As a follow up to the monstrously successful and legendary Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII manages to live up to its predecessor by differentiating itself from the series as a whole with a slew of changes to the Japanese RPG formula, 10 of which are listed below.
Even though some elements of Final Fantasy VIII’s gameplay have not aged perfectly, the recent remaster adds a bevy of quality of life improvements which make the experience bearable for modern gamers. For any fan of the series, Final Fantasy VIII is worth experiencing for how different it is from the rest of the franchise, from its gameplay to the narrative.
10 Draw System
Instead of earning magic spells through leveling up or buying special items, players instead draw them from monsters during battle.
As interesting as this is versus the typical methods, it does cause combat to slow down significantly. Grinding spells just involves staying in the same battle and drawing from the same monster until every player has the maximum amount of the particular magic.
9 Triple Triad
Almost every Final Fantasy has its share of mini-games, and Final Fantasy VIII has Triple Triad, a surprisingly in-depth card game. Squall can challenge most NPCs in the world, and winning nets one of the opponent’s cards.
Losing, however, causes Squall to lose a card. While at first a simple mini-game, sticking with it eventually leads to some incredible advantages in combat. An ability also eventually lets the player turn monsters into cards.
8 Endgame Restrictions
The PlayStation entries in the series come on multiple discs. Like the prior game, Final Fantasy VIII’s final disc consists almost solely of the final dungeon and encounter.
Unlike Final Fantasy VII, however, its successor offers the inability to enter most towns and areas on the world map. While one has no reason to visit these towns by then, no narrative logic exists explaining why the characters shouldn’t be able to head into these areas.
7 Level Scaling
A classic staple of the genre is level grinding. When a boss or certain dungeon proves too challenging, players can just slay lower level enemies until they grow stronger.
In Final Fantasy VIII this is impossible since enemies’ levels scale with the players. In order to gain the upper hand, players have to use the draw mechanic and abilities gained from the Guardian Forces, or summons, to gain stat advantages over monsters.
6 No MP
One of the wildest changes from the series, and most other turn-based RPGs, is Final Fantasy VIII’s lack of MP as a whole. The amount of times one can use a spell is not dictated by any sort of points one has.
Instead, one has a certain amount of a particular spell, which can be accumulated by drawing it from enemies or finding draw points on the map.
5 Use Of Summons
Summons are referred to as Guardian Forces and are implemented differently than in other games. Players equip them separately from magic and having them equipped grants certain passive abilities.
Using them in the field requires the player to charge them up, during which time the character’s health bar is replaced by the Guardian Force’s and the summon is vulnerable to attacks. Afterward, the spell plays out with a fancy animation as one would expect from the series.
4 It’s More Linear
Most Final Fantasy games are linear at heart until the endgame, but there is still a certain illusion of choice and freedom as players can journey across a world map. While the eighth game in the series still has an overworld, it sees little use until the end of the game.
Much of the game’s events automatically push the player forward into new parts of the world. Such a formula would be used once again in Final Fantasy X, which eschews a world map altogether.
3 How To Increase Stats
Since leveling up is out of the question in regards to having an advantage over monsters, players have to rely on the magic they draw and the Guardian Forces they equip. To increase stats, players junction magic to a particular aspect of a character, such as health, strength, or magic.
To be able to do this in the first place, one has to equip a Guardian Force with the ability to junction magic to the stat. As players draw more powerful spells, they can junction these to stats and grow even stronger.
2 Focus On The Characters Versus The World
By the end of Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy X, players feel like they know everything there is to know about their respective worlds. Final Fantasy VIII takes a different route with the narrative.
The world is still a strong aspect, but the narrative focuses more on the relationships between the characters. The main conflict, while still on a cosmic scale, is there to bring all the characters together and unravel the mystery as to how they are all connected.
1 Parts Of The Game Spent With A Different Party
In Final Fantasy VIII, players control Laguna, Kiros, and Ward a handle of times when the Balamb Garden students mysteriously fall unconscious.
The player eventually learns why they are controlling them, but the simple fact of their inclusion as playable characters removed from the main party makes it yet another way Final Fantasy VIII differentiates itself from the rest of the franchise.
