Final Fantasy VIII

 PlayStation
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 1236 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,043 out of 1236
  2. Mixed: 119 out of 1236
  3. Negative: 74 out of 1236
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  1. Derringer
    Dec 23, 2015
    0
    Please. Please somebody explain to me why is this game considered as a "legendary game" if it is so boring and linear. Nowadays there are even better gameboy rpgs than this one! You dont have so much choice in what to do and when to do it or where to go. You always use the same weapons and the same attacks. I just finish the disc one by the way. So painful, boring and unnecesarily long.
  2. ChrisMuller1992
    Dec 16, 2015
    10
    The story of this game is just amazing,the love story of Squall and Rinoa is epic,the gameplay is fun and easy to master if you get th hang of it,music of this game so memorable.Really if you are fan of Final Fantasy this is a must buy.Its a masterpiece
  3. RodrigoFate
    Nov 9, 2015
    10
    My favorite Final Fantasy Game!
    It was my second game on playstation 1, and I will remember forever!
    Betten then 7! Saddly most people just talk about 7 =/
  4. SileSixEcho
    Aug 25, 2015
    10
    FFVIII was my first final fantasy and at the same time the first game I remember for its story and presentation. I’ve played through FFVI-X and all the XIIIers and this one is still my favourite installement of the series (As I write this, I am playing through FFIX which might as well compete for the status). I just like the overall atmosphere of this game, the characters are quite niceFFVIII was my first final fantasy and at the same time the first game I remember for its story and presentation. I’ve played through FFVI-X and all the XIIIers and this one is still my favourite installement of the series (As I write this, I am playing through FFIX which might as well compete for the status). I just like the overall atmosphere of this game, the characters are quite nice and the world is still more engaging than what I see nowdays. Plus there is Ueamtsu San’s music which always makes a good game a great one. FFVIII is not perfect, but it’s still a masterpiece to me.… Expand
  5. RinoaHeartilly
    Aug 21, 2015
    10
    This is all that you need to know:

    1. This game is known the have the BEST music out of all the other games in the series, It has consistently great music. 2. Most relatable cast of characters. The character development between Squall and Rinoa is huge (more development than any other FF couple), you really see them change and evolve as characters from disk 1 to disk 4, if you didn't    This is all that you need to know:

    1. This game is known the have the BEST music out of all the other games in the series, It has consistently great music.

    2. Most relatable cast of characters. The character development between Squall and Rinoa is huge (more development than any other FF couple), you really see them change and evolve as characters from disk 1 to disk 4, if you didn't think Squall was likable in disk 1, most of you will warm up to him halfway through disk 2 onwards.

    3. The dialogue is great. There are many funny and entertaining scenes, like FF7 and FF9 npcs are usually fun to talk to as well. Here's an example:

    (Rinoa is detailing a mission, where you must infiltrate a moving train)

    Selphie: "By the way...this model's nice but the president's car looks kinda shabby......Why is that?"

    Watts: "Yeah, Rinoa made it. That's why. We bought everything else at the gift store."

    Zell: "Uh...I thought some kid made it. The paint job sucks, too."

    Squall: (......? Yeah...It kind of does.)

    Rinoa: "Oh, shut up! I made it look like that on purpose." "It represents my hatred towards Deling."

    Zell: "Hatred, eh...? Yeah...right."

    Selphie: "It's one of the...ugliest things I've seen in my life. You must really hate him."

    Squall: "......"

    Rinoa: "Are you guys finished!? Enough about the model! Can we get on with it now!?"

    4. Lots and lots of content, average playtime is around 60hrs, if you want to complete everything you're looking at around 80+ hrs. You'll definitely get your money's worth.

    5. The game can be as hard or easy as you want it to be. As enemies lvl up with you, if you want to zoom through the game, don't lvl up much. If you want a challenge go lvl to 100. This is not a game where you have to grind to advance, although some bosses still require some strategy.

    6. Triple Triad. It has the BEST FF minigame, it is a completely optional in-game card game where you can travel around the world challenging other characters and npcs to card battles and collecting cards from them when you win. The best part to this is that every card has it's own purpose as you can refine cards (with an ability in game) into rare items that can be used for all sorts things like obtaining your final weapon, casting powerful magic or healing. It's also really fun in general.

