By - Gary "Dantes" Koltookian (02/02/00)

The Story:

It had been another busy day of shopping down in Den Den Town when I first learned of the existence of Final Fantasy VIII. Den Den Town, also known as Nipponbashi, is the electronics mecca of Osaka, Japan. Surprisingly I didn't see it sitting in any of the huge game shops where I expected to see it, but in the Namba train station instead. It was there where I caught the next train home.

Walking arm in arm, my girlfriend and I passed beneath huge billowing banners along the train platform, the letters "Final Fantasy VIII" clearly visible. We stepped into the first available train car, soon plunking down into our seats feeling exhausted. Waiting for the train to depart for Wakayama city, I peered out of the window back up at them. The game's various characters stood out distinctly against lush purple backgrounds. Squall, Rinoa, Siefer, Zell, Quistis, the Sorceress...no doubt the banners were there to entice Japanese students on their commutes home from high school. I was intrigued and I wanted to play it, but I knew I would have to wait until the following year when I'd return home to the States. Later that night, I made the discovery that just about every karaoke machine in Japan advertised the Final Fantasy VIII single was available to be sung. Final Fantasy VIII was everywhere.

It goes without saying that the Final Fantasy RPG series is an institution amongst the Japanese, much like the Dragon Quest games published by Enix. Final Fantasy V and VI have been re-released as a collection for PlayStation, essentially being ports of the Super Nintendo releases. The series has sold millions of copies worldwide, and lately has evolved into a purely cinematic RPG experience. Players should know upon starting any game in the series that they are in it for the long haul. Each FF game involves a quest of epic proportions. Now that Final Fantasy VIII has arrived for the PC, I found myself fortunate enough to have the time necessary to take it for a spin.

FFVIII's basic storyline is much more interesting than Final Fantasy VII's. Instead of saving planets and battling evil mega-corporations, Final Fantasy VIII deals with human interests. In FFVIII, the plot deals with the coming of age of a young military cadet named Squall. His flaw is that he is too serious, too conceited and far too wary of letting anyone get close to him. After passing a rigorous exam, Squall becomes a Seed, one of his military academy's elite commandos. As a result of his promotion, Squall takes on a leadership role over a platoon, a role which forces him to think about things he hadn't before-leadership, love, rivalry and compassion. A beautiful girl named Rinoa tries to crack his tough exterior, but before she can get close to Squall, duty calls. It seems that a malevolent Sorceress is plunging the countries of Squall's world into chaos and conflict.

True to form, Squall uses this as an excuse to take shelter in his work, putting up a wall between himself and the people he cares about. Will Squall ever open up to those around him? Will he fall in love with Rinoa? Will he ever be a great leader? These are some of the myriad of questions that make this RPG interesting. There's also plenty of comedy in this tough-love tale as well. Injecting laughs along the way is Laguna Loire, a character who embodies the biggest klutz in gaming history. At numerous times during the game, Squall and his friends pass out and live Laguna's life through dream sequences. Why this happens and what it all means is yet another mystery to be revealed.

Game Play:

The game play of Final Fantasy VIII is not a huge leap forward from that of its predecessor. Players move around in beautifully rendered environments, battling monsters every five seconds in random encounters. At times I simply wanted the combat sessions to go away, as I found the storytelling much more interesting than fighting monsters. Eventually I had to give in to fighting, as I knew that gaining experience points was key to completing the game. A menu screen is available giving players access to character stats, tutorials, items, magic and more. Overall it's very simple to navigate with a PlayStation controller, as the interface seems to have been designed with it in mind. Using the PC's keyboard to navigate the menu seemed a bit awkward and sluggish. To make matters worse, the game asks PC owners for their "memory card" when saving the game. It's a shame that the coders rushed the PC version out the door, not even bothering to fine-tune it for the PC audience.

At the heart of Final Fantasy VIII is its "junction system." Players of the previous Final Fantasy may recall the emphasis on collecting materia, the condensed Mako energy from which all magic sprung. Players simply found materias, put them into slots located in their weapons and gained spells, abilities and magic. This is not the case in VIII. In VIII, all magic springs from Guardian Forces, giant beings that characters can summon into a battle. Much like finding materia, players can find new Guardians along the way. Characters simply junction with the Guardians of their choosing, allowing them to steal magic from other monsters, creating a virtual stockpile of spells. Character stats can also be enhanced by linking Guardian magic to specific attributes such as hit points or vitality. Customization is therefore infinite. At first glance the junction system seems difficult to master, but it proved to be quite simple. Initiates into the world of Final Fantasy should not be put off, as the game virtually tutors novices on how to master gameplay.

Next: Extra Features and Final Thoughts...