Final Fantasy VIII

aka: FF8, FFVIII, Finalnaja Fantazija 8, Zui Zhong Huanxiang 8
Moby ID: 1149
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Description official descriptions

Squall Leonhart is a young man in training to become of member of SeeD - a mercenary organization and the goal of all young students in Balamb Garden. Squall is not a particularly friendly guy and has troubles with his fellow students and teachers. On the eve of his graduation hostilities break out between the city-states of Galbadia and Dollet. As their final test, Squall and three other students are sent on a mission to assist in the fight against Galbadia. In the process they discover that there are other characters pulling strings from behind the stage, and eventually uncover a mystery that involves two decades of secrets hidden both from the world and from themselves.

Final Fantasy VIII is set in a "retro" environment reminiscent in some ways of the 1960's, with a few sci-fi and plenty of supernatural elements mixed in. The basic system resembles those of its predecessors: the player navigates a party of characters over a world map, accessing various locations and fighting randomly appearing enemies in turn-based combat of the series' trademark ATB (active time battle) variety. However, character development system has been re-designed.

Player-controlled characters in the game have no defined character classes. They can be customized by equipping magic spells, which can be "drawn" from enemies in battles. When used in combat, spells act like expendable items; there are no MP (magic points) in the game. When equipped, they act like armor, raising or lowering character parameters, including resistances to various kinds of magic (elemental, status-changing, etc.).

Monster summons (called Guardian Forces in the game) play a very important role in the customization process. They can be "junctioned" to to the characters, acquire ability points (AP) earned from battles along with experience, learn and "teach" characters new abilities, and can also be summoned in battles. Each character can also execute unique powerful attacks or support actions when his or her hit points are low. Many of these attacks require the player to press specific buttons at the right moment to increase their power.

New weapons are constructed by collecting materials and bringing them to a blacksmith. The player does not acquire money from random enemies, but instead receives paychecks over time based on the player character's SeeD rank. This rank increases when the characters defeat enemies in battles without summoning Guardian Forces; when the player takes SeeD tests within the game; or, occasionally, when the player chooses a correspondent action or decision for the protagonist during some of the missions. Payments are regular and are calculated by the amount of steps the characters make.

Visually, the game resembles its predecessor, featuring 3D graphics for battles and world map exploration, and pre-rendered backgrounds for individual locations. The game's 3D character models are realistically proportioned (as opposed to the "super-deformed" character graphics of the previous game), and the influence of anime art is less noticeable.

Like the previous installment, Final Fantasy VIII features several mini-games, the most prominent of which is the card game Triple Triad. Cards can be won in matches or acquired through side quests or by transforming enemy monsters. Many characters in the game can be challenged to a game of Triple Triad, so it is always possible to take a break from saving the world to play cards with the locals.

Spellings

  • Финальная Фантазия 8 - Russian spelling
  • ファイナルファンタジーVIII - Japanese spelling
  • 太空戰士 8 - Traditional Chinese spelling
  • 最终幻想8 - Simplified Chinese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PlayStation version)

113 People (107 developers, 6 thanks) · View all

Executive Producer
Director
Music
Main Programmer
Battle System Designer
Character Design / Battle Visual Director
Art Director
Scenario Writer
Image Ilustration
Movie Director
Movie Character Director
Character Modeling Director
Real-Time Polygon Director
Battle Effect Director
Motion Director
Card Game Director / Battle Camera Director
Lead Field Designer
Event Script Programmer
Battle Programmer
Event Director
Map Director
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 88% (based on 68 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 343 ratings with 26 reviews)

If you only play one game a year, make it this one!

The Good
Everything! I have played this game 10 times and loved every minute of every time. The storyline is great, once you figure it out. You will imagine that you are Squall in your free time for years. The characters are convincing, an improvement over the crappy characters in final fantasy vii, which my three year old brother could have improved on (or even my dog). They actually seem to have emotions and feelings, instead of being mindless robots. The fighting is good. One can go on side quests to make himself more powerful, and then it pays off when you're beating bosses by the hundreds. It is nice that it is possible to play the game with minimal understanding of the game's functions, but once you learn how to junction magic, it makes you more powerful. An altogether amazing game. Also, the triple triad mini-quest is awesome!

