Final Fantasy VIII General Discussion

[Tetsujin]

Isn't it more of a matter of the text boxes being a fixed size and there being no space to add moar or bigger ones in the translations? iirc Japanese is moar compacter.

I think that stopped being an issue after 7.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

It may have still been the case for in-battle text boxes. I'm unsure there.

 

[Lex]

Was VIII a Ted translation aswell? VII's is bad because there are errors abound even after the fact that meaning is lost, but VIII's is just as bad in terms of the actual translation. Whoever dealt with things like spelling mistakes was just better at cleaning it up.

If VIII had an actual translation team it can kind of be explained away as the first one done by a Square translation team, lawl.

 

[ForceStealer]

Ted didn't do any after VI, I didn't think.

 

[Blade]

It's too bad there's no Russian bootleg of FFVIII, but if we had a Game text editor and ran it through Google Translate a few times, it might have the same effect.

 

[Kuja9001]

It's too bad there's no Russian bootleg of FFVIII, but if we had a Game text editor and ran it through Google Translate a few times, it might have the same effect.

Just sub out with this one.

 

[Tetsujin]

So, I started a new playthrough of this today.

Ahhh, the nostalgia~

Boy, does the image quality of the FMVs suck now. Compressed to hell and back and low-res, this is barely watchable anymore after being spoilt by pristine HD video. What would I give to at least have uncompressed versions of these.

It's interesting how my perception of the setting has changed. When I was young it was "ah yeah, these kids get to learn how to battle monsters and use magic and summons. That's RAD, yo!"

Now it's "what kind of fucked up society do they live in that it's okay to train kids to become mercenaries and let them fight in active war zones from the age of 15?! Who is in charge of this crazy world? Who would send their kids to that school willingly?! WHY"

Also, I like how on the Balamb Garden message board the first message is literally somebody saying "FIRST!" followed by others talking shit at each other.
FFVIII, predicting YouTube comments in '99.

Also, I wonder why even SeeD have to leave Garden at age 19. If it's an elite mercenary unit, why only use teenagers? Bringing me back to the part where this is fucked up =P

Also, drawing spells. Not my favorite part of the battle system, that's for sure.

I only just finished getting Ifrit. The SeeD exam is up next. How convenient that there is an invasion happening in Dollet just in time for the annual exam.
What do they do when there's a year of peace? =P

 

[Cthulhu]

I only just finished getting Ifrit. The SeeD exam is up next. How convenient that there is an invasion happening in Dollet just in time for the annual exam.
What do they do when there's a year of peace? =P

Pretty sure they start their own wars and shit,

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Now it's "what kind of fucked up society do they live in that it's okay to train kids to become mercenaries and let them fight in active war zones from the age of 15?! Who is in charge of this crazy world? Who would send their kids to that school willingly?! WHY"

I find it very interesting that in hindsight, both FFVIII and Naruto were both released/started in the same year and that both of them essentially use the same mercenary system. Only Naruto had about 15 years worth of development of the system and deconstructed/reconstructed it to hell and back. FFVIII never got that.

Also, I wonder why even SeeD have to leave Garden at age 19. If it's an elite mercenary unit, why only use teenagers? Bringing me back to the part where this is fucked up =P

This is one of the few things that I wish had been addressed. In FFVII we at least see an NPC or two who are retired SOLDIERs. In FFVIII we don't see any retired/graduated SeeDs. So where are they? Although I find it very interesting that while Irvine is at a Garden, he says he's not a SeeD...

That said, the fact that SeeD isn't actually for mercenary work, but for being watchers of Sorceresses might have something to do with that.

FFVIII is one of my favorite FF worlds as so much is left unexplained so the individual player can have fun with headcanon.

 

[Tetsujin]

Did the SeeD exam. They mentioned getting the assignment 18 hours prior.

How the hell do you organize an annual exam when you receive assignments on short notice? Or do SeeD get enough assignments for this to be feasible?
How much conflict is there in this world?
Who invades whom? Is it mostly Galbadia being dicks?
Who knows.

