Screw it! After 26 years, I am ready to say this: Final Fantasy 8 is the most revolutionary game in the Final Fantasy franchise. Don’t believe me? I brought bullet points!
Final Fantasy 8 is Watching You
Let’s talk about Big Brother in videogames. From the moment Dragon Quest hit the world (and at least one Dragon Lord), we have understood the concept of “leveling” in an RPG. And, from that first moment, there have been some players that feared that they might be leveling wrong. Or, to be more precise, some players have always had the cop in their mind that polices whether they are “breaking the game”. There are monsters out there, and they are big and scary, but there is an inn right here. Why, I could murder these critters, mop up the gold and experience points, and restore my resources with a nap immediately. Rinse, lather, repeat, and before you know it, your legendary hero has legendary stats. But is that fair? Are you avoiding the real challenge of this adventure with some wonky exploit? And, more importantly, is the game going to punish you for it? You’ve been trudging up and down Giant’s Hallway for a week. Is this making Lich mad? This is supposed to make your life easier, but will this come back to bite you in your Level 99 ass?
No, of course not. Because those NES adventures barely had enough spare RAM to render a Beholder. But things had changed by the time we hit the Playstation…
Final Fantasy 7 did keep track of your words and actions, but the most that ever influenced was one date at the local (world’s only) theme park. Final Fantasy 8 meanwhile establishes that you have a job to do. Squall’s squad becomes SeeDs immediately after the opening areas, and you are then informed that you are representing Balamb Garden with your every action. You will receive a salary, and that will be your primary income source from here to the end of time (or at least its kompression). And what determines your salary? Who knows! You can rank up by taking quizzes (which, incidentally, are very clever ways to teach a neophyte player about status ailments and elemental weaknesses / reward a veteran for already knowing such information), but what causes a rank down? You are going to have to check a FAQ for that one.
And that is brilliant game design.
In 2025, we know everything that impacts SeeD rank. But at release? We had to guess. And, since we were guessing, we had to behave. Is wasting time drawing a thousand curaga stocks going to impact my rank? What about solving a puzzle slowly? What about solving the puzzle through some level of cheating? Am I going to be chastised for playing this card game every seven seconds? Should I be interacting with shops more? Buying more stuff? Less? Did I just lose a rank because I missed a magazine in a sewer? Oh my God Final Fantasy 8 just tell me how I am supposed to be a good boy!!!
And there are no answers, because you have to actually f%$* around to find out. You must play the game on its own terms, and a hastily written strategy guide or someone’s FAQ isn’t going to give you the complete picture.
You have to figure it out for your own, and in a way that works for you.
And that beats a damn morality system any day of the week…
Final Fantasy 8 Knows About Timed Hits
Final Fantasy 8 is the exact moment that the Final Fantasy franchise decided that RPG battles were boring. We had gone from turn-based to active time battles already, but FF8 was the first Final Fantasy where somebody said, “maybe we could give the player something to do other than watch”. As such, we got a handful of seemingly random additions:
- Squall, and only Squall, can do extra damage when performing his traditional Fight command with a timed button press.
- Squall’s limit break can do tremendously more damage with similarly themed timing.
- Zell’s limit break is based on a sort of “simon says” for button combinations.
- Selphie’s limit break is based on quickly deciding if a random outcome would be advantageous for your current situation, or if you should cycle through to another chance.
- Irving’s limit break is the ol’ “rapidly press the button” trick.
Now, this all looks to be based on the mistaken belief that simply telling your protagonist to gunblade-down a hulking marlboro is somehow boring. But the level of implementation here is well considered: the majority of these actions only impact the (usually) infrequent limit breaks, though with the prominent exception of the one guy that is (almost) always in your party. This creates a situation where these active decisions and reflex-based skills are simultaneously rare and constant. If you are bad at pressing R, you are not going to fail any battles, but it will be a delightful augmentation of your adventure if you can pull it off. These boosts are there, but they are not overwhelming.
