final fantasy viii – Kay Talks Games

Final Fantasy VIII usually doesn’t top the series rankings, but it does have some famous fans like voice actor Ben Starr and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 director Guillaume Broche. I think there’s a reason for that, as it’s the FF game I always come back to when I’m in the mood for a cool RPG. It’s a very surreal and honestly messy game that is still somehow full of creativity and unique mechanics.

The story involves all sorts of crazy themes like child soldiers, time travel and world wars. I promise you will be surprised by all the twists and turns it takes. What I really love about FFVIII, though, is how interesting and charming the world itself is. You’ll travel across varied landscapes ranging from a small fishing hamlet to a high-tech city of the future to a tribal village hidden deep underground all the way to a spooky castle. The scenery is unlike any other game I’ve played. One city looks like it’s from Star Trek, while another features classical European architecture. At one point, you travel across a massive, frozen salt lake. And, you get to do all this traveling in a flying school. As I said, it’s a strange game.

The world in this game is full of surprises both visually and in terms of hidden content. My very favorite thing about FFVIII is its wealth of intriguing sidequests. There are lots of summons you can only find by exploring every nook and cranny of the world map, alongside entire areas you can miss completely. Exploring thoroughly may put you in contact with a UFO, or perhaps incur the wrath of a giant Cactuar. It’s also worth mentioning that the game uses a very odd battle system that is surprisingly deep but basically requires digging into the side content to master, as magic and status effects are treated as consumables that must be farmed and equipped.

For my money, Triple Triad steals the show. It’s a very addictive card game you can play with people all over the world throughout the game. You can even challenge people during dramatic moments to get some funny dialogue. Different regions have their own rules for how to play that can be learned and transferred to other regions, some people have rare cards you won’t find anywhere else, and there’s even a whole quest to get a famous artist to paint new cards to put in circulation. It was a popular enough game to eventually make its way to Final Fantasy XIV.

FFVIII also has a phenomenal soundtrack, even by Final Fantasy standards. It includes everything from grandiose orchestral themes with Latin chanting to thumping electronic beats, and it all somehow perfectly fits the atmosphere. The great music combined with the unique world, bizarre plot and ample side content makes it my favorite game in the series to revisit. There’s so much to see and do, and it’s all wrapped up in a very unique setting.

Note: This post contains minor spoilers for Final Fantasy VIII.

Final Fantasy VIII is a weird game. It stands in the shadow of the juggernaut that is Final Fantasy VII and is often overlooked as a result. It’s also unpopular with some fans of the series on its own merits. Without getting into spoilers, the plot goes in some very strange directions and is nearly incomprehensible at times. Despite this, it’s one of my very favorite games and one I hold near and dear to my heart. Why is that, you ask? Well, it’s everything but the main story that I love. It features my favorite character in the entire series in the form of secondary protagonist Laguna Loire, whose personal story I find way more interesting than the main plot. More importantly, FF8 has some of my favorite side content of any game, especially the addictive card game known as Triple Triad.

I think FF8 has stellar aesthetics and music, which is admittedly a strong suit of the series as a whole. The world features many distinctive locations to explore for a PS1 game, all crammed onto a whopping 4 discs in its original release. Over the course of the adventure, you’ll journey to harsh deserts, snow-capped mountains, coastal villages, bustling cities and more. The artstyle is an interesting blend of old-timey design sensibilities and futuristic sci-fi fare. Just check out the contrast between the sleepy rural town of Winhill and the high-tech city of Esthar below.

The game is also loaded with side quests than can be completed at different stages of the story, with some already doable on disc 1 and others not becoming available until disc 3. This content distribution provides some nice breaks from the main story and gives the player reasons to explore the map to its fullest. For example, there are summons (known as Guardian Forces) that can only be obtained by defeating them in combat after locating them in optional areas. One side quest involves tracking UFO sightings around the world. Another sees the player venture into a village hidden underground and helping the residents complete a work of art. In a far corner of the map, an abandoned oceanic research facility can be found that houses powerful enemies including a super boss. All of this stuff gives the game’s world a sense of mystery and wonder.

Tonberry King must be defeated as part of a side quest to gain him as a summon.

So, what’s the deal with Triple Triad? It’s a card game that’s popular in the FF8 world. People from all over the world will accept your challenges to play, and there’s a full set of cards to collect featuring portraits of enemy monsters, bosses and important characters. Plenty of cards are even one-of-a-kind. The rules are simple. The game is played on a 3×3 grid. Players take turns placing cards on the grid. Each card has 4 numbers on it, each corresponding to a side of the card. If you place a card down with a higher number than the corresponding number on the opponent’s card, you flip it to your color (blue for the player and pink for NPCs). Whoever has the most cards in their color once every square is full wins.

The opponent’s final card can’t flip any of mine, as none of its sides have a number greater than 8.

It’s a simple yet addictive formula. Making things even more interesting is the presence of unique regional rules. Various areas around the world will have their own rule sets that they play by, such as the dreaded Random rule (your hand is drawn at random from all cards you own). Same and Plus rules spice things up nicely. The way these work is thus: Same makes it so that if the exposed numbers on the cards add up to the same amount when placed, they get flipped. Plus works the same way except it flips cards if the exposed numbers add up to the same amount. The Elemental rule will add +1 value to a card that matches the elemental affinity on its square and -1 to a card that doesn’t match, as seen above.

As you travel around the world, rules from different regions you’ve played in can even spread to others. Diehard card collectors will take the time to instead abolish the more annoying rules from areas using RNG manipulation. One woman you can encounter in various places calls herself the Queen of Cards. She has her own side quest that involves deliberately losing certain rare cards to her so that she will have new rare cards created by her artist father. This quest spans nearly the entire game, as you initially meet her in the first town but can’t get one of the required cards until disc 3. One rare card is obtained by giving a man a “naughty” magazine. The UFO will give you its card if you manage to track it down and give it elixirs instead of killing it. Hunting all of the cards down is immensely satisfying to me because Triple Triad itself is so fun, and it’s nice to see a little star on the menu screen once you catch ’em all.

Dozens of hours spent represented by that little star.

As odd as it may sound, I adore Final Fantasy VIII as a game for everything but its main quest. I feel like that’s unusual for a story-heavy RPG, but the wealth of side content on offer makes it a joy to replay. I always have a good time exploring the unique world and finding all the secrets hidden within. Do you have any games like that? I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has such a relationship with a video game.

Tag: final fantasy viii

Why I Love Final Fantasy VIII

Triple Triad and Enjoying the Side Content More Than the Main Quest