    7. Just play it and find out, you may like it or you may not but you wont know until you try. If you're not feeling it when you start out, at least try and get through disk 2 which imo is the best disk.

    Damn...now I feel like playing VIII again...*goes off to play VIII*    … Expand
  6. diego_stefano
    Aug 2, 2015
    10
    easily one of the best JRPGs I've ever played, the music is flawless, the junction system works really well (although some people don't like it), the animations on the GF's are gorgeous for its time. And yes, this is a JRPG, you have to do a lot of grinding, so stop whining. Between this one and the FFVII, for me, I have to consider a tie.
  7. tsakiym
    May 21, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it.................................… Expand
  8. FogCityRoller
    Mar 14, 2015
    3
    This is truly the most overrated Final Fantasy game in existence. The characters and story are all fairly uninteresting and you spend most of the game wishing one of the other characters was the protagonist. The controls are fussy and the world feels more futuristic than fantastical. While it will always have that segment of the FF population that thinks it is the best thing since slicedThis is truly the most overrated Final Fantasy game in existence. The characters and story are all fairly uninteresting and you spend most of the game wishing one of the other characters was the protagonist. The controls are fussy and the world feels more futuristic than fantastical. While it will always have that segment of the FF population that thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread, I'd rather play Final Fantasy I (which was mediocre even for its time).… Expand
  9. Xtord
    Feb 20, 2015
    10
    So this is my first review, but i felt the time was right for me to start doing som reviews. First of all this is absolutely one of my favorite games if not my favourite game. Either this FF X, MGS 3 , Fallout 3, golden sun 2, fire emblem 7 or skyrim . But we are here to talk about ff vii

    Final fantasy viii put you in the shoes of Squall, and his desire to save the once he love    So this is my first review, but i felt the time was right for me to start doing som reviews. First of all this is absolutely one of my favorite games if not my favourite game. Either this FF X, MGS 3 , Fallout 3, golden sun 2, fire emblem 7 or skyrim . But we are here to talk about ff vii

    Final fantasy viii put you in the shoes of Squall, and his desire to save the once he love Rinoa.Yes Squall doenst love Rinoa at the start people might say he is a bit emo and doesnt care for anyone but as the game progresses it changes and his eventually get feelings for Rinoa. And their relationship is brilliant well written after my point of view.

    You have a very good cast in this game after my point of view ,perhaps not the best but certainly not bad either. i used around 82 hrs completing this game, w killing omega weapon and ultima weapon. The atmosphere are brilliant and the graphics looks good for being a game from 1999. The game play is turn based and good w a lot of options and takes actually som effort to become good at it. The opening is just magnificent and the endings is also very good. The music is superb, the character development is also very good especially for Squall and Rinoa. Cutescenes is overall gorgeous for its time.

