Final Fantasy VIIIt

Final Fantasy VIII was released in the year 1999 by Square-Enix (then Squaresoft) as the obvious eighth installment of their extremely successful and popular Final Fantasy series. To this day, it has sold more than 8 million copies and counting, and was the fastest selling Final Fantasy title worldwide.

FFVIII had groundbreaking graphics for its time, as well as the usual gorgeous music score and the hate-them-or-love-them characters; it however introduced a more complex battle system - the "Junction" system - that had various reception amongst the fans. Nevertheless, it still remains the favorite in many fans' hearts (including mine) and has been voted as the 22nd best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu.


Japan (02/11/99) • North America (09/07/99) • Europe (10/27/99)

My opinion: although I don't like to say it, I've always been a sort of hopeless romantic; as such, it would only make sense that Final Fantasy VIII, a tale of destined love and dark magic, would be my favorite installment. The characters in addition were just so human - unlike the dark knights or mages of previous installments, the characters in FFVIII were normal young adults trying to adapt to their worlds (although attempting to save the world and time itself in the same time) - and believable. The story was a complex web of lies, mystery, and political mess and I liked it; two characters from the game also caught my eye and forever became my obsessions.

I would recommend this game to any Final Fantasy fan who hasn't played it or anyone wary of Final Fantasy in general; it's just too wonderful of a game to pass over!

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