Summary: Some of my terrible predictions, and the intro cinematic.
Introductory Thoughts and Guesses Which Will Almost Invariably Be Wrong
-Before FFVI and FFVII, I had heard the names Kefka and Sephiroth as legendary characters. I was prepared for that part at least. For FFVIII, I can’t even say that much. I’ve heard zero things about the story or characters in this game.
-I’m expecting this to be like FFVII plus some extra stuff I didn’t know. Mostly turn-based combat like the other primary numbered games in the series, maybe stealth and smaller stuff like the snowboarding in FFVII. (I’m using a controller in anticipation.) Also some new mechanics similar to the snowboard game.
-I saw the cover logo. [image located near the bottom of this post] Based on that art, I predict FFVIII will focus on a love story. Maybe a tragic love story, maybe something about love persisting through time and trials, maybe about lovers fighting, or something else entirely. But lovey.
-All the usual monsters and espers will likely pop up – Shiva and Ramuh and Bahamut and all – but the one I’m most hoping for is the cactuar. What a delightful esper. Was glad to see him in Crisis Core.
-BUT WHAT IF FFVIII’S MAIN CHARACTER WAS THAT MUSTACHIOED CACTUAR?!?! (Yeah, not happening, but the four seconds I just spent imagining that were delightful.)
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-Oh, one more thing: I’ve been minorly expectation spoiled [which is fine in this case!] that this game’s mechanics can get complicated at some point, though I know no details on this. It hasn’t really been an issue before, but I’ll add this request, just in case:
PLEASE DO NOT “BACKSEAT GAME.” If I feel like the game is being super unclear in terms of explaning a mechanic’s fundamentals in the tutorial I may ask for a specific clarification, but I’ll do my best to work through things on my own.
I will fail at it. I will screw up, I will play sub-optimally, miss stuff, and I’m FINE with that. That’s where I get most of the joy from while playing unspoiled. Keep any hints, suggestions, intimations, or judgments (whether “oh god wtf are you doing that’s a horrible materia to pick” or “good choice! that item will definitely come in handy *wiiiink*”) in rot13. This goes for both story and mechanics – if it has not come up in game, if I have not explicitly discussed it, do not discuss it or hint at further implications or anything like that. Thank you!
Introductory Thoughts and Guesses Which Will Almost Invariably Be Wrong
-Before FFVI and FFVII, I had heard the names Kefka and Sephiroth as legendary characters. I was prepared for that part at least. For FFVIII, I can’t even say that much. I’ve heard zero things about the story or characters in this game.
-I’m expecting this to be like FFVII plus some extra stuff I didn’t know. Mostly turn-based combat like the other primary numbered games in the series, maybe stealth and smaller stuff like the snowboarding in FFVII. (I’m using a controller in anticipation.) Also some new mechanics similar to the snowboard game.
-I saw the cover logo. [image located near the bottom of this post] Based on that art, I predict FFVIII will focus on a love story. Maybe a tragic love story, maybe something about love persisting through time and trials, maybe about lovers fighting, or something else entirely. But lovey.
-All the usual monsters and espers will likely pop up – Shiva and Ramuh and Bahamut and all – but the one I’m most hoping for is the cactuar. What a delightful esper. Was glad to see him in Crisis Core.
-BUT WHAT IF FFVIII’S MAIN CHARACTER WAS THAT MUSTACHIOED CACTUAR?!?! (Yeah, not happening, but the four seconds I just spent imagining that were delightful.)
---
-Oh, one more thing: I’ve been minorly expectation spoiled [which is fine in this case!] that this game’s mechanics can get complicated at some point, though I know no details on this. It hasn’t really been an issue before, but I’ll add this request, just in case:
PLEASE DO NOT “BACKSEAT GAME.” If I feel like the game is being super unclear in terms of explaning a mechanic’s fundamentals in the tutorial I may ask for a specific clarification, but I’ll do my best to work through things on my own.
I will fail at it. I will screw up, I will play sub-optimally, miss stuff, and I’m FINE with that. That’s where I get most of the joy from while playing unspoiled. Keep any hints, suggestions, intimations, or judgments (whether “oh god wtf are you doing that’s a horrible materia to pick” or “good choice! that item will definitely come in handy *wiiiink*”) in rot13. This goes for both story and mechanics – if it has not come up in game, if I have not explicitly discussed it, do not discuss it or hint at further implications or anything like that. Thank you!
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Introduction
-A sunny beach with lapping waves. Orchestral music with a voice.
-Words across the screen. “I’ll be here.” “Why?” “I’ll be ‘waiting’… here” The ‘waiting’ is in quotation marks, making it seem a bit… well, not sinister, but not quite so straight-forward as one person hanging out and waiting for another.
-An image of a woman in a field with a dude’s face overlaid.
-More words as the camera continues to pan, now over a field. Lending credence to my “love across time” prediction.
-Now that woman in the field is watching a Forrest Gump feather fly away.
-The weather turns stormy, and the feather turns into a plummeting sword.
-A creepier face comes into the sky, who actually looks a bit like Jenova. No FF games have had story continuity yet from one numbered title to another and I don’t think it’ll start now, so it’s probably not actually Jenova, but still the first thing that jumped to mind.
-Hey, it’s a woman in a toucan bird hat!
Queen of the Chocobos perhaps?
-Another woman, maybe the same Chocobo Queen in a different costume, has a pretty badass shoulder thing that looks like she’s wearing a sundial or maybe a giant compass.
[Later edit: in hindsight, I feel more confident (if not 100% sure) that Chocobo Queen is the same as Sundial Woman.]
-Two dudes are duding it up in the dudeliest of dude ways: COMBAT.
Swords. I forgot to predict the style of the game, whether I think it’ll be steampunk or modern or high fantasy. I’ll bet it leans more towards high fantasy, like the titles from FFI through FFV.
-More images make me think the Chocobo Queen is different from Sundial Woman.
-The montage here is getting pretty intense. It maintains an operatic quality. It keeps flashing to the dark-haired woman between the two dudes, so maybe a love triangle. (I kind of hope I’m wrong about this – love triangles aren’t generally my favorite thing, but I’ll keep an open mind.)
-One of the dudes looks like a modern day crusader, and the other looks like he’s in a biker gang.
-Aaaand… title screen!
The intro really awesomely bleeds into the title screen. Love it.
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Next time: diving into the game proper.
