November has begun, and that means PlayStation and Xbox game subscription services are changing their lineups around again. This typically means that a chunk of games are being added to these services, and a smaller number of games are being dropped.PlayStation Plus will be gaining a new batchcontainingKingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning,Knockout City, andThe Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, among some other games. Xbox Game Pass has a much more impressive lineup of newcomers this month, including major games likeGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Definitive Edition,The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition, andForza Horizon 5alongside indie darlings likeIt Takes TwoandOne Step From Eden.
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Final Fantasy 8 is Worth Revisiting
Final Fantasy 8holds an interesting place in the legacy ofFinal Fantasy. The game is one of the franchise’s black sheep, though it’s less unfavorably viewed than some others. A large part of this was that it struggled to match the reputation ofFinal Fantasy 7in many fans' eyes, and also suffered from being a more experimental entry.
Final Fantasy 8does not play by the rules of past games when it comes to powering up the main party, and getting the magic and summons to Junction to party members stats can be rather tedious. There are ways to make it enjoyable, but engaging with the deeper mechanics of the game often feels like spiralling off into a bizarre realm of side content and exploits.
That doesn’t mean the game is bad, however; in fact, it’s far from it.Final Fantasy 8still provides the same tried-and-true ATB combat as many of its PS1 and SNES brethren. Even though levelling and arranging stats were obtuse, they weren’t that disruptive if a player just wants to complete the game. And it was a game worth completing;Final Fantasy 8is one of the few entriesthat has a strong focus on a core romance that involves the protagonist Squall coming out of his shell thanks to Rinoa and appreciating his other party members more. While the rest of the cast isn’t much to speak of, the world is still a bizarre and interesting place, and cutaways to Laguna’s story will come to feel surprisingly welcome.
Many other good things could be said about the game’s music and visuals, and mention of the experimental final dungeon also deserves to be made. However,Final Fantasy 8’s main contribution toFinal Fantasyas a whole, and perhaps even to JRPGs in general, is Triple Triad.Triple Triad is the most famous minigameto ever appear inFinal Fantasy, and it has since been remade both as a standalone game and a side attraction inFinal Fantasy 14. This seemingly basic card game revolutionized how minigames were approached in the franchise.
There are layers as to how big of an asset Triple Triad is toFinal Fantasy 8. It’s deeply ingrained into the game world, with NPCs everywhere being eligible for matches. Players will constantly be gaining new cards featuring familiar faces, and there are many different rulesets to encounter. There are even Triple Triad-centric sidequests and a roaming NPC who can alter a region’s ruleset. It really feels like an entire virtual trading card game was inserted into this full-length JRPG. It even plays back into the complex spell junctioning system, with cards being eligible to be turned into items and spells that can boost stats.
Final Fantasy 8 – Remasteredis available now on Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
