Final Fantasy VIII

[Todd]

I am about to replay FFVIII for a shrine, and it got me thinking about a part of the game I hate: enemies level up with you. (I know they don't have levels, but I mean their difficulty increases as you level up.) I was wondering, when you guys play the game, do you grind like in other Final Fantasy games and try to level up? Do you run away from every enemy? I know running from too many battles will hurt your rank.

[Mikari]

I tried playing like normal, not really paying attention to that, but it caught up with me. I got kind of stuck near the end, but by then I decided I've seen most of the story and could you tube the end because I didn't have the patience to find magic or whatever I had to do. Plus it was the last fight with Fujin & Raijin and I couldn't just leave the area. Needless to say, I didn't like that system.

[SnowRayjah]

I.Never.Run.From.Battles.

Well, I rarely run from battles (there is the required few). Usually, my general rule is if you find it you kill it. Fight everything. And that always makes me over leveled in games. So, I didn't mind the leveling up together thing in this one. It wasn't a problem.

I grind. I find it relaxing (and that's why I play games). I like to go through and figure out how to beat monsters, collect items, and make my party pretty close to invincible. My last save involved my main party being immune to the worst status ailments (confuse, berserk, and death) and absorbing every element. It was fantastic. And because I like slaying dragons and tough monsters it was easy to get to 100. I like to run around on the Island Closest to Hell and kill dragons, so maybe there's just something wrong with me. I also like Deep Sea Research Center without encounter none.

The only thing that really bothered me about the level up system was that sometimes it was hard to beat monsters when you started out. I remember T-Rexar slaying me in the very earliest parts of the game the first time I played (because I was unfamiliar with the battle system). I really dislike the draw system which is another reason I spend a lot of time grinding so that I can refine items and spells. Although I do have to say that getting doom and some blinds from the Gnats made slaying T-Rexar ridiculously easy. And it's something I still do out of principle.

I think my biggest complaint with the system was that it was too easy to master.

TL;DR - I grind because it's relaxing and I like being a master of battle.

[Larissa]

I find it more effort to run from battles unless there's an accessory/item/whatever in a game to completely negate random encounters. I generally fight whatever enemies pop up during the course of normal gameplay and grind if necessary. In the case of FF8 I never found the level system to be too much of a bother; it's a little odd, but so long as you have the right junctions you can deal with the enemies no matter what level you are.

This is coming from someone who would spend a solid 20 minutes drawing from a single boss just to make sure I had 100 Triples or Meltdowns apiece, granted. I'm very patient when it comes to these things.

Also, if you're worried about rank you can always take the quiz.

[Tara]

I'm in the same boat as Snow with this one: I love to grind and fight everything. Though I usually prefer games with visual enemies to attack rather than random battles, I'll kill anything that comes at me unless I'm not supposed to, lol. I had a similar file in that I had a lot of magic that boosted my stats and nullified a lot of status ailments and magic. I don't mind that the enemies grow with you because I feel it gives the game more of a challenge. Unlike my dislike for Final Fantasy XIII where I couldn't grind past a certain point, I enjoyed Final Fantasy VIII where I could still grind to my highest level, while simultaneously drawing from the same enemy for hours to get all the spells I wanted.

I find the junctioning system easy to exploit: the enemies level or difficulty didn't really matter when I was able to get really strong magics to equip, as well some powerful GF abilities. I always make sure to learn Boost first on all the GF's I plan on using to summon. I usually leave out of battle abilities last so that their power is upped fairly quickly.

Final Fantasy VIII is my favourite Final Fantasy next IX. I look forward to your future shrine no matter who it's to! I love everyone!

[Eimii]

I still need to beat FF8. It was the first FF i played alongside Tactics. I've played it from start up to the Castle about 10 times now. I just could never bring myself to beat it. D: Plus Triple Triad...that game distracted me for hours.

I loved the battle and Junctioning system though. Boost is a must, and having the no encounter is good for when you want to spam draw on the hell/heaven islands. so much magic.... @_@ i dont think i ran from battle too much...except in the underwater place.

ugh i want to make a Selphie shrine now. Booyaka!

[Aku]

Pretty much what everyone else said: fight what you run into, grind if needed, and the junction system is broken as hell--take advantage of it and even Selphie will deal hilarious amounts of damage with merely basic attacks. XD FF8's battle system is fun because there's so much you can do with the system and everyone's experience is different. (Also Triple Triad best minigame ever!!!)

I'm curious what you're shrining, Todd! :3

[Cherri]

Shrine all the things! I'm really bad at junctioning, so I just hand the controller to Snow and say "Set this up so I can kick ass like you do." Junctioning (100 of each) ultima, pain and esuna will pretty much make you absorb everything. Don't separate your magic either. Everyone gets their own unless it's already maxed. Also don't use magic that's equipped. And fight everything (even if it is annoying). I didn't always follow the "Fight everything" rule. I do now and it helps a lot. I also go with the "If I don't find it, no one gets equipment" rule. I don't like spending gil unless I have to.

Though the game loves me and I can run in circles and get payed. Makes me wanna play...a little.