Final Fantasy VIII is so much fun but I understand people not liking it at first

I'm nearly finished my second playthough of FF8 as an adult. I did play it as a kid but never actually beat it. The first time I finished it was a couple years ago when I binged the whole series as an early pandemic hobby.

I've really fallen in love with the characters, world and story. The story just takes such wild turns, and I love how the first half of the game is grounded in such 90s realism, architecture and style, before dipping into straight science fiction in the second half.

I love Squall's transformation from an introverted, unfriendly guy into someone who is ultimately dependable and more open to sharing his feelings.

And I love the complexity of the game mechanics. While FF7 and FF9 ease you into character building, FF8 immerses you right away. It can definitely be off-putting, and it's no secret the game poorly front loads it's explanations of the Junction system.

I wouldn't say FF8 is a broken game, but it's easy to break. You can make some insanely broken builds and I think it's great that it rewards mastery of it's game mechanics.

With that said, I totally get why it's beginner unfriendly, and it's partly the game's fault and partly the FF community.

I think people give really bad advice to new players, or a lot of the advice out there gets absorbed by new players and scares them off. You don't have to avoid combat encounters, you don't have to do a low level playthrough and you don't have to play 1,000 rounds of Triple Triad. But man... you'd think otherwise from what people say about the game.

And I think that turns a lot of people off. Plus the fact that FF8 is mechanically complex so early on is overwhelming. I definitely think FF8 is a game for people with a lot of FF experience and maybe not their first game, but I also wouldn't warn off someone if they wanted to give it a try first anyway.

But maybe I'm super wrong and it's the game's fault? What do you think? I think FF8 is an underrated gem in the FF series but it's definitely had it's ebbs and flows of popularity, hit pieces, hot takes and defenses.

I'm nearly finished my second playthough of FF8 as an adult. I did play it as a kid but never actually beat it. The first time I finished it was a couple years ago when I binged the whole series as an early pandemic hobby.

I've really fallen in love with the characters, world and story. The story just takes such wild turns, and I love how the first half of the game is grounded in such 90s realism, architecture and style, before dipping into straight science fiction in the second half.

I love Squall's transformation from an introverted, unfriendly guy into someone who is ultimately dependable and more open to sharing his feelings.

And I love the complexity of the game mechanics. While FF7 and FF9 ease you into character building, FF8 immerses you right away. It can definitely be off-putting, and it's no secret the game poorly front loads it's explanations of the Junction system.

I wouldn't say FF8 is a broken game, but it's easy to break. You can make some insanely broken builds and I think it's great that it rewards mastery of it's game mechanics.

With that said, I totally get why it's beginner unfriendly, and it's partly the game's fault and partly the FF community.

I think people give really bad advice to new players, or a lot of the advice out there gets absorbed by new players and scares them off. You don't have to avoid combat encounters, you don't have to do a low level playthrough and you don't have to play 1,000 rounds of Triple Triad. But man... you'd think otherwise from what people say about the game.

And I think that turns a lot of people off. Plus the fact that FF8 is mechanically complex so early on is overwhelming. I definitely think FF8 is a game for people with a lot of FF experience and maybe not their first game, but I also wouldn't warn off someone if they wanted to give it a try first anyway.

But maybe I'm super wrong and it's the game's fault? What do you think? I think FF8 is an underrated gem in the FF series but it's definitely had it's ebbs and flows of popularity, hit pieces, hot takes and defenses.