Final Fantasy VIII is 20 years old

[Himu]

It came out February 11, 1999.

Good lord I'm old. At the time, it was my most hyped game ever. Probably still is. I pored over every magazine detail. I listened to MIDIs of the music. I played the demo a billion times.

I can't believe you're 20 years old and no one loves you bb. Not even SE.

[Svejk]

Would've been a prime opportunity to show us some more progress of the Remake.....   guess that's asking way too much from modern day SE.   

I recently started replaying it on my phone.  Using the OpenGL, shit looks guuud.  I think (hope) the remake will have more an impact on folks, seeing as the premise of the entry and the current state that world is declining towards.  (According to David Attenborough)  FFVII was the peak of the franchise, imo.

But yeah... it released like a half a year out of High School...  The good ol' days of power binging games was an ehrday thang.

[Svejk]

The draw system absolutely killed any enjoyment from that entry.  Loved everything else.

[Himu]

https://legendsoflocalization.com/squalls-whatever-line-in-japanese-final-fantasy-viii/

Read this about how bad FFVIII's translation in English was.

Thanks for this. I had heard from people that played the Japanese version that the English script wasn’t really very good, making a lot of mistakes or shit like the constant “Whatever” line that just doesn’t happen as much and isn’t nearly as dickish or apathetic. Apparently a *lot* of the dialog for the characters was messy like this – Rinoa in particular is more popular in Japan because apparently her dialog is supposed to be cute and friendly and the English translators went with “Giant idiot toddler woman”.

People just didn’t really notice because the technical competency of the script was a step up from the blatancy obvious issues with the FF7 script.

I feel bad ragging on an Alexander O. Smith script but I’m pretty sure I remember him commenting at some point that this project was poorly managed so it’s likely not really his fault.

I love this game, fuck the haters that have already camped in here showing off their FF hipster cred and being their usual insufferable selves.

Yeah, I partially blame the bad translation for some of the not-so-positive opinions people have of FFVIII’s characters. I have a friend who played the Japanese version long before he played the English version, and he said the translation was so different that it gave the game a completely different feel than when he first played it. He said the biggest differences were Squall and Riona – in the Japanese version, Squall was stoic and broody while still being respectful when the occasion called for it, but in the English version he said Squall was a lot more dismissive and mean. In the Japanese version, Rinoa was naiive and cutesy yet was assertive when she needed to be, but in the English version she was a lot more childish and brash which made her a lot less likeable in my friend’s opinion. He particularly hated the childish insults she’d use, like calling Squall a “meanie”, because Japanese Rinoa wouldn’t speak like that. He said a lot of characters and NPCs were weirdly baby-ish or used childish terms, when that wasn’t the case in the Japanese version.

Another thing I thought was interesting was that the Ultimecia=Rinoa fan theory doesn’t really exist in Japan because there are lines in the Japanese version that explain more about Ultimecia (which negates the theory). Apparently during the final battle it’s explicitly stated that Ultimecia reaches into Squall’s mind to find what creature he is most scared of and use it against him, and that creature ends up being Griever. In the English version, it just seems like Griever is Ultimecia’s GF.

It still pisses me off that I-VI and Chrono Trigger got re-releases and re-translations while Square never gave VII-IX - the games that MADE THEM an international success - the same treatment. It makes me like, unreasonably mad. Then they remake FFVII and decide to say,"fuck you" we're remaking it entirely and in our own vision. We never got a re-translation or fixing those story errors that led to endless forum debates. Never mind what happened with FFVIII to the point where it ruined entire characters.

Fuck you Square Enix USA.

[Himu]

The draw system absolutely killed any enjoyment from that entry.  Loved everything else.

You don't need to draw.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I had the demo disc before launch, played the intro at least once a day for months on end until launch.

Only thw third game i got at launch up until then (Mortal Kombat 2 for Mega Drive, Zelda OOT)

[Himu]

I had the demo disc before launch, played the intro at least once a day for months on end until launch.

Only thw third game i got at launch up until then (Mortal Kombat 2 for Mega Drive, Zelda OOT)

FFVIII was the first game I ever got at launch.

[Raist]

It's still shite, though.

[Svejk]

Jesus Chrast... I read the number wrong.    Guess that's what happens when you only sleep about 3.5 hours last night.  Totally seeing myself out.   

[Trent Dole]

whatever

[TakingBackSunday]

game sucks

[thisismyusername]

The draw system absolutely killed any enjoyment from that entry.  Loved everything else.

You don't really need to draw for anything but GF's. Everything else can be gotten through the card game.

[Don Rumata]

My favorite FF.
Best card based RPG, too. 

Probably the only jrpg i played start to finish more than four times.

[Himu]

So aside from this pc mod test below, I haven't played FFVIII in 10 years, since its 10th anniversary.

I recently replayed VI and I think it might be my favorite FF now.

But I still haven't replayed VIII so I can't make any definitive answers. But this year I'm replay VIII, I'm coming. And I'm going to tear the shit out of it.



Like usual.

[bluemax]

Game would be pretty good if you didn't have to play the terrible fucking card game in order to avoid spending all your time drawing. Junction and refining was cool but there's just too many half baked concepts in this game that don't coalesce.

Still the only non MMO game in the series where I've never made it to the end.

