Final Fantasy VIII review

People expect more from Final Fantasy. The name alone has built up such a reputation that it isn't enough for a new game in the series just to be good -- it's got to be incredible or it will be considered a disappointment. Luckily Final Fantasy VIII surpasses even these incredibly high expectations and stands far above the pack as the best PlayStation RPG so far.

The long and intricate story line in FFVIII centers around love -- that's right, love. Before you run away screaming, let me assure you it's nothing that will make you cringe. FFVIII's overall plot is still appropriately exciting and action-packed; it's only later in the game, once you are really attached to all the distinct and complex characters, that the more emotional themes are gradually introduced. It's actually a refreshing change, and helps FFVIII avoid most common RPG cliches.

Graphically Square has outdone themselves again. Everything from the mind-blowing FMV (wait until you see the infamous dance scene) to the improved character graphics and animations, to the so-good-you-won't-believe-they-are-real-time spell effects are among the best visuals you will find on the PlayStation.

But, as we've said a million times (yet still get letters about), a 5/5 rating doesn't mean the game is perfect. The few gripes I have with FFVIII mostly have to do with parts of the battle system. Drawing spells from monsters over and over as well as watching the long Guardian Force attacks play out are necessary parts of combat that can get tedious, especially later in the game. Overall I still enjoyed the battles, and the new junction system is genius, but a few minor adjustments could have kept up the steady pace of the rest of the game.

Even with its quirks, Final Fantasy VIII is one of the few games I would categorize as a masterpiece. Forget that it's an RPG-- this is one of the most polished, vast and totally addictive games of any kind I have played in years. Square has somehow done it again.

Final Fantasy VIII

SquareSoft has always had a sure-fire hit when releasing any of their Final Fantasy titles, and Final Fantasy VIII should be no exception. The basis of a good RPG (role-playing game) has always been the story; spectacular graphics are secondary. Final Fantasy VIII's involved and interesting story line is filled with great twists, well-developed characters, suspense, and romance. As an added bonus, the graphics are beautiful. Everything--from the low-lit jazz club to the steam-filled railroad tunnels--is gorgeous and perfectly sets the mood and tone of a scene.

The game mechanics are standard fare for an RPG: acquisition of items and spells, turn-based combat, experience points earned in combat allowing advances in levels. From exploration to battles to dialogue, Final Fantasy VIII has it all. However, Final Fantasy VIII falls to that great weakness of RPGs: random battles. While necessary for advancing in levels, the battles occur with such frequency that they can grow annoying, making for a tedious game experience.

The epic storyline spans four discs--over 40 hours of gameplay--and is based around a mercenary cadet who finds himself caught up with an underground rebel faction. He winds up in a plot to assassinate the sorceress who has just seized power from the president.

You could complain of limited replay value, but this gripe is of no consequence: the game is such a satisfying experience, it doesn't require replay. Final Fantasy VIII is easily worth both the hype and the wait. You can't buy a much better game.

Final Fantasy VII Review

So it's finally here. The most hyped-up, talked-about and eagerly-anticipated role-playing game in console history has finally arrived. I'm talking about Final Fantasy VII, of course, the game that was billed as "the greatest RPG of all time" before it was even released. And the big question: Does it live up to the hype?
Well, Final Fantasy VII is absolutely epic in scope. With a sweeping story line that spans three discs, the game makes the 40-hour completion time suggested by Square seem like an underestimation. A large map, with a wide selection of towns and cities, offers plenty of areas to explore for the intrepid adventurer. Cinematic sequences (including, but not limited to, fully rendered full-motion animation cinemas) advance the complex -- and sometimes surprising -- story. And several mini-games (like arcade fighting, motorcycle racing and snowboarding) offer light-hearted respite from the serious story line. But does it live up to the hype?
Well, as reported, the graphics are nothing short of stunning. The prerendered backgrounds provide some of the richest environments ever seen in a console title. The cinematic sequences segu´ almost seamlessly into actual gameplay, ridding the game of the unpleasant graphic dichotomy found in most cinema-laden CD-based games. And clever graphical tricks, like decreasing the size of the characters as they move from foreground to background, add to the game's visual depth. And the powerful summoning spells acquired as the game progresses are absolutely awe-inspiring, combining polygonal graphics with what appear to be beautifully hand-drawn special effects. But does it live up to the hype?
Well, the combat interface is cleverly done, with a "realtime" engine that is nevertheless turn-based. By turn-based, I mean that characters must wait for a Time meter to fill before choosing their attack, and attacks always occur in the order they are chosen, with no two characters (either friend or foe) attacking at the same time. This adds a level of urgency and excitement not found in most other RPGs.
But does it live up to the hype? Well, that really depends. I have to say that, now that I've been able to put some serious time into the game, I'm a bit disappointed. The most frustrating thing about the game is the surprisingly linear story line. Until gaining access to the game's vehicles (at least 15 hours into the game), players are basically forced to follow a strictly set path. Oh, you'll have the appearance of choices, in conversation and in travel, but explore the alternatives and you'll discover that there is really only one feasible path to take. This is doubtless the case because of the focus on the fully developed story, but it may bother gamers used to more wide-open gameplay. The inclusion of some truly challenging puzzles would have helped a bit, but these are scarce. To make things worse, at some points the translation from the Japanese appears a bit muddy, causing unnecessary confusion and clouding the fine story.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great game -- and I don't mean great like "Hey, great!" but great like Alexander the Great. I guess I was just expecting it to be a lot closer to perfect than it is. It's still a must-buy for any PlayStation owner; just keep in mind that you'll have to check a good deal of your freedom at the door.

