Final Fantasy VIII - ProJared

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FINAL FANTASY VIII brought a lot of iconic imagery to the Final Fantasy series -- Squall, the Gunblade, Triple Triad! The love story of Squall and Rinoa against Sorceress Edea and Seifer remains supreme for so many Final Fantasy fans. In this Final Fantasy VIII review, we look at that and its impact on the series as a whole.
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Final Fantasy VIII[b] is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation console. Released in 1999, it is the eighth main installment in the Final Fantasy series. Set on an unnamed fantasy world with science fiction elements, the game follows a group of young mercenaries, led by Squall Leonhart, as they are drawn into a conflict sparked by Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future who wishes to compress time. During the quest to defeat Ultimecia, Squall struggles with his role as leader and develops a romance with one of his comrades, Rinoa Heartilly.
Development began in 1997, during the English localization of Final Fantasy VII. The game builds on the visual changes brought to the series by Final Fantasy VII, including the use of 3D graphics and pre-rendered backgrounds, while also departing from many Final Fantasy traditions. It is the first Final Fantasy to use realistically proportioned characters consistently, feature a vocal piece as its theme music, and forgo the use of magic points for spellcasting.
Final Fantasy VIII was mostly well received by critics, who praised its originality and visuals while criticizing some of its gameplay elements. It was voted the 22nd-best game of all time in 2006 by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu. The game was a commercial success, grossing $151 million in its first day of release in Japan, and more than $50 million during its first 13 weeks in North America, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy title until Final Fantasy XIII, a multi-platform release. A Microsoft Windows port followed in 2000, with the addition of the Chocobo World minigame. Final Fantasy VIII was re-released worldwide as a PSOne Classic on the PlayStation Store in 2009, for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, with support for PlayStation Vita in 2012. It was re-released via Steam in 2013. By August 2019, it had sold more than 9.6 million copies worldwide. A remastered version was released for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in September 2019, and iOS, and Android in March 2021.
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[@projared]

► Thanks for watching everybody! I really appreciate all the Comments, Like, and new subscribers! ►► Don't forget, that I'll be streaming FINAL FANTASY IX right as this video goes out! Go over to twitch.tv/projared to join me playing the next Final Fantasy! ► If you're in the mood for some other videos to watch, here are some recommendations! ►► Pokemon The Trading Card Game 2: Team GR! -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3SanJRtl8dqfsU ► Lost in Blue 2 -- kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4iYfoyomJ59aZo ►► Be sure to follow me on Twitter, Twitch and Instagram!

[@seanboy4386]

Love the final fantasy review vids Jared hope to see you do the rest all the way up to 15, and I'll love to hear what you have to say about 13 if you ever get to it. Also hope you do some other ff spin offs like maybe tactics or crystal chronicles. Actually I hope you do more game reviews on older games you have like any nes, snes, and sega games like when you did a review on zelda 2 or hydlide but you know games you actually like. Anyway keep up the good work man. 👍

[@lancemagmer9701]

Nothing on how *spoilers* learned how to wield a sword from *spoilers* parent

[@Aodyri]

Thanks Jared! I'll be tuning into FF9 on Twitch for more fun :)

[@Steveesleddog]

Audio is a bit wonky in this one.

[@SideBurn12]

1:56 For me it was actually the opposite. Kinda liked it at first, but then came to my senses and saw it for what it was. A poorly thought out game(play), felt somewhat rushed, veeery grindy, un-inspiring surroundings, with edgy/flamboyant and hollow characters (except perhaps Rinoa, to a degree). Diablos' design, nice cardgame and great graphics (for the time) didn't save this game. People talk so much about remaking all the great classic games, but this is a prime example on a game that is in *dire* need of a remake. An excellent chance to make it actually good =) Excellent review Jared. I also agree with just about every arguement you have, and trust me, that's *not* common ^^

[@alejandrokudo5463]

23:47 The funny part is, in the original Japanese version, Squall was portrayed as a more socially awkward teenager Who would say phrases like “my bad,” “well, excuse me,” or “sorry.” However, the English version added the “whatever” catchphrase, which makes him _seem_ rude and “emo” or whatever

[@SailorSetsuna7]

So you say they made Neku before Neku was a thing. Huh.

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

Persona 3 before persona 3

[@coonurkan]

That would've made Squalls character far less insufferable if you ask me

[@NihilistAlien]

@@SailorSetsuna7 tetsuya Nomura at the commands pal

[@SailorSetsuna7]

@@NihilistAlien Not really, Nomura was responsible only for their designs.

[@TheMamaluigi300]

“Because I am *out of nice things to say about this game.”* is perhaps the most threatening way you delivered a line yet

[@j.2512]

plebs get filtered hard, ff8 is the best ff

[@12thLevelSithLord]

@@j.2512 Man, you must hate Final Fantasy if you think 8's the best.

[@willi1]

@@12thLevelSithLord he is right though, 8 is the best one. A truly beautiful story, along with 9 and 7

[@lukewood2662]

@@willi1 it's mostly an emotional one, but doesn't make much sense. And the gameplay is pretty meh.

[@willi1]

@@lukewood2662 ok, that is your opinion. My opinion is that Squall and Rinoa have amazing character development together. The ending to the game is so beautiful and one of my favorites. Equipping magic to your stats is a pretty cool game design choice. I would have so much fun drawing all of the different kinds of magic out of different types of enemies.

[@NoahRudolph]

I like how Jared has 888k subs when he releases the Final Fantasy 8 video

[@suorastas1]

Would be nicer if he hadn’t been past 1mil before the trouble happened

[@raychrash5139]

@Shin Shaman protip lol

[@parkouremaster]

Does that mean for when FFIX video release, he gonna have 999k?

[@Edagui97]

He lost subscribers to only get them back. He will have gained back what he's lost when he gets to XIII.

[@Real1Gaming]

He's been on 888k for a long ass time now. I hope he grows his audience back fully eventually

[@joxyver]

Honestly that alternate ending with the single text of “Rinoa is lost in space… forever.” Is pretty damn brutal and sends chills.

[@thebuddhasmiles]

Thank God

[@aidansearle5023]

Lies

[@hikikomoron]

"eventually, Rinoa stopped thinking"

[@trishahernz7809]

Finally! I hate the idea as supposed to love this character even though she is boring and spend most of the game as the damsel you must save always. Also this obnoxious side game won’t be the last rescue mission either.

[@ryanallen6325]

@@hikikomoronoh. The beginning of the game then

[@kevinbell5674]

The bit about the rules of Triple Triad feels like a Yu-Gi-Oh player trying to explain the current meta to someone who hasn't played since 2004.

[@RabidlyTaboo]

i played til 2009 but this post still makes me feel personally attacked

[@narancia8384]

Pendulums were a mistake

[@ronaldmaday]

Dude, I played Yu-Gi-Oh back in middle school around 2003. It was so easy back then. A friend told me what it’s like now and I have no clue what was going on!

[@MARIO1UP2000]

Fun Fact: the opening song “Liberi Fatali” was used in the 2004 summer olympics in Athens for the USA Womens Synchronized Swim Team alongside “Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec” They even won a bronze medal for their performance.

[@datguyuno98]

I love this fact so much

[@jacobbillups4715]

Which country did it???

[@MARIO1UP2000]

@@jacobbillups4715 The USA to clear things up Edit: my original comment has been fixed to explain this

[@CloudOmegaVII]

Square lawsuit against them, copyright

[@MARIO1UP2000]

if you think I'm joking, the official olympic youtube channel has the routine posted on their channel so you can check it out there

[@MonsterExpert]

Jared: "still with me? good! because I am out of nice things to say about this game." Me: *checks time of the video* "oh boy, not even 10 minutes in..."

[@KarawaciMatt]

Funny how everyone is in tune and thinking the same thing with this game. haha

[@Danmarinja]

“... oh and that also includes the sponsored segment. So probably about five minutes worth of nice things to say in a 35 minute long video. ...hooo boy...”

[@KarawaciMatt]

@@Danmarinja Good point! hahaha The sponsorship ends at 1:25 but that still brings it down to 8 minutes of good things to say about the game in a 35-minute video. Still bad though haha.

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

@@KarawaciMatt There are a LOT of people who will try to convince you that the broken parts are actually genius...

[@lordmuhehe4605]

​@@JohnSmith-ch9sm Yeah, they're not genius, but they are nicely exploitable with a little bit of game knowledge, which is what I like. Hell, I'd rather replay FFVIII than that overrated piece of shit FFX.

[@pr9039]

This movie was pretty dope. It's amazing that they made a whole cinematic experience with a unique story-driven plot just to wrap around their card game.

[@joeycrunch]

😂 such a read, but honestly that’s why I loved this game so much. Grinding was pointless, so I just enjoyed going along for the ride of the story (and playing card games lolol)

[@ianbeasley2092]

HA thank you for a laugh

[@justanantico6327]

Casino Royale to most people

[@solidskullz5736]

The gun blade is still in my opinion one of the weirdest but coolest looking weapons ever

[@np9946]

Omg yes.

