GAME · 1999 · JAPAN
Final Fantasy VIII
- Developer
- Square
- Publisher
- Square
- Platforms
- Microsoft Windows
- Original title
- Fainaru fantajî VIII
131 archived facts 6 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
131 Interesting Facts About Final Fantasy VIII
Interesting Facts (88)
- #001
To showcase the power of the new console, a real-time presentation of Final Fantasy VIII's signature "ballroom scene" was created using the PlayStation 2 graphics engine.
- #002
The game's opening scene ranked second on Game Informer's "Top 10 Video Game Openings" list; the number one spot went to BioShock.
- #003
On the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell, players can find more than 40 hidden draw points, including Ultima.
- #004
"Eyes On Me" sold more than 400,000 copies in Japan, making it the best-selling video game disc released in the country up to the debut of "Hikari" from Kingdom Hearts. "Liberi Fatali" was played during the women's synchronized swimming competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
- #005
The monster summoned by Ultimecia is actually a GF named Griever, literally the lion on Squall's necklace, ring and gunblade; so when you choose the lion's name during disc 2, if you name it Lion213 for example, the monster Ultimecia summons will also be named Lion213.
- #006
Diablos is the only GF obtained by using a specific item and fighting it. The Doomtrain can also be obtained with a specific item, but you do not fight it.
- #007
This is the first Final Fantasy game to eliminate traditional features such as the MP system; players are the only characters who level up and buy new weapons and armor from shops. It is the first game with a draw system in which you draw 100 spells for each character, use Guardian Force summons to protect your players and gain junction supports, and find weapon parts for weapon shop upgrades. Because your character's HP is low, you can use Limit Breaks more often. It is therefore possible to win the game at a level as low as 10.
- #008
GIM52A is the only monster in the game that does not have a card.
- #009
The game was received positively by critics and was commercially successful. It was voted the 22nd best game of all time by the readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu. Final Fantasy VIII achieved more than 50 million sales in the United States 13 weeks after its release, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy game.
- #010
The Quistis card is the only character card in the game that officially faces right.
- #011
This game has five Laguna dream sequences. Squall is the only person who takes part in all five. Starting from the third one, you can choose which party members to include.
- #012
When the player reaches the end of disc 3 and disc 4, they cannot enter any of the towns sealed by the time compression spell. However, it is possible to use Tonberry's call shop feature to go shopping for items and weapon upgrades on the Ragnarok airship, or to shop online, or to ride chocobos in the forests, or to visit the Deep Sea Research Center and Ultimecia Castle for the rest of disc 4. You can also continue to play the card game with the Queen of Hearts at the crash site, or play against the players on the Ragnarok airship.
- #013
This is the first game in the series to consistently use realistically proportioned characters, and it also does not have a magic-point-based system for casting spells.
- #014
You can see UFOs during battles in the world's 4 regions. The sightings are used in the side quest for the 'Pupu card' and can only be seen from the second disc onward.
- #015
During the game's production, there were initially plans to name the character Rinoa "Lenore".
- #016
In the European release of the game, a relatively large amount of merchandise was bundled with the game for the special first-run edition at no extra charge. All of it was sold in a large rectangular box containing a Final Fantasy VIII T-shirt, a PlayStation memory card and various Final Fantasy VIII stickers to put on a PlayStation memory card.
- #017
All the GFs that must be obtained from bosses in the game can also be drawn from monsters in Ultimecia Castle.
- #018
Apart from Rinoa's field footage and Squall's duel with Seifer, all the shots shown in the opening sequence are clips from FMV sequences that appear later in the game.
- #019
Five rare cards can only be obtained during the 'Card Queen side quest': Kiros, Irvine, Chubby Chocobo, Doomtrain and Phoenix. To get them, however, you must first lose the following cards in Dollet, in this order: MiniMog, Sacred, Chicobo, Alexander, Doomtrain. The locations of each card are: KIROS: Deling City (shopping mall), IRVINE: Fisherman's Horizon (the Mayor's wife), CHUBBY CHOCOBO: Balamb Garden (outside the library), DOOMTRAIN: the pub owner in Timber, PHOENIX: Esthar Presidential Palace (the moment you step off the elevator). If you missed these cards, you can obtain them on Disc 4 from the girl to the left of CC Diamond on the Ragnarok airship, and win unlimited random cards from her.
