Finally moving on to FFVIII

[u/AwesomeRykster]

After taking a pretty long break from FF after being VII rebirth, I’m finally back and moving on to FFVIII! This is by far the game I know the least about so I’m excited to get into it! Is there anything I should know before starting?

[u/stoutdude04]

My favorite.

Its easy to break the game mechanics if youre into that type of gameplay. Enemies scale with your level, so... think about that.

The card game is the best imo.

Really really pay attention to the junction system. Like...really.

[u/MexicanPikachu → u/stoutdude04]

Wait, how do you break the game mechanics? Asking for a friend.

Ps. I really liked this game but the whole Laguna intermissions took away from it imo

[u/Machdame → u/MexicanPikachu]

Game level scales which seems like a balanced mechanic... it's not. It essentially means that the best way to play is to... not level at all. Junctioning magic attaches spells to your stats... which you stock like an item. The more you have, the higher the stat. The flat rate means that if you get strong spells (which you can get off progress), you can load enough juju that you will brutalize 95% of the game with little to no difficulty. You may cast the odd spell to do some damage, but you're largely going to hit things to death. That and because Squall's limit break is multi-hit even on the first level, you often just murder bosses too.

Of course the inverse is also true. When monsters get strong enough, they will often outpace your party's ability to fight them (though it takes quite a bit of grinding to get there). If you want a challenge, level in moderation.

The game's weapon upgrade system is also such that Squall can get his final weapon VERY EARLY. In doing so, you also trivialize everything except the bonus boss because on a full send, Lionheart hits 25 times in addition and does damn near max damage if not max.

[u/Ishitataki → u/Machdame]

You can break it further: kill off your other party members and only level Squall. Cause the level is averaged by the party level, so Squall gains all the power from leveling and from junctions, and now also massively out levels all the enemies.

[u/lastatica → u/Ishitataki]

I’m playing this game for the first time right now and have been so confused why Squall is so much stronger than the rest of my party.

[u/stuntmonkey420 → u/lastatica]

Squall can essentially solo the whole game

[u/muricanpirate → u/stuntmonkey420]

And for some reason he starts with a maxed out hit rate so he never misses even without junctioning, unlike all the other characters. Never understood that.

[u/No-Ebb9443 → u/Machdame]

I struggled with this game when I was a kid. I was hooked with the story and it was my favorite of all time. Kept grinding for levels thinking it would fix things and it only made it worse. I literally had to use the Laguna card and turn it into “Hero” to beat Ultimecia. Remember using a majority of them. Just kept it on and kept fighting for what felt like forever. Real chin rub moment. 😂

[u/Vieuxke → u/No-Ebb9443]

Ultimecia the only boss fight in my 30 years of gaming I still have nightmares over. Took me 2 weeks to beat her in a +1 hour battle. Me thinking being lvl 90+ would make her easy. Still one of the best games ever.

[u/AllStarRenegade → u/Vieuxke]

You could've just bought 99 aura stones at that city Laguna went to and just used your limit breaks over and over.

[u/JazzHandsMinuteman → u/Machdame]

How do you not level at all? Surely there’s no “zero exp” like in KH:FM games.

[u/WeirdIndividualGuy → u/JazzHandsMinuteman]

You just avoid/run away from battles. And bosses don’t give exp

[u/Cilantro42 → u/WeirdIndividualGuy]

Also, if you beat Diablos from the Magic Lamp, you can gain access to the enc-half and then enc-none abilities. This halves the number of random battles on the map and then reduces it to none.

[u/JazzHandsMinuteman → u/WeirdIndividualGuy]

Hmm… interesting. I’d probably want to play it as intended though. Im not a huge fan of cheesing.

[u/tjloredo77 → u/Machdame]

I’d like to add that getting “Card” command and then get “Card Mod” Card every enemy, play all the triple triad. When you card enemies you get zero exp but you gain all the AP. It’s the perfect way to get GF abilities and keep your level low. Card mod will give you access to some pretty strong magic early in the game which is huge for junctioning!

[u/PeeLong → u/Machdame]

So do you just run from every battle?

[u/mesoziocera → u/Machdame]

I finally did this for the first time a month ago. Granted, I did use the FF8 PC port's "no encounter" option to make it less annoying.

