Yeah... after Final Fantasy VII, the love-triangle of the game was apparently successful enough that Square wanted to incorporate more romance elements into thier upcoming Final Fantasy games. This resulted in the next three games having a central love story, before SquareEnix realized we had enough. And the game that began it all was Final Fantasy VIII. It was the first game in the series to establish the tradition of the sappy, lovey-dopey pop single; the logo depicts romantic leads Squall and Rinoa locked in a tender embrace; the game's creators even stated months ahead of its release to announce the story's theme would be love.
Final Fantasy VIII has a subtle, touching, masterfully told love story at the core of the game. Forget Final Fantasy VII's middle-school love triangle; FFVIII's sweeping narrative deals as much in tragedy and loss as it does in the slow-building romance of tortured Squall and kindhearted Rinoa. Through flashbacks of the storyline, the game tells the tale of Laguna Loire, a soldier embroiled in the Sorceress War around two decades ago that provides the history for the current events of the story. On the eve of war, Laguna falls for a beautiful singer named Julia, but duty calls him to the front lines before the two can cement thier relationship, and through tragic circumstances and his responsibility to the people, he never sees her again. Although both Laguna and Julia go on to find love elsewhere after the war, he never quite stops pining for her.
Throughout the game, Squall has no idea why he's glimpsing these specific flashbacks from Laguna's life. The greatest aspect of Final Fantasy VIII is that you don't get all the facts of the story until the game's astounding ending movie rolls. We know that Rinoa is the offspring of Julia and General Carraway. Throughout the game, there are hints about who are Squall's parents, and if you manage to piece them all together, it is without a doubt that Laguna is the father. Thus, the game becomes the story of two pairs of lovers, one ripped apart by war, the other bonded through trials and duress. In the end, the children fulfill the love that fate denied their parents.
Now that's epic.
Log in to comment