    But what made this game so good for me is was the brilliant story , the good characters and that it actually handled time travel in a good and easy waym and i also felt the gameplay was good and fun when you got around the draw system. So do i really have any drawback on this game, well perhaps only game play if you have not played final fantasy or don`t pay attention during the little of tutorial you get , then u might easily have a hard time but , that is also one of the thing i think this game nailed perfect. The cast might not be better then ff vi, ff vii, or ix but is definitely not bad. So yeah it nailed the junction system is brick solid if you know how to use it. So yeah i give this a 10 simply because this game has it all. Good cast , good story, brilliant music, good atmosphere and good graphic for the time it was released , is there anything thing that i can say as a cons it is the moon scene.    … Expand
  10. HopelessVoice
    Feb 1, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. For all the bad rep this game sometimes gets, it is still a good game. The junction system is solid, although breaks the game when the player realizes just to draw 99 stacks of every spell which results in every employed character becoming overpowered as fudge. The limit breaks in this one are still gold although the way they are obtained was a bit of step back from VII; whereas VII made you complete a huge battle arena with difficult monsters and penalties, in VIII the limit breaks are far easier to obtain. The game still has the other ingredients; open world exploration, hidden islands, epic plot, epic score etc. Some may think that 7/10 is far too low for this game, but that's only because game reviews seem only to deal in absolutes nowadays. 7/10 is a good score, a good score for a good game. And that's what VIII is: small minor steps back from VII but hardly anything that would make it a bad game. VIII is a good game.… Expand
  11. SnowDay
    Jan 9, 2015
    9
    Easily one of the most perfect RPGs I have ever played. An enthralling story and epic characters like Squall Leonhart and Edea Kramer make the game more than memorable on the obsession scale.
  12. bliz008
    Jan 7, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Okay. I have not played all the games in the final fantasy series, most notably not FFVII, a game which many seem to compare VIII to (obviously). But when I read some of the reviews here on metacritic I thought that I could give my opinion. The story starts of great. You have a intresting story of schools that train these young adults to become some sort of soldiers or mercenaries, and everything is very well presented with nice looking cutscenes and nice in-game environments. And the music is, as expected from a FF-game, absolutely fantastic throughout the game.
    But after a while (after disc 1) the story starts to decline. The red thread is lost somewhere and at the end of the game you barely who the final boss is or even what is going on. I wasn´t really intrested in the end.
    The characters didn´t really apeal to me. I mostly found them to be annoying, but thats maybe just me.
    And while the combat and gameplay mechanics are unique, they are quite clumsy and pretty much disencourage you from using magic since it will make your characters base stats weaker. One mayor problem in my opinion is the fact that it is so easy to abuse the limits.
    A positive thing though is the minigames and side quests you can take part in, especially the card game. You feel really encouraged to collect all the cards and win over the best card players, something which FFIX failed with for me.
    My verdic would be that it´s an okay final fantasy game with obious flaws and I wouldn´t recommend it to someone who hasn´t played any other FF-games. But if you are hungry for more JRPGs from this era you could play this and might enjoy it.    … Expand
  13. Noin007
    Jan 4, 2015
    8
    After VII, I've spent more time playing VIII than any other Final Fantasy. But, it's not a perfect game. A few of the characters are quite obnoxious, the card game... **** the card game. And the magic system is one of the worst in a Final Fantasy title.
    If you're a JRPG lover or Final Fantasy lover this is a must have.
  14. Ryndael
    Jan 4, 2015
    8
    Overall this is my favorite FF in the series.

    Story: 9 - One of the only storylines involving time manipulation that I haven't found multiple plotholes in. Characters: 6 - Squall is my favorite character of any RPG thus far, but the other five playable characters don't have much depth at all other than Rinoa. This is a story about Squall and Rinoa mainly, so the others get pushed    Overall this is my favorite FF in the series.

    Story: 9 - One of the only storylines involving time manipulation that I haven't found multiple plotholes in.

    Characters: 6 - Squall is my favorite character of any RPG thus far, but the other five playable characters don't have much depth at all other than Rinoa. This is a story about Squall and Rinoa mainly, so the others get pushed aside.

    Music: 10 - Some of the best music I've ever heard, favorites would be Man with the Machine Gun and Force Your Way.

    Battle: 7 - The junction system is pretty deep, but it's very tedious having to draw magic from everything. I like that the monsters level up with you, since that means you never have to spend time grinding and can just run through the game if you want.

    Depth: 8 - plenty of sidequests to do, and they all provide more depth to the world in general via backstories and wrapping up some minor plotlines. Also I found the card game a really fun distraction. The card game can provide some really major power boosts too by turning cards into Magic.    … Expand
  15. banda89
    Dec 31, 2014
    8
    The first FF that I played was this one, and to this day it's the most frustrating one, tedious as all hell, having to draw and create your own magic, it's music is not as good as other FF games but it has it good tracks.
    Story wise it's great, mind you it has some moments when you say REALLY!!! the whole GF mind erasing thing. But the characters are likeable, even Emo Squall, but what    The first FF that I played was this one, and to this day it's the most frustrating one, tedious as all hell, having to draw and create your own magic, it's music is not as good as other FF games but it has it good tracks.
    Story wise it's great, mind you it has some moments when you say REALLY!!! the whole GF mind erasing thing. But the characters are likeable, even Emo Squall, but what makes the story good it's the character development, you see everyone devolop, specially Squallwho evolves from this emo, introverted kid to a respectable and likeable leader who just wants to be with and protect the ones he loves.