[@the24thcolossusjustchillin39]

the best part is the fact that actual gunblades did exist at one point

[@Templar1ca]

One of the notable executions of the humble gun blade can be found in Farscape, D'Argo's Qualta Blade. Then there's the numerous gun blades in Phantasy Star Online 2, and the Luster class which exclusively uses them.

[@sageoffire3964]

You should watch RWBY

[@Iwatoda_Dorm]

But people don't bat an eye to the bayonet? I mean, they're practically the same. But I get it...

[@gentronseven]

Actually the two hot people getting together in high school perfectly describes Squall and Rinoa. That's exactly what it is :D

[@gentronseven]

@JRPG Theory Quistis is hot but creepy and needy and a nerd, so ruled out of the equation

[@thegallantrayku2677]

@@gentronseven and a teacher

[@mattsullivan2458]

@@thegallantrayku2677 yeah but she's only a year older than squall, so it's more like dating the TA than the teacher.

[@rawrdino7046]

@@gentronseven creepy how?

[@koba2348]

@@rawrdino7046 Creepy as in nothing. It's just something people insert when they don't have anything to say

[@PkmariO64]

“Zell’s favourite snack is packets of silica gel” Ok, I’ll admit that one made me laugh.

[@Groovebot3k]

Still makes me laugh every time I hear Zell say, "I lIkE tHe WaY tHeY gEt StUcK bEtWeEn My TeEtH!".

[@ReikuYin]

@@Groovebot3k Funnier still cause of the shot. He just finishing his pose as if pointing to said teeth.

[@gerblinwerks2010]

Final Fantasy VIII was my first final fantasy when it released. I was 11 and super excited for my first multi-disk game. I remember printing the entire guide from GameFaqs back in the day and getting yelled at by Mom for using all her printer paper. Memories…..

[@tarrker]

Printing out an entire game faq before playing a game and getting punished for it is a core memory that I'd somehow forgotten. Until now. :)

[@oopsiexistnow]

I still hear the fucking “WATER AND WATER AND WATER WATER” thing over the FF8 battle theme, life is pain

[@WAtheAnum]

god dang it i forgot about and now your comment reminded me about it...dang you!!!! XD

[@lawrenceriverside6659]

What is this?

[@rubethystgem3461]

"That's why my final score for Final Fantasy 8... is a compressed youtube video out of 10."

[@bioshockgamer13]

It wants to be the best it can be, but it's held back by quality limitations.

[@darknight10000]

So it wasn't just me! I kept wondering if it was my end or if Jared did something to the video.

[@gurvmlk]

@@darknight10000 Same, especially since my internet connection is definitely iffy at times when it comes to KZbin videos, but even then it seemed kind of weird, almost like it was done on purpose.

[@TigerNightmare]

It's so frustrating to have a video that looks flawless on your end come out the other end like it's been through the garbage disposal.

[@TheUltimateRiku]

I miss his ratings at the end. Wonder why he stopped

[@robertsides3626]

Squall is trapped in his own Truman Show with how his friends act around him. It's creepy. It always feels like they know more than they let on.

[@keithfilibeck2390]

which lends credit to a long standing theory that alot of the game never actually happens, or that Squall dies when Edea ice lances him, or something something time travel and everyone knows the future somehow.

[@eineron4568]

Or perhaps it's a kin to how shitty the writing is that a fan made theory makes the game make more sense than the actual story tries to do. GOD I HATE THIS GAMES STORY. I personally think that this story is worse than 13, X-2,13-2,13-3 and even Dirge of Cerberus. This story doesn't make sense and the fact that a theory makes more sense makes this a failure of a story

[@theprotagonist2025]

@@eineron4568 we’ll see plot ghost in the remake in 2026

[@MichaelAngeloLives]

@@theprotagonist2025 this game would definitely benefit from the plot ghosts

[@Walamonga1313]

@@eineron4568 Worse than X-2 and XIII-2? Lmao

[@B0risTheBlade]

I feel like picking the positive actions for squall, makes me roleplay as his conscience. It's not so bad. I enjoyed pushing him to do the right thing instead of being his usual grumpy self

[@Mitsuraga]

Well, also, by his own admission, Squall's jerkass attitude is completely a front, and the positive dialogue options are more of his true self shining through his aloof façade. His friends see through it, as well, mostly, which is why they egg him on and believe in him, regardless. Jared somehow missed that, I guess.

[@mattholt1388]

Using the Tactics shop theme for the sponsor segment was a stroke of genius

[@billymcnichols2342]

Me: hears battle theme My brain: “water and water and water water”

[@hiddenflare6169]

and water and water and water

[@Hrekto]

Thank you. I forgot about this and immediately laughld. I mean water and water and water water

[@Road_to_Dawn]

It’s not just me! YES

[@fuzzyhair321]

Oh I just figured that out

[@dew-it8744]

Water and water and water water

[@Bruno-zg6cs]

35:18 Rinoa:Squall please i need your help or i will die! Squall:Whatever *Rinoa was lost in space forever*

[@ADDNoah]

So Rinoa was sus, right? 😁

[@1111-e4p]

Eventually, she stopped thinking.

[@ChaseMC215]

Way more creepier than the creepypasta that this game made

[@arroncunningham9866]

A few missed points. The "light-switch" with Squall is blatantly foreshadowed across at least the entire 2nd disc; he constantly shows he cares about his friends (even if he's having a hard time admitting it). The "role-play" moments are their not for that, but to skip extra scenes (Sephie's and Rinoa's tours, etc); it's the same as most of the battle info inside the computer/tutorial on the status screen. The end of the 2nd disc, Squall specifically states he's aware that everyone's trying to get him and Rinoa together (in his own words "even I can see that"), he seems okay with that; that's why his response in disc 3 makes sense.

[@whitemageFFXI]

"I am out of nice things to say about this game." Damn, we didn't even get to 10 minutes, lol.

[@Zylo82]

Then goes off for 5min straight slamming how bad of an RPG in terms of battles and fights. I can go as far as to say that its worst than FF2 ....yup.... I said it. worst than FF2

[@DreadnaughtZero]

@@Zylo82 At least FF2 rewards you with stats as a result of winning battles. This game punishes you with exp.

[@AtlasBlizzard]

At least he said the music was good, as it is. So many good tracks.

[@EdgarFriendlysCivicsTeacher]

Getting to 10 minutes is impressive

[@rafaynoman1180]

Me: Oh boy a Projared review of FF8. I sure hope he loves the characters as much as i do. Jared: *Shows main characters* These dont matter, *Shows GFs* These matter. Me: Good that we agree.

[@alejandrokudo5463]

🤣

[@kirinbobarcana]

He has a point, the only thing that matters is Leon because of his gunblade.

[@dakotamabry1645]

@@kirinbobarcana squall 😭😓 you hurt my feelings

[@kirinbobarcana]

@@dakotamabry1645 I'm sorry, I just played kingdom hearts before playing final fantasy 8, so I'm used to squall being named leon.

[@dakotamabry1645]

@@kirinbobarcana I'm just messing, that's most people exposure to 8

[@Msoulwing]

The only reason Squall becomes a SEED commander is because he interacts with Edea in the past, causing her and Cid to start the SEED program in order to create the future from which he came, including making sure that someone of his description becomes the commander. Our protagonist's greatest career achievement is due to a time paradox.

[@sakurasonics19]

wait how did Squall interact with Edea in the past?

[@Yuxkta]

@@sakurasonics19 He goes to the past and sees his younger self and Edea after the final boss

[@cac1700]

This actually sounds reasonable and can possibly explain why plot chooses him sometimes.

[@Yuxkta]

@@cac1700 The problem is, only Cid and Edea knows this. There's no reason why Quistis, Zell and others act like they want Squall to be their leader.

[@FilmFan-iv7sz]

My issue wit that is edea says she got her powers when age was 5 but when she gets ultimieas powers she is in her 30s or so. Unless I misunderstood and she is already a sororess

[@bobsmith-ov3kn]

#1 pro tip for ff8 - dont bother trying to draw 100 of every spell until you first unlock and max out the MAGIC stat junction. Your magic stat makes a huge difference in how effective draw is.

[@wingusdingus9447]

No... number one pro tip is don't play it. Not joking either. Just run from every battle.

[@paulman34340]

​@@wingusdingus9447Honestly can't disagree with this. 4 heroes of light ALSO used the idea of enemies "growing with you" as FF8 did and it was also bad there! It's only saving grace was it's systems were far easier to understand and deal with the FF8 was and wasn't as long. Thank GOD it's sequel series Bravely Default dropped alot of the dumper concepts (especially the "level with you" one) what's the point of leveling up then! Levels should have been AXED from the game then. Force you to use junction and such to get stronger! This is something I wasn't a fan of the SaGa series for (still played and enjoyed, but this part I hated) in their attempts to discourage grinding (Romancing Saga 1 was TERRIBLE at this, what with how enemies could easily catch up to you and movement around them was so low and the only methods to sneak by being ANNOYING AS FUCK to use! Fights became annoying because if RNG hated me, I was truly fucked in something that would take hours to days to complete! At least with FIRE EMBLEM you can use stat boosters and shit to make up for RNG screwed if your wise with them!) Edit to add I do get that it's to encourage you to use the system to get stronger, but then what's the point of Levels then! FF12 for example has levels for the sake of hit accuracy and evasion! Making you rely on equipment and stat boosters from the license board to make your character strong! New Game Minus is there to make you low level that you HAVE to rely on Techniks to even HIT anything, and equipment will save you from instant death as it, specifically light armor acts as HP boosters and armor to lower damage. Helpful as your evade will be shit the higher level enemies get! Level makes sense in FF12, they don't in FF7!