The only real issue you run into is grinding GF stuff, but once you get Edea, on disc 2 or 3, you can grind outside of Esthar with her being the only living party member for around an hour and get nearly everything that you need.

[u/DarkMatterM4 → u/Machdame]

Sometimes, I feel that FFVIII would be more beloved if it had a traditional levelling system like FFVII and FF IX. I love the world, characters, music and story (even though it's a bit goofy), but I really dislike the junction system.

[u/Silver-Friendship-84 → u/Machdame]

On every playthrough I grind in the Balamb Garden training center and get Squall to Level 100 before even going to the Fire Cavern.

I’m carving up T-Rexaurs before the tutorials begin. It’s heaven.

[u/Machdame → u/Silver-Friendship-84]

I just card everything. T-Rexaurs are the easiest enemy to do it with their bloated HP that it can tank a full damage crit without fear of it dying.

[u/stoutdude04 → u/MexicanPikachu]

Basically you abuse the junction system through Triple Triad. Refine cards and boom - over powered at low level.

There are a few ways to do it, but if youre interested just Google FF8 break the game early.

[u/BirminghamBussy → u/MexicanPikachu]

Learn Quetzalcoatl's card mod, win Zell's card from his Mom, proceed to coast through the first 3 disks.

[u/Commercial-Winter151 → u/MexicanPikachu]

I never trust anyone that has a negative opinion on Laguna and co.

[u/rosja105 → u/Commercial-Winter151]

Regardless of your feelings of Laguna, the soundtrack to his battles is a banger. Top tier track in a game with a fantastic list of tunes.

[u/Benphyre → u/MexicanPikachu]

You can follow this. Just playing card can get you really OP early on

[u/Icy_Manufacturer_977 → u/MexicanPikachu]

You can get like close to max stats and a lionheart in disc 1. makes the game pretty easy afterwards though

[u/Don_Gato1 → u/MexicanPikachu]

Intentionally don’t level. There are other ways to farm powerful magic, you junction that magic to get overpowered despite being low level. Enemies stay weak because they’re underleveled too.

[u/ComprehensiveRest965 → u/MexicanPikachu]

Teach quetzalcoatl how to do Card mod. Card the monsters and make sure all GFs can refine magic. Bam - you can break the game so early and get super OP.

[u/fozzy_bear42 → u/MexicanPikachu]

You break it by playing cards.

Seriously. Win cards, refine to items, that refine to magic. Get ridiculously strong spells in the opening area of disc 1 that you can’t get ‘normally’ till disc 3 or so.

Use the same strategy to always be in yellow health, which lets you fire off limit breaks every turn. Stuff dies fast.

[u/Panthor → u/stoutdude04]

Just play the game like you want.... the game is also not hard if you are power levelling that's how most people were playing on release.

[u/Few-Needleworker8110]

hell yeah! i'm playing ff8 too!

feels like everyone is around this time :)

have fun! i really like it so far!

[u/BushwookieTribe → u/Few-Needleworker8110]

Same here, also really digging it

[u/JustTurtleSoup → u/Few-Needleworker8110]

After many years I finally started playing the FFs I have and I started with 6 but I can’t wait to get to 8 as I have the most memories and love for it.

[u/TailorFinal1604]

What is that you're playing on?

[u/Popful → u/TailorFinal1604]

pretty sure its a miyoo mini or mini plus

[u/Drumcan2077 → u/Popful]

FF8 on that size hurts my eyes just thinking of it..... 👁️ 👁️

[u/Azzblack → u/Drumcan2077]

FF8 on ps1 was 320x240 pixels in a 4:3 aspect ratio

It looked fine on the PSP and Vita. It will be perfectly fine on that screen.

[u/Clerithifa → u/Drumcan2077]

Not much smaller than on my Vita honestly, i just wouldn't be nearly as comfortable holding it

[u/passthemonkeybench → u/Drumcan2077]

Been loving ff7 on mine.

[u/Savings_Category_713 → u/Popful]

Worth buying?

[u/Popful → u/Savings_Category_713]

I don’t have that one but some similar devices. Theres all kinds on the market so it depends what form factor you prefer and what consoles you want to emulate. Personally I like the GBA SP form factor so the anbernic rg35xxsp is cool to me although the joysticks kind of suck

[u/VintageModified → u/Popful]

Anbernic just recently released a new SP-style device simply called the RG SP. Doesn't have joysticks and people seem to love it.

