Having to deal with a different set of characters than I’d been using helped me get a better grasp on the junction system this game uses. There’s also some fun gameplay stuff in this section, with you separating your group into different parties. Disk 2 is where I started to piece together the puzzle that is Final Fantasy VIII. At the start, I felt like I was just being served proper noun salad. The characters never really slow down to ask questions, but this is where I got intrigued. She outlined her plans to rule the world but for some reason people love her. Turns out he’s fine, but now you and your crew are on the run from the Sorceress. It’s all weird and strange and through all of Disk 1 I never really felt like I had anything to grasp on to… and then the main character got killed.

Eventually, you get embroiled in a plot to assassinate this Sorceress who is either a respected world-leader or maybe a despot or somehow both. You meet a bunch of characters who also seem to be fumbling around in the dark. The start of the game doesn’t really let you get a grasp on the politics of FFVIII’s world, so you basically just follow a linear path doing what you’re told. The world was different, sure, but mostly in weird ways. It felt too samey, even if his big sword was also a gun. After spending so long in VII that just didn’t interest me. The game starts you off as an angsty dude with spiky hair and a big sword. If you haven’t played this game and don’t want its completely bonkers story spoiled for you, stop reading now and go play it! Disk 1: The Dark Times.īoth when I originally tried this game and this time around, I started it up right after finishing Final Fantasy VII. Let’s talk about the weirdo story it tells and the weirdo way it tells it. Instead of reviewing the game as a whole, I’d like to walk you through my experience of each of the game’s four disks. This is absolutely one of the most confusing, most incredible, and most frustrating video games I’ve ever played.īut this game is 22 years old, so there are more reviews for it out there than there are spin-offs in the Final Fantasy franchise. Last week, in a moment of surreal triumph, I finally rolled credits on Final Fantasy VIII.

Thanks to the No One Can Know About This podcast, in which the hosts present a documentary-style view of their experience playing through every Final Fantasy game, I’ve recently fallen headfirst into the series. I also tried VIII around the same time and bounced off of it almost immediately. Freaking Seymour is the only thing that kept me from beating X around the same time. I played through VIIback in the day and thought it was fine, but wasn’t blown away. Final Fantasy is a franchise I’ve never been deeply invested in.

Final fantasy viii review