Final Fantasy 8 Day 1: ruclips.net/user/livefHQAOpj17i0?feature=share Join my livestreams: www.twitch.tv/rexsterling My full, unedited reaction to FF8 is on Patreon: www.patreon.com/RexSterling
is that streaming time just for this stream or did you change it in general? (haven't caught your streams for a while) Hope not, cause sadly I probably won't be able follow it, but no hard feelings ofc, always go with what suits you best :)
@@smichal52 it’s just a placeholder time. Streams are not on a schedule anymore. I just have to put a time in order to make the stream appear on RUclips
The junction system is broken and the story has more holes in it than a golf course. However it's great fun, with a great soundtrack. It's a great game, it's a bit like how dark souls 2 is compared to 1 and 3, I see it the same with 7,8,9. Things can be great but still worse than others.
personally, i find it one of the weaker ones, i still like it, but i have some issues like for example the junction system that just makes you completely OP from the start, drawing magic is one of the most tedious things ever if you want to stock up on something, atleast until you can make 1 of the GFs to learn abilities to create them. and the story is all over, like, when you hit disc 2, it just gets suddenly batshit insane for the rest of the game. and squall is also so damn moody.
@@kulidrikke I find the argument of the junction system being bad and tedious because of the fact that you could get insanely strong at the start pointless since you absolutely don't have to utilize it that way. You don't need to draw in every battle and you don't need to become OP from the start. My preferred way of playing it is just playing through the story and junctioning the magic you aquire while drawing at a steady pace through battles. In my first playthrough, I almost never drew from enemies, never upgraded my weapons, but still had an enjoyable experience. I've always heard people arguing that the game is too easy and become frustrated. The reason behind this is because of the fact you have to go out of your way to become powerful in FF8 on a more technical level compared to other entries. If you just play it casually, following along the story, the game becomes much more difficult than it would otherwise.
You'll probably still love it, it's still good, and most of the stuff that does suck (imo) only really bothers you once you actually sit back and think about it, it's not really in the moment stuff. And even then it's still not enough to really make it bad, just make it fall short a bit when compared to 7,9, and 10.
9 is Uematsu's favourite soundtrack, but a lot of people think 8 is where he creatively peaked. The variety of VIII's scenarios is phenomenal it hasba very Persona/Eastern Europe/Cold War, MGS feel. I love it but the game seemed endless in imagination when i wad younger.
As a major fan of FF and MGS since the early NES days, I just disagree with Eastern Europe and Cold War feels. I get no MGS vibes from FF8. The one city Rinoa is from has European victorian architecture and Paris vibes given the arch de triumph parallel, outside of that? The game has no eastern bloc or cold war vibes at all, lol
I keep my textwall spoiler free :b FF8 is my all time favourite ff game and I hope you will at least end it on a positive note. I can see that a lot of people who only played through it once and maybe never looked around in it too much, got confused or annoyed by certain story parts or mechanics, and of course Squalls character. But I feel like if you let yourself get into the game, the world and explore, you can find out a lot of stuff that makes it worth the time. A ton of my love comes from constantly playing the game again because I feel like I find out more stuff every time, even nowadays. Sadly it seemed a bit rushed between 7 and 9, so I often feel like the devs could have used a bit moe time to make it so much better. There are many great ideas that I feel are not implemented completely or in the best way. You can break it easily if you know how, but that's true for other ff games, too. The enemy scaling or the Junction system is also a often used point against the game, but even that never really bothered me. And story wise, a lot of the often mentioned flaws do make sense if you know the story better, remember stuff that was said once, or read a bit into certain NPCs and menu notes etc. All in all I just wish you a good time and will only give you one recommendation. Please play the game in your own paste and keep it original. The experience will be so much better in this game without trying to break any mechanics, holding you back from leveling or playing "the game" too often/not often enough. Just play, because knowing too much about the game will probably make you play it differently. The first time should always be a grounded and awesome experience. I'm hyped already, and see forward to the discussions of certain parts of the game when you are finished.
One more year would've turned this game from what it is now to rightfully sit alongside 7 and 9. 100 percent. I feel like 16 needed that. It needed a year of adding and figuring out mechanics, in the case of 8 it needed everything streamlining and balancing for a good year. I like the fact I've killed the final boss with a low level party, like level 10 or less, I don't like the fact the final boss is way easier at the lowest level cause enemy scaling is all out of whack. Carding enemies throughout the entire game should be a challenge run, not a run that makes the game a complete pushover.
totally agree. this game is so much potental. its feels rush by devs due to the success of FF7. FF8 is more relatable in my opinion for a fantasy game. yes draw and junction system is tedious system but i love its flexibility. as for me as soon as i knew i can exploit and abuse it im thrilled to experiment. that makes the game replayable on all FF ttiles thats game mechanics is linear. yes about aquiring magic im hoarding it to maximize my stats and playing cards to aquire items to refine magic that i all needed. no more unleashing summons as i can literally destry the game with just limits and Physical attacks.
