Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy VIII comprises three main modes of play: the world map screen, where the player may navigate freely across the scaled-down game world; the environment field map screen such as a town; and the battle map screen, where a fight between the player and enemy parties takes place. A menu-driven interface drives the mechanics of the game and it is in these that various departures from previous Final Fantasy games become apparent. Most notably in the lessened emphasis on traditional weapons and armor and in the Junction magic system. Final Fantasy VIII was also the first game in the series to introduce a collectible cards-based minigame known as "Triple Triad."

The new junction system revolves around summonable monsters called Guardian Forces (GFs). A character must have a GF assigned to them ("junctioned") before he or she can use several standard Final Fantasy battle command abilities such as "Magic" and "Item"; only "Attack" can be performed otherwise. While previous Final Fantasy titles used a pool of magic points (MP) consumed by each spell to limit magic use, in Final Fantasy VIII spells are "drawn" from enemies and special Draw Points distributed throughout the game's environments. Spells are stocked as quantified inventory and consumed one at a time when used. GFs also allow characters to "junction" these spells to their own statistics, such as "Strength" and "Vitality" for various bonuses.

Because of the flexibility and depth of this system combined with the capability to draw unlimited quantities of a spell from a single enemy, it is possible to build one's character party up to significant levels of power fairly early into the game and allow them to in most cases, inflict much more damage than the GFs themselves are capable of rendering. This alternative use of GFs was a significant departure for the series as summoned creatures were previously used almost exclusively to deliver a single devastating attack. Other notable changes were present as well in that "stat junctioning" replaced the equippable weapons and armor of previous Final Fantasy games and while each character does retain a specialized weapon, that weapon cannot be unequipped.. However, a limited number of upgrades can be performed on each character's weapon throughout the game, increasing its power and efficiency as well as altering its appearance.

As in Final Fantasy VII every character has a unique special attack called a Limit Break that is only available during battle under certain conditions. Where the system differs from the previous game's use of Limit Breaks however, is that they randomly become available every time a command is issued during battle provided that character's current health (hit points, or HP) is below 32% of their current maximum health. As a character's health drops below 32% of their maximum, the probability of accessing that character's Limit Break increases. Alternatively, the magic spell "Aura" increases the probability of Limit Breaks appearing regardless of a character's remaining hit points.

As in most role-playing games and in most previous installments of the Final Fantasy series, experience points are awarded following successful battles. If 1000 experience points are accumulated by a character, that character gains a "level" which increases that character's base statistics. Unlike previous Final Fantasy games, the levels of randomly encountered enemies are calculated based on the current levels of the player's characters. In other words, the higher the levels of the player's characters, the higher the levels of the randomly encountered enemies the player battles. Higher level enemies are capable of dealing out and receiving significantly more damage, and may have newer and stronger attacks available as well. It's notable that increases in a character's stats as a result of "leveling-up" are minor in comparison to the stat boosts available through exploitation of the Junction system. Some players take advantage of this fact to avoid leveling up allowing their characters to get stronger as better magic and Junction abilities become available while enemies remain weak.

The Guardian Forces themselves also gain levels and win Ability Points (AP). AP is allocated to allow Guardian Forces to learn special abilities. When a GF has gained the required amount of AP to learn a specific ability, that ability becomes available for any character and in some cases, the character party as a whole. Also of note is that when a GF is frequently summoned by the same character, it will take less time for said character to call the GF in the future. Additionally, when GFs that have learned the "Boost" ability are summoned, the player will be given the opportunity to increase the potency of the GF's attack. By holding down the "Select" button on the PlayStation controller while rapidly hitting the "Square" button a number in the lower right hand corner of the screen will increase, representing the inrease in the power of the GF's attack. Note that not all GFs have this ability, however.

Several of the major characters of Final Fantasy VIII are students, and later SeeDs of Balamb Garden. Chief among them is Squall Leonhart, who uses a gunblade as his weapon of choice. His fellow SeeDs include his former instructor, Quistis Trepe, an intellectual who battles using a whip, Zell Dincht, a martial artist, and Selphie Tilmitt, a lighthearted girl who is deadly with the nunchaku. Irvine Kinneas also joins the group, though he was trained at Galbadia Garden instead of Balamb Garden. Irvine's weapon specialty is guns, and he makes for an excellent sniper. The final primary playable character is Rinoa Heartilly, daughter to a powerful Galbadian general and member of the Forest Owls, though not their leader, as is often misinterpreted, a resistance movement fighting against Galbadian rule. She fights using an arm-bound crossbow that fires projectiles with a boomerang-like effect. She enlists the aid of Balamb Garden's SeeDs in her efforts, and soon falls in love with Squall, as he does with her. The relationship between Squall and Rinoa is one of the central themes of the game.

Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, and Ward Zabac are playable characters in the game's "past scenes", which take place some seventeen to twenty years before the present day events. The primary antagonists of the story are Seifer Almasy and Edea Kramer who are temporarily playable.