4. Final Fantasy VIII (1999)
Final Fantasy VIII was a resonant tale of youthful love, friendship, and the frailty of early memories. It was also a story about space witches who travel back in time and featured a magic system that seemed designed specifically to be broken (and made it very fun to do just that).
You take on the role of Squall, a teen enrolled in a mercenary boarding school who winds up in a strange time- and consciousness-bending conflict. The details of the lore are fascinating to try and piece together, as is the relationship between each of the characters, some of which remain forever uncertain. Play Final Fantasy VIII and you’ll immediately know exactly what its story is about while also feeling like you’re too deep into something that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. It is an endless sci-fi fantasy knot of troubled kids trying to find purpose and meaning.
I love that Final Fantasy VIII is a game I think I know, but then realize I don’t. One second I understand the lore, but the next I’m thinking about an entirely different way to interpret it and how it relates to the characters. It’s almost as if the game is telling me that lore and worldbuilding, fact memorization, is secondary to the emotional journey the characters pull me toward. I love it for that.
It also features a dense world whose cities and technology feel relatable, but never lose the fantasy of spellbinding magic, sorcery, and imaginative high-tech. The well-done visuals make me truly mourn the loss of intentional, pre-rendered backgrounds populated by simple 3D characters, which when viewed on the intended CRT displays, suggest a world far grander than anything actually portrayed by the scant pixels. No technological advancement will ever match the scale of this game’s world that exists in my head, all achieved with spirited, carefully calibrated art and presentation engineered around the limits of the PlayStation.
I’ve been trying to re-acquire a CRT lately. And when I finally do, Final Fantasy VIII will be the first game I’ll jump into, blissfully shutting out the real world to go on a journey with these beloved characters once more. — Claire Jackson
Read More: Final Fantasy VIII Retrospective: The Greatest Love Story