- #020
After its release in North America on 9 September 1999, it became the best-selling video game in the United States within two days. It held that position for more than three weeks.
- #021
The Tonberry King and Wedge, Biggs cards are the only two cards that can be obtained by using the Card ability on another monster.
- #022
There are six chocobo forests in this game.
- #023
At E3 2019, it was announced that Final Fantasy VIII would be remastered for PC and consoles.
- #024
Parasite Eve (VG) was the 'testing ground' for the cinematic graphics used in FFVIII.
- #025
The Doomtrain, Edea and Rinoa cards are the only three cards in the game that have two "A"s on them.
- #026
Because Chocobo World was designed for the PocketStation, a handheld console never sold outside Japan, the PC release was the only way most North American and European players could access it.
- #027
On Disc 1, in the bar in Timber, there is a television screen on the right as you enter. It shows a looping animation of a woman's face transforming into a cat's face (something lion- or tiger-like). This foreshadows that the sorceress Ultimecia will merge with Griever in the final battle.
- #028
Final Fantasy VIII was excluded from the PlayStation Classic mini console.
- #029
The music in this game was originally composed and recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1, then recorded in "dumbed down" normal stereo for the actual release. The original DD 5.1 soundtrack was said to be intended for use in a PlayStation 2 re-release of the game (see: Alternative Versions).
- #030
In the European version, the name of the weapon type used by Selphie was changed to 'shinobou'.
- #031
This is the first game in the series to feature a theme song, "Eyes on Me", performed by the Chinese singer Faye Wong.
- #032
The in-game character models used 200-250 polygons each.
- #033
Final Fantasy VIII is known for two songs: "Liberi Fatali", a Latin choral piece played during the game's introduction, and "Eyes On Me", a pop theme performed by Hong Kong singer Faye Wong.
- #034
Final Fantasy VIII's iconic ballroom scene was recreated in real time with the PlayStation 2's graphics engine and used to showcase the power of the new console.
- #035
The game's opening cinematic ranked second on Game Informer's 'Top 10 Game Openings' list; first place went to BioShock.
- #036
On the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell, you can find more than 40 hidden draw points, including Ultima.
- #037
In Esthar, there is a shop called Cloud's Shop that references Final Fantasy VII (1997).
- #038
'Eyes On Me' sold more than 400,000 copies in Japan, making it the best-selling game music disc in the country until 'Hikari' from Kingdom Hearts was released. 'Liberi Fatali' was played at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics during the women's synchronized swimming event.
- #039
The creature Ultimecia summons is actually a GF named Griever and is literally the lion on Squall's necklace, ring and weapon; that is, if you name the lion Lion213 on disc 2, for example, the monster Ultimecia summons will also be Lion213.
- #040
Diablos is the only GF you obtain by using a specific item and fighting it. Doomtrain is also obtained with a specific item, but you do not fight it.
- #041
On September 22, 1999, a CD-ROM titled Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories was released. It included desktop icons, wallpapers, screensavers and an email application. It also contained a version of the Triple Triad mini-game playable against opponents over a local network.
- #042
This is the first game to abandon traditional Final Fantasy features such as the MP system, only player characters leveling up, and buying new weapons and armor from shops. It introduced innovations such as the draw system, GF summoning, monsters leveling up alongside you, collecting parts for weapon upgrades, and being able to use Limit Breaks more often when HP is low. This makes it possible to finish the game at a level as low as 10.
- #043
The game received positive reviews from critics and achieved commercial success. It was voted the 22nd best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu. Thirteen weeks after its release in the US, it earned more than $50 million in sales revenue, making it the fastest-selling Final Fantasy game.
- #044
Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that the game's character development was 'the best of all RPGs' and that 'Final Fantasy VIII is the pinnacle of its genre.'
