#ifrit ff8

[acquired-stardust]

Final Fantasy VIII Playstation 1999

[skaylanphear]

It's Ifrit from my fic, Final Fantasy VIII: Reclamation, which is a retelling of the original game, but with my own spin on it! The piece above was by my amazing friend, @pandacapuccino

She really captured everything about the redesign perfectly <3

[modormouth]

so like

what inspired you to make monsters with 3d software?

The aesthetics of PSX games makes me fall more in love with the medium. I started doting more on FF8 monster designs recently bc they're sooo detailed while still being low poly and I personally aspire to something near the monster design there one day.

[spaceshiporion]

Final Fantasy Summons

[ethervela]

Ifrit Triple Triad card from Final Fantasy 8

[beancalzone]

Ff8 is a crazy game what do you mean the optimal strategy is just to run from every encounter and get really good at card games

[voks-blog]

Spent half an hour getting my ass beat by the first npc who'd play triple triad with me because he took my ifrit card why can't I gut him where he stands

[alex-multiverse]

Kh Worldbuilding headcanons: Destiny Islands Edition

No one ever talks about the original worlds in kh and i find that a travesty because these places are a really, REALLY good mine to play around with. (u can also use them or expand on them if you really like)

So im gonna share some HCs i have about the original kh worlds, starting with Destiny islands..... but before that some basics: also this is kinda long so under the read more it goes

In general:

Kh "worlds" arent really floating in space. the stylized icons we see in game are more akin to dimensional rifts rather than actual planets (seriously who thinks this is how the world looks fr)

Following on with the dimensional rift: as the "worlds" arent really pieces of the original world, they are something more akin as parallel dimensions or something along the lines of something like ff14 (mostly because i would rather die first than live in a world with 5 different versions of britain existing at the same time)

As much as dark road is cool, the explanation for the empty worlds is dumb and for the purposes of this exercise, instead ofthe worlds filling the people gradually after it is created, i consider that the worlds as they exist are the result of the surviving children of the war making their stories real in the fractured reality of the original world (it also follows the weird theme of reality/unreality that kh4 seems to go for) and it turning into a different version of earth as we know it, with some exceptions, such as monstropolis (which exists independently as a parallel land to earth in its canon) and Deep space (which is straight up NOT earth and was more like, the rift of lilo and stitch's world pointing at the high counselor's fleet BEFORE the actual movie started) and also the OG worlds who dont have something to be based on for reasons to be explained later.

the only world that exists in the ocean between as it is, is the Keyblade graveyard. because it was so majorly fucked up by the war it both shattered in the physical and dimensional way after it happened.

Now that that rant is out of the way, LETS GO TO THE MOST UNDERRATED WORLD IN THE SERIES:

Destiny islands is in fact, more than 2 islands, being a big archipelago with a bigger "main island" where our three protagonists live at. this one we have seen before in kh2

Destiny islands, is, by far, not the only chain of islands in the world. in fact, theres way more islands beyond the horizon.

We know the islands have a mayor, thus we know that they must have cordial diplomatic ties with different islands near them.

Due to FF characters existing here, i am very tempted to assure that some of the races from ff8 and ffX exist in this world (you are now imagining kimahri playing with a tiny kairi after diplomacy stuff with her dad just ended)

Due to DI being an original world, it is actually a shard of the original world that didnt really changed much compared to the other original ones. its major difference is that it is an ocean world like Wind waker hyrule or the Grand line from One piece

Magic is a real thing in the original worlds populace, you just really need to get good at it, learn it, be magical by default, or cheat and get a keyblade somehow

Religion in the og worlds strike me as something akin to the way people prayed to the aeons of yevon in ffx or the astrals of FF15. with people praying to the ff summons on a case by case basis and depending on their preference for patron gods. Ie: Leviathan being a goddess of the ocean and water who is prayed to by sailors or fishermen, while scholars prefer ifrit using an interpretation of the fire of knowledge. (you know. like a furry prometheus that doesnt get eaten by an eagle daily)

I'll probably go on more detail later, but for now, the summons that get prayed to the most in DI is probably Leviathan for the aforementioned reasons, Ramuh for nature and agriculture reasons, shiva for tradition and combat reasons (related to riku in my particular headcanon) And Titan for economical reasons, wow alex making the rock man into the economy guy i wonder where you have heard it before

Speaking of economy, DI currency totally has tiny paopu fruit symbols in its coins and bills, and its a legal course currency in its neighboring islands because they too dig the paopu fruit symbolism

Munny looks like malleable diamonds because it probably just morphs into the appropate currency depending on the world we're in, moogles only use them as they are because they are both the people doing synthing and also shady as hell. do not trust the pompom people.