The Bad
When you go from one scene to the other, it takes 10 hours for the scenes to load. After each battle, you have to see how much experience you get, which takes about 22.763 hours, even if you run away! Some parts of the storyline just drag on and on (especially in the third disc), although it is not that bad. The bosses are not that hard, especially the second time around. The limit breaks are too easy to use, and do way to much damage. Finally, the GFs take about four minutes each time, and when you are summoning multiple GFs (especially Eden) it is just so boring. However, these are minor details, there are more good things about the game than bad things.

The Bottom Line
AWESOME. BUY IT. YOU'LL THANK ME LATER!

PlayStation · by Joe Fry (4) · 2002

Not as Good as Others but still Okay.

The Good
The CGI animation was wonderful. The opening cinematic was my favorite (Squall vs. Seifer). There was interesting missions and battles and it made you have to think on your feet when you play. The weapons look very cool and the musical score is nice and calm when it has to be and terrifying when you enter a terrifying place.

The Bad
The Card Game. It was a little confusing. Plus the numerous side quests. Too many. And the GF attacks. You summon the GF and they only do 1 attack, that's it! The graphics looks like one big noodle you could unwind until it was gone. The characters at least, especially Squall.

The Bottom Line
Play it but don't play it too long.

PlayStation · by Rey Mysterio (23) · 2004

Final Fantasy 8, Swell Game.

The Good
Final Fantasy 8, While odd compared to it's brothers (Sisters, if you must.) is still the one I enjoy the most. Not only can the story grab your attention, but it makes a hard try for you emotions as well. You just feel all warm and fuzzy inside when something works out.

Like many others, the summons play an important role in the story. (and are cool/cute/and all around awesome to look at, If I could only get plushies of them...) The summons give your characters the ability to "Junction" magic to certain stats, Such as Strength and Spirit. (Defense against magic attack for those of you who, like me, had no idea.) Summons in this game can also give you command abilities, like "Draw" which leads me to the way magic works in this game. Magic is stolen from the enemies. Simple way of putting it. You use "Draw" on normal enemies and bosses and stock up on magic which you can A:Later unleash upon other baddies in a furious storm of the elements or B: Junction to you stats to put you characters closer to godhood.

The characters.... Where to begin? They all have their storylines that somehow combine to resolve the major conflict in the game, with less flying boats.

The graphics? Well, Field and battle models are fine, much improved since 7, and not as.... well, child like as 9. But it's the "ingame movies" that really make me smile :) They are wonderful.

  Music? it has plenty!  As always, better than the last. Eyes On Me is to die for, as well as another variation of the Chocobo theme ;) <br><br>**The Bad**<br>There isn't much I disliked, Besides the fact that the enemies you fight level up with you.  Yes, I know you probably read that again but it's true.  The stronger your characters get the stronger your opponents become.  This is not all bad, since the stronger they are the higher level of magic they have to steal.  But many enemies in they game, *coughstupidfrekingrubydragoncough* pose a major threat at high levels and for me, a ruby dragon was harder than any other creature in the game.

Also, Though I am all for the "Get paid as you go" idea, I had a problem with the rank system.  I maxed out my characters early so I had no reason to fight all the time, but if you don't fight your rank goes down and you get less money...  :O<br><br>**The Bottom Line**<br>    In a nutshell, since my way of saying things is a bit round-about, play this game.<br>

If you have never played a Final Fantasy, play this.
If you always play Final Fantasy, Play this.
If you have already played this, play it again and goof off.
You'll laugh at the antics of a certain martial artist, you'll cry at the tender love story between certain characters, and you'll feel like bouncing off the walls whenever you Selphie. Don't worry, you'll know what I mean once you start playing.

Windows · by New Age Gilgamesh (3) · 2005

[ View all 26 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
Game with downloadable sounds soundbank MerlynKing Oct 24, 2016
A question-spoilers! GAMEBOY COLOR! (1990) Apr 24, 2011
OMG!!! TEH DEVIL!!! The Fabulous King (1332) Jul 24, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The PS1 version of Final Famtasy VIII appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Development

  • During production of the game, there were plans to originally call the Rinoa character "Lenore".
  • Parasite Eve was the 'testing ground' for the cinematic graphics used in FFVIII.

Innovations

As of 2013, Final Fantasy VIII is the first and the only Final Fantasy game where the playable characters don't equip any armor.