- #045
The game has five Laguna dream sequences. Squall appears in all of them. From the third sequence onward, you can choose which party members will take part.
- #046
When the player reaches the end of disc 3 and moves on to disc 4, they cannot enter any towns because they have been sealed by the time compression spell. However, you can shop aboard the Ragnarok airship, shop online with Tonberry's call shop ability, ride a chocobo in forests, and visit the Deep Sea Research Center and Ultimecia's Castle. You can also play cards with the Queen of Hearts at the crash site or play against the players on the Ragnarok.
- #047
This is the first game in the series to consistently use realistically proportioned characters and to not include a magic point-based system for casting spells.
- #048
GIM52A is the only monster in the game without a card.
- #049
You can see UFOs during battles in four regions of the world. These sightings are used in the 'Pupu card' side quest and can only be seen from disc 2 onward.
- #050
During the game's production, the character Rinoa was originally planned to be named 'Lenore'.
- #051
The Quistis card is the only character card whose artwork faces right.
- #052
Development of this game began in 1997, while the English translation of Final Fantasy VII was still ongoing.
- #053
The European version of the game was sold with a large number of promotional items at no extra charge, exclusively for the first batch. A large rectangular box contained a Final Fantasy VIII T-shirt, a PlayStation memory card and stickers to put on the memory card.
- #054
The lunar base is the only area in the game where all the rules of the Triple Triad card game are in effect.
- #055
All the GFs in the game that must be drawn from bosses can also be drawn from monsters in Ultimecia's Castle.
- #056
Except for the shots of Rinoa on the field and Squall's duel with Seifer in the opening sequence, every frame is a clip from FMV sequences that will be seen later in the game.
- #057
Five rare cards can only be obtained during the 'Card Queen side quest': Kiros, Irvine, Chubby Chocobo, Doomtrain and Phoenix. However, to make them obtainable, you must lose the following cards to the Queen in Dollet, in order: MiniMog, Sacred, Chicobo, Alexander, Doomtrain. Card locations: KIROS: Deling City (shopping mall), IRVINE: Fisherman's Horizon (the Mayor's wife), CHUBBY CHOCOBO: Balamb Garden (outside the library), DOOMTRAIN: the bar owner in Timber, PHOENIX: Esthar Presidential Palace (right where you get off the elevator). If you missed these cards, you can win them randomly and endlessly on disc 4 from the girl to the left of CC Diamond on the Ragnarok airship.
- #058
Within two days of its North American release on September 9, 1999, it became the best-selling video game in the US and held that position for more than three weeks.
- #059
The Tonberry King and Wedge and Biggs cards are the only cards that can be obtained from another monster using the Card ability.
- #060
At E3 2019, it was announced that a remastered version of Final Fantasy VIII would be coming to PC and consoles.
- #061
Parasite Eve (VG) served as a 'test bed' for the cinematic graphics used in FFVIII.
- #062
Galbadian soldiers Biggs and Wedge are a reference to Star Wars characters Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles. They have appeared in some form in nearly every Squaresoft game since Final Fantasy VI.
- #063
The Doomtrain, Edea and Rinoa cards are the only three cards that have two 'A's on them.
- #064
On disc 1, there is a TV screen on the right as you enter the bar in Timber. A looping animation plays on it in which a woman's face transforms into a cat's face (like a lion or tiger). This foreshadows the sorceress Ultimecia's junction with Griever in the final battle.
- #065
In this game there are three boss battles with Seifer, two with Edea, and two each with Raijin and Fujin.
- #066
Every character's weapon in the game: SQUALL: gunblade, RINOA: arm blaster, QUISTIS: chain whip, ZELL: gloves, SELPHIE: nunchaku, IRVINE: rifle, LAGUNA: machine gun, KIROS: katal, WARD: harpoon, EDEA: nothing, SEIFER: gunblade.
- #067
Final Fantasy VIII was not included on the PlayStation Classic mini console.
- #068
The game's music was originally composed and recorded in Dolby Digital 5.1, then downmixed to regular stereo. There was a rumor that the original DD 5.1 recording would be used in a version to be re-released on PlayStation 2.
