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Copyright Protected. Pls do not use this logo above without the author's permission. All right reserved. No part of the Logo can be modified, copied or re-edited without the prior's author's permission. Thank You. The logo was created using number '9', in chinese means 'everlasting'. Let's hope we will see more and more Final Fantasies besides Final Fantasy 8. _______________________________________________________________________ ======================================================================= FINAL FANTASY VIII Guardian Force Boost/Compatibility ======================================================================= Final Fantasy VIII Guardian Force Boast/Compatibility Version 5.0 For Sony PlayStation Only By YEE SENG FU E-Mail : ysf@pacific.net.sg Date : 30th June 2000 ICQ : 25076522 HomePage: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Portal/7933/ Country : Singapore Copyright Protected. 1999-2000. No part of the content is allowed to be reedited or published without the permission of the writer. It can only be used as a personal guide, but not for any commercial purposes. Anyone who has violated this agreement will be severely dealt with. Anyone who wants to link the faq to a particular site must seek permission from the author. Thanks for your cooperation. All the contents that are inside this faq cannot be reproduced in any way, shape, or form (Whether it is physical, electronic or otherwise) aside from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commerical webpage, provided that it is original, unedited and altered format as well as seeking my permission. This faq cannot be used for any profitable purposes, even if no money is involved in it or for promotional purposes. Neither can it be used as any sort of commercial transaction or given away as some sort of bonus, gift, present etc. Giving away this faq as an incentive to attract buyers is prohibited or forbidden. This faq cannot be used by any publishers, editors, employees or any associates etc of any company, group, organisation, business or any other associations. It cannot be used in any game magazines, guides, books etc or in any other form of printed or electronic media in any way, shape, form (that includes reprinting, reference, inclusion) without the express written permission of the author, myself. This faq is owned and created by me, Yee Seng Fu. I have spent a lot of time typing this faq and the only way to show your appreciation is not to use this faq for profitable means and hopefully, this faq will be of some help to you. If you feel that, reading the faq like this is a bit tedious, especially when you have to look at the computer and play your game, you are allowed to print the part or whole of this document out, but the printed copies can only be for personal use. This faq is best viewed using wordpad wrapped to ruler. Introduction ============ I know there are many Guardian Force faqs which covers about boost and compatibility of G.F. I made this faq because i had something to add on, which i didn't see it in any other faqs. I hope you will show me your support and hopefully, this guide will be of some use to you. Also, refer to Dan Orner 's item guide faq. There are quite a couples of good guardian force faq, one of which is the japanese faq written by StevenBruck. I have also written quite a couples of Final Fantasy VIII faq like the weapon guide on how to beat Ultima/Omega weapon, a card list guide and a limit break guide. Be sure to look at it and feel free to give me comments. Update ============ Version 1.0 -Added new information about Boost -Added new information about Compatibility -Added in a list of compatibility items. -Added a short list of how to obtain all the Guardian Force, including the 16 main G.Fs, non-junctionable Guardian Forces like Odin, Phoenix, and even some informations about the PocketStation Guardian Force. -Added new information about the redrawing of Guardian Force in the final castle. -Added in song lyrics. -Added a Credit section. -Added copyright section. -Corrected some spelling and grammatical mistakes. -Based on the US version. Version 2.0 -Added a Gilgamesh section dedicated to his attacks. -Corrected some minor mistakes. -Changes some of the japanese translation to the US version. -Based on the US version. Version 3.0 -Added some information on Guardian Force's ability. -Based on the US version. Version 4.0 -Added in a frequently-asked-question section. -Added a few more tips in the Boost and compatibility section. -Added new information about the location of the four Occult Fan Magazines. -Added history and overview in Gilgamesh section. -Added Final Fantasy VIII OST List -Added Ragnarok Specifications in the exclusive features section. -Added Balamb Train Specifications in the exclusive features section. -Added in my own Final Fantasy VIII logo. -Based on the US version. Version 5.0 -Added information about Report Cards. -Added information about Obel Lake Mystery. -Added more information about which sub-bosses you can draw in Ultimecia Castle to draw your missing Guardian Force(s). -Added information about how to boost G.Fs to 250, without using a Turbo controller. -Corrected the names of Gilgamesh's attacks. -Updated the frequently-asked-question section. -Based on the US version. Next Update: Basically, these are all that i want to cover in this faq. All the informations that are about Boost and Compatibility are found in this faq. I don't think i have anything more to add. Also, i have added in some information about Gilgamesh attacks, which i don't see it in other faqs, particularly the table list. Special thanks to Kaze Yagami for most of the information and Dan Orner for the compatibility item list. This faq will not be made possible without the help of these two people. Content ============ i)Guardian Force ii)Ability iii)Boost iv)Compatibility v)List of Guardian Force vi)List of Compatibility Item vii)Redrawing of Guardian Force viii)Occult Fan Magazines ix)Gilgamesh x)Report Cards xi)Obel Lake Mystery xii)Song Lyrics xiii)Final Fantasy VIII OST List xiv)Exclusive Features xv)Frequently-Asked-Question xvi)Credit xvii)Copyright Protected ======================================================================= I)Guardian Force ======================================================================= In the past, you simply summon a creature and shortly after, it would appear on the battlefield and create a havoc. Now, there's a chance that the creature might not appear. In Final Fantasy VIII, guardian force are actually the creatures that you summoned to aid you in battlefield. If you have played the previous Final Fantasties before, you should remember of the Esper systems in Final Fantasy VI, the summon materia in Final Fantasy VII. However, there are obviously some noticeable differences. Guardian Forces are now more involved in battlefield than before. Each Guardian Force has HP and can gain experience to increase their levels. The noticeable changes are the Guardian Force's Active Time Bar and the newly-innovative feature call Boost. I will explain the two in great in-depth in the later sections. Also, unlike Espers in Final Fantasy VI, Guardian Forces in Final Fantasy VIII let the characters gain AP, known as Ability Point, but they do not let characters learn magics, instead characters can learn new commands like Revive, or new abilities that can strengthen a Guardian Force or characters like sumMag + 20%, Str + 20%, HP + 20%, and so on. ======================================================================= II)Ability ======================================================================= I don't intend to go too much details into this section. Guardian Force's ability can be divided into Command, Junction, Guardian Force, Character, Menu and Party. Command ability includes things like 'Recover', 'Revive' and each command ability requires one command ability slot. Junction ability allows you to junction magics to the respectives attributes. For example, HPJ allows you to junction a magic to HP. Junction abilities do not need any ability slot. Guardian Force abilities enhance a Guardian Force's power like boost, GF HP + 20%. Note that GF HP + 10%, and GF HP + 20% are cumulative, meaning it will add up to GF HP + 30%. Character abilities allow your character to equip special commands like mug or boost your characters' statistics like HP + 20%. Note that HP + 10% and HP + 20% are cumulative. Menu ability are mainly special commands which allow mainly for refining purposes like Card Mod, Make Bullet ability. It also includes Call Shop ability too. Note that Menu ability do not require any junction slot. Party abilities include Encounter None, Move/Find and so on. To learn an ability, simply point the cursor at that ability. For every battle you fought, you will gain AP, which means Ability Point. For example, Boost ability requires 10AP. Note that certain ability will not appear immediately. You need to meet certain requirements to learn it. For example, you need to learn HP + 10% first before you can learn HP + 20%. Each Guardian Force can learn up to a maximum of 22 abilities. If you want to learn a new ability, you must use Amnesia Grass to make a Guardian Force 'forget' an ability. For example, i want my Guardian Force to learn Revive command and i do not want the Encounter None ability anymore. So, i use an Amnesia Grass on Encounter None first to make one empty ability slot for Revive command. Understand or do i make you more confuse? Note that you can buy Amnesia Grass from certain shops like in Esthar and Timber shops. Note:Before you can junction any magics or commands and so on, you need to junction a Guardian Force first. The Guardian Forces are the ones who give you new abilities. ======================================================================= III)Boost ======================================================================= Boost is actually a Guardian Force's ability to increase its destructive effect. It was known as "Ouen" in the japanese version, which meant either "assistance, support, help or aid" but was changed to "boost" in the US version. As the name implies, boost can be used to increase your Guardian Force's power. But before you can do that, you need to learn the ability first, which cost 10AP. However, note that not all Guardian Force has this ability. I will now explain everything more detail with the help of some diagrams. When the Guardian Force animation begins, hold select and you should notice this: Legend ====== __ |__| Represents the Square button 75-255 Represents the number. F Represents the pointer/cursor. X F Represents when the cross appears and overlaps the cursor. Step 1: Step 2: In step two, tap Square as fast as __ __ you can go, and the number will rise |__| 75 F |__| 100 F by 1 for every Square button you press. Note that you have to hold Select all the time. Step 3: In step three, a cross will appear and __ overlap the cursor sometimes. When this |__| 200 X F happens, you must stop tapping Square button because should you do so, the number will revert to 75 again and you will have to start all over again. Step 4: In step four, you have reach the maximum __ number. No matter how you tap Square, it |__| 250 F will not exceed 250. This indicates the strongest strength. The number actually represents the percentage of the power of the G.F. You begin as 75% of the power. 75 is at the minimum strength and 250 is at the maximum strength. Some pointers you should take note of: ====================================== a)Note that when the cross appears, keep on holding Select and when the cross disappears again, this is the time to tap Square again. b)The time taken for you tap Square button varies differently with other Guardian Force. For example, G.F Eden gives you a lot of time (since the G.F animation is incredible long), and you can easily tap up to 250 while some probably allows you to tap up to 180 to 220. c)Not all Guardian Forces have the boost ability. Examples are Carbunle, Cactuar, Diablos, Cerberus and all non-junctionable Guardian Forces like Odin, Gilgamesh, Chicobo, Phoenix, Moomba and Mini-Mog. Turbo Cheat-Contributed By Jimmy Khoo, FreedSoul =========== As you know, it's impossible for you to reach 250 when summoning G.Fs ike Brothers, Shiva, Siren and so on. There's actually a very easy way for you to reach 250 in less than 10 seconds. The only way is to use a turbo controller, with the Square button set to turbo. In this way, all you need is to hold Square and the number will rise rapidly. Each Square button you press when set to turbo, will probably rise about 4 to 9. so, can you imagine how fast it is when you hold Square? Also, be sure to know when the cross will appear. Even if you have a turbo controller, if you press Square when the cross appears, the number will revert to 75. Ifrit may cause up to 5000HP when you tap up to 140, for example. But, with a Turbo Controller, you can tap up to 255, and can easily cause up to 9999HP. Comment ======= Of course, you may think that using a Turbo Controller to boost your Guardian Force is considered cheating. At first, i thought the 'boost' or 'Ouen' concept is pretty cool! But, that's only for the beginning. The super-long Guardian Forces sequence [Especially Eden] make the combat more boring as you keep on summoning the same old Guardian Forces. The Guardian Force sequence is impressive to say the least but i will rather endure looking at my party casting 50x Ultimas than watching one super long Guardian Force cinematic scene. Of course, it's just my personal opinion. You can agree or disagree with me and agrue that the animation is long to give you time to tap. Occasionally, i will summon Guardian Forces. Tired of tapping the Square button, come on, just use a Turbo controller! Without Turbo Cheat-Contributed By Brid Barnes =================== Your boosting piece caught my eye, especially you say that you can't boost GF's like Siren up to 250. I found that I could boost all GF's up to 250 except Quezacotl, Ifrit and Shiva without using a "turbo controller". How you say that?. Well, you get a pen with a round lid and simply rub it accross the boosting button as fast as you possibly can. If you do it properly it works very well. Comment ======= Note that i haven't tried the above tips submitted by Brid Barnes , so try it at your own risk. Well, the data below shows how fast that a normal person can tap without using any turbo controller, any cheating methods or whatever. Just press using your own fingers, not with a pen with a round lid and then rub it across the boosting button. Anyway, your idea is pretty interesting. When i have the time, i will try it. Challenge the Max without Turbo-Contributed By Kaze Yagami =============================== The table below shows the max % and max time given that you have for every Guardian Force. The list also shows the name of Guardian Force who has this ability and for those which do not have are ignored in the list. Note that these are only approximate values and subjected to some variations. __________________________________________________________ |Name of Guardian Force |Time (Seconds) |Boost (%) | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Quezacotl |13.3s |180% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Shiva |12.9s |180% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Ifrit |13.0s |180% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Siren |17.6s |200% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Brothers |19.3s |220% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Leviathan |21.4s |230% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Pandemona |22.8s |240% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Alexander |22.1s |230% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Doomtrain |22.9s |240% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Bahamut |22.1s |230% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Tonberry |14.0s |190% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| |Eden |72.6s |250% | |__________________________|_______________|_______________| __________________________ |Name of Guardian Force | The table on the left shows the |__________________________| list of Guardian Force who do |Diablo | not have any boost ability, |__________________________| meaning you cannnot tap Square |Carbuncle | when summoning them to increase |__________________________| their strength. |Cerberus | |__________________________| |Cactuar | |__________________________| ======================================================================= IV)Compatibility ======================================================================= Unlike the past, when a summoner summons a creature, his or her HP and active time bar are being replaced by that of the summoned creature. Only when the Guardian Force's Active Time Bar ends, the Guardian Force will then appear and create havoc. Before i go into the details, there are some points that i think you should take note of: a)While summoning a Guardian Force, the summoners' HP and ATB are being replaced by that of the creature's. The creature will only appear until the Guardian Force's Active Time Bar countdown ends. b)While summoning a Guardian Force, the summoners' HP and ATB are being replaced by that of the creature's. Any attack on the summoner will go to the summoned creature, meaning that the summoned creature will recieve the damage, not the summoner. In simply, during the course of summoning, the summoned creature acts as a shield for the summoner. c)Status attacks go to the summoner, not the Guardian Force during the course of summoning. For example, while summoning, when the summoner is being attacked by a silence spell or being silenced, the cancelling of summon will automatically be in effect. d)During the time while summoning, when the Guardian Force's HP reaches zero, the cancelling of summon will automatically be in effect as your Guardian Force is now dead. e)During the course of summoning, if you use a cure spell on the summoner, the cure spell will heal only the summoner, not the Guardian Force. f)There are certain items that heal a Guardian Force outside battle. Examples are Pet House, G-Potion, G-Hi-Potion, G-Mega-Potion, G-Returner and so on. Items like Pet-House, G-Potion can be easily bought from most shops. g)If you have a PocketStation, you can play the mini-game and use Mog's Amulet to learn Mini-Mog command. It is a Guardian Force command, meaning you need to use Amnesia Greens to make a Guardian Force forget an ability. Just equip Mini-Mog command and use it during battle to summon Mini-Mog, which will fully recover all of your Guardian Forces' HP. Note that Mog's Amulet can only be obtained from the PocketStation and thus Mini-Mog summon is exclusive to only those who has PocketStation. However, the draw back is that it will take you (100 x Party's Average level)gils per summon. h)The maximum amount of HP damage all Guardian Force can cause is up to 9999HP, with the exception of Guardian Force, Eden, which can exceed the 9999HP limit and up to 20,000 to 50,000HP damage. i)The damage caused by Cactuar depends on the Guardian Force, Cactuar's level. The higher the level Guardian Force, Cactuar is, the more damage it will cause. For example, if Guardian Force, Cactuar is at level between 50 to 59, it will cost 5000 HP of damage. If between 90 to 99, it will cost 9000 HP of damage. Max damage occurs at level 100. This is a sure-cause damage, regardless of how good your enemies' defense may be. You must train your Cactuar well to take advantage of it, if not it will be wasteful. Note that Cactuar doesn't have any Boost. j)Doomtrain attacks enemies with status ailments like poison, berserk and so on. If you have played Final Fantasy VI before, you may realise that Doomtrain is indeed a resemblance to a boss in FFVI and that boss is of course, the Phantom Train. k)There are certain special Guardian Forces which do not have HP, levels and experiences. Examples are Odin, Gilgamesh, Phoenix, Chocobo, Mini-Mog, and Moomba. l)There are certain Guardian Forces which appear randomly. Examples are Odin, Gilgamesh and Phoenix. [Only when you have used Phoenix Pinion at least once] m)There are certain Guardian Forces which you need items to summon. Examples are Chicobo [Gysahl Greens], Phoenix [Phoenix Pinion] and Moomba [Proof Of Friendship]. n)Moomba, Mini-Mog and chicobo's new attacks can only be obtained if you have PocketStation and you must play the chocobo world mini-game. o)Mini-Mog summon can be learned if you have the Mini-Mog command by using Mog's Amulet. p)It's better to equip a Guardian Force with a higher compatibility than one with a lower compatibility. You wouldn't want to take your time to summon a Guardian Force. q)One way to let your Guardian Forces recover your HP outside battle is to walk around. It works like Regen and as you walk, the Guardian Forces' HP starts to recover. However, this doesn't apply to characters. r)My advice to you is learn 'boost' ability first if that Guardian Force has it. It takes only 10AP and can be learned very fast. Once learned, you can do more damage with the 'boost' ability for every time you summon that creature. [Refer to the 'boost' section for more information.] Basically, these are the main pointers that you should take note of. Compatibility ============= How fast or slow Guardian Force's Active Time Bar countdown ends depends on the compatibility. Compatibility is known as affection rating for the Japanese version. Honestly speaking, i prefer the name, 'affection rating' more than the name, 'compatibility.' 