    Junction system sucks, don't try to convince me that it's actually good once you get the hang of it, it's not going to happen. And once you understand it, it's OP as f#@K, but I ask myself this question why complicate things, when a simple equip menu would be more efficient (FF IX anyone?) It's more challenging than any of the other PS final fantasies and that's good, IMO VII and IX where a little too easy.    … Expand
  16. Terikan
    Nov 20, 2014
    10
    If Final Fantasy 7 was one for the kids, FF8 was by contrast a story for the adults. The use of different time periods all converging together was something that cinema is still trying to replicate today, 15 years later. Just look at Interstellar. The concepts, themes, dialogue, and character design are all much superior in FF8 than in any other game in the series from 1 all the wayIf Final Fantasy 7 was one for the kids, FF8 was by contrast a story for the adults. The use of different time periods all converging together was something that cinema is still trying to replicate today, 15 years later. Just look at Interstellar. The concepts, themes, dialogue, and character design are all much superior in FF8 than in any other game in the series from 1 all the way until 12 where it was slightly outdone in certain areas.

    Perhaps inferior in certain munchkin gameplay areas, and an absence of overpowering combos, it was really only 7 and 12, and perhaps 9 that allowed sheer craziness in terms of power. I will however still concede that there are moments in several other franchise entries that are simply more fun to play through than in 8.

    The graphics at the time were light years ahead of where 7 was, and it featured a much more immersive world experience. Now the first playstation's 3D graphics look rather bad without extreme AA and other post-effects, but at the time it was amazing. And it's cutscenes were better than any other media form at the time could replicate. I could watch the intro over and over again and not get tired.

    The music of Final Fantasy 8 is the best in the series. There's no room for argument here, it simply is. Admittedly it falls short in energized boss music, but the rest of it is top notch.

    At the time of it's release, the genre was defined by 7. It's demographic was "all those who loved 7". So when that audience was exposed to something so different as 8 was, it was jarring and somewhat wasted on those gamers. It wasn't 7, so it wasn't as good. Most of those gamers never played 6, and most of them would never see any FF as good as 7. And at the time, the trend was the Japanese personalities, cliches, art style, dialogue, convoluted plot, etc. It's understandable that people would like 8 less. It simply wasn't trendy enough. But looking back as older adults, it's clear that it is a better game in many ways. It's graphics, story, characters, all hold up better with it's age than many other games in the series.

    Let's just talk story for a moment. Japanese games are notorious for making no sense and then having you fight in outer space at the end against a monster that has several phases, each crazier than the last. If you love that sort of stuff, great. But for the rest of us, a story that made sense, yet was still deep and full of intrigue, is and was a breath of fresh air. Outside of time-compression hanky panky near the end (which is still mild compared to weirdness in FF10 and FF7), it all makes sense without just being plain weird. Let's face it, even after crisis core, (which parts of it contradict things in ff7), 7's story in regards to cloud still don't really add up. And in 10, he's just a dream? What?

    Right now, there's forum posts full of people arguing back and forth about what actually happened in various FF games. Not so much with 8, and that is an accomplishment in the series.    … Expand
  17. SwitSwat
    Nov 9, 2014
    9
    The three PS1 FF games are all amazing. I would consider this one the worst out of those 3, though... And no, it's not because of the Junction System. Overall, the story was pretty weird and the battles didn't feel as fun as it did in the previous game, FF VII... And a lot of the characters are ----- towards each other. Nevertheless, it's a great game and any FF fan or anyone who wants toThe three PS1 FF games are all amazing. I would consider this one the worst out of those 3, though... And no, it's not because of the Junction System. Overall, the story was pretty weird and the battles didn't feel as fun as it did in the previous game, FF VII... And a lot of the characters are ----- towards each other. Nevertheless, it's a great game and any FF fan or anyone who wants to try FF should definitely pick this one up sometime.… Expand
  18. hongosan
    Sep 11, 2014
    0
    how is this rated so highly it befuddles me its the worst Console or handheld FF game by Far lets get one thing right i like powering up in RPGs like most players do and this robs me of that [ it punishes you for leveling up] that that bad RPG /

