A lot of gamers will be looking closely at Final Fantasy 8 this fall -- after all, it's the next episode in the never ending FinalFantasy series and the follow-up to one of the best selling Playstation games ever. And while the hyped-up Final Fantasy 7 wasn'tperfect, it does have the distinction of bringing RPGs into the mainstream. Most people will be jumping to 8 simply out of their lovefor 7. But will it be worth it? I'd have to say yes. Squall Leonhart is a student at the elite military school, Garden. AtGarden, students are trained to become SeeDs, mercenary soldiersof the highest caliber. SeeDs are hired and sent out to extinguishproblems throughout the world. Across the ocean lies the country Galbadia -- a nation ruled by anevil dictator with dreams of world conquest (has there ever been aGOOD dictator?). To subjugate the planet, Galbadia has enlistedthe aid of Edea, a mysterious sorceress. Sorceresses have been thesubject of legends, and were long thought to have been gone fromthe earth. The theme of the game is love -- just look at the couple (Squall andRinoa, the heroine) hugging behind the FF8 logo. Awww, isn't thatcuuute? Sarcasm aside, the storyline is actually the brightest part ofthe game. There are some slow parts in the middle, but just whenyou almost start to lose interest, things pick up again. Frankly, youdon't even have to play the game to know that love will win out insome way...very 'Hollywood.' But it is the way in which they tellthe story that sets it apart from being just some teen-angst drama. Even for a cynic like me, there were moments that made me putdown my controller and think. Now that is a game with power. For those of you who are less concerned with the plot, let's get straight to the combat. The battle system is set up by junctioning"Guardian Forces" to your characters. These Guardian Forces, or GF's, are creatures that srengthen your character for battle. Afterbeing junctioned, your character will inherit the GF's abilities and magic junction powers. Bye-bye materia, hello new complicatedsystem.. Initially, the only ability your character will have is "attack". After you junction to a GF, your character will be able to fill up 3 active abilities, as well as inactive abilities. Having only 3 slots gives a good "check and balance" feature to setting up your character. Most GF's will immediately offer you the following active abilities: magic, item, GF (a.k.a. to summon the GF), and draw. More abilties open up as your GF's level increases. Inactive abilities are also earned and include such things as "HP increase by 80%" or "automatic haste." Magic is done with a "draw" method rather than the familiar magic points meter. When you "draw" against an enemy, you take one of your enemy's spells. These spells can then be cast using the magic ability or they can be "junctioned" to certain character statistics. Confused? Let's say you've drawn 31 cures and your GF has the ability to junction magic to HP. By junctioning your cures to the HP, your HP can be raised. Different GF's have different magic junctions: some can junction spells to your vitality, others to yourElemental defense. It allows you to customize and greatly strengthen your character. The downside of the draw system is that in order to really "strengthen" your character, you need to draw all of the important spellsto the max (100). That can get? well, boring. There aren't any armor upgrades, and weapon upgrades are a minor aspect in thegame. So it's all about junctioning magic. I think even the most battle hardened of RPGers will get tired of drawing spells fromsome weakling enemy that's barely fighting back. The last area in the game is really nothing more than an easy chance to max out allyour spells. It would have been better if spells were harder to accumulate and enemies didn't have unlimited spells to draw. Much like FF7, the graphics push the envelope of the Playstation hardware, but at the same time illustrate the limitations of thesystem. What really makes the graphics impressive is how the character designs stay consistent throughout. From battle to video tojust walking around, there's none of that wacky, super-anime deformity of FF7. This consistency helps to keep the story flowingsmoothly. Unfortunately, sometimes the backgrounds of the battles have a pixelated look. Of course, it wouldn't be a Square game without overblown,glorified videos. The transition from gameplay to video is trulyimpressive and seamless.Musically, there are only a few tracks that really stand out. Theother songs have a looped, empty feel. Th best musical piece in thegame is "Eyes on Me", sung by Hong Kong popstar Faye Wong.It's a cliched, but beautiful love song. A clever trick in the game ishow they work the melody of the song into key moments, so thatwhen you get to the lyrical version, the song carries a lot moremeaning. Faye Wong is one hell of a singer, and if you ever getthe chance, try finding some of her other work. Now for the complaining... Why aren't there any voices? If youreally want to read, go buy a book. A voice carries so much feelingand character. There is something sorely missing when I can't hearRinoa talk. So what if it would've taken 8 disks and cost more? Itwould have upped the immersion level dramtically. I really hopethat this is the last "silent" Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy 8 is a great game, but not a perfect one. The battles and junction system have their flaws. At times you'll be toopowerful; at other times, you'll just be drawing spells to gain strength. But the long ending that waits in store will make up for mostof the negatives. Overall, it plays and feels like a fleshed out Final Fantasy 7. While one can find similarities between the two incharacters and ideas, you can really see how things really come together in number 8.
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