Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy VIII is the eighth game in the Final Fantasy series, going a bit further into the futuristic style with gunblades, sorceresses, flying schools, love songs, and even a journey into... SPACE! (echo, echo, echo...)

Sub-Pages#

Prototype Info Notes Debug RoomI'm poor worker. Unused TextMy bother's an excellent swimmer, too!

Unused Spell Data#

Slot Spells#

There are a pair of spells intended for Selphie's "Slot" Limit command that weren't used. Both can be obtained as normal spells with a GameShark (as can the four that are used) and work as advertised, though they weren't given unique animations and instead use Fire's animation, most likely as Fire is the first spell animation in the game's code. No "Slot" spells can be junctioned, however.

• Percent - This drops the HP of all enemies to critical levels.
• Catastrophe - Deals heavy non-elemental damage to all enemies.

It's also possible for Griever to draw and cast the "Slots" spells if you hack them into your stock. This includes The End, which will kill your entire party. As the spell was never meant to be used on the player's side of the battlefield, the animation will look very odd, showing a black void that is behind the usual flower field.

Apocalypse Junction Values#

The Apocalypse spell itself isn't unused at all - Ultimecia can cast it in the very last battle, and it can be drawn from her and even stocked. However, one aspect of it isn't available normally: This spell can be junctioned as normal, and has a full set of stat boosts, as follows.

(Note: All increases assume 100 of the spell are junctioned to the respective stat.)

• HP: +4200
• STR: +80
• VIT: +80
• MAG: +80
• SPR: +90
• SPD: +30
• EVA: +12%
• HIT: +30%
• LUCK: +30
• Elemental Defense: All elements +100%

These boosts tend to be, by and large, second only to those granted by Ultima. It's a shame that there's no way to junction this spell normally.

Unused GF Compatibility Values#

Every junctionable Guardian Force (GF) in the game has unique base compatibility values set for each party member. However, because Seifer and Edea are only available temporarily, their compatibility values for GFs that are only made available after they leave the party go unused.

Unused Song#

Famously, the Final Fantasy VIII demo bundled with Brave Fencer Musashi featured a completely different song for the Dollet attack mission than what was used in the final version. This song is still present in the final version, but is never used, and can only be heard in the debug room. A widespread theory is that it was removed for legal reasons due to heavy similarities with the song "Hummel Gets the Rockets", composed by Hans Zimmer for the 1996 movie The Rock.

Unused Enemies#

Dummy is a test enemy who can only be fought in the debug room or through other cheats. He has 410 HP regardless of level. His chest (mouth) has the katakana text "dummy", mirrored. He also has "ゴメンネ" (I'm sorry, gomenne) written on his back.

Again via the debug room, you can fight a gunblade. It appears in place of GeroGero after defeating the Fake President in the Battle scene test number 2380. This enemy is not actually unused, and is present and visible in all battles against Seifer Almasy. Because Seifer uses a player model, his weapon, the gunblade, is a separate model but is just made untargetable.

Unused Battle Stage#

Present in the Japanese battle files in the remastered version, there are additional dummy battle stages, with IDs 163 to 191. Each dummy stage is the same, and the files do not contain any code from the PS1 version or camera data, starting directly with geometry data.

Hidden Text And Drawings#

The texture sheets for some monsters have little bits of text and drawings occupying the blank spaces.

Unused Images#

Alongside the images used in the Chocobo World introduction are these concept drawings. The kanji visible in each picture means "temporary".

This grid of hex numbers is unused in the normal game. It does appear though as the floor to battle number 4670 in the Girls Debug Room battle scene test.

An image with some unused (possibly development) fonts, also containing a logo and the used menu "pointer finger" cursor.

A further image simply contains handwritten Japanese text. The text translates to:

Dummy
For localization of battle explanation

Unused Areas#

To try and visit the areas listed, use the following GameShark codes (replacing "????" with one of the below room IDs), then press all four shoulder buttons during gameplay to activate.

0048 - Grouped with the debug rooms is this, named "testno". It exists in non-JP versions, though the text associated with it was not translated. The text seen in this image translates to "This map can not be entered. Please report this bug." Trying to enter it crashes the game.

004C - Another one grouped with the debug rooms. It's named "test6" in the game's files, though hidden text in it and the main debug room identify it as ''Kitase-san's page". Its text has been translated though it also crashes trying to enter it.

