• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Final Fantasy VIII was released 26 years ago today, on February 11, 1999! Does the Final Fantasy franchise still hold a special place for you?

Boozeroony

Member
It is my favorite. Not because it is the best game, but because it introduced me to jRPGs. I was 16 when I played it. I had never experienced a story so epic in gaming before and thinking about it makes me feel warm and nostalgic. Life back then was so uncomplicated.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
2 Massive RPG's about to release in a few days I want to play.

But you know what, fuck it, downloading this again. Give it a whirl for a bit. Get that cozy familiar Balamb garden music and feel back into my veins.
 

GateofD

Member
FF8 was my first final fantasy.

The FF7R games are great
But really hope the next new mainline FF games are more back to form. FF16 was more like one of the many FF spin-off games even if it was a fine cinematic spectacle
 
Last edited:

ssringo

Member
I have hated final fantasy ever since i saw the spirits within in theaters.
I was stationed in Germany when Spirits Within was released. A buddy and I were excited to see a big screen Final Fantasy and left base to watch it one afternoon. Sadly we got called back to base before we had a chance to see it. Something about a terrorist attack on US soil.

Yeah, we were spared the travesty by the fucking 9/11 attacks.
 
It's not as special as it was back in the day but I'll always be interested in the series.

Personal favorites are 6, 7, 13.

6 is still the overall GOAT IMO, I like the story the most in FF7r, and 13 has the best battle system/OST.
 

Valt7786

Member
8 is my favourite of the PS1 trilogy. I know its not perfect, but I love it all the same.
I would sell a kidney for it to get the FF7 remake treatment. That combat system with those characters would be super fun, but I know it'll never happen 'cause "Ending confoosing, draw system hard :(".
 

poodaddy

Member
Its about the only FF where you need foresight. Playing it casually, collecting magic, leveling up, will get you nowhere. You will ask yourself, why is my damage so low and why do they one shot me?

But once you abuse this system, and you really don't need to draw much as you can refine items for 99x high tier magics etc, you can become a god. In remaster I decided to do it. I had 4k health and Lionheart just after finishing the Tomb next to Deling City. It was fun. And I beat Omega legit actually for the first time ever, he's completely fair and does nothing random. Ultimate Weapon had so much agility in my run that he actually Game Over'd me twice but Omega didn't lol. You can toy with bosses, not killing them outright (you'll want to draw a GF here and there too).

And get this, I forgot Carbuncle and I even fucking forgot to take Diablos from cid. No platinum :messenger_tears_of_joy:
I should give it another go at some point, as I did love everything about the game except playing it. I still maintain that it'd benefit from a fundamental remake from the ground up, but I don't trust modern Square with it at all, as I'm one of the weirdos here who hates the new FFVII games as they just go way too anime for my taste.
 

cireza

Member
FF is still an interesting license for sure, and I have replayed to completing VIII recently. Absolutely loved, of course.

Can't say I have any interest in XVI and VII remakes, they can't move away from these games soon enough...

I hope they go back to VIII / X / XIII / XV style with XVII. Otherwise it will be, again, an easy skip as far as I am concerned. I need that edgy Nomura style in a futuristic setting with badass music and action.
 
Last edited:

MSduderino

Member
Amazing game. I liked the brighter colors and more realistic looking character models compared to VII. Squall was the perfect angsty character for me in my early teen years.
 

Elginer

Member
Holds a very special place for me, hell getting a squall tattoo next week as I recently started a gaming half sleeve. Was my first Final Fantasy and my parents were going through divorce and school life wasn’t the best either. It was an amazing game for me and touched on a lot of themes of feeling alone at time and for me to open up to friends. Have had Squall in my gamer tag since gamer tags were a thing.

Hope that a remake is true as some of the story telling was damn messy. Would love to see the story expanded.
 

emivita

Member
9JJ2knU.jpeg


Bought it a few days ago. Still listening to the OST from time to time, probably the most nostalgic Final Fantasy for me.

 

Von Hugh

Member
I don't care that the junction system sucks. I don't care that people keep on talking about it like it's the only part about the game. If you see FF8 only for it's gameplay, that's beside the point.

