Comparing Zelda: The Ocarina of Time to Final Fantasy VIII
By Dustin Bell
Well howdy do, another
editorial from yours truly, Dustin Bell. Well, around
Christmas, I had proposed to my parents that if I sold my
Super Nintendo that they would actually THINK about
getting me a Sony Playstation. Heh, lucky they didn't
know I had nearly all the games I ever liked on the Super
Nintendo on emulator. (Shh! Don't tell anyone!) Well,
anyway, they didn't get me a Playstation, but lucky for
me, good 'ol Grandma and Grandpa came up from Connecticut
(I live in Ontario) for the week, and they got me a
Playstation! I was so happy. Well, anyway, the next
morning my parents had to go to the local Canadian Tire,
(Which for some odd reason sells Sony Playstation
merchandise) so I went with them and purchased Final
Fantasy VIII and a fifteen block Memory Card with some of
my savings. Best ninety bucks I ever spent. I started
playing as soon as I finished my breakfast when we got
home, getting all the way to the Initiation Ceremony for
SeeDs without saving once! That means I got far. Soon
after, 114 hours and 37 minutes later to be precise, I
beat the game for the first time ever! Wow…That was
the only word I could say after viewing the ending.
That…and beautiful. It was truly a great game, and
ending. It was not the best in the Final Fantasy series,
but it did blow that bombshell predecessor Final Fantasy
VII away. The last three games released on the Sony
Playstation revolving around the legacy of Final Fantasy
(Excluding VIII of course.) have been bombshells in my
opinion. Final Fantasy VII was terrible compared to its
predecessor, Final Fantasy VI. Well, I guess I'll start
with my newest editorial. A comparison between Zelda:
Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VIII: The Technical
Specs: Ocarina of Time: Zelda: Ocarina of Time was
developed by Nintendo Inc. in 1998, released on a 256
megabyte cartridge on the Nintendo 64. Zelda: Ocarina of
Time was a fully three-dimensional game, and I believe it
was the third three dimensional platform game for the
Nintendo 64. Following Super Mario 64, and Banjo Kazooie.
It didn't feature an original game engine, or an original
control system. Ocarina of Time was fairly advanced for
its time, but not by much. Final Fantasy VIII: Final
Fantasy VIII was developed by SquareSoft Electronic
Entertainment in 1999, released on four Compact Disks.
Final Fantasy VIII was a fully three-dimensional game
with Full Motional Video (FMV) and Computer Generation
(CG) capabilities. It used the same game-engine as its
predecessor, Final Fantasy VII, but had an entirely
different character design engine. SquareSoft chose to
avoid the entire "sprite" character design, and
went for a more realistic approach. SquareSoft hired
actual actors and actresses to play the rolls for the
main characters. Anyway, Final Fantasy VIII had some of
the most advanced graphics the world had ever seen, truly
advanced for its time. The Storyline: Ocarina of Time:
Now, for Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the story line basically
fell on Nintendo's lap, everyone knew how Ganondorf got
the Triforce, all Nintendo had to do was make some
dungeons, and give a more detailed explanation of how
Ganondorf got the Sacred Relic. Okay, I'll start it off.
Link is a Kokiri without a fairy. One day, the leader of
the Kokiri, and the Guardian of Hyrule, The Deku Tree,
tells Link that an evil man known as Ganondorf is going
to try and get the Triforce and use its wish granting
power to become to King of Evil. Link must stop him by
getting the Triforce first. Link's plan fails, and
Ganondorf gets the Triforce. Link is sealed by the
legendary "Sage of Light" for seven years in
order to become the "Hero of Time" who wields
the Master Sword, (The Sword of Evil's Bane.) Link must
find the other sages, in order to destroy Ganondorf, and
once again, bring order to the world. Final Fantasy VIII:
Final Fantasy VIII's storyline was rather poor I must
say. I will start at the beginning; Squall Lionheart is a
cadet at the military school of Garden, he is attempting
to become a SeeD, Garden's "Combat Specialists
Mercenary Force". Squall is one of the lucky four to
be accepted into SeeD, along with Zell Dincht, Selphie
Tilamitt and an unknown young woman named Nida. At the
Initiation Party, Squall meets a free spirited young
woman named Riona Heartilly. The next day the three SeeD
cadets are sent on their first mission to a small country
called Timber. They are to assist an anti-government
faction that is trying to overtake the Galbadian army,
which has taken Timber over. When they get to Timber, it
appears as though Riona is the leader of the faction, and
is overjoyed to see Squall and his fellow SeeDs. We later
find out that Galbadia is associating with the feared
Sorceress Edea. Squall and his fellow SeeDs, Riona and
the group's Sniper, Irvine Kenneas are sent out to
assassinate the Sorceress. The assassination attempt
fails, and the SeeDs are put in jail for opposing the
Sorceress. They break free and attempt to destroy the
Sorceress once and for all. But the plot thickens,
Sorceress Edea is not only the Headmaster of Garden's