[@xMaGuSx888]

Or even better, don't worry about drawing 100 of every spell at all in the first place. Min-Maxing any game is going to make it tedious and easy. Every FF is like that. In this game instead of money and experience, like usual FF games, Magic is how you overpower yourself.

[@wingusdingus9447]

@@xMaGuSx888 You don't need to min max to make ff8 easy. You just run from everything and you're good

[@HandsomeLongshanks]

All you need is 100 water from fish fins and Shiva ice refine and you're good to run from every battle from there on out. Tho, I would recommend cactar grinding. The AP is well worth it and the EXP is super low. To max GFs abilities the rest of the way out only yields like 3 levels or so, depending on how you've been assigning skills to learn.

[@zakuzakku_]

Fun fact, in japanese the choices for "Whatever" are translated to "Sorry" most of the time.

[@ArcadianLegend]

Aren't all the instances of ellipses actual dialogue in the Japanese version as well?

[@denmark1226]

Got it. Find a fan translation

[@HiragamaIkunai]

@@ArcadianLegend yep pretty much all the dialogue was heavily hand fucked by localization the squall in kingdom hearts and dissidia are closer to what he was supposed to be ~

[@markkoetsier6475]

Like an actual sorry or more like "Well excuuu-huuuse me, princess" ?

[@NotaGiraffe4]

I heard Squalls "Sorry" in Japanese is said in a sarcastic way that's why it was changed to "whatever".

[@jonbourgoin182]

I bought FFVIII after losing in a Pokemon card tournament at Toys R Us when I was a kid. It was a nice consolation prize to myself.

[@TheBearOfSpades]

It doesn't sound like a nice consolation prize. It sounds like a punishment.

[@metalbobted]

What was the grand prize? I bet it wasn’t as good 😂

[@eitangellis]

People get mad at Paper Mario: Sticker Star for using consumable attacks but at least the stickers don’t modify stats lol

[@MegaKazuki]

Are the attacks in sticker star a finite resource or do you need to grind from them too?

[@spore1176]

Shaaaaade

[@eitangellis]

@@MegaKazuki they respawn in the overworld after re-entering a level. It instead makes battling useless in a different way lol Though you _can_ buy Stickers with coins, which you get from battling- and you get a lot of coins for battling.

[@nikfighter262]

Two wrongs dont make a right!

[@Slenderquil]

At least you have a way to attack without using consumables in ff8.

[@4-kathryn]

"Eyes on Me" was our song for first dance as newly-weds. Mixed on FFVIII in general yet that song is special for me. Glad a bit of it was featured in this review.♡

[@Tailstraw_xD]

Aww that's adorable!

[@saifuusuri]

I know what it's supposed to stand for, but I'll never be able to take people calling them GFs seriously.

[@skyblade7438]

Telling someone to Junction their GF sounds like a euphemism.

[@GG256_]

I've lost a lot of friends because I junctioned their GFs. I just can't help it.

[@Sigismund697]

Shit dude, thought the same

[@cursedshadow]

At first i called them GF, then aeons...now its just summons lol Calling them GFs still feels more natural than eiodolons and esper to me.

[@jiggycalzone8585]

IMO anything is better than just "summon monsters". Its a nitpick but I will keep it

[@IgnisPhoenix]

In squalls defense, sometimes you dont appreciate what you have in life until you've lost it. And how often do we all not appreciate things?

[@WineRedEchos]

tbh that's all I kept thinking while he was going off. like. to me clearly squall is more the guy who WANTS to be an aloof dickhead than actually being one. like he doesn't WANT to connect with people, despite the fact that he just, does. and when rinoa gets put into a coma he can't get over the fact that he actually gives a shit, he can't pretend he doesn't anymore.

[@ElFreakinCid]

@@WineRedEchos He's also a lot less dickish in the Japanese version. That blunt, sullen "Whatever." line of his? In the original, he's saying "I'm sorry...", as in he's sorry he can't understand how someone feels, he's sorry for being a bother, he's sorry he couldn't do better, etc. He's constantly apologizing for things he can't help or couldn't have changed, and it's kind of a big part of his character that was lost in translation.

[@johnnyjacksted6528]

@@WineRedEchos You’re thinking way too deeply about it. At no point in the story is it made clear that this is how squall thinks.

[@WineRedEchos]

@@johnnyjacksted6528 I'd make that same argument for most characters and stories people gush about. Hell Jareds ff6 video is filled with the same kind of deep narrative thinking that isn't spelled out. I'd much rather see the deep and complex characters that aren't in any way disproven by the game than only looking at the literal text (which was probably not translated perfectly) and being bored at the flat uninteresting characters I'm literally not trying to see any depth to.

[@johnnyjacksted6528]

@@WineRedEchos Except in those stories they *do* make it clear that’s how those characters operate. You can usually tell by how characters react in a certain way and how the story implies it. I won’t agree or disagree that stuff Jared said about ff6 might be the same way as in 8 but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re simply reaching for something that isn’t there. Squall is not supposed to be how you describe him to be, he’s a one note protagonist in a shoehorned love story and nothing more.

[@sephirothjc]

I think what I like most about this game is the world it takes place in, for the first time the towns felt really alive (and there's a point to be made about FF being about towns). The only weird location is Ultimecia's castle, why does it look like something out of Castlevania? Anyway, I love this game.

[@lukecovey8406]

I loved Ultimecia's castle. It was ominous and mysterious. Most of it was optional, but to get your abilities back, there was definitely encouragement to take in more of it. Loved the style and music. The puzzles were interesting. It's probably my favorite final dungeon of any Final Fantasy I've finished.

[@but_iWantedTo_speakGerman]

it's a normal European castle, you absolute Amerimutt

[@okagron]

Plenty of games in the series before 8 had towns that felt alive, what you are talking about?

[@CyclonesWorld]

I never really got into VIII, but goodness the soundtrack was absolutely phenomenal.

[@zzz43344]

Agreed

[@BiggusNickus]

I actually have Eyes on Me in my Spotify favorites. It's so good.

[@Trollamollex]

That's pretty much the reason it is mine and many other people's favorite game. The backgrounds were made to compliment the music. So when you play the game, the environments and the actual plot scenes are supposed to come at you emotionally/aesthetically. Most FF games do this but FF8 does this consistently.

[@BaronSengir1008]

That's because Nobuo Uematsu knew what he was doing...

[@davfree9732]

I played, put it down, picked it up, put it down and then decided to really try and finally... All the systems clicked and I could play the game like a boss... I think that is the problem. The explanations on how to use the systems to better your character don't make sense. Understanding how to better your character is difficult when just bashing enemies isn't enough to give you power boosts... If you can't understand the intricacies of draw magic, GF's and the bonuses they grant then you'll never really 'play' the game the way it was meant to be intended.

[@Vercalos]

I remember the romance just being like "WTF???" Squall: I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. OMG SHE'S IN A COMA I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HER

[@rpglover5955]

Well I'm no relationship expert, but there are certainly women out there who actually like hot men that don't treat them like a lady (more or less not paying attention to her, with some being complete dicks, no compliments and not commiting to them) and that are a challenge. Just look at todays hookup culture in the US, there are more than enough of them that chase the "bad boys" because they like that challenge. Several blog posts and user written articles exists, that can attest to that if you look around a bit on the internet Ironically, FF8 was somewhat ahead of it's time where the possibility of a woman chasing a man who doesn't commit to her and treats her like garbage, makes her feel the tingles. Doesn't change that Squall doesn't really have a incentive to chase her though other than being shipped by his friends.

[@Vercalos]

@@rpglover5955 yeah. My comment was more directed at Squall's very sudden shift in overt emotions.

[@ShiroZerotheDragoon]

honestly same. The only time I've seen that kind of scene work and not be out of left field was when it also involved some kind of Return By Death style time travel.

[@e1v1a19]

It was due to conversation options. You could choose to continue to be cold or warm up to her. You get whiplash when you keep being cold.

[@jessi4894]

@@rpglover5955 Squall was having trouble getting a date, so he looked up some pickup artist and alpha male videos that told him that honestly expressing interest in woman makes you look like a little beta and you have to ignore women and treat them like crap and then they will all throw themselves at you. That's my headcannon anyways.

[@TheBlueArmageddon]

35:25 "Altough Renoa hoped for death, it would not come. Eventually, Renoa stopped thinking"

[@camrenbranch1684]

Nice

[@shuckacuck]

Go ahed, mista joster

[@JVision1]

*Rinoa

[@TheBlueArmageddon]

@@JVision1 damn dude, I had forgotten this comment existed

[@essiiiiii]

Here in the Netherlands the intro was even on commurcials on tv as the ONLY Final Fantasy. There was never anything like this ever!

