The story in FFVIII is far more realistic than the one behind FFVII. This new story has been toned down to near semi-realistic levels, and should let gamers have an easier time relating to characters and situations. While the mystic elements of the story are still prominent, they are a little easier to understand, compared to the rather ominous sources of power in FFVII. The story centers around Squall, a student in a special combat training school. As the story unfolds he finds himself and his friends becoming entangled in something bigger. Special events within the story are displayed with beautiful full screen video. Certain areas use a combination of video and real time graphics, allowing the camera to sort of pan with the scene's action.

The character models were improved for the PC version, using the latest in 3D acceleration. Square abandoned the sausage linked bodies of Final Fantasy VII and have full sized models which seem to show emotion a lot better. The mannerisms the models exude is really key in helping the player connect with each character emotionally. The most stunning characters are undoubtedly boss characters and the guardian forces. While the heroes of FFVIII do look very detailed and animate well, the guardian forces are the best show of the power behind FFVIII's visuals.

The bulk of this title has been optimized for the PC, except the pre-rendered backgrounds. Since this is such an apparent fault, many people will most likely think less of the title because of it. Although the process of re-rendering backgrounds to fit the resolution on PC would take a long while, in order for FFVIII to compete with the current visuals put out by leading titles it needs absolute visual polish. The low-res backgrounds do not hurt the gameplay in any way, and the objects and settings the backgrounds include are easily identifiable, and are even sort of beautiful.