Final Fantasy 8, my very first Final Fantasy, turns 20 this year. We all have that one memory of the first game we put into a brand-new console, and this is mine - the opening sequence on the beach, the waves lapping against the shore, the first strands of Liberi Fatali immediately giving me goosebumps. You always remember your first love, and yet I now know that this game had flaws, especially when you look at it in context of what came before it and what succeeded it.
How do you follow a hit as big as Final Fantasy 7, a game that gave your series a global audience and for many players serves as a blueprint for what Final Fantasy is? The slightly disappointing answer is that you try and give players more of the aesthetic that proved popular. FF7's design featured very modern technology and a theme exploring the ills of misusing technology that is still very topical. FF8 subsequently doubled down on the modern visuals with seemingly adult characters, a modern setting and a very militaristic theme.
Where FF7 stuck with the series' roots with an environmental message, using magic as a metaphor for our own natural resources, FF8 made magic less magical, more utilitarian, an approach signified by the draw mechanic that stands in stark contrast with the impressive, otherworldly summons. Magic in this game is no longer a life force but a poison, causing amnesia and feeding corrupt sorceresses hellbent on disrupting peace. The fantasy elements weren't removed, but gained an unusual negative connotation.
from Eurogamer.net
by February 23, 2019
No comments:
Post a Comment