[@essiiiiii]

But i think you don't appreciate the diffrence in the Greatest series? But you liked FFXIII, didn't you?

[@raidomegnuo2868]

Reminds me of how absurdly (and excessively) popular it was in Italy as well. First FF also officially translated there.

[@sebastianmanthey742]

the ff7 commercials were pretty hype at the time. I remember wanting a ps1 just because of those.

[@TheNemisisx]

Honestly wished we got more of Sorceress Adel. She was such a terrifying enigma and then they had her get jobbed out immediately when she is freed. They should have just had it that she was possessing edea from her tomb, continuing her plans of conquest while also trying to set herself free.

[@GoeTeeks]

The creepy thing is, if you look at (and translate) the weird static of the broadcast during the Timber scene, the message actually translates to something like "I'm still here. Come and free me." Showing that Adel is actively causing the world wide radio interference by trying to ask for help.

[@ddjsoyenby]

yeah.

[@dailydose1729]

I think FF8 got a little too ambitious with the story with the limitations of the time. I would love a remake to expand the story and world of FF8. Maybe then Adel wouldn't get jobbed

[@GoeTeeks]

@@dailydose1729 I heard they had to cut a ton of Laguna stuff from the game. He was supposed to take about half of the runtime, in part to serve as an alternative protagonist to Squall.

[@NiGHTSnoob]

@@GoeTeeks It's a bit darker than that. "I'm still here." is one, another is "I will never let you forget about me." She doesn't seem to be asking for help, it's more like she's threatening revenge when she finally frees herself.

[@UTU]

God dang PJ I love your FF series, never played any of the games but grew up with them in my peripheral vision.

[@ap1evideogame44]

Same. These videos are a curiosity for me, delving into an unknown, albeit familiar, franchise of games.

[@Crazy-eu1wm]

@@ap1evideogame44 Wow, you described my feelings and experiences towards this franchise perfectly.

[@Slowdr]

Same, I was a Nintendo guy, so the only time I was able to play this game was one time I rented a PS with it, the cinematics were really impressive at the time.

[@Mathadar]

Give em a try if you get the chance, he does cover which ones are good and which are skippable by the modern gaming audience. At least you get to experience the oddities through someome else, same reason I watch LGR as he covers games I never will, same for AVGN.

[@quarreneverett4767]

Ps 1 emulator psxe

[@matiasnieto1048]

I absolutely love Laguna. He made me laugh, he made me cry. I don't know why, but he's definitely one of my favorite characters in the whole saga.

[@matiasnieto1048]

@A Stranger yet, I somehow feel he doesn't get the love he deserves. I know he's huge in Japan, but in the rest of the world he barely gets recognition

[@nydaarius6845]

laguna is bae

[@MidnightKingL]

He was great in Dissidia too. Felt like one of the few emotionally balanced characters and was fun to play too. I'll always get a kick out of him effortlessly pissing off Squall and getting a leg cramp looking at Cloud of Darkness.

[@tomgu2285]

Ohh yeah defenetly laguna was the best character in ff8 defenetly he is so great.

[@tomgu2285]

@@jaretco6423 yep haha. I only cried because of him at the end.

[@AuspexAO]

I know this is a strange theory, but I personally think that Squall's "nice" answers to Rinoa are supposed to be the influence of Laguna being in his head. At first choosing those answers seems strange for his character, but the more he is pushed that way the better he seems as a person. Squall doesn't want to come out of his shell, so he is forced out by his friends and (arguably) Laguna. He's definitely got a good soul underneath that apathy, but it takes a lot to come out. Laguna is unintentionally a terrible father to Squall. I like to think this psychic intervention, prompted by Ellone, is a way of imparting some of Laguna's loving and giving personality onto his son. If he would have raised Squall, he would have most likely been a much more caring person.

[@pancakeswithktkaty7784]

The man with the machine gun is still my favorite battle music ever.

[@Arashi257]

And it'll always remind us of the goofball that is Squall's father.

[@tigerwarrior1787]

@@Arashi257 Cannonically, Laguna isn't Squall's father. His sister was adopted before Laguna entered the picture.

[@tigerwarrior1787]

On a side note, I love to throw this music in for battle encounters for my D&D games. Everyone just bops as they cast spells, whack away, or attempt to defuse the situation.

[@Arashi257]

@@tigerwarrior1787 Ellone was already grown up by the time they ended up in the orphanage, it is heavily implied that Laguna and Raine are Squall's parents based on some dialogues with Kiros and Ward as well as Laguna himself.

[@brucewayne1777]

@@tigerwarrior1787 Canonically, Laguna is Squall's father. Squall is the child that Raine was pregnant with when Laguna went searching for Ellone. Similarly, Rinoa is the daughter of Julia (the singer from the bar that was in love with Laguna), essentially making the Squall/Rinoa love story bring the Laguna/Julia love story full circle.

[@TailsIsDisappointed]

Petition to rename "Make a Wish Foundation" to "Final Fantasy" when?

[@therealmckoy6772]

Sounds incredibly morbid I love it

[@charlottecorday8494]

Jesus Christ.

[@Nod_Lucario]

Barrett: "Already made that joke." Sephiroth: "Don't care."

[@RedWizrobe]

You're a monster. I'm in.

[@saifuusuri]

Well what are we supposed to call it? Paper Mario Color Splash?

[@apollojustice5338]

"Because I am out of nice things to say about this game." Damn bro. Not even 10 minutes.

[@christianruffin1342]

I was waiting for negatives, tbh.

[@darkdemonwerewolf]

Less if you don't count the promo

[@Sirin2099]

Laguna is definitely the best and most memorable character to me in this game.

[@solidjb]

FF 8 was my first JRPG and I loved it back then. During the years as I've played other games I've recognized the flaws in the game, but even still it is in my top 3, mostly for my experience with it, partly almost ironically. Tastes changes but memories can still hold strong. This review revealed some of the flaws I've not thought about as bad (particularly about game mechanics) but now they seem obvious. I would disagree with some points though, about the story and characters, but mostly I want to make the point about the progression. while leveling characters in battle experience gives little, leveling up GFs is where it's at. Those abilities like junctions to HP, str, status attack, card transform and many others are not available instantly, they are opened up as your GF levels, this is where the power comes from. And the selection of them makes it almost like a small pokemon game at times. So, there is point to battle. New weapons are also quite rare but provide nice boost in stats and have cool ways of obtaining them. And the other thing that was not mentioned is the visual design. I find it fascinating and to this day I'm amazed by the amount of creativity which went into it when I flip through some concept art and stills from the game. particularly the environments, Fisherman's horizon is my all-time favorite. I believe there are still things left to be said about FF8.

[@tonyjackson4078]

They really wanted Gunblades to be the next cool geek thing. Mission accomplished.

[@AnimatedTerror]

Please, like gun blades weren’t already a thing. Don’t give this game that credit.

[@Ch0c0b0]

@@AnimatedTerrorwhere else did they come from

[@kraigclubb550]

@@Ch0c0b0 Actual history. But FFVIII did make them popular.

[@Dragoonnight]

Saw this pop up and was like “huzzah!”

[@theguy3851]

"Bagoom!" Perhaps?

[@robertxhacker]

Joel Haver fan?

[@Ritokure]

I saw this pop up and said "huzzah!" too but then I saw Squall and I said... _"...whatever."_

[@superlombax1561]

If I weren't in a FF Discord, I wouldn't have known about this at all

[@BonBonMaedchen]

Ff8 has some weak spots and is not for everyone but it's still an amaaaaazing game and could be easily improved by changing the story and junction system a bit. I really love the characters too, but they could be deeper. As for Squall I like how he is not the happy, energetic main protagonist- he has his flaws due to his past and that makes him relatable, he's not perfect and has room to grow as a character. Rinoa is an awesome character to push him to become the hero we need. BTW I loved how they made the characters so expressive with body language, I really enjoyed most scenes and dialogues very much. Love this game!

[@Wickerrman]

Very much agreed, it's one of my faves in the series. It feels like Jared (and others) put way too much weight on things not quite hitting the mark and forget to just enjoy what actually is there. Of course it's not a perfect game but I will play VIII instead of XII (or anything after) every day of the week!

[@MooseBurrito575]

My fav FF game. I'm glad I'm not the only one that gets it.

[@KapitanTambay]

Final Fantasy 8 is special to many because of the music. Goddamn that music. Every time I hear it, I'm instantly transported to 1999 in my dark room without the stress of adult life. And because of that, it overwrites all the issues of this game because at this point, we no longer long for the gameplay, but for the memories. And in a strange bit of coincidence, that's the message of the game's ending.

[@AndrewEvenstar]

Awesome reply and message!

[@SymbioteMullet]

But we don't have those memories anymore, we've junctioned too many guardian forces!

