final fantasy 8

[ganjafarmer1]

sorry guys im a noobie here but is there any info you guys can give me about playing final fantasy 8

[Mystic]

Umm... ok
Here's every answer to the seed tests.
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No Yes No No No No Yes No No No

Final Fantasy 7 and 9 are better...
Maybe be a little more specific?

[ganjafarmer1]

iight i mean on an emulater

[Mystic]

There's nothing that you really need to know to play it, turn it on and go. If you have a problem(black scree, emu crashes, ect...), that's where we come in.

[ganjafarmer1]

iight well to play it i have to download it in parts first do i need to download all the parts to play or can i just start with disc 1?

[Mystic]

You don't download anything, you rip an ISO from your own disc. That's the only legal way.

[ganjafarmer1]

ah cant talk about that shit then eh

[notanemuexpert]

You're wrong, VIII is waaay better than VII and IX.

[Mystic]

No way Squall was a pussy compared to Cloud and Zidane.

Besides, you don't even update your weapons in 8. You get 1 and just add junk to it. You can get Squall's final weapon in disc one... fail...

[notanemuexpert]

Cloud was a pussy. Remember disc 1 after he gave Meteor to Sephiroth and you had to watch him whine about how afraid he was? I sure do because I just replayed 7 a few weeks ago in HD.

Squall was a good character because you watched as his character and personality contradicted each other. By the end of the game you noted incremental changes in his character as opposed to other main characters in the series.

I bet you're one of those fools who also thinks Sephiroth was more badass than Kefka, aren't you?

[Newbie#1337]

I gotta go with Mystic. 8 was garbage. There was no point in lvling up in that game. I would get squall really high lvl then monsters were his lvl but everyone els sucked. It was retarded. Was the plot good? Eh it was so so. Were the graphics good? Yes. Did the game still suck? Yes.

I am truly hoping for good things from FF XIII and Versus. But thats gonna be another gazillion years in the making so I'll be an old man by then and probably wont care about games as much then.

[notanemuexpert]

I gotta go with Mystic. 8 was garbage. There was no point in lvling up in that game. I would get squall really high lvl then monsters were his lvl but everyone els sucked. It was retarded. Was the plot good? Eh it was so so. Were the graphics good? Yes. Did the game still suck? Yes.

I am truly hoping for good things from FF XIII and Versus. But thats gonna be another gazillion years in the making so I'll be an old man by then and probably wont care about games as much then.

Wait, you leveled up in VIII? That only shows you no had clue how the game worked.

The game was amazing because of the fact it was unique. The game had the most in-depth character stat building system and actually expected you understand that you were supposed to stay as low as a level possible. Maybe dumbing down the series like they did with IX was a good thing; sorry you didn't understand VIII.

I also forgot to mention the fact VIII had the best musical score in the series.

[Mystic]

Newbie is completely right. Every RPG in the world works on the basis the higher lvl you are the stronger you are. So at some point in ever FF game you had to grind out a few lvls to progress. In 8 you can just haul ass through the story (which wasn't very good anyway, "Our summonz are stealing our memorys... oh noz!")

It just seems to me that Final Fantasy VIII was made for little kids who don't have the patients grind out lvls, and do all the side shit. FFVII had tons of side stuff you could do, plus it had all the weapons that let you test your skill.

Edit : Yes Sephiroth was a complete hard ass, did you see his big ass sword? You don't fuck with that :P

[Newbie#1337]

Again, Mystic is correct. I have replayed FF7 about 40+ times and it never gets boring. In truth I prefer playing games on the actual console rather than use an emulator. However there have not been many good RPGs lately. Unless you count the new RPG (Last Remnant i think?) for the 360 (which I dont own) so most of the good ones are the old ones for ps1/2. And naturally those are difficult to track down. But downloading roms online is illegal so I wouldnt dare do something like that. <.<;

In FF9 you had massive side quests and bosses/normal monsters that blew the final game boss out of the water. Such as Osmos.

In FF7 you have Emerald and Ruby Weapon. For me the fun part of this game is beating Emerald and Ruby weapon before reaching lvl 99 and without Knights of the round. It can be quit challenging without Omnislash or Knighs of round.

In FF8 alls you do is zoom through the storyline. I put that game down shortly after reaching disc2 and went and sold it at gamestop.


Mystic, what are your views on "The Legend of Dragoon" for the ps1? I rather enjoyed it although the graphics are a bit lacking the storyline is decent. And the attack technique deployment was very unique. I havnt seen an attack style such as that in a long time.

[Mystic]

Omg, I havn't played LoD in years. It's a great game though, Dart is a bad ass through and through.

[notanemuexpert]

Wait, you guys are seriously knocking on 8 because it was too complex for you? I mean I can understand why younger gamers like 7 and 9 more, but I'm not, so I don't.

The reason VIII is so great is because Square had the balls to do something different. It was crafted to be a more intelligent game than 7 and it succeeded in every way possible. VII had a terribly cliche, linear storyline that you could see from a mile away and the Materia system was crap compared to Junctions (again, in this case VIII had a really fleshed out, complex system and VII's was as basic as they come)

If your only excuse as to why the system sucked was because it was different than the others than you're what's wrong with gaming. Seriously? You condone improvement in quality? Maybe Square should just keep putting out piece of crap spin-offs like Crisis Core and Dirge of Cerberus then? Last time I checked, the majority of people like it when games pull off new game mechanics extremely well and that's exactly what VIII did.

One last thing, nobody likes level-grinding. It's been a major target for the Final Fantasy series ever since the beginning, it's called repetition; no one likes it. Which is probably why everyone hated Assassin's Creed when it came out (let's not go there, one of the worst games I ever bought)

So... let's review:

-FFVIII is more complex than VII
-FFVIII is harder than VII
-FFVIII is less repetitive than VII
-FFVIII is less linear than VII
-FFVIII has a less predictable story than VII
-FFVIII looks better than VII
-FFVIII has a better soundtrack than VII

Did I miss anything?

[Newbie#1337]

Um hi, did you ever notice that FF8 is the ONLY FF game that is done that way? Did you ever stop to wonder why it was the only one? Maybe cause it sucked? And if your only defense is "its unique" look at FF tactics, FFX, FFXI, FFXII, each of these are totally different from the standard RPGs. In Tactics its more about strategy and learning new skills with AP points. In X you have a grid where you can only learn a certain # of the skills on the grid and you have to choose wisely. In FFXI the entire freagin game is based on Teamwork and strategy rather than just lvling. I was able to get 3 max lvl jobs in FFXI with lots of God gear and all my gear and lvling and meriting equaled nothing. I could maybe almost if i was lucky kill something that was about 20 lvls weaker than me.

Please come back when you have a better argument. kthxbai

[Mystic]

How is FF8 harder and more complex? Running through the story line as fast as you can is hard and complex? I'll give you that it's less repetitive, because there was nothing to repeat. There's no need to lvl because no matter what lvl you are the game stays the same difficulty, so in reality if you could go straight to the last boss you could kill him at lvl 1... Dumb? Yes.

