First off I would like to say that Final Fantasy VIII is my all time favorite Final Fantasy from the series and all time favorite game. Which is a huge statement for me as Final Fantasy is what brought me into gaming.

Introduction:

Final Fantasy VIII is another installment of the Final Fantasy from acclaimed studio Squire-Enix. Instead of having castles and other medieval settings Final Fantasy VIII is the most realistic looking Final Fantasy out of all of the series.

Story:

The story's from the Final Fantasy series have been some of the best story's in video game and electronic media for that matter. Final Fantasy VIII's starts you off as Squall Leonhart, a student from Balamb Garden, who is also training to become a member of SeeD, the mercenary force from Garden. After the opening cutscene, which is one of the best opening to a game, you will meet Quitis Trepe, the instructor to Squall. Very early in the game you will be set out on the Seed Field Exam where you'll be teamed with Zell Dincht, another student from Balamb, and Seifer Almasy, pretty much Squall's nemesis. While on this mission you will meet Selphie Tilmitt, a transfer student from Trabia Garden. Very soon after that you will be teamed with Zell and Selphie on a mission to help the Timber Owls. And from then on you are sucked into a story of twists and turns trying to defeat the ultimate evil.

Another thing that Final Fantasy VIII does differently is the involvement of the love story. Unlike most Final Fantasy's the love story takes center stage with the main plot. Along with the story of Squall and the other members of his party you'll come to meet the sub-characters, Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, and Ward Zabac, who have their own sub-plot which is linked to the main plot of Squall. The story in FFVIII is much more accomplishing than most other games out there even FFVII. And the ending to FFVIII makes you feel so good about beating the game that you feel sad that it is over.

Story: 10/10

Its a fantastic story with many twists and turns making you wanting more and feeling a connection with the characters.

Music:

Music is another prime example why Final Fantasy games are so masterful. The music which is composed by Nobuo Uematsu. Final Fantasy VIII has some of the best composed music on a single game. As always the music always seems to be set at the perfect spot. With such songs as: Liberi Fatali, The Landing, The Man with a Machine Gun, Waltz for the Moon, Odeka de Chocobo, The Oath, Maybe I'm a Lion, and Eyes on Me are some of the best composed video game music ever.

Music: 10/10

The music is phenomenal. You could easily just buy this game for the music and for nothing more.

Characters:

Characters are what stand out in Final Fantasy VIII the most. Almost all the characters feel as though they have had a past and at least some character development with the other characters. This is a almost because the one character, Irvine, feels as though he doesn't fit in with the other characters, unless its a major part of the story. The full cast of characters that you will be playing with include: Squall Leonhart, Quitis Trebe, Zell Dincht, Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, and Irvine Kinneas. Other playable characters are Luguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, and Ward Zabac. Unlike another game the main character, Squall, doesn't change over the course of meeting one person, he had to take time to learn to be open.

As you go along in the game you figure out that the GF's (Garden Forces), which are the summons that are in Final Fantasy VIII, are a big part of the story and feel like a character in of themselves. The GF's in FFVIII are some of the best summons out of the franchise but, like all of the series the summons can get a bit repetitive to look at.

Characters: 9.5/10

The connection with the characters and GF's are amazing but, Irvine just didn't feel that much of a character.

Graphics:

As all Square-Enix games they always get the graphics down to a science on the Sony platforms. The opening cutscene in FFVIII is the best opening I have scene so far. Even though it being a PSX game from the late Ninety's the graphics still look nice. The artstyle of VIII is very reminiscent of late fifties to a futuristic feel in a later part of the game. Unlike Final Fantasy VII where the characters looked anime-like, Final Fantasy VIII characters are proportioned to look and feel more realistic.

Graphics: 9/10

As always a Square game always looks good. The only drawback is the fact that the graphics are outdated.

Gameplay:

This is where you'll be having your most fun out of the whole game. Like in all Final Fantasy's there is always a new way to customize your character. FFVIII has the Junction System and it takes some time to get used to, like in all games something new takes getting used to, but after you get the hang of it, it opens up one of the most, if not best, customizable options in any Final Fantasy.

With the Junction System you attach GF's to the character of your choice, but when you attach them it gives you different slots for the different alignments (i.e.: Strength, HP, Magic, and so on), when equipped with the GF you can choose which Magic to be placed in the slot available (the better the magic the better the results). For more results you can "teach" the GF's new abilities and equipping more GF's to one character. Equipping GF's to your character is the only way that the character itself can use other actions besides Attack. With equipping GF's you have the option to choose between GF (to summon the GF's), Draw (to draw magic and GF's from enemies [we'll get to that later on in the section]), Magic (pretty self explanatory), and Item (again pretty self explanatory).

As mentioned before you can "teach" the GF's abilities. This can range from more HP, actions that the character can use in battle, refinement of items and magic, to less random encounters. The way you "teach" the GF's is through battle and AP. With the more battles you face the more AP you gain and in turn more abilities. However, when one character has more then one GF whenever the battles over the AP splits between the GF's on that character, so if you equip three GF's to one character and gain three AP they all gain one AP however, when you gain one AP they all gain one.

Drawing maybe the most tidius thing you may do in FFVIII. Everything on the Junction System is Magic based. Don't have the Magic don't have all that extra customization. While in battle or on the field you can draw but, you must have draw as one of the actions on the character. In the field you will encounter draw-points, some of the most powerful Magics are found this way. In battle you can get the most Magic, although it can be VERY tidius. If you want to max out your Magic, which is 100, it can turn from a minute battle into a thirty minute battle.

In battle its a nice refresher for the series. Unlike most RPGs where Critical Hits are random you can trigger any Critical Hit at the right moment, right before the attack hits, with the R1 button or "Trigger" is what they call it. Just like regular battle actions the GF and special attacks have there own separate triggers. GF's can learn the ability "Boost" which enables the player to Boost the GF's power while the GF is preforming its attack, which of coarse never gets old but can get somewhat repetitive, the max for the Boost is 250 where you can only accomplish with some GF's. With special attacks it ranges from a time-based trigger attack (my favorite), to selecting special bullets (second favorite), to an all out beefed-up Magic berserk.

Another thing mentioned above is the refinement of Items and Magic. The ability all comes done to the different GF's you have and if they have learned the ability. Refining Items and Magic can be some great fun all in itself. You refine magic for greater magic, items for ammo or magic, and so on and so forth.

Final Fantasy VIII has one of the best and arguably the best mini-game, Triple Triad. Triple Triad is a card game that takes place on a three-by-three square grid of blank spaces where cards are put down upon. The one with the most cards at the end of the game wins. You can either get cards by advancing the story, defeating GF's, using the Card ability, or defeating enemies. As you go further along in the game each region has it's own special rules and after awhile in your travels you will mix the special rules. Its additively fun and is one of the best ways to get distracted from the story and everything else in the game.

Gameplay: 9.8/10

This game is almost gameplay gold, with the exception of the Draw mechanic.

Overall:
Overall this game is one of the best games to be released of all time. With its amazing story, characters, orchestrated music, and gameplay its no wonder its one of the best in the series.

Overall: 96.6%