One of the Greatest Video Games of All Time
Final Fantasy VIII is quite possibly one of the greatest video games of all time. It is the follow up to the game that ushered in "modern" RPGs, and yet somehow it delivered beyond expectations. 8 brings the game closer to the target audience - a guy in school with a rival, a crush, a hot teacher, a best friend, and still retains the macro level "global" problems of FF7 (instead of the environment it's war), crashing into the everyday world of 6 special young adults. The game is responsible for bringing motion capture CG into the mainstream. Visually the game pushes the PS2 to the limits (and subsequently there was a regression with FF9's graphics) and like it or not the visuals are part of the experience. Great moments all around from Balamb Garden to the Ragnarok to playable time travel flashbacks. It turned a mini-game into a phenomenon (Triple Triad). All of this while its predecessor set the bar so high in so many areas. The narrative is actually easier to follow and is an improvement upon FF7. I didn't understand the Zack/Cloud relationship fully until Crisis Core to be honest... TEN YEARS LATER! People will always hate on FF8 because they just wanted the sequel to FF7 which typically is the first one they ever played.

replenishing stolen library
Glad to finally get this one back. I used to have a huge collection of PS1 games but a little traveling mixed with friends who have slim wallets...well you get the idea.

Dont listen to really negative reviews about this game...
This may be a bit late but I just felt like putting it up after replaying this game on my PS3, the real reason most negative comments are from FF7 players is mainly because of things like the Junctioning system which takes some thinking to get it down the right way. When people say things like some parts are to hard or to easy it comes down to how smart you set up your junctioning system and alot of FF7 fanboys dont understand it and never use it throughout the whole game and rely on nothing but GFs to kill their enemies since they dont get they can Junction abilities to make Squall very powerfull and annilate enemies with a few hits , the game is actually very easy If you junction abilities the right way and you dont need money to progress really you get huge amounts of money you never use and really FF7 players dont understand the story either...lol I must admit its a bit complex but FF7 fans just say the story is horrible instead of figuring it out. I think FF7 players who really flame this game were hoping for something a little easier for them to understand and because they dont get all they do is just flame it.The story is actually quite beautiful away from the plot of Ultimicia. 5stars over all for the story. 4 stars for fun took one star out just because its sometimes hard to figure out your objective and spend time running back and forth from places if you arent listening to the dialogue it may take you awhile to figure out how to progress the story since nothing gives you hints on what to do.

By the way the game works perfect on the first PS3s released 40gigs and 60s I have no idea about the newer cheaper PS3s.

Hands down Final Fantasy 8 is the best in the series
Final Fantasy 8 dominates all catergories graphics,story,length,and of course charachter depth. When i first popped in this game the first cutscene blew me away and from there on out I was hooked. The story is so good by disc 4. you will feel sad that it has ended. though most of disc 1 is just running around the place by disc 2 the story heats up and you wont be able to turn off the game. i recomend this game to anyone who likes great gameplay and great story.

Final Fantasy's Review
Final Fantasy 8 is definitely a great chapter in the Final Fantasy anthology. I am a little more than half way through the game right now, and it still has my attention. The only misleading thing about the game was the hype. Many a person has told me that "This is the best love story in all the Final Fantasy games!", which is not entirely true. The game itself does not stem through a love story like I was led to believe.

The other thing that caught me off guard in the game is, unlike most RPG's, especially the Final Fantasy games, the Summons or Espers (pending on which games you've played) do not rely on your magic points (MP). On top of that, in order to gain more summons, you have to "scan" all the bosses and especially if a boss changes form, or you have to fight them more than once in the game.

Now as far as they buyer, I haven't had any complaints about using Amazon aside from one thing. I am a heavy collector. Comics, toys, art, etc. etc. So far, there is no way of telling if you will receive the "Greatest Hits Edition" or the original packaging. I personally thing all the selling users on Amazon should have the exact picture that they are selling, not just a picture they found online. Another thing with the Greatest Hits version is that I received a black and white play book rather than a color version. As I said before, I am a collector and very very selective about the items that I purchase. Aside from that, the game is great, and I recommend and RPG fan to play it, and if you're not an RPG fan, give it a shot. A lot of the great stories lay in the RPG's.