IMO it kinda defeats the purpose of a "role playing game" if your roll is just to kill the last boss as fast as you can. Seriously, no point to lvling + getting main chars final weapon upgrade in disc 1 = failed Final Fantasy.

Lastly, the story-line was just awful. At first you're going after that "which". Come to find out she's good, and was just being possessed, and holy shit every character has known her and each other their whole lives and just forgot?!?!?!
That's a huge stretch for a story line, and to top it all off on the beach they realize that it must be the summons that steal their memory (they pull that conclusion out of their ass, because they don't really talk it through), and yet they continue to use the summons...

There wasn't even any good memorable characters in 8. At least 7 had Cid and 9 had Vivi. The best character 8 had was Zell and he was a complete douche bag.

Did I miss anything?

[notanemuexpert]

Um hi, did you ever notice that FF8 is the ONLY FF game that is done that way? Did you ever stop to wonder why it was the only one? Maybe cause it sucked? And if your only defense is "its unique" look at FF tactics, FFX, FFXI, FFXII, each of these are totally different from the standard RPGs. In Tactics its more about strategy and learning new skills with AP points. In X you have a grid where you can only learn a certain # of the skills on the grid and you have to choose wisely. In FFXI the entire freagin game is based on Teamwork and strategy rather than just lvling. I was able to get 3 max lvl jobs in FFXI with lots of God gear and all my gear and lvling and meriting equaled nothing. I could maybe almost if i was lucky kill something that was about 20 lvls weaker than me.


Wait? Are you implying Square learned their lesson and chose not to do it because they knew VIII was a mistake? Hmm...

http://www.square-enix.com/jp/ir/e/explanatory/download/0404-200402090000-01.pdf#page=27

According to Square's financial records, Final Fantasy VIII is the second most sucessful game in the series... hmm.. Maybe it's because Final Fantasy is the RPG series notorious for completely re-working the style and gameplay of its predecessors in a unique way with each new installment.

You tried though, I can give you credit for trying.


How is FF8 harder and more complex? Running through the story line as fast as you can is hard and complex? I'll give you that it's less repetitive, because there was nothing to repeat. There's no need to lvl because no matter what lvl you are the game stays the same difficulty, so in reality if you could go straight to the last boss you could kill him at lvl 1... Dumb? Yes.


It's more complex because unlike the other games in the series there are several layers that affect the battles. Instead of being a basic RPG like 7 that required you to do nothing but gain levels for fighting, there was the principle of level scaling, levels AND junctioning. See how there's 3 main battle factors compared to the 1 in FF7?

Oh, and you seem to be operating under the impression that being able to beat the main boss at a low level is a bad thing, where as that's what makes FF8 so unique. The game was more about using your head and figuring out what junctions to use and trying to beat the game at a low as level as possible; after all that was Squaresoft's plan.

It's completely fine if you dislike new ideas in games, maybe you should pick up a Sega Saturn and stick with it, because I for one enjoy improving formulas and new ideas in gameplay. It's unique, interesting and most of all, it's simply requires more thought than spending 3 hours walking in circles and pressing the X button.



IMO it kinda defeats the purpose of a "role playing game" if your roll is just to kill the last boss as fast as you can. Seriously, no point to lvling + getting main chars final weapon upgrade in disc 1 = failed Final Fantasy.


Again, you're the type of person who hates innovation and originality. Might I suggest the Dragon Quest series? That way, you can stay as casual and basic as possible.



Lastly, the story-line was just awful. At first you're going after that "which". Come to find out she's good, and was just being possessed, and holy shit every character has known her and each other their whole lives and just forgot?!?!?!
That's a huge stretch for a story line, and to top it all off on the beach they realize that it must be the summons that steal their memory (they pull that conclusion out of their ass, because they don't really talk it through), and yet they continue to use the summons...


So you hated it because it was unpredictable and original? No wonder you love linearity and cliches as found in FF7. Thank god this thread wasn't made about a Metal Gear game (your head would explode just thinking about it - we should stick you on something a little slower like Sesame Street or something)



There wasn't even any good memorable characters in 8. At least 7 had Cid and 9 had Vivi. The best character 8 had was Zell and he was a complete douche bag.


Seifer was more memorable than anyone in 7 or 9. Besides, comparing 7 to 8 is always a chore when it comes down to the main characters, but I can boil it down for you:

Cloud turned out to be a static character
Squall turned out to be a dynamic character; moreso than any other in the franchise

[Mystic]

Almost nothing you said made any sense at all. I said it wasn't hard or complex so you call it unique?

Yea, that chart says FFVIII is the 2nd most successful game. Did you look to see what #1 was? Yea, FFVII.

Junction was the worst idea ever. You get 100 remedies and throw it on your armor and you're immune to sleep, poison, ect... how hard is that? It doesn't take any sort of strategy to find the 1 item that makes you immune to everything and get 100 of them.

I'm a person who "hates innovation and originality"? Lol, it's not my fault you have no tastes in games. FFX had a completely new leveling system and it worked. You know what? I do like Dragon Warrior and the old Final Fantasies too. You can't go wrong with the classics. My favorite game to date is FFIV for the old Snes. My guess is you're one of those people whos first system was a PS and you refuse to play the older systems.

Just because FFVIII "Looks better" doesn't make it better. Deal with it.

[FatTrucker]

Just wanted to stick my oar in and point out how lame it is to have a sux/rox debate. Different people will enjoy different games, that's the brilliant thing about there being more than one to play.

I personally preferred 8 over 7 as I found 7's storyline had too many cliched threads and interludes plus I enjoyed the card game and side missions in 8.

7 was still a fantastic RPG that I enjoyed immensely, the fact that I preferred 8 and someone else preferred 7 doesn't make either person 'right' as preferences are about personal choice not some bogus label to be applied by other people for someone to conform to.

Its all a bit immature TBH chaps.

[Mystic]

There's nothing immature about having a little friendly debate on here now and again. It keeps the forums lively :P

[haSu101]

LOL. This debate is funny. It's all a matter of taste and preference. If you're into lame ass games... Play 8..
If you appreciate gaming and RPG's in general, play 7.
7 is by far my favorite, next to 9. I played 45 minutes of 8 and, honestly, gave it to my friend. The game was horrible, aside from the graphic update.
The ONLY reason 7 was so polygonal was because sony was making the game to begin with to be released for N64 (Now you use your common sense (( N64/PSX )) .)
OTher than that, 7 was a kickass game with > A TON < of replay value. (Summons/Weapons/Gold Saucer highscores (( dont know about you, but friends and i have sat and played each other for a HS)) .) Not to mention in 7 you have snowboarding, sub battles, motorcycle battles, etc. The game is very dynamic and whoever says otherwise is a complete and utter idiot TBH. You can't argue with ratings, and 10 people to 1 will choose 7 as the better game.

However you are allowed your opinion so go bore yourself with 8.
kthxbai

[Mystic]

If you're into lame ass games... Play 8..