(I never beat Dark Cloud either but at least I got all the way to Dark Cloud)

[thisismyusername]

Game would be pretty good if you didn't have to play the terrible fucking card game in order to avoid spending all your time drawing. Junction and refining was cool but there's just too many half baked concepts in this game that don't coalesce.

Still the only non MMO game in the series where I've never made it to the end.

(I never beat Dark Butt either but at least I got all the way to Dark Butt)

So don't play the card game. Get enc-none from Diablos and just rush the game.

There's many different ways you can break the game by disc 1. The card game is just one of them.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I don't remember drawing that much, I have much clearer memories of how slow FF9 was.

This is the FF I probably want to replay the most (ive never replayed one).

[Chooky]

time kompression

[bluemax]

Game would be pretty good if you didn't have to play the terrible fucking card game in order to avoid spending all your time drawing. Junction and refining was cool but there's just too many half baked concepts in this game that don't coalesce.

Still the only non MMO game in the series where I've never made it to the end.

(I never beat Dark Butt either but at least I got all the way to Dark Butt)

So don't play the card game. Get enc-none from Diablos and just rush the game.

There's many different ways you can break the game by disc 1. The card game is just one of them.

I was playing on PC and did in fact use a save modifier to get enc-none without having to grind. It certainly made the game a lot better!

[naff]

The draw system absolutely killed any enjoyment from that entry.  Loved everything else.

You don't need to draw.

word. so much special fellow rage about drawing and stocking 100 at all times to be max power in this game. why you need to be as OP as possible? completely unnecessary.

[naff]

also, the card game was really good.

ff9's card game on the other hand 

[bluemax]

also, the card game was really good.

ff9's card game on the other hand 

The card game was awful and deeply integrated into the game. The whole rules spreading stuff is just beyond annoying.

[Raist]

I don't get the hate for FF9's card game. It's an improved version of 8's.

[Don Rumata]

also, the card game was really good.

ff9's card game on the other hand 

The card game was awful and deeply integrated into the game. The whole rules spreading stuff is just beyond annoying.

"Random" rule was annoying, thankfully you can game the system and remove it with some trickery.
It's how i got to complete the deck.
Then again once you start to have many character and GF cards, it's basically impossible to lose, so i understand why they did it.

[thisismyusername]

also, the card game was really good.

ff9's card game on the other hand 

The card game was awful and deeply integrated into the game. The whole rules spreading stuff is just beyond annoying.

No it's not. You do not have to play the card-game to beat the game. It's only "deeply integrated" in that nearly everyone plays the card game, but that's the same with Gwent in the Witcher 3: It's there as a mini-game to challenge folks in.

The rules spreading is only during the Card Queens quest, IIRC.

[naff]

I don't get the hate for FF9's card game. It's an improved version of 8's.

I didn't like the rng in the damage calculation. added a high degree of randomness in the game, and the rules were convoluted in a bad way. Art was shite too, and lacked any of the impact on the game being able to break down cards in VIII had. I think most people more or less avoided it, while, for better or worse triple triad was played by most people. Personally loved it, but I'll grant the random rule sucked (break down your shit cards tho) and plus, same etc were a lil whack.

[Cerveza mas fina]

The draw system absolutely killed any enjoyment from that entry.  Loved everything else.

You don't need to draw.

word. so much special fellow rage about drawing and stocking 100 at all times to be max power in this game. why you need to be as OP as possible? completely unnecessary.

Ocd complains I think

[I'm a Puppy!]

Not their best work. But, the world? the style?


They didn't come close until FFXII and then again in FFXV.

[Sho Nuff]

And there's never been a rerelease. It's not like they can't get the code up and running on whatever box they want to these days, and Square loves milking its old shit, so my tinfoil-hat theory is that the Faye Wong contract was made under old HK law and is in a legal black hole due to something in there -- maybe they're obligated to keep her in all versions of the game, and the current China situation means they can't renegotiate.

[Himu]

And there's never been a rerelease. It's not like they can't get the code up and running on whatever box they want to these days, and Square loves milking its old shit, so my tinfoil-hat theory is that the contract was made under old HK law and is in a legal black hole due to something in there.

Apparently the code has been lost. Mind expounding on this HK law?

[Sho Nuff]

And there's never been a rerelease. It's not like they can't get the code up and running on whatever box they want to these days, and Square loves milking its old shit, so my tinfoil-hat theory is that the contract was made under old HK law and is in a legal black hole due to something in there.

Apparently the code has been lost. Mind expounding on this HK law?

(Just edited above post a bit). Doesn't matter that the code's been lost -- they're fine in that regard (dotEmu or certain Tose teams work miracles in this regard). Apparently everything negotiated with HK companies before the China takeover was terminated/invalidated? I googled a bit but can't find any good info on how it went down.

[Himu]

Ahhh Faye Wong.

[Sho Nuff]

Some nerds say:

"said track may have fallen prey to musical rights issues that have prevented Square Enix’s magnificent RPG from appearing on more recent gaming platforms. While the melody has been heard in Dissidia Final Fantasy and the musical mash-up Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Wong’s angelic vocals have been persona non grata in those rare instances when the pure musical composition of Eyes on Me was utilised."

Herm, so they're still allowed to use the track minus vocals, at least in spinoff games. (shrugs)