Music

The music in this game was originally composed and recorded as Dolby Digital 5.1, then "dumbed down" to normal stereo for the actual release. The original DD 5.1 score was rumored to be the one to be used in a PlayStation 2 re-release.

Ratings

When it was first released as a demo, it was rated M for strong language but was later toned down to a T rating.

References

  • Some names of the Guardian Forces (monsters you can summon in Final Fantasy VIII) are taken from mythologies of different nations. Quetzalcoatl is one of the main gods in the mythology of Central America's Indians; Shiva is God in Hinduism (he appears as a feminine incarnation in the game, although he is normally regarded as male); Diabolos is Greek for "devil"; Cerberus is a three-headed dog which guards the gates of Hades in Greek mythology; Siren is a beautiful and dangerous demi-goddess, also from the Greek mythology; Leviathan is Hebrew for "whale", this word is used to describe the sea monster that swallowed the prophet Jonas in Old Testament.
  • The game's most poweful GF is called Eden. This is actually the name of the paradise, "Garden of Eden" (Hebrew "Gan Eden"), from where Adam and Eve were expelled, according to the first book of Moses from the Old Testament. Why is the most powerful GF a garden? Because the universities where the heroes of the game study and train are called gardens. It is logical the most powerful garden is also the most powerful weapon.
  • In Esthar there is a shop called Cloud's Shop, a reference to Final Fantasy VII.
  • You can spot UFOs during battles in four areas of the world. The sightings are used in the 'Pupu card' sidequest, and can only be seen from the second disk onwards.

References to the game

  • In the 2004 Olympics, one of the American synchronized swimming teams chose to use a piece of music from Final Fantasy VIII as their background music . They used the song Liberi Fatali, the game's main theme
  • The game is featured in the movie Charlie's Angels. It's the game the two kids are playing in the scene where Drew Barrymore drops naked from Knox's house. Interestingly enough both kids seem to be playing it at the same time, apparently nobody figured to tell the production team that the game was single-player only.

Summonings

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 Fantasy games with summonings include the option to shorten the animation...

Tech demo

The ballroom dance scene was used as the basis for a PlayStation 2 tech demo, showing that the PS2 was powerful enough to render the scene in real-time.

Version differences

  • The PC version includes a mini-game called Chocobo World. Previously, this was only available with the Japanese PSX version through the Dex Drive.
  • Seifer and Zell, two important characters of Final Fantasy VIII, were renamed to Cifer and Xell, respectively, in the German version, probably because the original names are common German family names and might have possibly offended their innocent bearers.
  • Disc 3 of the Windows version (US release) has a hidden audio track. It contains the song Eyes On Me, sung by Faye Wong. This song was released in Japan as a CD single and was part of the original soundtrack.

  • The original Playstation release included a Chocobo World minigame which required access to a PocketStation, a console that was only released in Japan. Gamers in other territories could only access that by importing a PocketStation from Japan. This was the only way to access some rare items in the game.

Information also contributed by Alan Chan, Foxhack, j. jones, NightKid32, Rey Mysterio, Tiago Jacques, YID YANG, WizardX and Zovni

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Related Sites +

  • FF-Fan
    A fansite that offers all kinds of information on the entire Final Fantasy franchise, including walkthroughs, game media, discussion boards and fan art.
  • FF8 Hints
    Final Fantasy VIII hints and solutions
  • Final Fantasy Extreme
    Site that contains movies, wallpaper, codes, guides, walkthroughs, and general information on the Final Fantasy series.
  • GameFaqs Files
    Comprehensive links to numerous Final Fantasy VIII files on GameFaqs
  • OC ReMix Game Profile
    Fan remixes of music from Final Fantasy VIII.
  • Wikipedia: Final Fantasy VIII
    Information about Final Fantasy VIII at Wikipedia

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1149
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Contribute

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Matthew Bailey.

PSP, PlayStation 3 added by Charly2.0. PS Vita added by GTramp. PlayStation added by Grant McLellan.

Additional contributors: MAT, Unicorn Lynx, Jeanne, Silverblade, DarkDante, DreinIX, —-, Paulus18950, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, Lain Crowley, Rik Hideto, FatherJack, 64er.

Game added March 26, 2000. Last modified March 11, 2024.