- #069
The name of the weapon type Selphie uses was changed to 'shinobou' in the European version.
- #070
This is the first game in the series to include a vocal track as its theme song: 'Eyes on Me', performed by Chinese singer Faye Wong.
- #071
200-250 polygons were used for the in-game character models.
- #072
This is the first Final Fantasy game to use motion capture technology to capture the movements of characters such as Squall, Zell, Irvine, Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie, Seifer, Laguna, Kiros, Ward, Cid and Edea using human actors on set. Thanks to this, the body shapes of the CGI characters were portrayed more realistically compared to Final Fantasy VII, which was animated entirely on computer. This motion capture feature was later used in the film 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within' as well.
- #073
Final Fantasy VIII is the first game with an online shopping feature accessible at any time after learning Tonberry's Call Shop ability; thus you no longer need to enter a shop and talk to a person to shop, or go to the online shopping center in Esthar. This feature was later adapted into Final Fantasy XIII, which used the same online shopping system accessible at every save point.
- #074
With the Remastered version, the Queen of Cards side quest can be done in one go instead of five rounds. Lose the first 4 requested cards in one game and hopefully she goes to Dollet. By the time you arrive there, the first 4 rare cards will have been made and she will tell you their locations. To complete the quest, get the Doomtrain Card in Timber, and that's it. You can win all the cards back from her son at the painter's house in Dollet.
- #075
Rinoa is the only playable character with two Limit Breaks: Angelo and Angel Wing.
- #076
All versions other than the original Japanese version were censored.
- #077
The PuPu card is the only normal monster card with an 'A' on it.
- #078
Ifrit, Diablos, Cerberus, Cactuar, Bahamut and Tonberry are the six GFs you obtain by fighting them.
- #079
Aside from Seifer and Edea, Irvine is the only playable character without a costume change. Costume change order: Squall, Quistis, Selphie, Zell, Rinoa.
- #080
Of the 16 GFs, five are drawn from bosses, two are given with specific items, two are given to you at the very start, and the remaining seven must be fought to join you.
- #081
There are two Rosetta Stones you can obtain in the game: one is given as a random item from one of the Esthar shops, the other by playing all 8 notes together in Ultimecia's Castle. You can also obtain unlimited Rosetta Stones by using a Level 100 Siren to convert 100 Curse Spikes into 1 Dark Matter, that into 1 Shaman Stone, and that into 1 Rosetta Stone.
- #082
The Gambler's Spirit item is obtained only by refining 5 Shumi Tribe Cards; these cards can be won randomly by carding Grats and T-Rexaur, or randomly from the female student in Galbadia Garden. The Gambler's Spirit item teaches Card Mod for Guardian Force.
- #083
Irvine's shotgun Exeter is the only weapon that cannot be obtained until disc 3, because the player must first go to Esthar to fight monsters carrying the Moonstone item (Elnoyles, Imps and Torama).
- #084
Squall and Selphie are the only 2 characters with weapons that can hit with 255% accuracy; this includes all of Squall's Gunblades and Selphie's nunchaku Strange Vision. This is ideal for fighting cactuar enemies and for making sure your attacks don't miss when you are afflicted with the blind status.
- #085
Final Fantasy VIII is famous for its Triple Triad card rules; rules such as Random, Plus and Wall are hard to remove because the computer randomly selects card rules when you play against an NPC from a different region. Also, the Queen of Cards in Balamb randomly chooses Dollet or Deling City to travel to. This leads players to frequently reset the game.
- #086
All playable characters have Limit Breaks, but the extra ones (Laguna, Edea, Kiros, Ward and Seifer) have only a single set attack.
- #087
When you meet Laguna, you learn the rest of the story of how he became President and how he saved the country from Sorceress Adel.
- #088
This is the first Final Fantasy game to feature 7 playable young characters at a military academy school.
Production Story (26)
- #089
Development of Final Fantasy VIII started in 1997, while Final Fantasy VII was being translated into English, and the team grew to more than 100 people.
