I think this game gets too much hate. The biggest mistake it made was coming out after FF7. It's a solid game and once you know what you're doing, it's insanely easy to break. Might have my favorite soundtrack in the FF series.

Masterpiece! This was my first Final Fantasy. The saying might just be true where the first Final Fantasy you play is going to be your favorite. This has been a major influence on me and my creative outlets. I look forward to replaying this in the near future.

I have now completed the replay: Still the GOAT! Had me on the verge of tears several times. I unfortunately didn't get to explore all the side content that I wanted to this time, but will revisit in the Remastered version.

The 'black sheep' of the trilogy of PS1 Final Fantasy games, rightfully so in my opinion. It tries creative and interesting things, they unfortunately fall a bit short of anything truly great.

Disjointed narrative, flat characters, and a militant fanbase who seems incapable of objectively critiquing their favorite game. (:

Squall is a textbook case of avoidant-attachment disorder, and a caricature (not a character), constructed to appeal to every socially maladjusted teenage boy in the nineties. The way he resolves that aspect of his personality is not written well, and shows no understanding of basic psychology.

The romance part of the story is obnoxiously forced and lacks all believability. Squall and Rinoa don't spend enough time getting to know each other personally, or in any meaningful way, for their relationship to make sense. One could argue the only thing that makes their romance believable is their age.

The game was a rushed project with many design decisions seemingly made to reduce development time. Identical rooms and hallways make up a lot of dungeons, and one of the optional dungeons is a single room with a massive encounter rate. The junction system is a good idea, but you barely need to use it to accomplish anything. You can overpower enemies with numbers, and thus trivialize strategy in the worst way. The whole thing needed more refinement for the requirements to win.

The biggest problem the game has is a lack of dialogue explaining many of the fine details of the story. Nebulous story-telling will always damage the final outcome. Final Fantasy VIII is a monolith of wasted potential.

Inferior ao 7 mas ainda muito bom! Só o sistema de magias que não é dos melhores (mas o sistema de Junctions é incrível)

way ahead of it's time, top 1 PSX's JRPG