Going back to the Paopu fruit: its quite a common tree fruit in the islands and in fact is industrially harvested in some islands both as an export and in-island use.

The paopu folk story is actually mostly just a misconception for an older tale. originally involving sailors and a promise to return home safe. it eventually turned into "sharing one will entwine your fates forever"

Paopu pastries are a common dessert, and paopu wine is used often in weddings.

Monsters ARE real in the islands and roam the most inhabited places. These are often hunt for game and for safety reasons

THAT MEANS, chocobos are also a thing people use in the most rural parts of the islands for fieldwork, transportation and sometimes food.

Blitzball is MAD popular and they Often do tournaments involving several islands. DI itself was almost a perpetual champion up until jecht retired, then they win every so often instead of always

Boating licenses are a thing, but kids can still use their little boats because they have to row them. think like, the difference between a bicicle and a motorbike.

There are bridges for tram systems between islands that are close to each other, usually reinforced for sea and storm reasons.

Legally speaking, equal marriage is a thing and even polyamorous ones because why being an ass about it.

Healthcare is mostly public, but there are Specialty care stuff in the main islands that costs money because of course it is

Because sora and riku are japanese names, i prefer the island to be something like a tropical japan, so most of the people in DI have japanese names.

That would be all for now. tune in next time when i tackle on Twilight town, who may or not be in perpetual twilight (is not)

[when-they-meow]

ifrit ff8 is probably responsible for me developing an interest in bara. he owes me an apology

[loopingpyre]

Sometimes, I am a genius who understands things and absolutely nails it.

Other times, I say there's no way Wizards are going to print more than one of each summon 12 hours before revealing FF8 Ifrit

[crystalelemental]

Alright, just before bed last night, I beat the first few bosses in FF8, and I have some immediately updated opinions.

First, my incessant grinding feels wildly justified in the face of the mecha spider. Acquiring Aqua and junctioning to Atk meant dealing about three times as much damage. The base damage Squall was dealing was like 50. This thing has around 1k HP every time you encounter it. These fights go for a while if you're not decked out, and there's a 30 minute timer. Which is way more than you need, but...

Bosses have unique spells. Or at least, spells you can't otherwise get. So with three bosses in a sequence that probably could've taken 10 minutes, I had to deal with (1) draw 100 Esuna from Wedge, because that's a hella useful spell, (2) draw Siren and 100 Double from the flying beast, because those are also useful, and (3) draw 100 Protect from the spider thing, then I had hoped to pass on those 100 from Squall to the others and keep drawing but turns out that wasn't happening, because it got too late for me to deal with another rendition of this and you gotta call it some time.

It is a wildly slow process that added an hour to my time. Keep in mind, 3x speed, so this would've taken about 3 hours. Three. HOURS. For what are effectively tutorial bosses! That's too much, man! I know I'm doing optional shit, but again, doing the optional shit before led to a much less stressful time with the massive HP bars on the spider and the flying beast, so like...kinda justified!

I will give the system this: Draw and Cast is really useful in a tutorial, so long as the opponent has Cure. Which they all did. So long as you can draw and cast Cure, there is no limit to how long you can take to acquire things. The acquisition of a new GF via drawing is...it has me anxious about paying attention to that kind of thing, but more importantly, it has me thinking there's a better rendition of this system somewhere in the world.

Junctioning is not inherently a problem, at least not to me. I don't inherently dislike the idea of using spells to augment stats rather than cast them. The specific problem comes from the grind to acquire 100 for max effect, and the fact that using anything removes that counter and lowers the possible stat. Or, if they're not junctioned, it lowers the total number of remaining casts until you can potentially run out. Which isn't a problem yet, but I imagine will be, considering rarer spells are harder to draw, for reasons I don't quite follow. Squall was getting Esuna and Doubles like crazy, but Selphie and...oh god, I forgot punch boy's name...ZELL! Zell failed about as often as he got anything, and when he did get something, it was usually like. One. Maybe three if he was really lucky. Which is just tedious and annoying.

Siren offers a potential alternative to this approach. Specifically: spells are drawn exclusively from bosses, and are single-acquisition, necessitating planning around who gets what spells. For example:

The intro mission against Ifrit. On the way out, keep the Draw point for Cure on Squall, but instead of a number of casts, it's just...he now has the Cure spell permanently, so you always have someone able to heal. You go through your fights, and in the caves find a Fire draw point you can put on either him or Quistis. Then you face Ifrit, who has both Cure and Fire, as well as Scan. Now you can acquire both Cure and Fire on both characters, and Scan if needed. When you get to the next segment, you get a rendition of all offensive magic off Wedge, and another Cure off Biggs, but also someone in the party can start to be designated White Mage with the Esuna skill.