'Affection rating' has the effect of how the Guardian Force feels and reacts to a particular character. Anyway, the name, 'Compatibility' works pretty well as well. Q1)What is Compatibility? Compatibility ranges from 0 to 1000. The higher the number, the fastest the Guardian Force's Active Time Bar countdown will be. 1000, being the fastest and 0, being the slowest. It is meaningless to summon a Guardian Force with very low compatibility and you have to wait for a long time for it to appear. By the time, it appears, it may have been dead or recieved any damage. Who knows? Q2)How do i know the characters' compatibility with other Guardian Force? You can view it in your status screen. You should see something like this below: Red |---------------| The bar gauge ________________________ when completely =>|_______________|________| red, shows the 658<=The compatibility maximum compatibility. number. Q3)How do i raise compatibility? You can either use compatibility items or keep on summoning the Guardian Forces you want. Note that there are side effects too sometimes. Refer to the tables below for a clearer picture. Difference in Compatibility-Contributed By Kaze Yagami =========================== Below shows a table for the approximate values of time taken for different compatibility. __________________________________________ |Compatibility (0 to 1000) |Time (Seconds) | |__________________________|_______________| |Compatibility 0 |About 16.8s | |__________________________|_______________| |Compatibility 500 |About 10.2s | |__________________________|_______________| |Compatibility 1000 |About 2.8s | |__________________________|_______________| Raising Compatibility and Demerits-Contributed By Kaze Yagami ================================== Below shows the table of how to increase and decrease your compatibility. ___________________________________________________________________ |Method |Compatibility Up |Amount|Demerit | |____________|__________________|______|____________________________| |Summoning |The Guardian | |Other Guardian Forces' | |a Guardian |Force that is | |compatibility drop by 1~2. | |Force |summoned raises | |____________________________| |____________|compatibility | |Guardian Force of opposing | |Refer to |with the summoner.| 20 |nature drops by 10. | |a) for a | | |____________________________| |special | | |Refer to b) for a special | |condition. | | |condition. | |____________|__________________|______|____________________________| |Using |The respective | |Guardian Force of opposing | |specific |Guardian Force's | |nature drops by 1~2. | |magic. |compatibility | 1~3 |____________________________| |Mainly |raises with the | |Refer to c) for more details| |elemental. |spell caster. | |about it. | |____________|__________________|______|____________________________| |Using |The respective | |Other Guardian Forces' | |specific |Guardian Force's | |compatibility drop by 1~2. | |items. |compatibility | 1~3 |____________________________| |Mainly com- |raises. | |Refer to the list of | |patibility | | |compatibility items for more| |items. | | |details. | |____________|__________________|______|____________________________| |Using |All Guardian | | | |LuvLuvG |Force's | | | | |compatibility | 20 |------------NIL-------------| | |raises. | | | |____________|__________________|______|____________________________| a)If battle ends before Guardian Force is summoned or when a character is silenced while summoning, resulting the cancelling of summon to automatically be in effect, there will be no change in the compatibility for all Guardian Force. b)Eden is a special case because when Guardian Force, Eden is summoned, compatibility with Eden raises by 2, while the remaining Guardian Force will be raise by 1. This is the only special case when there is no side effects, other than using LuvLuvG items. c)If you use a fire spell, Ifrit, being a fire elemental Guardian Force will increase its compatibility, while on the other hand, Guardian Force are opposing nature like Shiva will decrease its compatibility. Note that the same concept applies to summoning Guardian Force as well. For example, if you summoned Ifrit, then Shiva's compatibility will drop by 10. The same concept is reverse if you summon Guardian Force, Shiva instead of Ifrit. ======================================================================= V)List Of Guardian Force ======================================================================= Below shows some tables, listing all the Guardian Forces and how you can obtain them. I will only briefly describe the methods in obtaining these Guardian Forces. If you want more informations, you can read other faqs. Guardian Force Menu =================== Here's a diagram of what the Guardian Force menu will be liked. _______________________________ | | | | | | | | | No. Name of G.F | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 01. Quezacotl |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 02. Shiva | | | | | | | | | 03. Ifrit | 9 |10 |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 | 04. Siren |___|___|___|___|___|___|___|___| 05. Brothers 06. Diablos By clicking X, you will be able to view 07. Carbuncle the G.F's ability list, as well as the 08. Leviathan G.F's experience, compatibility and HP. 09. Pandemona Pressing Triangle will return you back 10. Cerberus to the previous screen. When viewing the 11. Alexander Guardian Force status screen, press 12. Doomtrain L1 and R1, to switch to other G.Fs. 13. Cactuar Also, the ability list allows you to 14. Bahamut select the ability you want to learn,as 15. Tonberry well showing you the AP needed. 16. Eden Note:For the Japanese version, press Circle to confirm instead of X and Triangle to cancel instead of X. Guardian Force (Junctionable) ============== _____________________________________________________________________ |Name Of Guardian Force |Location of Guardian Force |Disc| |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Quezacotl |In the lecture room. Examine the laptop | | | |in Squall's seat and read the Guardian |1~3 | | |Force tutorial with the beside it.| | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Shiva |In the lecture room. Examine the laptop | | | |in Squall's seat and read the Guardian |1~3 | | |Force tutorial with the beside it.| | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Ifrit |Defeat Guardian Force, Ifrit at the Fire| | | |Cavern. | 1 | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Siren |Draw from Elvoret during the Dollet | | | |Mission. Elvoret will appear and fight | 1 | | |you after defeating Biggs and Wedge. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Brothers |Defeat Guardian Force, Brothers at Tomb | | | |Unknown King. The two brothers are | 1 | | |Sacred and Minotaur. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Diablos |Use the magical lamp given by Headmaster| | | |Cid and click on it at the item | | | |inventory to have a fight with Diablos. |1~4 | | |Defeat Guardian Force, Diablos. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Carbuncle |Draw from Iguion, one of the two lizards| | | |summoned by Sorceress Edea in Deling | | | |City, Presidential Residence. Deling | 1 | | |City is the capital of Galbadia. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Leviathan |Draw from Norg in the basement of | | | |Balamb Garden. | 2 | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Pandemona |Draw from Fujin at Balamb Hotel. You | | | |will first fight Rajin outside the | | | |Balamb Hotel, followed by a combined | 2 | | |team of Rajin and Fujin inside the | | | |Balamb Hotel. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Cerberus |Defeat Guardian Force, Cerberus at the | | | |main hall of Galbadia Garden. Cerberus | 2 | | |is the monster whom has triple heads. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Alexander |Draw from Sorceress Edea at Galbadia | | | |Garden, immediately after you fought | 2 | | |with Seifer the second time. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Doomtrain |Have 1x Solomon's Ring, 6x Steel Pipe, | | | |6x Remedy +, 6x Malboro Tentacles, then | | | |in the item inventory, click on the | | | |Solomon's Ring. Note that you must get |2~4 | | |solomon's Ring at Tear Point before | | | |going to the Lunar Base. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Bahamut |Defeat Guardian Force, Bahamut in Deep | | | |Sea Research Center. [Deep Sea Research | | | |Centre] It can be found in the southwest| | | |of the World Map and can only be access | | | |by Ragnarok. Choose the first option, |3~4 | | |the second option to fight Ruby Dragons | | | |respectively. Next, choose the third | | | |option, which is hidden to fight | | | |Bahamut. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Cactuar |Defeat Guardian Force, Cactuar at | | | |Cactuar Island near Centra Region. You | | | |should notice a tiny cactus sticking | | | |out of a small island. It can only be |3~4 | | |access by the Ragnarok. Go near it to | | | |enter a fight. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Tonberry |Defeat 20 Tonberries inside Centra Ruin.| | | |Once you have defeated the 20th Tonberry| | | |, Tonberry King will appear and fight |2~4 | | |you. Note that the fight is continuous. | | | |Defeat Guardian Force, Tonberry King. | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| |Eden |Draw from Ultima Weapon at Deep Sea | | | |Deposit, which is the underground base- | | | |ment of Deep Sea Research Center. [Deep | | | |Sea Research Centre] You must first | | | |obtain Guardian Force, Bahamut before |3~4 | | |you can enter the basement to fight | | | |Ultima weapon to draw Eden. [Refer to my| | | |weapon guide faq for ways to beat Ultima| | | |weapon.] | | |_______________________|________________________________________|____| Note:Should you miss any Guardian Force, especially those which need to be draw, the only way is to get them by redrawing them in disc four at the final castle. Refer to the [Redrawing of Guardian Force] section for more details. Note that this is only applicable to the US version. Guardian Force (Non-Junctionable) ============== Below shows the list of guardian force which cannot be junction and has no ability for you to learn. Note that these Guardian Forces, as listed below do not have any compatibility or Guardian Force's Active Time Bar and will appear immediately once summon. _____________________________________________________________________ |Name of Guardian Force |Location |Miscellaneous Info | |_______________________|____________________|________________________| |Phoenix |Collect all 5 stones|Use the item, Phoenix | |[Disc Two to Three] |, naming Blue, Wind,|Pinion once during a | | |Life, Shadow, Water |battle, and Guardian | | |in Shumi Tribe. You |Force, Phoenix will | | |will get Phoenix |appear when your party | | |Pinion. [Refer to |gets wiped out randomly.| | |other faqs for more |________________________| | |information.] |Phoenix will cast life | | | |on your party, reviving | | | |all dead allies to 12.5%| | | |of their total HP. | |_______________________|____________________|________________________| |Chicobo |Catch a chocobo in |Use Gysahl Greens to | |[Disc Two to Four] |any chocobo forest, |summon Boko, the chocobo| | |and you will get to |to battle. | | |choose a name for |________________________| | |the chocobo. From |Play chocobo mini-game | | |then on, you will |on PocketStation to | | |get to play the |learn new attacks for | | |chocobo minigame in |Boko, the chocobo. | | |PocketStation. |________________________| | | |The initial attack is | | | |ChocoFire. These three | | | |attacks can only be | | | |learnt, if you play the | | | |'Odekake chocobo' in the| | | |PocketStation. The three| | | |attacks are ChocoFlare, | | | |ChocoMeteor and Choco- | | | |Buckle. | |_______________________|____________________|________________________| |Odin |In Centra Ruin and |Odin will appear random-| |[Disc Two to Four] |you have to solve |at the beginning of the | | |the puzzle under 20 |battle and using Zante- | | |minutes. [Refer to |suken, slicing all | | |other faqs for more |enemies apart, causing | | |information.] |instant victory. | | | |________________________| | | |If he does not appear at| | | |the beginning of the | | | |battle, it means that he| | | |will not appear for the | | | |remaining half of the | | | |battle. | |_______________________|____________________|________________________| |Gilgamesh |Appears only if you |Gilgamesh will appear | |[Disc Three] |have Odin already |randomly anytime, even | |[Must have Odin first] |when fighting |at the beginning or | | |against Seifer at |middle of the fight. He | | |end of disc three at|will choose one sword | | |Lunatic Pandora. |out of four and uses an | | | |attack randomly. His | | | |four attacks are Zantet-| | | |suken, Excalibur, Exca- | | | |lipoor and Masamune. | |_______________________|____________________|________________________| |Mini-Mog |Can be obtained from|Use Mog's Amulet to | |[PocketStation |PocketStation only. |learn Mini-Mog ability. | | Exclusive] | |You must use Amnesia | | | |Grass on a Guardian | | | |Force to make it forget | | | |one ability. Then, use | | | |Mog's Amulet on that | | | |Guardian Force and equip| | | |the Mini-Mog command. | | | |When using Mini-Mog | | | |command, it summons a | | | |Mini-Mog to battle, and | | | |it will fully recover | | | |all of your Guardian | | | |Forces' HP. However, the| | | |drawback is that it cost| | | |you (100 x Party's | | | |average level)gils per | | | |summon. [It reminds me | | | |of Setzer's GP Toss | | | |command from Final | | | |Fantasy VI as well as | | | |Sumurai job system in | | | |Final Fantasy V.] | |_______________________|____________________|________________________| |Moomba |Can be obtained from|Use Proof of Friendship | |[PocketStation |PocketStation only. |to summon Moomba during | | Exclusive] | |battle. | |_______________________|____________________|________________________| Note:Special thanks to for telling me the translaton of Gilgamesh's attacks. There's only one attack which needs to be changed. The US version uses 'Excalipoor' instead of 'Excalipur, which the japanese uses. Note:For all PocketStation Guardian Forces like Mini-Mog, Moomba etc, i strongly recommend that you read other PocketStation faq. Till today, i still don't have a PocketStation. So, if you have any questions regarding PocketStation, i may not be able to answer and i may not reply your questions. ======================================================================= VI)List of Compatibility Item ======================================================================= Compatibility List-Contributed by Dan Orner ================== Please refer to Dan Orner's item list faq for more informations on other items. The list is obtained from him, and organised by me. The original content is not altered. Without Dan Orner's permission, the list will probably be incomplete. ____________________________________________________________________ |Guardian Force |Name of Item |Effect |Source | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Quezacotl |Dynamo Stone | + 3 |Mug/Defeat Blitz/Elastoid. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Defeat Creeps/Cockatrice. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Blitz (L4 card) is | | | | |converted into 1x Dynamo | | | | |Stone. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Quezacotl (L8 card) is | | | | |converted to 100x Dynamo | | | | |Stones. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Shiva |Arctic Wind | + 1 |1x Glacial Eye (L2 card) is | | | | |converted into 1x Arctic Wind.| | |_____________|_______|______________________________| | |North Wind | + 3 |1x Snow Lion (L3 card) is con-| | | | |verted into 1x North Wind. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Shiva (L8 card) is convert-| | | | |into 100x North Winds. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Ifrit |Bomb Fragment| + 1 |Mug/Defeat Bomb. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Bomb (L4 card) is converted| | | | |into 1x Bomb Fragment. | | |_____________|_______|______________________________| | |Red Fang | + 3 |Defeat Hexadragon. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Defeat Chimera (rare) | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Siren |Silence | + 3 |Defeat/Steal Grat/Funguar. | | |Powder | | | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Brothers |Dino Bone | + 3 |Mug/Defeat T-Rexaur. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Defeat Armadodo. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Armadodo (L3 card) is con- | | | | |verted into 1x Dino Bone. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |2x T-Rexaurs (L4 card) is con-| | | | |verted into 1x Dino Bone. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Sacred (L8 card) is convert| | | | |-verted into 100x Dino Bone. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Diablos |Steel Orb | + 3 |Defeat Wendigo. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Mug GIM47N. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Wendigo (L4 card) is con- | | | | |verted into 1x Steel Orb. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Carbuncle |Dragon Skin | + 3 |Defeat Anacondaur. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Mug Anacondaur. (Rare) | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Defeat Blue Dragon at Island | | | | |of Hell. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Leviathan |Fish Fin | + 2 |Defeat/Mug Fastitocalon-F. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Pandemona |Shear Feather| + 1 |Mug/Defeat Thrustaevus. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Thrustaevus (L2 card) is | | | | |converted into 1x Shear | | | | |Feather. | | |_____________|_______|______________________________| | |Windmill | + 3 |Defeat Abyss Worm. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Mug/Defeat Thrustaevus at a | | | | |higher level. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Abyss Worm (L3 card) is con| | | | |-verted into 1x Windmill. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Pandemona card (L9 card) is| | | | |converted into 100x Windmill. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Cerberus |Dragon Fin | + 3 |Defeat Grendel. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Grendel (L2 card) is con- | | | | |verted into 1x Dragon Fin. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Alexander |Moon Stone | + 3 |Defeat Imp. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Mug/Defeat Elnoyle. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Doomtrain |Poison Powder| + 1 |Defeat Grat. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Mug/Defeat Imp. | | |_____________|_______|______________________________| | |Venom Fang | + 3 |Mug/Defeat Anacondaur. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Anacondaur (L2 card) is con| | | | |-verted into 1x Venom Fang. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Bahamut |Shaman Stone | + 3 |Refine 1x Dark Matter/Hungry | | | | |Cookpot/Rosetta Stone/Mog | | | | |Amulet into 1x Shaman Stone | | | | |each using Siren's Tool-RF. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Cactuar |Cactus Thorn | + 3 |Mug/Defeat Cactuar. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Cactuar (L3 card) is con- | | | | |verted into 1x Cactus Thorn. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Jumbo Cactuar (L7 card) is | | | | |converted into 1x Cactus | | | | |Thorn. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Tonberry |Chef's Knife | + 3 |Mug/Defeat Tonberry. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Tonberry (L3 card) is con- | | | | |verted into 1x Chef's Knife. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |1x Tonberry King (L5 card) is | | | | |converted into 1x Chef's | | | | |Knife. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |Eden |----NIL------|--NIL--|-------------NIL--------------| |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| |ALL Guardian |LuvLuvG | |1x Chubby Chocobo (L8 card) is| | Force | | +20 |converted into 100x LuvLuvGs. | | | | |______________________________| | | | |Refine 1x Shaman Stone into 1x| | | | |LuvLuvG. | |_______________|_____________|_______|______________________________| ======================================================================= VII)Redrawing Of Guardian Force ======================================================================= This method does not apply to the japanese version. Square knew that there will definitely be some who has forgotten to draw the Guardian Force. Now, luckily to US gamers, for those who has forgotten, you can redraw the Guardian Force that you miss at the final castle in Ultimesia Castle. You can draw the missing Guardian Force from the enemies inside Ultimecia Castle, especially those mini sub-bosses. However, i am not pretty sure and i have not tried it before as by the time i have reached disc 4, i have already gotten all the Guardian Forces. This method has been confirmed by many people. Try it at your own risk!!! Of course, it is more preferred if you can get all the Guardian Force, without going through this redrawing. This is because when you redraw, you will have to retrain your new Guardian Force's level, abilities from the start, which is simply a waste of time since you can get it and train it earlier. It will be even nicer if more people can tell me about this redrawing of Guardian Force. Proper credits will be given to the contributors. Note :If you want more information about this redrawing of Guardian Force, i suggest you refer to Scott Ong's faq. It's highly impossible that i will replay Final Fantasy VIII just to test if this redrawing of Guardian Force is true or not. Note :The redrawing of Guardian Force only applies to Guardian Forces like Siren, Carbuncle, Leviathan, Pandemona, Cerberus, Alexander and Eden only. Credit:??? for telling me about the redrawing of Guardian Force. Sorry, i have lost your e-mail. I got a shock when he told me about this redrawing. Later on, i confirmed it with Kaze Yagami and he told me that this is just a newly-added feature to the US version. Credit:Thanks to Kaze Yagami for confirming this information. Okay, just in case you still have any questions regarding this redrawing of Guardian Force in Ultimecia Castle in disc four, i have listed down the names of sub-bosses which you can draw from. The lists below are taken from Scott Ong's faq/walkthrough. I have not tried it yet. For more details about the locations of these sub-bosses, please refer to any other walkthrough/faq. ___________________________________________________________________ |Guardian Force(s) |Name of the Sub-Boss |Location | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| |Siren |Tri-Point |Found hovering over- | | | |head in the Wine | | | |Cellar. | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| |Carbuncle |Krysta |Found in the Terrace. | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| |Leviathan |Trauma |Solve the puzzle in | | | |the art gallery room | | | |to encounter a fight | | | |with Trauma. | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| |Pandemona |Red Giant |Take the Prison Key | | | |in the statue in the | | | |Prison Cell to fight | | | |Red Giant. | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| |Cerberus |Gargantua |Get the armoury key, | | | |then open the armoury | | | |room to encounter a | | | |fight with Gargantua. | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| |Alexander |Catoblepas |Use the Treasure Vault | | | |Key to enter the Trea- | | | |sure Vault room and | | | |examine all the four | | | |coffins until all are | | | |opened to have a fight | | | |with Catoblepas. | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| |Eden |Tiamat |Head up the spiral | | | |staircase to the Clock | | | |Tower. Continue heading| | | |to the top, while ig- | | | |noring the bell. Enter | | | |the door at the top to | | | |find Tiamat. | |____________________|______________________|_______________________| ======================================================================= VIII)Occult Fan Magazines ======================================================================= Wonder what Occult Fans are for? Well, doesn't much! You can skip getting it if you don't wish to. The four Occult Fans provide you hints and informations about some Guardian Forces, to be specific, mainly Guardian Force, Doomtrain. If you have missed the first two Occult Fan, you can still buy it from one of the Esthar shops. However, Occult Fan III and IV cannot be bought and once you miss it, you will lose it forever. Again, i will stress that these four Occult Fans magazines are totally OPTIONAL! So, don't panic if you have missed one. _____________________________________________________________________ |Name Of Magazine |Location |Information |Disc | |_________________|_____________________________|______________|______| |Occult Fan I |It is found in a bookshelf |You can get it| | | |inside the library in Balamb |once you have | | | |Garden. Simply search there |defeated | | | |and you will find it. |Guardian Force| 1~3 | | | |, Ifrit in | | | | |Fire Cavern. | | |_________________|_____________________________|______________|______| |Occult Fan II |Search the documents in Card |You need to | | | |Master's room in Dollet City.|defeat Card | | | |Go to pub in 2F and take the |Master once to| | | |upper right door to cross a |enter the | | | |bridge to enter the room. |room. [Note | 1~3 | | | |that you can | | | | |also get G.F | | | | |Siren Card | | | | |from him.] | | |_________________|_____________________________|______________|______| |Occult Fan III |After Balamb Garden has |You can only | | | |collided with Fisherman |get Occult | | | |Horizon, FH. Apologise to |Fan III in | | | |Master Fisherman and he will |disc 2 and | 2 | | |give you the magazine. |there is no | | | | |other alter- | | | | |native ways. | | |_________________|_____________________________|______________|______| |Occult Fan IV |Talk to the President Aide |You can get | | | |near Air-Station. Then talk |Occult Fan IV | | | |to the Secretary at the |only in disc 3| | | |entrance of the Presidential |, either | 3 | | |Palace who is complaining |before or | | | |about Professor Odine to get |after going to| | | |it. |Lunar Gate. | | |_________________|_____________________________|______________|______| ======================================================================= IX)Gilgamesh ======================================================================= I notice that other faqs do not have much details about Gilgamesh's attacks so this will be an exclusive section dedicated to Gilgamesh. _______________________________________________________________ |History/Overview | |_______________________________________________________________| |Gilgamesh made his first appearance in Final Fantasy V. For | |those who has played and familiar with Final Fantasy V, you | |should know that Gilgamesh was banished to the 'Cleft of | |Dimension.' Gilgamesh was the righthand man of Exdeath, an evil| |black mage in Final Fantasy V. How or why he appears again in | |Final Fantasy VIII remains a mystery to me. Can anyone explain | |why to me? Anyway, it's great to see Gilgamesh making a | |comeback in Final Fantasy VIII, don't you think so? Anyway, | |Omega weapon is back now, so why not Gilgamesh too as well? | |_______________________________________________________________| |Location |You must have gotten Odin first before fighting | | |against Seifer at the end of disc 3 in Lunatic | | |Pandora. Now, wait for a while, and enjoy the event! | |_________|_____________________________________________________| |Tips |Don't attack Seifer as Gilgamesh will appear soon. | | |Instead, keep drawing Aura spells from Seifer. | |_________|_____________________________________________________| |Attack |Zantetsuken, Excalibur, Excalipoor and Masamune | |_________|_____________________________________________________| |General Information about Gilgamesh | |_______________________________________________________________| |Like Odin, Gilgamesh cannot be junction to a character, neither| |does he have any ability for you to learn. However, like Odin, | |he will appear randomly during battle. Unlike Odin, it can | |appear in the beginning, middle of the fight, whereas Odin can | |only appear in the beginning of the fight, if not, Odin will | |not appear for the remaining half of the battle. As Gilgamesh | |is summoned, you will notice that there are four swords descend| |-ing down together with Gilgamesh. Each of these four swords | |represents an attack- Zantetsuken, Excalibur, Excalipoor and | |Masamune. He will choose any of the four swords randomly and | |that sword choosen will use that particular attack. | |_______________________________________________________________| |Do you know? | |_______________________________________________________________| |According to , he says that after all the | |four swords had descended and stopped rotating, Gilgamesh will | |pick the sword that is at the back of him. Good observation | |from !!! While so, you still cannot | |determine the attack that Gilgamesh will use because you don't | |know which sword will land at the back of him. In general, | |Gilgamesh's attacks are still random. Does that make sense to | |you??? I hope so!!! | |_______________________________________________________________| |Credit |The information listed above is contributed by | | |. | |_______________|_______________________________________________| |Name Of Attack |Effect and Special Note | |_______________|_______________________________________________| |Zantetsuken |This attack is inherited from Guardian Force, | | |Odin. It will slice all enemies apart, causing | | |instant victory. However, Zantetsuken does not | | |work against bosses. | |_______________|_______________________________________________| |Excalibur |Strong damage against all enemies. [Refer to | | |the table below for more details.] | |_______________|_______________________________________________| |Excalipoor |It is a fake version of the sword, Excalibur as| | |it does only 1 HP damage to all enemies. | |_______________|_______________________________________________| |Masamune |Strong damage against all enemies and is more | | |stronger than Excalibur. [Refer to the table | | |below for more details.] | |_______________|_______________________________________________| |Credit |Special thanks to for | | |the names of Gilgamesh's attacks as used in | | |English version. | |_______________|_______________________________________________| |Below shows a table, listing out the attacks, damage, levels | |of the swords, Excalibur and Masamune. | |_______________________________________________________________| |Listing-Contributed By Kaze Yagami | |_______________________________________________________________| |The attack level of Guardian Force, Gilgamesh depends on the | |average level of the party member, similarly to Guardian Force,| |Phoenix. The higher your luck is, the chances of Odin/Gilgamesh| |appearing will be higher. | |_______________________________________________________________| | Attack Level | Masamune | Excalibur | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 1 | 2625 | 1000 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 10 | 3750 | 1562 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 20 | 5000 | 2187 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 30 | 6250 | 2812 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 40 | 7500 | 3437 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 50 | 8750 | 4062 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 60 | 9999 | 4687 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 70 | 9999 | 5312 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 80 | 9999 | 5937 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 90 | 9999 | 6562 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| | 100 | 9999 | 7187 | |___________________|____________________|______________________| |Note|The values are subjected to variables as different enemies| | |have different defenses. However, the variations are very | | |neligible. | |____|__________________________________________________________| ======================================================================= X)Report Cards ======================================================================= So, what's a report card? Well, it just a summary of your current progress in the game. There are a total of 3 battle reports, naming Battle, Character and Guardian Force reports. You can view these reports via the tutorial menu. So, how do you get it? Battle Report ===================== When Squall has promoted to a SeeD in disc 1, talk to Cid Krammer in the Headmaster Office in 3F of Balamb Garden to receive Battle Report. Note that this can be done only in disc one. Character Report ===================== When you are in Desert Prison in disc 2, head to floor 10, enter the door and you should see a card player and a save point. [And a hidden draw point as well.] Challenge the player there and when you win, he will give you the Character Report. This can be done only in disc two. Note that each card game you play with him costs 300 Gil. Guardian Force Report ===================== After returning back to Balamb Garden from Desert Prison and has beaten Master Norg, go to the Training Center [Training Centre] and CC Joker will occasionally appear there. Note that chances of CC Joker appearing there are random. He appears as a merchant, selling items. Talk to CC Joker and play cards with him. Once you defeat him, you will get the Guardian Force Report. Qns:So, what is the use of these Report cards? Ans:Well, nothing much actually! Remember the "The Man Who Knows ALL" in Final Fantasy V? Oh, never mind, if you can't remember or don't know. Each report card summarises different things. [Refer below for more details.] Battle Report ===================== It tells you the number of times you have: a)Walked b)Battles c)Won d)Escape Character Report ===================== It tells you the number of times each character has: a)Killed [No of monster killed under your hand!] b)KO'd [No of times your character has died!] Guardian Force Report ===================== It tells you the number of times each Guardian Force has: a)Killed [No of monster killed under your hand!] b)KO'd [No of times your Guardian Force has died!] It also lists down: c)Abilities d)Menu Refinements That's all that these report cards will tell you! ======================================================================= XI)Obel Lake Mystery ======================================================================= At first, i didn't really want to add in this section because Scott Ong has already covered it in his faq. Secondly, i was quite lazy. Well, i got several mails, asking me about Obel Lake mystery. I have solved the mystery quite long ago but...... judging from the amount of mails i got, perhaps i should..... You might also want to refer to Scott Ong's faq/walkthrough Part II for Obel Lake mystery. Note that the mystery to Obel Lake can only be solved in disc three. The most important thing to do now is to locate where the Obel Lake is. You are now in disc three and have the Ragnarok airship. Take the Ragnarok and fly to Galbadia continent near Timber. You should notice a very small spit that curves into a lake. Land your Ragnarok somewhere nearby and walk to the edge. Press X for the American version and Circle for the Japanese version to search and you should notice a message that pops up something like this: This must be Obel Lake. Throw a rock. >Try humming. Choose the second option and hum. A message pops up again like this: A black shadow rose to the surface. Throw a rock. >Try humming again. When the Black Shadow appears, keep talking to him until he asks you to find his friend, Mr. Monkey. He hints that his friend, Mr. Monkey is somewhere in the forest. So, search the forest just to the west of Dollet near the train station on the Hasberry Plains. But before that, choose to throw a rock until it says 'The rock skipped many many times.' "It's my friend, Mr. Monkey... Can you find him for me?" Walk around the forest and a message will pop out, giving you two choices to choose. Choose the first option to throw a rock. If you get a message saying, 'The rock skipped many many times,' you should see this message: "...OUCH! ...D-Darn it! ...You're gonna pay for that!" Enraged, Mr. Monkey will throw a stone carved with some writing on it at you. The letters on the carving are "URHAEO." If you throw a stone and the message says that it skip between 1 to 5 times, you will always get a message like this: "Ahh Darn it!" Y-You're just a big loser. I can make the rock skip as many times as I want! So there! Ha-ha! Loser! Dork! Idiot! Your mom wears combat boots." There's the monkey! >Throw a rock. Sing. Return to Obel Lake and talk to the Black Shadow. Keep on talking to him until he gives you four useful hints. Each hints tell you where the location of a special stone with words carved on it is. Here's the hints: ======================================================================= First Rock ========== Hint:"At the beach in Balamb, something special washes a shore all times." Go to Rinaul Coast located east of Balamb Town. Walk around there and you will find a message pops up: It looks man-made, and has some carving on it... You have found the first stone already, now search for the other stones now. The letters on the carving are "STSLRM." ======================================================================= Second Rock =========== Hint:"Mr. Monkey had a rock like this i think..." Yes...The rock which Mr. Monkey throws it to you is the second stone. However, if you didn't manage to get the stone just now, Shadow will tell that, "If he's not around, perhaps he took a train towards Dollet." =>Only when Mr. Monkey escapes. =>You can find Mr. Monkey again in Hasberry Plains located near Dollet. The letters on the carving are "URHAEO." ======================================================================= Third Rock =========== Hint:"This long narrow stretch of island is located east of Timber and next to the railroad bridge that leads to Fisherman's Horizon and Esthar. Go to Mandy Beach east of Timber. It's an isolated island and it is rather hard to find. Search along the island and a message will pop out somethibng like this: You found a piece of rock by your foot... Now, only left with one more stone. The letters on the carving are "REAIDR." ======================================================================= Fourth Rock =========== Hint:"There's also something on top of a mountain with a lake and cavern." Your next destination is Monterosa Plateau. Follow where the river flows and it will lead to a waterfall. Land your Ragnarok on top of the mountain and search the edge of the waterfall and a message will pop out something like: A bird is warming an egg. >Check it out. Leave it alone. Choose the first option, 'Check it out.' You will encounter a fight against 2x Thrustaevis. They are quite easy to defeat. Once they are defeated, you will find the last rock. The letters on the carving are "EASNPD." ======================================================================= Now, return back to Obel Lake. _________________________________________ |No. |Location of the Rock |Letters | |____|_______________________|____________| | 1. |Rinaul Coast |S T S L R M | | 2. |From Mr Monkey |U R H A E O | | 3. |Mandy Beach |R E A I D R | | 4. |Monterosa Plateau |E A S N P D | |____|_______________________|____________| Now, can you begin out the mystery? Okay, If you read from right to left starting from top to bottom, the hint is, "MORDRED PLAINS HAS TREASURE." Okay, time to head to Modred Plains. Modred Plain is located north from the Great Plains of Esthar. The treasure is rather hard to find. So, if you want an ASCII diagram of the exact location of where the treasure is, refer to Scott Ong's walkthrough/faq Part II. Ignore what the other coloured rock says. Search for a red-faced rock and the rock will tell you to move in opposite direction. Follow what the red-faced rock tells you and the location of the treasure, Three Star is located in the centre of the star [From Scott Ong's ASCII art.] There's another item which you can also get from the clues that the other coloured rock gives you. But, i am not going to list out every single clues. Simply go to Minde Island at the lower left part of the Esthar Continent. Search around and you will find another item, Luck-J Scroll. So far, these are the only treasures that i know. You can only solve Obel Lake's mystery in disc three. Don't worry if you can't solve the mystery or you are already in disc 4 and have not solved it yet. The treasures, in my opinion, aren't quite worthwhile. Firstly, solving this Obel Lake takes quite a long time. Secondly, though i agree with everyone that Three Stars is a valuable item, but don't forget that you can convert Squall's card to 3x Three Stars. This is just my personal opinion and you can choose to accept it or not! ======================================================================= XII)Song Lyrics ======================================================================= Below are the lyrics for Eyes On Me and Liberi Fatali. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Eyes On Me ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Composer:Nobuo Uematsu Vocalist:Faye Wong Whenever sang my songs On the stage, on my own Whenever said my words Wishing they would be heard I saw you smiling at me Was it real or just my fantasy You'd always be there in the corner Of this tiny little bar My last night here for you Same old songs, just once more My last night here with you? Maybe yes, maybe no I kind of liked it your way How you shyly placed your eyes on me Oh, did you ever know? That I had mine on you *Darling, so there you are With that look on your face As if you're never hurt As if you're never down Shall I be the one for you Who pinches you softly but sure If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer So let me come to you Close as I wanna be Close enough for me To feel your heart beating fast And stay there as I whisper How I loved your peaceful eyes on me Did you ever know That I had mine on you Darling, so share with me Your love if you have enough Your tears if you're holding back Or pain if that's what it is How can I let you know I'm more than the dress and the voice Just reach me out then You will know that you're not dreaming *Repeat Credit:Thanks to Heero Yuy for allowing me to publish the lyrics in my faq. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Liberi Fatali ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Excitate vos e somno, liberi mei. Cunae non sunt. Excitate vos e somno, liberi fatali. Somnus non eat. Surgite. Invenite hortum veritatis. Ardente veritate Urite mala mundi. Ardente veritate Incendite tenebras mundi. Valete, liberi, Diebus fatalibus. Children of Fate ---------------- Wake up, my children, The cradles are gone. Wake up, Children of Fate, The peaceful sleep is over. Rise up Search for the Garden of Truth With fiery truth Burn off all the deceit of the world With fiery truth Light up the dark world. Goodbye, children, The next moment of meeting is the moment of fate. Credit:Thanks to kaze Yagami for correcting the mistakes in the lyrics, as well as doing the translation for Liberi Fatali. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================= XIII)Final Fantasy VIII OST List ======================================================================= Are you a fan of Nobuo Uematsu? Final Fantasy VIII Original Sound Track has been released. With a total of 74 tracks that are spread across four CDs, fans of Nobuo Uematsu shouldn't miss it. I will now list the name of the tracks below. Disc 1 ====== 01.Liberi Fatali 02.Balamb Garden 03.Blue Fields 04.Don't Be Afraid 05.The Winner 06.Find Your Way 07.SeeD 08.The Landing 09.Starting Up 10.Force Your Way 11.The Loser 12.Never Look Back 13.Dead End 14.Breezy 15.Shuffie or Boogie 16.Waltz for the Moon 17.Tell Me 18.Fear 19.The Man with the Machine Gun 20.Julia 21.Roses and Wine 22.Junction 23.Timber Owls Disc 2 ====== 01.My Mind 02.The Mission 03.Martial Law 04.Cactus Jack (Galbadian Anthem) 05.Only a Plank Between One and Perdition 06.Succession of Witches 07.Galbadia Garden 08.Unrest 09.Under Her Control 10.The Stage is Set 11.A sacrifice 12.Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec 13.Intruders 14.Premonition 15.Wounded 16.Fragments of Memories 17.Jailed 18.Rivals 19.Ami Disc 3 ====== 01.The Spy 02.Retaliation 03.Movin' 04.Blue Sky 05.Drifting 06.Heresy 07.Fisherman's Horizon 08.Odeka Ke Chocobo 09.Where I Belong 10.The Oath 11.Slide Show Part1 12.Slide Show Part2 13.Love Grows 14.The Salt Flats 15.Trust Me 16.Silence and Motion 17.Dance with the Balamb-fish 18.Tears of the moon 19.Residents 20.Eyes On Me Disc 4 ====== 01.Mods de Chocobo 02.Ride On 03.Truth 04.Lunatic Pandora 05.Compression of Time 06.The Castle 07.The Legendary Beast 08.Maybe I'm a Lion 09.The Extreme 10.The Successor 11.Ending Theme 12.Overture ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================= XIV)Exclusive Features ======================================================================= To show my thanks to everyone who has been reading this faq, i thought it will be nice of me to share some informations with you and these information are exclusive and can only be found in my faq(s) only. A special thanks to Kaze Yagami for the contributions again. So, wonder what's the information about? Well, it isn't going to be of much help to you in the game but... Are you excited by the idea of riding a train, seeing various train stations that are scattered throughout the Balamb and Galbadia continent? How fast can the train move? Wow, Ragnarok is back. It was once an esper/sword in Final Fantasy VI. How did it become an airship? With such a cool name, are you dying for a ride? Back to the main topic. This section will feature all specifications of Balamb Train and Ragnarok. I will start with Balamb Train first. ~~~Balamb Train Specifications Exclusive Information!!!~~~ ---------------------------------------------------------- Trains are used to move from city to city. It is a gray train with curvaceousness. You can see railways in Balamb and Galbadia Continent One of the trains is double-decked while another one looks very old shaped like a steam locomotive. There is even a special train for SeeD cadet's exclusive use. DATA ----- Name :TEMPEST (TTS-II with turbo shaft engine) Length :144 metres (Estimated the length of 6 cars) Width :4.3 metres Height :6.1 metres Maximum speed:260 kilometres per hour (Km/h) Weight :313 tonnes Capacity :360 passenger ~~~Ragnarok Specifications Exclusive Information!!!~~~ ------------------------------------------------------ ~Super High Mobility Flying Ship "RAGNAROK"~ Made of red body, with the word 'ESTHAR' visible on the body, Ragnarok was made more than twenty years ago. It was highly regarded as one of the strongest flying ships. It was reportedly made secretly in an unknown country. There are at least 2 or more such flying ships of the same kind, with different markings. DATA ---- Highest Output:3450t Lowest Output:2850t Total Length:108m Total Height:54m (Landing) 65m (Cruising) Total Weight:2,850 ton (Without Propellant, Charge and Occupants) 3,134 ton (1/3 Propellant, Full Charge and Occupant) 3,450 ton (Full Propellant, Full Charge and Occupant) Total Wingspan:77m Main Weapon :609mm Electron Particle Beam x 1 Sub Weapon :152mm multi-barrel Laser x 2 Main Engine :Reaction-Type 12-Level Compressor Turbine (Power output 22500kg) x 2 Sub Engine :Reaction-Type 6-Level Compressor Turbine (Power output 24800kg) x 4 Occupant :4 crews (Navigator, wireless operator, cannoneer, and a cox) =>Able to carry more than 10 occupants. Top Speed :11.8km/s, 708km/min, 42480km/h =>Second cosmic velocity;can launch a rocket into space. How? Do you like it? Are you interested about the specifications of these vehicles? Hopefully, you don't think it as a waste of time. I spent the time to type everything out. Hey, come on! Show some appreciation, please? Thanks! The specifications look really cool, in my personal opinion but is that true in the game or in real life, i honestly don't know. What do you think? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================= XV)Frequently-Asked-Question ======================================================================= If you have any questions that you would like to ask me, please read below. You may find your answers to your problems here. More questions will be added to the frequently-asked-question section with each new update of the faq. In future, if you wish to ask any questions, please read through this frequently-asked-question section at least once. From now onwards, i won't entertain anymore questions that can be found here in this section. However, if the questions that you want to ask can be found here and you still cannot solve it, feel free to e-mail me and tell me what your problems are. If you don't describe the problems, then i will not entertain. I hope you can understand that as i want to reduce the number of junk mails that i get almost everyday. One Final Note: =============== If you have any questions, please write an e-mail and send it to my mailbox. Don't take the bother and try to ask me via ICQ because it is likely that i will avoid answering. Of course, chatting is another different matter but that also depends on whether i have the time because i may be occupied with replying e-mails and so on. I found it quite fustrating to answer questions via the ICQ. So to make things easier for me, please send an e-mail instead. Last Updated:30th June 2000 ======================================================================= 1)Why is there a mod chip protection installed in the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII? The mod chip protection is something which prevents modified PlayStation from playing Japanese Final Fantasy VIII. A modified PlayStation breaks the codes and allows the system to play both the US and Japanese games. However, with this mod chip protection, you can't play Japanese Final Fantasy VIII. Note that the US version do not have any mod chip protection. ======================================================================= 2)Why is there a mod chip protection? What's the purpose for? Square wants to curb importers from buying Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII. As for the real reason why, i don't know. Perhaps, Square wants to discourage importers so that they know the exact sales of Final Fantasy VIII in Japan. ======================================================================= 3)How do i overcome mod chip protection? The only way is to use a gameshark. You can refer to the gameshark codes in the gameshark code section. There is another way also but i strongly discourage it. In Asia, where piracy is rampant, they have figured out a way to bypass the mod chip protection. Refer to below for more informations. ======================================================================= 4)How do these people do it? According to my friend who has bought pirated Final Fantasy VIII CDs, the SquareSoft Staff Of Final Fantasy VIII Introduction was taken away from the game. It's the same thing you see in the introduction film you see in the US version. But, you would probably agree with me that this introduction film doesn't mean much at all. The SquareSoft Staff Of Final Fantasy VIII Introduction was taken out because that's where the Mod Chip Protection is being found. Once that's being taken out, you can play Final Fantasy VIII on a modified PlayStation. Since the Mod Chip Protection code is found in all SquareSoft Staff of Final Fantasy VIII, all the SquareSoft Staff of Final Fantasy VIII was taken out from all discs, meaning those who bought the pirated games would miss it. ======================================================================= 5)How many discs does Final Fantasy VIII [PSX] have? Four discs. It's one more disc extra than Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation. ======================================================================= 6)What is the technological advancement Final Fantasy VIII has over Final Fantasy VII? Final Fantasy VII runs in 15 frames per second but Final Fantasy VIII runs in 30 frames per second. As seen from the games, the characters are no longer deformed as before in Final Fantasy VII. ======================================================================= 7)Who is Faye Wong? This is a silly question. She's the most popular singing in Hong Kong and is agruably the best Asia Singer, and well-known as the Heavenly Queen in Asia. If you don't know her, then you are... ======================================================================= 8)What song did Faye Wong sing? Faye Wong was hired by Square to sing the song entitled 'Eyes On Me'. Nobuo Uematsu was told to write a love vocal song for Final Fantasy VIII to suit for the love theme. The song, as expected was 'Eyes On Me.' According to what i know, Square paid a reasonably high amount of money to hire her to sing. ======================================================================= 9)Why did they choose Faye Wong to sing 'Eyes On Me'? At first, they were thinking of who would be suited to sing 'Eyes On Me.' They listened to many albums and they could not find a suitable one until they heard one of Faye Wong's songs. ======================================================================= 10)What is the PocketStation? The Pocketstation is a memory card with a screen, control pad, 2 buttons,and battery powered. It allows you to save your game, as well as play mini games (outside of PS). There is apparently an extra mini-game called 'Choco World' or 'Odekate Chocobo RPG.' Final Fantasy VIII is one of the few games that support a PocketStation. Other few games that support PocketStation includes Metal Gear Solid Integral, Monster Rancher 2 etc. The US Final Fantasy VIII supports PocketStation as well but you need to import a PocketStation directly from Japan, which is quite expensive. ======================================================================= 11)Do you mean that the PocketStation we imported from Japan can play US games? I suppose so! According to Kaze Yagami , he told me that his PocketStation can play both the Choco World for the Japanese and US version. ======================================================================= 12)How much does a PocketStation cost? And, how or where do i import a PocketStation? Honestly, i don't know how or where you can import one. According to Kaze Yagami, a PocketStation is very rare and hard to find and is currently out of stock in Japan. In Singapore, it costs around Sing $70 but the actual price is around Sing $45. This is rather expensive. I don't have a PocketStation so i really don't know much about it. ======================================================================= 13)When is Final Fantasy IX being released? From what i have heard in Final Fantasy:World Apart, the CG for Final Fantasy IX has been completed. Square has also announced that Final Fantasy IX will be released in Japan, right after the release of Dragon Quest VII, meaning we won't see Final Fantasy IX before Dragon Quest VII. Square said that they can't imagine how the whole market will be like when two great RPG franchise, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy is released together. So, they decided to postpone the release date. As for the US release of Final Fantasy IX, the earliest we can wait is until 2001. [Refer to Question #77 for more details!] ======================================================================= 14)Is Final Fantasy VIII a continuation of Final Fantasy VII? Definitely not! Just like tradition, each Final Fantasy has no story connections with the previous incarnations. The same goes to combat system. ======================================================================= 15)When is Final Fantasy VIII released in the US? Final Fantasy VIII has been released in the US on 9-9-99. For those impatient fans, you can preorder a copy first. The European release date is somewhere on late October 1999. So, have you started playing it yet? ======================================================================= 16)Is Edea the final boss? I heard you can use her in the party. No. Edea is not the final boss. Yes. But, she's a temporary character and can only be used in disc 3 for a certain duration. As for her real identity and why she appears as a villain first, i won't comment too much. You find out on your own. ======================================================================= 17)Is there a way to make Seifer into your party again after the Dollet mission? Sorry, no for the time being! And, i am not pretty sure about it. Perhaps, use a gameshark, i suppose. That may applies to getting Edea permanently also. But, that's cheating so i won't consider that this is the proper way to get both Seifer and Edea. ======================================================================= 18)When is PC version of Final Fantasy VIII released? Will the PC version of Final Fantasy VIII has 'Choco World' or 'Odekate Chocobo RPG.'? The PC release has been confirmed and will be released in late January next year in 2000. It has been reported that with the advanced capabilities of the PC, the graphics are far more superior to the PSX version. Of course, you can expect very high requirements to play Final Fantasy VIII on your PC. And, from what i have heard, Final Fantasy VIII for the PC should be out now. ======================================================================= 19)How many discs does Final Fantasy VIII [For the PC] have? A total of five discs. That's what i heard from my friends. The extra fifth disc is the installation disc. The same goes to Final Fantasy VII for the PC, which has four discs, with the fourth disc as the installation disc. ======================================================================= 20)What's the minimum requirement to play Final Fantasy VIII in the PC? You can find more information about Final Fantasy VIII PC version at Final Fantasy: Worlds Apart. The minimum PC requirments to play PC Final Fantasy VIII are: Window 95/98 Compatible System Intel or 100% Compatible CPU Pentium 200 [Pentium II 266 recommended] 32MB RAM [64MB recommended] 8MB 3D Accelerator Graphics Card [16MB recommended] [Highly recommended] 8x CD-ROM Direct 6.1 [Included] DirectSound and DirectMusic compatible sound card The information above is taken from Final Fantasy: Worlds Apart at ======================================================================= 21)Do you think i should buy the PC Final Fantasy VIII even though i already have the PSX version? Of course, if you are a Final Fantasy franchise, go ahead and purchase it to support Square but please buy original game. It's no use buying pirated games. Of course, if you think you have enough of Final Fantasy VIII [like me after playing through it so many times], the PSX version is more than enough. It's advisable if you have a good PC with at least 266 MMX, 3-D accelerator, AWE64 sound card and so on, if not, i suggest you don't buy it or it will look even more terrible than the PSX version. Furthermore, if you are buying a PC version, make sure you have a controller at home. The control will really be sucked if you play it on a keyboard. Besides, a keyboard and a dual shock controller with vibrational function. Which one do you prefer more? The answer is obvious. Dual shock controller, right? Of course, if you do not have a PocketStation, you may consider buying Final Fantasy VIII PC version to play Choco World. ======================================================================= 22)How do i tune up weapon? What is Weapon Monthly Magazine for? Please refer to the advanced tutorial for more details. You can tune up your weapons by finding certain junk items and then tune up at any Junk shops. Also, the Weapon Monthly Magazine tells you what type and the quantity of items needed for you to tune up. ======================================================================= 23)I heard there is a bug in the Japanese Final Fantasy VIII. Is it true? Yes. In disc three, if you don't get Odin within the given time, the disc will freeze. However, this is not a crucial bug since you can collect the Odin at disc 2, or just make a save before entering. Also, there are some rumors that the game will also get jammed if you enter Shumi Tribe in disc 2. Also, there's a bug called Junction bug which allows you to junction one spell to various attributes. Note that all the bugs are applicable to the Japanese version only. The bugs have been fixed in the US version. For more information on Junction Bug, refer to the secret section. Square, however deny that the bugs exist in the Japanese version. ======================================================================= 24)I saw a demo version in the internet of Final Fantasy VIII (Ball Dance) for the PlayStation 2. Is Square going to re-developed Final Fantasy VIII for PlayStation 2. Well, that's a tough question. The ball dance demo is just part of the demo for PlayStation 2. I don't think Square will re-developed Final Fantasy VIII for PlayStation 2. I guess the demo is there to show the capabilities of the PlayStation 2 and tell people how many times advanced it is over PlayStation. ======================================================================= 25)Is PlayStation 2 backwardly