Everything about Final Fantasy Viii totally explained
is a
console role-playing game developed and published by
Square (now
Square Enix) for
Sony's
PlayStation and
Microsoft's
Windows-based
personal computers as a part of the
Final Fantasy series. The game's story focuses on a group of young mercenaries who are drawn into an international conflict, and seek to protect the world from a sorceress manipulating the war for her own purposes.
Thirteen weeks after its release,
Final Fantasy VIII had earned more than
US$50 million in sales, making it the fastest selling
Final Fantasy title. Additionally,
Final Fantasy VIII was voted the 22nd-best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine
Famitsu.
Final Fantasy VIII is a departure from many traditional standards of the
Final Fantasy series. It is the first game in the series to consistently use realistically proportioned characters, the first to feature a
vocal piece as its
theme music, and one of the only titles to deviate from the series' traditional means of increasing a character's power. In addition, it doesn't have a
Magic Point-based system for spellcasting.
Gameplay
Like
Final Fantasy VII,
Final Fantasy VIII consists of three main modes of play: the
world map, the field map, and the battle screen. The world map is a
3D display in which the player may navigate freely across a small-scale rendering of the game world. Characters travel across the world map in a variety of ways, including by foot, car,
Chocobo, train, and
airship. The field map consists of controllable 3D characters overlaid on one or more
2D pre-rendered backgrounds, which represent environmental locations such as towns or forests. The battle screen is a 3D model of a location such as a street or room, where turn-based fights between playable characters and
CPU-controlled enemies take place. The interface is menu-driven, as in previous titles, but with the typical weapon and armor systems removed and new features present, such as the Junction system. Also featured is a collectible card-based
minigame called "
Triple Triad".
Junction system
This new system designed by battle designer
Hiroyuki Ito revolves around "summonable" monsters, called "
Guardian Forces" ("GF"). A character must have a GF assigned ("junctioned") to them before he or she can do anything in battle besides "Attack" with their weapon, such as "Magic", "GF" (summoning the GF to perform an action), and "Item". While previous
Final Fantasy titles provided each character with a limited pool of Magic Points (MP) that were consumed by each spell, in
Final Fantasy VIII, spells are obtained ("drawn") from enemies, Draw Points distributed throughout the game's environments, and usable items. Spells are then stocked on characters as quantified inventory (up to 100 at a time) and are consumed one by one when used. Guardian Forces allow characters to "junction" these spells to their own
statistics—such as Strength, Vitality, Evade, and Luck—for various bonuses.
The flexibility of this system makes it possible to build a powerful party early in the game. This alternative use of such summoned creatures was a significant departure for the
Final Fantasy series, as they were previously used almost exclusively to deliver a single devastating attack during battles. Furthermore, the system replaced the equipment system of previous games with a permanent, specialized weapon for each character; each weapon can be upgraded several times, which increases its power and alters its appearance. For example, Squall begins with a gunblade called the Revolver, but after fully upgrading it, it becomes the Lion Heart.
Limit Breaks
As in
Final Fantasy VII, each character has unique special attacks called "
Limit Breaks" ("Special Arts" in the original Japanese version). Whereas Limit Breaks in
Final Fantasy VII are triggered by filling the Limit meter through taking damage, in
Final Fantasy VIII, they're randomly available every turn when the character's health (Hit Points, or HP) is below 32% of its current maximum, and influenced also by the negative status effects the character is afflicted with. This system is similar to the
Desperation Attacks from
Final Fantasy VI, which are triggered on rare occasions when a character is near death. The magic spell
Aura increases the probability of Limit Breaks appearing, regardless of a character's remaining Hit Points.
Another change is that most of the main characters' special techniques feature interactive elements, ranging from a
slot machine design to
fighting game-style button inputs. These elements, which are dependent on the character and the nature of the Limit Break, can be used to increase the potency of the attack.
Experience levels
Experience points are awarded following successful battles against randomly encountered enemies. When a character accumulates a certain amount of experience points, he or she gains a "level", which increases that character's base statistics. Unlike previous
Final Fantasy games, however, randomly encountered enemies have no set level—their levels increase alongside those of the playable characters. Higher-level enemies are capable of inflicting and withstanding significantly more damage, and may have additional special attacks. Statistic increases from "leveling up" are minuscule compared with those that are available through the Junction system.
In addition to gaining levels, Guardian Forces earn Ability Points (AP) after battles, which are allocated to special abilities that Guardian Forces can learn. When a Guardian Force has learned an ability, that ability becomes available for any character—and, in some cases, the entire character party—to use. Through learned abilities, they can receive attack enhancements in battle, refine magical spells from items, provide bonuses to characters when leveling up, provide access to shops, and add battle commands. Galbadia, the second largest continent, lies to the west, The southernmost landmass includes an
archipelago of broken sections of land that have drifted apart. Islands and marine structures flesh out the rest of the game world, and a handful of off-world locations round out the game's playable areas.
As part of a theme desired by director
Yoshinori Kitase to give the game a foreign atmosphere, various designs were given to its locations using the style of internationally familiar places, while also maintaining a
fantasy atmosphere. Inspiration ranged from
ancient Egyptian and
Greek architecture, to the city of
Paris,
France, to an idealized futuristic
European society.
Characters
The six main playable characters in
Final Fantasy VIII are
Squall Leonhart, a loner who keeps his focus on his duty to avoid vulnerability;
Rinoa Heartilly, an outspoken and passionate young woman who follows her heart in all situations;
Quistis Trepe, an instructor with a serious, patient attitude;
Zell Dincht, a
martial artist with a passion for martial arts and hot dogs;
Selphie Tilmitt, a cheerful girl who loves trains and pilots the
spacecraft Ragnarok; and
Irvine Kinneas, a
marksman and consummate ladies' man. similar to a
vibroblade. His character design was complemented by a fur ruff along the collar of his jacket, incorporated by Nomura as a challenge for the game's
full motion video designers. Meanwhile, the Galbadian regime invades the Dollet Dukedom, forcing Dollet to hire the Balamb Garden branch of "SeeD"—Garden's elite mercenary force—for aid. SeeD uses the mission as a field examination for its graduation-eligible cadets, and with the help of his instructor, Quistis, Squall passes its prerequisite and is assigned to a squad with Zell and Seifer. In Dollet, Seifer abandons his team halfway through the mission, forcing Selphie to accompany Squall and Zell for the duration. After the mission, SeeD halts the Galbadian advance; Squall, Zell and Selphie graduate to SeeD status; and Seifer is disciplined for acting against orders.
Shortly after graduating, Squall meets Rinoa, whose attitude and approach to life are apparently the opposite of his own. Assigned with Zell and Selphie to help her
Galbadian resistance, Squall learns that a
sorceress named Edea is the mastermind behind Galbadia's hostilities. Under orders from the Galbadia and Balamb Gardens, Squall and his comrades—now joined by Rinoa, Quistis and Irvine—attempt to assassinate Edea. Despite a nearly flawless execution of the plan, the party is defeated and detained. Squall's party also learns that Seifer has left Garden to become Edea's second-in-command.
After escaping detainment, the team splits into two units, both of which are controlled by the player in separate scenarios. Squall's group stops an internal conflict at Balamb Garden incited by
NORG, SeeD's financial supporter, while Selphie's squad interferes with a Galbadian missile attack on the Balamb and Trabia Gardens. The missile launch forces Squall to turn Balamb Garden into a mobile fortress to avoid the attack, leaving the facility temporarily uncontrollable until it collides with the docks at Fisherman's Horizon. While Squall negotiates with the mayor of the town, Galbadia invades in search of a girl named "
Ellone", who had been staying at the Garden until recently. Galbadia is unable to find Ellone; she eventually escapes to Esthar, the game's technological superpower. Throughout the game, Ellone sends Squall and his allies into a series of flashbacks set seventeen years in the past. The scenes center on Laguna and his two friends, Kiros and Ward. During the flashbacks, Laguna changes from Galbadian soldier to the self-appointed defender of a small country village, and then from the leader of a resistance movement against
Sorceress Adel to the president of Esthar.
Meanwhile, Squall deals with personal conflicts fueled by the game's ongoing developments, such as Balamb Garden's
Headmaster Cid appointing him as SeeD's new leader, and his increasing love for Rinoa. During an investigation of Trabia Garden's ruins, Squall and his comrades learn that—with the exception of Rinoa—they were raised along with Seifer and Ellone in an
orphanage run by Edea; they later developed amnesia due to their use of Guardian Forces. It is also revealed that Cid and Edea had founded Garden and SeeD to defeat evil sorceresses. After these revelations, the full forces of Balamb Garden and the Galbadian army, led by Squall and Seifer respectively, engage in conflict. After Balamb defeats Galbadia, the player learns that Edea is merely an unwilling tool for a greater sorceress known as "
Ultimecia", who resides in the future and wishes to compress all time into a single moment; it's for this reason she's sought Ellone. A conclusive battle with Edea forces Ultimecia to transfer her powers to Rinoa, allowing Edea to survive, but leaving Rinoa frozen in a coma. Squall becomes obsessed with waking her and seeks the help of
Dr. Odine, a renowned scientist living in Esthar.