The music, the atmosphere, the world, the art, the story and characters are fantastic. There's really no other game like it. It came out at a time where there was less worry in the world, and it shows. I was also only eight years old at the time, and I was hyped as fuck for the game. I had my older friend over to play the game at first, and only after I played the game myself. It was such a good time, and I feel super nostalgic for the game and the time period.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Second best FF game. If you didn't get the Draw system you're low IQ.

a9PLGL6.gif
Honestly it's the only other FF that's worthy of the FFVII-Remake treatment, although an actual Remake not a sequal like FFVII Remake/Rebirth
anything else would be a fart in the wind in comparison.
Maybe X, but other then that FFVII is the only one is the same tier.
 
Last edited:

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
9JJ2knU.jpeg


Bought it a few days ago. Still listening to the OST from time to time, probably the most nostalgic Final Fantasy for me.





Remind me please, does the console version come with built in cheats like the PC version does?
 
Last edited:

Oberstein

Member
Best final fantasy of the PS1 era

Despite it being the weakest of the PS1 ones IMO

GAj0o.gif


After all these years, the gap is still striking—you either love it or hate it.

Maybe in 26 years, it’ll be the same for FFXVI, who knows!

I also feel like the franchise appeals to the 'old folks' while the younger generation couldn’t care less about it overall.
 

Metnut

Member
Orphanage/amnesia plot twist was the stupidest thing ever. I immediately turned the game off after that and never played it again.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
It does, very much, but all because of its past not its future. The only FF games I look forward to now are remakes or remasters. The new mothership entries I don't like. I hated FF16, I thought it was just a generic RPG with cool graphics and cinematics. Offered me nothing I love about RPGs.
 

Bernardougf

Member
Was my first FF maybe thats why I loved so much ... best Lead Character in any FF game imho ... never understood the hate towards it... but hey I dont care. Loved.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I got in an automobile accident a few days before this released. A month later I was out of the hospital, and my brother (who was working at Blockbuster at the time) brought me over a rental PS1 and this game to play while I was recovering from massive head trauma.

The game's story definitely hits different when you're not capable of forming short term memories.
 

Polelock

Member
I loved 8. It was a great game and the first FF that I beat. I played 7 til the end and boss and just kind of forgot about it, after I beat 8 I went back and beat 7. Then 10 came out and hooked me in all over again.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Orphanage/amnesia plot twist was the stupidest thing ever. I immediately turned the game off after that and never played it again.
Yet continued Playing TLOU2 after Tommy & Joel randomly spills all the details of their camp to a unknown group hiding in a building just outside the camp for weeks.
👍
 
Last edited:

Hunter 99

Member
FF will always have a place in my heart and I always buy the latest releases despite a few dissapointments (XVI)
The ps1 trilogy are incredible and you can't beat the turn based gameplay imo.
Ff9 was my first at 9 years old, my uncle gave me a £50 note for my bday. I was so excited I walked that same day to my local Game with cousins and picked up ff9 £49.99 .
The screenshots on the back case and the fact it was 4 discs wow.life changing summer for me.
 

duyxbox

Neo Member
Yes, it always has special place in me.
I still remember the first time I saw Final Fantasy series was Final Fantasy VIII, seeing other kids play it when at a game shop during my summer trip with parents. It was in Japanese, yet I was stunted by the graphics.
 

Little Mac

Member
Nostalgia keeps it alive for me. The last remarkable FF for me was FFXII and that came out almost 2 decades ago (I never played the online games). And the series really hasn't shined since the FFV - FFX era. The last 2 FFs have been disappointments imo and XVI wasn't even an RPG. In an effort to attract new (young) gamers, and to justify absurd development costs, the franchise has lost its way and has alienated the fans who grew up on the series.
 
Last edited:

HJuggernaut

Member
Yes. It's my favorite all-time game, and it was the first game that merged storytelling gameplay and 3D graphics. It's the perfect adventure with memorable characters, set pieces and music. It's really a gem.
 
Top Bottom