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.

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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

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Part of the Following Groups

Merchant	Title
	Final Fantasy VIII
	Final Fantasy VIII
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User Reviews

J-RPG's have a place in the PC platform	John Franco (161)
A definite game that marks a millennium.	MAT (34845)
The best game ever, Square did it again!	erdem sural (14)
My review of FF8	Pablo Motta (2)
Final Fantasy 8, Swell Game.	New Age Gilgamesh (4)
The Interactive movie no one understands	Brian Clark (3)
It doesn't do justice to its predecesors.	jeremy strope (126)	unrated
Good, but doesn't live up to the level of SquareSoft Excellence	MadCat (56)
A good old game!	michael mccafferty (4)

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The Press Says

Game Over Online	Feb 03, 2000	91 out of 100	91
RPGamer	Mar, 2000	9 out of 10	90
GameSpy	Feb 02, 2000	90 out of 100	90
GameStar (Germany)	Feb, 2000	85 out of 100	85
Computer Games Magazine	Mar 26, 2000		80
Absolute Games (AG.ru)	Feb 05, 2000	80 out of 100	80
PC Gameplay (Benelux)	Mar, 2000	76 out of 100	76
IGN	Jan 28, 2000	7.4 out of 10	74
RPGamer	Sep 25, 2000	7 out of 10	70
GamesFirst!	Apr 15, 2000		60