I think this kind of approach would solve for the two-fold issues. It removes the need for grinding out so many casts, which slows the game tremendously across the board, and starts to lean away from an FF7 feel of "Every character is functionally identical" and more toward an FF5 style "Set up your build and what each member is doing." Keep the trade around spells system for experimentation, but limit who has access to what over time so there's not the feeling that who you bring doesn't matter.

The only hiccup is junctioning magic to stats. I won't lie, this is hard to get around for me, because it feels like a system that disproportionately advantages melee. Yeah, I can cast T2 spells, but also I can use those to give myself like +20 Atk in a period where my base Atk is like 8. Keeping in mind one of these options is permanent, and there's little reason to ever use your magic. Healing spells seem justifiable, in part because of how desperately you'll need healing, so those can't be junctioned. But offensive magic feels like it's taking a huge back seat to just slapping things silly. Then again, I may be biased against using any form of consumable resource on the grounds of "what if I need it later?" Maybe these spells deal sick huge damage and it's totally worth it to just cast. I might have to try it at least once.

It's still too early to make final judgment calls, but the game is noticeably slow and a bit awkward. But I admit, the dialogue so far has had some good bits, so it's at least narratively got me a bit invested.

[acquired-stardust]

Final Fantasy VIII Playstation 1999

[skaylanphear]

Final Fantasy VIII: Reclamation

Summary: Squall Leonhart has known only one thing all his life—that he was born and raised to be a SeeD. But being an elite mercenary is no easy task. Having grown up sheltered beneath Balamb Garden’s ring, he soon finds himself scrambling to stay alive after his first real mission thrusts him and his teammates onto the political stage in a bad way. Forced to head out into the dangerous, unforgiving wilds or face execution, they find themselves unraveling the ancient mysteries of their world, all while another sorceress war looms on the horizon. Haunted by strange, unexplainable dreams about a man he doesn’t know, and bound to the might of the crystals by abilities he can’t explain, Squall finds himself walking blindly into an uncertain future, even as he’s assured that “fate” guides his every step.

Yet, as circumstances grow murkier, Squall can’t help feeling that everyone else knows more about everything—including himself—than he does, and that he’s nothing more than a pawn in a game he doesn’t know how to play.

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4 / Chapter 5 / Chapter 6 / Chapter 7 / Chapter 8 / Chapter 9 / Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Stay brave, little one.

Stay focused, the words seemed to imply, echoing through his thoughts. He couldn't afford to be anything else, not with the air and the rain rushing up all around him. Not with the ground waiting below.

Above, and too far to reach, Zell was tumbling through the air as well. He twisted and flailed, perhaps reaching out for anything that might stop his plumet, but there was nothing. The tower surged up behind him, then the cliffside. Soon, the trees would be pulling them in.

They had to get their fall under control before it got that far. There were only seconds to spare, Squall's thoughts restarted as if a pull cord had been yanked from his skull the moment Zell had come toppling after him. They'd jumped from a cliff previously and survived, but that'd only been a three story drop at most. Unlike their current plunge, which was at least a hundred, perhaps more.

Could Zell survive it with the help of his CF? Or would this be too much, even for that?

Squall couldn't know. Nor was it a gamble he was prepared to take.

Focusing up on Zell, he once again tapped into the fire lining his insides, grasping for it like a shoestring that'd slipped from between his fingers. Grabbing hold, he squeezed tight, his whole body bursting as he thrust himself forward.

One moment he was plummeting on his back, the next, he was close enough that—through a haze of orange sparks—he was able to reach out and grab Zell around the arm. Though they continued their plunge, Squall didn't heed it. Instead, while keeping Zell firmly in-hand, he turned his attention to the trees rushing up to swallow them.

In another rushing flash, he dove. He didn't fancy his odds at being able to move upward, but by going down, he decided he'd have a better chance at control.

Read More

[flourish-of-steel]

It kills me that I cannot find that one very specific fanart from deviantart from like 15 years ago.

FF8 guardian forces playing triple triad around a table. Ifrit accuses Odin of being a nasty ass cheater lol

[lunarsilkscreen]

What could an episode of FF8 look like?

Somebody was really inspired by the idea I placed forth earlier and asked what that would look like if I extrapolated it.

The first episode would be all the way up to the original advertisement and classic scene of Seifer vs Squall. Yep, just slightly before the events of the original game.

Although, certain events would be ret-conned as happening before this fight instead of after. Squall showing Selphie around the Garden.

We'd be introduced to a majority of the main Cast here, the "Battle Zoo" and daily life at Balamb.

