Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 12:08, 4 July 2010

Final Fantasy VIII
North American box art showing the characters Squall, Rinoa, and Seifer, with Edea in the background
Developer(s)	Square
Designer(s)	Yoshinori Kitase
Artist(s)	Tetsuya Nomura Yusuke Naora
Writer(s)	Kazushige Nojima
Composer(s)	Nobuo Uematsu
Series	Final Fantasy
Platform(s)	PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, PocketStation, PlayStation Network
Release	PlayStation Windows PlayStation Network
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single-player

Template:Nihongo title is a role-playing video game released for the PlayStation in 1999 and for Windows-based personal computers in 2000. It was developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) as the Final Fantasy series' eighth title, removing magic point-based spell-casting and the first title to consistently use realistically proportioned characters.

The game's story focuses on a group of young mercenaries who are drawn into an international conflict, and seek to protect the world from a sorceress manipulating the war for her own purposes. The main protagonist is Squall Leonhart, a 17-year-old loner and student at the military academy Balamb Garden, who is training to become a "SeeD", a mercenary paid by the academy.

The development of Final Fantasy VIII began in 1997, during the English localization process of Final Fantasy VII. The music was scored by Nobuo Uematsu, series regular, and in a series first, the theme music is a vocal piece, "Eyes on Me", performed by Faye Wong. The game was positively received by critics and was a commercial success. It was voted the 22nd-best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu. Thirteen weeks after its release, Final Fantasy VIII had earned more than US$50 million in sales, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy title of all time until Final Fantasy XIII. The game has shipped 8.15 million copies worldwide as of March 31, 2003.

The game became available on PlayStation Network as a PSone Classics title in Japan on September 24, 2009, in the US on December 17, 2009, and in Europe on February 4, 2010.

Gameplay

Like any Final Fantasy before it, Final Fantasy VIII consists of three main modes of play: the world map, the field map, and the battle screen. The world map is a 3D display in which the player may navigate freely across a small-scale rendering of the game world. Characters travel across the world map in a variety of ways, including by foot, car, Chocobo, train, and airship. The field map consists of controllable 3D characters overlaid on one or more 2D pre-rendered backgrounds, which represent environmental locations such as towns or forests. The battle screen is a 3D model of a location such as a street or room, where turn-based fights between playable characters and CPU-controlled enemies take place. The interface is menu-driven, as in previous titles, but with the typical weapon and armor systems removed and new features present, such as the Junction system. Also featured is a collectible card-based minigame called "Triple Triad".

Junction system

For Final Fantasy VIII, Hiroyuki Ito designed a battle system based on summon-able monsters, called "Guardian Forces", abbreviated in-game as "GF." Assigning ("junctioning") a GF onto a character allows the player to use battle commands beyond Attack with the main weapon, such as Magic, GF (to summon the junctioned GF and have it perform an action), and Item. While previous Final Fantasy titles provided each character with a limited pool of magic points that were consumed by each spell, in Final Fantasy VIII, spells are acquired ("drawn") either from enemies in battle, Draw Points distributed throughout the game's environments, or by refining items and cards. Spells are then stocked on characters as quantified inventory (up to 100 per spell and limited to 32 distinct spells per character) and are consumed one by one when used. Characters can also junction these spells onto their statistics—such as Strength, Vitality, and Luck—for various bonuses, provided the character has junctioned a Guardian Force. The junction system's flexibility affords the player a wide range of customization options.

The character designer of the Guardian Forces, Tetsuya Nomura, felt they should be unique beings, without clothes or other human-like concepts. This was problematic, as Nomura did not want them to "become the actual monsters", so he took great care in their design. Leviathan was the first GF, created as a test and included in a game demo. After it received a positive reaction from players, Nomura decided to create the remaining sequences in a similar fashion. The use of summoned creatures for anything other than a single devastating attack during battle was a significant departure for the Final Fantasy series. The junction system also acts as a substitute for armor and accessories used in previous titles to enhance the characters' statistics. Moreover, where earlier titles required weapons to be equipped and tailored to the character, each major character in Final Fantasy VIII features a unique weapon which can be upgraded, affecting its appearance, power, and Limit Break.

Limit Breaks

Characters in Final Fantasy VIII have unique special attacks called "Limit Breaks", as in Final Fantasy VII. While the Limit Breaks in Final Fantasy VII are triggered after sufficient damage has been received, in Final Fantasy VIII, the availability of Limit Breaks depends on a character's current health—a Limit Break is more likely to be available to a character with low health. The magic spell Aura increases the probability of Limit Breaks appearing, regardless of a character's remaining hit points, while various status afflictions can prevent Limit Breaks. They are similar to the Desperation Attacks of Final Fantasy VI, as they are randomly triggered when a character's health falls below a certain level and his or her Hit Points are in yellow instead of white.

