Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII is a Japanese-style role-playing video game (JRPG) produced by Square Soft (now Square Enix) in 1999 for Play Station and computers. It is the first chapter of the series to have been translated into Italian, to present realistically proportioned characters and with a song as the main theme.
The plot concerns the events of a group of mercenaries led by Squall, engaged in a conflict unleashed by the witch Edea, and is permeated by a series of strong themes (love, friendship, militarism) through a coherent narrative. A cult chapter, he elevated the entire series to the status of myth: 3.3 million copies were sold in just two days.
Released at the turn of the old millennium and the beginning of the new, FFVIII can be interpreted as a fable about destiny and the transition to adulthood, a metaphor for the end of an era, for irreversibility, for fears (of losing the well-being of the end of the millennium) and anxieties - the theme of time, at the end of the 20th century, frightened for several reasons, such as the Millennium bug. It is no coincidence that another great masterpiece with technology, predestination and time at the base of the plot came out at the same time: the film Matrix.
STORY
The myth behind the genesis of FFVIII's world is a "divine" figure called Hyne who, in his quest to shape the world, commissioned humans to do some of his work. The humans, however, built everything to their liking, so Hyne decided to punish them by killing many; some rebelled and managed to counter the divinity, which allowed them to obtain half of their body and the possibility of using magical powers.
Hyne's descendants are called "witches": they have existed since ancient times (as evidenced by the memorial statues in the ruins of Centra) and there is one for each generation. To die in peace, each of them must leave their power to the next witch - usually girls with magical powers from birth and protected by a "knight".
Centra was the center of a thriving civilization over 4,000 years ago, characterized by cutting-edge technology - what remains of it is in the mobile structures upon which the Gardens were built.
It was the Centra civilization that founded Dollet and Galbadia after its destruction.
Centra was destroyed by a cyclical and catastrophic phenomenon that has occurred for thousands of years, the Lunar Cry, caused by a surplus of monsters on the lunar surface; the Moon ejects the excessive number into a scarlet mass that crashes to the Earth under the force of gravity.
Following the total destruction of Centra, the nations were: Galbadia, Timber, Balamb and Dollet. And Estahr, isolated from the world.
Galbadia was subjected to a repressive military dictatorship by Vincent Deling (who gave his surname to the capital, Deling City), while Esthar fell into the hands of the witch Adele: 18 years before current events, Adele sparked a conflict called the War of witch. Thanks to Dr. Odine, Adele had the Lunatic Pandora built near the ruins of Centra, a structure to strike Galbadia through the reaction of a new Lunar Weep.
Odine also built a device to join GFs to humans and made it possible for the latter to use magic.
During the Witch War Timber and Dollet came under the martial regime of Galbadia. Meanwhile, Esthar scientists deserted and founded the independent city Fisherman's Horizon.
Laguna is one of the Galbadian soldiers who participated in the Timber invasion along with comrades Kiros and Ward. The three usually drink at the hotel bar in Deling City, where Laguna falls in love with pianist Giulia Heartilly.
Back on a mission, Giulia no longer meets Laguna (for whom she composed the song Eyes on Me) and therefore marries Fury Caraway, a colonel in the army of Galbadia. From this union Rinoa Heartilly will be born.
Meanwhile, Esthar's soldiers scour Winhill for the next witch. In this village lives Ellone, an orphan girl saved by Raine and also adopted by Laguna, who in the meantime has arrived in the village after a series of vicissitudes. The three then form a family.
The idyll is broken by the return of Esthar's soldiers, who kidnap Ellone; Laguna sets out to save her without knowing that Raine is pregnant with her.
Laguna later becomes the leader of the movement to free Esthar from the witch, learning of Adele's obsession with n: the little girl has the power to send a person's consciousness back in time.
Odine and Laguna set up a trap to stop Adele: they lured the witch with a hologram of Ellone inside her, a structure that neutralizes her powers which, later, is thrown into space.
This event ends the Witch's War: Laguna becomes president of Esthar (isolating her from the rest of the world) and Ellone returns to Winhill, where Raine dies shortly after giving birth to Squall.
