Best Limit Breaks: FF8

[Fleck]

TWO POLLS IN ONE DAY? HAS FLECK LOST HIS MIND?

Nah, just bored still. And like I said, this isn't really a topic worth dwelling on for large periods of time. No sense in dragging this out. The previous poll is still active and has not yet been decided, so feel free to vote on that. The polls will close when we've gotten a chance to vote on all eligible FFs.

Vote for who you think has the best limit breaks. You can use any definition of "best" you want, whether it's whatever does the most damage, whatever is the flashiest, or just because. You can really make your own criteria, so if you only like one limit break from that character, but dislike the rest of that character's limit breaks, then feel free to vote for that character anyway.

How this is gonna work: You can vote for three characters, but only the top two advance to the next round. In addition, it'd be super cool if you'd also leave a comment ranking your 1-3, in case of any tiebreaks, so we shouldn't have to make extra polls. The two with the most votes advance to the next round, where they will be randomly squared off in one-on-one polls between the winners of other FF polls. Guests are not included in the polls.

Final Fantasy's 1 through 5 are omitted, for not having limit breaks, FF6 is omitted because everyone's limit break is essentially the same thing (with some minor, trivial variations). Likewise, FF12 and FF13 will also be skipped for having lame and/or not really having limit breaks.

[Fleck]

1: Zell
I'm actually going with Chicken-Wuss on this one. Sure, Squall's Lion Heart technically does more damage, but hell if it ever shows up when you want it to. A single Lion Heart may put out more damage, but Zell's combo trick (or the "Armageddon Fist" as fans have taken to calling it) puts out more consistent damage. Over the course of a long battle, Zell may do as much, if not more, damage than Squall.

2: Squall
Poor Squall. Kicked off the top spot by my hatred of randomness. I wish that his limits could be messed with to make them better, like Zell's and Rinoa's. But no, it's just select the Renzokuken and hope for the best. To make things worse, if you don't get Lion Heart, then you have to sit through a long ass animation for "Blasting Zone" or "Fated Circle" which is barely going to do any damage at higher levels.

3: Quistis
Can't stop the Degenerator. Quistis + Island Closest to Hell = LEVELS. Even without Degenerator, Quistis can still kick a lot of ass if you spend time rounding out her skill set. Unfortunately, against enemies immune to Degenerator, Quistis is outclassed by Squall and Zell's sheer damage output.

4: Rinoa
Rinoa's limit breaks CAN be good, but you have to tweak them to get the most out of them. Her Angelo limit break is only good if you make sure to only learn her best spells and not clutter up her movelist with junk, and Angel Wing is kinda useless unless you know the trick to give her only Meteor spells and boost the hell out of her magic.

5: Irvine
Shot is a decent enough limit break, but it requires items to work, and I hate using items. Also the best ammo is damn near impossible to find and doesn't do enough damage to warrant the amount of work you have to do to get it. I've always found it easier to get Irvine's ultimate weapon than to obtain a usable amount of Pulse Ammo. Figure that out.

6: Selphie
One word: SLLLLLOOOOOTTTTSSSS. Hate random. Hate slots. I don't care that she can randomly win every fight. You said "randomly" so I lost interest right there.

[countlieberkuhn]

1. Zell

Gotta go with him for the top spot too. His limit breaks are fun and so damn easy to abuse that it's just great to use.

2. Selphie

I really like Selphie's limit breaks. Since limit breaks in FF8 are much harder to control in general than most FF games, I prefer them to just be a nice little bonus rather than the centre of a strategy. So when Selphie's comes along, I usually only have to cycle the slots a couple of times to find something that would be a ton more effective than what I would have done anyway. I've never gotten her instant win spell though.

3. Squall

Mr. Grumpy's limit breaks are generally solid damage dealers throughout the game. Of course, everyone wants Lion Heart in the end, but I'm never sad to have one of his limit breaks.


I'm generally not a big fan of the rest of the characters' limit breaks in the game. Quistis' can be useful but I generally prefer one of those listed in my top 3, Irvine's generally aren't worth the effort even if you refine it (pulse ammo fires so damn slowly), and Rinoa's such a pot luck. Angel Wing can make her absurdly powerful, but by that stage in the game, you're beyond the point where you can mess about with a berserk-like ability for fun, as you'll probably get your ass kicked due to not getting a clutch heal.