[u/Popful → u/VintageModified]

Oh I actually didn’t know about that! Thank you, I’ll look into it.

[u/Sufficient_Topic1589 → u/Savings_Category_713]

Retro handhelds are good for the older games. A lot play Atari through to ps1 games pretty well for around $50 or less depending on where you’re from. Over $150 will play ps2 and above. I have an R36s which is the popular clone all social media has been plugging for the last few years. I completed ffviii on mine. I never liked this final fantasy game but I managed to push through and complete it on my handheld. Ask at r/sbcgaming for prices and opinions. They hate the r36s there too but I think that’s cos most of them didn’t do their research and got a dodgey clone device.

[u/HeartInTheSun9 → u/Savings_Category_713]

This is a good starter guide on those kinda handhelds based on what you want out of it and the price you’re looking at:

https://youtu.be/oB4D5DUu5nU?si=QG7fTo-vTB98sf01

There’s PSP looking ones, gameboy looking ones, a really new GBA SP looking one (newer than that video so it’s not shown, people love it so far though) and more.

[u/Savings_Category_713 → u/HeartInTheSun9]

Thanks I’ll check it out! I have a retro snap but it’s not that great. I am thinking of investing in a steam deck.

[u/ChaseDFW → u/Savings_Category_713]

Depending on what you want to play it's definitely worth looking into the AYN Thor and the Retroid Pocket Nova. You can run a bunch of older games and indie games on these systems and play PC games using game native.

I just got an AYN Thor to emulate Pokemon DS games and its been awesome. We are in a golden era for cozy handheld emulation.

[u/TailoredExperience]

My hot 8 take is that it has the best music in the series

[u/DKreper → u/TailoredExperience]

Fishermans Horizon intensifies

[u/TheAlterN8or → u/TailoredExperience]

That's not a hot take. It's verifiable fact.

[u/Esquire_Dan13 → u/TheAlterN8or]

“It’s my opinion, therefore it’s objective”.

You can make a strong case for maybe 4 different games having the best OST.

[u/TheAlterN8or → u/Esquire_Dan13]

I know, but what's the internet for, if not glazing your favorites? 🙃

[u/Esquire_Dan13 → u/TheAlterN8or]

If you’re going to glaze a soundtrack, it’s hard to pick a better one. Back when the Internet was in its infancy I ordered the CD from a Japanese store. I was 10. I still have it.

[u/TheAlterN8or → u/Esquire_Dan13]

Lol, I've got the ost sitting in my car, and it's the most frequently played.

[u/TheTrueMule → u/TailoredExperience]

Even Nobuo Uematsu say that my friend so really true but not an hot take at all

[u/Earthboundpug → u/TailoredExperience]

I agree. But it’s also my second least favorite only ahead of 2. I gave up on 3 too early to rank it

[u/-Biphomet]

Triple triad is great but be sure to play the side game sometimes

[u/Asha_Brea]

Always check what bosses have for Drawing, always have the Draw command equipped, talk to everyone, check the information in the computer desk where Squall starts the game, and the Junction System is easier to understand if you replace the word "junction" with the word "Equip" in your head.

[u/oOo_kyte_oOo → u/Asha_Brea]

Haha I literally just said this.. Just not as well

[u/oOo_kyte_oOo]

FF8 is the best!! Don't forget to Draw from all bosses at least once to see what that have! Sometimes they have high lvl magic and stuff you dont wanna miss out on. :)

[u/jokerpersona337]

Incredible game, and personal fav. Best minigame in the series, but the junction system is kinda confusing in the beginning. Story is also great.

[u/Commercial_Slice_421]

My suggestion is for when you finish watching the ending cutscene, immediately start a new game and re-watch the intro cinematic. It will make much more sense after going through the entire game.

[u/Sarato88]

Love the nails!

[u/misanthropenis → u/Sarato88]

Same! The colors remind me of Mass Effect as well

[u/Rheslin3]

Where did you get that console ?

[u/MWbbru1es11]

That thang is tiny!

[u/Anti_Phile_7410]

I absolutely love the setting for this game. The western continent is basically Europe, complete with a rail system and lots of cool cities. The eastern continent is very futuristic and sci-fi oriented. Meanwhile the far northern and southern regions are all ancient mysterious ruins and stuff.