Lol, that just screams win.

[haSu101]

BTW Mystic good taste :) And thanks for your GPU Video specs. Works like a charm.

[Mystic]

I do what I can :P

[haSu101]

Im ISO'ing ff7 as we speak. This thread totally sparked my interest in ff7 again. haha
Brings back memories... Only thing i have to do now is remember all the secrets to the game (chocobo breeding, etc.) Gonna be an tedious yet rewarding task when i take down Ruby and Emerald weapon xD.

EDIT: BTW Mystic, do you have an opinion as to why that savegame issue occured in my FFT thread?

[Mystic]

I read your post and I've never heard of anything like that, but I'm looking into it. Give me a min.

Edit : what emu are you using?

Edit2 : I found a similar problem, are you opening your emu through a shortcut? If you are try opening it directly.

[haSu101]

I'm epsxe1.7 and no shortcut. I found it odd that it let me load my game multiple times from the file, and yet wafter i played RE2 and went back, all my saves reverted and i lost around 5 hours of gameplay >_<

[Mystic]

I don't have a clue man, maybe someone else will log on and know what to do. I could only find that one solution from google, and I've never had that problem. Sry :(

[haSu101]

LOL nice title/avatar/sig,rofl right now.

Thanks anyway. I can't find any answers, I guess i'll have to do it all over again, and if thats the case it's always more fun just starting over (LOL)

[Mystic]

Lol, thx but it's not staying. It's not mine, and I don't like to use other peoples works.

[haSu101]

heh, should at least leave it on for that one kid to see... lmao. What games are you currently playing btw?

[Mystic]

Right now I'm 2 temples from Ganon in Ocarina of Time, and I have a FF7 in the works with all the summons and secrets. Just working on mastering all the summons and getting lvl 99.

Probably gonna start up BoF IV or Xenogears soon. Havn't decided.

[haSu101]

Meh, Ocarina of Time... Why did you mention that game... WOW thanks, *Searches for N64 Emu*

Hm.. I have honestly never played BoF, how is it?

[haSu101]

Also, a few friends have played Xenogears but i've ever checked it out. Do you fight inside or outside of the gear more? I mean do you get to run around in your gear in a world map or?

[Mystic]

I love them, personally I think the best one is BoF III.

The story goes, you're one of the last survivors of an ancient race that can transform into dragons (The Brood), and 1000 years ago another ancient race (The Guardians) comes and kills your people to the near point of extinction. Then when you wake up 1000 years after the war you befriend a guardian and try to found out what really happened.

The first 2 BoFs don't go into that kind of detail, but snes games never had much of a story line lol.

Edit : You use the gears for the majority of the game.

[haSu101]

Hm, so if i got into the series the best one to start with would be bof III ?

[Mystic]

Def, they're all fun, but III is def the best.

[haSu101]

I think i'll definatly start a BoF project up sometime this week. :) What system PSX?
Another game I havn't played in forever is legend of dragoon, however i currently don't own that game anymore. What i remember of it was pretty amazing though.

[Mystic]

I and II are on snes
III and IV are on PSX
V is on PS2 (havn't tried that one yet)

[haSu101]

Thanks for the info. :)
Now I found a side-project away from the final fantasy series.

[retroguiden]

Just wanted to stick my oar in and point out how lame it is to have a sux/rox debate. Its all a bit immature TBH chaps.

Actually, your post is immature. Of course it's all up to taste, but that doesn't mean one can't have a meaningful discussion about it.


If you're into lame ass games... Play 8..
If you appreciate gaming and RPG's in general, play 7.

If you really appreciate RPG games you shouldn't even be talking about most japanese/asian ones since they are more of an "interactive story/movie" than actual roleplaying games. Compared to RPG's like Morrowind, Baldur's Gate or Fallout series no FF can be called a 'real' RPG. Although there are many good and fun games from Japan in the so-called RPG genre.

Having said that I remember loving 7, loving 8, thinking so-so about 9 (probably because it's too japanese and 8 is not as much) and feeling nauseous or at least bored out of my skull when playing 10.

[Newbie#1337]

haha. Wow. Im gone for a few days and the thread explodes! :)
So yah...pretty much its the entire forum populous VS. one guy that likes FF8.... I think we won this battle.

And about FF7, I had one file along time ago with around 120 hours logged on it. Each char had master summon, magic, and support. So that was uh....7 of each. And then stat boosting oh man that made it way too easy haha.

Right now Im playing FFX again. My previous file had all the summons but I only really worked on that file a small bit. I buffed up Bahamut so much that his weakest attack did 99,999 each time. But now I want to get all Aeons doing that. Wont that be fun! F U Sin! :fuckyou:

Anyway, lets start talking about different RPG series now. Like....Lunar. Anyone play those? Your thoughts? I like them both. Eternal blue i like more than silver start story but eh silver star story is great considering the time when it came out.

[Mystic]

Compared to RPG's like Morrowind, Baldur's Gate or Fallout series no FF can be called a 'real' RPG.

I wasn't to impressed with Morrowind or Baulder's Gate. Oblivion on the other hand, was amazing.

I'd still have to say the FF series was better. FF has a story line, and a goal, and Marrowind you're all over the place, doing everything for everybody. Baulder's Gate just made me feel like I was playing Diablo again...
My $0.02

[haSu101]

no FF can be called a 'real' RPG.


1)You're dumb
2)What genre do they fit under?
3) you're dumb

[retroguiden]

I wasn't to impressed with Morrowind or Baulder's Gate. Oblivion on the other hand, was amazing.

Well that's a difference in taste since I like Morrwind better than Oblivion, but they are both examples of the same type of game. As is Baldur's gate.


I'd still have to say the FF series was better.

I didn't say anything about which was better. I just stated that japanese games of this type is more like interactive stories than RPG's. i love FF series, well a lot of it anyway.


...Morrowind you're all over the place,

Only by choice.


doing everything for everybody.

again only by choice.


Baldur's Gate just made me feel like I was playing Diablo again...
My $0.02

Hmm, I'll chalk that up to graphics since the games are almost nothing alike.


1)You're dumb
2)What genre do they fit under?
3) you're dumb

1. Look who's talking.
2. Rpg, or japanese rpg among the general public. But as I stated they are more of interactive stories than actual RPG's. I could explain why I happen to think so, but your answer seem to indicate that you are an imbecille that won't even understand what I'm talking about so I probably won't bother!
3. Really, grow up!

[Mystic]

If you didn't "choose" to do the million side things in Marrowind and Oblivion you'd be done with the game in 5 secs. The main stories are very very short.

[FatTrucker]

If you didn't "choose" to do the million side things in Marrowind and Oblivion you'd be done with the game in 5 secs. The main stories are very very short.

