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.
The game's opening cinematic ranked second on Game Informer's 'Top 10 Game Openings' list; first place went to BioShock.
On the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell, you can find more than 40 hidden draw points, including Ultima.
In Esthar, there is a shop called Cloud's Shop that references Final Fantasy VII (1997).
'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.'
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.
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.
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.
GIM52A is the only monster in the game without a card.
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.
During the game's production, the character Rinoa was originally planned to be named 'Lenore'.
The Quistis card is the only character card whose artwork faces right.
Development of this game began in 1997, while the English translation of Final Fantasy VII was still ongoing.
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.
The lunar base is the only area in the game where all the rules of the Triple Triad card game are in effect.
All the GFs in the game that must be drawn from bosses can also be drawn from monsters in Ultimecia's Castle.
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.
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.
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.
The Tonberry King and Wedge and Biggs cards are the only cards that can be obtained from another monster using the Card ability.
There are six chocobo forests in this game.
At E3 2019, it was announced that a remastered version of Final Fantasy VIII would be coming to PC and consoles.
Parasite Eve (VG) served as a 'test bed' for the cinematic graphics used in FFVIII.
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.
The Doomtrain, Edea and Rinoa cards are the only three cards that have two 'A's on them.
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.
In this game there are three boss battles with Seifer, two with Edea, and two each with Raijin and Fujin.
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.
Final Fantasy VIII was not included on the PlayStation Classic mini console.
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.
The name of the weapon type Selphie uses was changed to 'shinobou' in the European version.
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.
200-250 polygons were used for the in-game character models.
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.
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.
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.
Rinoa is the only playable character with two Limit Breaks: Angelo and Angel Wing.
All versions other than the original Japanese version were censored.
The PuPu card is the only normal monster card with an 'A' on it.
Ifrit, Diablos, Cerberus, Cactuar, Bahamut and Tonberry are the six GFs you obtain by fighting them.
Aside from Seifer and Edea, Irvine is the only playable character without a costume change. Costume change order: Squall, Quistis, Selphie, Zell, Rinoa.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
All playable characters have Limit Breaks, but the extra ones (Laguna, Edea, Kiros, Ward and Seifer) have only a single set attack.
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.
This is the first Final Fantasy game to feature 7 playable young characters at a military academy school.