|
|
Last year, Final Fantasy VII's move from the PlayStation to the PC was hampered by poor video support, horrid load times, and graphics that highlighted the fact that low-res textures had been unceremoniously ported into high-res, with block-tastic results. You'd think that the developers of the latest FF, then, might have learned something from past experience and addressed these issues. Or perhaps not.
The PC version of Final Fantasy VIII suffers from the same primary failing that plagued its predecessor - the unmistakable, malodorous feel of a port. Once again, the game suffers from the lack of high-res backgrounds. This is logically understandable - after all, the game is designed specifically for the PlayStation's lower resolutions, so all the artwork is tweaked and modified to look the best it can at far less than the PC version's 640x480. But while understandable, it's still not terribly nice to look at. Tickets
Fortunately, this is really the only major problem as far as the port goes. The bugs that plagued FF7's video support, controller difficulties, and even sound problems have all been fixed in this release. The rest of the game works exactly like its PlayStation counterpart, including the save points. In some cases, the PC even looks better, especially during the cinematic combat scenes - the 3D-accelerated graphics look even more stunning than the already eye-popping PSX version.
The game itself, however, leaves a lot to be desired. Although almost as highly anticipated as its predecessor, Final Fantasy VIII falls just a tad flat when compared to it. Granted, the graphics, depth, storyline, and character development are just as intricate and involved, but this one saddles you with micro- management of characters and even more linear gameplay that forces you along a set path with few options.
The story focuses on a fellow by the name of Squall, a student at the military institution SEED. The game starts with you taking control of Squall before his final admissions test to get into SEED. Needless to say, his student training leads to more than simple guard duty at the local garrison. Once again in SquareSoft style, the story progresses without the players' input or real choices about how he should act or interact with other characters. The player is merely there to discover the storyline, battle by battle.
The combat works very similarly to the previous Final Fantasy games. As players wander across a landscape, random encounters occur with a variety of creatures. The game cuts to a battle screen, where players wait for their characters' turn to choose an action. Characters can cast spells, attack with their weapon, use an item, summon a Guardian Force, or draw magic out of the enemy. Guardian Forces are huge creatures that cause the most damage, and send the game into the long scripted sequences that, while lovely to look at, get rather tedious the eight or ninth time you see them - and players will likely be summoning the same Forces hundreds of times during the course of the game. Nap time, folks.
One of the big differences with this game, which also serves to add a lot of unnecessary complexity, is the new Junction system. Using Guardian Forces, players can "junction" certain magic to character stats in order to increase abilities. The Forces gain experience along with the character after battles, and can learn to junction different abilities or grant special skills to the character. Also, rather than using something as mundane as "Mana" or "Magic Points" to cast spells, players have to use the Draw skill to get magic from the enemy in order to cast it or junction it with the characters - and the more of a certain magic is carried by the character, the more the stat it's junctioned to increases.
If it sounds confusing, that's because it sure as hell is. Granted, it lends the game a lot of depth and strategy, but it ultimately detracts from the overall fun. Even though the game has an automated way of Junctioning characters, to really do it right requires a ton of micro-management that means players will spend almost as much time in the Junction menus as they will playing the game.
When all is said and done, Final Fantasy VIII is still a decent, if not amazing, roleplaying game. And while the PC game tries really hard to do the PlayStation original justice, it comes up wanting. It might serve well as an "RPG-lite" between more nourishing fare, but at a time when there have never been more great options out there for PC roleplayers, there's no need to make a serious investment in this.