Watch on YouTube00D8 - A bizarre scene in the training center. Accessible only on Disc 4, the game will crash if you press any buttons other than D-Pad Right, action, or party menu. The bat-like black shape in the middle is a rotated Squall sprite, and the blobs moving left and right are the relief features (trees, walls) on a scrolling copy of a grayscale version of the background.

0149 - This rocky outcrop is where a forced battle against the XATM-092 takes place in the demo, but it is unused in the actual game. Its description in the game's files is Timber - TV Screen, and the only text associated with it are the Japanese for "Test" and "Battle Battle".

0283 - A car with an animated background. It's labelled as Winhill - Car and the scene only exists on Disc 2.

02A0 - Overhead shot of some Winhill backstreets only visitable on Disc 2. The room has scripts for Laguna, Kiros & Ward, but only text is "Test". When playing, the above car is visible through the houses.

0326 - The back of the arm control room in the D-District prison. There is no associated text or description so this is very much 'what you see is what you get'.

021A - Esthar's presidential palace with a normal sky and blue lighting and an alternate state showing the back of the room as well. In the actual game it is replaced with room 021B, which is identical save for a red sky and purple lights. Its only associated text is untranslated Japanese for "Test". It is described as Edea's House - Flower Field and is only visitable on Disc 3.

02CE - Alternate viewpoints for the initial Laguna-Julia cutscene. The game eschews these and the untranslated Japanese text contained within for the angles in room 02CF.

029F - An enlarged shot of Raine's house in Winhill. When playing, the car above is visible through the closed garage doors. Entering and actioning the car displays the "Test" dialog box. Disc 2 only.

Development Text#

Build dates can be found in the FF8DISC*.img archives:

Jan 10 1999 19:00:03

Jul  4 1999 21:03:43

Jul 15 1999 11:24:53

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: See if whatever this is can be displayed. The PC port has the same strings but the function they're passed to contains only a return statement. As that came after this version, it may be enable-able.

Next to the build dates are strings indicative of a debug menu/overlay:

%x
ON
OFF
OK
R2 INIT
R1 PC SAVE
L3 PAST
L2 DEBUG
L1 PC LOAD
SCENE 
%3d
TIME 
RATE100
%s
AP*10
EXP*10
DOGOUT
ODIN
FORMATION
WITCH
X_ITEM
X_MAGIC
X_GF
X_DRAW
X_COMMAND
X_PINCH
X_RESURRECT
CHOCOBO
CHOCOBO LEVEL
CHOCOBO WAZA
MOGURI
RANNYU1
RANNYU2
RANNYU3
PET5
PET6
PET7
PINCH
GILGAMESH
SQUALL FB

PocketStation#

Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing. Specifically: Detail this stuff.

The game contains a unique a mini-RPG called Chocobo World that can be downloaded to the PocketStation. Here, the player can collect items and power-up certain Guardian Forces. Although it was retained in the international versions, the PocketStation itself was not released outside of Japan, thus making this mini-game inaccessible without importing the device. The mini-game is also available in the PC version in its original release and its later re-releases (but not the Remastered version).

Interestingly, the original North American PS1 version's manual has an entire section on this minigame, with the following disclaimer:

(*NOTE: Chocobo World requires the PocketStation™ personal game unit, which may not be available for purchase outside Japan.)

Regional Differences#

The international versions have some gameplay changes:

• At the Fire Cavern in the Japanese version, the player has to defeat Ifrit and return to the entrance before time runs out. In the international versions, the player just needs to defeat Ifrit to stop the timer.
• Some Guardian Forces can be re-obtained in Ultimecia Castle if the player missed them. This is not possible in the Japanese version.
• Torama, Iron Giant, Elnoyle, and Behemoth have different HP formulas.
• Tutorials show up automatically throughout the game.

The international versions also had some censorship changes:

• In the Japanese version, the boss Gerogero's organs were red. These were changed to blue in the international versions, probably because the red makes the creature's protruding organs look far more real.

Japan	International

• The armory in Ultimecia Castle has red blood on the wall in the Japanese version, but in the international versions, it has turned green.

Japan	International

• Selphie's nunchaku and any references to it were renamed to "shinobou" ("Sticks of Death") in the European version due to laws at the time that banned any references to ninjas and their weaponry.

North America	Europe

Disc Change Screens#

The screens that appear when changing discs were revised in the international versions.

Japan	International

Italian Version#

Hardly a localization change, but the Italian version differs from its European peers in that it has an actual Scan message for the Dummy enemy. Amusingly, the message is a note of frustration by one of the translators (presumably aware the enemy was unused and thus its Scan entry was unused as well).

Picture	Translation

References#