Final Fantasy VIII also introduced interactive elements to complement Limit Break animations. These interactive sequences, which vary between character, weapon, and Limit Break range from randomly selected magic spells to precisely timed button inputs. Successfully completing an interactive sequence increases the resulting attack's potency.

Experience levels

Final Fantasy VIII used an experience point and level system quite different from previous games in the series. While EXP is awarded after battling and defeating enemies, who are predominantly encountered randomly, and contribute to the continued strengthening and level-gaining of the characters, here the similarity ends. While levels in previous games required ever-increasing amounts of EXP to surmount (e.g., getting to level 2 might require 200 experience points, level 3 might require 400, etc.), characters in Final Fantasy VIII gain a level after accumulating 1000 points. Enemies around the world, furthermore, remain on equal levels with the characters, as opposed to most RPGs, where enemies from previously-visited locations in the game are often weak and easily defeated. Higher-level enemies are capable of inflicting and withstanding significantly more damage, may have additional special attacks, and carry additional magic spells, allowing for Junctioning bonuses which themselves far exceed the bonuses imparted by level-gain.

In addition to gaining levels, Guardian Forces earn Ability Points (AP) after battles, which are automatically allocated to special abilities that Guardian Forces can learn. When a Guardian Force has learned an ability, that ability becomes available for any character or the character party, as is the case with field abilities. These abilities allow characters to attack more efficiently, refine magic spells from items, receive stat bonuses upon leveling up, access shops remotely and use additional battle commands.

Plot

Setting

Most of Final Fantasy VIII is set on an unnamed fantasy world with one moon. The planet comprises five major landmasses, with Esthar, the largest, covering most of the eastern portion of the map. Galbadia, the second-largest continent, lies to the west, and contains many of the game's locations. The northernmost landmass is Trabia, an Arctic region. Positioned roughly in the middle of the world map lies Balamb, the smallest continent, the island on which the game begins. The remaining landmass is small and mostly desolate, riddled with rough, rocky terrain caused by the impact of a "Lunar Cry", an event where monsters from the moon fall to the planet. The southernmost landmass includes an archipelago of broken sections of land that have drifted apart. Islands and marine structures flesh out the rest of the game world, and a handful of off-world locations round out the game's playable areas.

As part of a theme desired by director Yoshinori Kitase to give the game a foreign atmosphere, various designs were given to its locations using the style of internationally familiar places, while also maintaining a fantasy atmosphere. Inspiration ranged from ancient Egyptian and Greek architecture, to the city of Paris, France, to an idealized futuristic European society. Flags were also given to some factions, their designs based on the group's history and culture. In contrast, in an interview with the Official UK PlayStation Magazine, Kitase stated that Triple Triad was added to the game because cards were a popular hobby in Japan.

In an interview with Famitsu, art director Yusuke Naora described that the game was generally designed to be a "bright, fresh Final Fantasy." The designers felt a need to invert the atmosphere of previous games in the series, which had feelings of "light emerging from darkness". This decision was easy for the developers to make, because most of them had worked on Final Fantasy VII and felt that a new direction was acceptable. The world designs were also developed with the knowledge that most of the staff were now used to computer graphics, which was not the case with Final Fantasy VII. The developers also noted that with Final Fantasy VIII, they attempted to "mix future, real life and fantasy."

Characters

The six main playable characters in Final Fantasy VIII are Squall Leonhart, a loner who keeps his focus on his duty to avoid vulnerability; Rinoa Heartilly, an outspoken and passionate young woman who follows her heart in all situations; Quistis Trepe, an instructor with a serious, patient attitude; Zell Dincht, a martial artist with a passion for hot dogs; Selphie Tilmitt, a cheerful girl who loves trains and pilots the airship Ragnarok; and Irvine Kinneas, a marksman and consummate ladies' man. Temporarily playable characters include Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, and Ward Zabac, who appear in "flashback" sequences, and antagonists Seifer Almasy and Edea Kramer.

During the game's pre-production, character designer Tetsuya Nomura suggested the game be given a "school days" feel. Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima already had a story in mind in which the main characters were the same age; their ideas meshed, taking form as the "Garden" military academies. Nojima planned that the two playable parties featured in the game (Squall's present day group and Laguna's group from the past) would be highly contrasted with one another. This idea was conveyed through the age and experience of Laguna's group, versus the youth and naïveté of Squall's group.

To maintain a foreign atmosphere, the characters were designed to have predominantly European appearances. The first Final Fantasy VIII character designed was Squall. Desiring to add a unique angle to Squall's appearance and emphasize his role as the central character, Nomura gave him a scar across his brow and the bridge of his nose. As there was not yet a detailed history conceived for the character, Nomura left the explanation for Squall's scar to Nojima. Squall was given a gunblade, a fictional revolver–sword hybrid that functions primarily as a sword, with an added damaging vibration feature activated by use of its gun mechanism, similar to a vibroblade. His character design was complemented by a fur lining along the collar of his jacket, incorporated by Nomura as a challenge for the game's full motion video designers.

