Following a group of students from the paramilitary academy known as Balamb Garden, Final Fantasy VIII explores a world of both machinery and magic. Players take control of Squall Leonhart, a young mercenary of Balamb prone to brooding, whose missions lead him to aid Rinoa Heartilly, the leader of a resistance group called the Forest Owls fighting for independence against the oppressive Galbadian government.
Battles utilize the ATB system common to Final Fantasy games at the time, wherein players enter combat and wait for meters to fill in order to execute attacks. The unique mechanics of Final Fantasy VIII include having to acquire magic from enemies using the “Draw” command, which in turn makes certain attacks more powerful and allows players to use spells. The game also gave the characters more realistic proportions and featured a number of cutscenes where the transition from gameplay to cinema was nearly seamless.
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