Final Fantasy VIII makes its own features redundant. You don't get money from battles, it comes from taking dumb questions about the game. The level scaling system adjusts to the party so you can never overgrind. Instead of being in a party of interesting characters, it comes down to the GFs that the player has assigned. There is no difference between each of the characters, with Squall being the only exception. Party swaps can be made between characters. It feels like the nice dinnerware that never gets used. The spells end up not getting touched, as using it lowers the character's stats. Each character has their own magic seperated from everyone else. You can get stuck in a battle for a long time just drawing. Drawing is boring, and junctioning is tedious.
Jared has now run out of nice things to say about the game. There is discovery and experimentation here. Enemies can be scanned to find new summons for more junctioning. Drop points are fouind in the world, or can be drawn on the enemies. There are no magic points to cast spells, rather they are more like items. Not every spell works the same, as they increase certain stats better than others. The junction system allows magic being connected to stats. Jared shows the mashing a button a lot mechanic, and messes it up. They are equipment fiven to the characters allowing them to learn skills. Summons are now an integral part of the gameplay. Characters already start their attack animations before the previous has finished. There was a lot of criticism on how the Lego Final Fantasy VII characters looked. There is immersion where a cutscene is playing, but the player still has control of their characters.
People looked like people - as best they could. There are more cutscenes, creatures and things. Jared initially was put off from this as a kid. The world is modern with a bit of fantasy and magic. The animation is impressive as is the soundtrack. The introduction cutscene looks good and sounds great. Jared wonders if he was wrong, as a lot of people say how good it is.
Jared didn't like the game when it first came out, but now Jared's opinions have been refined. Jared discusses Final Fantasy's release date - 9/9/99. Jared had a lot of trouble getting this video up as Square Enix loves copyright striking videos on their games. Jared gets irritated as he plays through one of the weaker games in the Final Fantasy franchise.