Final Fantasy VIII: Strange and Underappreciated, Part One
The first time I played Final Fantasy VIII, it scared me.
The game begins with a bombastic, lauded opening scene. As the song Liberi Fatali drones on in operatic mastery, ebbing ocean waves draw us into a gorgeous field of flowers. A mysterious woman grips a flower petal in her hand and releases it, letting it drift into the sky only to have it come back down as a gunblade — a fierce and jarring weapon gleaming with the symbol of a fierce lion.
“I’ll be here.”
“Why…?”
“I’ll be waiting…here…”
“For what?”
“I’ll be waiting for you here. So if you come here, you’ll fine me. I promise.”
We watch as Squall and Seifer fight, as blood is drawn and sprayed across the ground, as a sorceress rises from her chair and Squall and Rinoa fall into each other’s arms against a rosy twilight.
This scene was epic and powerful — and it filled me with dread.
I was a closeted kid, raised conservatively and kept from the world’s gruesome realities. It’s this factor that eventually drew me to Final…