- #090
Hironobu Sakaguchi was executive producer on Final Fantasy VIII but focused mainly on Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, so Yoshinori Kitase directed the game and Shinji Hashimoto took over as producer.
- #091
Final Fantasy VIII cost roughly ¥3 billion, or about $30 million, to develop, and its staff numbered around 180 people.
- #092
Final Fantasy VIII was the first title to involve extensive communication between Square's Japanese and North American teams during localization, following a shake-up of the company's localization process after Final Fantasy VII.
- #093
Translation of Final Fantasy VIII was completed by September 1999, and its European release was delayed because of required graphical changes, including the removal of a Nazi-like uniform.
- #094
Final Fantasy VIII was generally designed to be a "bright, fresh Final Fantasy", a direction the team chose because it had dealt extensively with dark and "weird" imagery in Final Fantasy VII. According to an interview with Famitsu, designer Naora said the developers wanted to invert the atmosphere of earlier games in the series.
- #095
The decision to change direction for Final Fantasy VIII was easy for the developers, since most of them had worked on Final Fantasy VII and considered a new approach acceptable.
- #096
Final Fantasy VIII's world designs were developed knowing that most staff were by then used to computer graphics, which had not been the case with Final Fantasy VII. The developers said they attempted to "mix future, real life and fantasy" in the game.
- #097
As part of a theme desired by Kitase to give Final Fantasy VIII a foreign atmosphere, its locations were designed in the style of internationally familiar places while keeping a fantasy feel. Inspiration ranged from ancient Egyptian and Greek architecture to Paris, France, and an idealized futuristic European society, and some factions were given flags based on their history and culture.
- #098
Some designs Nomura had drawn earlier but not yet used in a Final Fantasy game were incorporated into Final Fantasy VIII: Edea, Fujin and Raijin. Fujin and Raijin had originally been designed for Final Fantasy VII but were deemed unnecessary after the Turks characters were included, while Edea had been designed before VII's development based on the style of Yoshitaka Amano.
- #099
The plot of Final Fantasy VIII was conceived by Kitase, while Nomura supplied the story and characters and Nojima wrote the scenario.
- #100
During pre-production on Final Fantasy VIII, Nomura proposed giving the game a "school days" feel, an idea that merged with Nojima's existing concept of same-age main characters and became the "Garden" military academies.
- #101
Nojima planned a strong contrast between Final Fantasy VIII's two playable parties, Squall's present-day group and Laguna's past group, expressed through the age and experience of Laguna's team against the youth and naïveté of Squall's.
- #102
Nojima has said that the dynamic of players' relationships with the protagonist matters to him; in Final Fantasy VIII he gave players actual insight into Squall's thoughts, unlike his approach in Final Fantasy VII, which encouraged speculation.
- #103
Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, a book containing an in-depth guide to Final Fantasy VIII and interviews with its developers, was published in March 1999, one month after the game's release.
- #104
An origami book tied to Final Fantasy VIII was released in November 1999.
- #105
Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories also included a stand-alone version of the "Triple Triad" minigame, which let players compete against each other over a local area network.
- #106
A Windows PC version of Final Fantasy VIII arrived in 2000, offering smoother graphics, enhanced audio and the Chocobo World minigame starring the Chocobo Boko.
- #107
Final Fantasy VIII was included in the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ultimate Box, a Japanese package released in December 2012.
- #108
An upscaled PC version of Final Fantasy VIII arrived on Steam on December 5, 2013.
- #109
Nobuo Uematsu, the regular series composer, wrote the soundtrack for Final Fantasy VIII. He based the songs on the emotional content of the scenes where they would be played, saying that expressing the emotions he wanted mattered more than improving skills.
- #110
Final Fantasy VIII lacked the character themes used in the two previous games because Uematsu found those of Final Fantasy VI and VII ineffective. He considers character themes reasonable when each character has a highlight, but saw Final Fantasy VIII as focused on Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly as a couple, which led to the theme "Eyes on Me".