The whole point though being that they are a fully realised, fully interactive gameworld where you can 'roleplay' your character and find all sorts of interesting and diverting things to do outside any fixed parameters created by the developer. Your character develops according to the things you do in the game so if you want to be a thief you actually play the game as one and those skills develop, want to learn about potions, spells and such, go foraging for plants and other ingredients in the forests and ruins and use a mortar and pestle to experiment or learn from libraries and other NPC's. Morrowind and to a lesser extent Oblivion are the closest you will get to an offline MMORPG.

With most JRPG's you are very much limited to the parameters of the storyline, which to be fair in most cases consists of a few hours of impressive set pieces and the remainder is largely cliched and deeply kitsche filler. You have a set character, with a defined identity and set abilities, I thoroughly enjoy most of them but lets call them what they are. Its a matter of choice wether you prefer freeform adventure games where you have the ability to choose your characters path throughout the game or whether you prefer a more structured but less interactive experience.
All tastes are catered for.

[notanemuexpert]

Almost nothing you said made any sense at all. I said it wasn't hard or complex so you call it unique?


It's harder than 7, more complex than 7 and more unique than 7.

7 was generic as hell, had a storyline filled to the brim with cliches' and did almost nothing to improve itself over 6 (the best in the series)




Yea, that chart says FFVIII is the 2nd most successful game. Did you look to see what #1 was? Yea, FFVII.



Never said it wasn't successful, the idiot I was quoting was claiming Square messed up with VIII when the sales numbers prove otherwise.




Junction was the worst idea ever. You get 100 remedies and throw it on your armor and you're immune to sleep, poison, ect... how hard is that? It doesn't take any sort of strategy to find the 1 item that makes you immune to everything and get 100 of them.



It's definitely more complex than "equip materia... done, no more customization"

Junctioning is great because it's an evolution of the level system. It allows for several layers of depth not available in 7. Instead of walking around for 3 hours hitting the X button being bored out of your mind, you get to junction magic to your characters, stay at a low level and inadvertently control the level your enemies stayed at too.

You're the first person I've ever met who likes repetition and boredom in their games; you're also the first person I met who thinks a game sucks because "it has to much depth"



I'm a person who "hates innovation and originality"? Lol, it's not my fault you have no tastes in games. FFX had a completely new leveling system and it worked. You know what? I do like Dragon Warrior and the old Final Fantasies too. You can't go wrong with the classics. My favorite game to date is FFIV for the old Snes. My guess is you're one of those people whos first system was a PS and you refuse to play the older systems.



My favorite game to date is FFVI for the "old" (did you just say it was old, you're just really young kiddo) SNES, waaaay better than FFIV.

Obviously you do hate innovation and originality because you like VII and it was basically a 3d FFVI with Materia in place of Espers. FFVIII had a complex system that worked, the game mechanics allowed for more customization, less repetition and more control in the games. It's not my fault you like basic RPG's.



Just because FFVIII "Looks better" doesn't make it better. Deal with it.

Obviously not. What makes it better is the fact it has more depth, has a more adult storyline with less cliches than 7, has a longer story with no repetitive level grinding and is simply more enjoyable; the only Ps1 game better than FFVIII is Metal Gear Solid.

It's also worth noting that FFVIII is almost always cited as Nobou Uematsu's finest work as the composer of the Final Fantasy series.

In review:

FF7: A cute little basic RPG filled to the brim with cliche's and offers no fundamental improvements over its predecessor. If your idea of a good game is

FF8: A more adult complex RPG that showed Square had the balls to do something unique and different. The game looks better, has a better soundtrack, a more appreciable story and is less repetitive than 7. If you're a younger gamer like Mystic who thinks the SNES is an old system, you probably won't like it as much though.

P.S. Majora's Mask is better than Ocarina of Time, same with The Wind Waker actually. Twilight Princess just sucked balls though.

[Mystic]

I... I just don't even know where to begin.
1. 8 isn't harder, running through as fast as you can doesn't make it harder (we've been through this.)
2. How does 8 go into more depth then 7? The story line was full of holes. A random bunch of people find each other while trying to save the world, and as it turns out they've known each other all along? Wtf?
3. VI was another horrible FF game, IV was SOOOO much better.
4. Compared to the systems that are out today, the Snes is old.
5. Again, your "less repetition" just made you run through the game faster. (Idk how many times I have to say this...)
6. Lol, FF VIII is more "adult"? Gonna have to explain that one.
7. It's always cited as his best work... except for that spread sheet you linked showing it was 2nd?
8. I'll admit, FF VIII did take some leaps trying to be different, but I (and a lot of people agree with me) think it didn't work.
9. Majora's Mask was good, but it wasn't near as good as Ocarina of Time. Everything I've ever read has Oot as the #1 N64 game. About half way through I lost interest in Wind Waker.

Lastly, I think we can all agree that the greatest game ever is (and always will be) the original Tetris.

P.S. lol I love these kinds of threads.

[notanemuexpert]

1. 8 isn't harder, running through as fast as you can doesn't make it harder (we've been through this.)


It wasn't necessarily harder in the sense of the battles, but more in the sense the way the battle and leveling system are much complex and are harder to fully comprehend. There are just so many more layers in VIII.

In VII you controlled: The levels of your characters

In VIII you controlled: The levels of your characters, the perks of your character, the ability of your characters and the levels of your enemies.

Junctioning was in all intents and purposes supposed to replace leveling. VIII undoubtedly offered more stratedgy and thinking required than in VII.



2. How does 8 go into more depth then 7? The story line was full of holes. A random bunch of people find each other while trying to save the world, and as it turns out they've known each other all along? Wtf?


I was referring to the gameplay and customization actually, but your statement is arguable too.

First off, you state the story was full with [plot] "holes" and yet you fail to mention any? An unexpected twist does not count as a plot hole.

Let's say theoretically the story did have plot holes (which it doesn't) it would still be leagues ahead of the cliched tripe known as FFVII




3. VI was another horrible FF game, IV was SOOOO much better.



http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r200/ff810/tomcruiselaugh.gif




5. Again, your "less repetition" just made you run through the game faster. (Idk how many times I have to say this...)



You've said that several times, but you have yet to say why that's a bad thing. That's generally considered a good thing among professional game critics.

Repetition = bad
No repetition, getting to the narration sooner = good




6. Lol, FF VIII is more "adult"? Gonna have to explain that one.



The story in VIII is a lot more mature than in VII. VII was just another hero must kill the bad guy story where as VIII was a lot deeper. VIII dealt with deep character revelations where as VII did not. The sheer plethora of faucets that Squall dealt within the story was sensational and it took the story to a whole new level.

Cloud was also a lot less likable than Squall was. Both could be considered introverts (Squall moreso than Cloud) but it's actually delved into upon in VIII and you can see that Squall was in fact just hiding up his emotions with blank expressions to prevent from being hurt again.

The fact VIII has so many more consensual touches make it deeper and subsequently more adult.

(That's one of the differences between VII and VIII; VII was definitely more plot-driven, where as VIII was more character-driven)



7. It's always cited as his best work... except for that spread sheet you linked showing it was 2nd?


Lol, you have no clue what I'm talking about.

