The 10s: Final Fantasy VIII

 I'll be here. I'll be waiting for you. If you come here, you will find me, I promise.

So, I think this is going to be a two-part post, because I have a lot to say about Final Fantasy VIII. I was going to come out guns blazing as to why this game is so misunderstood, but I think that wouldn't do the game the justice it deserves.

Despite all the negativity its name carries, Final Fantasy VIII is one of my favorite games of all time. In case it wasn't immediately apparent by my post last week, I find it to be one of the most, if not the most, unfairly maligned video games of all time. I'm not entirely surprised as it checks just about all the boxes I outlined last week and it came on the heels of one of the most beloved games of all time. It's very different from the previous Final Fantasy games, almost to the point of not feeling like one at all. Its aesthetic is different, its characters are different, it's gameplay is different, it's just generally different. But while it feels far away from its predecessors, from its high fantasy early brethren to its more immediate steam- and cyberpunk inspired relatives, FFVIII owns its differences rather than shies away from them. It has some very, very noticeable issues, but it's highs are incredibly high, and it manages to succeed at things that the series never had before and hasn't since. From its gameplay to its plot to its world to its characters, FFVIII stands out to me as something unique not just unique to its own series, but golden era RPGs in general.

First, we need to discuss the fairly divisive but interesting plot. FF VIII puts you in the shoes of Squall Leonhart, a student at Balamb Garden. Balamb Garden is something of a futuristic military academy, with most of its students training to join SeeD, an elite mercenary group respected the world over. The game picks up with Squall and his rival Seifer injuring each other while training for their upcoming field exam, which will decide their membership in SeeD and their future, as both will soon age out of the garden. Spoiler alert, Squall and his fellow Garden students Zell and Selphie pass the exam, while Seifer does not. The trio are soon given their first mission, to assist a resistance group in the occupied city of Timber. Currently under the thumb of the rival nation of Galbadia, Timber has always been something of an afterthought. But now, Galbadia's leaders have a new advisor: a powerful sorceress named Edea, who has taken a surprising interest in the city's defunct television station. Squall and his team have a feeling that something is "off" with the sorceress, though they aren't quite sure why. To make matters even more strange, they all experience a strange flashback, no, a vision, where they see through the eyes of a trio of Galbadian soldiers named Laguna, Kiros and Ward. But it's something they have little time to think about. Their primary concern is assisting their employer, a group called The Forest Owls, led by a young lady named Rinoa. It's during this mission that the plot begins to take shape, with a seemingly routine contract setting in motion events that will change the world's present, its future and even its past.

I know a lot of people hate the plot, but I don't think it's as bad as it's made out to be. Actually, I think it's quite good. It's completely off the wall insane, but it hits differently than other games in the series, and we will get into why as soon as I finish the obligatory "there will be major spoilers" disclaimer....okay, done. First, I'm going to make one concession to the haters of FF VIII's plot. It's a singular issue that keeps FF VIII out of my top 10 games of all time, one so bad I can't defend even as an obvious apologist for the title. And that issue is that Final Fantasy VIII has what very well may be the single stupidest plot twist in the history of media. Not just video games, media as a whole. The "oh yeah, we've actually known each other since we were kids!" reveal is just dumb, even if it was a necessary plot device. The problem is less the ridiculousness of the twist and more with the fact they give a stupid reason for it (memory loss as a side effect of using guardian forces, which are like summons) and never bring it up again. If this were more central to the plot it would still be a bad twist, but it would at least make some level of sense. As it is, it's just bad. In its slight defense though, the game does make several allusions to this if you explore a bit. However, none of those allusions occur as part of the main story or even side quests, so it's still a major issue.

But that's the thing with FF VIII, it's lows are pretty low, but its highs are very high. It has a stupid plot twist, the secondary characters don't see tons of development, the story goes off the rails a bit, the junction system is confusing to some and easily broken by others. But at the same time, this may be my favorite gaming world of all time, it's organic, lived in and full of life. I love the soundtrack, it's excellent at establishing atmosphere and conveying emotion. It has what I believe to be the greatest final dungeon of all time. It has what I think many people would agree is the greatest mini game of all time. And above all, it just feels real in a way a lot of games don't. Keep in mind, I didn't say it provides a sense of realism, I said it feels real. Every single town looks and feels like, well, a town. Every one feels real, from the way they are laid out to their architecture to the way the people act. Delling city feels like a bustling capital. Dollet feels like a trendy beach town. Winhill feels like a rural, backwoods hamlet. Look, I love Final Fantasy VII as much as the next person, but Midgar feels like a location in a fantasy setting. Sure, its denizens face real world issues and its design is very symbolic, but it just doesn't have the feeling of an actual town that something like Timber does. Some of this is hard to explain and I guess I'm one of the few that sees it, but it's the little things that make VIII stand out. It sounds stupid, but the fact that all of the sections on the world map have unique names goes a long way in making the world feel real.

