|
Final Fantasy VIII is a video game created by Squaresoft (now Square Enix) for the PlayStation and computers. The graphics have been improved since Final Fantasy VII, so the characters now look more realistic. The game engine has been changed significantly, adjusting to the new Junction system, a considerable change from Final Fantasy VII's materia system.
Story
The nation of Galbadia, ruled by Sorceress Edea, has started a war against nearby nations Dollet and Timber. Pleas of aid have been sent to Balamb Garden, an elite military academy that trains elite mercenaries called SeeDs. Three young SeeDs are dispatched to deal with the conflict, but soon find themselves drawn into a conflict far greater than they could have imagined, a conflict which threatens the world itself.
Balamb Garden
Balamb Garden is a military academy in which SeeDs (soldiers who are educated to be skilled in combat at a young age) attend in order to defeat the Sorceress. Balamb Garden is 2nd largest of the three Gardens which consists of Galbadia Garden, Balamb Garden, and Trabia Garden. Balamb Garden was revealed later on to be founded by the headmaster Cid Kramer through NORG's (a Shumi) contribution of providing the funds. The outcome being NORG and Cid Kramer in dispute over ownership. The characters Squall Leonhart, transfer student Selphie Tilmitt, Zell Dincht, Seifer Almasy, and Quistis Trepe have all attended this military academy.
Gameplay The gameplay in Final Fantasy VIII is quite different than that of its predecessors, with a strong focus on overall character development, in place of the more familiar weapon/armour/ability collecting.
Junction System A new "Junction System" is used. This new system revolves around summon monsters, called Guardian Forces (GFs). A character must have a GF assigned to them ("junctioned") before he or she can use any command abilities in battle, such as magic or items. Magic now does not consume MP; instead magic "spells" are drawn from special draw points or enemies, and then consumed one at a time. The GFs allow characters to junction these item-like magic spells to their own statistics for significant bonuses (a doubling of the base stat is not uncommon). GFs can be summoned as many times as the player wishes in a battle, although there is a time lag between issuing the summoning command and the action taking place.
For these reasons, many players found themselves eschewing magic altogether, relying on GF summons alongside junction-enhanced standard attacks and Limit Breaks. Battles in VIII can thus be completed by an endless repetition of any of these three. However, it is frequently more interesting (and effective) to use a repetoire of status-changing magical attacks or esoteric GFs.
Armor has completely disappeared in favor of Junctions, and characters cannot be equipped from a selection of weapons: instead their current weapon receives a permanent upgrade.
Limit Breaks Like other Final Fantasy games, VIII's characters have "limit breaks" - powerful special moves only available under certain conditions during battle. Each character has his or her own unique limit break: - Squall: Renzokuken
- Quistis: Blue Magic
- Zell: Duel
- Selphie: Slot
- Rinoa: Angelo Combine (or, later in the game, Angel Wing)
- Irvine: Shot
- Laguna: Desperado
- Kiros: Blood Pain
- Ward: Heavy Anchor
- Seifer: Fire Cross
- Edea: Ice Strike
However, VIII lacks the one-use limit breaks that characterized special attacks in previous Final Fantasy games: a fully-charged Limit Break bar only allowed for a single attack. In VIII, limit breaks are available with increasing frequency as the character's HP drops. Once the character's health is critical, it is usually possible to perform limit break attacks continuously, albeit at risk of a sudden death from a foe. The magic "Aura" temporarily allows the player continuous limit breaks regardless of their HP level. This can frequently make boss battles easier; while an attempt to balance this was clearly made (Aura magic is a universally effective booster when junctioned to a statistic, making it worth conserving), if the player has located a good source of Aura magic they will often face little difficulty in progressing.
Some have lambasted the game for this lack of difficulty; however an vocal fanbase supports the relative impunity with which the player can move through the game--and thus indulge in varied settings, plot and character development, which is the main reason that many people play Final Fantasy games in general and Final Fantasy VIII in particular.
Levels The other big change in Final Fantasy VIII was the concept of enemies leveling up along with the player. The idea was to prevent the endless leveling up so prevalent in older games such as Dragon Warrior or the first Final Fantasy. This way one could be theoretically low-level and still make it to the final boss. However this is not without its own problems. If you did have a high level, some bosses were disproportionately harder than if you were low-level, because they gained abilities, just as the player did, while leveling up. At first glance, this would give almost no incentive to level up and in fact made the system quite questionable. However, if a player has spent a great deal of time playing the game, they may appreciate the extra complexity which the boss's new abilities add to the battle.