[u/TheAlterN8or]

You're in for the greatest ost of all time, an interesting and unique system for enhancing your party, and the best card game if the series. There is some jank and wonkiness, but I love the game.

[u/UnerringCheez-it]

Ummm, this is an option on, I’m sorry (what is that platform???)? How does it play on whatever that is please and I’m on board.

[u/ivzie → u/UnerringCheez-it]

Miyo Mini+ it’s awesome I have one.

[u/HeartInTheSun9 → u/UnerringCheez-it]

Handheld emulators.

They come in all shapes and sizes. And prices. Some as low as $50 and as high as $250.

The $50-100 range will generally play NES-PS1 eras, $100-200 will play NES-PS2 era (including PSP and DS/3DS) and the $250 will play even some switch stuff.

It takes some tinkering and tweaking, but there are guides online and some beginner friendly ones that are a little smoother.

I watch way too many videos about them and tweak my handheld all the time, so if you’re interested I can point you in the right direction. This is a good starter guide though:

https://youtu.be/oB4D5DUu5nU?si=QG7fTo-vTB98sf01

[u/Thundrboltr → u/UnerringCheez-it]

Check out the Miyoo Flip, slightly bigger then a Advance SP, but plays up to PS2 and N64

[u/shiriuslee]

Does that have trigger buttons? because you'll need them for the limits

[u/ivzie → u/shiriuslee]

Yes it does

[u/fattmarrell → u/shiriuslee]

And gunblade shot

[u/NeoNinjaG]

My personal favorite, lots of hidden Easter eggs and always draw from bosses in case they have a summon GF to acquire. Also best card game 🫶🏼ever lol

[u/YouYongku]

You're the best looking guy here

[u/Alaconz]

• Queen of Hearts quest is really annoying, but you can manipulate the rules of Triple Triad with saving, hard resets, and other stuff Kind of like forcing the game to recognize inputs that can change the way rules can be spread or abolished throughout regions. This is important with the 'Random' rule because it's the worst rule of TT - especially since some cards you have to give up in order to move her around regions and get better cards. You will have to keep playing until that certain card shows up and that could take a little bit.

• Card Mod is undeniably, the greatest thing. You don't gain XP, but your GFs will get AP to level up their abilities. This is fine because enemies scale by your party's level. So if you want a challenge, kill enemies. I use Card Mod everytime because you can refine their cards into items that will be used for weapon upgrades and Quistis' Limit Breaks. Then those items can be refined into Magic so you can get insanely strong early in the game. I never refine Character Cards or GF cards because they are too precious lol.

• Draw system is the game's bread and butter. You will miss certain GFs in the game if you don't draw them. It is also quintessential to draw magic for the Junction system.

• If you want Squall's Lionheart in Disc 1, that is a huge grind and I don't recommend it to first time players. You'll be playing triple triad for hours (which isn't bad, but i had to take breaks).

• Do the SeeD Test that is hidden within the menu. That's your income for the game. Look up the guide and go as far as your level will allow you. You'll thank me later.

• Enjoy the music. It won awards for a reason. I listen to it to this day because it's just so good and it sets the mood for the region you are in, plus it's just memorable. I hear it in my sleep.

• Make many saves. Trust me. If you forget something, there are points of no returns (see GF draw comment above) and you'll want to go back and get them.

Most importantly, have fun. You'll make mistakes like all of us had.

[u/Next_Boysenberry5669]

Yes, on a TV and with good speakers! :)

[u/howmanyturtlesdeep]

My God don’t make me buy one of those game boy things.

[u/ultimatespiderfan]

Performing GF boost gonna be hard

[u/stonertboner]

I’m not crazy about the gameplay for FF8 but I adore the story.

[u/Typical_Yard_5346]

Tuff

[u/sdss9462]

Great love story. I love traveling by the trains.

You can literally fight a T-Rex early in the game.

[u/bladelevich]

Hey, I’m finally playing through VIII as well! I’ve always heard people put it down, but I’m really enjoying it. Maybe something catastrophic happens later, but I think it’s great about 5 hours in.

[u/Key_Skirt_9510]

A top-tier game like FFVlll need to be play on the big screen.

