The introductory movie does become understandable as the game goes on, but at the beginning of the game all it really does is explain how Squall (the main character) and Seifer (his rival) end up with matching facial scars. Getting your face nearly sliced in two can't be a fun way to start the day.
Twists even a pretzel can't beat.
For the first few hours of the game, the plot is fairly straightforward. Squall is attempting to pass his final exam to become a member of SeeD, an elite mercenary force. The final exam in this case involves helping to put down an invasion in progress... and I thought calculus exams were tough!
As has become pretty much a trademark of the series, FF8 has plot twists waiting on a regular basis. Some of them may be pretty obvious and easy to see coming, but once in a while they really do manage to catch you by surprise. There was one plot twist that I found entirely unnecessary and more than a little forced. Since it occurs fairly late in the game, I won't give away any spoilers, but I will say this: There's a reason that mass memory loss isn't a frequently used plot device. One character that doesn't remember his past is acceptable, but six is really a bit much.
For the most part, the plot is pretty solid, although in a couple of places things are not quite as well explained as I would have liked, possibly the result of an incomplete translation from the original Japanese.
Don't forget to study kids!
Final Fantasy 8 introduces a brand new magic and summoning system called 'junctioning'. The system revolves around creatures called Guardian Forces, powerful beings like Ifrit, Shiva, and Quezacotl who can grant abilities to whichever character they are 'junctioned' with. Just like your characters, your Guardian Forces gain levels and become more powerful, granting new abilities and doing more damage when summoned.
Hardcore RPG players will likely be thrown off a bit by Final Fantasy 8. If you're used to spending a lot of time increasing your levels in order to become more powerful than your opponents, you'll end up wasting a lot of time here. Your opponents gain levels at the same rate that you do, keeping up with you every step of the way, and actually getting powerful faster than you. Luckily, there's another way to gain power besides leveling up.
In order to increase a character's power, magic has to be junctioned to particular abilities. The exact abilities that can be junctioned depend on the Guardian Forces being used. For example, Ifrit concentrates mainly on strength, so being junctioned to him allows a character to connect magic to strength and hit points. The more powerful the magic being used, and the more of it a character has, the bigger the boost will be. Magic can also be junctioned to elemental attack or defense, letting the character increase his/her defenses or attack power with a particular element such as fire or ice. It can also be junctioned to status attack or defense, meaning that a character can, for example, defend himself against sleep magic or turn monsters to stone when he attacks.
If that wasn't enough to cause confusion, the method of getting magic is new and original as well. All magic must be 'drawn' from opponents in combat or at special locations called 'draw points'. Magic is essentially sucked out of the opponent and put into the character's private stash. There is a limited amount of space to hold magic, so here's a useful feature that the manuals fail to mention: Pressing the 'A' key when a particular magic has been selected in the menu will let you drop it, tremendously useful if your stock is nearly full.
Let us know in comments, how you like Final Fantasy VIII.
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