Place in the series Final Fantasy VIII was the first in the series to introduce a "collectible card game" in the game world, a feature that returned in later installments of the franchise. Final Fantasy games are known for their story and use of FMV, and many players felt Final Fantasy VIII was real proof of how far advances in both could go. The character development, especially that of Squall from an antisocial misfit into a more gentle character, is very well done, and used in fanfiction frequently. The combination of FMV and interactive story telling made the game a success in the eyes of some doubtful gamers. One example of such a combination would be the surreal experience when Squall and his friends first have their lucid-yet-bizarre dreams of being other people in a different world. This made Final Fantasy VIII feel frequently less like a game, and more like a movie.
Characters The main playable character in Final Fantasy VIII is Squall Leonhart. He is an apathetic young SeeD at Balamb Garden. He is, of course, quickly joined by a cast of characters, the most important one being Rinoa, who is the only main playable character not a trainee of one of the three Gardens. Character development is paramount, which is shown by Rinoa and Squall, who develop an intimate love relationship throughout the game.
Main Playable Characters - Squall Leonhart - A young student at Balamb Garden. He does not talk much and has the reputation of being a lone wolf. He falls in love with Rinoa, and the two are one of the main focal points of the game. Squall's name follows Cloud's tradition of bad weather. Squall also uses a very odd weapon called the Gunblade, which is essentially a sword with a trigger and barrel built in; the weapon deals extra damage if the player squeezes the controller's R1 trigger button while he attacks. Squall has the typical hero-guy moves and special abilities. He could be best classified as a fighter. Note: The 'gunblade' was, at one time, an actual weapon in history. However, it wasn't a success.
- Rinoa Heartilly - A young, beautiful, carefree girl, daughter of General Caraway of Galbadia. Her tenderness, warm-hearted nature, and compassion make her very endearing. She and Squall have something very special together--more than one decision of theirs is made out of love. Rinoa is difficult to pin down to any one character class, but most players would agree that she is best utilized as some sort of mage (although it could be argued that she is a Trainer because of her Combine limit break, which uses her dog Angelo).
- Quistis Trepe - Quistis joined SeeD at the age of 15, and due to her extraordianary talents, she quickly became an instructor. She now serves as Squall's instructor, and joins his party early on. She serves as a mediator and intelligent voice, however she occasionally mentions her worries that she shouldn't be an instructor, and maybe took up the position too early. Quistis knows Blue Magic as well, allowing her to take abilities from enemies and use them as her own. She would be best classified as a Blue Mage.
- Zell Dincht - A martial arts expert who joined Garden at 13 to follow in his grandfather's footsteps as a great soldier. He often blurts things out without thinking first. Zell uses his fists as a weapon, and his special attacks allow you to perform combo moves in a fighting game-style on enemies. He would be best classified as a Monk.
- Irvine Kinneas - Irvine is a loner from the Balamb-affiliated Galbadia Garden, who is called the 'Best Shooter in Garden' due to his sharpshooting abilities. He is also known a ladies' man. He tries to charm Selphie several times throughout the game. His guns and sharpshooting abilities would best classify him as a Gunner or Sniper.
- Selphie Tilmitt - A young happy-go-lucky girl, Selphie seems out of place at a military academy. She has an overbearingly naïve view of the world, and is always there when people need cheering up. She uses simple moves but is strangely reminiscent of Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII. Although Selphie is a decent physical fighter, she also has high stats in Magic, and her limit break uses magic spells; she would thus be best classified as a red mage. The type of weapon she uses is called nunchaku in the NTSC (Japanese and U.S.) versions and shinobou in the PAL versions.
Other Major Characters - Laguna Loire - An ex-Galbadian soldier who has turned journalist and seeks to tell the world about the horrors of war. He is optimistic and fueled with a passion to assist those in need. He is, however, extremely clumsy. Through Ellione, Squall & company experience Laguna's adventures in some of their dreams. Laguna is much like Squall. He is therefore, best classified as a fighter. He is the currecnt ruler of Esthar.
