History VideoGame / FinalFantasyVIII

** '''Selphie:''' "Slot." Selphie randomly selects a spell and a number of times to use it; the player may commit, or reroll for a different result. Using "Slot" does not consume spell inventory. The Slot mechanic also includes four spells which are not available under any other circumstances: Full-Cure (heals everyone), Wall (Protect / Shell everyhone), Rapture (a OneHitKO that can handle any non-boss) and TheEnd (a OneHitKO that ''averts ContractualBossImmunity''... [[AwesomeButImpractical if it shows up]]).

* Most [=GFs=] can "Refine" things, which is a form of ItemCrafting. Just about every piece of VendorTrash, magic spell, and (in some cases) Triple Triad card can be converted to and from each other, forming a complicated system with huge amounts of potential... and mind-boggling amounts of menus. Mastering the aforementioned card game lets you Refine {{Disc One Nuke}}s, like rare items and weapon parts.

** The plot of the game is fairly simple. To wit: [[spoiler:Ultimecia knows a "legendary [=SeeD=]" is destined to kill her, so she plots to use Time Compression to freeze time forever and avoid her death. When she uses Junction Machine Ellone to send her consciousness into the past to cast the spell, she possesses Edea and tries to destroy [=SeeD=] so they can't stop her, but [=SeeD=] allow Time Compression to happen so they can travel to the future and kill Ultimecia, thus fulfilling the prophecy. Yet as time goes out of whack, they all end up in the past and initiate the StableTimeLoop that sets the rest of the plot in motion.]] Good luck trying to follow that on your first playthrough, though. The way it's presented is anything ''but'' straightforward. It gradually takes over an entirely different narrative about a pseudo-World War II, very important plot points like the "legendary [=SeeD=]" or the mechanics of Time Compression are mentioned briefly in passing, the inciting incident happens during the laser-light show of a finale, the older characters' motivations are presented to the player in non-linear order, the villain monologues her motivations ''during the final battle'' which you can skip over completely by defeating her too quickly, and [[PlotParallel the main plot leans on Ellone's seemingly-unrelated subplot like a crutch for crucial emotional and thematic context]]. The game is practically made for RewatchBonus, as each time through the cryptic hints and brief mentions start to build connections that solidify the fragmented narrative into a whole.

** Disc 3-4: Just as our heroes think they've beaten [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent Seifer for the last time,]] [[spoiler:he kidnaps Rinoa and hands her to Adel on a silver platter.]]

** The plot of the game is fairly simple. To wit, [[spoiler:Ultimecia knows a "legendary [=SeeD=]" is destined to kill her, so she uses the Junction Machine Ellone to send her consciousness back in time to possess Edea and try to engineer events to destroy [=SeeD=], while also furthering her true goal of casting Time Compression. The party allows Time Compression to happen so they can travel to the future and kill Ultimecia, but as time gets put back right Squall briefly ends up in the past, where he causes a StableTimeLoop that will result in Edea and Cid founding [=SeeD=] and Edea being possessed by Ultimecia]]. Good luck trying to follow that on your first playthrough, though, because the way it's presented is anything but straightforward. It gradually takes over an entirely different narrative about a pseudo-World War II, very important plot points like the "legendary [=SeeD=]" or the mechanics of Time Compression are mentioned briefly in passing, the inciting incident happens during the laser-light show of a finale, the older characters' motivations are presented to the player in non-linear order, and the main plot leans on Ellone's seemingly-unrelated subplot like a crutch for crucial emotional and thematic context. The game is practically made for RewatchBonus, as each time through the cryptic hints and brief mentions start to build connections that solidify the fragmented narrative into a whole.

** Omega Weapon was added to this game along with [[LegacyBossBattle series staple]] Ultima, and it's one of the best-remembered "superbosses" in gaming. Most likely because he requires intimate knowlege of the game mechanics. There's no guaranteed way to win which doesn't involve 9,999 HP, protection against Death, and Refining a hundred Megalixers so you don't get one-shotted by him. Properly-Junctioned Limit Breaks are a cheap way to demolish him, but their success is sometimes dependant on the [[RandomNumberGod RNG]].