The same is true of the characters, at least I think so. For one, they look a lot more realistic than your average FF character. Sure, there are plenty of unnecessary belts and face tattoos thrown in there, but compare what these people look like to characters from the previous games and its night and day. But it's more the way they act I think that sets them apart. The cast of FFVIII are often maligned for acting like teenagers and lacking maturity. You know what? That's true. They absolutely do act like teenagers...because they are. They do lack maturity...because they are supposed to. We are going to cover this a lot more next week when I get more in depth with how frequently critics miss the point of this game's story, but for now we'll leave it at that. Growing up and learning to take responsibility is a critical part of the story and the character arcs, particularly Squall's, are more effective because the characters truly do behave like a bunch of 17-year-olds. The way they act in schools, the way they behave on missions, the way they react to the highs and lows of life come off like real people and not like caricatures like you see in games like Persona. I will say the supporting characters kind of take a back seat to Squall and Rinoa as the game goes on, which is a bit disappointing. It lacks a central villain, just when you think the Galbadaians or Edea are your primary antagonist, the rug gets pulled out from under you. I do think the actual villain (another spoiler: Edea is actually possessed by a sorceress from another time period called Ultimecia, who has been controlling others with sorceress powers for centuries) should have been revealed earlier, but I kind of like that there is no true main villain. It helps the game explore shades of gray instead of just a pure good vs. evil narrative and also absolved Square of having to follow up two of the greatest villains in gaming history.

The gameplay is similarly different from previous entries. It's also similarly maligned and while I understand it to a point, much of the complaints come from those who understand the junction system about as well as they do the story (which is to say, not at all). First, I find it's easier to understand if we just put the term "junction" out of our minds. All it really means is equipping something like you do in literally every other RPG ever, so we will just use the word "equip." You start by equipping your character with Guardian Forces, which are like summons from FFVII or Espers from FFVI. Each of these GFs allow your characters to equip abilities, including stat boosts, party buffs or battle commands. Each GF starts with a basic list and can learn more through AP earned in combat. A character can equip three commands, including magic, summon GF, item, draw and any other learned skill. Most of those are self-explanatory, but the draw command is unique to FF VIII. Characters here don't learn magic, instead they stock spells as if they were items. The draw command is used to absorb magic from enemies, with each carrying different spells. But there's more still. In FFVIII, magic is used for more than just attacking (in fact, it's probably the least effective way the game offers to attack enemies). It can be equipped to your characters to provide stat boosts and alter resistances.

I guess that's a bit confusing, but is it really any morose than the Materia system? I don't think so. If the actual combat were drastically altered by the system I think it would be an issue. But it's the same, good old-fashioned ATB combat the series is known for. The only difference is how the GFs work. They have to be charged, as they have their own ATB gauge when activated. There is no MP, so they can be used over and over, but they do have their own HP and if it's drained before the gauge finishes, the GF is knocked out and won't successfully be cast. Other than that though, any fan of Final Fantasy or JRPGs in general will be right at home. Exploration is similarly familiar, you move about towns, dungeons and the world map freely, with the story advancing when you reach a specific location. Adding to its more realistic nature, FFVIII actually allows you to move about the world in a variety of ways, including driving or taking its expansive public transportation system (at least before your school turns into an airship, but hey, we have to have some fantasy elements, right?) The pacing is nice, as it isn't just town-dungeon-town, but it never feels like it drags. The dungeon design as a whole is solid, there are some really cool ones here and I will reiterate, the final dungeon is my all-time favorite in any RPG.