With Final Fantasy VIII came the inclusion of some designs Nomura had previously drawn, but had not yet used in a Final Fantasy game. These were the designs of Edea, Fujin and Raijin. The latter two had originally been designed for use in Final Fantasy VII, but with the inclusion of the Turks characters in that game, it was felt that Fujin and Raijin were unnecessary. Nomura had designed Edea before the development of Final Fantasy VII, based on the style of Yoshitaka Amano.

Story

Final Fantasy VIII begins as Squall duels with Seifer in a training session outside the Balamb Garden military academy. Meanwhile, Galbadia invades the Dollet Dukedom, forcing Dollet to hire assistance from the Balamb Garden branch of "SeeD", Garden's elite mercenary force. SeeD uses the mission as a final examination for its cadets; with the help of his instructor, Quistis, Squall passes its prerequisite and is grouped with Seifer and Zell. Seifer disobeys orders and abandons his team, forcing Selphie to accompany Squall and Zell for the duration of the mission. After the mission, SeeD halts the Galbadian advance; Squall, Zell, and Selphie graduate to SeeD status, while Seifer is disciplined for his disobedience. During the graduation party, Squall meets Rinoa, whose personality is apparently the opposite of his. When assigned with Zell and Selphie to help Rinoa's resistance faction in Galbadian-occupied Timber, Squall learns that a sorceress named Edea is behind Galbadia's recent hostilities. Under orders from Balamb and Galbadia Gardens, Squall and his comrades — now joined by Rinoa, Quistis, and Irvine — attempt to assassinate Edea. However, the sorceress thwarts the attempt, and the party is detained. During the attempt, Squall's party also learns that Seifer has left Garden to become Edea's second-in-command.

After the team escapes, Edea launches a missile attack on Trabia Garden. Fearing that Balamb Garden is the next target of Edea's revenge, the team splits into two units. Squall's group returns to Balamb to warn of the attack, but must first stop an internal Garden conflict incited by NORG, SeeD's financier. Selphie's team travels to the Missile Base to stop the launch, but fails. Squall inadvertently turns Balamb Garden into a mobile fortress, allowing the facility to evade the missiles; however, unable to control the Garden, it collides with the docks at Fishermans' Horizon. While local technicians repair the Garden, the Galbadian Army invade in search of a girl named Ellone, who had been staying at Balamb Garden until recently. Ellone eventually escapes to Esthar, the world's technological superpower. During Squall's meeting with Ellone, he learns that she had been "sending" him and his allies into flashbacks set 17 years in the past in a vain effort to alter the present. The scenes center on Laguna and his two friends, Kiros and Ward. During the flashbacks, Laguna changes from a Galbadian soldier to the defender of a country village, and then moves from being the leader of a resistance movement against Sorceress Adel to the President of Esthar.

Meanwhile, Squall confronts his personal anxieties fueled by ongoing developments, such as Headmaster Cid appointing him as SeeD's new leader, and his increasing attraction to Rinoa. While investigating Trabia Garden's wreckage, Squall and his comrades learn that they, along with Seifer and Ellone, were all raised (with the exception of Rinoa) in an orphanage run by Edea; they later developed amnesia due to their use of Guardian Forces. It is also revealed that Cid and Edea had established Garden and SeeD primarily to defeat corrupt sorceresses. After these revelations, the forces of Balamb Garden and the Galbadian Army, led by Squall and Seifer respectively, engage in battle above the orphanage. After Balamb defeats Galbadia, the player learns that Edea is merely an unwilling tool for "Ultimecia", a powerful sorceress from the future who wishes to compress time into a single moment; it is for this reason she has sought Ellone. Edea loses a decisive battle against the SeeD, forcing Ultimecia to transfer her powers to Rinoa; Edea survives, but Rinoa enters a coma. Squall becomes obsessed with waking her and goes to Esthar to find Ellone, as he believes that she can help save Rinoa.

While Rinoa is being treated on Esthar's space station, Ultimecia uses her to free Sorceress Adel from her orbital prison. Ultimecia then orders Seifer to activate the Lunatic Pandora facility, inciting a rain of creatures from the moon that sends Adel's containment device to the planet. Having selected Adel as her next host, Ultimecia abandons Rinoa in outer space. Squall rescues her, and they return to the planet on a derelict starship. Upon their landing, delegates from Esthar isolate Rinoa for fear of her sorceress abilities, forcing Squall to rescue her. President Laguna apologizes for the incident and announces Dr. Odine's plan to let Ultimecia possess Rinoa, have Ellone send Rinoa (and thus Ultimecia as well) to the past and then retrieve only Rinoa back to the present, enabling Ultimecia to achieve Time Compression, as it would allow Squall's group to confront Ultimecia in her time. To do this, Squall's team infiltrates Lunatic Pandora, defeats Seifer and Adel, and has Rinoa inherit Adel's sorceress powers. Time Compression is thus initiated; Squall and his allies travel to Ultimecia's era and defeat her.

With Ultimecia defeated, the universe begins returning to normal; however, Squall is nearly lost in the flow of time as he witnesses the origins of the game's story. When a dying Ultimecia travels back in time to pass her powers to Edea, Squall informs Edea of the concepts of Garden and SeeD that she will create. Afterward, he is able to properly recollect his memories and thus return to the present. The ending cinema depicts the events after Squall's return to the present. Seifer is once again reunited with Raijin and Fujin; Laguna visits Raine's grave (and remembers his proposal to her) along with Ellone, Ward, and Kiros; and a celebration takes place in the Garden, with Squall and Rinoa kissing one another under the moonlight.

Development

Development of Final Fantasy VIII began in 1997 during the English language translation of Final Fantasy VII. As with much of the production of Final Fantasy VII, series creator and veteran Hironobu Sakaguchi served as the executive producer, working primarily on the development of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and leaving direction of Final Fantasy VIII to Yoshinori Kitase. Shinji Hashimoto was assigned to be the producer in Sakaguchi's place. From the beginning, Kitase knew he wanted a thematic combination of fantasy and realism. To this end, he aimed to include a cast of characters who appeared to be ordinary people. Character designer and battle visual director Tetsuya Nomura and art director Yusuke Naora strove to achieve this impression through the inclusion of realistically proportioned characters—a departure from the super deformed designs used in the previous title. Additionally, Naora attempted to enhance the realism of the world through predominantly bright lighting effects with shadows distributed as appropriate. Other measures taken included implementing rental cars for travel in-game, and the use of motion capture technology to give the game's characters lifelike movements in the game's full motion video sequences.

Scenario writer Kazushige Nojima has expressed that the dynamic of players' relationships with the protagonist is important to him. Both Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII feature reserved, quiet protagonists in the form of Cloud Strife and Squall. With Final Fantasy VIII, however, Nojima worked to give players actual insight into what the character was thinking; a direct contrast with his handling of Final Fantasy VII, which encouraged the player to speculate. This approach to Final Fantasy VIII is reflected by the frequent use of dialogue that takes place solely within Squall's mind, allowing the player to read his thoughts and understand what he is thinking or feeling even when he keeps those thoughts to himself.

In 1999, the ballroom dance scene of Final Fantasy VIII was featured as a technical demo for the PlayStation 2. In 2000, a PC version was released for Windows. This port featured smoother graphics, enhanced audio, and the inclusion of Chocobo World, a minigame starring Boko, a Chocobo featured in one of the side-quests in Final Fantasy VIII. For most North American and European players, the PC version of the game was the only means of playing Chocobo World, as the game was originally designed to be played via the PocketStation, a handheld console never released outside Japan. In 2009, Final Fantasy VIII was added to the PlayStation Store on the PlayStation Network.

Music

Regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu wrote the soundtrack for Final Fantasy VIII. He tried to base the songs off of the emotional content of when they would be played, asserting that expressing the emotions he desires is more important than improving skills: "I think it will be a shame if we won't be able to cry as we play our own game". He could not determine a character's emotions solely based on the plot, instead using images of appearance and attire—"It's important to know when their emotions are at their height, but it usually takes until a month before release for them to finish the ending dialog...!" In response to a question by IGN music stating that the music of Final Fantasy VIII was very dark and perhaps influenced by the plot of the game, Uematsu stated "the atmosphere of music varies depending on story line, of course, but it's also my intention to put various types of music into one game". The absence of character themes found in the previous two games was due to Uematsu finding those of Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII ineffective. Uematsu considers it reasonable to have character themes if each character has a "highlight" in the game, but he found Final Fantasy VIII only focused on Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly as a couple, resulting in the "Eyes on Me" theme.

The original soundtrack was released on four Compact Discs by DigiCube in Japan on March 10, 1999, and by Square EA in North America as Final Fantasy VIII Music Collection in January 2000. It was republished worldwide by Square Enix on May 10, 2004. An album of orchestral arrangements of selected tracks from the game was released under the title Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII on November 19, 1999 by DigiCube, and subsequently published on July 22, 2004 by Square Enix. The pieces were arranged and conducted by Shiro Hamaguchi for a live orchestra. A collection of piano arrangements performed by Shinko Ogata was released under the title Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VIII by DigiCube on January 21, 2000 and subsequently re-published by Square Enix on July 22, 2004.

The score is best known for two songs: "Liberi Fatali", a Latin choral piece that is played during the introduction to the game, and "Eyes On Me", a pop song serving as the game's theme, performed by Chinese singer Faye Wong. Near the end of the production of Final Fantasy VII, the developers suggested to use a singer, but abandoned the idea due to a lack of reasoning based on the game's theme and storyline. However, Nobuo Uematsu thought a ballad would closely relate to the theme and characters of Final Fantasy VIII. This resulted in the game's developers sharing "countless" artists, eventually deciding on Wong. Uematsu claims "her voice and mood seem to match my image of the song exactly", and that her ethnicity "fits the international image of Final Fantasy". After negotiations were made, "Eyes on Me" was recorded in Hong Kong with an orchestra. The song was released as a CD single in Japan and sold over 400,000 copies, setting the record for highest-selling video game music disc ever released in that country at the time. "Liberi Fatali" was played during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens during the women's synchronized swimming event.

The music of Final Fantasy VIII has appeared in various official Final Fantasy concerts. These include 2002's 20020220 Music from FINAL FANTASY, in which the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra played "Liberi Fatali", "Don't Be Afraid", "Love Grows", and "The Man with the Machine Gun", the 2004 Tour de Japon series, which featured "The Oath", the Dear Friends series that began that same year and included "Liberi Fatali" and "Love Grows", and the 2005 More Friends concert, which included "Maybe I'm a Lion". More recent concerts include the Voices – Music from Final Fantasy 2006 concert showcasing "Liberi Fatali", "Fisherman's Horizon", and "Eyes on Me" and the international Distant Worlds concert tour that continues to date, which includes "Liberi Fatali", "Fisherman's Horizon", "Man with the Machine Gun", and "Love Grows". Several of these concerts have produced live albums as well. Music from the game has also been played in non Final Fantasy-specific concerts such as the Play! A Video Game Symphony world tour from 2006 onwards, for which Nobuo Uematsu composed the opening fanfare that accompanies each performance.

Reception and legacy

Final Fantasy VIII received positive reviews from critics and was commercially successful. Within two days of its North American release on September 9, 1999, Final Fantasy VIII became the top-selling video game in the United States, a position it held for more than three weeks. It grossed a total of more than $50 million in the 13 weeks to follow, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy title. In Japan, it sold roughly 2.5 million units within the first four days of release. More than 6 million units were sold in total by the end of 1999. As of March 31, 2003, the game had shipped 8.15 million copies worldwide: 3.7 million in Japan and 4.45 million abroad. The opening cut scene in Final Fantasy VIII was ranked second on Game Informer's list of "Top 10 Video Game Openings",, and first by IGN. GameSpy listed it as the 15th best cinematic moment in video games. IGN additionally named the game's ending the third best of any game for the PlayStation, while UGO.com named it one of the series' best and most memorable moments. Final Fantasy VIII was voted by readers of Japanese magazine Famitsu as the 22nd best game of all time in 2006, and named one of the 20 essential Japanese role-playing games by Gamasutra, stating "here's a lot that Final Fantasy VIII does wrong, but there's even more that it does right".

Reviews of the gameplay have been mixed. IGN felt that it was the weakest aspect of the game, citing its Guardian Force attack sequences as "incredibly cinematic" but tedious, sentiments echoed by Electronic Gaming Monthly. They also regarded the battle system as intensely complicated, yet refreshingly innovative and something that "RPG fanatics love to obsess over". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine claims that the game's Junction system is a major flaw due to repetitive stocking of spells, while the UK-based video game magazine Edge commented that the battle system consists of a "bewildering" number of intricate options and techniques that "most gamers will relish". GameSpot praised the game's battle system, commenting that the "possibilities for customization are immense".

In general, Final Fantasy VIII has been compared favorably to its predecessors. Though questioning the game's lack of voice overs for its characters, Game Revolution praised its storyline and ending. For their part, Edge labeled Final Fantasy VIII "a far more accomplished game than FFVII". On the other hand, the magazine also felt that the game's length left its story unable to "offer consistently strong dialogue and sub-plots". Additionally, it found some of the story's plot twists "not... suitably manipulated and prepared", leaving it "hard not to greet such... moments with anything but indifference". Overall, Edge considered Final Fantasy VIII to be "yet another outstanding edition of SquareSoft's far-from-final fantasies", summarizing it as "aesthetically astonishing, rarely less than compelling, and near peerless in scope and execution". Electronic Gaming Monthly offered similar comments, stating that the game's character development "is the best of any RPG's" and that "Final Fantasy VIII is the pinnacle of its genre." UGO.com stated that while no other game in the series had stirred the controversy that Final Fantasy VIII had and that it was flawed, Final Fantasy VIII was a "daring, groundbreaking game decidedly the most original console-style RPG ever created". In 2002, IGN named the game the seventh best title for the PlayStation of all time, placing higher on the list than Final Fantasy VII and described as " all of its strong points, and them better".