* InformedAbility: The Queen of Cards' card skills are so respected that any new rule she adopts soon spreads among the populace wherever she is playing. However, upong playing with her, she doesn't use powerful cards or a better AI than most opponents you can find (this is most noticeable when trying to deliberately lose a card against her).

* TechnologyPorn: Throughout the game, but in paticular, the scene of the Dollet Satellite Dish being reactivated. It even has its own theme music!

-->'''Squall:''' Rinoa...... Even if you end up as the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight.

** Lagunam, Kiros, and Ward does this in Esthar during the final "dream sequence". Laguna even lampshades it.

** The reason for Irvine's seeming tendency to crack under pressure in Disc 1 takes a different turn [[spoiler: when you realize he was lying and was actually cracking under the stress of being asked to shoot the closest thing he had to a mother. And he is the ''only one'' that can remember this. And thus, on top of this, is ''freaking out'' about how seemingly cold and easy his old friends are being about committing essential matricide.]]

* YouALLShareMyStory: The PensieveFlashback to the orphanage.

-->"'''''ELLONE! WHERE?'''''"\\

* DigitalDestruction: The 2019 remaster created new models for the characters, but it did not update the game's backgrounds to match. In the original, the low-resolution backgrounds fit perfectly with the low-resolution models. The remaster makes it look like the highly-detailed characers are running around through a series of dioramas.

* [=GFs=] have their own growth paths, and although they can't be controlled in battle (as in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX X]]''), they gain levels and can equip the magic you've found. Characters "junction" [=GFs=] and those corresponding spells onto their bodies. So instead of buying gear from shops to get stronger, you equip magic on specific stats to raise them: Junctioning Haste to a GF's Speed will make you act quicker, whereas junctioning Death to ST-Def (i.e. resistance to StatusEffects) will make you immune to [[OneHitKill instant death]] attacks; conversely, junctioning Death to ST-Atk will inflict instant Death from a melee attack. As you might expect, the more magic equipped on a [=GF=], the stronger the effect.

* Most [=GFs=] can "Refine" things, which is a form of ItemCrafting. Just about every piece of VendorTrash, magic spell, and (in some cases) Triple Triad card can be converted to and from each other, forming a complicated system with huge amounts of potential... and mind-boggling amounts of menus. Mastering the aformentioned card game lets you Refine {{Disc One Nuke}}s, like rare items and weapon parts.

* AchievementMockery: There is a achievement on the Steam version, as well as ''Final Fantasy VIII Remastered'', for losing a rare card in Triple Triad. Then again, [[ViolationOfCommonSense you have to lose specific rare cards to the Queen of Cards to advance her sidequest]], so completionists will have to get this sooner or later. (Though technically, one could still avoid it with extremely careful application of the Direct rule, in which the game ends by awarding the cards to whoever's hand they're in at the end of the match. But this is way more trouble than it would ever be worth.)
* ActionPrologue: The opening cinematic shows Squall and Seifer in a very dramatic looking duel.

* AloofLeaderAffableSubordinate: Squall serves the aloof leader during the mission in Timber, having a cold and professional demeanor. Quistis, Selphie and Zell are all far more friendly and approachable (at least with the Forest Owls).

* BonusBoss: Omega Weapon was added to this game along with [[LegacyBossBattle series staple]] Ultima, and it's one of the best-remembered "superbosses" in gaming. Most likely because he requires intimate knowlege of the game mechanics. There's no guaranteed way to win which doesn't involve 9,999 HP, protection against Death, and Refining a hundred Megalixers so you don't get one-shotted by him. Properly-Junctioned Limit Breaks are a cheap way to demolish him, but their success is sometimes dependant on the [[RandomNumberGod RNG]].