Look up Nobou Uematsu; he's the composer. I was referring to the fact VIII is regarded as having the best soundtrack in the series, not being the best.

Besides, sales don't equal quality, unless you'd be willing to agree that Gran Turismo is the best game on the Ps1 (which it isn't, Metal Gear Solid is)




8. I'll admit, FF VIII did take some leaps trying to be different, but I (and a lot of people agree with me) think it didn't work.



I'm fine with "thinking" it didn't work. You've been acting extremely ignorant acting as if it was factual, where as it's completely opinionated. You insulted me because I like FFVIII, where as I never insulted you for liking VII (in fact, I love VII, it's probably my third favorite Ps1 game behind FFVIII and MGS; I've just been using hyperbole to get my points across)



9. Majora's Mask was good, but it wasn't near as good as Ocarina of Time. Everything I've ever read has Oot as the #1 N64 game. About half way through I lost interest in Wind Waker.


I disagree.

Ocarina is the type of game that people like to hype based on feelings of nostalgia and not actually on the merits of the game.


On a side note: Fallout 3>>>>>any other RPG this generation, including Oblivion

[Mystic]

I'm not gonna lie, that Tom Cruise gif transformed this thread from epic to legendary, and you're right I had no idea that guy was a composer. I tried to bluff my way through that one.

At this point, no matter what I or anyone else says will change your mind, but since that gif was so amazingly placed I won't tell you how you're wrong and let you win the argument.

[Xiedo]

I speak up for FF8 as well.

To me, FF7 was the downturn. FF starts to go mainstream, Nomura takes over design (belts/buckles everywhere), Materia brings in a new "micro" aspect. It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't anything special and hinted at where FF starts to go wrong.

FF8 was a moment of brillance. MP is destroyed, which was a major factor turning most FF fights into boring "Fight"-mashers. Junction explores interesting new ideas. Squall and Summons gets minor QTEs, injecting some action to the mix. Last of all, grinding is abolished which any sane person hated. You can still grind, but you aren't required to. Overall, it wasn't "perfect" but it tried things against the old formula.

Then FF9 was a <s>return to form</s> return to the old ways, and worse. And aside from a little FFX I've stopped playing FF since then.

And FF6 was the best by far.

[Newbie#1337]

Hahahaha. This thread has asploded. :D

Lets keep the good times rolling. FF8 sucks. Who wants to argue that fact?

So whats the top game on everyones Xmas list? I have none unfortunatly. :confused:

[notanemuexpert]

FF8 sucks. Who wants to argue that fact?


Seems to me the only people arguing for VIII are those who are consistently coming up with reasons as to why it's the better game.

It's almost as if you've never played it as you've failed to come up with any concrete reasons as to why VIII was sooooo bad. You're what I like to call a 'sheep'

[Mystic]

Nah, you just keep repeating the same thing over and over, but so does everyone else.

This thread is dead.

Pros
Original fighting style
Fancy story
Memorable characters
ect...

Cons
The fighting style sucks
The story is full of holes
Couldn't relate to any of the characters
ect...

Who cares anymore.

[notanemuexpert]

Nah, you just keep repeating the same thing over and over, but so does everyone else.

This thread is dead.

Pros
Original fighting style
Fancy story
Memorable characters
ect...

Cons
The fighting style sucks
The story is full of holes
Couldn't relate to any of the characters
ect...

Who cares anymore.

I think we can agree to disagree. I just didn't like your tone, ex. trying to act as if FF7 was factually better than FF8, when it's all a matter of opinion.

[Mystic]

You can hear my tone through text?!?!?!:bow:

[haSu101]

The list goes on, but 20+ reasons why FF7 isn't repetetive, and yes, you're dumb:
(I alrdy stated earlier all the side things you can do in FF7) And on a side note... MAteria makes your character 'unique'... Maybe you should try completing 100% of the game sometime.. lmfao.. You're dumb kid.
And as for JRPG's not having anything to do with character uniqueness etc etc... Try playing Tactics... Do all this, then keep talking. FF8 suckls, get over it. Nothing you have come up with even grabs my attention, neither did the game. You suck k thx:::::::::::::::::


Final Fantasy VII Hint - Adjust Your Lucky7s
There is a neat little trick, and probably the coolest one in the game, that allows you to attack an enemy 64 times taking 7777 points of damage at the beggining of the battle. Here's how it works. First, find an easy battle like near Midgar or Kalm. Destroy all but one enemy then cast stop on the remaining oppenent. Cast mini on two allies and have the other ally keeping close watch on the stopped enemy. Then using the allies that you cast mini on, attack the ally that doesn't have mini until their health is below 7777 and ends in 77 like 7677 or 7577 or so on and so forth. When complete, finish the battle and don't get hit. Right before the battle you want to use Lucky 7's for, use potions or hi-potions until they have 7777 health. Now enter battle (Note: After the battle is done, Lucky 7's will disappear and your health will drop to one even if you didn't get hit, but if you did get hit, you health will be unaffected).

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Six In A Row
Use the following materia (must be mastered) to pull off a six in a row summon combo.

Enhance Sword and Wizard Armor with Cloud. Place the materia in this exact order:

Materia on weapon: Sneak Attack = ChocoMog, Sneak Attaack = Mime, Sneak Attack = Ifirt, Sneak Attack = Mime

Materia on armor: Sneak Attack = Shiva, Sneak Attack = Mime, Sneak Attack = Mime, nothing = Pre-emptive

Final Fantasy VII Huge Materia
To obtain the Huge Materia in Rocket Town, press Circle, Square, X, X as the passcode.

There are four huge Materia that can reproduce other materias if you can pass the requirements.

Blue - You must have Bahamut and Bahamut Neo. Take these to Cosmo Canyon and talk to the Blue Huge Materia and you will recieve Bahamut Eishiki (Zero).

Yellow - Master the Steal, Throw, Mime, Manipulate, Morph, Deathblow and Sense Materias, then talk to the yellow huge Materia to recieve the Master Command materia.

Red - Must have all 16 summoning materia at master level then talk to the red huge materia to recieve the Master Summoning materia.

Green - Have all 21 magic materia at master level then talk to the green huge huge materia and you will recieve the Master Magic materia.

Final Fantasy VII Limit Break Manuals
To learn Level 4 limit breaks you'll need to find the manuals. Here's how to find them.

Cloud: Trade 32,000 battle points at the Golden Saucer.

Tifa: Go to Nibel area (Tifa's house) and play these piano notes: X, Square, Triangle, L1/R1 + Triangle, L1/R1 + Square, X, Square, Triangle, L1/R1 + X, O, X, Square, X. Then press START and search the music sheet to find Tifa's Limit break.

Barret: A lady will give it to you in North Coral.

Aeris: Southeast of Midgar there is a small cave with a man living there. Talk to him when you have battled a certain number of battles that end in the same number, such as 122, 133, 144. He will then give you a Mithril orb. Take the Mithril to the Blacksmith's house on the south peninsula near Cosmo Canyon. He will trade you for the limit break manual for the Mithril, or you can choose to have a gold bracelet.

