Square’s JRPG (there was no Square-Enix merger then!) is still a very unique game a quarter of a century later.

Final Fantasy VIII was exactly the same break from tradition (represented by VII and IX!) that Final Fantasy II had done before. However, compared to FFII, FFVIII was able to build a large fanbase precisely because of its departure from the previous globally successful title. For example, the character development system and the battle system were major changes. These were represented by the Guardian Force and the Junction, making Final Fantasy VIII surprisingly deep (and thoroughly exploitable in the context of the Triple Triad card game).

Looking at the two games from a different angle, Final Fantasy VII, one of PlayStation’s obvious killer app games, is absolutely open to beginners. On the other hand, Final Fantasy VIII’s gameplay is complex, to say the least, and the story is not so easy to understand. To master the gameplay, it’s worth investing time in the tutorials offered by the game, otherwise you’ll quickly get lost and Square’s JRPG won’t unfold properly.

For many years, Final Fantasy VIII was only available on PlayStation and PC, with Square Enix focusing more on Final Fantasy VII and IX. The loss of the source code was also rumored, but in the end, it was Square Enix that understood that it was a niche game compared to its two PS1 siblings, and in 2019, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered was finally released, allowing a new audience to experience how different it was from the mainstream VII.

So Final Fantasy VIII finally got the attention it deserved, but this game isn’t getting the attention its predecessor did. The remake will consist of at least (!) three games, and the second part is just coming out!

Source: GameRant