[@FragmentedR_YT]

It really is a shame that VIII has the best soundtrack of any Final Fantasy by far, since I think that’s all it has going for it over other games in the franchise. That being said, I’m currently playing through it for the first time and I don’t dislike it.

[@RP-mp4ow]

I still believe that FF8 has the greatest degree of gameplay of all the FFs I’ve played. Drawing is just grinding, it’s a necessary evil. But the battles were the most interactive of any of them. Low health = Endless limit breaks, gunblade trigger. Boost. Not just selecting an action and executing it, but it had an interactive element to it.

[@otherhand]

Ultimecia may be bordering on a corny cartoon villain, but her final words are some of the hardest hitting in the series.

[@inaliann]

35:25 Eventually, Rinoa stopped thinking

[@squadalaguydc]

Rinoa was not the imposter

[@Jay6x]

Maybe she'll bump into Kars sometime.

[@superlombax1561]

@@squadalaguydc How sus

[@kuronoroux8864]

Jojo and Among Us in the same comment thread, bizarre

[@mdover2948]

“I want to like it.” Sums it up perfectly.

[@thelaughingrouge]

Yup that's pretty much perfect description of this game alright.

[@ckorko]

It really does.

[@tukman16]

The intro is so good. And the rest of the game is such a let down hahaha.

[@glowingmemories]

I played FF4, FF6 and FF7 inside and out. I was sooo ready for this game. And then I ran into everything critiqued here and barely made it past the second disc.

[@Makocat]

So relatable. I've played this game 4 times. But never finished it.

[@thetwelfthdoctor9892]

I played Final Fantasy VIII 3 times in my whole life: the first time was to finally try it. The second time was due to my completist soul, that forced me to complete all my games at 100%. The third and final time was to see if it was possible to complete the game without nearly any level up (spoiler: it is and it's quite easy but you have to farm cards for hours, which can be either exhausting or funny if you like the card minigame).

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

I'm sorry you suffered that many playthroughs.

[@corradoalamanni179]

Love the minicard game. Ff8 is one of the best in way to game the system .

[@xxxYouTunesxxx]

I tried 3x just to finish it..I just can't do it

[@LostBoco]

Man I've been waiting so many years for Jared to do 9 I cant wait

[@SMIDSY609]

Same. 9 was my first FF game. I got the PS1 so I could play it, because the MTV commercials for it, that we got here, looked so epic. Damn I'm going member berries for this

[@Road_to_Dawn]

Yes! FF14 is my favorite FF, but 9 is my favorite non-MMO one. I love it so much.

[@OpnoSkill]

I'm waiting for FF15. Mainly because it's much different then other FF games.

[@Alexandr9966]

And how to you?)) i mean review FF9 from Jared?

[@AussieDragoon]

At least Squall comes across as a better leader when he changed his name and started chillin' with Merlin.

[@arbitrary-human]

"It's Leon"

[@RexcorJ]

"Just can't sit still, can you..."

[@vahlok1426]

I can't stop myself from changing Squall's name to Leon any time I play it again nowadays.

[@BigtimeGambler8331]

I don’t get it

[@ori.g4mi]

@@BigtimeGambler8331 Kingdom Hearts

[@DefiantPunk0810]

Fighting doesn't matter, money doesn't matter. "HYDLIDE INTENSIFIES"

[@AnimatedTerror]

ITS JUST LIKE HYDLIDE! NOOOOOOOOO-

[@SiniBANG]

No level run made it easier with Break and Card in your arsenal.

[@bastardhyena7882]

*Indiana jones sounding music plays*

[@budrig]

I have such fond memories playing this game when it came out. My favorite aspect of it was the music. I also use to play NIN's fragile album in the background while I played FFVIII. So hearing those NIN tracks today take me back to playing FFVIII. I love it

[@xxechoesxx420]

You sir, you are awesome. NIN & Tool back in those days.

[@HateTaxesWASt]

That means the Final Fantasy 9 video might be here within the next 6 months!

[@TheMrCHELL]

Maybe

[@HateTaxesWASt]

@@TheMrCHELL we can only hope

[@BulbaSmasher]

I can't wait.. maybe he will speak about the final boss.. because the game doesn't

[@AuraDragonKnight]

I'll hope so. FF9 is my FIRST FF, as well as my FAVORITE. I tend to feel dejected when people trashtalk about it so much though, and even complain that the others are MUCH better. *sigh.

[@warnacokelat]

@@AuraDragonKnight they say that your first FF will always be your favorite. but... in these past few years I had played 4,7,8,9,10,11, and 15 without any nostalgia glasses on, I gotta say that FF9 is the one I love most.

[@samboyaus]

As a kid I struggled with the Junction system. When I played it again a few years later I realised how broken it was and how easy the game is when you Junction the right spell to the right stat

[@wvang0013]

Yup, if you knew how to work the Junction system and the card game, along with running a team of Squall, Zell, and Irvine you can decimate anything.

[@jaretco6423]

Shoot. U can even get Squall's Ultimate Weapon on the first disk if you know what to do. And break the entire game even more.

[@TofuSG98]

@@jaretco6423 also squalls ultimate weapon is a missable, I found that out when it was too late.

[@patrickmcpartland1398]

@@TofuSG98 you can make every wepon if you collect all the items for it, even of you don't get the magazine for it

[@hannessteffenhagen61]

@@wvang0013 You run Selphie instead of Zell or Irvine, with the exception of Squall she's the most broken character. Her limit break is literally an "I win" button.

[@tj5425]

Thanks for never giving up on this content, Jared.

[@BubbaDaBarb]

To me this will always have a special place in my heart as my favorite Final Fantasy. It hit at just the right time in my life for Squall’s character and the narrative to really speak to me. His whole arc revolving around losing everything he knows and cares about and actively attempting to push everyone away to protect himself from being hurt again to slowly learning to open his heart to people again hit close to home. In fact all of the characters had a ton of emotional depth that play into the GFs playing about with their memories. Quistis misunderstanding her protective feelings for Squall as love. Zell constantly putting up this strong front to protect how tender hearted he is. Selfie being completely batshit after a chance run in with sorceress possession as a kid (which in turn is how she ended up with her weird roulette limit break abilities) and constantly looking for a place to fit in. Ervine not using GFs until you run into him in game so he remembers all of their time at that orphanage and what Edea and Cid meant to him. Hell, even Seifer watching the film of the sorceress’ knight Laguna was filming in game as he was growing up and romanticizing it as what he would aim to become. He clearly idolized Laguna though. Even holds his gunblade the exact same way. I’ve also never played another RPG as accommodating as FFVIII is. There are so many ways that allow you to progress through the game. Like grinding and playing the normal way you would an RPG? It’s an option. Don’t like combat? You can turn it off and use draw points. Don’t like doing that but enjoy the card game? That’s a viable way to progress too. The junction system lets you play any way you like with any character you like and that’s something special to me in a good way. Triple Triad and the soundtrack speak for themselves at how quality they are so I never quite feel the need to defend them. I know you didn’t enjoy your time with this one and I know the game has plenty of flaws but there’s so much to love in this game that it shaped my tastes in video games and in media in general moving forward. It isn’t my favorite game of all time but it’s easily the second and is every bit as important to me. This is to me as FFVI is to you. I’ll always feel that it’s an intensely creative and ambitious love story that’ll forever remain largely misunderstood for the misstep of following two of people’s all time favorite entries to the franchise. It’s definitely seeing more love these days though thankfully. I can only hope that moving forward at least a handful of people are left with a lasting impression of this game in the way I see it. A diamond in the rough.

[@tomgu2285]

Laguna was the best character. I cried honestly at the end because of him. He is a great character.

[@SwordHMX]

I wonder when he planned to reunite with Raine. Laguna really fucked up by not simply telling Dr. Odine, "If you touch Ellone you will spend the rest of your life in prison."

[@MathewWithOne_T]

We are now one step closer to final fantasy 9

[@mexiwolf009]

I can’t wait! ❤️❤️❤️

[@kenwan1235]

How is he going to do 11?

[@AgathaASR]

@@kenwan1235 Maybe we won't, I don't even know if he played it

[@PhrozenFox]

Which is just a very boring and watered down version of most of the ones before it, containing some of the most lame characters and a final boss that requires you to unequip all of your useful abilities and swap to resisting every status effect.

[@tukman16]

A personal favorite. Althoug I recognize it is not the best plot (but not by much), I think it compensates with the best pacing of the series. Also, Vivi is there. Best character arc ever.

[@ethanhartman5908]

Funnily enough, your review which was mostly negative actually motivated me to finally check the game out for myself. While I can definitely see the flaws FF8 has, I actually had a pretty positive experience with it! While our opinions on the game may differ, you did an amazing job with your review and you were entertaining as always. Keep up the great work Jared!

[@Walamonga1313]

I didn't watch his review, cause I hadn't beaten it. Now that I beat it (even 100% achievements) I can safely watch his review. I won't be surprised if he doesn't like one of the most polarising games. But me? I ended up loving it, even if at the start I wasn't too into it

[@Sevo-]

I loved ff8, something about having a Gunblade gets me

[@TofuSG98]

Such an amazing game, first time I played I just left the game on when I was at Fisherman's Horizon, reminds me of my childhood. Happier times for sure.