Red XIII: In the Nibel area there is a mansion and on the second floor of this mansion there is a safe. To crack this code turn right 36, left 10, right 59, and right 97. Then the safe will open to reveal a miniboss.Kill the miniboss and you will recieve Red VIII's Manual.

Vincent: Land near the waterfall and use the green, black, gold chocobo or the submarine to pass the mountain. Then enter the waterfall. (You must have Vincent in your group and must be done first in disc 2) go forward and it will show Vincent's past. Then leave. Return if you are already in disc three and you'll get not only the manual but a weapon of Vincent.

Cid: Cid's manual is in one of the chests in the sunken plane.

Yuffie: Go to Wutai and enter the tower with yuffie and let yuffie beat all the bosses including her father and you'll get a manual and Leviathan materia.

Final Fantasy VII Recruit Yufie
Near the exploded Mako site there is a small forest. Wonder around in it until you fight a ninja woman. After you defeat her there will be a save point. DO NOT USE THIS or she will run away. Talk to her and tell her you don't want to fight her again. Then tell her your terrified of her. When she asks if you need her help, say "Yes" then tell her that you're leaving and don't ask for her name.

Alternatively, try this. Equip the Enemy Away Materia which can be won in the Gold Saucer Chocobo Racing and a Luck Plus Materia. Go into any forests and wait for a while. Note that the Enemy Away Materia must be at Master Level for a higher percentage of chances to encounter Yuffie.

Final Fantasy VII Special Battle
To get to the URA battle (special battle) in the Battle Arena, first gain 64000 battle points and buy the W-Summon materia. Next get 32,000 battle points and buy Cloud's level 4 limit, Omnislash. Equip Omnislash and talk to the lady at the counter in the battle arena, and she will ask you if you want to participate in a special battle. Beat all 8 enemies and get the Final attack materia.

Note: You must have your Ultimate Weapon equiped to fight in the special battle.

Final Fantasy VII Unlimited Sources
To get unlimited Sources (luck source, magic source, etc.) perform the following actions. Get in the submarine and go to the downed plane. Wander around until you get into a battle and use the morph command on the enemies. The best way to do this is attack the enemies until they are almost dead and then use morph. In this area there are six different enemies and each one morphs into one of the six sources.

Final Fantasy VII Special Cinema
After Cloud rejoins your party in the second disk, visit the Shinra Mansions Basement again in Nimbelheim entering the library. Cloud will suddenly flash back to a special cinematic scene of how you will find out how cloud ended up with his friend Zack's sword.

Final Fantasy VII Time Attack Contest
At the golden saucers wonder square there is a snowboard game. If you get a good rating on the beginner, expert and crazy course the next time you play there you will see a yellow balloon. Grab it and you will enter time attack mode. In this mode there are no balloons or obstacles and you go extremely fast.

Final Fantasy VII Re-enter Midgar
It is possible to get back into Midgar after you have left (not including by parachute.) On disc 3, go back to Midgar and talk to the man standing outside the fence. He says he has misplaced his key and that it is probably back at the dig site he just left.

To find the key, go to Bone Village and tell the foreman you want to look for Normal Treasure. Place some of the workers up top in front of the tent and set off the blast. They will point to a spot on the ground, so have them dig there overnight.

In the morning open the treasure chest and you should have the Key to the Sector 5 Slums. Now go back to Midgar and go through the gate. Go back to Wall Market and go to the shop where the item machine was broken before (the one that shot at you), and try to use it now. You will recieve Tifa's ultimate weapon.

Final Fantasy VII Racing Trophy
When racing S-class in the Gold Saucer, You will notice many keen items you can't ever seem to get. Well you can get them all at once! Just win 15-20 races in a row! Ester will say "I've never seen anyone win so much in S-class before!" She will then give you one of each item, including the coveted Cat's Bell! this trick only works once, though.

Final Fantasy VII Item Duplication
If you have the W-Item Materia, equip it and enter battle. Use the W-Item command and select your first item you want to use with the Circle button. Then choose your second item but do not use it. Select it so that cursors appear on the screen (either on you allies or your enemies) then cancel with the X button. Select again and make the cursor appear then cancel. Repeat the selecting and canceling of the second item over and over. Each time you do this the quantity of the first item will increase by 1.

Final Fantasy VII Prevent Back Attacks
If your battle starts with a "Back Attack" hold L1 and R1 for a moment then release them. This will turn you around before your opponents get a shot.

Final Fantasy VII Cast Any Spell Three Times
To cast three magic spells in one round, first equip someone with a Magic Materia + "All" Support Materia. You'll also need Barrier Materia with the Reflect spell learned. When you enter battle, cast Reflect on the entire party, (your party). Then cast the magic spell that was connected to the "All" Materia on YOUR party. Even though you casted the spell once, it will be reflected and returned to the enemy hitting for three times! And for the same price of the usual MP's. What's even better is that if you have W-Magic, you can cast that spell twice, or two different spells (both need to be connected to "All" Materia) hitting for six times!!!

Final Fantasy VII Ancient Forest
To get to the Ancient Forest before disc 3, simply ride up the hill with a black, gold or green chocobo.

Final Fantasy VII Beta Materia
When you first go to the Chocobo ranch you have to catch a chocobo to avoid the Midgarsorm. Well, I figured out a way to get the powerful Beta spell before the second disc. You need the Enemy skill materia, a Fire materia, and any elemental materia equipped on one person. MAKE SURE THE LAST TWO ARE ON YOUR ARMOR!

If you keep this character healed until Midgarsorm casts Beta you SHOULD be able to survive the spell. Then just finish him off. This is tricky to pull off but if done correctly you will be set for a LONG time.

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Casa del Cloud
In Costa Del Sol (during Disc 2 or 3), go into the building at the other side of the bridge and talk to the man lying on the bed and he will ask if you want to buy it. Make sure you have enough money before you talk to the man, because you can only talk about buying the place just once. It will cost 300,000 Gil.

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Cover Me!
You can do a lot by linking Cover materia with Counter materia. You'll need a Mastered Cover materia and as many Mastered Counter materia as possible. Now your charater can cover and take out a group of monsters in one counter.

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Hard Hit Materia Combos
The following are lists of materia combinations that will give you an advantage over tough enemies such as Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon. ("-" means the two materia must be connected; all others can be put anywhere.)

1) Materia: Mega-all, Deathblow-HP Absorb/MP Absorb
Description: Restores lots of HP/MP while dealing major damage.

2) Materia: Cover, Counter Attack, Counter Attack, Counter-Deathblow
Description: Covers for characters and counters three times, the last being deathblow.

3) Materia: "Knights of the Round" Summon-W-Summon, Mime
Description: Casts Knights of the Round twice and Mime casts it twice again for no MP charge (can Mime unlimited times if "chain" is not broken).

