Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite game in the Final Fantasy series and one of my favorite games of all time. In my opinion, the soundtrack is Uematsu's best work, the designs of the characters and locales are superb, and the story is incredibly moving. In fact, I find that the game's emotional impact increases nearly every time I revisit it, which is not something I can say about many games I've played. I intend to post a full review of FFVIII here someday, along with essays about it, screenshots, and more. For now, enjoy the GIFs and links below!
Character GIFs (Found via GifCities):
External Links:
FAQs, Guides, Scripts, Etc.
- Plot Analysis FAQ by falsehead: A classic FAQ about the plot of Final Fantasy VIII. This may be the original source of a certain fan theory about the game that has been somewhat popular since the mid-2000s.
- Game script compiled by LightSoul (AKA Mark Wong) in 2000: Disc 1, Disc 2, Disc 3, and Disc 4. Unlike Shotgunnova's script of the game (see below), this version contains the text from the study panel (see the Disc 1 script), as well as Selphie's site updates, text from the collectible in-game magazines, subquest dialogue, all of the test questions, Information menu entries, and more (see the Disc 4 script). This makes it a very useful resource!
- Shotgunnova's script: Not as comprehensive as the above script, but still useful if you need to search for specific lines of dialogue, I suppose.
- A comparison of Ultimecia's lines in the English translation and the original Japanese: I strongly disagree with this translator's assertion that "the plot feels confusing and pointless in English," as I think the underlying themes of the story are readily apparent. I would also argue that even the stilted English translation of Ultimecia's lines doesn't obscure the larger points she's making, but this is still an interesting comparison.
Fan Art
Fanfiction
- I'm currently in the process of putting together a collection of links to my favorite FFVIII fanfics here. Check it out!
Music
- TPR - Fragments of Memories: A Melancholy Tribute to Final Fantasy VIII (YouTube): A wonderful album of slow, sad piano covers of tracks from the Final Fantasy VIII OST. My favorite track is Blue Fields, which features cellist Roxanne Genot. The album can also be found on Spotify.
Playthroughs
- VODs of a Final Fantasy VIII playthrough by the Twitch streamer Karkalla: My favorite playthrough of FFVIII that I've found online. Karkalla plays FFVIII thoroughly and to near-completion without a guide or any hints, engaging with it on its own terms, taking lots of notes, challenging every NPC to at least one game of Triple Triad, and playing it like an attentive gamer with little or no Internet access probably would have in 1999. The whole thing is worth watching, but the last stream is the best part.
Videos
- Alleyway Jack's YouTube Channel: Includes some interesting videos about Final Fantasy VIII and its characters, among other gaming-related content.
- Final Fantasy VIII Tech Demo Reel: A PS2 tech demo of the famous Waltz for the Moon scene, apparently shown not long after the game's original release in 1999.
Final Fantasy VIII on the Old Web
- RPGamer's Final Fantasy VIII page as it appeared on August 16, 2000 (Internet Archive)
- FF8 Source as it appeared on November 10, 1999 (Internet Archive): A site dedicated to covering FFVIII in the months leading up to its release and afterward. There is a cool timeline of news reports and press releases about the game on the Archives page.
- Final Fantasy VIII FanFiction FAQ: A site created in 2003 by a group of fanfiction writers who mostly posted their work on the now-defunct Final Fantasy Online forums. It's a sort of collaborative worldbuilding exercise with the goal of expanding the world of Final Fantasy VIII and providing a shared repository of information that other fanfiction writers could incorporate into their own works, with a particular focus on geography and military technology. It would have been interesting to see how much further they could have taken this project if they'd continued working on it, but it's still cool as it is.
- desperado traveller: A Laguna Loire shrine created in 2001 and last updated in 2002.