First of all, you get them from inside your classroom computer, which means right from the start we’re treated to the information that Guardian Forces can be digitised and stored in folders like Spongebob reaction pictures. This is one of the two GFs you pick up at the beginning of the game, the other being Shiva.
So, in an ill-advised attempt to piece together yet another section of Squall’s world, I’m going to step through all of the GFs, more or less in the order you might encounter them in-game, starting with the first five. But that’s sort of how Final Fantasy VIII works it drops breadcrumbs that lead to large piles of breadcrumbs. And the more that you collect, the more confusing they become. Beyond that, there’s very little to know about Guardian Forces: there are rumours that using them causes memory loss (because they live inside your brain, of course) they can be found in objects, people, or manifesting physically as themselves and they are, according to translations of Final Fantasy Ultimania, best described as ” mighty autonomous energy bodies.” Which could mean anything, really.Įven once you get beyond the conceptual oddness of a creature that lives inside the mind of a teenager, has thoughts and feelings, provides access to amazing magical abilities and eats memories, there’s something breathtakingly weird about these summons. GFs are this instalment’s summon magic, allowing characters to not only call forth ridiculous creatures but also serving as the justification for normal human characters being able to temporarily use magic. Like most other things in the game, FFVIII spends almost no time explicitly discussing the logic, purpose or backstory of Guardian Forces. “Be sure to ignore all the GF criticism you hear from other Gardens or military forces.” And, most importantly, if you discover a collection of godlike energy beings with terrifying powers and the ability to merge with the psyche of mortals, immediately begin attaching them to children. Monsters come from the moon? Construct a skyscraper-sized magnet designed to suck creatures out of space and flood the surface of the planet. Discover a woman with the strange ability project backwards through time? Invent a device that replicates that power and hand it over to the government.
Found a mysterious and potentially dangerous underground research facility? Instead of checking what it might have been for, build a school on top. Undefined political and existential threats dotted all over the globe? Train a collection of teenagers and dispatch them as diplomats and mercenaries even though they can barely settle disputes about hot dogs. Everywhere you look, someone in a position of power is sticking their greasy finger into an electrical socket or buying poorly-made fireworks. Very few fictional worlds approach demonstrably bad ideas with more whimsy than the Final Fantasy VIII universe. You can forget reading this and return home by clicking here. The price we pay for using the GF. This article contains major spoilers for Final Fantasy VIII.