Ellone and Squall are sent to an orphanage directed by Edea Kramer, called "Matron" by the orphaned children.
The War has made many children orphans: not only Ellone and Squall but also Quistis, Zell, Seifer, Selphie and Irvine are welcomed by Edea, who already knows she will become a witch. One day she receives a young boy on a visit along with a dying woman: she is a witch and has come to pass on her powers.
Edea and her husband Cid decide to found a training center where they combine classical studies and military training so that students are able to fight a witch. The Gardens of Balamb, Galbadia and Trabia are built on mobile structures dating back to the times of Centra.
Garden graduates are called SeeDs and are often recruited as mercenaries to finance the school: in fact, they need a lot of funds that Cid does not have, so he accepts them from the shumi Norg on the condition that he is the sole owner.
The orphans of the Matron's orphanage are sent to the three Gardens, while Ellone is entrusted by Edea to a special group called "white SeeD" who, for security reasons, keep their existence and location secret.
This balance is broken again by a witch of the future, Ultimecia: taking possession of Edea through the machinery of Doctor Odine which simulates the power of Ellone, the witch wants to eliminate the SeeDs and use Ellone to achieve a temporal compression, combining present, past and future in a status quo where she is an immortal and omniscient deity.
Totally changed under the influence of Ultimecia, Edea allies herself with Vinzer Deling of Galbadia by developing an adequate media campaign.
Squall meanwhile has grown up and is close to graduation to obtain the title of SeeD through an exam that he must pass together with Seifer, Zell and Selphie, which is to help Dollet counter the supremacy of Galbadia.
Upon returning from the mission, everyone receives the coveted title except Seifer, who was rejected due to his insubordinate conduct.
The graduation celebration culminates with a dance, during which Squall meets Rinoa.
Subsequently, Quistis asks Squall to follow her to the training center, to a point where the couples meet, trying to declare himself to Squall, who however is not interested in the young teacher. On the way back, the two encounter a girl in distress: Ellone (Squall doesn't recognize her), who is immediately turned away by the white SeeDs.
The next day Squall, Zell and Selphie are sent on a mission: they must go to Timber to help the Wood Owls (a resistance group to the occupation of Galbadia). Rinoa is one of the members of the group and on this occasion she gets to know about Seifer's rejection - if she is very sad, the two have been engaged in the past.
An incomprehensible message is broadcast on the external screen of the TV station due to strong interference from radio frequencies. The message is sent by the witch Adele in orbit from space and reads: "I am alive here bring me back there I will never let you forget about me I will never let you bound me back".
The SeeDs and the Owls try to storm President Deling's train, only to discover that there is a puppet inside: the president is at the television studio to introduce Edea as the "new ambassador of peace"; the witch seduces Seifer into her "knight".
Following these events, the SeeDs are informed that Seifer has been sentenced to death for attacking President Deling.
Soon after, the SeeDs meet Dodoon, the Supreme of the Garden of Galbadia, who confesses to him that the Gardens of Balamb and Galbadia actually want peace and entrusts him with the task of killing the witch Edea. To carry out this mission, the sniper from Galbadia, Irvine, joins the team.
The SeeDs travel to Deling City at the residence of Colonel Caraway (Rinoa's father - his wife Giulia died earlier in an accident) where they set up the mission: Edea must be killed during the parade in her honor, Irvine is in charge to shoot her.
During the preparations, Rinoa decides to trap Edea, but she fails and the witch manages to make her speech to the people, announcing that she really wants to start a new era of terror and occult power. Then begins the parade of the witch, next to her is Seifer: the boy is not dead, now he is her knight.
Irvine shoots Edea, but a protective shield saves her from the bullet. Squall reaches for the chariot to fight her firsthand, but the witch knocks him out by hitting him in the chest with a large chunk of ice.
SeeDs are locked up in a Galbadian prison in the desert. Squall and his companions, however, manage to escape and reach the Garden of Balamb, threatened to be destroyed by the missiles of Galbadia. The Garden is maneuvered and moved away from the point where it stands, saving itself from enemy fire.
