Introduction

Developer: Square Soft
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Expected Release: September 1999 (PSX), November (PC)

A Long Lived Fantasy

In the world of console RPGs, no company has dominated them as Square Soft has, and from the looks of things, it doesn't look like that will be changing any time soon. Between 7 best selling home-console games and 4 hand-held console hits, Square has definitely established itself as the leading developer of console RPGs. Between countless hard core fans and sequels to the fantasy world that started it all, Final Fantasy has without a doubt established itself as the most successful continuing RPG series. Does a company like this have any competition? Sure. They have to compete with their title's predecessors. Final Fantasy 7 is commonly regarded as the best RPG to date. To show how much Square is willing to beat out Final Fantasy 7, they have spent millions of dollars on artists, programmers and musicians for the 4 CDs of Final Fantasy 8. The big question is this: With all these resources spent into Final Fantasy 8, can it live up to the legendary Final Fantasy 7?

World View Map

Isn't this a console game? What's it doing on FS?

It is for the console, but after realizing how big the market is in the PC world, Square Soft is releasing a PC version shortly after its console release, just as they did for Final Fantasy 7. Square is probably very interested in money, but most of all, they probably want to continue the Final Fantasy legacy and show it in all it's graphical glory. After all, today's PCs have a ton more graphical horsepower than a Playstation. Besides, they won't have to worry about money, if the people out there are diehard fans like me who will end up getting both. Is it a waste of money? Maybe, but let me tell you that the PC version of FF7 is so much faster (if you have a good system). The load time and battles are much faster than the Play Station. Why not just wait for the PC version then? Whatever! I want Final Fantasy 8 as soon as possible! I'll get the "faster" version when it's available, but I don't think I can wait for it to hit the PC shelves before I get the game for the Playstation.

At a checkpoint