[@loveforkuja]

really really glad to see even his fans still love it and were inspired to try it. It does have a lot of flaws but i think the story stuff and character stuff really comes down to personal prefrences.

[@menthols4625]

You have to really, really look past the flaws to enjoy it. I basically leaned heavily on the power trip of Stocking up lots of powerful magic and ripping bosses apart. I also don't mind a corny romance story so I didn't mind the story although it's definitely flawed and drags on. I agree with Jared though, it's definitely bottom tier FF and I'm not really sure how some people rate it as their favorite, maybe it was their first JRPG or something? I don't know. Even on the PS1 there's FFIX which is superior in every way and then of course FFVII which so many people love, then FFX was an excellent transition to the PS2... I just don't get how people can prefer FFVIII over those.

[@Karifean]

Man this feels like such a throwback to the internet ages of old when disliking FF8 was the cool thing to do.

[@dorgrim]

That makes me a hipster, I guess. Hated that game in '99, painstakingly watched HS buddy play it while I wanted to jam Twisted Metal.

[@Soniman001]

Some people dislike it because they just dislike it. I don't agree with a lot of the review but sometimes it's just like that

[@cellamuert]

cards def aren't lost forever. you can always win them back from the person who took it. one of them even requires you to lose another one to a specific npc. then, in disc 3, you can win them all from the card club on the ragnarok if you do their quest. you can mod and re-win all the unique cards infinitely at that point.

[@Froge0]

it's bugging me how the title isn't roman numerals like the others 😭

[@bittrippn6570]

This game doesn't deserve that level of respect.

[@Sir_Loin_]

@@bittrippn6570 lmao

[@extra4542]

Haha he must’ve seen your comment and fixed it

[@brandonwilliams6119]

I did fix it

[@supersonicgamerguru]

Not just fighting a fire demon as a high school student, but your teacher is also student-aged and the fire demon is in on the exam too.

[@coomingandgoing3120]

and the demon is aware of the exam.

[@coooolibri]

i never followed the story crazy in the last 1 or 2 cds, but imo this game had much more catchy to me than 7 ever did.

[@davidtogi5878]

Ikr, tbh i've already accept and enjoy the wackiness of ff8 world. 😂

[@ReLeonidaSpartan]

The funniest part is that the exam is mandatory an after that nobody can take it anymore because Squall stole the exam demon

[@knox7945]

"I think you over did it Squall" "That's Leon."

[@BeowulfTheBountyHunter]

Yeah whatever Squall.

[@the24thcolossusjustchillin39]

@@BeowulfTheBountyHunter "It's Leon"

[@lesperke]

Leon Squallhart

[@superlombax1561]

@@lesperke More like Leon SquallhartLESS. *wheezes* I'm sorry

[@deathrooster14]

Yeah except in kingdom hearts he was somewhat likeable.

[@simpletonic]

Best track is hands down Fisherman's Horizon. So peaceful. I listen to it sometimes to sleep. Game story has a lot of depth and has some fantastic elements and tie ins that I loved between the past and now. An orphan who pushes everyone away due to fear of attachment is a pretty deep thing to present, they did not nail it but they did a good job setting it us up to understand Squall

[@PlayMadness]

Fisherman's Horizon performed at Distant Worlds is absolutely incredible. One of the best songs in all of gaming.

[@adiscerningdunmer9311]

Oh man. It's coming. Final Fantasy IX. My body aches for it.

[@MegaWTFgamer]

Currently playing that one in the Switch. I'm loving the shit out of it.

[@danielbourne4033]

Does he not like 9?

[@omnipotentturkey0632]

@@danielbourne4033 I hope he does enjoy. Easily my favorite out of all the ff games I played

[@ThatDjinn]

FF9 is deffinitely one of those FF games that just speaks to pretty much everyone (maybe aside from few people who can't get over a more cartoony aesthetic).

[@kanemccarthy1979]

@@ThatDjinn but is at the same time very overlooked

[@RhineMaiden]

I feel that Lightning was the most frustrating protagonist. She caused so many conflicts by not trying to understand another human being. I have heard she is basically a gender bent Squall so maybe that’s the connection haha. Great video!

[@UkyoKuonji2010]

Even got a gunblade sword thing XD

[@KnightRaymund]

Yeah, she and Squall are my most disliked of the protagonists. While I started the game hating Hope, at least he improved later on after working things out with Snow. Lightning was annoying the entire time. The section with Lightning and Hope together was terrible and actually made my brother quit the game entirely.

[@Toni_560]

I mean, the first FF lack any proper main protagonist and I still prefer any character over horny Zidane. An cloud was a moron until he's fellow into a coma.

[@surge123456789]

All lightning had to do to beat the BBEG was literally nothing, just sit down and do nothing AND SHE COULDNT EVEN DO THAT RIGHT!

[@peoples2296]

@@KnightRaymund all protagonists in XIII sucked except Sazh

[@TheGunmanChannel]

I remember seeing my young brothers playing it back in the day and just thinking it looked weird, I was young so probably unfairly judged it. I do have the game but still haven't given it a fair go. I should dust it off and give it a play.

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

Watch a few videos on it... save yourself the trouble.

[@smnksorc6663]

I would give it a try. For me personally it's a great ,albeit flawed game.

[@kevai6290]

Fantastic game go for it

[@vastolorde98]

Don't believe what you hear online and try it for yourself

[@Zitsanrael1117]

You should never let someone else form your opinion for you. I avoided FF II for years because of all the garbage I heard about it, but I finally played it last summer and I thought it was pretty good. Not "top 10 amazing" or anything, but I had a good time with it.

[@Hearts_4hellokitty]

When Adel saw Rinoa…. That scene gave me the chills. Nightmare fuel. I love this game.

[@stephenroberts7554]

I admit that scene made me jump too I love this game as well 😎

[@Forever_Zero]

Man, I love this game, even the story and the characters, as cheesy as they are, I get why some aspects are considered as bad, it's probably too ambitious for it's own good, but evey time I play it, it's a really heartwarming experience

[@maikidot]

"Zell's favorite food is packets of Sillica gel" LMAO

[@Nabekukka]

Zell must be watching Chubbyemu, and therefore knows that "emia" means presence in blood. Although it could also mean that he might be trying to exit the simulation.

[@gregorywalpole8442]

I was like "That's the weirdest yet still most appropriate way to say 'hot dogs' that I've yet heard" before I realized Jared *wasn't* referencing the multiple scenes in which Zell attempts to stuff every orifice in his body with hot dogs.

[@nonamepasserbya6658]

@@Nabekukka Imagine that, Zell ate silica gel and becomes psycho mantis telling you exactly what you did and stored in your computer

[@AlfonsoSRT]

"Honestly, if there's ever anyone that deserves a Crisis Core-style prequel out of all, it's Laguna" Dude, my man Braska is right there.

[@grimms1916]

Bruh, we need FF X prequel. I want more jecht and auron

[@d9prawns429]

Same, but I’d like it with FF7 Remake style combat. Last boss is Yunalesca, who you fight with Auron alone, and lose.

[@alejandro_rodriguez_99]

@@d9prawns429 after a kaiju battle between jetch and sinh.

[@Ryusuta]

Balthier. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL.

[@kyotheman69]

he was only character i liked, seriously squall and crew sucked, and basically the guardian's only mattered

[@Rykiz_Vidz]

By the way if you aren't doing 9999 damage on each of squalls limit break hits, while using his limit every single turn. You're wrong.

[@HellfireBowsa]

Squall's attitude in the English FF8 is actually a translation fuck-up. In the original Japanese version, he was a shy, unconfident loner who was always apologizing in advance for his actions and felt like he was going to screw things up.

[@Sizdothyx]

No he wasn't. He was snarky as fuck in his thoughts, like the book version of Harry Potter. In fact, rather than dismissive with his "...Whatever", Squall was actually giving more lip. He wasn't shy at all, he just thought he was surrounded by morons 95 percent of the time. The whole game and his interactions in both versions (more prevalent in the Japanese version) is him realizing those "morons" also had things they brought to the table. He is impressed with Zell's knowledge in machines, is heartened by Selphie's ability to uplift people in the most dire of times and opens up to Rinoa around Disc 3 for ... "whatever".

[@Talsbynians]

the japanese version of a lot what squall would say is translated as "sorry", instead of "whatever", sure, but dumbasses don't understand nuance in a language and the "sorry" or, "warukatta-ne" really is like, "eh.. sorry? my bad?" which is more or less what "whatever" is intended to be. but surprise surprise, japanese is one of the farthest languages you can get from english. so no, it wasn't a fuck up, it's the closest thing the translators could get to.

[@sarafontanini7051]

Hot take; Rhinoa is what everyone thought Aerith was until the remake reminded everyone of what Aerith was ACTUALLY like

[@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz]

Including square lol

[@bobgray6498]

Squall and Rinoa are what I feared remake Cloud and Aerith would be 😆

[@Dr.Turkey]

I blame Kingdom Hearts

[@royshaheer]

Uhuh......so impresssion will change if a FF8 remake comes around....?