Final Fantasy VII

The story of Final Fantasy VII centers around a solider named Cloud Strife, who joins forces with Avalanche, a group of resistance fighters, to take down an evil mega-corporation known as Shinra. (The fate of the world hangs in the balance, of course.) Truly epic in scope, this four-disc game requires a considerable amount of time to complete---this reviewer gladly gave up over 80 hours of his life to finish it. But it's definitely a rewarding adventure that every PlayStation owner should consider undertaking, especially since it's now one of the low-priced "Greatest Hits" titles.

Final Fantasy VI

When Final Fantasy VI debuted on Super NES in 1994 (under the name Final Fantasy III), it was a thing of wonder. It also gave rise to endless debate: Was it the best RPG ever made, or was it a sloppy hack-job of a game? Did it have a brilliant English localization, or did Square U.S.A. butcher it? Was the massive cast of warriors impressive, or did the dozen-plus party members result in weak characterization and unbalanced skill building? In short, was it underappreciated genius or overrated crap?
There's merit to both arguments, actually, and you can be certain that the release of Final Fantasy VI Advance is bound to bring the whole brouhaha bubbling to the surface again.
Even the GBA version of the game is bound to irritate as many people as it pleases. As with Tose's previous Final Fantasy Advance remakes, FFVIA offers a number of improvements balanced by a ledger full of flaws. The game treats fans to new content -- several new Espers to teach you new magic spells, new dungeons full of new monsters, and new gear to use while exploring (but no new playable characters). Bugs and glitches have been tidied up. There's quite a bit of fan service in play, with appearances by both familiar faces and a monster infamously cut from the original version of the game. And the localization has been heavily revised, restoring the depth and nuance lost by necessity due to the space constraints of SNES cartridges.
But the sound quality has been severely compromised -- a real tragedy, considering that FFVI's score was among the best on SNES. Now it's staticky at times, slightly slow and out of tune at others. There's a touch of slowdown in places. A tiny hint of censorship has been imposed where it wasn't seen before. And the localization has been heavily revised, robbing the game of charm and quirkiness added by translators who had to make the most of limited space.
Still, even with these issues, FFVIA is the best GBA Final Fantasy conversion yet. The added content and revised script don't add as much as they did to FFIV, but that's mainly because it was considerably more polished on SNES than its predecessor. Meanwhile, the technical details come off much better. The Active Time Battle glitches have been ironed out, and the slowdown is mild. It's too bad about what happened to the music, but the fault there lies with Nintendo's cost-cutting hardware design.
As for the underlying game -- well, most gamers' minds are probably already made up as to whether they like it or not, and it's unlikely this new rendition will change that. As a masterpiece of a game with significant flaws, it has an impressive ability to polarize opinions.
FFVI has the distinction of being a transitional game, the keystone between the series' old-school roots and the stylized, cinematic style that became its trademark with FFVII. Its in-between nature is evident in the development staff; it was the first chapter headed up by FFVII/VIII/X/XIII director/producer Yoshinori Kitase rather than by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. It's evident in the story, a complex narrative told from multiple perspectives riddled with epic disaster and high drama. It's evident in the presentation, with graphics far beyond the primitive sprites and tiles that were typical of the genre. And it's evident in the gameplay mechanics -- especially in the way it's possible to turn everyone in your party into godlike bruisers without resorting to cheats or exploits.
These highs and lows are the result of the game's greatest strength: Its sheer ambition. FFVI was hardly perfect, but it aspired to be bigger, more epic, more involving, yet more accessible than anything that had come before. For all its flaws, it was precisely that. Console RPGs didn't catch on in the U.S. until FFVII came along three years later, but aside from the eye-popping graphics made possible by PlayStation, everything that would ultimately make Final Fantasy an international blockbuster is right here. And even the simpler graphics work to the game's advantage -- they're a fine example of the 2D art form, and they lack the excessive flashiness that bogs down 3D Final Fantasys.
FFVIA is a mostly great port of a mostly great game, and that makes it entirely worth having. If this has to be the end of the GBA's lifespan, we can't think of a better way to go.

