One of my favorites....

[steamboat23]

Drawbacks obviously being the draw and junction systems which should never have been allowed. But I believed the story to be more real then most FF's, and Squall is the most believable character for me almost period. Maybe its cause I identify with him because of how I was when I was a kid. I thought the music was top notch, the bosses were too. The main villain wasn't introduced til disc 3 but in my mind this is one of the most genius things about this title. I think its pretty obvious who you were actually fighting in the game, because I've watched the ending fmv ten million times. It was so insanely complicated. I loved the ragnarok, and the overall control you had over where you went. The whole city of eshtar was very well done. The enemies were varied in this game compared to most as well. FFX and FFXII seem to have generic pasties as guidelines where you have 15 different types of panthers, wolves, beasts, birds, yadda yadda. You give this game a better battle setup, and it fast becomes my favorite. (My favorite game is actually FF Legend II)

[balthierxashe]

I actually liked the battle system well enough...I don't really understand the problem people have with it

[Flint]

Yeah, the battle system was nowhere near as bad as some people would have you believe. I thought it was one of the most flexible and empowering systems Square ever used - through drawing and junctioning you could power up any aspect of a character however you liked, there were no real restrictions.

It all seemed complex at first, but there were some simple strategies you could use to make things much easier for yourself. A lot of people seem to rely solely on Guardian Force attacks which is a poor strategy - by using the junction system properly you can make your characters single attacks do more damage than any GF (except Eden, perhaps). If you make good use of Strength-Junction and Elem-Attack-Junction you can progress through the game much more smoothly.

[Hitoshura]

I enjoyed FF8, not as much as 7,9,6, and 4 though.

I didnt really find the battle system that superb becuase you could only defeat enemies by summoning GF and drawing magic and stocking it to your attack, which got annoying over time.

The story I thought was fantastic but sometimes it just didnt flow that smoothly because of the Laguna past scenes and events in the plot were sort of cheesy and random.

I think a lot of people dislike FF8 because it wasnt as great as its predecessor FF7. Also because the game made a big transition from the others, it went from fantasy to futuristic.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok

I didnt really find the battle system that superb becuase you could only defeat enemies by summoning GF and drawing magic and stocking it to your attack, which got annoying over time.

This is exactly what I was saying before - if you are relying on GF attacks to defeat the enemies then you are not using the junction system properly and you'll struggle to get through some of the later battles. You do need to take a little time stocking the powerful magic but if you junction them to your strength stat then you will soon be able to deal huge damage in a single attack. If you go to the 'Island closest to Heaven' at the top of the map or the 'Island closest to Hell' at the bottom you willl find a load of drawpoints that contain some of the most powerful magic in the game - Ultima, Quake, Flare etc. Stock up on them, junction them to your strength stat and you'll have a much easier time. Also, if you keep Squall's HP low you can use his limit breaks on every turn which will make progressing through the battles much less painful.

The story I thought was fantastic but sometimes it just didnt flow that smoothly because of the Laguna past scenes and events in the plot were sort of cheesy and random.

The Laguna scenes were very important, though. They provided a sense of history and allowed us to see how certain events in the present came to be (how Laguna became president of Esthar, for example). They also help to fill in the gaps about Squall's identity and his past - we see how his parents got together, how that relationship ended and how he ended up at the orphanage.

I think a lot of people dislike FF8 because it wasnt as great as its predecessor FF7. Also because the game made a big transition from the others, it went from fantasy to futuristic.

I always preferred FF8, but I guess that's just me. The only real transition in FF8 was the use of 'realistic' character designs and the new battle and junctioning systems. FF7 was futuristic so in that regard FF8 wasn't that much of a departure.

[Hitoshura]

Actually, FF7 had a futuristic setting with a fantasy type story and characters.

In FF8, everything about it was futuristic.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Ragnarok

Actually, FF7 had a futuristic setting with a fantasy type story and characters.

In FF8, everything about it was futuristic.

Not sure I'd agree with you about FF7 having a fantasy story and characters...I mean the initial set up is about a group of eco-warriors trying to save the planet from an evil mega-corporation who are killing the planet by using up all it's resources. That's sounds like a pretty contemporary idea to me.

In some ways I'd say FF8 actually had a more fantasy based story despite the futuristic setting (time travel, evil sorceress trying to rule/destroy the world etc)

[Hitoshura]

I still think FF7 is more fantasy-like. >.>

[Desi]

FFVII falls in a "Steampunk" style of world. The beginning of an Industrial revolution. Sharing things in common with medieval, modern, and sci-fi.

Well that is my little insight, I won't get on the topic of this thread because well you know.

[masamune]

Originally Posted by Flint

This is exactly what I was saying before - if you are relying on GF attacks to defeat the enemies then you are not using the junction system properly and you'll struggle to get through some of the later battles. You do need to take a little time stocking the powerful magic but if you junction them to your strength stat then you will soon be able to deal huge damage in a single attack. If you go to the 'Island closest to Heaven' at the top of the map or the 'Island closest to Hell' at the bottom you willl find a load of drawpoints that contain some of the most powerful magic in the game - Ultima, Quake, Flare etc. Stock up on them, junction them to your strength stat and you'll have a much easier time. Also, if you keep Squall's HP low you can use his limit breaks on every turn which will make progressing through the battles much less painful.

Exactly. I think that FFVIII is a memorably example of "you fear what you don't understand". Most people who found the battle system to be a drawback sure didn't knew how to use it. Truth is, FFVIII is one of the more complex FF when it comes to grow stronger. By drawing magics you can use the junction system to more than do more damage, you can absord elemental attacks, and be immune to status ailments (in my save i was absorving every element and was immune to most status ailments, plus i had maximum strengh and mag, depending on the character).
And the biggest strengh of the battle system in FFVIII only becomes used for few people, the ones who dominated the synthesis feature of the game. Its possible to keep using limit breaks infinitely even with full hp if you have the macig aura (its pretty rare, buuuuuuuuuut with syntheis you can have 100 easily). Also its easy do get 100 holly wars and you will become almost invincible.
Its really a pitty that a wonderfull game like FFVIII had so little people that enjoyed it properly.

[Ultima Star]

Well....I was used to ffviii battle system so at first I found FF8's battle system confusing until I got used to it It's not that tough after a some days playing the games, in fact it's pretty easy. I loved the spells but the only thing I didn't like doing was drawing them. It was....boring XD but still I'm more used to FF8 system then FF9 system

[TBG07]

I remember getting the game (I was young...12 I think).. started playing immediately without reading through the manual. I remember wondering why the only things I could do were "Attack and Item" lol. But after a while (and after reading the manual) I got used to it. Still....drawing is boring.