[@maxducks2001]

@@royshaheer If a FF8 remake does come out however many years down the line, I can guarantee we’ll get the characters as Square originally intended. As some other comments have mentioned, Squall in the original Japanese version of the game is presented as socially awkward, saying “Sorry...” a lot. But in the English translation, they interpreted it as edgy for some reason, so he comes off as emo and rude. But if a remake is made, I can guarantee we’ll see him as his original awkward self. For comparison, look at Cloud from the original FF7 to the remake. His personality is somewhat present in dialogue options, but he’s mostly someone to project onto. Compare that to FF7 Remake, where Cloud has a distinct personality that combines pretty much all the dialogue options from the original and condenses them. He’s a little edgy and brushes people off, but he can also be kind, awkward, and hell, even flirtatious at times.

[@NotSpecialDude]

The only thing of plot importance that happens in 8 is that gilgamesh gets odins blade and starts exploring the multiverse.

[@GlitchToph]

...what?? Can I get some context, please?

[@SaraphDarklaw]

@@GlitchToph Siefer does a reverse Zantetsuken against Odin during the last fight against him, which splits Odin in half and Gilgamesh picks his sword up. Gilgamesh says something about Bartz (from FFV), implying he survived going into the void when Exdeath “killed” him. Canonically, it’s been confirmed that the same Gilgamesh wanders the multiverse to collect rare weapons.

[@Smilley85]

@@GlitchToph Major spoilers, obviously. You can find Odin as a special GF. He doesn't join the party like the rest of them, but rather occasionally appears at the start of a random battle and kills every enemy with his oversized cleaver, Zantetsuken. At the end of CD 3, you fight Seifer for a final time, and Odin appears. He never does in boss fights, so this is quite a headscratcher at the time. But surprise! Seifer not only blocks Odin's attack, he flings away Zantetsuken and outright slays Odin. You get a glimpse of the sword careening through the air and being grabbed by a mysterious hand. From here on, the fight starts and commences normally, but an invisible timer counts down. When it reaches 0, Gilgamesh appears and "thanks" Seifer for helping him obtain Zantetsuken - by cutting him down with it. After that, he takes Odin's place, with a few changes: - he can appear during combat, not just at the start - he randomly uses one of his 4 swords: Masamune and Excaliber are just normal damaging attacks, Zantetsuken kills everything, same as before, and Excalipoor... does 1 damage. - he can appear during boss fights - though if he rolls Zantetsuken, it will fail.

[@danielramsey6141]

@@Smilley85 Gilgamesh can also appear during boss battles!

[@mikeymacaque]

FF8 was not only my first Final Fantasy, but my first RPG after “graduating” from Pokemon. After listening to this, I don’t know how the hell I beat this game to a pulp when I was 10 without the internet to help me. But by the end of the game, every character was hitting for 9999 and I had every single card.

[@squadalaguydc]

You have balls of steel, my dude.

[@mikeymacaque]

@@squadalaguydc idk about that I just had no friends when I was 10 😂

[@boodabear5575]

When he called the summons ‘gf’s all I could think of was “monster girlfriend”

[@coomingandgoing3120]

::two enthusiastic thumbs up::

[@achaudhari101]

Ironically Squall in the Kingdom Hearts series is the complete opposite of what he is in 8. He helps people like Sora and the other FF characters, he wants Radiant Garden to be safe, and doesn’t have a pessimistic outlook on life.

[@L.Drizzle]

That is 0% ironic.

[@nathank2289]

Hes older in KH. His character is based after FF8.

[@rinnnnnnnnnnrin]

Yeah dissidia and kh squall is how he was in japanese ff8. Super caring and thoughtful

[@rinnnnnnnnnnrin]

Also awkward

[@ryanc5572]

The cutscenes with the students fighting, especially the ones using magic, are the best scenes in the game

[@velvetbutterfly]

One of the reasons I loved FFXIII when I was young was we saw characters using abilities in cutscenes and they got stronger. Blizzard in chapter 5, Firaga in Chapter 13

[@CronicasDeGisthia]

Lately I've been playing the Remastered version of FF8 and I got to the battle of Balamb scene and was totally blown by the CGI scene where the students fight against Galbadia. It was tremendous.

[@J.Schooley]

FF8 was my Final Fantasy growing up. It was the first FF game I played and started my obsession. Nothing will ever top it in my book.

[@m4rcin847]

Just like flatearther never admit that Earth istn flat.

[@lightningshy5287]

Which is the equivalent of saying The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars………..

[@HaveButOneLife]

@@lightningshy5287 Now that's just silly. FF8 is a genuinely good game.

[@CatGamer-wc2ij]

@@HaveButOneLife True, but far reduced from it's predecessor.

[@HaveButOneLife]

@@CatGamer-wc2ij And most FF's since then haven't topped it. Just because the first 7 are better in some peoples' minds doesn't mean it's a bad game. Some people like to say otherwise.

[@TheGamersState]

Jared: I was able to get the alternate ending! Me: ....Wait what!? There's an alternate ending!? Jared: Rinoa was lost in space....forever. Me: .....God damn it, Jared XD

[@avadoksorem2854]

That’s not even an alternate ending. It’s just a nonstandard game over if you choose not to retry.

[@TheGamersState]

@@avadoksorem2854 ......Ya don't say.

[@JohnSmith-ch9sm]

That's the good ending

[@philiphunt-bull5817]

@@avadoksorem2854 that's the point...

[@jonathanalvarez2909]

FF8 is the first ff game i ever played. Really enjoyed it, it opened the doors to other rpgs for me.

[@TwilightWolf032]

My first entry to Tales of was Dawn of a New World, and now Tales of is one of my favorite JRPG franchises. So yeah, I know how it feels to have the worst title in the series be the introductory point. It sucks to look back at the game you enjoyed so much and opened you up to a whole new franchise of great games and realize your first one was shit.

[@chavin3]

Same for me!!! It was my first rpg and opened the doors to others!

[@mayumimabini2630]

Same for me! 🙋🏻‍♀️

[@robertbryant4669]

@@TwilightWolf032 8 is not the worst of the series; that title belongs to 13.

[@jamestreat5496]

@@robertbryant4669 8 is by far the worst. Not counting 1-3's simplicity. 13 is a masterpiece compared to this... piece of.....

[@japan100100]

Squall is definitely one of the most relatable characters in Final Fantasy. He's a very real person if you look past his initial cold personality. It's a front, protecting him from his past. He is doing what I and many other people have done. Avoiding relationships and commitments in order to protect your fragile emotions from exploding. Saying his positive responses aren't in line with his character is debatable at the very least. The whole point is that Rinoa is basically obsessed with having Squall open up, and Squall, little by little, does so here and there. It's not comfortable for him, and he even finds it annoying at times. But when faced with the situation that Rinoa, the person who is trying to help him grow/recover from his past emotions, might be gone forever, he loses his composure, something that's been held up by wood, hay and stubble over the course of his life. Squall is initially as caring as anyone else. But his automatic self preservation methods of keeping people away has covered that completely, giving him less credit than he deserves as being a legit hero/protagonist. Inside, he cared for even when Quistis lost her job and was demoted. But he couldn't risk the burden of taking that upon himself. He was already a volatile mess that needed to be protected from anymore sadness, even if it meant him saying that she should talk to a wall. He wanted to make sure that the situation of being relied on in an emotional capacity was no longer viable for people on the outside. A long term goal to keeping his sanity, however foolish it was. So Jared can say Squall is unlikeable, but that just seems like a superficial thing to say, and almost an ironic statement, since you'd have to be unconcerned with Squall's history and mindset aka cold, to say that Squall is just cold and has no personality and that's it. As a side note, I grew on on FF8, so I never knew anyone who chose to be a jerk when the options were available other than to see the response for laughs. Generally, I choose the positive options just because he's the protagonist/good guy, and I want to be as nice as possible. Like in other games like Skyrim or fallout, it's like an automatic thing to explore the good guy side of things, and then to go in the opposite direction on a different playthrough. But since FF8 doesn't specialize in changing the game's story, choosing to be a jerk or a nice guy is pretty much pointless. In other words, you can play a 2nd time around, but the inducement to choose the other option in dialogue is hardly worth considering since it does nothing(if anything, I think being a jerk reflects badly on your Seed score too in the beginning).

[@diegobendinelli2680]

Maybe this was the intention, but the game doesn't help the player engage in Squall's history and character because it doesn't show enough of his emotions where and when you would want to, or at least that is how I felt. Putting it on paper makes everything better, hell Final Fantasy 13's story and characters are a lot better on paper then they are playing through the game. The issue is with how the game gives the player the information they need to be engaged, hence why 13's story and characters are disliked as the game conveys everything horrendously

[@bait4sale9001]

I put it the same as Cloud. Once you get to the twist, when you finally get what hes been through, and connect how hes been like the whole journey, you understand him, and you grow to maybe even like him. However, to get to that point, it is literally HOURS of boring dialogue, uninteresting actions, and every party member getting more charisma and better scenes than him. Were it not for the fact that Squall and Cloud are the games MC, we'd have switched them out of the party a long time ago. Again, once you get to their Arc's end, you start to feel for them. Until then, the game doesn't do much to make us like them.

