Go Squall Go! Go Squall Go!
Nov. 10th, 2022 05:23 pmI finished my replay of Final Fantasy VIII, by the way! I posted my miserable Squall/Zell fic almost immediately after finishing the game, but I've only just got around to sharing my last batch of notes from playing.
(Even if you end up as the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight.)
It's a fucked-up thing for Squall to think, but this time around I'm enjoying how fucked-up it is, and the parallels it draws with Seifer. And the complexity of swearing to fight for someone even if that ultimately means you're actually fighting for the malevolent entity controlling her.
When I first played this game, incidentally, I thought Seifer followed Edea because he was under some sort of mind control. But, on this replay, I don't think he is? I think he's just confused and caught up in knighthood fantasies and possibly turned on.
Squall says to Laguna, 'I didn't like your attitude at all. But I understood the bond between the three of you.' I think that's interesting, given how much Squall struggles with interpersonal relationships.
'I wasn't paying close attention while they made me up to be this hero of the revolution, and I ended up being president.' I love Laguna.
Seifer seems to be hesitating before handing Rinoa over to Adel. And then Squall turns up, and Seifer immediately carries it out, now that he has Squall as his audience. He can't show hesitation or compassion or fondness in front of Squall; compassion is weakness. He even says, 'Watch closely, Squall!'
With a combination of Meteor junctions and strength-boosting passive abilities, I was able to max out Squall's strength stat at 255, which I don't think I've ever managed before! He was doing absolutely ludicrous amounts of damage. It felt great.
Zell's attack stat wasn't far behind. I actually stalled slightly in the final battle because Squall hadn't entered the fray yet, and I was concerned that Rinoa and Zell were going to obliterate the entire final boss sequence without him. It didn't feel right to defeat Ultimecia without letting Squall land an attack on her!
As a concept, time compression feels a bit underexplored, but the glimpses we catch of it are fascinating. I love the unsettling sequence in the ending FMV where time collapses endlessly into itself.
I'm so glad this game exists. It's always such a pleasure to revisit it. It's a mess; I can't argue with that. But it means a lot to me.
(Even if you end up as the world's enemy, I'll... I'll be your knight.)
It's a fucked-up thing for Squall to think, but this time around I'm enjoying how fucked-up it is, and the parallels it draws with Seifer. And the complexity of swearing to fight for someone even if that ultimately means you're actually fighting for the malevolent entity controlling her.
When I first played this game, incidentally, I thought Seifer followed Edea because he was under some sort of mind control. But, on this replay, I don't think he is? I think he's just confused and caught up in knighthood fantasies and possibly turned on.
Squall says to Laguna, 'I didn't like your attitude at all. But I understood the bond between the three of you.' I think that's interesting, given how much Squall struggles with interpersonal relationships.
'I wasn't paying close attention while they made me up to be this hero of the revolution, and I ended up being president.' I love Laguna.
Seifer seems to be hesitating before handing Rinoa over to Adel. And then Squall turns up, and Seifer immediately carries it out, now that he has Squall as his audience. He can't show hesitation or compassion or fondness in front of Squall; compassion is weakness. He even says, 'Watch closely, Squall!'
With a combination of Meteor junctions and strength-boosting passive abilities, I was able to max out Squall's strength stat at 255, which I don't think I've ever managed before! He was doing absolutely ludicrous amounts of damage. It felt great.
Zell's attack stat wasn't far behind. I actually stalled slightly in the final battle because Squall hadn't entered the fray yet, and I was concerned that Rinoa and Zell were going to obliterate the entire final boss sequence without him. It didn't feel right to defeat Ultimecia without letting Squall land an attack on her!
As a concept, time compression feels a bit underexplored, but the glimpses we catch of it are fascinating. I love the unsettling sequence in the ending FMV where time collapses endlessly into itself.
I'm so glad this game exists. It's always such a pleasure to revisit it. It's a mess; I can't argue with that. But it means a lot to me.
