Final Fantasy VIII, although not conventional by any means, is a game that clearly defines a few good features of what an RPG should have.
	.: Story: 8/10 .: Gameplay: 9/10 .: Graphics: 9/10 .: Music: 9/10 .: Value: 9/10 .: Replay Value: 10/10	Overall: 9.0 Superb
Category: Role-Playing | Console-style RPG Platform: PlayStation Tech Information: 1 Player.		Publisher: SquareSoft Developer: SquareSoft Release Date: Sept 7, 1999

Story:
Final Fantasy VIII tells of the story of a young man, Squall, a mercenary attached to SeeD, who gets drawn in an epic story where the responsibility of saving the world from a Sorceress whose intent on ruling a neighbouring country doesn’t just stop at that. Final Fantasy VIII also features a bigger plotline, a romantic one between Squall and another character, Rinoa. The plot, although sweet and rather unique, is often inconsistent, especially considering that you are pursuing a save-the-world plotline during the first two discs and a romantic angle during the last two. Final Fantasy VIII features a very appropriate combination of character personalities and depths, thus making the game more heartfelt to gamers.

Artistic elements:
For the first time, Final Fantasy VIII utilizes beautiful smooth full motion videos to tell the story. The videos are beautiful detailed from the game’s start to finish. The characters are no longer tiny icons or sprites, but in fact full-fledged human sized characters, which provide another dazzling improvement for the Final Fantasy series. To make the world of Final Fantasy seem even more real, the character designs and images are made as realistic and acceptable as possible.

The musical elements are also a step further for the Final Fantasy series. For the first time, there is a theme song, ‘Eyes on me’ a sweet piece sang by popular Hong Kong performer Faye Wong. This adds a certain romantic atmosphere to the game. The themes, done by Nobuo Uematsu, are as pleasing on the ears as ever. The music offers a rather detached view of the entire game, a sort of indifferent feel to it. It isn’t extremely memorable, but with the addition of the theme song to the collection players will find a sweet love story unfolding before them.

Gameplay:
The new battle system throws out the old school gaming systems and brings in the controversial Junction system. This is a feature where characters will have to draw the magic physically from enemies, and there is now a limit to magic, but no MP will be used. However, that character’s stats heavily depend on the sort of magic the character can junction to their stats. Although it seems complicated, it is, until you actually get the gist of it and start playing. The battles are fast and smooth, easily grasped and true to Final Fantasy battle systems. From this point forward, Final Fantasy’s Summon system, the Guardian Forces, have close ties to the plotline.

Replay Value:
Sadly, Final Fantasy doesn’t have a lot of replay value. Mainly, this has something to do with the game’s lack of side quests and mini-games. If players chose to replay the game, they won’t get too much out of it besides the wonderful plot and stunning graphics, and perhaps a deeper appreciation for drama. However, there are only a certain number of times that you can play this until it simply seems boring enough so you can put it down.

Value:
This game is certainly worth the value. Even though it’s been years, and if you haven’t played this, you should add it to your RPG collection. Final Fantasy VIII, although not conventional by any means, is a game that clearly defines a few good features of what an RPG should have.

Overall:
Final Fantasy is worth playing. After all, this is Final Fantasy that we are talking about - and it being one of the more unique ones, there is a certain depth and maturity for this title. If you haven’t played it yet, you’re definitely missing out on something good.

~ Review Written by: Pearl ~