Continuing a series on best games ever made, games of moving plots and fine artistry, this week we’ll look at “Final Fantasy VIII.” This is a game about love, time, and how love fights against all the enemies time brings — literally. Squall is a disciplined graduate of the military academy and utopian school called Balamb Garden. Uncommon in most Final Fantasy games, Squall’s friends are all humans, clear-skinned and beautiful individuals with complex personalities instead of complex origins. Together, the mercenaries become involved in a plan to stop an evil sorceress reeking havoc in their world — a world of countries at odds.
The player gets to travel through this remarkable planet of both magic and high technology in pursuit of truth and victory over the sorceress attacking the present from the future. The six characters in the party are the best part of the game; their interactions with each other and those in the strange world around them are relatable and inspiring. Squall is not special in any way. He is not chosen or born under a sign. He is an orphan, closed off to others, but perhaps the most disciplined student and fighter at the Garden. He excels, yet is weak on the inside. His skill elevates him, and he is looked to as a leader and source of hope. The problem is, Squall doesn’t want to be a leader, and he doesn’t want the love of the Rinoa, a black-haired beauty and activist who finds her way into Squall’s party. Or does he have a place in his heart for her after all?
The cast is basically formed of college students of a surreal society, and the cultures they visit are remarkably detailed and inventive.
Imagine architecture of brightly colored, flowing metals and gardens (Balamb), European-like cities with statues and fountains of stone on cobblestone roads (Dollet and Deling City) and the highly advanced and hidden nation of Esthar, with sky bridges that hover through the air over a city so big you can never explore it all. There’s also what feels like a Swiss country village (Winhill), ancient ruins, salt flats, a seaside village from the future and a city floating in the ocean. None of it is over-the-top. All of it feels as if it could be real, and the cars, HDTV, trains and college cafeterias all help it feel familiar. And in this game, people act like people, however strange their surroundings.
The people of this world use guns, machines, swords and magic. The students of Garden magically “draw” a store of magic from places in nature or from their enemies, then cast them. That’s right, no MP. All these abilities are made possible by GFs, or Guardian Forces, which they junction to themselves in order to use extraordinary powers. The guardian forces are taken from all sorts of myths: Quezacotl, Siren, Cerberus, Odin, Gilgamesh, etc. Others are invented. As you use GFs, they learn abilities you can use. You can visit Pet Shops to take care of your GFs. How you junction GFs to your character and how you link stores of spells to your stats affect your attributes (Ex., junction 99 Meltdown spells to your strength).
The magic system is treated realistically, as if school could culture these abilities and a well-charted, scientific way to handle it were present. And the monsters? They fall from the moon in a giant drop every so often in a cycle, and that’s why they must be killed: they don’t belong. They are invasive species.
The game music includes a song by Chinese pop singer Faye Wong and opens with opera, and the soundtrack is composed by Nobuo Uematsu, an orchestra legend.
The FMVs in the game are unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. They are long, epic and cinematically superb. There’s more going on than you can make sense of, and great moments include a ballroom dance between Squall and Rinoa and Squall charging from a clocktower into a car and racing down a riotous street to fight a sorceress trapped in a city gate. The appearance of a dark and ruined medieval castle, in which the sorceress of time dwells, will make you shiver as you play. Watch the opening sequence and the game will have you for about 80 hours of gameplay. That’s if you don’t play it more than once.
The game has numerous and expansive side-quests that allow you to gain incredibly powerful abilities, which you will need if you take on the fiercest (though optional) boss in the game: Omega Weapon of a wicked citadel, where the future must be won.
All these factors combined bring us to one conclusion: Final Fantasy VIII is one of the best or the greatest game ever made. It is deep and soulful, yet pleasant in all its presentation. If you play no other, play this one.
Grade: A+
