Let's Commence the FF8 Bashing! (Or, how to enjoy bad games)

by Shane Turner

Having just finished FF8 (and it took me 50 hours) I am naturally curious to other's reactions towards the game. Immediately I stumble upon a wide variety of online reviews.. some proclaiming this game as "the best RPG ever" and others proclaiming it as... well.. not so great.

A realization came over me first about a year ago when I read the PCGAMER online review of FF7. The reviewer complained that "the game only took me 30 hours" and he said it was too linear and gave it a low mark. Now, anyone who's played the game knows that you can tear through it in 30 hours, but you won't get the gold chocobo, you won't beat emerald weapon, you probably won't go on Vincent's side quest either.

In fact, you'll probably play only half the game. I noticed that a few month later PCGAMER pulled down that review and put a much more positive one up. Why? Obviously the initial reviewer wasn't familiar with console style RPGs, and he prejudged the game as being too linear, and rushed his way through it. The wrong guy reviewed the game, and he reviewed it on invalid criteria.

I noticed this again with FF8 reviews. One recent review stated "You have to use the GF summons over and over again until it gets boring!" Well, that's ridiculous. If you experiment with the junction system, you can practically beat the game with physical attacks alone, and I speak from experience here. Actually, there are many ways to enhance and customize your characters, adding to the variety of gameplay. The same review also stated that "Squall is a jerk who never once reciprocates Rinoa's love." This gave clear evidence that the reviewer never even finished the game; all of disc 3 is Squall trying to save Rinoa out of one jam after another, and he ends up totally falling for her, thinking about her all the time. And the ending sequence.. well.. I won't spoil it. :-)

Another review stated "Were the music in any other game it would be awesome, but because its in the Final Fantasy series I expect more." Which is pretty much an inconsistency in judgement: first implying Final Fantasy games have the best music of any games, (which is not true, there are many other very fine soundtracks out there). Secondly, it states that the music is awesome, but at the same time, its not awesome because its part of Final Fantasy, a contradiction. In reality whether or not the soundtrack is great is a matter of one's own opinion.

So, what do you do when you read a review? Read between the lines. Look at why the reviewer rates a game a certain way. Is the reviewer basing his rating solely on.. his opinion, or facts? My point is, not to run around distrusting all online reviews.. but to realize that 90% of the time they are just people spouting off opinions (yes, even the ones who think FF8 is a masterpiece).

The best way to enjoy a game is to free yourself from others opinions and just play it yourself. It's surprising how much you'll enjoy a game if you play it for fun, rather than to pick it apart and post arguments about it on an internet server somewhere on the other side of the world.