[STEAM] Will Expedition 33 finally vindicate this unfairly hated Final Fantasy title?

[Steam 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Screenshots by Destructoid Final Fantasy VIII’s junction system also caught its fair share of criticism, supposedly for being too complex. Still, it’s actually a much simpler version of Expedition 33’s Pictos and Lumina system, which nobody is complaining about.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Even with the dark shadow of fan hate forever looming over it, there’s little doubt regarding the quality of FF8's minigame, Triple Triad, which

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

All of Expedition 33’s minigames are original enough. They’re all pretty fun, but none are as engrossing as Triple Triad. Instead of even trying to upstage it, E33 instead makes a hilarious reference to "Double Dyad."

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Image via Sandfall Interactive

Expedition carries Final Fantasy VIII’s will to tell a bonkers story

Much like FF8, Expedition 33 also features several plot twists, some that completely shift your perspective on the entire game midway through, but, unlike FF8's wild turns, Expedition 33’s were mostly met with praise. I agree that E33 does a better job with its most explosive reveals by tying them directly to the characters and the feelings we’ve developed toward them (rather than aiming for a mind-blowing effect).

Still, many elements are quite similar and, without spoiling anything, I’m willing to bet the very different response also lies largely in how much audiences have matured in their reading of video game narratives.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

So much is up for debate, like how the effects of an impactful event in the world of FF8 called time compression might've inspired the looks of Expedition 33's Lumière. Most of this, however, is a fact. Guillaume Broche, the director of E33, other key developers, and even the co-main voice actor, Ben Starr, have cited FF8 as their favorite title, and looking for all the inspiration taken almost doubles as another cool minigame.

Both games understand beauty like no other

One little-talked-about characteristic of FF8 is its ability to ***** you into a world of unparalleled coziness. The visuals and music on display remain gorgeously welcoming so long after its release, and were just otherworldly back when it came out. Do you enjoy E33’s amazing soundtrack? FF8 was the first title in the series to employ an actual orchestra, and, I believe, one of the few consensus points about it is that it has the best soundtrack out of all Final Fantasy games.

Its visuals are quite on par. Though they’ve been surpassed on a technical level by the most recent games in the series, their varied, complex, but never uninviting artistry is yet to be surpassed. It’s just nearly impossible to find an area in FF8 that you wouldn’t want to visit in real life.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Image via Destructoid Fittingly to its wild time-travel plot, one could argue Final Fantasy 8's devs left behind a time capsule they somehow knew would only be correctly interpreted by the French.



The post

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

appeared first on

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up