The game starts with a beautiful intro. Waves rolling on a beach, a field of colorful flowers, a powerful song in the background. You see a cute black-haired girl. Then the music gets more exciting and the visuals fade into a heated battle between two young, handsome characters. Blood splatters and feathers fly and the game begins...
You are Squall Leonheart. A nonchalant, ignorant student in an amazing school. This game was the following in the Final Fantasy legacy of the legendary Final Fantasy VII. The first thing I noticed was the graphics. They were much more developed than its predecessor. And the beautiful cut scenes were unforgettable. The people were designed a lot more realistic. The backdrops were usually bright and detailed. The battling graphics were very nice as well.
The battling system was a lot different that what everyone was used to. The invention of "Drawing Magic" was hated and loved in a lot of views. This battle technique involved recieving your magic from monsters and using a turn to suck a few spells from a foe. Some people didn't like this. I thought it was clever to get you more invovled in the fight, but it does get aggravating when you need a Cure spell and you forgot that you just plum ran out.
The storyline was based on love. A good storyline to have as well. It is also the famous struggle between good and evil. It has a very clever twist. And I did like the GF system. A bit complicated, but fun.
Well, that's my review and overall I give Final Fantasy 8 out of 10 stars. ********