4) Materia: Pre-Emptive, Sneak Attack-Kights of the Round, HP<->MP, Mime, W-Summon
Description: A player begins by casting Knights of the Round twice without need of rest (HP<->MP materia). Also, all attack gauges for other characters are full at the begining of the battle which allows for an easy Mime to cast Knights of the Round twice again free of charge (as long as chain is not broken).

Also, I find that FINAL ATTACK-REVIVE can be helpful by reviving you if you die unexpectedly (great combination against Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon).

Final Fantasy VII Chocobo Tricks
While racing the chocobos, hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 to increase your speed. To increase their stamina, hold R1 + R2.

While choosing a chocobo to race, press L1, L2, R1, R2 or any direction to pan, zoom and rotate the chocobo you're viewing.

Final Fantasy VII Knights of the Round Table
Ride the Golden Chocobo to the North-Eastern part of the map. There you'll find a hidden island with a cave. Enter the cave and talk to the red light to receive the "Nights of the Round Table" spell.

[Mystic]

Wall of text crits you for 9999.

[notanemuexpert]

The list goes on, but 20+ reasons why FF7 isn't repetetive, and yes, you're dumb:
(I alrdy stated earlier all the side things you can do in FF7) And on a side note... MAteria makes your character 'unique'... Maybe you should try completing 100% of the game sometime.. lmfao.. You're dumb kid.
And as for JRPG's not having anything to do with character uniqueness etc etc... Try playing Tactics... Do all this, then keep talking. FF8 suckls, get over it. Nothing you have come up with even grabs my attention, neither did the game. You suck k thx:::::::::::::::::


Final Fantasy VII Hint - Adjust Your Lucky7s
There is a neat little trick, and probably the coolest one in the game, that allows you to attack an enemy 64 times taking 7777 points of damage at the beggining of the battle. Here's how it works. First, find an easy battle like near Midgar or Kalm. Destroy all but one enemy then cast stop on the remaining oppenent. Cast mini on two allies and have the other ally keeping close watch on the stopped enemy. Then using the allies that you cast mini on, attack the ally that doesn't have mini until their health is below 7777 and ends in 77 like 7677 or 7577 or so on and so forth. When complete, finish the battle and don't get hit. Right before the battle you want to use Lucky 7's for, use potions or hi-potions until they have 7777 health. Now enter battle (Note: After the battle is done, Lucky 7's will disappear and your health will drop to one even if you didn't get hit, but if you did get hit, you health will be unaffected).

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Six In A Row
Use the following materia (must be mastered) to pull off a six in a row summon combo.

Enhance Sword and Wizard Armor with Cloud. Place the materia in this exact order:

Materia on weapon: Sneak Attack = ChocoMog, Sneak Attaack = Mime, Sneak Attack = Ifirt, Sneak Attack = Mime

Materia on armor: Sneak Attack = Shiva, Sneak Attack = Mime, Sneak Attack = Mime, nothing = Pre-emptive

Final Fantasy VII Huge Materia
To obtain the Huge Materia in Rocket Town, press Circle, Square, X, X as the passcode.

There are four huge Materia that can reproduce other materias if you can pass the requirements.

Blue - You must have Bahamut and Bahamut Neo. Take these to Cosmo Canyon and talk to the Blue Huge Materia and you will recieve Bahamut Eishiki (Zero).

Yellow - Master the Steal, Throw, Mime, Manipulate, Morph, Deathblow and Sense Materias, then talk to the yellow huge Materia to recieve the Master Command materia.

Red - Must have all 16 summoning materia at master level then talk to the red huge materia to recieve the Master Summoning materia.

Green - Have all 21 magic materia at master level then talk to the green huge huge materia and you will recieve the Master Magic materia.

Final Fantasy VII Limit Break Manuals
To learn Level 4 limit breaks you'll need to find the manuals. Here's how to find them.

Cloud: Trade 32,000 battle points at the Golden Saucer.

Tifa: Go to Nibel area (Tifa's house) and play these piano notes: X, Square, Triangle, L1/R1 + Triangle, L1/R1 + Square, X, Square, Triangle, L1/R1 + X, O, X, Square, X. Then press START and search the music sheet to find Tifa's Limit break.

Barret: A lady will give it to you in North Coral.

Aeris: Southeast of Midgar there is a small cave with a man living there. Talk to him when you have battled a certain number of battles that end in the same number, such as 122, 133, 144. He will then give you a Mithril orb. Take the Mithril to the Blacksmith's house on the south peninsula near Cosmo Canyon. He will trade you for the limit break manual for the Mithril, or you can choose to have a gold bracelet.

Red XIII: In the Nibel area there is a mansion and on the second floor of this mansion there is a safe. To crack this code turn right 36, left 10, right 59, and right 97. Then the safe will open to reveal a miniboss.Kill the miniboss and you will recieve Red VIII's Manual.

Vincent: Land near the waterfall and use the green, black, gold chocobo or the submarine to pass the mountain. Then enter the waterfall. (You must have Vincent in your group and must be done first in disc 2) go forward and it will show Vincent's past. Then leave. Return if you are already in disc three and you'll get not only the manual but a weapon of Vincent.

Cid: Cid's manual is in one of the chests in the sunken plane.

Yuffie: Go to Wutai and enter the tower with yuffie and let yuffie beat all the bosses including her father and you'll get a manual and Leviathan materia.

Final Fantasy VII Recruit Yufie
Near the exploded Mako site there is a small forest. Wonder around in it until you fight a ninja woman. After you defeat her there will be a save point. DO NOT USE THIS or she will run away. Talk to her and tell her you don't want to fight her again. Then tell her your terrified of her. When she asks if you need her help, say "Yes" then tell her that you're leaving and don't ask for her name.

Alternatively, try this. Equip the Enemy Away Materia which can be won in the Gold Saucer Chocobo Racing and a Luck Plus Materia. Go into any forests and wait for a while. Note that the Enemy Away Materia must be at Master Level for a higher percentage of chances to encounter Yuffie.

Final Fantasy VII Special Battle
To get to the URA battle (special battle) in the Battle Arena, first gain 64000 battle points and buy the W-Summon materia. Next get 32,000 battle points and buy Cloud's level 4 limit, Omnislash. Equip Omnislash and talk to the lady at the counter in the battle arena, and she will ask you if you want to participate in a special battle. Beat all 8 enemies and get the Final attack materia.

Note: You must have your Ultimate Weapon equiped to fight in the special battle.

Final Fantasy VII Unlimited Sources
To get unlimited Sources (luck source, magic source, etc.) perform the following actions. Get in the submarine and go to the downed plane. Wander around until you get into a battle and use the morph command on the enemies. The best way to do this is attack the enemies until they are almost dead and then use morph. In this area there are six different enemies and each one morphs into one of the six sources.

Final Fantasy VII Special Cinema
After Cloud rejoins your party in the second disk, visit the Shinra Mansions Basement again in Nimbelheim entering the library. Cloud will suddenly flash back to a special cinematic scene of how you will find out how cloud ended up with his friend Zack's sword.