And you better believe there is a straight line from Squall’s trigger finger to modern releases like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33…
Final Fantasy 8 Knows How to Set a Scene
Replaying Lunar: Silver Star Story recently (Even Worse Streams: every Tuesday, be there or be doing something else I don’t know I’m not your mom) reminded me that there used to be only one way to frame a dungeon: it is unknown. You show up at ominous architecture, enter the cave/tower/dragon’s lair, and then venture forth through an indefinite number of floors, survive previously unseen monsters, seek out an indeterminate number of treasures, and maybe there is a boss at the end. Maybe. Short of reading ahead in a strategy guide, you have no real way of knowing if the latest dungeon is going to end in a boss that will require every ounce of your resources, or you just nab a rat’s tail and head home without any fuss. The unknown is the whole point, and if you wipe out and hit a Game Over, you have no idea if you were steps from the finish line, or still on the (metaphorical) first floor.
Final Fantasy 8 tried something different. The big set piece of the first act is the assassination (attempt) of Edea. And what happens before Irvine gives that one a shot? You are literally walked through the area where you will be slaying the sorceress. Yes, there is a sewer dungeon (ugh) wedged in there, but the big moments all take place in an area you have deliberately, leisurely explored beforehand. Similarly, the Siege of Galbadia Garden is an amazing moment for the entire franchise, and the “dungeon” of that incident is a location you could explore during peacetime. That Cerberus sitting in the middle of quad is new, but this is otherwise the exact same location you should already be able to recognize.
And this is groundbreaking, because it allows other stuff to happen. Galbadia Garden does not have to be designed like a straightforward dungeon, so you must “chase” keycards and Edea all through the complex. Edea’s earlier parade can be a spectacle with big boss fights and Squall getting super stabbed because no one had to build a castle around it. And that is even before we get to the siege of Balamb Garden, where of course you know the parameters of the place because you live there. Defend your home from invasion, Squall! And take a nap in your bed if you get tired! You deserve a rest!
Final Fantasy 8 has Deliberate Dungeons
And on a related note:
- Final Fantasy 8 has exactly one cave dungeon, the first dungeon where you fight Ifrit.
- Final Fantasy 8 has exactly one forest dungeon. It is three screens, and exists primarily so you can confirm Laguna and company do exist in “your” world.
And do you know how many times you would see those same-y dungeon in previous Final Fantasy games? Final Fantasy 5 is like 70% caves and castles by volume!
But speaking of castles, even when Final Fantasy 8 returns to old wells, it makes things interesting. The Minotaur Maze/Tomb of the Unknown King provides a “hand-drawn” map and a shifting perspective that will encourage getting lost forever. Galbadia D-District Prison has identical floors and architecture to keep you pesky prisoners hopelessly trapped. And Lunatic Pandora has a comparable “explored this once already” presentation as the Garden events, but allows for decades of changes to become a totally different (and, incidentally, flying) area.
In short: every dungeon in Final Fantasy 8 has a purpose and a thesis. Complex dungeons certainly happened in Final Fantasy games previously, but FF8 deliberately mapped out its world, and did not just randomly stick a forest maze in there to pad out an area. High fantasy can do better than “now here’s a cave”, and Final Fantasy 8’s deliberate construction proved that.
Final Fantasy 8 Knows How to Work a Timer
If you’ve played through Final Fantasy 5, you inevitably remember the escape from Karnak Castle. The whole fortress is going to explode! So a timer is ticking down to zero, and you must escape before you are blown to bits. But! Karnak Castle is loaded with treasure, and you damn well know that those chests are not going to survive the blast. What is an adventurer to do? Fight the monsters and nab the treasure… but get the non-standard of Game Over of “you are exploded”? Or, in the interest of maintaining all of your limbs, make a beeline for the exit? Decide now! The clock is ticking!
And then “hey maybe add a little tension” is all Final Fantasy did with a timer for the next two games.
But Final Fantasy 8 has fun ideas right from the start. Your first challenge is choosing how much of a time limit you would like on your initial dungeon. And the trick of it? You want to have as little time left on the timer when you evict Ifrit from his cave. Mind you, this is another situation where the whole SeeD system is about as transparent as a black hole, but your eventual “grade” for the situation should tell a player that sticking 40 minutes on the clock is not the right choice.