compatible true? Will all PlayStation games be enhanced when it is played in PlayStation 2? Yes. PlayStation 2 will be backwardly compatible, meaning all PlayStation games can be played on PlayStation 2. However, Sony has announced that there won't be any enhancements. From what i have heard, PlayStation 2 ultises an emotion engine and it's indeed really very powerful. Talk about realistic facial expressions. The screenshots in Final Fantasy Movie are perfect example. Since PlayStation 2 is backwardly compatible, you can expect to use PlayStation Peripherals like dual shock controller, and even PocketStation too etc on PlayStation 2. That includes even the PocketStation, PDA. ======================================================================= 26)Can PlayStation play PlayStation 2 games? Of course, not! The PlayStation 2 games are more technologically advanced than the PlayStation games. Obviously, the PlayStation can't play the PlayStation 2 games. And, i guess the answer is pretty obvious. If PlayStation can play PlayStation 2 games, what for do we need a PlayStation 2 system? The PlayStation 2, on the other hand, can play PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games. Does that make sense to you? Logical, right? ======================================================================= 27)I heard that there are some PlayStation games that PlayStation 2 can't play it. Is that true? And, what is the PSOne? I heard about it too. This may sound a rather bad news but don't forget that majority of the Japanese PlayStation games still work on the PlayStation 2. Sony has listed about 15 PlayStation games that aren't compatible with PlayStation 2. But, thanksfully, most of the games are old games that aren't really very good. This is more on techical problems. PlayStation 2 is the first console to be able to support backward compatibility. But i believe that in the future PlayStation 2 models, more PlayStation games will be able to be played on the PlayStation 2. The chip works like an emulator for the PlayStation. And, don't forget that there is no emulator yet that can emulate a console successfully, meaning with ALL games on that particular console being compatible and without suffering any slowdowns, common gitches and so on. Therefore, i don't think it's rather surprising. Anyway, Sony is currently testing out thousands of PlayStation games on the PlayStation 2 and we can expect a list of non-compatible PlayStation games on the PlayStation 2 to be released very soon. I sincerely hope that all the technical problems on the PlayStation 2 will be fixed soon and that all PlayStation games can run smoothly on the PlayStation. As for PSOne, I don't really know much. I suppose it is almost the same as your normal PlayStation, except that the size has been reduced to a CD-Player. Looks more cool in design. ======================================================================= 28)When is PlayStation 2 going to be released? PlayStation 2 has already arrived in Japan in 4th March 2000. As for the US release of PlayStation 2, you probably have to wait until late 3rd quarter of the year or early 4th quarter of the year. As for me, i think i am not buying a PlayStation 2 this year, which is 2000. Perhaps, next year, 2001 until the price drops furthur and a modified PlayStation 2, that can play both Japanese and US games, is released. [Hope that a PlayStation 2 that can play all PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, whether it is English or Japanese games, will be released soon.] You can find related information regarding PlayStation 2 in related sites like IGNPS2, www.videogames.com etc. ======================================================================= 29)Now that PlayStation 2 has arrived in Japan, what's your view about it? Do you think that PlayStation 2 can beat Sega Dreamcast and be able to compete with the upcoming Nintendo's Dolphin? And, what do you think about Microsoft's X-Box? Basically, i think the system is awesome. I heard that within two days, more than a million PlayStation 2 has been sold in Japan. For the exact figures, i am not pretty sure. I heard that there was a long queue for people who was purchasing a PlayStation 2. The PlayStation 2 release is indeed a big phenomenon. I heard that import of PlayStation 2 in Japan is now illegal. Well, not really sure if that's true! So, will PlayStation 2 exceeds Sega Dreamcast in terms of sales? I personally believe that this is possible. While Sega is well known for sports and arcade games, Sega Dreamcast lacks RPG genre. As you know, the most popular game genre in Japan is RPG. Furthermore, Working Design will not be producing games for Sega Dreamcast. What does that mean! No lunar games for the Dreamcast. I expect Working Design to continue the lunar series in PlayStation 2, thus furthur expand the PlayStation 2 RPG saga. However, i can't deny the fact that Sega Dreamcast has RPG games like Phantasy Stars etc. However, don't forget about Final Fantasy and Draqon Quest. One Final Fantasy game alone can sell more than ten Sega Dreamcast games or perhaps even more. And, according to Sega, it seems like sales of Sega Dreamcast has started to decline in Japan. Perhaps, it's because that everyone is saving money to buy a PlayStation 2. [Did anyone mention about Square Millennium Show???] As for online gaming, i don't really care much. Of course, the ability to play online games with your friends is cool [Of course, money too.] I personally think that online support isn't that important when it comes to RPG. Of course, i may be wrong. That's just personal opinion. It just makes me wonder how RPGs like Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI are going to provide online support to compete with Sega Dreamcast. Perhaps, just download some datas, i suppose. In my opinion, online support appeals more to outside Japan like US. As for the PlayStation 2 launch games, i think they are incredible. Street Fighter Ex 3, a new Ridge Racer from Namco, Gran Turismo 2000 and so on... Overall, i still can't comment anything as i do not have a PlayStation 2 yet. Keep a look out at Tekken Tag Tournament for the PlayStation 2. I think it will beat Sega Dream- cast's Soul Calibur. And, i suppose Tekken 4 will be on the PlayStation 2. Will Namco make games for Sony PlayStation 2 or Sega Dreamcast? I don't think that Namco will make many games for Sega Dreamcast like Tekken 4 even though Namco's Soul Calibur is on the Dreamcast. That's because no other system can handle Soul Calibur perfectly, other than Sega Dreamcast in 1999, right? Get what i am trying to say? As for Nintendo's Dolphin, I can't comment anything. But, we can be sure that the Nintendo's Dolphin will be on par with the Play- Station 2 in terms of specifications. When Bill Gates announced that Microsoft is making a console system called X-Box, it sent shockwaves to everyone. Hardware manufacturer companies like Nintendo, Sony and Sega, whom have dominated the console market for years are definitely going to be affected by it. MicroSoft may be an expert when it comes to all PC-related stuff. But on how to get as many third-party developers to work on the games for X-Box, MicroSoft does need to learn from these masters like Nintendo and Sony. MicroSoft reveals that the X-Box is twice as powerful as the PlayStation 2 and clearly enough, this poses a threat to the promising future of PlayStation 2. Why? If games like Metal Gear Solid get released in both X-Box and PlayStation 2, the X-Box version of Metal Gear Solid will most likely to be better than PlayStation 2. If more games play and look better in X-Box, the PlayStation 2 will suffer. Given both consoles with the same games to choose, which one will you choose? Definitely, the one which is more powerful. A console needs to have many exclusive games in order to make it a success. PlayStation has many exclusive games like Final Fantasy, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken etc while Nintendo 64 has exclusive games made by Rare, Zelda, Mario, Pokemon and manages to survive in the competition. Still, Sony needs Square more than any other third-party developers. If Square is gone, there will be no Final Fantasties and PlayStation 2 is really hard to be a success as Sony doesn't have many third-party games to keep the PlayStation 2 survive. Remember that games like Final Fantasy sold millions worldwide. The total sales of five ordinary games can't even match up to a sale of just one Final Fantasy game. Square is the triumph card of Sony's future in the console market. Just in case you are interested: Graphics Joypads DVD Storage COMMS X-Box 150m polys/sec 4 Yes 8 GB HD Ethernet/USB PS2 60m polys/sec 2 Yes 8 MB card USB/Firewire Dreamcast 12m polys/sec 4 No 128K VMU 56K modern/Exp Bus ======================================================================= 30)What about Nintendo's Dolphin? I don't know. Nintendo hasn't made any official announcement about Dolphin. But, you can expect it to be a great system, just like PlayStation 2 with many advanced chips. I personally believe that the next Nintendo system will be another name, definitely not Dolphin, which i think it sounds awesome. Dolphin is perhaps just a codename. The new Nintendo system will definitely be on par with PlayStation 2, if not perhaps better. This time, i expect Nintendo's new system to be CD/DVD-based, instead of sticking to the old cartridge format. [Refer to above questions for more details.] Dolphin will definitely be released either in 2001 or even later. ======================================================================= 31)Will Square ever move to Nintendo or Sega? As for Sega, it's very unlikely and i honestly don't wish that to happen. The market in Japan is quite small for Dreamcast yet. There's still a possibility that Square might join Nintendo in future. According to a report, this is what it says: Before the PlayStation came along, Square had a long history of being a very Nintendo-system-centric publisher. It looks like that could soon change as a recent comment made by Square's President, Tomoyuki Takechi, makes it sound like the company might once again be in Nintendo's corner. Square held an event in mid-July to allow the American press to meet with members of design teams behind future US titles like Final Fantasy VIII, Saga Frontier 2 and Vagrant Story. The event was headlined by a speech from Takechi, who started his address with one main note- something we were not expected at all. Square is interested in Nintendo's Dolphin. "The gaming industry is becoming more and more exciting judging from the recent announcement of the next-generation Dolphin machine from Nintendo at E3," he said. The quote by itself could carry little more meaning than Square's surprise to hear of Nintendo's next platform, but when, how and to whom this information was presented makes it all the more curious. As previously stated, this was his first main comment- and it definitely was not prompted by any line of questioning. Takechi clearly wanted to deliver the message of the company's excitement over the system;it was quite unexpected, and frankly a bit surreal. A large reason it was such a surprise was that he delivered this message to the American media, who for the most part tend to read into information far more than the Japanese media. Takechi had to have known that this statement would be construed as something more. When we questioned the Final Fantasy VIII team on whether or not they could see the Final Fantasy series ever returning to a Nintendo platform, they responded saying that while the Dolphin is intriguing, they wouldn't make a decision until they had seen its final specs. Even so, it's extremely interesting to hear Square's excitment over the Dolphin system-that they would go on record in the system's support makes one wonder just how strong their loyalty for Sony is. This report is found in Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue #122 ======================================================================= 32)What is Final Fantasy the Movie? Is it a game? Will Final Fantasy the Movie has some story connections with the past Final Fantasies? No. It's just a movie made by Square using computer-generated graphics. Final Fantasy the Movie will hit the world's theaters in 2001. From what i have heard, Final Fantasy the Movie will star a whole new cast of characters. See the old man in one of the screenshots? It's computer-generated graphics but it's hard to tell the difference between him and a real man. The list of actors who will be providing voices for the movie were recently announced, and include such heavyweights as Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October) and Ving Rhames (Mission:Impossible). Other cast members include Ming-na Wen (Mulan), James Woods (Contact), Donald Sutherland (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Steve Buscemi (Armageddon) and Peri Gilpn (Frasier). Quite a lot of big names for a movie based around a video game world, eh? This $70 million project is currently under way at Square's Hawaii-based studios. [Hopefully, we can to see our famous favourite bird, chocobo in the movie as well.] ======================================================================= 33)I heard about the Final Fantasies Collection and Final Fantasy Anthology? Can you explain to me what is it all about? Final Fantasy Collection is a compilation that contains the Japanese Final Fantasy IV [II in US], Final Fantasy V [Never released in the United States before] and Final Fantasy VI [III in US]. Due to time constraint, Final Fantasy Collection will be released in the United States as Final Fantasy Anthology without Final Fantasy IV and it will contain only Final Fantasy V [Never released in the US] and Final Fantasy VI. To make up for the loss of Final Fantasy IV, Square added a music CD containing favourite scores from Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI. Both Final Fantasy Anthology and Collection are available now. A few enhancments have been made to the game such as CG, a bonus option for Final Fantasy VI etc. ======================================================================= 34)Why isn't Final Fantasy IV released as one of the package in Final Fantasy Anthology? Honestly, i am not sure why. It can be because that there is time constraints. Don't forget that Square needs to translate Final Fantasy VIII at the same time so that Final Fantasy VIII can be released to the market in September. Some say that Square has to cancel off the plans to release Final Fantasy IV in the package, is due to the lengthy text and therefore, more time have to be spent on translating. However, it doesn't make any sense since Final Fantasy IV has been released as Final Fantasy II before. Thirdly, it can be because that there are two versions of Final Fantasy IV, the easy and the hard versions. Final Fantasy Collection had the easy version instead. As for the actual reason why, I am not pretty sure. [But, that goes my chance of having to try Final Fantasy IV.] ======================================================================= 35)Where or how can I draw Apocalypse magics? You can draw Apocalypse magics from Ultimecia: Her Final Form. Besides that, other than using a gameshark to get it, i don't think you can draw it from anywhere else. If anyone knows it, feel free to inform me and I will give you credits. Apocalypse magic is by far the strongest spell, if not slightly more lethal than Ultima magic. But the bad thing is you can only draw it from Ultimecia and that means you cannot junction Apocalypse to your character statistics. ======================================================================= 36)Someone told me about Seifer's R1 gunblade that worked like Squall. Is it true? Yes it is, but timing is a little bit faster, and more difficult. However, his limit break, Fire Cross: No Mercy does not have this R1 feature help like Squall's Renzokuken. ======================================================================= 37)I have problems finding Grasharaboras/Doomtrain. Can you help me? Refer to the G.F list and strategy. You can refer to other faqs or walkthroughs. You need to have 6x Remedy Plus, 6x Steel Pipe, 6x Malboro Tentacle and 1x Solomon's Ring. ======================================================================= 38)Will Square release sequel to games like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana? Yes. Chrono Cross, the sequel to Chrono Trigger and Legend of Mana has been released in Japan. The US version will probably arrive next year. Other games that Square is making includes Vagrant Story, Parasite Eve, Dew Prism and so on. You can expect all to be a great game. However, sadly, the team from Dragon Quest will not be helping Square to develop Chrono Cross. As you know, Akira Toriyama (fame for Dragonball) is responsible for the character design in Chrono Trigger. One look at Crono, and you will notice that his hair, appearance resembles Goku, a character from Dragonball. As Akira Toriyama has to help Enix for Dragon Quest VII, he is unable to help Square in the Chrono Cross project. Anyway, you can expect all games to be great! ======================================================================= 39)Do you know there is a comic based on Final Fantasy VIII? Indeed, this is true. The comic is being released in Hong kong, and will follow every plot in Final Fantasy VIII. Thanks to Kaze Yagami who told me about the existence of the comics. If anyone wants to know more about Final Fantasy VIII, this is a good chance now, provided that you know how to read chinese word characters. Also, the comic can also be found in Singapore. However, you must be warned that the comic can be misleading in certain plots. And, it's not officially licensed by Square and from what i have heard, due to copyrights, the comics have been banned, even in Hong Kong. Right now, i don't think i can find any more Final Fantasy VIII comics in Singapore. The new issues aren't coming anymore... ======================================================================= 40)When is PocketStation released in the United States? Probably 2000 or later. Sony hasn't made any announcement yet. You just have to wait and see. ======================================================================= 41)I heard that the loading times are extremely long for Final Fantasy Anthology/Final Fantasy Collection. Yes. The load times are extremely long, even longer than Final Fantasy VII and VIII. I have Final Fantasy Anthology and i think Final Fantasy VI has the longest load times. Many people were very displeased with the long loadings. Both Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI suffer serious slowdowns. ======================================================================= 42)Where can i find Card Queen in disc four? You mention that it is in Abandon Plains. I have searched almost everywhere but to no avail and Abandon Plains is just too big. The Queen is found in the escape retrieval pod in Abandon Plains just at the southern most tip of Esthar Continent. It's invisible in the world map. Simply land your Ragnarok nearby and make your way to the southern tip. The world map screen will change to the field screen and you should see card queen. I got several mails, asking me about the exact location of Card Queen. The location is rather tricky. Notice that the major region of Esthar Continent is being surrounded by huge wire frames or walls. It's located just outside this major region in the south. Try going into the main menu and check if you are in Abandon Plains. [Assuming if you are outside this 'major region'!] Then, just land your Ragnarok and walk south. I have to admit i do have problems finding the Card Queen at first. Just be patient! If you simply just walk along the southern tips, you will definitely encounter Card Queen. The location is the same as where you discover Piet in in disc three. Refer to my basic card guide for more details. ======================================================================= 43)I can't seem to figure out the riddles or puzzles in a particular Chocobo Forest? Refer to Scott Ong's faq/walkthrough. He has typed out a very precise and detailed solution to solve the riddles in each Chocobo Forest. Therefore, i won't be going through this. ======================================================================= 44)What's wrong with your Crisis level theory? At Dollet city, when Seifer is at 100% of his HP with the two other remaining party members dead, i can use Seifer's limit breaks all the time. You don't really need to have 84% of his total HP? Bingo! The theory is correct but it's just that you have forgotten something. You did mention that two other members are dead, did you? If you look at the negative status bonus table in the limit break section, you should notice that it will increase your crisis level