Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy VIII is a role-playing game for the PS2 and is the seventh game in the Final Fantasy series and based on the theme of love. FF VIII allows characters to be customized with powerful magic spells drawn from enemies for more complex RPG interaction.

The story centers around the main character Squall, a cadet at the Garden military academy. Squall and his team of classmates battle against the Galbadians, led by the evil Sorceress Edea. Rather than focusing on the more apocalyptic aspects that the other Final Fantasies do, this is more character-driven and centers on the love story between Squall and Riona. This love story is of central importance as it's the love that Riona has for Squall that makes him eventually come out of his shell.

Unlike many of the previous FF games (as well as the games that came after this one), FF VIII takes on a different strategy when learning spells. Rather than buying them or having a class that specifically uses spells, you can 'draw' spells from the enemy. These spells can be collected and shared among all party members. There are no magic points to speak of and you simply run out of a spell after you use it. Besides this difference, another change is the fact that each character can be joined into Guardian Forces. Each character can then learn a limited special ability from these forces. This system allows for a completely customizable combat strategy. As most of the FF games, this game is turn-based.