Final Fantasy VIII Walkthrough and Strategy Guide
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII is the sequel to the prevalent Final Fantasy VII. It was designed to be played on the PlayStation and featured similar graphics capabilities. However, it had more realistic graphics than Final Fantasy VII’s cartoon-like characters. The game’s development started in 1997 and took two years before it was released in 1999.
The game follows the adventures of Squall and his crew in their quest to stop a sorcerer from the future, dubbed Ultimecia, from reducing time. The music was written by the composer who composed it who composed Final Fantasy VII (Nobuo Uematsu) and was released to comprehensive reviews of praise.
The game is based on summons like earlier Final Fantasy games called Guardian Forces. Apart from being the source of the deadly attack, Guardian Forces also provide the ability to connect magic to specific skills and stats, which allows characters to develop. This contrasts with the previous systems, which concentrated on using armour and accessories that increase characters’ stats.
Unlike many different games of the franchise, the cast of characters was made to look more authentic. There aren’t Cait Sith or Vivi-like characters from FF8.
This section provides a complete walkthrough and strategies for Final Fantasy VIII.
Review
Final Fantasy VIII was an excellent sequel to the success of Final Fantasy VII, which was a huge hit (and it was a difficult one for others to emulate). It was different enough from the previous game to create a distinct and enjoyable game, but without going too far in its FF formula to lose many of the elements from the past that players of the series had hoped to be able to.
The most challenging part for the developers to work on in Final Fantasy VIII was creating an immersive story that was just as captivating as the previous game. The creators and writers were pretty good at this job, given the difficult task. The characters in FF8 are very relatable, as it is among the very first Final Fantasy games that lack some of the more bizarre realistic characters from other games, such as Cait Sith from Red XIII and even characters such as Vivi in Final Fantasy IX and Kimahri from Final Fantasy X.
The story is set in a more contemporary environment with a futuristic design instead of a fantasy style reminiscent of the past. A few players complained about the absence of the authentic fantasy style, which is why the creators of Final Fantasy IX decided to take a complete change back to the traditional design of some of the earlier titles (much to my dismay since FF9 was among the worst games of the franchise). I thoroughly liked the design and felt that the game had.
However, the story could have been more consistent regarding Ultimecia, the plot’s final villain and principal villain. A large portion of the game is in focusing on Edea as the antagonist until the point at which it becomes clear that the main villain will be Ultimecia. Adel, along with Ultimecia. In contrast to Final Fantasy VII, which, in the final chapter, much of the time is dedicated to constructing the plot around the character (Sephiroth) as well as the motivations of the actions of his character, the game takes only a few minutes delving into the background of Ultimecia. Ultimecia is a powerful sorceress from the future that seeks to “compress time” to suffocate every living thing and merge the two, transforming her into a god. Final Fantasy IX had the same issue.
I also wanted more from the poor attempts to connect all of the characters’ stories. The game explains within the story that using Guardian Forces can cause amnesia as one of the consequences of their use. When writers have to employ the concept of “amnesia” as a plot tool to make a story more cohesive, it is evident that they have used shortcuts and liberties to get the story going. The problem is that there’s no need for this; the story could be the same even if the main characters do not suffer from amnesia and cannot remember that they all grew up as orphans.
The flashback scenes that took place in Laguna were highly dull. They were necessary and an excellent fit to the game’s overall theme (involving the concept of time and compression). However, whenever I play the game, I groan whenever I get to some Laguna sections or chapters.
But the above are just a few marks on an engaging and entertaining tale and actors.
Most of the time, graphics are precisely similar to those in Final Fantasy VII, apart from the more realistic design of the setting and characters. Many cinematic scenes throughout the game provide a lovely accent to the most critical aspects of the plot (the dance sequence at Balamb Garden was a highlight). Its world map is as big and exciting to explore as that in FF7.
The gameplay, however, is why Final Fantasy VIII does not resemble the previous games. Final Fantasy VIII employed a “magic junction” and “draw system. Each character could use the “Draw” command on their turn. This allowed players to draw magic out of the opponent. Every time they drew magic, they would be granted from 1 to 9 points of the magic spell until they had accumulated 99, at which point additional magic could be drawn. After a person had drawn a magic spell, it would be joined to one of the character’s stats like Strength, HP and Magic, which could raise the stat.
This method of drawing and joining magic came with an intense learning curve. I needed to improve at comprehending these systems, which on my first attempt, ended in hilariously ineffective characters.
It was a different system that brought a significant shift in the way that players played from the previous Final Fantasy games. Still, there were many issues with the system, for example:
1.) The requirement to continuously create magic until you had 99 different types. This created a dull and monotonous aspect of your game.
2.) Using your magic (and dropping your inventory from 99) could harm your players ‘ stats (depending on the stat you’d joined the magic with). The result was several players trying to reduce how much magic was utilized and focusing their attention on attacking. This is not necessarily a problem since it is still an excellent way to play enjoyable gameplay. However, it restricts the types of play players can play. For instance, forming an entire team with a magic-focused character would be challenging.
3.) Guardian Forces (the summons of Final Fantasy VIII) also required drawing from bosses and enemies. Many Guardian Forces could be missed completely – they could also be obtained after the game. However, it became an aggravating aspect of the game because players had to be careful in each battle with bosses to ensure that they’d tried to draw from every boss.
Adding the Triple Triad, the card game in the main bonus game, was a great feature! This is another aspect of the game in which it is possible to miss essential cards during the initial playthrough. However, there was no need to pay extra Triple Triad to complete the game then you wanted to.
Triple Triad cards can be transformed into essential items that assist you with the game. While specific rules may be highly irritating (who is truly aware of the Plus, Same Wall and Combo rules? ), It lent itself to a regular playing session as you progress through the game.
There’s nothing to be said about ending game content. However, Final Fantasy VIII certainly lends itself well to repeated playthroughs. I’ve played through the whole game about five times and will go through it again within minutes. This version’s story elements and gameplay are unique and a beautiful expansion to the Final Fantasy library.
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