Final Fantasy 8 question...

[napoleon336]

I just finished FF9 and am about to begin FF8. I heard that the villains in this game level up with you and it's better to actually not level grind in this game.

Is that true?

What levels do you guys recommend for completing this game?

I watched a video on youtube of a guy beating the final boss with Squall only at level 13 and the others at level 8. Is that realistic?

What levels were you guys at when you completed this game?

Thanks

[smattle]

The villains' lvls are bound to Squall's lvl ...

If you level him, the villains become stronger...
If you want to play a non-lvl game you can completely skip on the random fights and only fight the bosses...You'll have to use the GF(Summons) a lot then...Since Squall's lvl stays low the bosses will be considerably weak too....

Throws up 2 problems though: Since you don't lvl your GF don't lvl much either and thus you lose out on abilities and stats.

2nd problem the fights gonna be a lot harder in a non-lvl game since a) you have bad stats, and b) your GF's are comparatively weak since they don't have many of their abilities and stat-ups.


In the end it's true it's possible to play the game avoiding any lvling, but it's just not worth the trouble considering the bosses are still easier to beat in a lvl-game than a non-lvl.

Alsoo you loose out on of 2GF if you're making a non-lvl game to the full extent.

---

I'd recommend just playing the game without concetrating on lvl-ing or non-lvl-ing....In the end what matters most is that you understand the junction system perfectly and use it for your advantage. You should also try and get familiar with the GF-abilities because they are essential for your strength.

[XxVivixX]

Going through the game without leveling up Squall isn't worth it. The game is much more exciting to play when you know that you'll have this ability after a few more battles and such..no one wants to use the same old abilities over and over again. Especially if this is your first time playing it, I say play it like a normal rpg and level them bad boys up.

[Lady Lamont]

I have to agree with ViVi on this.

And it is possible to play VIII without levelling the characters up, if you level up whichever Guardian Forces you have junctioned to Sir Seifer during the SeeD Field Exam - Sir Seifer can be put up to Level 100 from then whereas the other characters can be on the exact same levels as to when you obtained them, later in the game you can do this exact same process - level up the Guardian Forces whilst Edea is in your party.

Smattle, you don't miss out on those GF is you are trying to do a non-levelling challenge - those fights give out items but lack actual EXP ((there is a glitch to get the Tonberry GF without levelling, at the time I did it my game was screwing up before-hand (rendering and code glitches caused by the PSX), as well as another glitch that stops giving you EXP)), as seen with many of the other battles. It's really the world map and/or area battles that dish out the EXP and it's possible as I have explained to level up the GFs', obtain magic and items instead of constantly relying on the GFs' AND not relying on the Selphie glitch.

If you're terrible at video games, the non-levelling challenge certainly won't help you at all - just keep using the auto-Junction option and play the game normally and learn the elemental/status tactics and the final boss is simple enough ((If you don't learn the basics of VIII, then you could end up as someone I know who played the game for four years solid and could never defeat the final boss)).

I only recommend not-levelling as a challenge, it's by far more useless to to not-level than to level up. ((I've beaten the game under all levels, challenges - completely and have gone through the game's core data so I do know what I am saying)).

[immyownmonster]

You'll have fun on this one Play LOTS of cards and learn card mod (*cough* 20 Elnoyles, 1 Minotaur, mug a small lizard in the training center for a few Dragon Fangs) IF you can do this on the first disk you more than likely won't have very many problems!
Your Gaurdian Forces (GF) can make you WAY more powerful than you expect. So look into using the Draw command a few times (even on Bosses) with the one of a kind Junction System! It literally works to YOUR advantage.
And just like every other FF, take the time to do sidequests. You never know what might happen...