The PC port received mixed reception. Maximum PC praised the full motion video sequences as "phenomenal", adding that while the gameplay took getting used to, they enjoyed the teamwork emphasized by it, and that the game's visual presentation added to its appeal. GameSpy stated that while the game was not a "huge leap forward" from the previous title, its gameplay and visual appeal worked for its benefit, though that on a computer the pre-rendered backgrounds appeared blurry and the controls at time difficult with a keyboard. GameSpot criticized the game for not taking advantage of the capabilities afforded to computers at the time, describing the PlayStation version as both looking and sounding superior, and recommending that the title was "not worth buying period" for the PC. UGO.com also described the port as inferior to its original counterpart, adding that its presentation was in turn detrimental to the reception the game received as a whole. Computer Gaming World praised some of the changes made to the game in light of previous titles and the inclusion of the Triple Triad sub-game, though heavily criticized the port as "lazy" and "disappointing", stating that it only served to emphasize the original game's flaws. Despite their complaints however, they named the game the twentieth best game of 2000.

In March 1999, one month after the game's release, Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania was published, a book that features an in-depth guide to Final Fantasy VIII and interviews with the developers. An origami book was released in November 1999. On September 22, 1999, a CD-ROM titled Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories was released. It contains desktop icons, computer wallpapers, screensavers, and an e-mail application. It additionally features an stand-alone edition of the Triple Triad minigame, which allowed players to compete against one another via a local area network.

