Talk:Final Fantasy VIII

Welcome to this talk page. Trolls will be prosecuted, so I advise you not to troll.

Unneeded sections

The "allegory" and "fanbase" sections strike me as unnecessary: the first is dodgy speculation from "fans" (a bad indication if there ever was one), and the second is self-aggrandizing, unsubstantiated cruft which makes the article appear highly unprofessional. I propose that both are deleted.

I see a lot of this stuff in the articles about FF, anime and things like that, so much that I made a Wikiproject about it yesterday. Please take a look if you agree with my general sentiment. Harp Heaven 10:13, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

Character classification

I'd argue that Selphie would be better classified as a red mage; her limit break uses magic spells and she has fairly high stats in Magic, so I wouldn't say she's purely a physical fighter. Thoughts, anyone?

Definately, although I'm not completely sure about the classification of the characters from the game into the old FF jobs system; doesn't quite fit IMO. Sockatume, Talk 22:42, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Come to think of it, you're right. Just what is the justification for calling Rinoa a "white mage," anyway? And if she's not a white mage, what else would she be?

Wasn't the point of the junction system to allow each character to do whatever job they pleased? You could theoretically make each character a strong fighter or healer...

Characters do have some "built-in" tendencies in their stats; Zell's a particularly good fighter from the outset, for example. Sockatume, Talk 23:08, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Limit breaks provide another basis for classification; the fact that Quistis' limit is Blue Magic, for instance, pegs her pretty definitively as a blue mage. Zell's limit break doesn't use magic at all, and he fights with his fists rather than weapons, so it's pretty easy to say he's a straight-up Monk.

Rinoa's the toughest to peg, though: going by her Angelo Combine limit break, she'd be a Trainer, but that's an awfully obscure character class. Angelwing, I suppose, would make her a black mage - but she doesn't acquire that until halfway through the game. I suspect the only reasons the article calls her a "white mage" are because (a) she seems like a nice compassionate sort of person and (b) Square has a long pattern of making its female romantic leads white mages (see Aeris, Garnet, Yuna), although occasionally they're fighters like Tifa.

(Random trivia note: At level 100, Rinoa has by far the highest Strength of any character in the game.)

That sounds fair enough. To be honest, when I was playing, it was Rinoa who wound up taking the White Mage supporting role most of the way through the game. Sockatume, Talk 12:52, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Well, we all seem to at least agree that what the article said was inaccurate, so I've edited the discussion of character classes for Selphie and Rinoa. As always, feel free to edit further if anyone disagrees.

Live-action/supercrappynation movie?

There seems to be rumors of a new Final Fantasy VIII film by United Artists, an MGM company, and SquareSoft. Who would you cast for this live-action/supercrappynation movie version of Final Fantasy VIII? I expect everyone to post their answers by February 28, 2005! - 24.159.186.88

Who would I cast in a supermarionation version? You mean, bring the Captain Scarlet puppet out of retirement to play Cid? Sockatume 22:52, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I mean by "live-action/supercrappynation movie" a hybrid of live-action and supercrappynation! - 24.159.186.88

I'd buy that for a dollar. Sockatume 14:54, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC)

SOLD! - Ryan F

OK, so to start, who are the main characters? - 24.159.186.88

Where are these ridiculous rumours coming from? I think we'll see evolution for each of the Final Fantasies like what is going on with VII right now, except for this one (forgot that part heh.) VIII has a fan base but everyone believes it to be more finite (especially in the US) than the fan base of VII. I would be surprised if any development whatsover continues the story of VIII

Unfortunately, you're probably right. I say unfortunately, because IMO there's more potential for decent spin-offs and expansions with the FF8 universe (the various Gardens, the big wars in the past, etc. etc. would lend themselves nicely to other single-player games or even an MMORPG) than FF7's plot (which was very self-contained and pretty much completely resolved by the end of the game). Sockatume, Talk 15:08, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Blimey, Sock (sorry I said that word if you're from down under), but please tell me about the main characters. Oh, and another thing, Sock: Cid will be performed by Jerry Stiller if I did for FF8: The Movie what George Lucas did for Star Wars. - 24.159.186.88

