Let's talk a bit about the overall presentation of the game, shall we?
That was the time when Computer Graphics were undergoing huge improvements, both in quality and popularity; the CG cutscenes in FFVIII were a nice example of that. Compared to the rather raw-looking ones in the seventh episode, all movies in VIII were really beautiful. Too bad that by then I had already overcome my enthusiasm for pre-rendered animations, so those cutscenes didn't impress me as much as most other players, except for one which sported a nice transition from 'in-game' graphics to the CG scene. Still today I don't really like all those CG movies (Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks alike): I guess there's something in the animations which bothers me.
CG aside, the game wasn't that different, technically speaking, from its predecessor: you have your polygonal characters and monsters move over a pre-rendered background (while in towns or other confined places) or on a full-3D map, while battle scenes were full-3D. All these areas got some improvements, mainly because of 'textures' (instead of using many coloured polygons, you use less, but apply images onto them to make them look better). The first result of this move was improved realism (helped by normal character proportions compared to the 'puppets' in FFVII), while the second one was that everything looked shabbier: maybe it was just me, but it looked like there was much less colour.
All these improvements weren't entirely free: I already mentioned in the previous post that the game was slower, and it's partly because of its better 'graphics', although I hated the slower animation more.
A special mention goes to the music department of the game: before I say anything about the artistic quality of the soundtrack, I must make it clear that I hate the choice of instruments in the game! I also didn't like the battle music (it made me feel the game was even slower) and some other tracks, but really, no other Final Fantasy game I've played or watched has ever made the same effect to me. I once read on a videogame Forum that someone had defined the song 'Eyes on Me' (the main theme of the game) something like a crime against humanity. I wouldn't go that far, but for me that song foreshadowed a worrying trend in Japanese videogames; I won't tell which it is though.
Next post will be about playing cards! I'll write it down so I don't forget it.
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