And as time moves on, time-based tension expands. Securing the train on your first mission with Rinoa has a clock ticking in your attempt to kidnap a zombie. Selphie and the crew must wait on a computer upload during a missile launch. Odin’s Cetra Ruins are entirely optional, and the ticking clock there is meant to add to the ephemeral nature of a dungeon with rainbow stairs and randomly generated number passwords. And then we reach the pinnacle of timers in Final Fantasy 8 with Lunatic Pandora…
While Squall and Rinoa are making out in space, Zell and company are forced to board the flying Lunatic Pandora. They are told the Lunatic Pandora will intersect with the labyrinthian city of Esther in three different locations at three different times. Your job, player, is to identify these locations from vaguely familiar screenshots, ascertain how long it will take to get to those locations, and then properly time your ascent to Lunatic Pandora. Can you do it? When can you do it? And, yes, of course there is a failure condition here (don’t miss your flight!), but the more important question than “will you make it” is “how will you make it”. This isn’t just “rush to the end” or “grab the treasure”, this is genuine, measured strategy.
And that’s a whole lot more interesting than just randomly exploding.
Final Fantasy 8’s Guardian Forces are Here to Help
By Bahamut! I have gotten this far in talking about the innovations of Final Fantasy 8, but somehow have not even addressed the Guardian Forces.
So we all understand what happened here, right? The directors of Final Fantasy 8 wanted to have a story where your party could vary between protagonists as the plot demanded, but not make the RPG mistake of thus saddling you with a character that has never seen combat. Remember when you got stuck playing solo battles as Sten in Breath of Fire 2, and you failed our least favorite monkey man over and over again because he had never been a part of your active party even once before? This was an effort to not consign Selphie to the same fate. You have six possible guys ‘n gals, but you are encouraged from your first official mission to maintain a “main three” collection of active Guardian Forces. And this is 100% the intention of the directors: you are reminded in vaguely fourth wall-breaking dialogue when party members swap to “make sure everyone is equipped with their GFs” repeatedly. The intention of the GFs in Final Fantasy 8 as a whole is obvious, and they are a clear evolution of Final Fantasy 7’s swappable materia system.
But, while everyone can see how GFs were a cudgel to keep your party members relevant through the plot, there is also an often-overlooked benefit to the GF system: “Drawing” spells allows you to be woefully unprepared for a challenge.
Here is an iconic moment in Final Fantasy 8: Squall and Rinoa are stranded on a derelict spaceship, and must eradicate a gang of alien monsters before getting back making out to the song that Rinoa’s mom wrote for Squall’s dad. There is a trick to the monster extermination, though: you must defeat these critters in colored pairs, or they will respawn infinitely. Under normal RPG circumstances, this whole section would be damn near impossible. Rinoa is now playable for the first time on Disc 3, and has gotten flabby after being comatose for multiple dungeons. And, while Squall is always in fighting shape, you are reduced to a party of two, and there is the potential for a player to not recognize the solution or intentionality of this puzzle. You could be fighting a lot of monsters up in space where you are not even on the same planet as an item shop. Under traditional RPG parameters, the sudden challenge of these factors would be the worst part of the game.
But battling the Propagators is little more than a speed bump because…
- Your Guardian Forces are just as available as ever, so Squall and Rinoa can immediately pump themselves up to superhero levels with a quick junctioning of every available spell. And…
- Your opponents have stocked healing spells. So long as you maintain your Draw ability, you can instantly cast Esuna or Raise to keep your party fighting fit through the whole journey. Yes, your opponents could infinitely respawn if you do not solve the puzzle, but you have equal access to immediate and infinite healing.
And, bang, the worst concept for a challenge immediately becomes more than surmountable. It is no coincidence that the big bosses of Final Fantasy 8 all stock healing spells of some kind. It is to help you, player! With the joy of Guardian Forces! Thanks, Shiva, you really saved the day back there!
And while those one-time, “missable” Guardian Force draws from major bosses may seem like a pain in the butt, that also encourages the player to always check a boss’s draw list. And they just happen to have “double” and “curaga” available again? Gee! What do you figure is that odds of that always happening…
Final Fantasy 8 Redefined Treasure
Fun fact? There are no treasure chests in Final Fantasy 8. Not a one! You explore the ancient ruins of a king’s tomb, and you do not even find a chest containing a Blood Sword for your troubles. Your solitary source of income and a lack of legitimate equipment means that Final Fantasy 8 never sees the need to toss a +3 shield into a random pot in a villager’s kitchen. But don’t worry, my fellow obsessive compulsive RPG fans. There are prizes inside the cereal box that is Final Fantasy 8. Draw points allow you to find magic sources across the planet, and, since these are thematically allowed to occur anywhere (“It’s the planet pooping out resources, Cloud Squall”) you can find fire, water, and burn spells all over the place. You might even uncover something unexpected, like a single Ultima draw point in the corner of a random dude’s attic. And that makes a lot more sense than mugging that same gentleman of his treasure chest full of gil. King Edgar Figaro steals some poor Zozoian’s chainsaw, but Squall is only hoovering up a resource the mayor of Fisherman’s Horizon never knew he had. No harm done by this noble SeeD!