up by 16%. So, 84% + 16%= 100%. Doesn't that prove the theory? If you still don't believe, try reviving your two other members alive and check if you still can use limit break when Seifer is at 100% of his max HP. Of course, the same concepts applies to everybody, without using any Aura spell. ======================================================================= 45)I can't defeat Omega Weapon! He's too strong! I can't believe it. You can actually beat Omega Weapon without using any Hero Drink or Holy Wars Drink or summon a Guardian Force, Phoenix. Refer to the secret section in my basic guide or my weapon faqs if you really need help. If you want to find out how to get Hero Drink or Holy Wars Drink, you can find it in my weapon faqs too or at the additional section. The process of refining is rather tedious and take quite a lot of time. Anyway, good luck! Lastly, i can't believe it! People are too relying on Hero Drinks or Holy Wars Drink. Even game guides written from certain game magazines said that you need to use Hero Drinks. The fact is i have beaten Omega Weapon several times without using any of these items. ======================================================================= 46)I have forgotten to draw a particular Guardian Force? How do i get the Guardian Force back? [Very Frequently-Asked] If you are playing the Japanese version, you can't redraw it again, meaning you can only use a gameshark. But, if you are playing the US version, you can redraw it from the enemies in Ultimecia Castle in disc 4. This method applies only to the US version. The list of Guardian Forces that can be redraw at disc 4 are Siren, Carbuncle, Leviathan, Pandemona, Cerberus, Alexander and Eden. only. Refer to my US/Japanese/Demo version differences faq if you want to know more about the good and bad points of this redrawing. Also, i have added in the names of sub-bosses which you can draw Guardian Forces from in my Basic Guide faq, as well as my Boost/Compatibility faq. ======================================================================= 47)Hey, you are wrong for saying that once you have forgotten to draw a Guardian Force, as you can draw them in disc 4 at Ultimecia Castle. You can draw these Guardian Forces from the respective sub-bosses in Ultimecia Castle...blah...blah...blah... [Hmm... it seems endless to me!!!] Hmm... i know your good intentions. Thanks for describing everything so detail. This is just an example of a junk mail. Sorry, i am not criticising you but......... Did i ever say i don't know that? I am saying that for the Japanese version, if you miss drawing a Guardian Force, the Guardian Force will be gone forever unless you use a gameshark. Only the US version [and perhaps the PC version as well] has this feature that allows you to draw your Guardian Forces in disc 4 at Ultimecia Castle. Get that? ======================================================================= 48)Is it possible to get Guardian Force, Griever? Very unlikely! It could just be a rumor. Anyway, don't worry about this! However, Griever has an attack called Shockwave Pulsar. It's her strongest attack. Quistis can learn Shockwave Pulsar if you can find one Dark Matter. Shockwave Pulsar is Quistis's strongest limit break, which can deal past 9999HP. ======================================================================= 49)What is the use of Amnesia Greens? Basically, all the 16 Guardian Forces can learn only up to a maximum of 22 abilities. Now, in case you think that one of the ability is useless and wants the Guardian Force to learn another useful ability, for example Revive. First, use Amnesia Greens to make the Guardian Force forget that ability. Then, use Phoenix Spirit and your Guardian Force will learn the Revive command. ======================================================================= 50)I have sold the Magical Lamp? What can i do? What about Diablos? Sorry, i really don't know. I haven't tried to sell it before. ======================================================================= 51)How do i get Proof of Friendship and Mog's Amulet? I don't know. Please don't ask me anything that has to do with PocketStation. I have already stated everything i know about PocketStation in my faqs. I don't have a PocketStation so you have come to the wrong person. I strongly advise you to ask other people around, especially for those who has written a PocketStation faq. If you don't have a PocketStation and wants to play the Choco World, buy the PC version instead. ======================================================================= 52)How or where can i find all the four Occult Fans and what is the use of them? You can find information on the four Occult fan in my Basic guide faq or my Boost/Compatibility faq. The four Occult fans tell you hints about certain Guardian Forces, particularly Doomtrain. ======================================================================= 53)I am now in disc four and i discovered that i have missed the last two Occult Fan, which are Occult III and IV. What should i do? Can i get them again? Sorry, no! Once you miss these two Occult Fans, III and IV, you can't get them again in disc 4. Anyway, don't worry! You don't really need these four Occult Fans to get all the Guardian Forces. You can really do without them. ======================================================================= 54)What's the use of collecting Combat King Magazines, Pet Pal Magazines and Timber Magazines? It lets you learn new limit breaks for Zell and Rinoa. Refer to my limit break section in basic guide faq or my limit breaks faq for more details. Timber Magazines tell you more informations about Laguna. Remember he's a journalist and has been to many places. The timber magazines are basically a record of his journey, nothing much! You can view it by going to the Balamb network in the classroom of Balamb Garden. ======================================================================= 55)You idiot! What kind of final Fantasy expert are you? Do you know how to solve Obel Lake mystery? Why do you ask me to refer to Scott Ong's walkthrough/faq Part II? Is it that you don't know? This is an example of a junk mail i got and the critics i received. I do know about the Obel Lake mystery and i have solved it quite long ago. To my surprise, there are quite a number of people asking me about Obel Lake mystery. To make things short, the process of finding the rocks and treasures are quite long and i am LAZY to describe everything in detail so i ask you to refer to Scott Ong faq. This is because he has written quite a detail explanation on how to solve Obel Lake mystery. Yes, if there is 1 person asking, i don't mind typing but how about four to five or even ten persons? All right, the way to solve Obel Lake mystery can be found in my basic guide faq in the secret section. You might want to refer to Scott Ong's faq for more information. So, enough of agruments? ======================================================================= 56)I know of a good way to beat Ultima weapon. Use hero drink on your characters and Ultima weapon will not be able to hurt you. Hey, come on! Isn't that obvious? Why waste the trouble and use a precious Hero drink on just a 'little troublesome' weapon when you can finish it off with just a few hits of Renzokuken and Armageddon Fist? [Hey, i didn't even use one single hero drink or holy wars drink when i beat Omega weapon, so why use these items when beating against Ultima weapon?] ======================================================================= 57)How do i get Squall's Lion Heart? This is a question which i always refuse to answer because i got the same questions everyday from my mailbox. Just look around and scan through other faqs. ======================================================================= 58)How do i get Quistis's Shockwave Pulsar limit break? Look at my basic guide faq on the limit break section or my limit break faq. ======================================================================= 59)How do i get Pulse Ammo, Energy Crystal, Dragon Fang, Admantine etc? Again, it's the same thing. Just scan through other faqs. I am tired of repeating these over and over again. I hope you can understand that. ======================================================================= 60)What's the use of collecting cards? There isn't really any rewards. However, through Quezacotl's card mod ability, you can convert certain rare cards to some rare items. For example, one is converting 1x Laguna card to 100x Hero drinks, and another one is converting 1x Gilgamesh card to 10x Holy Wars. Both Hero drinks and Holy Wars drinks are a valuable assets, especially when you are fighting against tough bosses like Omega Weapon. Of course, if you are good, you can don't use it. But, don't skip playing the card games just because it does not have any rewards. In my opinion, it's far more rewarding than the lame mini-games in Final Fantasy VII, [Other than Chocobo breeding which i really love it!] in terms of strategic thinking. And, if you really want to enjoy Final Fantasy VIII to the fullest, you can't miss the card game. ======================================================================= 61)What's the use of the organ found in Ultimecia Castle? Go to the organ and choose to play the organ. Press L1, R1, L2, R2, Circle, Square, X, Triangle simulaneously. Now, exit to return back to the courtyard and take the passage to the right. You will notice that the hole in the wall to the right is now opened. Enter and it will lead you to another new area. Walk through the passage and at the next screen, search the top-right corner of the screen for a Rosetta Stone. ======================================================================= 62)Hey, can you tell me where are all the locations of the bosses found in Ultimecia Castle so that i can unlock all my abilities, save option and so on, as well as telling me how to beat those bosses? It seems like i got more than one such mails. I will not be so STUPID to list down all the locations of the bosses and tell you HOW to beat them. If you are in need of help in finding or beating a boss, tell me the name of the boss and be more specific why you can't find it or can't beat it and i will help you. Several of the bosses are pretty obvious to find and easy to beat and it will be a waste of time typing. I will rather do other work, such as doing my school homework or revision, spent my time updating faqs or writing reviews etc. Get that? Should you need help in Ultimecia Castle, refer to walkthroughs or other faqs such as those written by Scott Ong. ======================================================================= 63)Can you tell me the passwords? I enter an art gallery at Ultimecia Castle and there are many paintings around. I am at a loss and don't know what to do. Press the confirmation button to view all the paintings if you wish, but most importantly, these three paintings must be viewed. They are Vivdarium, Intervigilium and Viator. Wonder how do you derive at the password? It's pretty obvious! Take a look at the clock and take note of the messages found in the paintings. You should be able to figure out the passwords, if not, see below. Next, go to left wall on the first floor and input all these passwords in order: Vivdarium, Intervigilium and Viator. You will then encounter a boss fight with Trauma. ======================================================================= 64)Have you ever heard of the Battle/Character/GF Report? If yes, why didn't you mention it in your faqs? Yes. I did know it very long ago. But, it is just that i am too lazy to mention these things in my faqs. Anyway, those report cards aren't really much important, in my opinion. These reports simply give you summary of what you have done such as how many steps you have taken, how many battles you have encountered and so on. You can really do without them and i mean it! If you want more information on these reports, please refer to Scott Ong's faq/walkthrough part II. And, just to let you know, i have just added some information regarding these Report cards recently. So, don't argue anymore! ======================================================================= 65)Why isn't Ward present in Laguna scenario at the Trabia Canyon? That depends on the Timber Maniacs. Refer to below for more details. There are two Timber Maniacs you can find in Balamb but you can only pick one up (the other one will disappear). One is as above in the hotel, and the other is in the train station. Reading the one at the hotel will cause Laguna to get drunk in the later event, while choosing the one at the station will not. Dialogues between Laguna and his friends will also be slightly changed. If you read the TimberManiac in Shumi Village before you cleared the Laguna Trabia Canyon event, Ward will not be in the party in the Trabia Canyon event. You can view his saga at the Balamb Garden Network homepage hosted by Selphie. ======================================================================= 66)I can't beat Sorceress Adel? Can you help me? Hmm...i am not pretty sure why some people find Sorceress Adel hard to beat. Perhaps, that has to do with the method of junctioning. In fact, i find Sorceress Adel to be one of the easiest bosses in Final Fantasy VIII. Anyway, your aim is to kill Sorceress Adel without letting Rinoa hurt. Sorceress Adel will drain Rinoa's HP. So, it's advisable that you don't use spells like Ultimas, Meteors, or summon any Guardian Forces as this will hurt Rinoa too and that you use cure spells to heal Rinoa's HP periodically. Should Rinoa get kill, it will be "Game Over" for you. My advise is use physical attacks on Sorceress Adel. It is best that Squall has 100x Ultimas junctioned to his strength and have Lion Heart equipped so that he can have the maximum strength. Let the other characters use their physical attacks on Adel too and perhaps, one should use cure spell on Rinoa periodically. Remember the secret to win this fight lies on physical strength and the ability to protect your comrade. It is best to have all the priorities given to strength. So, if you can achieve that, this fight is a piece of cake. ======================================================================= 67)Can you tell me where i can find Island closest to Hell and Island Closest to Heaven? Or Can you recommend me a place where i can easily stock powerful magics? First, it was the Japanese version, then the US version and finally, the PC version. How many times do i need to repeat? My hand is almost numbed as i typing. Anyway, i am just trying to vent out my fustration. I am going to repeat this ONE LAST TIME. To get to Island Closest to Hell and Island Cloest to Heaven, you need the Ragnarok airship, therefore you can only go there from disc three onwards after the Lunar Base incident. Island Closest to Hell is a long stretch of island located in the most eastern part of the world. It is directly east of Galbadia Continent, or be more specific, Deling City. Island Closest to Heaven is north of the Lunar Gate and east of Trabia Garden. It is a rather small island found in the north- eastern part of the world. Also, it is north of the Grandidi Forest, that huge patch of forest north of Esthar Continent. Notice that there are quite a few islands there? Yes, one of them is Island Closest to Heaven. Both Island Closest to Hell and Island Of Heaven have countless hidden draw points but also populated with tough monsters ripe for spell drawing. The monsters there give a lot of experiences and AP and are some good places for levelling up. The monsters that can be found there include Ruby Dragon, Blue Dragon, Malboro and so on. Just in case, you do not wish to fight and want to stock up good spells, equip Encounter-None and perhaps also Siren's Move/Find ability. Then simply walk around the island and rapidly press the confirmation button to draw magics from drawpoints. Of course, the most basic thing that you need to do before you can draw magics, is to let your character equip the draw command, right? ======================================================================= 68)Where can i find Admantine and Blue Dragon? Blue Dragon can be found in Island Closest to Hell. [Refer to above for more details.] To get Admantine, one of the ways is to defeat Admantoise in Long Horn Island. [Remember the huge turtles in Final Fantasy VII?] Did you see an island place horizontally north of Galbadia Continent? That's the place. Long Horn Island is located northwest of Dollet City. And, take note that it can only be accessed by Ragnarok alone. Simply walk along the coast and you will encounter huge turtles, Admantine. Remember to steal Whisper from Adamantine, which is one of the blue magic item for Quistis's limit break. Whisper allows Quistis to learn White Wind. ======================================================================= 69)Why can't i enter the towns or cities at disc four? Now, i can't play anymore card games. Remember that Squall and the party is undergoing some sort of time compression? The place maybe the same but the era is different. Take some time to think about it! ======================================================================= 70)Hey, i took your advice and i had been stealing or defeating a certain monster, yet i still can't get the item i want? [Often ask, especially when that person is finding certain item(s) to remodel his weapon or learn Quistis's blue magic.] Depending on your average party's level, the level of the monsters is variable. This is due to parallel levels. At different levels, the monsters drop different items. Get it? And, because of this, you may consider using Tonberry's Level Up or Level Down ability to adjust the monster(s)' levels so as to get the item(s) that you want. ======================================================================= 71)Then, do you have a list of what items the monsters will drop at different levels? Sorry, i don't have it. You might want to refer to other faqs. ======================================================================= 72)Do you have a world map of Final Fantasy VIII? If i have a scanner, i won't be repeating myself, answering the same questions over and over again. Get what i mean? ======================================================================= 73)I am playing the Final Fantasy VIII PC version. Your faqs covers the PlayStation version. Can you list down the configuration for the PC version? Hmm... i am sorry! First of all, I do not have the PC version. I have gone to my one of my friends' house who has a copy of Final Fantasy VIII PC version. He simply shows me the game for about a few minutes. As for the PC version configuration, i am not really sure. Unless I have a copy of PC version and that many people have requested me to list down the configuration, if not, i don't think i will do it. Till then, I didn't get that many requests. Other than confguration differences, the rest should more or less be the same. Try reading the instruction manual. This might help you. ======================================================================= 74)I know of a good way to defeat the fake president of Deling, Gergero. Use phoenix Down to end the fight as soon as possible. And, if you have already known this, what's your excuse for not putting this in your faq? Please give me credits for that. I already know this beforehand. The reason why i didn't add this information to my faq is because it's not related to what i want to put in my faqs. I am not writing a walkthrough faq and neither do i write a boss faq. So, do you think this is neccessary??? This is an example of another junk mail that i do not wish to get. I am not criticising you or whatever. I appreciate that for telling me but...... I hope i didn't offend anyone. Even if you don't use Phoenix Down, the fight with Gerogero is pretty easy. Besides, you can take your time to draw some good spells from him. Get that??? ======================================================================= 75)I can't seem to get Guardian Force, Cactuar. That's because he ran away when I wanted to fight him. Can you explain why and tell me what i should do? To get Guardian Force, Cactuar, you need to defeat Jumbo Cactuar in the desert area at Cactuar Island. You should see a small green Cactuar that juts out of the island. Go into contact with it to encounter a fight with Jumbo Cactuar. The reason why Jumbo Cactuar runs away is because you take too long to defeat him. When a message flashes across the screen and says something like, "Jumbo Cactuar is hesitating..." it indicates that Jumbo Cactuar is about to run away. When this message pops up, keep attacking him, preferably using water attacks or summon Guardian Force, Leviathan as Jumbo Cactuar is weak against water. This will prevent Jumbo Cactuar from running away. So, should he run away, too bad for you because you have to fight all over again. Is that clear enough for you??? ======================================================================= 76)Can you make a Final Fantasy VIII faq based on the PC version??? Sorry, no!!! As mentioned in the above question, I don't have a copy of Final Fantasy VIII for the PC and it's very unlikely that i will buy one. If you want a faq for the PC, try asking other faq writers. Perhaps, Scott Ong, Aya Brea...??? I am not sure if they have Final Fantasy VIII PC version but it's worth giving a try by asking them. ======================================================================= 77)What is/are your opinion(s) of Square's release of screenshots of Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, and Final Fantasy XI in the Square Millennium Show? Hmm...recently, i got quite a lot of mails from people asking me for information about Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI. When i took a look at the message boards found in gamefaqs, i was rather surprised to see people discussing about Square and the future Final Fantasies. I didn't know what happen then, until i surfed the net and knew about the Square Millennium Show. I expected Square to release information about Final Fantasy IX but......... Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI- indeed a real surprise! What can i say? Do you think it is possible for Square to work on all three Final Fantasies at the same time? Definitely, impossible. But think about it, Square has a respectable reputation for making RPG games. I am sure many talented developers are waiting in a long queue for a chance to join Square. That's what Square normally does. Luring talented developers and make games like Tobal No. 1, Final Fantasy Tactics etc for them. I am not criticising Square. But, with a large number of staff, there may be a possibility. I don't know. Final Fantasy IX will be released for the PlayStation in Japan this summer, followed by both Final Fantasy X and XI for PlayStation 2 in subsequent years. Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI are said to have online support. [Compete with Dreamcast, huh?] How this online will be liked, i am not pretty sure. Perhaps, some sort of downloading certain datas from the internet. Perhaps, the greatest excitement is about Final Fantasy IX. Why? First of all, i heard a rumour saying that Yoshitaka Amano will be back to design the artworks for Final Fantasy IX. I also heard that Final Fantasy IX will feature deformed characters. But, don't worry! It's not something like the deformed polygonal characters in Final Fantasy VII. I suppose it's going to be animated using some textures or shading. I am not pretty sure. It could be wrong too! Anyway, with Yoshitaka Amano, the legendary artist that makes Final Fantasy dream possible, you can expect the artworks to be great, right? Secondly, according to certain sources, I heard that Final Fantasy IX will have CRYSTALS and the plot will be more like tradition instead of having a futuristic setting. [Did anyone mention Final Fantasy V?] And, there's also black wizards in this fantasy world of IX. [Does that give a hint that the widely successful Job system or Ability Point system will be back?] Obviously, these could be just a rumour. I can't confirm it either. So, don't blame me. Perhaps, only when the final version comes, then the mystery can unfold. If not, at least a demo game, please? Now, here comes the sad news. I am not sure if i am right! So, don't blame me. I heard that Nobuo Uematsu will be retiring. What does that mean? Does that mean that Nobuo Uematsu will not compose any tunes for the upcoming Final Fantasy IX or even future Final Fantasies? Nobuo Uematsu is by far my second favourite composer, with Yasunori Mitsuda ranking top. It's sad to hear that and let's hope that this is not true and that Nobuo Uematsu is just taking a break! This is just my speculation. The screenshots of Final Fantasy IX to Final Fantasy XI aren't many so we can't really judge and conclude anything from it. But, one thing we can conclude is that. Square has already planned for the future. What do I mean? Perhaps, they have already developed a plot for both Final Fantasy X and XI but have not started on making them yet. Possible, right? All they show was the FMV or CG, not even a single combat scene or whatever. [Surely, before you start making an RPG game, you need to write out the plot first and plan everything, right? Perhaps, there are exceptions. A talented game developer who can plan the story and design the game at the same time. Yuji Hori? I don't know.] Anyway, it's a good thing that Square has planned everything beforehand, right? So, when Final Fantasy IX is finished, they can immediately start work on Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI without wasting any unneccessary time on planning, right? Lastly, i have to stress that this is just sheer guessing. It could be right or wrong. I don't know. Indeed, the Square Millennium Show is full of surprises. Yeah, a surprise from Square to start the millennium. [Does that indicate anything?] ======================================================================= 78)Why is there a word, 'Final' in the series yet the series never seem to end? This is actually history. I can guarantee that almost 8 out of 10 who has played at least one Final Fantasy out of these eight gams don't know why it is called 'Final.' For more information, you can refer to other sites like www.videogames.com. There is a feature there, covering on the history of Role Playing Games. Okay, just in case, you are interested. I will briefly describe it. Many years back, Square was on the verge of closing down. They needed a game that would really sell. They saw Enix's Dragon Quest and the sales were a big phenomenon in Japan. For your information, Yuji Hori did the script for Dragon Quest and Akira Toriyama [Fame and Creator of Dragon Ball!] did all the artworks. Creator of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi had an intuition. Why not create something like Enix's Dragon Quest and improve the basic formula of the game? "Will the game sell?" his boss asked. Hironobu Sakaguchi replied, "Yes!" Together with Yoshitaka Amano, responsible for Final Fantasy artworks, and Nobuo Uematsu, the famous composer, began work on this so-called 'Final' game and if this 'Final' game wasn't a hit, Square is finished. The 'final' game was then known as 'Final Fantasy.' Luckily, the first Final Fantasy managed to sell quite well, though sales in Japan didn't exceed that of Dragon Quest but it managed to keep Square alive. So, do you think there is a need to change the series to 'Immortal Fantasy?' I suppose no. As long as there is Final Fantasy fanchise and Square maintains the quality, Final Fantasy series will never end. However, Yoshitaka Amano wasn't involved in creating artworks for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII. I really hope that Yoshitaka Amano will be back again. [Hmm... I heard a rumour saying that Yoshitaka Amano will be designing the artworks for Final Fantasy IX. Hopefully, this is true!!!] ======================================================================= 79)What is the difference between Square and SquareSoft? Square is the main developer of this mega RPG franchise in Japan. They are responsible for developing games and that includes hiring a programmer, graphic designer and so on. Square publish the games they made in Japan. SquareSoft is the main headquarter of Square in the United States, responsible for translating Square games. In 1998, Square and Electronic Arts merged to form a new company called Square Electronic Art or SquareEA for short, which is responsible for publishing Square titles in the United States, as well as in European countries. [Thanks to SquareEA as we will able to see Square's masterpiece, Xenogears in 1998 to reach the United States.] Games that have been published by SquareEA includes Parasite Eve, Brave Fencer Musashi, Final Fantasy Anthology, Final Fantasy VIII and so on. There is also another headquarter in Honolulu Hawaii called Square U.S.A. And, note that since 1992, Square of Japan has been changed to SquareSoft of Japan. ======================================================================= 80)I heard that there is a program which allows you to view PlayStation CGs in your PC. Is it true? The URL is http://www.phoenix.net/~feldon/psxvideo.html Indeed, you can. Go to the above URL to download the programs and read the explanations there to understand how to use it. CGs or FMVs are created in .Str files and what the program does is to read these .Str files. Both PSXVideo and PSXPlay allows you to view any PlayStation CGs that are in .Str format on your PC. PSXVideo allows you to take screenshots. However, you must bear in mind that you will need a CDFind file to extract .Str files into your hard drive. And, note that .Str files very huge and it's all about hundreds of megabytes. ======================================================================= 81)Where or how can i find older Final Fantasy games? You can try and download a Nes or a SNES emulator, as well as the roms from the internet. A Nes/SNES emulator is a program which allows you to play Nes/SNES games on your PC. But, you need the rom to play the games. Rom is actually the game itself. There are quite a number of emulators available that are designed to play various console games such as ZSNES emulator to play SNES games, Bleem to play PS games and so on. Simply type in either emulator or rom in any search engine and you will have a whole list of sites which you can refer to. ======================================================================= 82)When did you actually start writing a faq? It was actually more than a year in November'1998. I was reading Henry Chan's faq on Tactics Orge and an idea suddenly struck me! At that time, i had just passed my 15th birthday. [Right now, i am 16.] I was playing the US version of Brave Fencer Musashi at that time. Somehow, there wasn't any strategy guides available for the US Brave Fencer Musashi so i decided to give it a try. Though it wasn't a school project, writing a faq is a pretty challenging task for me. My second faq was of course Final Fantasy VIII demo. Since i have the demo disc packed with Brave Fencer Musashi, i decided to start off with my second faq. My third faq will be Final Fantasy VIII, followed by Metal Gear Solid Integral and Thousand Arms. I am a huge Final Fantasy fan and i imported the Japanese version as well and decided to write a Basic Guide on it. However, there were many errors in my faq since the game was Japanese and special thanks to Kaze Yagami for clearing up my doubts. Between September'1999 and November'1999, i was having a major exam so i stopped writing faqs for several months until December'1999. Right now, i have written quite a few faqs on Brave Fencer Musashi, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy VIII Demo and Metal Gear Solid Integral, as well as several reviews on my favourite games at www.gamefaqs.com. Feel free to give me any comments! ======================================================================= 83)Which game do you think have taken the PlayStation technology to extreme limits? It's either Gran Turismo 2 or Metal Gear Solid. Gran Turismo 2's graphic is truly awesome, with a more advanced Al than its original. But, in terms of graphics, Al, ram memory, creativity, sound effects, music, voices, i will nominate Metal Gear Solid. It's truly an original game. It's not Resident Evil or Parasite Eve style. The setting of the game is quite similar to most Hollywood films and that's what i like about it. [Reminds me of Bond and Jackie Chan.] And then, the ability to view in first person mode, take photos, view in the scope mode are incredible. Metal Gear Solid took around two years to be completed, but sadly, the game can be completed in less than 7 hours. According to Hideo Kojima, he wanted to make a short game for Metal Gear Solid. Hideo Kojima probably felt that there were things left unfinished, therefore returned with the essential "director's cut" called Metal Gear Solid Integral. I suppose you will agree with me that Metal Gear Solid has a lot of potential. Just look at the wish list. It's interesting to see what Konami can do to Metal Gear as technology improves, especially with superconsoles looming over the horizon like PlayStation 2 and Dolphin. And, I can't forget about Square's latest hit, Vagrant Story- the game that surpasses even Metal Gear Solid in terms of realism, Al. The characters' motion are so well-captured and the cutscenes appear seamlessly. Square is heading the right direction if you want to talk about realism. Square seems determined in bridging the gaps between movie production and videogames fields and based on their recent games, they are very close to doing it. ======================================================================= 84)Which Final Fantasies have you played before? Do you plan to write any faqs for other Final Fantasies? I have completed only Final Fantasy V to VIII. As for Final Fantasy I and IV, I haven't finished these two games yet. Final Fantasy V was my first Final Fantasy and I loved it. Final Fantasy VI was even better. My favourite Final Fantasy series is of course, Final Fantasy VI. I do hope to write a faq on Final Fantasy VI in future but considering that there are quite a number of faqs already, I guess it is really not neccessary for me to write a Final Fantasy VI faq. ======================================================================= 85)Why do you think that Final Fantasy VI is the best? I think all the four Final Fantasies i have played are great. Each game has a different emphasise. The combat systems, storylines are different in each incarnation and it's hard to compare. Anyway, i just share with you some of my opinions. Hmm... I didn't have a chance to finish FFIIj and FFIIIj. As for FFI and FFIV, I played the game halfway many years back. Anyway, never mind! Note that i only count the 8 Final Fantasy games so I will exclude Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest and Final Fantasy Tactics. Here's my ranking of all the Final Fantasy i have played: 1.Final Fantasy VI 2.Final Fantasy V 3.Final Fantasy VII 4.Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy V has a very deep storyline. The Job system is definitely one of the best combat systems. Square took the concepts from the past Final Fantasies and further modified it. There are at least 100+ of abilities, giving more than enough flexibility for strategies. Countless strategies, even more than Final Fantasy VI. Countless sidequests just like most other Final Fantasies. Even the highly strategy-RPG game, Final Fantasy Tactics took the job system from Final Fantasy V. The music is really good and the crystal tune is definitely one of my favourites. The graphic, overall is quite good, considering that it's a game made in 1992. And then, there are flying black chocobo, dragons and so on. Final Fantasy VI has one of the best storylines. It's the first RPG that i played that really handles relationships that well. Well, not love relationship. But, kins [Cyan lost his family], friendship and so on. The story unfolds in a very mature way and each character's destiny is very well described in the game. Each character has his or her own music themes and it's hard to decide who is the main lead character as everyone seems to be so. The games that really come close to Final Fantasy VI in terms of story are Chrono Trigger and Xenogears. The graphic has improved tenfolds over its previous incarnations. Just look at Final Fantasy V and VI and the graphics are asolutely a vast difference. The mode 7 effects in the Phantom Train, Opera scene and so on are very well, making it one of the most memorable game i have ever played. I like kefka's humor too. I think there's no villains that come really close to him, not even Sephiroth or Ultimecia. The combat system, in my opinion is very innovative with abilities like Blitz, Tools. Just like Final Fantasy V, there are certain strategies that you need to use to beat certain bosses and enemies. The combat system, particularly Esper system, is simple enough to understand compared to complex combat system like Materia and Junction. Final Fantasy VII's prerendered background was beautiful but it lacked exploration. The characters were too deformed and the designers weren't able to portray the characters' expressions, feelings, emotions quite well when compared to games like Final Fantasy VIII. The Materia system, limit break system were something very innovative. The highly-successful Materia provides more than enough flexibility to create materia combinations and come out with many different strategies. The integration of CG was something cool and it makes Final Fantasy VII play more like a cinematic RPG than a traditional RPG. Honestly, i didn't really like the prerendered backgrounds. In some areas, because of the camera view, the character really looks very tiny. [Mainly Cloud!] Combat system moved from 2-D to polygons and Square had to reduce the party from four to three so that more details can be paid to the individual characters during combat system. Nevertheless, Final Fantasy VII has a decent storyline, though it is way too much on the futuristic side. There are quite a lot of sidequests and mini-games like Chocobo breeding, Gold Saucer and so on which i found it really cool! Final Fantasy VIII continues the direction that Final Fantasy VII is. The story focuses around a love theme. The characters are no longer deformed and polygons and are nicely-textured. This allows the designers to portray the characters' feelings, emotions etc through their behaviours, actions, facial expressions and so on. The setting is unlike most other traditional RPGs and creates a new level of maturity. There are more CGs than Final Fantasy VII and it really looks very awesome than Final Fantasy VII. The details on the prerendered backgrounds have been raised. Still, the prerendered backgrounds lack the exploration that 2-D and 3-D polygonal RPGs have. To replace the lame mini-games found in Final Fantasy VII, Square has created a mini-card game in Final Fantasy VIII. Honestly, i didn't think much about the card game until i really got serious in it. You can easily tell that it isn't going to be a simple card game designed for three years old kids, especially with complex rules like Plus, Same and so on. In my opinion, Final Fantasy VIII has a major breakthrough over traditional RPGs. It keeps some of the traditional elements like chocobos, vehicles etc while introducing new concepts like SeeD Ranking, Draw, Junction and modifying existing concepts like Guardian Forces by introducing concepts like compatibility, Boost and so on. Which RPGs you have played so far do not have the MP system, armour and so on? Perhaps, only Final Fantasy VIII. Sadly, Final Fantasy VIII is still not flawless. The Junction system allows you to customise your characters using magics, the first of any RPGs but because of that, the Draw system has to be introduced. The draw system is mainly what most people complaint about and a reason why most people prefers the traditional MP system. Tired of drawing magic spells. Me too sometimes! But, think about it, if magic is not measured in 'quantity', meaning how many magic spells are stocked, how are you going to introduce the Junction system. The music, in my opinion, is quite good, especially with 'Eyes On Me' around. Somehow, the tunes weren't that catchy as the past Final Fantasies and not everyone can appreciate it. Liberi Fatali is an example. It has a lot of meanings in it but... And, let me just give you a piece of advice. If you really want to enjoy Final Fantasy VIII to the fullest, then you really must play the card games. I know that a lot of people didn't play the card game because they thought it was useless but in my opinion, the best moments that i got from the game, was when i was playing the card game. These are just personal opinions. Feel free to comment. ======================================================================= 86)What do you think of the strategy guides written by other game magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly, GamePro, PSM and so on? One word, "Sucks!" I seldom read strategy guides written by those game magazines for a few reasons. Of course, the official game guides written by Bradygames, and other publishers are another case. First of all, these strategy guides are not detailed enough and always missing a few important points. That's because they have to squeeze every single information into a limited space. Secondly, these strategy guides are often quite disorganised, specifically RPG games, but i am not referring to every single ones as that will make me look as if i am