Originally released on UsefulNotes/PlayStation, the game was later ported to PC in 2000, the UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation3, UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable, and (later) UsefulNotes/PlayStationVita in 2009. The PC version later got a UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} re-release on December 5th 2013. An updated port for PC, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch titled ''Final Fantasy VIII Remastered'' came out on September 3, 2019, [[MilestoneCelebration marking twenty years since the original came out]].

* EnthusiasmVersusStoicism: Epitomized in Rinoa and Squall and a source of conflict between them.

* [=GFs=] have their own growth paths, and although they can't be controlled in battle (as in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX X]]''), they gain levels and can equip the magic you've found. Characters "junction" [=GFs=] and those corresponding spells onto their bodies. So instead of buying gear from shops to get stronger, you equip magic on specific stats to raise them: Junctioning Haste to a GF's Speed will make you act quicker, whereas junctioning Death to ST-Def (i.e. resistance to [[StandardStatusEffects status effects]]) will make you immune to [[OneHitKill instant death]] attacks; conversely, junctioning Death to ST-Atk will inflict instant Death from a melee attack. As you might expect, the more magic equipped on a [=GF=], the stronger the effect.

** StandardStatusEffects are still not worth casting, but the junctioning system removes the necessity of casting them: just assign them to your gunblade and hit the road!

* AllTheWorldsAreAStage: The Hero's Gauntlet is the final dungeon of the main ''Shadowbringers'' story arc. The Scions of the Seventh Dawn race across Norvrandt to get back to the Crystarium and avert a cataclysmic disaster. Its three zones include regions from Ahm Areng, Ill Mheg, and Lakeland, with the dungeon's theme having motifs from all the ''Shadowbringers'' zones. Crosses over with BackForTheFinale as a number of cameos from characters you've met across the expansion appear to help.

** And the classic, the Adel boss fight at the start of Disc 4. Rinoa is an additional target in this battle that Adel will be sapping health off of. If she dies before Adel, the player loses the fight automatically regardless of the party's condition, and the game is over. This could leave the game UnwinnableByMistake if the player was overdependent on GF's through the game.

* UnwinnableByMistake: Ultimecia's castle is the PointOfNoReturn. This can lead to frustration from players who came in without adequate supplies (and didn't [[GuideDangIt use the internet]] to discover a workaround: [[spoiler:You can get back to your GlobalAirship if you're careful, and aboard it you will find various [=NPCs=] who can help you resupply.]])

* GrayAndGreyMorality: As mentioned by Squall: "Right and wrong [[NotSoDifferent are not what separate us and our enemies]]. It's our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Both sides blame one another. There's no good or bad side. [[BothSidesHaveAPoint Just two sides holding different views.]]"

* DummiedOut:
** Originally, Selphie was supposed to have two more Limit Break spells which apparently were never programmed in. The spells were ''Percent'' which cuts all enemies' current HP by 93.75% and ''Catastrophe'' which is more powerful than the ultimate spell, Apocalypse. They both can be accessed with a Gameshark.
** Another example is an entire mini-game mode for the Pocketstation, which never made it out of Japan. Said mode is still referenced in the English release and manual, probably because the decision not to release the hardware hadn't been made yet. It is possible to play with an imported Pocket Station from Japan. The mini-game could be used to get many useful items, guardian forces, and of course, HundredPercentCompletion. However, the PC version had this mini-game as a separate program.

''VIII'' took some [[BreakingOldTrends major liberties]] with gameplay. Most [[EasternRPG JRPGs]] have separate systems that determine {{Character Level}}s, Equipment, Spell Lists, and so on. ''VIII'' replaced ''all'' of it with SummonMagic (here known as Guardian Forces, or "GFs"). Try to follow us here:

''VIII'' took some [[BreakingOldTrends major liberties]] with gameplay. Most [[EasternRPG JRPGs]] have separate systems that determine {{Character Level}}s, Equipment, Spell Lists, and so on. ''VIII'' replaced ''all'' of it with SummonMagic (here known as "Guardian Forces"). Try to follow us here: