Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation) > Reviews (80)

Yet another great addition to the Final Fantasy Series, Final Fantasy VIII was developed and published, at the time, by Square Soft (now Square Enix) and was released in 1999 for the Sony Playstation console. Hironobu Sakaguchi is the executive producer for this game and it was the fastest selling Final Fantasy of the series with with sales in excess of $50million in the first three months of release.

One of the reasons why the game was such a hit was the update in the CG Cinematics that are, to quote the packaging of the game, "seamlessly integrated" in the game. The video sequences are stunning and the details of everything are sublime!

The story is not as good as its predecessor, Final Fantasy VII, but players can be the judges of that. The plot follows the main protagonist Squall Leonhart, an aloof and cold seventeen year old through his endeavours to become the best.
To become the best, Squall must first pass his field exam (to resolve the conflict between the warring nations of Dollet and Galbadia) to become a SeeD. SeeD is a name for the mercenary forces training under Balamb Garden. There are two other Gardens with military organisations of SeeD in the game that Squall and his companions encounter as they progress through the story.

The plot decides to become more complex with the addition of the sorceress and her desire to influence and manipulate the ongoing international war. Not forgetting of course that there is always the theme of love and romance within a Final Fantasy game. Final Fantasy VIII is no different.. *I do not wish to ruin it for those of you who have not been fortunate enough to play this game yet and so will let you discover the several different relationships between both main and sub characters.

On the subject of characters, there are six main characters, all with their own unique personalities and weapons. The main six characters, as it would tell you in the instruction manual are: Squall Leonhart, Rinoa Heartily, Zell Dincht, Quistis Trepe, Selphie Tilmitt and Irvine Kinneas. Unlike some of the earliest of the game series, each character may only wield the weapon they specialise in, fir example Irvine wields a range of shotgun, Zell different styles of glove.
All six of these characters have moments where they are likable, irritable and just humourous.

Aside from the main six characters, there are only two other playable characters in the game: Squall's rival Seifer Almasy and Edea. Like Squall, Seifer wields a gunblade, but of a different build (Squall's is revolver whereas Seifer's is pistol) and Edea is supposed to specialise in magic.

On the subject of weapons, the method is completely different to any other in the Final Fantasy Series. Instead of purchasing better weapons and armour in shops as your characters progress, your players will instead have to acquire the appropriate items and Weapons Monthly Magazine Issue in-game in order to upgrade to a more powerful model at one of many junk shops situated in the various towns around the world.

This may take new players by surprise a little bit but it is not complex in the slightest.

The Weapons Monthly issues can be found on your travels, but if you happen to miss one, you may still have the opportunity to purchase them at a later stage. The magazine gives a description of each weapon, tells you which items you need for each upgrade and shows you what the new models look like. I personally found this method of weapon-upgrading to be quite clever and fun - because it is a whole new system! And yes, each character has an ultimate weapon, naturally...

Seeing as how so far I have discussed the individuality of things in the game, I would like to bring your attention to the battle section.
After the success of Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VII, Square Enix decided to implement them into the world of Final Fantasy VIII. Each character has their own special Limits that can be acquired in a number of ways. E.g. Squall learns new Limits with various upgrades to his Gunblade, whereas Rinoa and Zell acquire theirs though reading different magazines specifically for their "fighting style".

AS opposed to Final Fantasy VII where the characters build up their Limit Gauge over time (by receiving damage in battle), you can only use Squall and co's limit breaks under a number of conditions. Certain magic spells, or items activate your ability to unleash these limit breaks for a small amount of time. The only other way to use them is when you're on HP critical, in other words, when your HP is displayed in yellow. There are many ways to exploit your characters so that they are constantly meeting the requirements for Limit Break but it doesn't make the game very much of a challenge.

Battles are encountered in various places throughout the world, the most well known time being when your player (always shown as Squall unless he isn't in the specified party), is running around the world map and strays from any given pathways. It is then that you are thrown into a random battle. Different places on the world map are home to fiends of varying strength and abilities - the more powerful an enemy, the more experience points, gil (Final Fantasy Currency) and items you reap for defeating it!

Other times battles may be encountered are when you are undertaking certain missions in the game. Not to mention, there are hundreds of bosses for you to take on at different times throughout the story. It is not hard to tell the difference between a normal random encounter and a boss. For one reason, the music is different for both and secondly, the dialogue usually implies that a boss battle is imminent.

Graphics within the battle scenes are pretty good (after all nothing is perfect) and the terrain always reflects the area that your players are currently roaming around in. Aside from that, the effects of items, magic spells and other actions executed whilst in battle are much better than its predecessors.

The tradition of summons in Final Fantasy is once again rock solid in Final Fantasy VIII, only this time they are known as GF (guardian Forces).

GF can be acquired in a number of ways, from defeating them in battle to drawing them out of bosses. We'll come to "Drawing" later...

What is significant about GF is, though some of them are the same summon creatures featured in the earlier games i.e. Ifrit, Shiva, Leviathan, the way they are summoned is very different. Instead of instant summoning, one must equip their characters with the GF by functioning it to their chosen person. Once a character has been equipped with a GF, they can level up and earn AP (Ability Points) for that GF in battle so that it becomes more powerful and learn better abilities.

To summon a GF the character's ATB Gauge must be full but then, after the command GF has been selected, the ATB goes backwards and the name of the GF chosen replaces the name of the character summoning it. Whilst in the summoning stage, if the character summoning a GF is hit, the GF endures the damage taken instead. Once the GF's ATB gauge has completed, the name of that GF's technique is displayed and a short scene takes over, showing the player what it is that the specified GF does, whether it is damaging the enemy, or buffing up the players in one's party.
If that GF is summoned regularly, its compatibility increases with its master.

Keep in mind that only one person can junction a GF at any one time and if it is equipped with another player, and used in battle, its compatibility may decrease with it old master whilst it increases with its new master. Also, if a player has two or more GF equipped at any one time, it can be both beneficial and disadvantageous. You can explore these possibilities for yourself. Remember though that the higher the compatibility, the shorter the waiting time for summoning.

Aside from repeatedly summoning the same GF, there exist certain items that increase a characters' compatibility. Another tip is that, if you use magic of the same element as the GF equipped to you, it has been known to increase compatibility also.

*Having GF junctioned allows a player to equip additional abilities that would be of great help both in, and out of battle. If a player doesn't have a GF junctioned, they may only use the battle command 'attack'*

Finally, we come to the magic system within the world of Final Fantasy VIII. Once again, the developers of the game decided to do something new - MP (Magic Points) have been abolished!
In order to use magic in this game, your players will need a GF junctioned to them so that the commands 'Draw', 'Magic' and 'Items' can be added to their list of battle commands.

How magic is obtained is quite simple - a player must use the Draw command at Draw Points around the World (these distinctively stand out because they are recognised as a swirly purple mass). Draw points need time to replenish once used and some aren't reusable at all.
One can also gain magic by drawing it from enemies in battle and by using the abilities, once learned, to refine magic stones into a form of magic e.g. Fire Mag - Refine is learned by Ifrit when he acquires enough AP.

A total of 100 per each magic can be stored at any time on all characters unless you have a cheat cartridge. If you use these in battle, make sure you draw or refine some more to keep your stock topped up.
Another benefit of having magic is that you can junction it to a character to boost stats such as his/her strength, vitality and even their HP. There more you have of any one magic, the higher it boosts your stats. Status magic can be equipped (once the certain abilities are learned by GF) to protect your player from that status ailment in battles. Elemental magic can be equipped to both imbue your weapon with that element e.g. Firaga 100% - Junctioned to Elem Atk - you have the equivalent of 'Flametongue' (which is the named sword that deals fire damage). The same can be done for your defense, for example, if you junction one hundred of a powerful Ice spell (Blizzaga) to you Elem Def then the damage is reduced quite considerably and, if enough of one element if junctioned, your player can absorb that element.

There are a few additional side quests that one can participate in during the course of the story but some of these aren't so easy to uncover as others. Your efforts may see you duly rewarded however, if decide to hunt down and complete them.
As for mini games in Final Fantasy VIII, the producers came up with a whole new concept in the form of the Triple Triad Card Game. This risk for straying far from original aspects of a Final Fantasy game has seen much success. The game is addictive, there are many rules of play and there are ten pages of cards to collect including special character cards, GF cards and boss cards! If you're an avid gamer, you will need to play cards an awful lot to obtain the rare ones and to complete your collection.

One other great thing about obtaining a lot of cards (whether the same or different - you can only acquire ONE card of each character and GF), is that you can refine them once the ability is learned via the GF into various items for powerful and mediocre. BE warned though if you choose to refine your GF or character cards, they are gone forever.

Final Fantasy VIII is a great game, full of wondrous, memorable characters, places, enemies and much more. The music in game is majestic and the graphics, for their era, are simply fantastic!

I hope this review has helped your opinion of the game in one way or another.