF VIII story is very deep with many twists and second exits this is why it is really hard to consider what is just a coincidence, what is false and what is true. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against that but we never got a proof so it will always remain as theory. Basically everything what Big Sis and Laguna team says CAN match Squall by timeline and general, this one was just left and not concluded in ending/whatever and this is a problem

Whatever...

[Gozua]

I actually loved the story to this game and its what got me hooked when I was younger... I used to dislike RPG's, I thought they were pointless.... I even didn't like FF7 when it was initially released.
Though 2 years after FF8 came out I visited an old friend who was at the end of the game and after witnessing the final battle, the music and the ending I was hooked... I had to play the game to find out more of the story.... then after this game I looked at RPG's alot differently and ended up playing many more... love this game. :)

[Quasarsin]

totally agree

[xXNightingale]

FFVIII was the first Final Fantasy game I ever played, and I absolutely loved it. It's the game that sparked my undying love for the series.

Although there are several parts in the story that are pointless and sometimes even unbearable, overall I really enjoyed it. It's a game that I always go back to. (Currently playing through it again)

You have the overly obnoxious characters and then you have your favorites. I never liked having to play with the "alternate" party. I avoided leveling those particular characters for as long as possible lol

There were a lot of things that I always wondered about in this game. Like the Laguna/Squall topic and the Julia/Rinoa thing. Although the song "Eyes On Me" in a way, ties a lot of stories together. Laguna's story shatters my soul though.

I enjoyed Squall's development as a character. I also enjoyed all of the little twists and turns in the game. To see how everyone was connected in their own ways was interesting to me.

I'm still waiting on a remake and at one point I was writing a sequel lol maybe I fangirled too hard over FFVIII who knows.

[Apinaheebo]

I just replayed the game after like 15 years. The story felt a lot better than what I remembered. When I was a kid I used to spam X through most of the dialogues because I was too ADHD. This time I had genuine interest to read everything.

The weakest thing is the magic system, it still sucks hard. The game could be a lot better with a typical mana system. The final boss was the only fight where I could happily spam triple meteors and stuff without feeling bad.