Final Fantasy 8/VIII - Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy VIII (8) is the eighth installment in the flagship Final Fantasy series produced by Square (Later to become Square Enix) for the Sony PlayStation console. It was released in 1997. The game inspired a remaster that was released in 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. The game centers around the main protagonist Squall Leonhart and his team of mercenaries who are pitted against antagonist Ultimecia, an evil sorceress from the future hoping to compress time.
Prologue
At the forefront of a rising tide of violence brought on by Galbadia's war declaration is a SeeD cadet named Squall Leonhart. Serious to a fault, Squall is thought of as being very much a lone wolf.
An encounter with the freespirited Rinoa Heartilly turns his universe upside down. Squall finds Rinoa's carefree attitude fascinating but has no time to ponder these thoughts, for the job of dealing with the sorceress behind Galbadia's hostility has fallen to SeeD and Squall.
However, a chance encounter with the free-spirited Rinoa Heartilly turns Squall's universe upside down; having thrived on discipline, Squall finds Rinoa's carefree attitude fascinating. He also begins to have dreams in which he is Laguna Loire, a soldier from the Garbadian army. In time he will discover that the fate of both himself and the figure in his dreams are inexorably linked.
Meanwhile, a manipulative sorceress continues to guide the hands of the most powerful men in Garbadia. Squall and Seifer are forced to work side by side in a mission to assassinate the sorceress.
Final Fantasy VIII Plot
The game takes place on an unnamed fantasy world with five continents: Esthar, Galbadia, Trabia, Balamb, and a mostly desolate, rocky continent. The main antagonist is Ultemecia, a sorceress who wishes to compress time and space and become a deity. She is able to imbue inanimate objects with life and make them bend to her will. Squall Leonhart is a member of SeeD (A mercenary force whose students graduate from Balamb Garden). He is the protagonist of the story and hopes to thwart Ultemacia’s plans.
Gameplay
Like previous games, gameplay occurs on a world map, field map, and battle screen. Enemies are randomly encountered and in battle, and players can choose from a number of commands ( attacking, using spells etc). However, the game breaks continuity with the past games in its use of the draw and the junction system.
Previously, level ups allowed a character to learn new abilities and spells from weapons or within a job class. In the draw system, players now have to draw spells from enemies, various hotspots containing numbers of specific spells, or creating them from items.
The junction system boosts stats and gives elemental/status effects to armour and weapons. Though there is no equippable armor, player’s can specify members' damage resistance with the junction system. The player must junction a Guardian Force, allowing battle commands besides attack. Boosting stats requires magic, refining from items using Guardian Force, and drawing spells from enemies and draw points.
The game uses "Limit Breaks", which range from powerful attacks to support spells that become available once goes under a certain number of hitpoints. An experience point system is used whereby characters gain experience upon defeating enemies and bosses. 1000 XP will always result in a level up, which differed from the progressively higher experience requirements of previous Final Fantasy games. Guardian forces (summoned monsters) are also able to receive Ability Points after battle, which can be used to acquire special guardian force abilities, allowing players to improve their attacks, refine magic spells from items, acquire status bonuses with level ups, remotely access shops, and use extra battle commands.
Characters
- Squall Leonhart- A loner and warrior in training that specializes in using the gunblade.
- Rinoa Heartilly- A beautiful positive young that abandoned a privileged life to join the resistance.
- Quistis Trepe- Squall's instructor and a member of SeeD.
- Zell Dinch - A Balamb Garden student and martial arts specialist.
- Selphie Tilmitt- A youthful and wild spirited girl that transferred from Trabia Garden.
- Irvine Kinneas- Skilled gunman and ladies’ man.
- Laguna Loire- A peace loving, passionate man that fights to protect his loved ones and combat injustice.
- Kiros Seagill- Laguna's best friend and a Galbadian. A reasonable and level headed member of the group.
- Ward Zabac- A Galbadian soldier and friend of Laguna.
- Seifer Almasy- Squall’s main competitor in Garden who is also proficient with a gunblade.
- Sorceress Edea- A sorceress that is Galbadia's ally.
Development
The game was directed by Yoshinori Kitase, music scored by Nobuo Uematsu. The executive producer and series creator was Hironobu Sakaguchi, but he was preoccupied with the production of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within during the game’s production, leaving Kitase with full responsibility of releasing the game. Production began in 1997 during the time in which the English localization of Final Fantasy VII started.