Final Fantasy VII Time Attack Contest
At the golden saucers wonder square there is a snowboard game. If you get a good rating on the beginner, expert and crazy course the next time you play there you will see a yellow balloon. Grab it and you will enter time attack mode. In this mode there are no balloons or obstacles and you go extremely fast.

Final Fantasy VII Re-enter Midgar
It is possible to get back into Midgar after you have left (not including by parachute.) On disc 3, go back to Midgar and talk to the man standing outside the fence. He says he has misplaced his key and that it is probably back at the dig site he just left.

To find the key, go to Bone Village and tell the foreman you want to look for Normal Treasure. Place some of the workers up top in front of the tent and set off the blast. They will point to a spot on the ground, so have them dig there overnight.

In the morning open the treasure chest and you should have the Key to the Sector 5 Slums. Now go back to Midgar and go through the gate. Go back to Wall Market and go to the shop where the item machine was broken before (the one that shot at you), and try to use it now. You will recieve Tifa's ultimate weapon.

Final Fantasy VII Racing Trophy
When racing S-class in the Gold Saucer, You will notice many keen items you can't ever seem to get. Well you can get them all at once! Just win 15-20 races in a row! Ester will say "I've never seen anyone win so much in S-class before!" She will then give you one of each item, including the coveted Cat's Bell! this trick only works once, though.

Final Fantasy VII Item Duplication
If you have the W-Item Materia, equip it and enter battle. Use the W-Item command and select your first item you want to use with the Circle button. Then choose your second item but do not use it. Select it so that cursors appear on the screen (either on you allies or your enemies) then cancel with the X button. Select again and make the cursor appear then cancel. Repeat the selecting and canceling of the second item over and over. Each time you do this the quantity of the first item will increase by 1.

Final Fantasy VII Prevent Back Attacks
If your battle starts with a "Back Attack" hold L1 and R1 for a moment then release them. This will turn you around before your opponents get a shot.

Final Fantasy VII Cast Any Spell Three Times
To cast three magic spells in one round, first equip someone with a Magic Materia + "All" Support Materia. You'll also need Barrier Materia with the Reflect spell learned. When you enter battle, cast Reflect on the entire party, (your party). Then cast the magic spell that was connected to the "All" Materia on YOUR party. Even though you casted the spell once, it will be reflected and returned to the enemy hitting for three times! And for the same price of the usual MP's. What's even better is that if you have W-Magic, you can cast that spell twice, or two different spells (both need to be connected to "All" Materia) hitting for six times!!!

Final Fantasy VII Ancient Forest
To get to the Ancient Forest before disc 3, simply ride up the hill with a black, gold or green chocobo.

Final Fantasy VII Beta Materia
When you first go to the Chocobo ranch you have to catch a chocobo to avoid the Midgarsorm. Well, I figured out a way to get the powerful Beta spell before the second disc. You need the Enemy skill materia, a Fire materia, and any elemental materia equipped on one person. MAKE SURE THE LAST TWO ARE ON YOUR ARMOR!

If you keep this character healed until Midgarsorm casts Beta you SHOULD be able to survive the spell. Then just finish him off. This is tricky to pull off but if done correctly you will be set for a LONG time.

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Casa del Cloud
In Costa Del Sol (during Disc 2 or 3), go into the building at the other side of the bridge and talk to the man lying on the bed and he will ask if you want to buy it. Make sure you have enough money before you talk to the man, because you can only talk about buying the place just once. It will cost 300,000 Gil.

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Cover Me!
You can do a lot by linking Cover materia with Counter materia. You'll need a Mastered Cover materia and as many Mastered Counter materia as possible. Now your charater can cover and take out a group of monsters in one counter.

Final Fantasy VII Hint: Hard Hit Materia Combos
The following are lists of materia combinations that will give you an advantage over tough enemies such as Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon. ("-" means the two materia must be connected; all others can be put anywhere.)

1) Materia: Mega-all, Deathblow-HP Absorb/MP Absorb
Description: Restores lots of HP/MP while dealing major damage.

2) Materia: Cover, Counter Attack, Counter Attack, Counter-Deathblow
Description: Covers for characters and counters three times, the last being deathblow.

3) Materia: "Knights of the Round" Summon-W-Summon, Mime
Description: Casts Knights of the Round twice and Mime casts it twice again for no MP charge (can Mime unlimited times if "chain" is not broken).

4) Materia: Pre-Emptive, Sneak Attack-Kights of the Round, HP<->MP, Mime, W-Summon
Description: A player begins by casting Knights of the Round twice without need of rest (HP<->MP materia). Also, all attack gauges for other characters are full at the begining of the battle which allows for an easy Mime to cast Knights of the Round twice again free of charge (as long as chain is not broken).

Also, I find that FINAL ATTACK-REVIVE can be helpful by reviving you if you die unexpectedly (great combination against Emerald Weapon and Ruby Weapon).

Final Fantasy VII Chocobo Tricks
While racing the chocobos, hold L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 to increase your speed. To increase their stamina, hold R1 + R2.

While choosing a chocobo to race, press L1, L2, R1, R2 or any direction to pan, zoom and rotate the chocobo you're viewing.

Final Fantasy VII Knights of the Round Table
Ride the Golden Chocobo to the North-Eastern part of the map. There you'll find a hidden island with a cave. Enter the cave and talk to the red light to receive the "Nights of the Round Table" spell.

That post was an absolute waste of time. What, did you think I needed hints? I've beaten the game son, it's a fail of a game compared to FF8, pointing out its flaws aren't going to help you any.

FFVIII isn't as repetitive as VII (woo-hoo no grinding)

FFVIII has better character customization (thanks for pointing out how flawed Materia is; no matter what way you want to spin your propaganda, FFVII didn't evolve the RPG formula. It was basically FF6's system with a make-over)

I own Tactics, it was also better than VII

[retroguiden]

The whole point though being that they are a fully realised, fully interactive gameworld where you can 'roleplay' your character and find all sorts of interesting and diverting things to do outside any fixed parameters created by the developer. Your character develops according to the things you do in the game so if you want to be a thief you actually play the game as one and those skills develop, want to learn about potions, spells and such, go foraging for plants and other ingredients in the forests and ruins and use a mortar and pestle to experiment or learn from libraries and other NPC's. Morrowind and to a lesser extent Oblivion are the closest you will get to an offline MMORPG.

With most JRPG's you are very much limited to the parameters of the storyline, which to be fair in most cases consists of a few hours of impressive set pieces and the remainder is largely cliched and deeply kitsche filler. You have a set character, with a defined identity and set abilities, I thoroughly enjoy most of them but lets call them what they are. Its a matter of choice wether you prefer freeform adventure games where you have the ability to choose your characters path throughout the game or whether you prefer a more structured but less interactive experience.
All tastes are catered for.

Couldn't have put it better. Nice to see that someone else in here can "think outside the box". With that said, I love both genres. Even FF8. The first FF that couldn't seem to get hold of me since the first one is FFX. 8 is far better compared to that one.