Description
Squall Leonhart is a young man, who is in training to become of member of SeeD - a mercenary organization, the dream of all the young students in Balamb Garden. Squall is not a particularly friendly guy and has troubles with his fellow students and teachers. Currently, two countries are at war with each other; to complete his training as a mercenary, Squall and three other students are sent on a mission to aid one of those countries against the other. In the process they discover that there are some other characters pulling the strings from behind the scene, and get involved in a mystery that sheds a whole new light on their lives and ideals.
"Final Fantasy VIII" is set in a "retro" environment reminiscent of the 1960-ies, with supernatural elements mixed in. It introduces many gameplay changes compared to the previous installments of the series. You don't get money from random enemies, but instead have to earn it during your missions as a SeeD. You can customize your characters by equipping them with magic spells, which you can draw from enemies in battles. You can also cast those spells the same way you would use an item, since you don't have MP in the game. The trademark summoned monsters (called Guardian Forces in this game) play a very important role in the customization process. You can "junction" them to your characters and learn various abilities from them. They can also be summoned in battles.
Alternate Titles
- "最终幻想8 " -- Chinese Title (Simplified)
- "太空戰士 8" -- Chinese Title (Tradition)
- "Финальная Фантазия 8" -- Russian Spelling
- "Zui Zhong Huanxiang 8" -- Chinese Title
- "Finalnaja Fantazija 8" -- Russian Title
- "FFVIII" -- Informal Name
- "FF8" -- informal title
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
The Press Says
| PSX Extreme |
PlayStation |
Sep 08, 1999 |
10 out of 10 |
100 |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (OPM) |
PlayStation |
Oct, 1999 |
 |
100 |
| AllRPG |
PlayStation |
2002 |
9.5 out of 10 |
95 |
| Armchair Empire, The |
PlayStation |
Sep 01, 1999 |
9.5 out of 10 |
95 |
| Svenska PC Gamer |
Windows |
Feb, 2000 |
92 out of 100 |
92 |
| GameStar (Germany) |
Windows |
Feb, 2000 |
85 out of 100 |
85 |
| PC Games (Germany) |
Windows |
Mar 07, 2001 |
84 out of 100 |
84 |
| incite PC Gaming |
Windows |
Apr, 2000 |
 |
80 |
| PC Gameplay (Benelux) |
Windows |
Mar, 2000 |
76 out of 100 |
76 |
| Thunderbolt Games |
PlayStation |
Nov 03, 2007 |
7 out of 10 |
70 |
Forums
Trivia
When the game came out, the #1 complaint everyone had was that there was no way of skipping the summoning animations - which were essential for making it through the early stages of the game. The creators claimed this was entirely intentional, and that it was somehow vital to the plot that the players be forced to sit through the same minute-long animations hundreds of times. They never changed it in FFVIII (even the later PC adaptation) but oddly, all subsequent Final Fantasies with summonings include the option to shorten the animation...