And I would also cast Emma Watson for the role of Rinoa Heartily. I'd say that she could be overdramatic at times, but she's best. Also she should bring one of her minor costars, Bonnie Wright, over to do stunts in her place. Emma would like to do her own stunts, but Bonnie Wright should be the one who should summon magic. I'd bet that Metro Goldwyn Mayer has black hair dye for both. - 24.159.186.88

Plus, Ray Romano could be Squall and Paul Eiding could be Zell! - 66.191.240.103 01:20, 15 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Hurry up, I expect everyone at the poll by February 28, 2005, at 4:59:59pm! Ryanasaurus0077 00:57, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Allegory

So, if Galbadia represents WWII Germany and Timber is occupied France, then why is Deling City look so much like Paris? I mean, it's even got an Arc de Triomphe.

Rinoa -> Ultimecia?

The article states: "Some elements in the game show that Ultimecia is in fact Rinoa in the futur." Now, last I had heard this was highly controversial, and probably not correct. I'll go look up some info on this later, unless someone knows outright. If it is incorrect, I'm removing the line. Baryonyx 05:53, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)

• Apparently, this is too heated a conversation for most FF fans to have. In my brief checking on this, I'm shocked by how nasty this gets, so, if it is staying in, as I think it should because it's so big a debate, it must be NPoV. I propose: "There is a contentious, heavily debated theory that Ultimecia may in fact be Rinoa. This has been debated, with point/counterpoint discussions, for several years, though the ultimate veracity of the theory would depend on Square-Enix's confirmation. As none has been forthcoming, this remains hotly debated." Baryonyx 16:34, Feb 15, 2005 (UTC)

Unneeded character pages?

I've redirected a number of recently created articles regarding individual characters from Final Fantasy VIII to this main article. All of them were virtually substubs, and said nothing more than "so-and-so is a character from Final Fantasy VIII," less than was actually on this page. It brings up the question of what characters actually warrant individual articles: certainly the main characters (Squall, Rinoa, possibly Laguna), but beyond that? It's my personal inclination to avoid article sprawl: information about Final Fantasy VIII should be here, on the Final Fantasy VIII page, and not spread over dozens of pages all across Wikipedia. In extreme circumstances when there is simply too much information to fit in the main article, then you can spin it off into its own seperate page, but that did not seem to be the case with any of these examples. I left the page on Quistis as it was, because it did have a reasonable amount of detailed information, but I'm inclined to attempt to merge that into this article anyway, and leave the seperate articles as an exception, rather than the rule. Any thoughts? – Seancdaug 22:40, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC)

Plot holes

Holy cats, that's a long list. Maybe it needs an article of its own? Something along the lines of:

"The roles of the sorceresses in the game lead to many logical consistencies, as summarised in the list of plot holes in Final Fantasy 8. Sockatume 23:44, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

Absolutely not. The list shouldn't even be there to start with. Certainly, the name "plot holes" is hardly NPOV, and the usage is incorrect ("unanswered question" does not necessarily equal "plot hole"). And many of the entries are just... odd. The name "Lunatic Pandora," for instance, while not making a great deal of sense, is hardly a plot hole within the context of the game. Some of them are positively grasping at straws: the lack of churches and/or temples is no more a plot hole than the lack of bathrooms in most RPGs, or the fact that there generally seem to more people wandering around towns in most console RPGs than there are houses for them to live in. While there are some decent points buried in there, most of them should be incorporated into other sections: the Rinoa/Ultimecia and related information, such as time compression and Griever, could be mentioned in the "Fanbase" section, as much of it is now, or even in a new subsection specifically dealing with the subject. But even then, most of it would need to be heavily rewritten to be suitable for a general interest resource like Wikipedia. – Seancdaug 01:29, May 31, 2005 (UTC)

Ah, well, I only read the first half-dozen or so, and those seemed fairly reasonable. I guess it slides after that. Sockatume 16:47, 31 May 2005 (UTC)