biased against them. The only good thing in their strategy guides are the numerous screenshots and that you don't need to waste time printing out strategy guide, unlike when referring to a faq. [but, don't forget that faqs are free of charge!!!] A picture tells a thousand words. This is a great advantage that these strategy guides have over faqs. Faq writers have to visual what is happening on in the game and then using his words to express, which is quite tough actually. However, the screenshots can be of a spoiler too! I am not saying that all the strategy guides written by all these game magazines are no good but... And talk about plagiarism... Oh, forget about that! ======================================================================= 87)I have read many reviews written by you. So, how do you write a review and when writing a review what should i look out for? Your personal feelings toward the game. Just write whatever you think about this game in your review. Don't worry about what others said in their review. Just provide enough evidences to support your reasonings. Of course, you can read a few other reviews on a particular game as some samples for you before you write one on it. But, please write an original review. It's best to minimise any grammatical or spelling error and write in clear, concise English, if possible. Gamefaqs really need a review editor. Basically, most of the reviews i have read in gamefaqs have some grammatical errors and spelling errors. The same applies to mine as well. If you have read any game magazines like EGM, Gamepros, you will notice some trends. First of all, the previews are usually longer than the reviews and most, if not all, reviews are pretty short and are usually less than 200 words. Secondly, the gameplay is almost always about the same score as the graphics. Why? Simple enough! Stiff competition! In order to remain competitive, a game magazine must release as many latest news, reviews, screenshots, previews on the latest game. Space and time are two important factors. Reviews must be short so as to allow more pages for other feature coverages. And, it's unfair if one game review is extremely long and another one is too short. And to release reviews on the latest games as soon as possible, the reviewers can only judge on the graphics and the few hours of time they have spent. Surely, you wouldn't want to read a review about two or three months after the game has come out, right? I understand that! Like what Dingo Jellybean said in his Final Fantasy Anthology faq, make the graphics the least important. I do understand why Dingo Jellybean said in his Final Fantasy Anthology that he hates reviews written by EGM, IGNPSX and so on BUT i do understand why game magazines must have short reviews. And, it doesn't mean that the reviewers at EGM aren't expert reviewers. The choice of words, vocabulary used are definitely better than most reviewers at gamefaqs. And, when you review a very old game like Final Fantasy Anthology or any other Nes, SNES system or even earlier games, before you give a score on the graphics, think whether which year the game was made. Why? Take Final Fantasy Anthology as an example. Final Fantasy V was made in 1992 and Final Fantasy VI was made in 1994. Both games are pretty old and obviously turn paler in comparison now than in those days. But do a serious analysis! Both Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI were made many years back. Were there any games that could come close to these games in terms of graphics in those days? If you think it this way, your review will be rather fair and unbiased. Just some words of advice. Whenever you review a RPG game, do not complain about the high enemy encounter rate. I hate fools saying this. This shows their ignorant and tells people that they have never played an RPG game before. Yeah, walk about three to five steps and you will encounter some random enemies... very fustrating like this.. makes the game bored... blah... blah... blah. This is totally a load of craps. If you think like this, then you are not fit to write a review and NOT EVEN FIT to play any RPG. I mean, what's wrong with high enemy encounter rate? Take a look at traditional games like Final Fantasy V, VI or even other game series like Breath of Fire, Lufia and so on. The enemy encounter rates are much higher than most modern games today like Final Fantasy VIII. People still play those traditional RPGs in the past and even TODAY. Final Fantasy Anthology is a perfect example. So, what's the big deal here? Does that mean that RPGs in the past can have high enemy encounter rate but not in modern games? Do you mark the game down just because of that? This is totally unbiased and unfair. So, talk about style of reviewing a game. Before that, make sure you have played at least five hours on a particular game or have completed it. Make some analysis on the game and be clear with what you are going to say. Now, back to the style of writing a review. I used to break the my reviews into several parts like graphics, music, sound, storyline, gameplay and so on. Later on, i found that writing in this style, it's quite hard to put down everything i want to say. [I am not sure about you.] If you read my latest reviews like Thousand Arms, Final Fantasy VIII and so on, i decided to break my reviews into paragraphs and then write the scores such as graphics, music, sound, gameplay and so on at the end of my review. Each paragraph will have one main idea, perhaps one will describe about the combat system, one about the storyline and so on. I strongly believe it's more effective this way, at least for me. I don't know about you because i am not you. Of course, if you are really interested in writing one review, you can consult some Master Reviewers like Dingo Jellybean or almost everyone on the top 20 reviewer contribution page. Don't get dishearted if your first review isn't ^. As you keep on writing game reviews, you will get better and better. Who knows? Maybe, someone working in a game magazine is interested in hiring you! Haha! Good luck, anyway! ======================================================================= 88)What is/are your opinion(s) of what humaetorcH said in his Thousand Arms? He gave Thousand Arms an overall score of 2 and criticised your Thousand Arms review. Hmm... what can i say? It's rather strange that he didn't mention the names of other reviewers who has also given Thousand Arms a rather high average score but only me alone. Anyway, never mind! Honestly, there are some parts that I do agree with him and some parts that I strongly disagree with. He was the only reviewer who gave Thousand Arms such a ridiculously low score of 2. And to defend my own opinion, I decided to rewrite my Thousand Arms review. The score still remains me as 8. And, if you read my Thousand Arms review, the portion towards the end are what i have just added. That includes the 8 points which I have given to defend my opinion. Feel free to read it! I wonder if he has read it yet! There is one important note which I want to stress to whoever is planning to write a RPG review. Don't be like humaetorcH! What's wrong with high enemy encounter rate? I am simply sick of such stupid reasonings given by those lazy gamers. It's rather common to see some people disagree with your reviews. I remembered Dingo Jellybean who gave Soul Calibur a ridiculously low score of 2 whereas all the rest of the reviewers gave it a 9 or 10. I can't comment anything about the Dreamcast version of Soul Calibur since I do not own a Dreamcast. I am sure each reviewer has his own reasons for giving that score. The same goes to humaetorcH too. I am not saying that he is entirely wrong but... I just happen to disagree. Take Xenogears as another example. There are some reviewers who kept complaining about the poor control and long texts, and thus give Xenogears a very low score. On the other hand, for those who seriously enjoyed the storyline and the music [like me], you will find them giving Xenogears a very high score such as a 9 or 10. As for Final Fantasy VI, most give it a 10 but there are some who gave it a 7 as they complaint that Final Fantasy VI is too big and enemies are too many. I remembered I gave the first Suikoden a 6, and then, I got several mails from the fans of the first game who disagreed with me. I have to admit that i do enjoy the first Suikoden, as it plays more like a traditional RPG than today's modern games like Final Fantasy VIII. But, it ruins the novel. The game was not anything like a novel and did you know that Suikoden is a popular classic chinese novel. And, do you really need so many warriors, as huge as 108? Of all the reviews I have written so far, the most hardest to write is Final Fantasy VIII. Final Fantasy series has changed tremendously over the last few years. People were complimenting and criticising Final Fantasy VIII. Just go to any message board in gamefaqs that has to do with RPGs, PlayStation, SNES etc and almost 75% will have something to do with Square and Final Fantasy series. Some preferred the way Final Fantasy is in the past and some welcome the change. And, my review nearly got influenced. I really like Perdurabo's [Review by Recovered] Final Fantasy VIII review. He is the only one so far who really convinced me that Final Fantasy VIII is really good. After reading his review, i did some serious thoughts. I ask myself. Why must there be a draw system? What happens if the draw system is being replaced by the traditional MP system? Will the Junction system still work as well? He gave it a 10 for Final Fantasy VIII. I didn't give that high. I have to admit Final Fantasy VIII is good, but there seems to be more bad points than the good points. So, i gave it a 7 instead but it doesn't mean that Final Fantasy VIII is no good. And, if you read an interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi, he mentions that the Final Fantasy series must change. Anyway, Thousand Arms is still a great game. The animation and voices are really excellent, and the game is really in-depth. As long as you have substantial reasons to back up your opinions, this is a good review. ======================================================================= 89)So, can you recommend me some good reviewers whom i should look up to as a guideline? Sure. I guess all the reviewers who manage to get into the top 20 reviewer contributions are good reviewers though i haven't gotten the time to read everyone's reviews. And, if you really want me to recommend some of the best reviewers in the top 20 reviewer contribution, they will be GlucoseJoe, Dingo Jellybean and SmCFadden. These reviewers are well known for writing in-depth and informative reviews. Other reviewers worth looking up for includes J-dog, Celestial Avenger, Sunshine, Sixto Limiac and so on. As for me, what do you think? [Yeah, a person must be modest!] ======================================================================= 90)Since you have contributed a lot of faqs and reviews to gamefaqs, do you prefer writing a faq or a review? Obviously, it will be a review. Why? You do not really need to spend time researching on moves, secrets although you need to be familiar with the game. Besides, a review takes shorter time than writing a faq and you don't need to update that often unlike faqs. Lastly, your mailbox won't be jammed with countless mails, right? Hey, after writing a faq, you still need to respond to their questions, right? But, definitely not reviews, although you do get feedbacks too. Of course, i am not saying that i don't enjoy. In fact, i enjoy writing faqs and reviews because i want to contribute some of my ideas to the gaming community. ======================================================================= 91)Can i post any of your faqs or reviews in my website? Sure you can if you want to. But, please send me a e-mail, giving me your website URL, what the website is all about and so on. Of course, you must give me credits and promise that the contents will not be unaltered and you will check out www.gamefaqs.com every month to check for any new updates. But, this applies only to non-commercial webpage. As for any commerical webpages or any publisher working in a game magazine, he or she has to send me the e-mail first, asking for permission. And, before he or she can publish the informations, he or she must send me the final 'product' and if i am happy with it, i will agree to his or her request. Of course if anyone wants to convert my faq into HTML, he or she must show me the final 'product' first. I guess that's fair because you do not want all your hard work to be taken by someone else and let him or her gain the credits and not you. I hope you can understand that. Most importantly, be sure to check for new updates. It's no use if the faqs are posted but not updated. Note:If you don't receive my reply after a week, that means you have not obtained my permission. I am restricting the number of sites that are allowed to post my faqs. This is because I realise that there have been a number of sites who has either posted my faqs without my permission or have obtained my permission but fail to fulfill the conditions i set. An example is Gamesdomain who always fail to update the faq. ======================================================================= 92)You mention that if anyone wants to put a faq in his site, he must obtain your permission and give you credits, as well as promise you to update everytime and not EDIT any of the content. Why the heck do i see a similar Final Fantasy VIII Basic Guide in Kaze Yagami's website? His is a special case and i have given Kaze Yagami the right to edit anything he wishes. Kaze Yagami has helped me a lot in my Final Fantasy VIII Basic Guide. A lot of information or almost 80% of the information you see here, regarding whether it is about Crisis level, Boost, Compatibility and so on are kindly contributed by Kaze Yagami. You can consider him as half of the author here and that's why he has this special privilege. so, don't argue about it! ======================================================================= 93)Can you send me your updated faq? My most definite answer is no. If there's 1000 readers, do I always have to my updated faq to 1000 people. It will be VERY troublesome to me this way. Just go to www.gamefaqs.com and check if there's any updates in the 'What's New' section. Or, you can go and check out my contributor page at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/1821.html You can find all the faqs I have written, including reviews at my contributor page. ======================================================================= 94)Can I ask you a question regarding games via ICQ? In the past, I used to answer questions via ICQ. But now, I don't. I find that it's quite annoying when I was replying e-mails but the ICQ messages keep popping up and I have to answer so many questions together. If you have any question, do not ask me through the ICQ. E-mail me instead if you have any question. One more thing. Do NOT add my ICQ number to your CONTACT list. Though I put my ICQ number at every faq, I did not expect everyone to add my ICQ number to his or her contact list. The thing is I already have a lot of contacts in my ICQ list. Those ICQ numbers which I added to my contact list, are those who are my CLASSMATES, and my PENPALS. Even if you add my ICQ number to your contact list, I won't bother to add your ICQ number to my contact list. First, I HARDLY know you well so it's unlikely that I will chat with you via ICQ. I might as well save the trouble of adding your ICQ number to my contact list. Secondly, if you have any question regarding games, you can e-mail me and ask me. ICQ will not be needed at all. I hope you can understand this. ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================= XVI)Credit ======================================================================= Myself -For typing, and almost everything you see here. Kaze Yagami -For providing most of the information about Compatibility. -For providing most of the information about Boast. -For providing the table list for Gilgamesh's attacks. -For confirming and telling me about the redrawing of Guardian Force. -For the Ragnarok Specifications in the exclusive features. -For the Balamb Train Specifications in the exclusive features. Dan Orner -For allowing me to use his compatibility item list. -For correcting some minor errors for me. -For writing an excellent item list guide. Refer to his for complete item guide. StevenBruck -For telling me how to get Guardian Force, Doomtrain. -For writing a good Guardian Force japanese faq. Heero Yuy -For telling me how to get Guardian Force, Eden. Without him, i will not have gotten the last Guardian Force in the japanese version. -For allowing me to publish eyes on me lyrics. Scott Ong -For writing excellent Final Fantasy VIII faq. -For the list of sub-boss in Ultimecia Castle which you can draw any of the Guardian Forces you have missed from. ??? -For telling me first about the redrawing of Guardian Force. -Sorry for losing your contact. If you happen to read this faq, please contact me and i will give you credit. Jimmy Khoo, FreedSoul -For telling me about the boast cheat by using a Turbo Controller. Kyle Demers -For correcting my spelling mistakes. It should be 'Boost' and not 'boast'. And, it should again be 'Ultimecia Castle', not 'Ultimesia Castle.' Special thanks to him for telling me my mistakes. -For the English names of Gilgamesh's attacks. -For telling me that Gilgamesh will always pick up the sword that lands behind him, and therefore determine the attack that Gilgamesh will use. -However, there's no way to determine which sword will land behind Gilgamesh. Brid Barnes -For telling me how to boost G.Fs up to 250 without using a Turbo controller by using a pen with a round lid to rub the boosting button. Jeff "CjayC" Veasey -The webmaster of www.gamefaqs.com. -For his dedication and hard work to www.gamefaqs.com. -Thanks for hosting all my faqs and reviews. -Thanks for making me a contributor page. Final Fantasy:Worlds Apart -For the PC requirments to play Final Fantasy VIII on the PC. Everyone -For reading this faq. SquareSoft -For making an excellent Final Fantasy game. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================= XVII)Copyright Protected ======================================================================= Copyright Protected. 1999-2000. All Right Reserved. This faq is written by Yee Seng Fu. (Yu Shenfu) No Part of the content can be reproduced without the prior writer's permission. This faq is only allowed for individual use and can never be allowed for any commercial purposes or be published in the form of magazines, articles. No part of the this faq can be re-edit without the writer's permission. This faq is original. Anyone who wants to link this faq to his or her own site must seek permission from the author first. If you have any enquires, feel free to contact me at ysf@pacific.net.sg or through my ICQ number, 25076522. Please visit my site and sign my guestbook at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Portal/7933/ Anyone who has violated the agreement will be severely dealt with. All the contents that are inside this faq cannot be reproduced in any way, shape, or form (Whether it is physical, electronic or otherwise) aside from being placed on a freely-accessible, non-commerical webpage, provided that it is original, unedited and altered format as well as seeking my permission. This faq cannot be used for any profitable purposes, even if no money is involved in it or for promotional purposes. Neither can it be used as any sort of commercial transaction or given away as some sort of bonus, gift, present etc. Giving away this faq as an incentive to attract buyers is prohibited or forbidden. This faq cannot be used by any publishers, editors, employees or any associates etc of any company, group, organisation, business or any other associations. It cannot be used in any game magazines, guides, books etc or in any other form of printed or electronic media in any way, shape, form (that includes reprinting, reference, inclusion) without the express written permission of the author, myself. This faq is owned and created by me, Yee Seng Fu. If you feel that, reading the faq like this is a bit tedious, especially when you have to look at the computer and play your game, you are allowed to print the part or whole of this document out, but the printed copies can only be for personal use. All Rights Reserved. SquareSoft is a registered trademarks of Square Co.Ltd. Final Fantasy and SquareSoft are registered trademarks of Square Co.Ltd. Licensed By Sony PlayStation. PlayStation and PlayStation Logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. -----------------------------------------------------------------------