wife, but the Matron at Squall, Selphie, Irvine, Seifer,
Zell and Quistis' childhood orphanage. The SeeDs later
find out that Sorceress Edea was not evil, but she was
possessed by a Sorceress from the future, Ultimecia, who
was trying to compress time and gain the power of all the
Sorceresses from the beginning of time to her era. The
group attempts to travel to the future and destroy
Ultimecia, so that the world can live in peace. Character
Bios: Ocarina of Time: Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the
playable characters. Link, a young Hylian, raised as a
Kokiri and the "Hero of Time". A lot of
characters here, eh? Final Fantasy VIII: Final Fantasy
VIII has two major flaws, one; the storyline depth, and
two; the lack of character development. Anyway, I'll get
on with brief character bios. Squall Lionheart, the main
character in the game. Starts out as a young man who is
as anti-social you can get, but later learns to open up
to other people when he meets Riona Heartilly. Riona
Heartilly is a free spirited young woman, the daughter of
General Caraway, she is the one who teaches Squall to
open up to other people. Zell Dincht was a cadet at
Garden since the age of seven, hoping to become a
military hero like his Grandfather. Selphie Tilamitt was
a transfer student from another Garden; she's a bit of a
ditz. Quistis Trepe was a SeeD at the age of 15, and an
Instructor at Garden at the age of 17, a truly remarkable
student. Irvine Kenneas is a student from yet another
Garden. He is as confident and cocky as you get, also has
a soft spot for Selphie. Edea Krammer was formally a
Sorceress until she passed her powers on to Riona. The
wife of Headmaster Cid, and the Matron of the orphanage.
Laguana Loire is the supposed father of Squall and
President of Esthar. Kiros is a long time friend of
Laguana and finally, Ward; also a long time friend of
Laguana. Music: Ocarina of Time: Out of the Legend of
Zelda series, this game has to have had the worst music
of them all. Not even using the original classic
Over-World theme. It didn't have very creepy music. The
scariest music was probably the Forest Temple. And isn't
Zelda all about mystery and creepiness? Some of the music
did add to the atmosphere, (example: Bottom of the Well
music.) Some music was misplaced greatly, (example:
Gerudo Fortress music.) This game could have been
drastically different if the classic over-world music was
used in place of the Ocarina of Time music. I think the
Ocarina of Time over-world music was just too cheery,
obviously composed for little kids. The classic
over-world theme was adventurous. It made you think you
were on a quest, it gave you determination to finish the
game, and vanquish Ganon to the great beyond. This new
music gave you no determination at all, whatsoever. Final
Fantasy VIII: Nobuo Uematsu is a complete genius. The
music in Final Fantasy VIII is SPECTACULAR. It has four
songs with complete lyrics, performed by the Japanese
Symphony Orchestra and Faye Wong. The four complete
songs; "Eyes on Me", "Liberi Fatali",
"Ending Theme (No title)" and "Fithos
Lusec Wecos Vinosec". There are also dozens of other
great songs without lyrics. Including "Love
Grows", "Breezy" and "Balamb
Garden". This game had all the right music at all
the right times. The weakest music scores were probably
"Shuffle and Boogie" and "Cactus
Jack". But even these were far from bad music
scores. I will say it again, Nobuo Uematsu is a complete
genius. The Ending: Ocarina of Time: Zelda and Link float
in the sky, discussing how peace would soon return to
Hyrule, but this era was not where Link belonged. She
says as a sage she can return Link to his own time
without the Temple of Time. She asks Link to give her the
Ocarina of Time, this he does and she begins to play a
tune, that will carry Link back to his own era. The
credits start playing, as we see several areas of Hyrule
appear and fade away, Zora's Domain apparently has been
thawed out. We then see a party taking place at Lon Lon
Ranch, where every species of Hyrule have gathered and
are celebrating the vanquishing of Ganondorf. The six
sages suddenly fly overhead towards Death Mountain, as
the era ceases to exist because in the past Link has
stopped Ganondorf. We then see Link walking away from the
Pedestal of Time, Navi flies away into the window at the
top of the temple, as Link begins to walk out of the
building. We see Link walking up to Zelda in the
courtyard, as the screen fades gold, and the words
"The-End" appear. Not a very good ending at all
in my opinion. Final Fantasy VIII: The heroes walk around
in the void between time. Trying to find the right time
portal to walk through to get back to their era. We
suddenly see Riona, desperately wanting to meet at the
place where Squall said he would be always. Next, we see
Squall, who has suddenly appeared in the orphanage. A
childhood Squall runs by, wanting to find 'sis', Edea
runs after him. Stopping by the adult Squall, Edea asks
if he has seen a young boy. Squall comforts her that he
won't go anywhere, suddenly, Ultimecia, nearing death
appears a few feet away. Edea accepts the Sorceress'
powers, so that none of the children would become one.