[@datguyuno98]

Absolutely nailed it, I think Jared may have missed this when constructing his review because otherwise he gets a lot right, I think all around this just was not a game for him. FF8 is definitely a hit or miss for everyone, you either get it or you don't (not bashing either one btw)

[@misstekhead]

Back in the 90s when FF8 first came out the junction system confused the hell out of me. I was a kid and just could not comprehend it until around the third disk. After going through half the game with no real clue as to what I was doing it finally clicked. FF8 was one of the first JRPGs I ever played to completion, but looking back if you’re new to RPG gaming and the FF series in general it’s not the most user friendly. I spent a lot of time on this game completely clueless as to what I was doing. I was heavily invested in the story, so I never gave up. I yearned to see Squall and Rinoa get a much deserved happy ending. Those memories of being so dedicated to figuring out (what was for me) a confusing system were so rewarding. Thanks for the memories Jared! I thoroughly enjoyed the video and appreciate the effort you put into making it.

[@misstekhead]

FF8 was the first RPG I finished to completion as well as the first time I ever really played an RPG. Don’t get me wrong, I toyed around with FF7 a little bit, but at the time I wasn’t too interested. However not long after is when I became obsessed with anime and all things Japan. I was really into shoujo anime & manga which essentially began my young fandom for bishounen. (Translation: pretty boys.) What can I say? It was the beginning of puberty for me. I pretty much ignored the junction system until Disc 2. I just didn’t like how tedious it could become between junctioning the characters themselves and the GFs as well. I appreciated that you could at least auto junction when switching around characters in your party. I remember being so enamored and dedicated to this game that I would skip meals in order to concentrate on grinding and leveling up. I was hell-bent on maxing my favorite characters to level 100, obtaining every GF, and being equipped with the best weapons. What I wouldn’t give to have that excess amount of time to dedicate to gaming, yet able to actively manage a healthy social life, whilst still having energy to pursue my other hobbies/endeavors like dance and theatre. Looking back it’s crazy to think I managed to do so much in a relatively short amount of time. Now in my mid 30s its a feat to get through the week without passing out or overburdening oneself. Anyway…FF8 is in my top 3 of PS1 games.

[@GleeChan]

I was almost expecting Jared to name Squall 'Emo Git'. Ah, nostalgia.

[@sonokawaray]

Ah yes, Spoony's review. Hasn't aged the best, but still, good times.

[@brucewayne1777]

Oh man. Fs in the chat for Spoony's credibility and internet personality "career"

[@ThatHeadbandGuy]

"TIIIIIME COMPRESSSSION"

[@JacksonJinn]

Eh, Noah admitted in hindsight he'd A) never do now the opening jokes he did then, and B) would basically be far more lenient with the game now. At least it IS a FF RPG you actually play and can think about. There IS a story and characters. Ah well. Time erodes all...

[@ZealKingdom]

Squall: "There are MISSILES headed this way." *waves arm*

[@elpato54]

If I remember right (and correct me if I'm wrong I may be way off base here) Squall's character was best represented (at least his Japanese counterpart) with his line of Rinoa telling him a Timber Owl was into Dirty Magazines, Squall's comment was "I'll keep that in mind..." a funny response where he really didn't care, but tried to act engaged. And that was really close to the Japanese script because Squall was more of a Willy Wonka type where people would just say stupid things to him and he'd be like "Yes, got it. You should be proud," sort of thing where sometimes the supporting cast didn't realize Squall didn't care (which was why they all started making fun of him for it like Quistis since they were in on the "joke"). This got totally butchered by the lazy tranlsation of "Whatever" all the time where they really could have gotten creative with his lines in the same way. The script butchered his character because you saw some politeness (like when he met Xu during the Dollet mission) which he was, he wasn't near as standoffish as the English makes you believe. He just felt like he was in a room full of idiots (which he was). Again, I have no proof nor desire to play this in Japanese, but I think a lot of Squall's anti-social stuff was less blunt. Kind fo like a parent responding to an outlandish comment by a child but not really caring and the child doesn't realize the parent really is engaged. The translation really really felt off to me and I felt like this was a time where the developers needed to realize the mood in the Japanese script and alter the American one to suit it. A literal translation here was a bad idea.

[@jiraiya0698]

Funny enough I always got that from him despite the translation. Every time he makes a facepalm for example.

[@TheBoshman95]

The Junction system isn't that bad. Just experiment a little and set up specific jobs based on what you have available. You don't have to get every character 100 of everything.

[@cloudstrife1983]

Apparently during development, Laguna was intended to be the main character.

[@CaptainMangles]

So FFXII wasn't the first instance of this.

[@FragmentedR_YT]

Man that would’ve been sick. I also heard that the whole switching from father to son thing in VIII was actually originally thought of when working on VII. What’s cool about finding information on how Final Fantasy games get made is that very rarely is an idea thrown out completely, and it’s usually repurposed in a different way or for a different project.

[@cloudstrife1983]

@@FragmentedR_YT Edea was also planned for FF7

[@FragmentedR_YT]

@@cloudstrife1983 really? Didn’t know that, but that definitely proves my point about ideas being repurposed. Another example of that would be Sephiroth’s original design, which instead of being trashed, just became Vincent’s actual design.

[@Tyranastrasza]

More precisely the game would have been separated 50% Squall /50% Laguna, but due to time constraint they had to scrap a good portion of the Laguna storyline.

[@BonzuP.theThird]

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't hear the normal battle music without hearing Quistis's whip crack

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

I don't have this level of attachment with FF8. I do have it with FF9 tho, the iconic sounds effect when Zidane attacks with his daggers. It's always there, he is usually the fastest character, so he attacks first alongside with the music

[@markcastillo3490]

Now that you mentioned it, I cant unhear it now.

[@JoaoRodrigues-xt7tv]

I think its cute how in some scenes Jared has a Caddicarus Youtooz in the background. Thats nice

[@CorneliusCob]

Perhaps it's a teaser for a future video?

[@expendableindigo9639]

Is Hidden Block Network still around? How many people are even in Hidden Block? Who knows.

[@JoaoRodrigues-xt7tv]

@@CorneliusCob 👀👀👀

[@JoaoRodrigues-xt7tv]

@@expendableindigo9639 idk I haven't seen much of Hidden Block recently tbh

[@expendableindigo9639]

@@JoaoRodrigues-xt7tv Yeah I just realized Caddicarus hasn’t used it’s intro in a long, long time, nor has BrutalMoose I don’t think. Not sure if SpaceHampster still does.

[@Paul-to1nb]

There's another theory of Ultimecia's motivations that not so far-fetched. It's basically a self-fullfilling prophecy. Since everyone knows history, they expected her to become this evil being. They treated her bad, and so she decides to become the very thing they were afraid of. The only issue with this is idk how she'd get the name Ultimecia or how they'd know it was going to be her. No parent would name their kid that. Maybe instead she just looked like the description that Squall and co brought back, so people saw her and got worried. After being bullied, she took the name and said, "You want me to be evil? So be it! Kurse you all! I AM Ultimecia" FF8 clearly was overly ambitious and had a lot cut from development to reach that 1999 date (eg. they wanted Laguna's past to be half of the game time). Still, it's insane how much they were able to do back then in such a short time.

[@ArvizuBenjamin]

also the real enemy is the tutorial since it makes you equip a gf by force screwing up your memory throughout the game until reality melts away

[@Isendure]

I still like this above other FF titles, save for 6. Squall being the grumpy guy really resonates with me. I can totally see him as the most realistic character might not be the thing most poeple would like to see. Also his personality is the complete opposite of his father (you can check that out on your own if you didn't know about his parents). Having come from a traumatic childhood I completely understand him as a character. The music in this game also made me pick up the electric guitar, and gave us so many great covers. Also the "you need to know something beforehand to use it to the maximum effort" is really in line with the whole time-paradox motive in the game. My Squall wasn't as antipathic as You presented him in this video. He literally talks about things never being black and white in the game. Cheers for reading this, have a great day.

[@yeetusvanitas9800]

As someone who’s first exposure to Squall was his stint in Kingdom Hearts as Leon, I never got why people hated him. Yeah he was aloof, but he was cool and a good leader. Then I played FF8. Ouch.

[@KigaiOkasu]

Even his characterization in the Dissidia games is better. He still acts like an aloof loner, but it comes from a place of independence and confidence in his abilities rather than a distrust for others, showing that he does genuinely care about his comrades even if he doesn't show it the way they think he should.

[@KnightRaymund]

yeah one of those that actually improved when he moves to KH. Attitude's a little better. And he's around less

[@cwatz1221]

@@KigaiOkasu Its almost like they show him closer to the end of his character arc after an entire game of growth. INSANE.

[@Soniman001]

@@cwatz1221 at least someone doesn't have brain worms when it comes to Squall la character LOL