It Didn't Get Better...

Well, Final Fantasy VIII is done and no, it didn't get better from last time. In the end, you get to go to the future, a decimated world ruled over by Ultimecia, and fight her in her crazy, Resident Evil-esque castle before she gets pwnaged. Sweet scene commencing where Squall is lost in time, Rinoa brings him back with the power of love and white feathers transformed from flower petals... Tada! Happy ending.

No explanation about GF's ganking people's memories, no explanation of what a Sorceress is, really (there is a brief mention that may suggest they are simply descendants of someone from the past although it doesn't explain how they have special powers or what those powers may be), no resolution of any character subplots, if they even had any to begin with, no explanation of what Time Compression means. Just... nothing. Ah well, but Rinoa and Squall make the cutest couple, the way he constantly ignores her and she launches her dog-

But that's okay. Because at least I have Final Fantasy IX to look forward to, yeah? Well, maybe not. You see, I had downloaded an eboot rom which takes the PSN version of Final Fantasy IX and plays it from a PSP emulator. I wanted to do this because the PSX emulator I had gotten for Final Fantasy Tactics didn't work wonderfully and I wanted to use the smoother option. Problem is, PSP emulators don't play eboot roms. What the hell is the point then?! I have yet to find an answer to this but I will keep looking.

I have a couple of other options that may work out but I haven't nailed anything down yet. I may be able to use my tablet as a PSX emulator and play the original version of FFIX which would be the best option, barring using my laptop. Otherwise, I'll need to buy it for my PS3 at home which means I'll have significantly less time to spend on the game (at best, six hours per week) and won't be able to take screenshots. But anyway, I'll figure something out and get back to you.

In the meantime, here is my ranking for Final Fantasy VIII amongst all the FF titles so far:

Rankings:

Final Fantasy 2 < Final Fantasy VIII < Final Fantasy Adventure < Final Fantasy < Final Fantasy Legends (all three in order) < Final Fantasy III < Final Fantasy V < Final Fantasy IV < Final Fantasy VII < Final Fantasy VI

I know that may seem low but I honestly just didn't enjoy it much when compared to the other games. I feel badly about it because the system could be so much fun leveling up GF abilities and mixing and matching but when placed in this game, it just becomes overly tedious and not a lot of fun. It's still a lot better than two because at least you aren't beating yourself over the head literally but it still requires unnatural gameplay in order to succeed by constantly drawing magic from the same enemies again and again while getting the crap beat out of you.

As far as the version, I HIGHLY recommend the Steam version of Final Fantasy VIII. It's available on Steam so it's very easy to get and while it uses the awkward PC port from back in the day as its base, the new Steam version comes with both Chocobo World which may be a fun throwback to tomodachi days and also a Magic Booster. This is a system built into the launch window that allows you to boost all low to mid-level magics to 100 for any save as often as you like. It doesn't completely solve the problem since you still need to draw the high level magics for the end game but it means you don't need to grind for the vast majority of the game. If you want the pure experience, you can still play it like normal and it's more or less a direct port of the PSX experience but you can change your mind at any time. The version also has Xbox 360 controller support built in. It's awkward since button prompts only say B1 or B2 but it was manageable. Just remember you have to actually press X on your keyboard at the beginning to start the game. I don't know why this is but it's the only time you actually need to use your keyboard. For only 12 bucks, it is far and away the superior version of this game. An original boxed copy will run you about 60 dollars but is available on Amazon if you so choose.

Game on!