    i Have play game with odd Leveling systems but this as one of the worst and the magic system is the worst in    how is this rated so highly it befuddles me its the worst Console or handheld FF game by Far lets get one thing right i like powering up in RPGs like most players do and this robs me of that [ it punishes you for leveling up] that that bad RPG /

    i Have play game with odd Leveling systems but this as one of the worst and the magic system is the worst in any rps i have ever played since you cannot use you powerful magic i do not like party based RPG that disallow mages in you Party im sorry that is a bad mark on the game

    this has the worst Side quest in FF history Triple Triad Just Hateful    … Expand
  19. VillainFan42
    Aug 25, 2014
    5
    I will admit that 7 was a tough act to follow, but even on its own merits, 8 falls flat. Its gameplay mechanics are interesting in concept, but require so much micromanagement that it grinds the pace of the game to a grinding halt. Drawing magic is a chore, the characters are really underwhelming, and the story is just confusing. It's the only game in the series I really dislike- heck,I will admit that 7 was a tough act to follow, but even on its own merits, 8 falls flat. Its gameplay mechanics are interesting in concept, but require so much micromanagement that it grinds the pace of the game to a grinding halt. Drawing magic is a chore, the characters are really underwhelming, and the story is just confusing. It's the only game in the series I really dislike- heck, with all the issues of 13 I still thought its battle system was interesting- and I recommend you skip this one.… Expand
  20. moricetimeofwar
    Jul 19, 2014
    4
    this game is a deception of the great name of Final Fantasy. First, the game is the most boring of all final fantasy, boring character, boring story who takes you forever to start. During the fighting, all you do is draw, draw draw draw draw to retrieve the magic enemies so there no more magic bar. improving the character system is one of the worst I've ever seen. I do not recommend thisthis game is a deception of the great name of Final Fantasy. First, the game is the most boring of all final fantasy, boring character, boring story who takes you forever to start. During the fighting, all you do is draw, draw draw draw draw to retrieve the magic enemies so there no more magic bar. improving the character system is one of the worst I've ever seen. I do not recommend this game to anyone, take FFVII instead which is much more fun with its system of materia. In short, Final Fantasy VII >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Final Fantasy VIII and you can even add an exponential.… Expand
  21. CReidxx
    Jul 14, 2014
    10
    There is a game theory that the first Final Fantasy you play is the one that you will consider your favorite one of the entire series - I for one believe this. VIII was the first one I played and the one that made me try all of the others and, for me, none of the others come close to the joy and emotion that you get from this game.
    I understand why many people do not like the Junction    There is a game theory that the first Final Fantasy you play is the one that you will consider your favorite one of the entire series - I for one believe this. VIII was the first one I played and the one that made me try all of the others and, for me, none of the others come close to the joy and emotion that you get from this game.
    I understand why many people do not like the Junction system that this game uses but I find it great to use and fun to change everything about to ensure that you've got the best stats. I also hear people complain a lot about having to draw magic constantly from enemies so that when you do Junction spells you have enough to make a significant difference to each character, but this is not the case. Your summons (known as Guardian Forces in this game) will learn abilities that they will use to change their stats, change the characters stats that a GF is Junctioned to, abilities to use on the field, abilities to use in battle and abilities that you can use to refine items into magic/magic into stronger magic/improve items/refine cards into items etc. You will pick up hundreds of items over your journey that you can use to refine into magic spells - so there is no need to draw magic for hours and almost all magic can be refined from items in the game, Scan can't for example. Early game you will need to draw magic because you won't have the abilities/many items yet but you don't need to get 100 of each spell as you'll get them soon enough.
    The Triple Triad mini game is also a lot of fun and something to do if you're wanting a break from the story/action. It's a card game that you play against a computer opponent using cards you've obtained from enemies, given to you by NPCs, won in Triple Triad games or by turning your enemies into cards using the Card command which is an ability learned by one of the two starter GFs that you're given at the start of the game. I find that it is best to wait until you have a few decent Boss cards/GF cards as you will not win many games using the early level cards. The rules of the game are different depending on which region of the world you are playing in, which adds something extra to the games that you play - some areas of the game will have rules which make the game you're playing very easy and some will make the games very difficult. There are ways to change the rules if an area is too difficult or you simply do not like the rule, which there is information about online. There are lots of extra things that you can do that aren't required, which all give you different things - giving you the back stories, letting you challenge extra bosses, giving you GFs, the chance to ride Chocobo's, giving you extra cards and rare items.
    The story is really great too - it does get a little "weirder" after disc one but I feel that it doesn't take anything away from the game and some people think that there is no reason for this but there are some theories online explaining this, and using in-game evidence, which I happen to find really interesting and somewhat believable. The characters all have different personalities and most are memorable.
    The graphics are very good for the time, and the soundtrack is something which I still listen to today - and the opening FMV and song really get you excited for this game, and the song is one of my favorites in the entire soundtrack.
    Some of the GFs that are in the game can do ridiculous amount of damage and can be very useful to use during most battles, but all of them have a very long cinematic sequence which you must watch every single time that you use it in battle. It's nice to see the first few times, but it can get a bit boring if you like to use GFs over and over to do a lot of damage. For me, using the ability "Boost" does remove some of the boredom. This ability lets you increase the damage done by a GF by repeatedly pressing the square button at certain intervals of the sequence - I always enjoy trying to reach the limit of 250 when using each GF.
    Each party member you can use has their own "Limit Break" which is an attack that can be used to do a lot of damage to a single opponent/all opponents or to aid your party.. You cannot use them at all times, and can only use them when your character has low health or if you use the magic spell "Aura". I find it a lot of fun trying to unlock the different ones that can be used , by using certain items on Quistis, buying certain ammo types for Irvine, reading certain magazines for Zell/Rinoa or by making different Gunblades for Squall. Some of the limit breaks can be a lot of fun to execute as you need to manually do them yourself. The game play during battles could get tedious if you had no real input in yourself, other than just simply choosing commands so this helps. You can also time the R1 button when Squall is attacking to inflict more damage.
    I feel that this game is worth picking up for any FF/ RPG fan, and it will always be my favorite game of all time.    … Expand
  22. darkgriever
    May 26, 2014
    9
    not a perfect game i should admit...but i don´t know the story just capture me i simpy love the progression of squall( i identify with him a LOT) and just love the way Rinoa is...my favorite RPG of all times n_n
  23. archonome
    Mar 29, 2014
    10
    14 years after, I find myself always thinking back to this game and ff7...
    These were absolutely my 2 top games of all time!
    Im so nostalgic when I think about this game. Everything was well done! 1- Music was the best I've ever heard 2- Story was perfect, serious and mature, yet fantasy without exhagerations 3- Characters were DEEP and not funny emo looking or girly 4-    14 years after, I find myself always thinking back to this game and ff7...
    These were absolutely my 2 top games of all time!