"The Landing" must be one of my favorite tracks from FFVIII. The opening FMV for that mission is so good, I love that shot in the beginning with the reflection of the moon in the ocean making you think you look at the sky until the boats cross through.

That antenna animation is kind of hilariously over the top with all the thingamajigs activating and the dish unfolding all dramatically after shooting out of the tower. Why can it even do that?

I like how Squall has unique limit break animations for some bosses. In the case of El Viole (or whatever the English version might call him cba to look it up) he jumps up and knocks him down to the ground before slicing right through. It's pretty neat.

Also, the boss randomly exploding whereas most boss monsters just kinda die. No doubt this was because of the demo. They probably wanted to showcase some flashy animations. I'm still kinda amazed at all the effects. Good stuff for PS1.

Ahhh, Selphie. A 6-year old in the body of a 17-year old. Truly the worst kind of Genki Girl. You have no idea how relieved I am this game isn't voiced because you just know she would be even more grating with a squeaking high-pitched voice and a horrible performance by someone who has to act and talk in a way that no normal human being would.

Zell's combo limit break is always fun to do...although I'm cheesing it by pausing the game so I can decide which move to perform next and get the most out of the time limit.

I faked out the X-ATM092 on the bridge. When it jumps in front of you, you can just run back prompting it to jump to the back again. Then just turn around and escape and you won't have to fight it on the bridge

I like how Cid tries to talk about the purpose of SeeD and how it's for more than just being mercenaries and the faculty keep interrupting him and basically go "nah, just do the jobs and make money for us brehs"
Already letting you know something is up.

Anyway, finished the exam with a SeeD level of 6. That shall be it for today.

 

[Octo]

There are retired SeeDs but they've all forgotten about it

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

Also, I wonder why even SeeD have to leave Garden at age 19. If it's an elite mercenary unit, why only use teenagers? Bringing me back to the part where this is fucked up =P

This is one of the few things that I wish had been addressed. In FFVII we at least see an NPC or two who are retired SOLDIERs. In FFVIII we don't see any retired/graduated SeeDs. So where are they?

The most we ever get about that, I think, is this line from the FFVIII Ultimania: "Many graduates are enlisted in armies around the world."

[EDIT: Oh, and there's also this on the Study Panel -- "The Garden supports a program that helps graduates enlist in armies all over the world. Instructors and SeeDs are permitted to remain at the Garden. However, SeeDship must be attained before the age of 20."]

On a related note, we can meet a couple of Garden dropouts in Winhill who are posing as former SeeD members.

That said, the fact that SeeD isn't actually for mercenary work, but for being watchers of Sorceresses might have something to do with that.

I imagine that this is the reason for 19 being the deadline for graduation. Edea probably didn't know precisely how old Squall was when she met him after SeeD defeated Ultimecia, but she could see that he was a teenager.

Did the SeeD exam. They mentioned getting the assignment 18 hours prior.

How the hell do you organize an annual exam when you receive assignments on short notice? Or do SeeD get enough assignments for this to be feasible?
How much conflict is there in this world?
Who invades whom? Is it mostly Galbadia being dicks?
Who knows.

I always figured that it was just convenient timing -- there would have been a different (controlled) exam held normally, but because that shit was going down in Dollet, it just worked out as an even better opportunity.

"Better" meaning "more likely to get them killed," of course.

 

[Clement Rage]

Also, I wonder why even SeeD have to leave Garden at age 19. If it's an elite mercenary unit, why only use teenagers? Bringing me back to the part where this is fucked up =P

They don't only use teenagers. IIRC, SeeD is the final age of recruitment, but that doesn't mean nobody over that age is allowed to be in the unit. Many military forces stop recruiting at 25, that doesn't mean everyone is tossed out when they get to be 26, it just means that you can't stay in the school when you finish your education unless you have an actual job there.

ow it's "what kind of fucked up society do they live in that it's okay to train kids to become mercenaries and let them fight in active war zones from the age of 15?! Who is in charge of this crazy world? Who would send their kids to that school willingly?! WHY"

This is a world where monsters periodically fall from the sky and kill everything nearby, fighting is an absolutely vital skill in an environment like that, we see with Winhill that if nobody combat capable lives in your town, the monsters move in quickly. Most people that go the Garden do not become SeeDs, they just get a first class education that also features combat.