I personally didnt mind the junction system 8 had. I think where 8 falls flat mostly for me is the game's writing especially on the middle and end of it.
If you strip all character development out, make worse music, make the junction system and leveling mechanics completely useless because of tedious carding mechanics, then yeah its's FF7 Remake.
@@slippynipz I love ff8 but you're completely right haha. The flaws in 8 are abundant and most so mechanically. The plot contrivances would also make 7 Remake blush. However, the music is top tier in both. There's a lot more going on in remake/rebirth but with the context of time 8 is right up there, too. 7 remake/rebirth are mechanically flawless so there's no competition there.
The criticism for 8 is overblown. People don’t actually think it’s that bad. It’s more that it’s just easy to nitpick and find things to criticize from a design perspective. Some people like the game for its wackier elements like the junction system. But at the end of the day it’s a 4 disc PS1 Final Fantasy with everything you look for in those games. Some people get super negative when comparing it to the others, some think it’s the best FF of them all. I personally find it easy to criticize while also ranking it top 3-5 most fun to replay. Great characters and character development too.
True. It's also a bit sad that it is in the middle of two other great games, since 7 and 9 are also a lot of peoples favorites. So it always had a hard time. But yeah, I feel like the last few years, a lot of the ff8 fans crawled out into the light after the decade before, lots of hate was flying at it. So there are a lot of us who really love the game. It wasn't perfect, sure, but it had a lot of nice ideas and experiments made in the development. Of course if you just run through the main story and don't think a bit about the stuff happening or being said in the game, you will think it is a rushed game with weird story aspects. But a lot of things in the story, often criticized, makes total sense if you put other stuff into concideration. Like stuff a certain character says early in the game, or the state the world is in, also the past of it. But sadly it is stuff you kinda have to search for. So a lot of people miss it and therefor think the story is just weird, which is really sad.
SPOILER, DONT READ FURTHER Rex. Weird is great! I'm in for final fantasy weirdness, however, level scaling isn't weird - it's just bad in a JRPG, the power fantasy can only be achieved by carding every enemy until you hit the end game and can use GF's to boost all your stats to 255. Levelling up is counterintuitive in every other scenario. Enemies/bosses scale more than the player, not weird but bad. The decision to draw spells and junction them deincentivising the use of magic completely. In fact, you'd be out of your mind to use magic in 8, standard attack is all that's required and functioning to make sure nothing else is needed is the way to go, that's not weird, it's bad. This is why we've never seen them approach anything similarly ever again. They also have one of the greatest minigames in triple triad but attached one of the most insidiously awful rule systems in any game I've ever played, which is the rule swap/carry over system that completely messes up files and without very systematic pre knowledge (and even with it sometimes) you can't fully take advantage of what the minigame offers. Narratively I still can't get on board with the amnesia plotline, it's nonsense and was near obviously slapped on to cover certain aspects. Saying all that, the game is still good, but there are legitimate reasons why this game doesn't hit the heights of 7 or 9. 8 is one of my favourite games of all time for many reasons, but it's busted in many ways too. You can love it's flaws, but they remain flaws.
I disagree. It is a bad game in retrospect. **SPOILERS BELOW** Reasons: - Character development is not at the forefront at all. Not only does Squall barely grow besides coming to terms with his past childhood and wanting to be with Rinoa, but Rinoa's entire plot development is as arm candy and to further squall's personality development. She has no character development outside of becoming a sorceress. Every other character goes through zero development accept remembering their orphanage upbringing and have a quick 180 resolve to stop Ultimecia - Ultimecia is a terrible villain. What's her motive? why is she trying to compress time? What does she hope to achieve? What are the underlying motivating factors to push her to such lengths? - What is a sorceress? How do they actually become one, is it blessings from the gods? Mana, crystals? What? They do a poor job explaining it - Why is there a need for a mercenary conglomerate acting as private military contractors for city states? - Carding and Junction. This system is fucking garbage. It actively pushes the option of magic and leveling up to such a degree you dont want to do it. Carding is tedious and takes forever, but further the fact you junction spells to stats for stat modifiers ruins the game entirely. Not only can you break it easily using full-life, ultima, flare junctioned on spells, but you end up not using any of them to protect your stat boosts. Horrible implementation of an interesting idea around stat modifiers - Level scaling offers nothing to the game, except to force a tedious carding mechanic - Hardly any exploration. You have the underwater exploration area with Ultima Weapon etc but outside of that the world is largely lifeless - Side quests are incredibly easy to break and get locked out of - Laguna's story is pretty pointless. He has no change of heart besides the girl in his flash backs and it does a poor job of show casing a father who abandoned his kids to care for a surrogate daughter. You have no resolution that he is Squall's father and his personality doesn't even change compared to his past self except the fact he directly caused physical injuries that are long term for his friends. - The story is just...dumb. You have nations at war and one is led by a posessed sorceress, Edea, where they lead a failed assasination attempt which leads to global war..All for? What? Time compression? What does that mean? how does it happen. They hardly explain it as you bounce from each SeeD location, Balamb, and other locations after Disc 1. - Furthermore on the story, the set pieces aren't even linked. When you get to the futuristic city with the space station etc, it gives you zero indication of what to do next and you just kind of "show up" to these random plot moving locales. - Ultimecia really is such an underbaked villain with 0 motivation or driving force. - No moogles or any FF flare. It completely ignores fun fan favorite things. Summons are not even encouraged in this game. Magic, Summons and jobs are main game mechanics we enjoy as FF fans. I think it's apparent they wont redo this because of the issues with this game. It's not a "BAD" game compared to other BAD games, but it objectively is just not a good Final Fantasy.
@@NoLiveking87 totlly agree. its not a perfect game like other FF titles. but i like its relatability of characters, game mechanic flexibility, replayablity. i love this game more than any other FF titles. its sad its rush due to success that preceeded it.
Junction system is fun, but easily broken. Also drawing for that is tedious, but if you're willing---EZ OP. Looking forward to catchin' some 8 streams! Hope ya liked 16, but I'm still waiting for pc release...hope you understand. See ya soon, buddy! :D
yes junction is fun and flexible. and you can adapt on every boss battle in every way. love the game for its flexibility on junction system and its brokenly awsome.
Balamb Garden OST has permanently been my chill music, the OST in VIII is INCREDIBLE! I personally love VIII, I do a playthrough every couple of years, the story has its moments but in general there isnt enough slack that prevents me from replaying. Excited to watch Rexs run!
This game is... I've always loved it. It's my favourite FF and I've played VII. It's weird as hell, though. Basically, think of as many sci fi tropes as you can, it's all in there. That's the other thing; this is roughly where sci fi and fantasy overlap a bit. The story is insane, but for me it's insane in a good way. I hope you enjoy as I do.
Out of the later ps1 FF games, FF8 did the best at integrating FMV’s. I remember being amazed that I could move my character during a cutscene. Idk. Whoever storyboarded those scenes did great.
Hello from Germany, Rex. As a 38 year old gamer, i was enjoying your Final Fantasy Streams very much. Thank you! Final Fantasy, especially the psOne Games, was the holy bible for me. I haven't played FF8 since i played through it as a kid, but i have good memories about that game, despite what many people are saying. I also have the original Playstation CD Case standing here, because i loved FF 7-9. That being said, if i should recommend one Game or one Saga after your Final Fantasy Journey, it would be the Xenoblade Chronicles Saga from 1-3. True Masterpieces. I played them very late on Nintendo Switch, but i didn't regret it. Greetings from a silent viewer!
All you need Rex is have an open mind. Yes 8 is very different than normal final fantasy games in regards to the draw/junction system and that did turn a lot of players off of this game. But the music is legendary, combat is fun, triple triad is the best card mini game, characters are fun not as polished as 7 or 9, but there is an element of realism with these characters. I played this game as student and it resonated with me that a lot of this focuses on the fact that they are students of a academy. This is still a top tier Final Fantasy game if you don't get caught in the draw/junction drag. There is some tips for drawing magic quicker I would like to share to help you with your play through. The higher your magic score the more likely you will draw more magic in one shot, so find that one character and have them draw like crazy and then transfer it to someone else after its full. Also the cards/GFs can help you pick up those spells even without draw. Even with minor issues for me this is such a big game from my childhood and is in my top 5 final fantasy games.
well one things for sure. if you dont waste time drawing magic. you just play cards and turn them into items through card mod. to refine magic you will need for you stats. its much easier and efficient than just draw magic. myself been done that i can literally overpower on disc1 and can take down T-rexaur with only squall in a training center.
@@JoeyJoverAgbayani Also true anyone can get really powerful at that point, though can be just as quick if you you have your highest magic user drawing 9 at a time, some people got hung up drawing 1 or 2 at a time and yes it's frustrating. But draw the high magic user then transfer those spells to a non magic user can be just as quick
@@joshuasummerlin8283 yes i know that too. Highest magic stats gives high drawn magic you get from enemies. My only point is effeciency on not just drawn from enemies magic. Early in the game you can have high level magic as refine items from cards. Provided you have GF abilities. To get meteor. Full life. Pain just early in the game.
My dad bought me my first video game system after I beat Zelda OoT before him. It was a mini ps1 with FF8. Didn't have a memory card, didn't know how to do anything. But it's still, to this day, my favorite.
I wouldnt use any of the boost modes Rex, theyre straight up cheats and reduce enjoyabolity. Especially no encounters because each area is incredibly unique encounter rate wise and difficulty is built around encounter rate. 8 has the greatest intro in FF, one of the greatest final dungeouns and some of the coolest environments and songs. Its not a bad game.