Most of these introductionsz especially that of the Battle Zoo, would create side-quests and things for the players to do "Between Episodes."

So, learning fight mechanics at the Zoo with many different mechanics would be one of the earliest side-quests.

The episode's focus would shift to the Rivalry between Seifer and Squall, ultimately ending in the fight between them.

The player would have to beat Seifer to get the credit roll. During the fight, however, Seifer will reveal his upper hand of "Having defeated Ifrit First" by blinding Squall with a fire spell.

This would be a single fight, but it would represent every altercation Squall and Seifer ever had. Including several rounds, and Seifer goading Squall whenever he loses.

Generic things like "Come on Squall, is that all you got?" And "C'mon, Get UP!"

There would even be a special challenge mode fight against Seifer with all the stops removed. (As episode one is the "Tutorial Level" and pseudo training montage.)

After nearly switching Genre to the psychological thriller "Face Off" starring Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, the ending scene would be the two breathing heavy facing away from each other, in immense pain.

Like that old Samurai trope of the single slash between warriors. Except they both lost.

And then, "Black Betty" would start playing, as a montage of the different politics and foreshadowing happens. Including flashes of meetings between political leaders, Edea, The Galbadin Army, The Headmaster, the Norg, and likely several other storylines that could be added that didn't appear in the original.

Ending with a scene of the original Orphanage transitioning to Balamb Garden.

This story would include more self-awareness of being orphans and being trained in the art of war at an early age. Hence why the ending with that shift specifically.

Episode two would start with a meeting between Quistis and the Headmaster (or other leader) laying out the gameplay for Operation Dali. And getting on her case for her students not having completed their curricula (Squall Specifically)

This episode features Seifer and Squall being late to class. (Or Seifer not being a whiny b* and still showing up on time, since he's the leader of the Disciplinary Committee and all.)

We get what it's like to be in a classroom for the day, Quistis forces Squall to prepare for his Ifrit Exam,including functioning his assigned GF (Quetzal Coatl) while she takes Shiva. Urging Squall to have taken it himself. But Squall is Squall.

We get a glimpse of the world outside of the Garden for the first time. Here we also introduce the Chocobo Forest, and even see other students learning Animal Husbandry skills. Though, these particular mini-games won't include Squall, as he is being forced into Plato's Cave.

Squall and Quistis make their way through the cave, which includes many strong monsters and Even a boss that Squall mistakes for Ifrit himself.

And then Ifrit himself shows up after he thinks he's done with the outing with "Through the Fire and the Flames" playing in the background. Then Credits.

The post Credit Scene is the other students enjoying the Chocobo Forest games.

[foxingpeculiar]

FF16 Blogging. Spoilers up to… just past the Fafnir fight.

I didn’t play that much today. Had a long day at work and got a little… toasted after. But that’s okay—baby steps. Monday, I’ll have a nice deep dive into it for a while.

So, basically I encountered Jill and then Cid in rapid succession and went to the Hideaway and now I’m going with Cid somewhere where maybe the Ifrit Dominant is? We’ll see.

This is a solid Cid, and I do love a good Cid. He’s got like… revolutionary dad vibes? I dunno. Also pretty into Nan/Charon and Benedikta, even though the latter is obviously going to be a problem later, but I’m excited for that. Girl is serving it, with her little fancy pipe and all. As far as I can tell her kingdom (the one that starts with W and apparently controls all of Ash, which I’m guessing is the other continent, next to Storm) is kinda this games version of Esthar from FF8: like the powerful dudes over there. So am curious what she’s up to.

Am also really curious where this whole parade is going, cos there’s like…. not an obvious big bad yet, or like… thing that needs to be resolved (like in FF7, it’s pretty clear within the first hour that Shinra is gonna have to be dealt with, or in 10, there’s the whole Sin thing, right from the outset—this feels more… open? Unpredictable?). And I mean, it’s early, sure. We’ll get there. But it’s feeling really satisfying to try and figure it out.

I hope they don’t fridge Jill. I feel like they’re gonna, but I wanna get to know her more. Other than that, though, I have no idea where we’re going, but I’m loving the satisfaction of FF back on its game.

Random thoughts: Joshua = Yeshua = Jesus. And like, he’s the Phoenix dominant, and what is the Phoenix if not resurrection? Like, there’s something going on there. Also, the myth of Prometheus and the discovery of fire… like, something’s happening there too. I dunno, there’s this whole subtext going on that I can sense, but I don’t know what it’s doing yet, so I don’t know what to make of it. Oh and like, the whole opening scene is straight the fuck out of The Two Towers, but like, in an awesome way.