Final Fantasy V Advance for Nintendo

Final Fantasy V Advance is now available to handheld gamers! Five characters try to save the world from an evil sorcerer known as Exdeath. Train them for a wide variety of job classes, then lead them into battle to use their special abilities and skills. A host of brand-new elements have been seamlessly merged with the original game, providing unexpected surprises for longtime fans. With new dungeons, new job classes, and other exciting features, both old-school players and newcomers can enjoy this genre-defining Final Fantasy title in a portable format!

Final Fantasy III Review

Remakes and rehashes are more or less a given these days -- if you make a good game, you can rest assured that 10 years down the line, someone will dump it onto a collection at worst, totally recreate it at best. Ah, if only we could force publishers to maintain a level of quality on par with Final Fantasy III for the DS. Then all these trips to the retro-gaming well would feel less like crass opportunism and more like enshrinement of the classics.
FFIII is no mere pile of throwaway shovelware; it's a total re-creation of an 8-bit game, largely faithful to the source material but thoughtfully retooled in places to play better. And look better, too -- this is easily the best-looking 3D you've ever seen on the DS. It probably helps that the director of the original game, who clearly wanted the new version to be the definitive version of his baby, supervised the DS remake. And for the most part, his efforts have paid off.
FFIII, of course, has never made it to the U.S. before. (The game most Americans know as "Final Fantasy III" was actually Final Fantasy VI, which will be making its way to the Game Boy Advance in due time.) Aside from brave importers and certain emulation aficionados, American gamers will find this remake to be, in effect, a brand-new Final Fantasy title.
It is, however, a decidedly early Final Fantasy title, even with its pretty 3D graphics and soaring remixed soundtrack. Back in the day, the even-numbered FF installments were daring experiments in storytelling and character development, while the odd-numbered chapters emphasized combat and skill-building. FFIII falls very much into that mold, which means that certain elements may seem somewhat dated for those weaned on the post-FFVII games. Combat is turn-based, the plot is almost an afterthought, there are no extravagant FMVs during the course of the game, magic skills are strictly regimented. And mid-dungeon save points? Not a chance.
This is an RPG for dedicated RPG enthusiasts. Many gamers will give up after being annihilated by random encounters in an out-of-the-way corner of the second village; others will despair at being wiped out by powerful bosses after 30 minutes of dungeon exploration and no opportunity to save. Even those who make it to the end may be put off by the enormity (and difficulty) of the final dungeon, where more than a dozen insanely powerful bosses highlight constant encounters with random enemies that are nearly as tough. There's not much story to reveal; the four party members have been given names, backgrounds, and inklings of personality, but there's not much more to the whole thing than a steady march to the final boss.
FFIII's real carrot-and-stick device is the Job system, which players may recognize from such games as Final Fantasy V and Tactics. In effect, characters can be freely reassigned a different character class at any time; these range from the basics (Warrior, Monk, White Mage) to more esoteric roles (Geomancer, Scholar, Evoker). This is the Job system's primordial form, lacking the mix-and-match options of the later games and rewarding consistency rather than experimentation. The more you use a job, the more powerful it becomes -- but even by the end of the game, you probably won't have maxed out a single one. Additionally, there's a penalty for swapping jobs; moving into a new job halves most of your stats for a few battles. The system has been tweaked and improved over the version that appeared in the original game, but it still feels limiting at times.
Maybe FFIII's greatest disadvantage is really just a matter of timing: It's bringing up the tail end of this fall's Final Fantasy blitz, which means it arrives within two weeks of FFXII and FFV Advance -- both of which, unfortunately for FFIII, are better games, with far more depth in story and gameplay alike. It feel particularly limp coming so soon after FFV, which essentially perfected the Job system while sporting a significantly more developed plot.
But it's important to appreciate FFIII for what it is -- a slice of history and a missing piece of a blockbuster series. Hardcore RPG players may enjoy it more than modern Final Fantasy titles, thanks to its emphasis on skill development and combat. Casual players may find themselves surprised by how addictive simple level-grinding and monster-slaying can be. There's a certain satisfaction in seeing your juiced-up Monk land 28 hits in a single round, and FFIII delivers that thrill in spades -- and there's enough challenge to make it a necessity rather than overkill. The result is one of the best portable RPGs to date, and a fine example of how to remake a classic.