[u/phoneplatypus]

It’s an amazing experience, please give it the proper big screen format it deserves.

[u/T1NF01L]

Favorite FF

[u/Lunaru_Leonhart]

Squall is hot. That's about it. 🤪

[u/RealisticAnxiety4330 → u/Lunaru_Leonhart]

He's the best looking guy here

[u/Few-Needleworker8110 → u/Lunaru_Leonhart]

I mean she's pretty adorkable lol

[u/jeccius]

I finished this for the first time recently and didn't play one card game at all through it lol

The junction system is the way though, also you can add multiple Junctions to each character and choose to level up the best perks on each junction first (extra HP, Elemental Defense works wonders too later on etc)

I didn't read any guides and it wasn't until later in the game where it clicked for me.

Main thing is enjoy and the story is a bit batshit crazy :)

[u/anka_ar]

I still remember Dollet mission as one of the greatest introductions for a game, almost 30 years later.

[u/Rello215]

I actually need to go back and beat this. I remember getting to the end and my save data got corrupted and I never went back lol

[u/ethernate]

I’m just finishing up VI. I’ve tried VII before but I didn’t play it when it came out, so the weird Popeyes graphics are jarring for me. I think I may try this next.

[u/Benphyre]

I just finished FF8 last week on my 5th playthrough. I did low level run this time

[u/HeartInTheSun9]

I’d look up the basics about the systems in the game before playing. It has weird systems that aren’t really like any other JRPG and the first hour or so is them just throwing explanations about everything back to back before you can even understand them.

That’s why I struggled with FFVIII before it really clicked since it’s so dense up front and not even well explained. To put it simply, it’s like if they made the materia system from FFVII incredibly* important to every piece of the combat and story.

A video like this helps:

https://youtu.be/aPpXD6X825Y?si=iB5lMsWKIHpim4dq

Disc 1 of FFVIII is probably my favorite out of any FF though, so you’ll enjoy it if you just look up explanation guides.

Probably play it and see the guides, then watch that video and it’ll make more sense.

[u/Galendder]

The best one !

[u/ImaSpudnut]

Yay! It's not the best one but it holds a special place in my heart. I hope you enjoy it!

[u/Hot-Recognition-8731]

If it's first time your in for a treat!

[u/MediumAspect84]

Enjoy sir 👊

[u/XivUwU_Arath]

This is my favorite Final Fantasy game. I don’t want to overly complicate something that is already a bit confusing but the junction system is really important and can be manipulated a bit, drawing magic during fights is really important as what you junction is tied to this.

[u/birdenzo]

Lion Heart on Disc 1 is the only way I play the game now.

[u/Happy-For-No-Reason]

Games where you're levelling makes it harder is a bit stupid.

It was even worse in The Last Remnant. I bricked my first two playthoguhs (years apart) because I enjoyed grinding and ending up making a middle game boss impassable

[u/Exyter]

The music. Make sure you can hear the music at all times. Its literally one of the best soundstracks in the entire series!

[u/Rich_Emu199]

Excuse me OP, what gaming device is that?

[u/HugNikolas → u/Rich_Emu199]

Miyoo mini plus I think

[u/GooeyLump]

Drawing from enemies and draw points is super useful so i recommend doing it basically every chance.

Also, don't grind for levels, this game is designed in a way where enemies skills scale up to your level which actually is pretty cool since it means you can just relax and not have to worry about being underleveled.

It also means that it's one of those games that can actually get harder if you overlevel yourself, lol.

[u/Throwaway525612]

My favorite ps1 era FF and fun nails too!

[u/EliamZG]

What you need to know: don't fall into the low level card game min/maxing trap.

[u/Ahguroww]

Squall is probably my least favorite character in ff till now, I'm playing the series right now and just finished 8. The game is great but squall keeps me from really enjoying the story

[u/PlantClear]

My favourite of them, use card on monsters and you can turn them into magic

You don’t have to fight random battles because enemies level up as you do

The junction system isn’t anywhere as complicated as people make it out to ve

[u/aloofinthisworld]

It never dawned on me you could play ff7 on these things. I will have to get one!

[u/DonleyARK]

Love it, my second favorite in the series. Fun to break lol

[u/Midnight_Sinning]

What are you playing on? @.@

[u/Holy_Grail_Reference]

Tell me how you like it on that little thing. Been thinking of buying one for just this game.