    Im so nostalgic when I think about this game.
    Everything was well done!

    1- Music was the best I've ever heard

    2- Story was perfect, serious and mature, yet fantasy without exhagerations

    3- Characters were DEEP and not funny emo looking or girly

    4- The Love story was touching

    5- The Art style was very very attractive

    6- It was made for people with a brain, intelligence is needed to play

    Sorry the game is really magical, I don't know how to put into words what I've played 14 years ago its just too much for me to describe on the spot    … Expand
  24. Wolfie1987
    Mar 24, 2014
    9
    Squall isn't a likeable protagonist at all, the magic system is super boring (drawing/casting is easily the worst magic system ever created), the cast is a mixed bag. The music, atmosphere, mini games, & satisfaction (if you do the cards into items/no level up strategy) more than make up for it though. Honestly it's my favourite PSX Final Fantasy.
  25. DrDagger
    Mar 19, 2014
    10
    Simply put: One of the best games ever created. This truly defined my gaming experience not only as a child, but also an adult. From Junctioning to Drawing, to its excellent combat, this game truly innovated the gaming industry. Both this game and Final Fantasy 7 will be my favorites in the series.
  26. ThatRetroGamer
    Mar 16, 2014
    0
    This game is just awful. Final Fantasy 7 may be a pretty bad game, but it's Ocarina of time compared to this one.Sucks that I hate this one more than FF13. Where 7 had potential and blew it, this one had no potential at all and is just a piece of crap.
  27. mozee
    Jan 27, 2014
    10
    Simply the best Final Fantasy game ever made, and maybe my favourite game of all time