- Kiros Seagill - Laguna's close friend and comrade in the Galbadian Army. He is light on his feet, and he, too, would be classified as a fighter. He became a offical in Esthar.
- Ward Zabac - One of Laguna's comrades, he lost his voice in a battle with Esthar soldiers. He has a kind heart and follows closely with his friends and comrades, Laguna and Kiros. Ward is very large, but he is strong. He would be best classified as a fighter. He became a offical in Esthar.
- Seifer Almasy - Squall's rival at Garden is a powerful warrior, but his ego and inability to follow orders have earned his the label of 'problematic'. He used to date Rinoa, and afterwards he slowly became a rebel & joined the Sorceress Edea, out of the promise to be a 'knight' in her new world order, a role which plays well towards his vanity. He also uses the Gunblade, the specific name of his model being the 'Hyperion'.
- Cid Kramer is the head of the Garden system, which trains SeeDs and is comprised of Balamb Garden, Galbadia Garden and Trabia Garden. Cid's loyalties are revealed to be somewhat divided as the game progresses.
- Sorceress Edea - A power-hungry sorceress who ruled Galbadia. Her motives are initially unknown, but SeeD has been dispatched to elimminate her. She was thought to the initial villain of the game, but she was possessed by Ultimecia. Her past is revealed to be of importance to many other characters.
- Sorceress Adel - Another evil sorceress, who was prominent in the history of Galbadia as the ruler of Esthar. But she was tricked by Laguna & placed in supended animation. She was revived & became Ultimecia's new vessel, intends to asborb Rinoa for more power.
- Ultimecia - An extremely evil sorceress from the future who can reach across time to possess other sorceresses & manipulate. Her ultimate goal is something called time compression; bringing all time together. She is able to summon the ultimate GF, and is the game's ultimate villain.
Allegory There are many apparent connections between events in the plot and backstory of Final Fantasy VIII and those in reality, specifically the early 20th century.
According to their examinations, the continent of Galbadia represents early 20th century Europe. Galbadia has often been characterized as resembling WWII Germany. Much of the architecture of the cities resembles that of pre-WWII Europe. The in-game locale of Winhill in particular bears a resemblance to isolated Eastern-European villages around the turn of the 20th Century.
The Galbadian occupied neighbor-nation of Timber would represent Nazi-occupied France, with the similarities between the Timber resistance and the Free-France movement. In the game, it is said that there was a great war 15-20 years before the present, similar to the time period between the first- and second World Wars. The Galbadian attack on the Republic of Dollet resembles Germany's battle to gain a foothold in Britain and the failed Operation Sea Lion; SeeD intervention resembles work by Allied Forces to push Nazi forces back.
Somewhat contentiously, it has been claimed that Esthar resembles early 20th-Century Japan with its rejection of outside interference in its affairs.
Fanbase The Final Fantasy VIII fanbase is gigantic. Final Fantasy VIII may perhaps be the Final Fantasy subjected to the most fanfiction creation ever, with the only exception being Final Fantasy VII. One Japanese fan even took up the job of novelizing the project, creating a 400+ page document. Some have theorized that the story of the game has so much depth, Squaresoft could not fit it onto four disks; and so the fanfiction allows the fans to explore it more.
Musical Score Nobuo Uematsu composed and directed the soundtrack for Final Fantasy VIII, and the theme song 'Eyes on Me' is sung by Chinese diva Faye Wong. The single sold 400,000 copies in Japan, the most ever by a videogame. The music was highly praised for its striking introduction, Liberi Fatali, for orchestra and choir.
Reappearance of FFVIII Characters As Final Fantasy VIII is generally less popular than Final Fantasy VII, its characters have only made cameo appearances in two other games: Squall (renamed to Leon) and Selphie Tilmitt are encountered in Kingdom Hearts, and Squall is an unlockable character in Chocobo Racing.
External links - Square-Enix's Official Final Fantasy VIII website (http://www.square-enix.com/games/ff8/)
- Final Fantasy Online- Final Fantasy VIII section (http://www.ffonline.com/ff8/)
- Final Fantasy Shrine- Final Fantasy VIII section (http://www.ffshrine.org/ff8/ff8.php)
|
Feeds |
Contact