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1.1 Plot
1.2 History (development, discussions)
1.3 Final Fantasy Firsts
Shortly after the completion of the benchmark-setting Final Fantasy VII, the group at Squaresoft began creation the next Final Fantasy game. As usual, Hironobu Sakaguchi would be the man in charge, and Nobuo Uematsu would be charged with creating the game's score. And following the trend from Final Fantasy VII, graphic illustrator Tetsuya Nomura would create the character designs, due to his more realistic designs.It was decided that Final Fantasy VIII would be a new style Final Fantasy game, with less thought placed on tradition, and more thought on creating new and different things. Gone would be the lovable moogles, and mumbas would take it's place. Gone would be a traditional armor system, and the new junctioning system would be introduced instead. Players wouldn't learn magic anymore, they would draw it from their enemies. Indeed, this would be a totally new and different Final Fantasy...
Final Fantasy VIII was released on February 11th, 1999 in Japan, and quickly went on to sell more copies on opening day faster than any other Final Fantasy. The game was subjected to high anticipation, and all to quickly, high scrutiny. Because the game was such a departure from traditional RPG's, many gamers didn't know what to think of it. Many gave it merit because it was new and exciting, others denounced it as poor gameplay, with little resemblance to the Final Fantasy the new and loved. "The junctioning system is great!", "The summons are way too long!", "Where's the Prelude!?!". This was easily the most debated game in Squaresoft's flagship series. On September 9th, the day of Sega Dreamcast's launch, Final Fantasy VIII debuted in North America. It didn't help matters that North American gamers were just as confused as their Japanese counterparts. It seems the 8th installment of Final Fantasy will be one of the more memorable ones, but not for a good reason. It will be forever known as an infamous game, with some saying that once glorious series slowly started dying on February 11th, and others will fervently say that the love story of Squall and Rinoa was one of the best stories ever seen in a game...
There is one thing that everyone can agree on though: The intro video was the best damn thing ever.
- VIII is the first Final Fantasy to have realistic (non-super deformed) characters
- Is the first Final Fantasy to have your party visible at all times, instead of merging into the lead character
- Is the first Final Fantasy to feature a voice (heard in "Liberi Fatali" and Faye Wong's "Eyes on Me" song)
- Is the first Final Fantasy to not have armor
- The first Final Fantasy to not have "the Prelude" featured in the game, or in the OSV soundtrack
- Is the first Final Fantasy to not use the Japanese button style ("A" or "Circle" as "Accept") in the North American version of the game
- Is the first Final Fantasy to not have MP (Magic Points)
- Is the first Final Fantasy to feature the collectible card game (Triple Triad)
- Introduced the following creatures as summons: Eden, Doom Train, Cerberus, Quezacotl, Pandemona, Gilgamesh, Diablos, Brothers, MiniMog, Tonberry, Cactaur
- Switched from number system to name system for spells. eg. Bolt became Thunder, Bolt2 became Thundara, and Bolt3 became Thundaga
- VIII is the first Final Fantasy under the Square/EA (Electronic Arts) banner
- Is the first Final Fantasy to give you EXP after retreating from a battle
- Is the first Final Fantasy to show blood
- Summons (called Guardian Forces) have HP (Hit Points), and "Wait" bars
- Is the first Final Fantasy to not have the "Starfield ending"
- Is the first Final Fantasy to have game secrets accessible only through external means (PocketStation)
- Is the last Final Fantasy to feature characters named "Wedge" and "Biggs"