Final Fantasy 8 had high expectations and a big task to do in regards to taking the reigns from Final Fantasy 7 and carrying the name of Final Fantasy onwards once again. It contains many new features and improved graphics over FF7. Many fans of Final Fantasy 7 did not welcome the new features such as the junction system and deemed the game to be a failure. This not the case as Final Fantasy 8 went along way into advancing Final Fantasy in gameplay and graphics. This is a much debated game, Square took a risk at this game by changing the winning formula of FF7 and creating something new. In minds of different fans, it either succeeded or it failed.

Final Fantasy soon became known for its famous storylines that combined great characters, plots, scenarios and twists and turns and FF8 was no exception. The game features something for everyone, whether it be war, rivallry, friendship or love. The game starts out with Squall Leonhart, a student at balamb garden who doesn't like talking or making friends. Square-Enix did a great job or portraying this character and an even better job of gradually changing his personality throughout the game. FF8 somewhat throws you into the deep end at the start of the game, after watching an intriging introduction sequence you find yourself thrown into flamy caves and missions. This can be very overwhelming and confusing for the first-time player, although you go through the first parts of the game confused, you always find the answers somewhere in the story. One minute your Squall Leonhart the next your..? a galbadian soldier??!

The graphics of Final Fantasy 8 improved once again over Final Fantasy 7 but still retained the old fashion RPG style of the worldmap. One thing disliked about world maps is the un-realistic size, you can be running around and then you notice that you're as big as the town you're about to go into....Other than that, the locations throughout the world were very detailed and the battle system even got a facelift. For the first time character emotions even came to life in the forms of blinking etc. During battles magical attacks and summoning guardian forces had very nice effects attached. The FMV sequences in this game were amazing, they looked so real it was like you were actually there, the quality of these movies was astounding and Square-Enix did a great job producing these sequences.

A debated addition to this game was the junction system. This was either liked or hated and fans opinions were split down the middle. This system was based on what abilites your Guardian Forces knew, what types of magic you had, and how much. There was no such thing as MP (magic points) and you were required to draw magic from enemies or acquire it from draw points etc. Personally there were no faults in this system, it was something new and I found it very easy to use. Limit Breaks were also in this game and characters could learn new and more powerful techniques by upgrading their weapons. Money was also easily acquired in Final Fantasy 8, you were automatically paid a certain amount depending on your SeeD rank at designated intervals throughout the game, this made buying items etc very easy.

The game contains many tedious enjoyable mini-games, the most noticable the "triple-triad" card game. To complete the queen of cards sidequest you must collect all the cards throughout the game including rare cards. You can even turn some cards into rare items that aid you on your journey.

The music of Final Fantasy 8 was again composed by Nobuo Uematsu and this score was incredible. It featured some great music that really went with the scenes your characters were in, songs such as "the landing" really set the scene for a war.

No matter what some fans say, Final Fantasy 8 succeeded in many areas, it may not have taken all the glory from FF7 but it did improve on alot of areas such as graphics and gameplay. Final Fantasy 8 was enjoyable and had some great moments throughout its story, with its new magic system, graphics, gameplay and storyline, this game is something to be proud of.