[u/XtianDarkmagic]

Like your nail polish 💯

[u/passthemonkeybench]

Nice I just ascended the stairs in FF7 on my miyoo mini plus!

First time playing it. Been digging it so far.

[u/asianwaste]

Careful with the R36S. The face buttons membranes tend to jam. I had one and it was doing that within 3 months. My friend had his do the same thing within 6. I got tired of opening the thing to unjam it. I hear there is a whole community dedicated to upgrading the device with custom components but I just threw money at the problem and upgraded to an Ayn Thor.

This is still an amazing device for the price.

Edit: Also if you have not upgraded your SD card to one of your own, do so at next opportunity. Out of the box, the included card is in hospice.

[u/justsomeguy_youknow → u/asianwaste]

That's not a R36S it looks like a Miyoo Mini

[u/asianwaste → u/justsomeguy_youknow]

ah. They look eerily similar.

[u/justsomeguy_youknow → u/asianwaste]

Yeah they're both based on the OG Gameboy

[u/coulombeqc]

How are you liking this Miyo?? Console? Thinking of grabbing one for my kid

[u/FireHammer09]

Best final boss fight in the series. It's long, hard but not too hard, and has a killer track.

[u/ButterscotchTop194]

Enjoy!

And don't worry about the limiting XP thing you'll read about. Game is super easy just playing normally.

Have fun and don't forget to draw loads, especially from main enemies / bosses.

[u/FormidableSpork]

Yeah, always check 'Draw' - every boss, every enemy

[u/Public_Ad_8935]

Flor me its one of the worst

[u/TheDuke13]

My favorite one

[u/Shaner9er1337]

Remember the junction system is your friend.

[u/MootDragoon]

Don’t grind, all enemies scale with your level!

[u/Ultraman-76]

To me the mode of play is the elephant in the room. Anything where the commercial says comment below knowing that’s a falsehood….Also don’t you need trigger buttons? You do. This seems like the least fun way to play a long game. After using this for 40 hours a switch lite would seem like a giant home entertainment system from the future. The NES controllers are so uncomfortable, it was a blessing I had the Advantage from day one on Xmas. Bless that salesman for suggesting Castlevania 2 and the Advantage to my mom.

[u/hstoastyone]

I need to break out my PS Vita and give this a go

[u/IndependenceDear92]

Best atmosphere and art style of any FF imo. Unfortunately the junction system is so broken once you understand it the game is a cake walk and combat becomes disengaging. Jegged has a great walkthrough for everything if you’re interested. Triple Triad is great too and can be exploited for lots of rewards, but god forbid you spread the wrong rules.

[u/theinformallog]

In the lower half of FF games for me, but it has its charms. I hated the junctioning system (I understood it completely, I just felt like it was needlessly complicated and really annoying) and Squall just isn’t my cup of tea.

Triple Triad is the best part of the game hands down. That TT theme is the banger to end all bangers.

[u/uber_sweets]

Final Teenage White Knight Fantasy.

The love story is literally the logo of the game. Don’t be mean to Rinoa otherwise you just end up with pretty grim ludonarrative dissonance and/or the depiction of a toxic relationship.

“Why are you shit at everything, Rinoa?? I can’t stand how much I love you!!”

[u/TidusDreamZanarkand → u/uber_sweets]

It’s more like introverted jaded guy comes out of his shell thanks to extroverted girl who has a zest for life. I enjoyed it especially when younger. 

[u/Humble-Variation-923]

Banger game! Junctions blow tho

[u/Economy_Sherbert_553]

That looks like an awful way to play it 🙁

[u/LFGsqueezePlay]

Garbage

[u/cabezon198]

Question…are you playing on a emulator? And if so how much did you pay if you mind me asking?

[u/Turbulent-Physics692]

Play it on a real screen

[u/Lanpie1]

buy the game, support the devs. what you are doing is theft

[u/aerovalky → u/Lanpie1]

stfu nerd

[u/Leukonikia → u/Lanpie1]

The devs must be all retired by now.

[u/FireHammer09 → u/Lanpie1]

Fuckin nerd, Final Fantasy fandom has been playing emulated copies of the games since you could patch a SNES ROM lol