And this is something the Final Fantasy franchise struggles with to this day. Lightning is on the run from two planets’ worth of pursuers, but she still finds helpful, floating orbs that contain items. Prince Noctis is robbing people’s homes for ramen money. And Final Fantasy 7 Remake/Rebirth has streamlined sidequests and benches alike, but you are still fishing everything that isn’t nailed down out of a mundane Shrina base. You keep telling us you used to be a SOLDIER, Cloud, don’t you have respect for those grunts’ lockers? Final Fantasy 8 boldly discovered a way to make the joy of treasure an integral, seamless part of its world, and future Final Fantasies have been chasing that high ever since. Balthier finding his 100th Knot of Rust can only dream of being as cool as Zell Dincht.
Final Fantasy 8 Contains Laguna Loire
Laguna, the side character of Final Fantasy 8 that steals the show for his every scene, has easily the best writing that the franchise has ever seen. His appearances are not subtle, but if you…
Oh, dang, this article is already like 3,000 words. Eh, maybe I’ll cover all that the next time I talk about Final Fantasy 8. Hope it’s not another ten years!
FGC #706.1 Final Fantasy 8 Remastered
- System: This particular excuse to revisit a game I already wrote about is available on the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Steam/PC, and mobile platforms. Any and all FF8 replaying this time is based on the Switch version.
- Number of players: Irvine is the only playa here, if you know what I mean.
- What’s so Special: The primary draw of the remastered version is that it has improved graphics. This is important in a game like Final Fantasy 8, because I assure you that your memories of how FF8 looked is not actually what was happening.
OG Quistis’s face has, like, six pixels. But we have some extra bonuses, like fast forward, no encounters (which… is already part of the game), and an instantly filled active time battle gauge. That last one is important, as this remaster does not have (and would not be helped by) an immediate level up bonus, but having a max haste meter means you can draw infinitely in a quarter of the time. Stock those ice magics, kiddies! - Secrets Review: Guardian Forces are important. And, given so many of them can be missed, I remembered them being a very “keep your strategy guide handy” example of 90’s game design. But assuming you remember to check the draw list on bosses, the only GFs that are truly hidden are Tonberry King and Doomtrain. Past that, GFs like Odin, Bahamut, and even Jumbo Cactuar have areas to themselves, so you would have to fly the Ragnarok around blind to not notice there might be a secret or two there. And, besides, you can always check those in-game magazines if you need a tip…
- What Could Have Been: Zell has a hoverboard called a T-Board…
That is seen once, and then never so much as referenced again. Anywhere. This game could have had goddamned hoverboards all over the place! Zell could have been the best character! Choices were made! - Goggle Bob Fact: This article may have been inspired by the fact that I had to play through the entirety of Final Fantasy 8 to get footage for that video from a couple of articles back. I had preexisting footage of nearly every Final Fantasy game from previous articles, but I covered FF8 originally so long ago (nearly ten years!) that my footage was… let’s say the resolution was about as big as a skittle.
Break the Limit: The major outlier limit break is Quistis’s Blue Magic. It has absolutely no “trigger” component like the rest of the SeeDs, it relies entirely on enemy drops to be expanded, and it is so much more situational than literally every other Limit Break that has the goal of “now just do a ton of damage”. You could probably make an entire character out of Quistis’s many Blue Magic options (Gau is quietly waving in the corner), but since Limit Breaks are generally… uh… limited in Final Fantasy 8, their versatility is severely hampered. Sure, you could Aura-up Quistis so you always have White Wind and Mighty Guard available, but Squall’s Renzokuken is right there.- Did you know? Speaking of limit breaks, after careful research, it has been determined that launching Australian Shepherds at monsters like a missile is not recommended.
- Would I play again: Well, I certainly seem to have left it open that I have more reasons to talk about Final Fantasy 8…
What’s next? Fine. I’m in a Final Fantasy 8 mood, so I’ll finally get around to writing that article about Laguna and his place in the greater Final Fantasy pantheon. Are you happy now? Please look forward to it.