I remember a balance mod for this game, changed it so the limit of junction magic was 50, that helped both to nerf the OP stat boost from junction, and also let you freely use any magic stock over 50 without feeling like you're wasting it
FF8 is the only FF that really made you feel like you can break the game once you understood the junction system and it’s mechanics. It’s my favorite FF out of all the ones I played. That includes FF7, FF8, FF 9 , FF 10, we, 14 and 15.
Just make sure to really pay attention to the tutorial. I just wanted to say there is another way and less boring ways to boost up stats. I think many people not really pay attention at tutorial while the game gives a lot of ways to do something we needed to, anyway i'm gonna enjoy this ride with you REX
I don’t remember a whole lot about this game at all because I remember the fact that I played it without a memory card so obviously not very much of it, I didn’t really live in a household where I had time constraints for gaming, but I guess I could be pulled away whenever I was still a child so Anything could happen but I know I played at least an hour or two and maybe got to the seed exams or whatever this was 15+ years ago? I literally have zero memories except for the phrase “seed exam”😂 I also remember not being a huge fan of the menu, I assume it was the junction system. I didn’t like, but I don’t know if I ever got far enough to fight anything.🤔
FF8 is FF7 if they had happy ending, even the characters are very similiar squall = cloud same personality rinoa = aerith, both have flower represented, both have their past lover
FFVIII was my favorite until I played 10. I never understood the hate. I loved the characters and story progression. Not as good as 10 or seven but definitely up there.
You know how people are something is either a masterpiece or trash. I really like 8. Some of the criticisms are fair and some are overblown. At the end of the day It’s definitely worth playing if you like final fantasy 7-10. It has a lot of charm, exciting setpieces, great cutscenes and music. It still golden age final fantasy to me, even if it’s rough around the edges.
That seems fair. Loving the music so far. Just got to the ballroom scene with Squall and Rinoa last stream and I love it so far. Now I gotta practice triple triad.. 😅
@@RexSterlingLiveI say all of that as if I haven’t already been watching the streams haha. But yeah man I’m really glad you’re enjoying it so far. I never comment but I’ve been watching your streams since Rebirth. Keep it up brotha 👍
8 is amazing, Everyone that hates on 8 is either a 9 fanboy or a Snes purist 8 has issues towards the end the game was rushed so the story does fall apart at the end a little bit still amazing final fantasy game Some of the best party members of any final fantasy except for 10 and some of 7s party
i would play this game 100 percent over and over. FF8 is the more relatable person as squall. the abandonment issue hit me hard. thats why its understandable on her aloof personality. the story is grounded as relatable person and emotions. the battle aspect is more fun if you knew how flexible the system and you can abuse it. as i played it on 17yrs old me back in 1999. i figure out eventually as my friends are having trouble using the junction systems as they played FF7 before this game. as i have enjoyed it as FF7 mediocre traditional JRPG system. as for storywise. yeah i admit is convuluted mess. but i forgive it for the games relatable personality and flexible abusive system that you can exploit. as i progress on the game. im like those youtuber that speedruns the game with different handicapped. and id love it much. as it replayable aspect on FF8 is much higher. this game hold a special thing in my heart for nostalgic and as a growing teenager back then im not 41. and still loving it playin on emulator.
Dude that’s why I didn’t play FF IX. I was playing FF X, VII and VIII and Kingdom Hearts along with X. I was walking down the block and I overheard that IX sucks so I never gave it a try. I was new to the whole FF series so I listen to them. I should of just gave it a try. I’m actually playing some of IX now after watching you play it. I was a kid back then so I didn’t know much. Do you play FF Disiddia?!
Anyone who said IX sucks is genuinely a hater and jealous of their fandom because its the highest critically scored FF ever. They let their personal bias and fandom of a game (which is entirely fine) get in the way of what genuinely is an amazing masterpiece.
There are reasons why this game so divisive, its either love it or hate it, and im the latter group haha, so i might skip this playthrough Hope you enjoy it
![Diggy Graves - Red Vineyard [Official Lyric Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8Ro085T0mnQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Final Fantasy 8 Day 1: ruclips.net/user/livefHQAOpj17i0?feature=share
Join my livestreams: www.twitch.tv/rexsterling
My full, unedited reaction to FF8 is on Patreon: www.patreon.com/RexSterling
is that streaming time just for this stream or did you change it in general? (haven't caught your streams for a while)
Hope not, cause sadly I probably won't be able follow it, but no hard feelings ofc, always go with what suits you best :)
@@smichal52 it’s just a placeholder time. Streams are not on a schedule anymore. I just have to put a time in order to make the stream appear on RUclips
I like 8 a lot and never understood the hate I hope you enjoy it
The junction system is broken and the story has more holes in it than a golf course. However it's great fun, with a great soundtrack. It's a great game, it's a bit like how dark souls 2 is compared to 1 and 3, I see it the same with 7,8,9. Things can be great but still worse than others.