But there is too much power within Edea, as she
collapses. Squall explains how he is from the future,
from Garden, and a member of SeeD. Edea tells him that he
must return home, and asks if he will be okay all alone.
Squall confidently replies that he isn't alone, that he
has his friends, and his true love. Squall appears in a
giant arid desert, all alone, and begins to walk. After
hours of walking, he collapses of exhaustion. He begins
to hallucinate horrible things, such as Riona's spacesuit
failing when he was attempting to seek medical help for
her, and dying at the hands of the "Black
Widow" back in Dollet. He suddenly passes out, as
the camera turns to Riona. Riona is doing the same thing
as Squall was, walking. Hoping to find each other, and
even better, a way out. She soon comes upon the
unconscious Squall, and begins crying, thinking he is
dead. Suddenly, the sky splits and they are suddenly in a
beautiful field of flowers with a bright blue sky. Squall
suddenly comes to, as the screen fades and reappears at
the familiar posse. Seifer is having bad luck fishing, as
he turns to see Raijin has caught a fish, and is jumping
up and down. Fuijin kicks Raijin into the water, and
Seifer laughs. Garden flies overhead as the three
remember their days in the school, along with all their
friends. The screen fades away and reappears at Laguana,
he is visiting the gravesite of his late wife, and
remembering the night he proposed to her in that same
spot. His adopted daughter walks down the hill and waves,
accompanied by Laguana's long time friends, Kiros and
Ward. Garden flies overhead with the flowers flying all
about. The screen fades to a video camera view, as we see
Selphie filming their graduation from Garden. Quistis
walks over to Headmaster Cid and begins chatting when
Edea joins in. Irvine goes over and bows to the couple as
he walks over to the camera and begins filming. The
camera turns to Zell, stuffing his face with hotdogs and
nearly choking, Selphie and Quistis rush to help as Zell
explodes in anger and chucks a hotdog at the camera. The
camera turns to the balcony, where Riona is standing all
alone, the "low battery" icon comes up and the
screen goes blank. The credits start rolling. Soon after,
we see a beautiful view of Garden, as it closes up to
Riona on the balcony, looking up to the sky and the
stars. A shooting star passes by, just like on the night
she and Squall meet, she goes to point to it, exactly as
she did that faithful night, then she turns to Squall,
who smiles, takes her in his arms and begins to kiss her.
The screen pulls away from Garden as the screen fades to
black and the words "The-End" appear. End Boss:
Ocarina of Time: Ocarina of Time had the classic Legend
of Zelda end boss. Ganondorf Dragmire, the King of Evil,
and holder of the Triforce of Power. Not a very difficult
boss. Definitely not the hardest in the game. Hell,
Phantom Ganon was harder than this guy! I think the
reason Phantom Ganon was harder is because he would move
all over the place, and his magic would move towards you
faster. Ganondorf just stood in the same damn place and
you had plenty of time to repel his magic back at him. I
do agree, Ganon was rather hard. Especially when he gets
ticked off and you either have to roll through his legs,
or hit him with a Light Arrow. But the arena was
scattered with hearts, fairies, bombs, magic, arrows,
etc! This made the fight INCREDIBLY easy. Anyway, this
boss was far from the hardest in the game, he was rather
pathetic for the King of Evil. Final Fantasy VIII: Final
Fantasy VIII had probably the second or third hardest
boss in the game for the End Boss. Ultima and Omega
Weapons were definitely harder. You will only see
Ultimecia once before you actually fight her, and when
you see her then, you only see her back. Her first form
is incredibly easy, it is a great opportunity to cast
Triple, Double, Shell and Protect on your characters. I
beat her with one limit break after casting meltdown on
her, she is rather easy. Her second form, Griever, is
pretty easy for about the first 50, 000HP, but after that
he starts using Shockwave Pulsar, an attack that will
harm all your characters 3000HP with 200 vitality
statistics. Her third form, Junction is probably the
easiest of the four. It has no real harmful attacks, its
only attack that may harm you is blowing off one of your
magics that you have juntioned to a statistic. So if you
had 100 Ultima junctioned to your HP and she blows of
your Ultima, you'll have an HP drop of around 4500 HP.
Her final form, True, is probably the hardest. It has an
annoying attack called "Hell's Judgement" that
knocks all your character's HP to 1. But a Megelixir
helps that. Cast meltdown on her and use two or three
Limit Breaks, and you've won. A pretty easy boss, but a
long fight. Well, that about wraps up this editorial. I
know, I know, I did just cut and paste some of the
descriptions about Zelda: Ocarina of Time from my other
editorial and pasted them here, but there wasn't much
difference in what I was going to say. Besides, it was my
editorial! Anyway, expect more non-Final Fantasy
editorials in the future. I am sure I will have plenty to
say when new "Mask of Mujala" information
becomes available. Until next time! ~ Dustin Bell
