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Was Squall and Rinoa's relationship good?

AnansiThePersona

AnansiThePersona

Started a revolution but the mic was unplugged
Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,682
Okay so it's been a few years since I last played FFVIII and I thought the game was pretty good. Liked the combat system, the music, the plot, all that. But I honestly don't remember is the main focus of the game, the Squall/Rinoa relationship, was any good. I honestly remember being disappointed with how much the plot focused on those two over the other 6 characters in your party. I don't even hate Squall like most people. I get how he was thrust into a position of power while being stunted in his potential growth due to the lack of structure/support on the emotional part of his life etc whatever. I don't really remember liking Rinoa at all. She really just seems like another Aerith type (again it's been a minute but from what I remember they are verrrry similar).

So yeah I don't want to go off the handle and say it sucked but I remember not being a strong fan of that part of the game and was wondering if I may have missed something.
 

Deleted member 5028

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,724
Rinoa was very different from Aeris. She had a real fun personality though theres no clear line of sight from how she and Squall developed a relationship.

its hardly Garnet and Zidane
 

Deleted member 36578

Dec 21, 2017
26,561
They have my favorite romantic relationship in any FF. I really liked the whole Laguna angle to the story telling as well with its parallels.
And damn his battle music is phenomenal.
I'm going to link it just because.



FF8 is great.
 
Rattlethyhead

Rattlethyhead

Member
Jan 7, 2019
233
Yes, and if anyone thinks Tidus had a better 'ship I get to point and laugh.

So far, I just played! Ff9, and love the 'ship for Garnet and Zadane.
 
Weiss

Weiss

User requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
64,265
It's not exactly Gaming's Greatest Romance but yeah I like it. It's teenage fantasy anime storytelling but it's still charming and goofy as Squall fumbles his way into falling in love.
 
mordecaii83

mordecaii83

Avenger
Oct 28, 2017
6,862
I thought it was nice, especially since you could see both of them become better people before they really started falling for each other.
 
Enduin

Enduin

You look 40
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,488
New York
I'd say so. For all its issues and shortcomings with some of its story elements, hello orphanage, FFVIII is still one of my favorite games and I think it did a really job of depicting teens relative to their rather extraordinary setting and roles. Including the development of Squall and Rinoa's relationship. It was a bit cheesy, but still solid.
 
Jintor

Jintor

Saw the truth behind the copied door
Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,433
it kinda just happens but once you're in it it's enjoyable.

it's very rinoa driven so it kind of has elements of manic-pixie-dream-girl but eh
 
Chopchop

Chopchop

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,171
I don't think it really worked at all. Sure, once the relationship started, the dynamic kind of worked because Rinoa was the lively girl who brought Squall out of his shell, but there was never a good explanation for why they became attracted to each other in the first place. Rinoa basically never had a reason to like Squall besides thinking he was good looking, and Squall never did anything besides play along.

Imo it did the whole "pretty girl comes out of nowhere and becomes the guy's girlfriend despite the guy doing absolutely nothing for the relationship" thing. Very JRPG/anime relationship fantasy stuff.
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,071
HenryEen said:
Squall...I'm....dying.....
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AuthenticM

AuthenticM

Son Altesse Sérénissime
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
30,085
I really like it, but like you said, it sucks that it had to take the place of meaningful character development for the others.
 
skeezx

skeezx

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,171
considering the relationship was essentially the "theme" of the game i thought it was kinda half assed.

though it's a 20 year old jrpg about mercenary high school kids so i dunno how critical i can be
 
sredgrin

sredgrin

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
12,276
I feel like Squall is such a wet blanket for such a large amount of the running time that it feels a bit off that anyone is that infatuated with him beyond a physical level.
 
MaverickHunterAsh

MaverickHunterAsh

Good Vibes Gaming
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
1,397
Los Angeles, CA.
Theirs wasn't the best relationship in the series -- they're no Yuna/Tidus or Zidane/Dagger -- but I still found it to be enjoyable, if a bit toxic in hindsight. Hell of a lot better than Noctis/Luna, that's for sure.
 
alpha

alpha

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,012
Yeah, I liked Squall and Rinoa. It made sense why Squall was a dick once you find out what happened, and he stopped being that way partially because of Rinoa so it worked.
 

Naphu

Member
Apr 6, 2018
729
Rinoa doesn't have much of a character. If you asked me to describe her personality I would say she has a dog. Squall is awful at the start of the game, as well as the middle, and by the end I still didn't like him. They try to do a character study on him and his stunted childhood development but absolutely didn't have the writing chops to do that. Put them together and you have Anikan and Padme: The game is telling me to like them and that they're in love but I don't see that or feel that.
 
Astral

Astral

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
28,115
They needed a few more moments together before she goes in a coma. It would've made his obsession with her more convincing but before it happens they have maybe two scenes together. Other than that I think it was fine.
 
Razgriz-Specter

Razgriz-Specter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
29,505
Its one of my favorite video game romances, right up their with Prince(08) and Elika.

sredgrin said:
I feel like Squall is such a wet blanket for such a large amount of the running time that it feels a bit off that anyone is that infatuated with him beyond a physical level.
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Huh, theres a decent amount of the game where they don't care about each other at all really beyond their own goals.
She actually wanted Seifer but her and Squall start to connect.
 
Lari

Lari

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,704
Brazil
Rinoa was part of a resistance group and seemingly stops caring for that once she falls for Squall, that felt a little weird to me.
 
Dice

Dice

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,365
Canada
lari said:
Rinoa was part of a resistance group and seemingly stops caring for that once she falls for Squall, that felt a little weird to me.
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I mean, the plot goes mach 5 and beyond time after that tiny lil' mission. :S

Monsters on the moon and shit.

It's a good story, but there's no denying FF8 was set in a really weird universe and had a good but ultimately crazy story. ...I almost wish the game had a full extra disk to keep fleshing it out, cuz there was a lot there and very little got the time it deserved.
 
Lari

Lari

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,704
Brazil
Dice said:
I mean, the plot goes mach 5 and beyond time after that tiny lil' mission. :S

Monsters on the moon and shit.

It's a good story, but there's no denying FF8 was set in a really weird universe. ...I almost wish the game had a full extra disk to keep fleshing it out, cuz there was a lot there.
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That's fair, it's a lot going on but I still kinda felt weird to her character that it never bubbled back up at any point tho. I played the game this year and still have a bit of a hard time reconciling everything that goes down in it.
 
fourfourfun

fourfourfun

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,684
England
Cess007 said:
God, what a fucking good moment.

I should totally replay that game
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FFIX got the relationships between characters SO unbelievably right. The ATB gave you all those moments away from the main squad, so many individual threads to follow and become a part of. I loved FFVIII but FFIX - when on song - is one of the best pieces of craft in the series.
 

4Tran

Member
Nov 4, 2017
1,531
No. There are germs for a good story in Final Fantasy VIII, but the game never really gets there. Most of the relationships feel flat and unconvincing. I was really disappointed back when I played it at launch and my opinion hasn't improved at all since then.
 
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