References

1. http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2010/01/21/final-fantasy-viii-coming-february-4th/
2. ^ "Titles of game software with worldwide shipments exceeding 1 million copies" (PDF). Square Enix. p. 27. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
3. ^ Square Electronic Arts, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII North American instruction manual. Square Electronic Arts. pp. 20, 24, 36. SLUS-00892GH.
4. Square Electronic Arts, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII North American instruction manual. Square Electronic Arts. pp. 28, 33–35. SLUS-00892GH.
5. ^ Studio BentStuff, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. pp. 354–355. ISBN 4-925075-49-7.
6. ^ Cassady, David (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Official Strategy Guide. BradyGAMES Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 1-56686-903-X.
7. Studio BentStuff, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 64. ISBN 4-925075-49-7.
8. Cassady, David (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Official Strategy Guide. BradyGAMES Publishing. pp. 6, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18–19. ISBN 1-56686-903-X.
9. Square Electronic Arts, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII North American instruction manual. Square Electronic Arts. pp. 28–35. SLUS-00892GH.
10. ^ "Final Fantasy VIII – World". Square Enix. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
11. Square Co. (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Centra Civilization A civilization in Centra 4000 years ago. These Centra people emigrated to other continents and founded the Dollet Empire to the west and Esthar to the east. Centra was destroyed 80 years ago by the Lunar Cry.
12. Studio BentStuff, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. p. 40. ISBN 4-925075-49-7.
13. ^ Staff (2001). "Final Fantasy VIII Kitase, Nojima, Naora and Nomura Interview". Official UK PlayStation Magazine (71). Retrieved 2009-11-15. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
14. ^ Staff (5 June 1998). "インタビュー ファイナルファンタジーVIII". Famitsu Weekly (in Japanese). Retrieved 2006-07-15. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |trans_author= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
15. Studio BentStuff, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (in Japanese). DigiCube/SquareEnix. p. 43. ISBN 4-925075-49-7.
16. Samoon, Evan (2008). "Gun Show: A real military expert takes aim at videogame weaponry to reveal the good, the bad, and the just plain silly". Electronic Gaming Monthly (230): 49. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
17. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Xu: Our client for this mission is the Dollet Dukedom Parliament. A request for SeeD was made 18 hours ago. Dollet has been under attack by the G-Army since about 72 hours ago.
18. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Headmaster Cid: Seifer. You will be disciplined for your irresponsible behavior. You must follow orders exactly during combat. But I'm not entirely without sympathy for you. I don't want you all to become machines. I want you all to be able to think and act for yourselves.
19. Square Electronic Arts, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII North American instruction manual. Square Electronic Arts. pp. 6–9. SLUS-00892GH.
20. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: Our next mission... This is no ordinary mission. It's a direct order from both Balamb and Galbadia Garden. We're to... ...assassinate the sorceress.
21. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: So, you've become the sorceress' lap dog? / Seifer: I preferred to be called her knight. This has always been my dream.
22. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Raijin: I dunno. At first, they were sayin' somethin' 'bout roundin' up the SeeDs, ya know!? Now, everyone's either sidin' with the Garden Master or the headmaster and fightin' everywhere, ya know!?
23. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: I'm terribly sorry. It was inevitable... We lost control of the Garden.
24. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: Oh, and one more thing... It appeared that the Galbadians were searching for Ellone. That seemed to be their main objective in FH.
25. Square Co. (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Ellone: People say you can't change the past. But even still, if there's a possibility, it's worth a try, right?
26. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Laguna: A fierce debate ensued about who should govern this country after Adel was gone. I wasn't paying close attention while they made me up to be this hero of the revolution, and I ended up being president.
27. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: (I hate having nothing to do. It gets me thinking too much.) (I hope Selphie and the others are all right. Was it wrong for me to let them go? I wonder how Quistis and Irvine felt about it.) (That sorceress... Who is she? Why fire missiles at the Garden? Is Seifer ever coming back? I'll get even with him next time.)
28. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Cid: This journey will involve many battles. A well qualified leader is needed for this. Therefore, I am appointing Squall as your new leader. From now on, Squall will be the leader. He will decide our destination and battle plan.
29. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: ...Why is it that we forgot? We grew up together as kids... How's that possible...? / Irvine: How about this? ...The price we pay for using the GF. The GF provides us its power. But the GF makes its own place inside our brain... / Quistis: So you're saying that the area is where our memories are stored? No...! That's just a rumor the GF critics are spreading. / Zell: So if we keep relying on the GF, we won't be able to remember a lot of things?
30. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Cid: She had been a sorceress since childhood. I married her, knowing that. We were happy. We worked together, the two of us. We were very happy. One day, Edea began talking about building the Garden and training SeeD. I became obsessed with that plan. But I was very concerned with SeeD's goal, that one day SeeD might fight Edea...
31. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Edea: ...I have been possessed all this time. I was at the mercy of Sorceress Ultimecia. Ultimecia is a sorceress from the future. A sorceress many generations ahead of our time. Ultimecia's objective is to find Ellone.
32. Square Co. (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Rinoa: There was a sorceress inside me. Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future. She's trying to achieve time compression.
33. Square Co. (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: Let's go, Rinoa. Let's go meet Ellone. Ellone will bring us together.
34. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Controller: The lunar world is a world of monsters. Didn't you learn that in school? As you can see, the monsters are gathering at one point. History's starting to repeat itself. The Lunar Cry is starting.
35. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Rinoa: But Edea's still... I can't guarantee anything, either, if Ultimecia possesses me again... You saw me. She controlled me in outer space and made me break Adel's seal.
36. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Descendant 1: Sorceress Rinoa. Hyne's descendant. / Descendant 2: Come with us. We must seal your power for the sake of the world.
37. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Doc Odine: There iz only one way to defeat Ultimecia. You must kill her in ze future. / ... / Ultimecia probably needs to go back further in time to achieve time compression. Only Ellone can take her back further into ze past. / ... / You will keep moving through ze time compression toward ze future. Once you're out of ze time compression, zat will be Ultimecia's world. It's all up to you after zat.
38. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Laguna: Adel will need to pass on her powers before being defeated. Rinoa, will you be willing to accept them?
39. Square Co (1999-09-09). Final Fantasy VIII (PlayStation). Square EA. Squall: Both Garden and SeeD were your ideas. Garden trains SeeDs. SeeDs are trained to defeat the sorceress.
40. Staff (5 June 1998). "インタビュー 坂口 博信". Famitsu Weekly (in Japanese). Retrieved 2006-07-15. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |trans_author= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
41. "Behind The Game The Creators". Square Enix North America. 2001. Retrieved 2006-04-12.
42. Nelson, Randy (1999-03-02). "PS2: Demos to Die For". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
43. ^ Square Electronic Arts, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII North American instruction manual. Square Electronic Arts. pp. 38–40. SLUS-00892GH.
44. Calderman, Dan (2000). "Chocobo World Playable on PC". RPGamer. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
45. Staff (2009-09-23). "FFVIII PocketStation Opens Up Chocobo World". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2006-08-10.
46. Clements, Ryan. "TGS 09: Final Fantasy XIII PS3 Bundle". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
47. ^ Maeda, Yoshitake (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Original Soundtrack (Limited Edition). DigiCube.
48. ^ IGN Music. "Twelve Days of Final Fantasy XII: Nobuo Uematsu Interview". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-30.
49. "Final Fantasy VIII Music Collection". RPGFan. 2000-06-23. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
50. Schweitzer, Ben (2006-06-17). "Final Fantasy VIII OST". RPGFan. Retrieved 2009-10-10.
51. Chandran, Neal (2009-07-27). "Final Fantasy VIII Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec". RPGFan. Retrieved 2006-04-18.
52. Bradley, Ryan; Gann, Patrick (2004-02-25). "Piano Collections Final Fantasy VIII". RPGFan. Retrieved 2007-03-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
53. Mielke, James (2008-02-15). "A Day in the Life of Final Fantasy's Nobuo Uematsu". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
54. Staff. "Nobuo Uematsu's Profile". Square Enix USA. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
55. Sullivan, Meghan (2008-12-18). "Top Ten JRPG Composers". IGN. IGN Entertainment. p. 6. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
56. "20020220 – Music from FINAL FANTASY". RPGFan. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
57. "Album Information – Tour de Japon: Music from Final Fantasy DVD". SquareEnixMusic. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
58. Schneider, Peer (2004). "Dear Friends: Music From Final Fantasy". IGN. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
59. Gann, Patrick (2006-04-05). "More Friends music from Final Fantasy ~Los Angeles Live 2005~". RPGFan. Retrieved 2008-05-20.
60. "VOICES – Music from Final Fantasy". Square Enix Music Online. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
61. "Concert Events- Music from Final Fantasy". Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
62. Bogdanowicz, Robert; Maas, Liz (2002-06-23). "20020220 – Music from Final Fantasy". RPGFan. Retrieved 2008-04-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
63. Daiker, Brandon (2006-05-27), Play! A Video Game Symphony, N-Sider, retrieved 2008-04-08
64. ^ Staff (1999). "Final Fatnasy VII". Edge. Future Publishing: 87. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
65. ^ Vestal, Andrew (1999). "Final Fantasy VIII for PlayStation Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
66. ^ Kasavin, Greg (2000-02-02). "Final Fantasy VIII". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
67. ^ Lundigran, Jeff (1999). "Final Fantasy VIII Review". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
68. Lopez, Vincent (2000-01-28). "Final Fantasy VIII Review (PC)". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
69. ^ Staff (2000). "Final Fantasy VIII". Maximum PC. 5 (4): 85. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
70. ^ "Final Fantasy VIII". Electronic Gaming Monthly (123): 188. 1999. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
71. ^ Koltookian, Gary (2000-02-02). "Final Fantasy VIII". GameSpy. p. 2.
72. ^ Wolpaw, Erik (2000). "When Ports Go Bad – Final Fantasy VIII Is a Major Disappointment as a Port and as a Game". Computer Gaming World. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
73. Staff (24 May 1999). "IGN.com Announces 'Best of E3' Awards Capcom, Microsoft, Midway and Rare Take Top Honors". PR Newswire.
74. "Final Fantasy VIII for PlayStation". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
75. "Final Fantasy VIII for PC". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
76. ^ Staff (2000). "Top 40". Computer Gaming World (196). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
77. ^ Staff (2002-01-22). "Top 25 Games of All Time: Complete List". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
78. "Final Fantasy VIII (psx: 1999): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
79. Staff (1999-10-05). "Final Fantasy VIII Tops Videogame Charts". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
80. Sato, Yukiyoshi Ike (1999-12-14). "FFVIII Sells Six Million Copies Worldwide". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
81. Staff (1999-12-19). "FF8 Breaks Sales Records". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
82. Berardini, César A. (2006-04-26). "An Introduction to Square-Enix". TeamXbox. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
83. Staff (1999-09-07). "Final Fantasy VIII Is Out!". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2006-03-16.
84. Staff (1999-12-09). "Final Fantasy VIII Sells One Million". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2008-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
85. Staff (2008). "The Top Ten Video Game Openings". Game Informer (187): 38. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
86. "GameSpy's Top 25 Video Game Cinematic Moments". GameSpy. April 16, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2010.
87. Staff. "Best Moments of Final Fantasy". UGO.com. UGO Networks. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
88. Campbell, Colin (2006). "Japan Votes on All Time Top 100". Next Generation Magazine. Retrieved 2006-03-11.
89. Kalata, Kurt (2008-03-19). "A Japanese RPG Primer – Final Fantasy VIII". Gamasutra. p. 9. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
90. Staff (2000-01-01). "Final Fantasy VIII PS Review". 1UP.com. UGO Networks. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
91. Liu, Johnny (1999). "Game Revolution Review Page – Final Fantasy VIII". Game Revolution. Retrieved 2006-07-16.
92. ^ Staff. "The World of Final Fantasy – Final Fantasy VIII". UGO.com. UGO Networks. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
93. Koltookian, Gary (2000-02-02). "Final Fantasy VIII". GameSpy. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
94. Studio BentStuff, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania (in Japanese). DigiCube/Square Enix. ISBN 4-925075-49-7.
95. Squaresoft, ed. (1999). Final Fantasy VIII Origami Book (in Japanese). DigiCube. ISBN 4-925075-59-4.
96. Sato, Yukiyoshi Ike (1999-09-01). "New FFVIII CD-ROM Announced". GameSpot. Retrieved 2007-01-08.

External links

Template:Misplaced Pages-Books

• Official North American website
• Official European website

Template:Link GA

• 1999 video games
• Eidos Interactive games
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy games
• Interactive Achievement Award winners
• PlayStation games
• PlayStation Network games
• Romance video games
• Windows games