@@upon-fe2720 junction system sucks big time, but I overall enjoy the story and characters especially squalls story arc
personally, i find it one of the weaker ones, i still like it, but i have some issues like for example the junction system that just makes you completely OP from the start, drawing magic is one of the most tedious things ever if you want to stock up on something, atleast until you can make 1 of the GFs to learn abilities to create them. and the story is all over, like, when you hit disc 2, it just gets suddenly batshit insane for the rest of the game. and squall is also so damn moody.
@@kulidrikke I find the argument of the junction system being bad and tedious because of the fact that you could get insanely strong at the start pointless since you absolutely don't have to utilize it that way. You don't need to draw in every battle and you don't need to become OP from the start.
My preferred way of playing it is just playing through the story and junctioning the magic you aquire while drawing at a steady pace through battles.
In my first playthrough, I almost never drew from enemies, never upgraded my weapons, but still had an enjoyable experience.
I've always heard people arguing that the game is too easy and become frustrated. The reason behind this is because of the fact you have to go out of your way to become powerful in FF8 on a more technical level compared to other entries. If you just play it casually, following along the story, the game becomes much more difficult than it would otherwise.
FF8 is definitely one of the best games in the series, it doesn't deserve the hate that it gets, it's an absolutely fantastic game.
I really liked 8. Definitely in my top 5 of FF games. Legend of dragoon is a choice game as well.
You'll probably still love it, it's still good, and most of the stuff that does suck (imo) only really bothers you once you actually sit back and think about it, it's not really in the moment stuff. And even then it's still not enough to really make it bad, just make it fall short a bit when compared to 7,9, and 10.
9 is Uematsu's favourite soundtrack, but a lot of people think 8 is where he creatively peaked.
The variety of VIII's scenarios is phenomenal it hasba very Persona/Eastern Europe/Cold War, MGS feel.
I love it but the game seemed endless in imagination when i wad younger.
As a major fan of FF and MGS since the early NES days, I just disagree with Eastern Europe and Cold War feels. I get no MGS vibes from FF8. The one city Rinoa is from has European victorian architecture and Paris vibes given the arch de triumph parallel, outside of that? The game has no eastern bloc or cold war vibes at all, lol
I keep my textwall spoiler free :b
FF8 is my all time favourite ff game and I hope you will at least end it on a positive note. I can see that a lot of people who only played through it once and maybe never looked around in it too much, got confused or annoyed by certain story parts or mechanics, and of course Squalls character. But I feel like if you let yourself get into the game, the world and explore, you can find out a lot of stuff that makes it worth the time. A ton of my love comes from constantly playing the game again because I feel like I find out more stuff every time, even nowadays. Sadly it seemed a bit rushed between 7 and 9, so I often feel like the devs could have used a bit moe time to make it so much better.
There are many great ideas that I feel are not implemented completely or in the best way. You can break it easily if you know how, but that's true for other ff games, too. The enemy scaling or the Junction system is also a often used point against the game, but even that never really bothered me. And story wise, a lot of the often mentioned flaws do make sense if you know the story better, remember stuff that was said once, or read a bit into certain NPCs and menu notes etc.
All in all I just wish you a good time and will only give you one recommendation. Please play the game in your own paste and keep it original. The experience will be so much better in this game without trying to break any mechanics, holding you back from leveling or playing "the game" too often/not often enough. Just play, because knowing too much about the game will probably make you play it differently. The first time should always be a grounded and awesome experience.
I'm hyped already, and see forward to the discussions of certain parts of the game when you are finished.
One more year would've turned this game from what it is now to rightfully sit alongside 7 and 9. 100 percent. I feel like 16 needed that. It needed a year of adding and figuring out mechanics, in the case of 8 it needed everything streamlining and balancing for a good year. I like the fact I've killed the final boss with a low level party, like level 10 or less, I don't like the fact the final boss is way easier at the lowest level cause enemy scaling is all out of whack. Carding enemies throughout the entire game should be a challenge run, not a run that makes the game a complete pushover.
totally agree. this game is so much potental. its feels rush by devs due to the success of FF7. FF8 is more relatable in my opinion for a fantasy game. yes draw and junction system is tedious system but i love its flexibility. as for me as soon as i knew i can exploit and abuse it im thrilled to experiment. that makes the game replayable on all FF ttiles thats game mechanics is linear. yes about aquiring magic im hoarding it to maximize my stats and playing cards to aquire items to refine magic that i all needed. no more unleashing summons as i can literally destry the game with just limits and Physical attacks.
I personally didnt mind the junction system 8 had. I think where 8 falls flat mostly for me is the game's writing especially on the middle and end of it.
yes totally agree. the story is kinda convulutes but is a great game and i love its game mechanics cuz its flexible and easily abuse.
*_Final Fantasy VIII is Final Fantasy VII Remake before Final Fantasy VII Remake._*
If you strip all character development out, make worse music, make the junction system and leveling mechanics completely useless because of tedious carding mechanics, then yeah its's FF7 Remake.
@@slippynipz I love ff8 but you're completely right haha. The flaws in 8 are abundant and most so mechanically. The plot contrivances would also make 7 Remake blush. However, the music is top tier in both. There's a lot more going on in remake/rebirth but with the context of time 8 is right up there, too.
7 remake/rebirth are mechanically flawless so there's no competition there.
The only people that hate ff8 is the people who doesn’t understand the gameplay when you understand it’s enjoyable
The criticism for 8 is overblown. People don’t actually think it’s that bad. It’s more that it’s just easy to nitpick and find things to criticize from a design perspective. Some people like the game for its wackier elements like the junction system.
But at the end of the day it’s a 4 disc PS1 Final Fantasy with everything you look for in those games. Some people get super negative when comparing it to the others, some think it’s the best FF of them all. I personally find it easy to criticize while also ranking it top 3-5 most fun to replay. Great characters and character development too.
True. It's also a bit sad that it is in the middle of two other great games, since 7 and 9 are also a lot of peoples favorites. So it always had a hard time. But yeah, I feel like the last few years, a lot of the ff8 fans crawled out into the light after the decade before, lots of hate was flying at it. So there are a lot of us who really love the game. It wasn't perfect, sure, but it had a lot of nice ideas and experiments made in the development.
Of course if you just run through the main story and don't think a bit about the stuff happening or being said in the game, you will think it is a rushed game with weird story aspects. But a lot of things in the story, often criticized, makes total sense if you put other stuff into concideration. Like stuff a certain character says early in the game, or the state the world is in, also the past of it. But sadly it is stuff you kinda have to search for. So a lot of people miss it and therefor think the story is just weird, which is really sad.
SPOILER, DONT READ FURTHER Rex.
Weird is great! I'm in for final fantasy weirdness, however, level scaling isn't weird - it's just bad in a JRPG, the power fantasy can only be achieved by carding every enemy until you hit the end game and can use GF's to boost all your stats to 255. Levelling up is counterintuitive in every other scenario. Enemies/bosses scale more than the player, not weird but bad. The decision to draw spells and junction them deincentivising the use of magic completely. In fact, you'd be out of your mind to use magic in 8, standard attack is all that's required and functioning to make sure nothing else is needed is the way to go, that's not weird, it's bad. This is why we've never seen them approach anything similarly ever again.
They also have one of the greatest minigames in triple triad but attached one of the most insidiously awful rule systems in any game I've ever played, which is the rule swap/carry over system that completely messes up files and without very systematic pre knowledge (and even with it sometimes) you can't fully take advantage of what the minigame offers.
Narratively I still can't get on board with the amnesia plotline, it's nonsense and was near obviously slapped on to cover certain aspects.
Saying all that, the game is still good, but there are legitimate reasons why this game doesn't hit the heights of 7 or 9.
8 is one of my favourite games of all time for many reasons, but it's busted in many ways too. You can love it's flaws, but they remain flaws.
I disagree. It is a bad game in retrospect. **SPOILERS BELOW**
Reasons:
- Character development is not at the forefront at all. Not only does Squall barely grow besides coming to terms with his past childhood and wanting to be with Rinoa, but Rinoa's entire plot development is as arm candy and to further squall's personality development. She has no character development outside of becoming a sorceress. Every other character goes through zero development accept remembering their orphanage upbringing and have a quick 180 resolve to stop Ultimecia
- Ultimecia is a terrible villain. What's her motive? why is she trying to compress time? What does she hope to achieve? What are the underlying motivating factors to push her to such lengths?
- What is a sorceress? How do they actually become one, is it blessings from the gods? Mana, crystals? What? They do a poor job explaining it
- Why is there a need for a mercenary conglomerate acting as private military contractors for city states?
- Carding and Junction. This system is fucking garbage. It actively pushes the option of magic and leveling up to such a degree you dont want to do it. Carding is tedious and takes forever, but further the fact you junction spells to stats for stat modifiers ruins the game entirely. Not only can you break it easily using full-life, ultima, flare junctioned on spells, but you end up not using any of them to protect your stat boosts. Horrible implementation of an interesting idea around stat modifiers
- Level scaling offers nothing to the game, except to force a tedious carding mechanic
- Hardly any exploration. You have the underwater exploration area with Ultima Weapon etc but outside of that the world is largely lifeless
- Side quests are incredibly easy to break and get locked out of
- Laguna's story is pretty pointless. He has no change of heart besides the girl in his flash backs and it does a poor job of show casing a father who abandoned his kids to care for a surrogate daughter. You have no resolution that he is Squall's father and his personality doesn't even change compared to his past self except the fact he directly caused physical injuries that are long term for his friends.
- The story is just...dumb. You have nations at war and one is led by a posessed sorceress, Edea, where they lead a failed assasination attempt which leads to global war..All for? What? Time compression? What does that mean? how does it happen. They hardly explain it as you bounce from each SeeD location, Balamb, and other locations after Disc 1.
- Furthermore on the story, the set pieces aren't even linked. When you get to the futuristic city with the space station etc, it gives you zero indication of what to do next and you just kind of "show up" to these random plot moving locales.
- Ultimecia really is such an underbaked villain with 0 motivation or driving force.
- No moogles or any FF flare. It completely ignores fun fan favorite things. Summons are not even encouraged in this game. Magic, Summons and jobs are main game mechanics we enjoy as FF fans.
I think it's apparent they wont redo this because of the issues with this game. It's not a "BAD" game compared to other BAD games, but it objectively is just not a good Final Fantasy.
@@NoLiveking87 totlly agree. its not a perfect game like other FF titles. but i like its relatability of characters, game mechanic flexibility, replayablity. i love this game more than any other FF titles. its sad its rush due to success that preceeded it.
Junction system is fun, but easily broken. Also drawing for that is tedious, but if you're willing---EZ OP. Looking forward to catchin' some 8 streams! Hope ya liked 16, but I'm still waiting for pc release...hope you understand. See ya soon, buddy! :D
yes junction is fun and flexible. and you can adapt on every boss battle in every way. love the game for its flexibility on junction system and its brokenly awsome.
Yayyy! I have a lot of nostalgia for this one. Music. Story. Have fun Rex😁🎮
Balamb Garden OST has permanently been my chill music, the OST in VIII is INCREDIBLE!
I personally love VIII, I do a playthrough every couple of years, the story has its moments but in general there isnt enough slack that prevents me from replaying. Excited to watch Rexs run!
This game is... I've always loved it. It's my favourite FF and I've played VII. It's weird as hell, though. Basically, think of as many sci fi tropes as you can, it's all in there. That's the other thing; this is roughly where sci fi and fantasy overlap a bit. The story is insane, but for me it's insane in a good way. I hope you enjoy as I do.
not to mention its relatable characters grounded on genuine human emotions convey message of the game being central plot is LOVE.
Out of the later ps1 FF games, FF8 did the best at integrating FMV’s. I remember being amazed that I could move my character during a cutscene. Idk. Whoever storyboarded those scenes did great.
Hello from Germany, Rex.
As a 38 year old gamer, i was enjoying your Final Fantasy Streams very much. Thank you!
Final Fantasy, especially the psOne Games, was the holy bible for me.
I haven't played FF8 since i played through it as a kid, but i have good memories about that game, despite what many people are saying. I also have the original Playstation CD Case standing here, because i loved FF 7-9.
That being said, if i should recommend one Game or one Saga after your Final Fantasy Journey, it would be the Xenoblade Chronicles Saga from 1-3.
True Masterpieces. I played them very late on Nintendo Switch, but i didn't regret it.
Greetings from a silent viewer!
All you need Rex is have an open mind. Yes 8 is very different than normal final fantasy games in regards to the draw/junction system and that did turn a lot of players off of this game. But the music is legendary, combat is fun, triple triad is the best card mini game, characters are fun not as polished as 7 or 9, but there is an element of realism with these characters. I played this game as student and it resonated with me that a lot of this focuses on the fact that they are students of a academy. This is still a top tier Final Fantasy game if you don't get caught in the draw/junction drag. There is some tips for drawing magic quicker I would like to share to help you with your play through. The higher your magic score the more likely you will draw more magic in one shot, so find that one character and have them draw like crazy and then transfer it to someone else after its full. Also the cards/GFs can help you pick up those spells even without draw. Even with minor issues for me this is such a big game from my childhood and is in my top 5 final fantasy games.
well one things for sure. if you dont waste time drawing magic. you just play cards and turn them into items through card mod. to refine magic you will need for you stats. its much easier and efficient than just draw magic. myself been done that i can literally overpower on disc1 and can take down T-rexaur with only squall in a training center.
@@JoeyJoverAgbayani Also true anyone can get really powerful at that point, though can be just as quick if you you have your highest magic user drawing 9 at a time, some people got hung up drawing 1 or 2 at a time and yes it's frustrating. But draw the high magic user then transfer those spells to a non magic user can be just as quick
@@joshuasummerlin8283 yes i know that too. Highest magic stats gives high drawn magic you get from enemies. My only point is effeciency on not just drawn from enemies magic. Early in the game you can have high level magic as refine items from cards. Provided you have GF abilities. To get meteor. Full life. Pain just early in the game.
Story elements that were supposed to be in the original 7 ended up in 8.
agreed being edea kramer would be the main villain of FF7.
My dad bought me my first video game system after I beat Zelda OoT before him. It was a mini ps1 with FF8. Didn't have a memory card, didn't know how to do anything. But it's still, to this day, my favorite.
I wouldnt use any of the boost modes Rex, theyre straight up cheats and reduce enjoyabolity. Especially no encounters because each area is incredibly unique encounter rate wise and difficulty is built around encounter rate.