- #111
Final Fantasy VIII's original soundtrack was released in Japan by DigiCube on March 10, 1999, on four compact discs. Square Electronic Arts issued it in North America as Final Fantasy VIII Music Collection in January 2000, and Square Enix republished it worldwide on May 10, 2004.
- #112
An album of orchestral arrangements of selected Final Fantasy VIII tracks, titled Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII, was released by DigiCube on November 19, 1999, and later published by Square Enix on July 22, 2004. Shirō Hamaguchi arranged and conducted the pieces for a live orchestra.
- #113
Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VIII, a collection of piano arrangements performed by Shinko Ogata, was released by DigiCube on January 21, 2000, and re-published by Square Enix on July 22, 2004.
- #114
Nobuo Uematsu believed a ballad would closely relate to the theme and characters of Final Fantasy VIII, leading the developers to share "countless" artists before deciding on Faye Wong.
Behind the Scenes (10)
- #115
The Triple Triad card game in Final Fantasy VIII was created by programmer Kentarow Yasui, who drew on the popularity of trading cards in parts of Japan and asked for cards to be convertible into items because collecting alone felt too separate from the main game.
- #116
Lead translator Richard Honeywood wrote a text parser for Final Fantasy VIII that automatically converted English ASCII text into the Shift JIS format required by the game engine's compiler, greatly streamlining translation.
- #117
Character designer and battle visual director Tetsuya Nomura and art director Yusuke Naora gave Final Fantasy VIII realistically proportioned characters, moving away from the super deformed designs of the previous title.
- #118
Yusuke Naora worked to make the world of Final Fantasy VIII feel more realistic by using mostly bright lighting with shadows placed where appropriate.
- #119
Final Fantasy VIII used motion capture to make character movement lifelike in its full motion video sequences, though the team preferred manual animation over relying on it.
- #120
Final Fantasy VIII's characters were designed with predominantly European appearances to maintain a foreign atmosphere.
- #121
Squall was given a gunblade, a fictional revolver–sword hybrid that works mainly as a sword and has an added damaging vibration feature activated through its gun mechanism, similar to a vibroblade. Nomura also added a fur lining along the collar of Squall's jacket as a challenge for the game's full motion video designers.
- #122
In 1999, the ballroom dance scene from Final Fantasy VIII was shown as a technical demo for the PlayStation 2.
- #123
Uematsu could not determine a character's emotions from the plot alone and instead used images of appearance and attire. He noted that it is important to know when a character's emotions peak, but that the ending dialog is often finished only about a month before release.
- #124
Nobuo Uematsu claimed that Faye Wong's voice and mood matched his image of the song exactly, and that her ethnicity "fits the international image of Final Fantasy".
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #125
In Esthar there is a shop called Cloud's Shop that references Final Fantasy VII (1997).
- #126
The Galbadian soldiers Biggs and Wedge are a reference to two characters in Star Wars, Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles. They have appeared in some form in nearly every Squaresoft game since Final Fantasy VI.
Deeper Meaning (2)
- #127
On September 22, 1999, a CD-ROM titled Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories was released. It contains desktop icons, computer wallpapers, screensavers and an email application. In addition, Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories includes a version of Final Fantasy VIII's Triple Triad minigame and allows players to compete against opponents over a local area network.
- #128
Asked by IGN Music whether the music of Final Fantasy VIII was very dark and perhaps shaped by the game's plot, Uematsu said the atmosphere of the music varies with the story line, but that he also intended to include various types of music in one game.
Career & Awards (3)
- #129
Final Fantasy VIII was the first major project for Alexander O. Smith, who later earned acclaim for his work on Vagrant Story. Smith said that because of limited communication with the development team, they were surprised that an IT employee used GameShark to access text files for Western localization.
- #130
Final Fantasy VIII joined Sony's Greatest Hits on August 28, 2000, and in 2009 it was added to the PlayStation Store on the PlayStation Network.
- #131
After negotiations, "Eyes On Me" was recorded in Hong Kong with an orchestra and released as a CD single in Japan, selling over 400,000 copies and setting the record for the highest-selling video game music disc in that country at the time.
Sources & editorial notes
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia Final Fantasy VIII — Wikipedia
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