Most SeeD work is probably monster hunts, for the same reason. There would have been some other contract to hold the exams in, they just went with the convenient one. And the exam trainees were not in the thick of the fighting, they were basically surprise attacking Galbadia's reserves while being much better trained and equipped. Even then, Squad A stayed at the shoreline, Squad C got food poisoning in a bar, and Squad B's actual orders were to stay in the Square, everything after that was Seifer.

Also, not that long ago, 15 year olds were recruited to the army, although they were usually not meant to be in frontline combat.

 

[Lulcielid]

Does anyone know the SEED ranking work? How does it increase/decrease? It´s so random.

 

[Tetsujin]

There's a detailed description in this: http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/197343-final-fantasy-viii/faqs/51741

 

[Tetsujin]

My quest continues as I receive my first SeeD assignment and proceed to...do nothing but hang out at Garden and relieve headmaster Cid of his cards (including the Seifer one).

Huh. I used to dislike the card game? What happened? All of a sudden I'm playing everyone and their mother and steal their good cards, planning out my next moves and shit, looking at their cards like "okay so if I play this card they can attack it from below because their card has a higher value on top but then I could take theirs from the right and that card is safe because nothing they have could trump it etc etc" feeling like a goddamn mastermind chessplayer thinking twelve-thousand moves ahead I'm gonna steal everyone's cards like come at me scrublords I'm ripped

(I dread the day when other more annoying rules come into play - I think this might be why I started disliking it way back...)

 

[Flintlock]

It's possible to stop the annoying rules from spreading at all if you do exactly the right steps (it's detailed in a guide on GameFAQs), but it's fucking tedious. You have to backtrack all the damn time, reload your game to make sure the Queen of Cards goes to the right locations, etc. I did it on my most recent playthrough.

 

[Shademp]

It's possible to stop the annoying rules from spreading at all if you do exactly the right steps (it's detailed in a guide on GameFAQs), but it's fucking tedious.

The tedium of making sure that the best possible card game rules are kept is a major reason why I'll never play FFVIII again. My completionist streak doesn't allow me to ignore Triple Triad in a playthrough, but I don't want to ever suffer through that again with all the backtracking and countless resets. The card quests are a deep labyrinth even without all the shitty rules that can come into play.

 

[Tetsujin]

Jeez, took ages for Zell's mom to play that damn Zell card. It is mine now. Off to Timber!
The trains in this game look so cool.

 

[Obsidian Fire]

One of the crowning achievements of my playthough was when I deleted the Random Rule from all areas. So worth it in the end game when you can get all the areas in the Ragnarok.

 

[Tetsujin]

Spoiler: Due to my ongoing playthrough I felt inspired to take this photo and make it into a desktop wallpaper (3840*2160)

I totally made the chain form an '8'

 

[Happy Little Lemon]

Aw was I the only one that liked to spread the rules? Totally destroying motherfuckers with Same/Plus/Combo is great craic! Maths ftw.

 

[Cthulhu]

Maths ftw.

user was banned for this post

 

[Lex]

I don't mind Same and I think Plus can make the game more interesting because it completely changes the value of all the cards. Suddenly weak cards can topple AA's and win an entire match in one move, which is pretty neat (or fucking annoying if it happens to you/ the open rule isn't there).

I've removed random from all regions before but it still came back after a while, I'm not 100% sure how that works.

 

[Happy Little Lemon]

Yeah, I found it could make games with Random easier to win, provided you are able to see their cards, as you said, otherwise you can't pre-empt their possible Same/Plus coups. Besides, that Card-Bitch cheats when you can't see her cards. Her last card always seemed to have exactly the right values to flip everything on the board! Funny that...