8 has the greatest intro in FF, one of the greatest final dungeouns and some of the coolest environments and songs. Its not a bad game.
I remember a balance mod for this game, changed it so the limit of junction magic was 50, that helped both to nerf the OP stat boost from junction, and also let you freely use any magic stock over 50 without feeling like you're wasting it
first 2 games too. i was like 5 too.
Let’s go! 8 is my personal favorite followed closely by 7. Squall and Cloud are up there as my top 2 characters in the FF series.
You’re gonna love it
Easily my favorite mini game of the entire series though! I can’t wait to see you Master it!
FF8 is the only FF that really made you feel like you can break the game once you understood the junction system and it’s mechanics. It’s my favorite FF out of all the ones I played. That includes FF7, FF8, FF 9 , FF 10, we, 14 and 15.
ITS HAPPENING!!! 🎉
Cant wait! I Love FF8
Final Fantasy VIII my favorite!
Just make sure to really pay attention to the tutorial. I just wanted to say there is another way and less boring ways to boost up stats. I think many people not really pay attention at tutorial while the game gives a lot of ways to do something we needed to, anyway i'm gonna enjoy this ride with you REX
I never beat FF8, so im glad you're playing this so I don't have to.
GENUINELY LOL’d AT THIS
I don’t remember a whole lot about this game at all because I remember the fact that I played it without a memory card so obviously not very much of it, I didn’t really live in a household where I had time constraints for gaming, but I guess I could be pulled away whenever I was still a child so Anything could happen but I know I played at least an hour or two and maybe got to the seed exams or whatever this was 15+ years ago? I literally have zero memories except for the phrase “seed exam”😂 I also remember not being a huge fan of the menu, I assume it was the junction system. I didn’t like, but I don’t know if I ever got far enough to fight anything.🤔
FF8 is FF7 if they had happy ending, even the characters are very similiar
squall = cloud same personality
rinoa = aerith, both have flower represented, both have their past lover
8 is the best in the series in my opinion
FFVIII was my favorite until I played 10. I never understood the hate. I loved the characters and story progression. Not as good as 10 or seven but definitely up there.
You know how people are something is either a masterpiece or trash. I really like 8. Some of the criticisms are fair and some are overblown. At the end of the day It’s definitely worth playing if you like final fantasy 7-10. It has a lot of charm, exciting setpieces, great cutscenes and music. It still golden age final fantasy to me, even if it’s rough around the edges.
That seems fair. Loving the music so far. Just got to the ballroom scene with Squall and Rinoa last stream and I love it so far. Now I gotta practice triple triad.. 😅
@@RexSterlingLiveI say all of that as if I haven’t already been watching the streams haha.
But yeah man I’m really glad you’re enjoying it so far. I never comment but I’ve been watching your streams since Rebirth. Keep it up brotha 👍
@@Kitth3n Based lurker! Thank you!!
My top 5 FF list. 8 is my nr 1 :)
1. FF8
2. FF9
3. FF7
4. FF16
5. FF14
8 is amazing,
Everyone that hates on 8 is either a 9 fanboy or a Snes purist
8 has issues towards the end the game was rushed so the story does fall apart at the end a little bit still amazing final fantasy game
Some of the best party members of any final fantasy except for 10 and some of 7s party
Best ff on ps1
i would play this game 100 percent over and over. FF8 is the more relatable person as squall. the abandonment issue hit me hard. thats why its understandable on her aloof personality. the story is grounded as relatable person and emotions. the battle aspect is more fun if you knew how flexible the system and you can abuse it. as i played it on 17yrs old me back in 1999. i figure out eventually as my friends are having trouble using the junction systems as they played FF7 before this game. as i have enjoyed it as FF7 mediocre traditional JRPG system. as for storywise. yeah i admit is convuluted mess. but i forgive it for the games relatable personality and flexible abusive system that you can exploit. as i progress on the game. im like those youtuber that speedruns the game with different handicapped. and id love it much. as it replayable aspect on FF8 is much higher. this game hold a special thing in my heart for nostalgic and as a growing teenager back then im not 41. and still loving it playin on emulator.
Did anyone even USE Irvine?
Dude that’s why I didn’t play FF IX. I was playing FF X, VII and VIII and Kingdom Hearts along with X. I was walking down the block and I overheard that IX sucks so I never gave it a try. I was new to the whole FF series so I listen to them. I should of just gave it a try. I’m actually playing some of IX now after watching you play it. I was a kid back then so I didn’t know much. Do you play FF Disiddia?!
Anyone who said IX sucks is genuinely a hater and jealous of their fandom because its the highest critically scored FF ever. They let their personal bias and fandom of a game (which is entirely fine) get in the way of what genuinely is an amazing masterpiece.
There are reasons why this game so divisive, its either love it or hate it, and im the latter group haha, so i might skip this playthrough
Hope you enjoy it
8 for me has the weakest story out of all the PS era Final Fantasies. It's just all over the place for me.