1.
Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
2.
Disco Elysium
3.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
4. Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)
FF8 is, like many from my childhood, a game that I've restarted countless times but never finished. Sadly enough, when it was next up for my "I'm finally playing all mainline FF's in order to completion" run that still isn't finished after 10+ years, it still didn't get finished despite getting farther than before. So I finally buckled down after Rebirth and made sure that it would happen, and I'm glad I did.
FF8 gets a bad rap and is considered the worst by many alongside FF2 and FF13. But being it was my second Final Fantasy, I still have fond memories of it. While I think there's a lot to critique, I do think this game is far better than most give it credit for. And this completion run has only confirmed that for me.
The presentation of this game is outstanding. The things they do with some of the models is jaw-dropping. The music is excellent, the cinematics are great. The thing that's mostly lacking is story and a bit more focus on the cast. It's very comparable to XVI for me where presentation wise, they nailed it, but they missed elsewhere. For XVI, it's a great story with mediocre gameplay. For FF8, it's amazing gameplay with an ok but sloppily executed story.
The amount of background plot, lore, and extra cutscenes is nothing short of impressive, and gives a lot of purpose to backtracking and exploring more than most entries in the series. Also just the amount of side content in general gives me all the right tickles.
I think one of the biggest public critiques of the game is the battle system, particularly the junction system. But honestly, I find the progression system to be inspired and mostly lacking some more clear intention being told to the players. If you're the kind of person that enjoys breaking games, this system is perfectly suited to it.
I do wish weapons mattered more and it wasn't so easy to make it the Squall show. Despite putting the best magic on them, my secondary attacker could never do even half as much damage as Squall.
FF8 is a scenario tour de force. I think something missing from modern FF is the way parts of the game would involve almost mini-game-like gameplay to fit certain events. Having to manipulate the trains and avoid guards, needing to play missions a certain way to get better SeeD scores, trying to get the right band setup for the festival performance or even the big battle of the Gardens. There are so many moments like this that keep the gameplay fresh, exciting, and memorable. I think this is probably FF8's greatest strength, and I'd argue it's handled better than at least FF7, but probably on par with 9.
The story is...definitely mixed. I think Squall's journey from edgy, standoffish teenager to passionate, empathic leader is great. And surprisingly, I actually like the romance between him and Rinoa. The moment when coming back from space and you find out Rinoa is going to be imprisoned due to becoming the sorceress is so fucking powerful, with Eyes on Me swelling in the background and nearly bringing me to tears. And while this game doesn't have my favorite character designs, I do find myself really enjoying the party.
That said, the overall plot is a mess that I think is probably what drives many hardcore fans away. The orphanage reveal is handled so sloppily. No build, no plausible explanation for how Irvine was the only one to remember other than the GF making people lose memories which like...ok, it's a decent explanation, but feels so improperly set up. And the Ultimecia reveal dump from Edea feels very forced in and the scene doesn't have a lot of weight. It eventually becomes a thing where you're just along the ride and trying to power through it rather than actually being drawn into the plot. The action set pieces are great, and the interpersonal interactions are pretty top notch, but the why for it all is just lacking. The final boss battle feels fairly un-epic as a result, and while FF is no stranger to last second asspull demigod final bosses, it's particularly disappointing here when it felt like there could have been so much more.
I will say the final dungeon is pretty awesome, and the care that went into giving the different bosses special death animations made the game feel very ahead of it's time.
Overall, FF8 is a mess. Plot-wise, I think it sits just above the NES games where there was virtually no plot. Mechanically, I think it could have used a bit more balance in making characters other than Squall feel useful. But the messiness kind of adds to its charm for me. When the presentation is still impressive today, with one of the best soundtracks in the series, and when the world on general is just so fun and rewarding to explore...I can't help but feel it's a great game that just got saddled with a weak plot. And when it comes to games, I think missing the story mark while being fun to play is a better mistake than having a great story with shit gameplay.
7.5/10 that would be an 8.5 with it's flaws ironed out.
Oh, and of course Triple Triad is great. Queen's Blood is superior, but it couldn't run until Triple Triad jogged.