[Bob]

1. Squall. While Zell's Armageddon Fist is awesome, I eventually decided that I don't care to spend three minutes on a single limit break. Yes, it's good, but it IS random depending on how much time you get. If you only get like two seconds, then that's maybe ten hits, whereas a Renzokuken is already something like seven by itself. So while Squall's Lionhart is random, I still enjoy it. Plus, Squall is stronger than Zell, so a single Renzokuken hit is better damage than a Punch Rush.

2. Zell. I mean, he still makes the damn list. It's ZELL! Said it all above, but just to reiterate, Zell can do good damage, though not as good as Squall, plus it takes too dang long. I've had 9 seconds before and ended up sitting still for 4 of them because I was just too bored. "Is it dead yet? I've been Booya Punch Rushing for like three minutes now!" And even though I hate certain Squall limits like his blade beam one (I forget the name) because their animation takes forever for not doing all that much damage, Zell is just so much worse for wasting my time. Grr.

3. Rinoa. Not for Angel Wing, either. I like the Angelo stuff. Yeah, it's random, but you can edit that random. If you ONLY learn Invincible Moon, then it's a 33% chance, and in a game where you have Aura or TRIANGLETRIANGLETRIANGLETRIANGLETR-THERE, 33% chance for invincibility is pretty damn good. Hell, throw a Wishing Star in there and have a 50% chance of badassery. Angelo Cannon and Angelo Strike kinda stink, but hell, I can try again when she charges up again! .....YES I SEE THE HYPOCRISY IN VOTING FOR RINOA FOR INVISIBILITY BUT NOT AERIS FOR THE SAME REASON! SHHHHH! I wish I understood why my brain said it was okay for Rinoa to make my party invincible, but Aeris's invincibility+full restore is too good.

4. Quistis. Degenerator rocks. Other Blue Magics are good, too. And Blue Magic is generally TOO good, so I like moving it to an FF8 style limit break. As you'll see in FFX, I hate it on Kimahri because one Blue Magic occasionally kinda sucks, but with this game, it's a good risk balance. Yeah, go ahead and use a few different spells. But...you can't cure Quistis, so she's VERY vulnerable. I like it. I even like the way she learns Blue Magic. "I COULD refine this item to make awesome stuff, orrrrr Quistis can learn something stupid....GO BLUE MAGIC!"

5. Selphie. Yeah, it's random, but it's only kiiiinda random. It's more like Cyan's SwdTech where you just need to waste some time. So tell your other guys to do something, then cycle till you get something better than "1 Fire." I like her limit, but the only thing keeping me from putting it in the Top 3 is that the only good one to go after is Full Heal. It's a great spell, but then she can't use limits anymore! Everybody knows that the best part of FF8's limits is their exploitability!

6. Irvine. Shot goes against my one rule: don't use items. It's not a rule for difficulty, I'm just a collector. Going to a store and seeing that I DON'T have 100 Normal Ammo and 100 Fast Ammo and such makes me ANGRY! *rips shirt* I hate using items and his best limit (arguably) uses PULSE AMMO! That shit takes me FOREVER to find, and you KNOW if I get that ammo, it's goin' to Mr. Leonhart's Lionheart. And having only like, two pulse ammos left over is just pointless.

My argument: Fast Ammo is the best. BLAM BLAM BLAM--doing zero damage, so change targets! BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM...!

[Fleck]

It's okay to like Rinoa for her Invincible Moon but not Aeris for basically the same reason because it's damn hard to get Aeris's limit up that high, and then she goes and dies anyway. So you get one of the best limit breaks in the game for a portion of a disk, and then all your efforts are wasted. So Rinoa > Aeris in that regard.

[Bob]

It's very true. But I also can't understand why my brain says that Rinoa is not cheating, while Aeris is. I'm trying to understand my own, crazy logic. I mean, you'd think it'd mean LESS cheating because unless you grind like crazy in Midgar, you're not going to have access to it until maybe Temple of the Ancients...so all of maybe two boss fights. Can't even get Great Gospel until around then.