While Rinoa is being treated on Esthar's space station, Ultimecia uses her to free Sorceress Adel from her orbital prison. Ultimecia then orders Seifer to activate Esthar's Lunatic Pandora facility, inciting a rain of monsters from the moon that sends Adel's containment device to the planet's surface. Having selected Adel as her next host, Ultimecia abandons Rinoa in outer space. Squall rescues her, and they return to the planet on a derelict starship. However, delegates from Esthar isolate Rinoa for fear of her sorceress abilities, forcing Squall to rescue her. Laguna apologizes for the incident and announces Dr. Odine's plan to let Ultimecia possess Rinoa and use Ellone's power to compress time, as it would allow Squall's group to confront Ultimecia in her era. To do this, Squall's team infiltrates Lunatic Pandora, defeats Seifer and Adel, and has Rinoa inherit her sorceress powers. Time Compression is thus initiated, allowing Squall and his friends to travel to Ultimecia's era to defeat her.
With Ultimecia defeated, the universe begins returning to normal; however, Squall is nearly lost in the flow of time as he witnesses the origins of the game's story. When a dying Ultimecia travels back in time to pass her powers to Edea, Squall informs Edea of the concepts of Garden and SeeD that she'll create. Afterward, he's warped back into the timestream where he's trapped until finally being rescued by Rinoa. At the end of the game, Squall kisses Rinoa during SeeD's victory celebration.
Development
Development of
Final Fantasy VIII began in during the
English language translation of
Final Fantasy VII. As with much of
Final Fantasy VIIs
side-quests. For most North American and European players, the PC version of the game was the only means of playing
Chocobo World, as the game was originally designed to be played via the
PocketStation, a handheld console never released outside Japan.
Audio
Regular series composer
Nobuo Uematsu wrote and directed, which was released on four
Compact Discs by
DigiCube in Japan, and by
Square EA in North America. Additionally, a special
orchestral
arrangement of selected tracks from the game—arranged by
Shiro Hamaguchi—was released under the title, and a collection of
piano arrangements—performed by Shinko Ogata—was released under the title .
The score is best known for two songs: "
Liberi Fatali", a
Latin choral piece that's played during the introduction to the game, and "
Eyes On Me", a
pop song serving as the game's theme, performed by
Chinese singer
Faye Wong. The latter song was released as a
CD single in Japan and sold over 400,000 copies, placing it as the best-selling
video game music disc ever released in that country until the release of "
Hikari" by
Utada Hikaru for
Kingdom Hearts. "Liberi Fatali" was played during the
2004 Summer Olympics in
Athens during the women's synchronized swimming event.
Reception and criticism
Within two days of its North American release on
September 9,
1999,
Final Fantasy VIII became the top-selling video game in the United States, a position it held for more than three weeks. Aside from grossing a total of more than
US$50 million within the first 13 weeks to follow, and during 2006 was voted by readers of Japanese magazine
Famitsu as the twenty-second best game of all time.
Reviews of the gameplay have been mixed. Multimedia news website
IGN felt that it was the weakest aspect of the game, citing its Guardian Force attack sequences as "incredibly cinematic" but tedious, sentiments echoed by
Electronic Gaming Monthly. They also regarded the battle system as intensely complicated, yet refreshingly innovative and something that "RPG fanatics love to obsess over". while the
UK-based
video game magazine Edge commented that the battle system consists of a "bewildering" number of intricate options and techniques that "most gamers will ... relish".
GameSpot praised the game's battle system, commenting that the "possibilities for customization [withthe Junction system] are immense".
Critics have compared the other aspects of the game to previous
Final Fantasy installments. Gaming Age cited the storyline and graphics as two major improvements over
Final Fantasy VII, while considering the music "hardly a step up...". Though questioning the game's lack of voice overs for its characters, Game Revolution praised its storyline and ending. For their part,
Edge labeled
Final Fantasy VIII "...a far more accomplished game than
FFVII". On the other hand, the magazine also felt that the game's length left its story unable to "offer consistently strong dialogue and sub-plots". Additionally, it found some of the story's plot twists "not ... suitably manipulated and prepared", leaving it "hard not to greet such... moments with anything but indifference". Overall,
Edge considered
Final Fantasy VIII to be "yet another outstanding edition of SquareSoft's far-from-final fantasies", summarizing it as "aesthetically astonishing, rarely less than compelling, and near peerless in scope and execution...".
The European release of
Final Fantasy VIII saw a relatively large amount of merchandise being packaged together with the game for an initial run special release at no extra cost. These were all sold in a large rectangular box which contained a
Final Fantasy VIII t-shirt, a
PlayStation memory card and a selection of
Final Fantasy VIII stickers - designed for adhering to the
PlayStation memory card.
Further Information
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