The other gameplay mechanic that throws a lot of people off is the leveling system. For your characters, it isn't really all that different from any other RPG. You get experience, you level up, nice and simple. However, players will quickly notice they don't earn any experience through boss fights, only large amount of AP for their GFs. This is because enemies level up with your party. A lot of people hate it, but I have always liked the fact that you had to make a choice: do you stay low level and use junctioned magic to outclass enemies? Or do you level up so you can get better magic and items from your foes? I usually choose the latter, though sometimes I just want to avoid encounters to speed up the game. Fortunately, you can learn GF abilities that prevent all or some encounters in any area, something that is a standard feature in RPGs now but was ahead of its time here.

No discussion of FFVIII is complete without discussing its bevy of side quests. There is so much to do here, far more than in most FF games. While some of them can be a bit tedious, most of them are excellent. They hit the sweet spot between challenging and accessible, beneficial and essential, cryptic and obvious. You can find GFs like Cactuar, Tonberry and Doomtrain, you can find rare items from the chocobo forests and flying saucer quest, you can learn more about the world in Shumi Village or just have a laugh with the Obel Lake quest. However, I think it's safe to say the biggest side quest FVIII has to offer comes in the form of Triple Triad, a trading card game that was so popular it has its own app today. I won't explain the rules, but it's simple and addictive and, in keeping with the "real, organic, lived in" vibe of FFVIII's world, different regions play the game differently. You can challenge most NPCs and they all carry different levels of cards, from low level monsters all the way up to bosses. You can also complete quests and challenge certain players for rare cards featuring GFs and characters. I can't put into words how addictive this thing is and I'm going to miss it now that my playthrough is over.

For better or for worse, Final Fantasy VIII has always felt like the series' most cinematic entry. I actually really like that, though I'm not sure this would be the case if all the FFs were designed this way. It helped that the game offered some of the best graphics of the era, the character models look way less dated than those of its predecessor and the pre-rendered backgrounds are still phenomenal. But the key is that the cinematic elements are actually well done and appropriate, none of them feel like they were there just for the sake of being there. The game definitely establishes a strong presence early on, but when the SeeD team hits the beach at Dollet for their field exam, you know FFVIII means business. That cutscene is just about perfect, from its camera angles to its slow burn intro to its phenomenal sound cues.

The music is incredible throughout, it's a little different than most of the other entries in the series, but it fits the cinematic nature perfectly. Again, it creates the perfect atmosphere, from the laid back theme in Balamb to the spacy tune in Esthar to the ominous tones in Galbadia Garden. By this point, it had already been established that each Final Fantasy would get its own main theme. Well, FFVIII actually had two. I know it's not how most people feel, but I would put Liberi Fatali against any of the more traditional FF songs any day, including Dancing Mad or One-Winged Angel. But it's the other song that represented a true risk by the developers. A pop ballad in a Final Fantasy title? Why? Well, because Eyes on Me is actually a great song, perfectly fits the characters and story and, here we are again, makes the game's world feel real. Hell, they even incorporate the song into the game's story, we come to learn that Rinoa's mother actually wrote it about Squall's father (though I won't spoil just who those people are). Looking at the series beyond VIII, I think this song kind of game them the onus to experiment with theme songs that were less traditional. Other World from FFX is about as different from Eyes on Me as you can get, but the former would not exist without the latter. I think the music here is great and it perfectly matches the game in a way that isn't very common.

Yes, I know FFVIII has flaws. Every game does. There's the aforementioned plot twist and it's definitely a bit too easy, even for a golden era RPG. But I think those flaws are massively blown out of proportion, particularly by the internet crowd and "real fan" gatekeepers. I think both FFVI and FFVII were better games, but even those titles didn't present their core points like FFVIII did, nor did they make me feel the way their successor did. A large part of that was because the emotions felt so real and not contrived for the sake of a video game story. When Rinoa suddenly collapses at the end of your second battle with Edea, Squall truly realizes both how much he cares for her and how miserable he is to everyone around him. Suddenly, it's not just about him. He doesn't care about himself anymore; he just wants Rinoa to be okay. I will never forget the first time I ever felt that way. I will certainly never forget feeling the same thing times a million when my son was born. No video game has ever so successfully captured that feeling, nor has one ever so accurately and successfully captured the growth of a moody, self-hating boy into a man, who understands how important others are to him. And it's that last point, morose than anything else, that people miss about Final Fantasy VIII. We will delve deeper into that next week.