Squall discovers that there is actually no peace agreement between the Gardens of Balamb and Galbadia and that in reality Edea and Cid are husband and wife - for the first time he learns that Edea is being manipulated by Ultimecia, Cid knew that his wife was a witch.
The Garden of Balamb crashes into Fisherman's Horizon, the maritime town that declares itself neutral and extraneous to any conflict and which has been occupied by Galbadian troops. Cid then appoints Squall as the leader of the SeeDs and the team flew to Trabia.
The Garden of Trabia (where Selphie studied) was heavily damaged by the missiles from Galbadia. The whole team gathers at the academy basketball court and each begins to recall childhood memories of growing up together in an orphanage - the amnesia was caused by the use of GFs, which cause memory loss. to those who invoke them. They also remember that Edea is the Matron, the one who raised them. They decide to commit themselves to fight it for the common good.
The clash is not long in coming: after breaking into the Garden of Galbadia, following a titanic fight, Seifer is defeated, the evil powers abandon Edea and find space in Rinoa's body. She resurrects Seifer and orders him to retrieve the Lunatic Pandora to trigger a new Lunar Cry. Overwhelmed by the possession of Ultimecia, Rinoa passes out.
Squall wants to meet Ellone to use his power and save Rinoa by going back to the past. But in the meantime a serious conflict broke out between Galbadia and Esthar and Ellone took refuge in the latter city (where her adoptive father, Laguna, governs). The entire team then heads to the futuristic and most secret city in the world.
Squall catches up with Ellone, who is currently in space at the Estharan orbital station, taking Rinoa with him. Ellone confides that even by going into the past with his consciousness, Squall will not be able to change the future.
Meanwhile, the Lunatic Pandora appears, pointing straight to Tear's Point (the place hit by the Lunar Cry): while the Lunar Cry begins, Ultimecia leaves Rinoa's body to awaken Adele and the girl finds herself wandering in space.
Squall manages to save Rinoa incredibly and they both find refuge in the old Estharian spaceship Lagunarock.
Back on Earth, Rinoa is arrested like Adele many years earlier: Squall manages to free her and bring her back to the Lagunarock, before heading to the orphanage - where they promise to meet again.
SeeDs later reach Esthar where they finally encounter Laguna, who informs them that Ellone has been swifted by the Galbadian soldiers and taken to the Lunatic Pandora. Dr. Odine then suggests that the SeeDs fight Ultimecia in the future in order to defeat her, thereby letting the temporal compression take place. To do this, the SeeDs must kill Adele (two witches cannot coexist in the same generation) and let Ultimecia take over Rinoa.
Upon reaching Lunatic Pandora, Adele-Ultimecia enters into osmosis with Rinoa's body. Adele is defeated and, once Ellone arrives, temporal compression begins.
Squall and his companions thus reach Ultimecia's castle: the witch is seated on a huge throne and gives the SeeDs a crazy and megalomaniacal speech. The titanic clash begins, during which Ultimecia probes Squall's mind by putting him in front of his innermost fears and thus making him serve with Griever (lion symbol of courage portrayed on Squall's ring). The witch changes her appearance during the fight, throwing the SeeDs to the borders of space and time.
At the end of the grueling fight, time gradually resumes its course, starting from the past: Squall takes dying Ultimecia to the orphanage to meet Edea and transmit her powers, thus triggering the time paradox that will allow Squall to defeat the witch.
Squall then finds himself wandering in the desert, due to the contraction of space-time, later finding himself with Rinoa where they had promised to meet if fate separated them, in the field of flowers near the orphanage.
Peace finally reigns, the witch has been defeated. Seifer has decided to lead a simple life with his best friends, Raijin and Fujin. Laguna goes to the grave of his beloved Raine with Ellone. The SeeDs celebrate the victory, as do Cid and Edea. Squall and Rinoa are reunited.
CHARACTERS
SQUALL LEONHEART
Main character. Son of Laguna and Raine.
According to Nomura, Squall was the most difficult character to make. Wanting to make it highly recognizable, she drew him with a scar on his face.