    So much depth to it, i played FF7 before it but that never ever hooked me the way 8 did back in 1999

    Love the characters aswell, Squall is easily one of the coolest chars in any game and how can you not like Rinoa?
  28. Anebriate
    Jan 15, 2014
    5
    It does not compare well at all to the Squaresoft masterpieces of its era, but in the end, it's still a decent game.

    If you absolutely must complete every game in the series, you'll find that there are far worse hurdles to overcome than Final Fantasy VIII (like XIII, for instance), but don't expect its quality of design and storytelling to live up to some of the others. The plot is    It does not compare well at all to the Squaresoft masterpieces of its era, but in the end, it's still a decent game.

    If you absolutely must complete every game in the series, you'll find that there are far worse hurdles to overcome than Final Fantasy VIII (like XIII, for instance), but don't expect its quality of design and storytelling to live up to some of the others.

    The plot is convoluted and a bit too convenient at times, and nearly all of the characters are tiresome cliches. The game really throws you for a loop when you suddenly take control of a completely different cast with no context whatsoever, but I came to care about Laguna's plight far more than I ever did about Squall's, which I think says a lot.    … Expand
  29. RezzaDee
    Jan 15, 2014
    10
    The best Final Fantasy game ever made, bar non.
    Final Fantasy 8 is the best game in the series and it has the best character depth, the true emotions used throughout the game made it an experience I have never forgotten about since I was a kid.
    Squall, for me, Has to be the best character throughout any Final Fantasy game too. The combat system was the best used and this game had the    The best Final Fantasy game ever made, bar non.
    Final Fantasy 8 is the best game in the series and it has the best character depth, the true emotions used throughout the game made it an experience I have never forgotten about since I was a kid.
    Squall, for me, Has to be the best character throughout any Final Fantasy game too.
    The combat system was the best used and this game had the best guardian forces too, the game dosent hold your hand in any way and back on the PS1 days people had to have an imagination not a baby step guide to play games. I miss the SquareSoft games because SquareEnix just can't make a good Final Fantasy game. I praise the recent Hitman but Final Fantasy they really are killing. The best games of Final Fantasy go, FF8>10>7>9. 7 is not the best in the series!    … Expand
  30. elitefour
    Jan 9, 2014
    6
    Im sorry
    i really tried to like this game
    but i cant. its too bored,too repetitive the gameplay is slower than final fantasy vii the graphics and the soundtrack are amazing!!!! but the plot is too simple to me,i mean students who tried to save world of a future witch? the dialogs are bored and corny like Titanic or Twilight the characters are not deep and impressive than Final    Im sorry
    i really tried to like this game
    but i cant. its too bored,too repetitive
    the gameplay is slower than final fantasy vii
    the graphics and the soundtrack are amazing!!!!
    but the plot is too simple to me,i mean
    students who tried to save world of a future witch?
    the dialogs are bored and corny like Titanic or Twilight
    the characters are not deep
    and impressive than Final Fantasy VII (I hate Zell and Quistis)
    they are too simple and cliche
    but i have to admit that its a masterpiece and i undesrstand why people like it
    so,
    Go ahead And Enjoy this jewel man!!    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

9
#9 Best PS1 Game of 1999
1
#1 Most Discussed PS1 Game of 1999
3
#3 Most Shared PS1 Game of 1999

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 24
  3. Negative: 1 out of 24
  1. GMR Magazine
    90
    Things were more "real" this time around. [Feb 2003, p.97]
  2. Gamestyle
    80
    Unfortunately while the game is graphically superior to FFVII, in terms of setting, story and controls it lags way behind.
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  3. Absolute Playstation
    98
    Spanning four discs, this is a massive RPG. You can try and skate through it in 50 hours but can easily spend over a 100 hours playing if you decide to take on all of the side games, collect all of the Cards and experience all there is to experience from this game.
    Read full review
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