quall Leonhart is a bad man with a Gunblade. A student at the Garden (a prestigious military academy), he has a surly attitude matched only by his fighting skill. A loner who intends to stay that way, Squall never counted on meeting Rinoa Heartlilly. Rinoa is a beautiful young woman who melts Squall's heart and changes the world. Final Fantasy VIII is their tale.
But it is not their tale alone. Squaresoft's latest installment of the Final Fantasy series presents not only Squall's and Rinoa's love story, but the battle of Squall against his archrival, the less-than-likeable Seifer Almasy. The game also explores the hopes and dreams of a cast of supporters, including a cocky fellow student named Zell, an introspective instructor called Quistis, and a valley-girl-like nymph named Selphie. Gamers control these (and some other) characters as they fight, love, and talk their way through a tale that begins on the Garden campus, continues with their efforts to unseat a cruel dictator and his sorceress benefactor, and slowly unwinds to encompass the entire planet...and more.
Despite its cinematic feel, Final Fantasy VIII is not a movie, it's a role-playing game. Squaresoft has stuffed 50-75 hours of play time into these four discs. In addition to Squall's mission, there are numerous side-quests to be uncovered. As in most RPGs, combat does much of the uncovering. The game uses a variant of Squaresoft's standard Active Time Battle. It is a turn-based system, yet the order of each character's turn is determined by several contributing factors, not the rote sequence often found in similar games. New to Squaresoft's combat system, however, is the concept of junctioning (or joining) greater guardian beings--think of them as guardian angels with an attitude--with each character. These beings, each possessing much more power than the typical low- or mid-range character, can be summoned during battle to do their master's bidding. Which character they are junctioned with governs their potency, and traits that they learn with experience further mold the guardians.
This new system, coupled with the depth of Final Fantasy VII's plot, makes for a complex game. The question is, is it a good one?
Never never land
The answer is yes! Never has full-motion animation been fed so effortlessly into a game; never has there been a gaming love story that actually makes players care what happens to the lovers; never have there been such superb graphics.
No doubt, Squaresoft presented drop-dead gorgeous animation in both Parasite Eve and Final Fantasy VII. Nonetheless, some of those titles' sequences appeared stilted, used for the sake of pizazz over plot. On the other hand, Final Fantasy VIII's movies flow effortlessly into the plot. For example, in one instant players control Squall, frantically running from a huge mechanical spider. As the movie takes over, Squall dives for a rescue craft and Quistis laces the beast with heavy-caliber machine gun fire. It's the stuff of great action flicks.
In spite of that, there's more here than pretty pixels. The story, especially the interaction between Squall and Rinoa, is enthralling. From the Beauty and the Beast-like ballroom introduction to the final scene, players will feel something often lacking in games--real concern for the characters.
Yet the story and luscious graphics are not window dressing in an empty store. There is plenty of game in Final Fantasy VIII. The world is so large that it took four discs to hold it, and the new junctioning system is an excellent step forward in turn-based combat. In fact, the entire game is an excellent step forward. The smooth integration of its movie sequences, its gripping story, and its deep gameplay make Final Fantasy VIII what may be the best role-playing game of all time.
