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"Why do people depend on each other? In the end you're on your own. I'm fine by myself now. I have all the skills I need to survive. I'm not a child anymore... That's a lie. I don't know anything. I'm confused. I don't want to depend on anyone. How can I do that? Someone tell me... Someone? So I'll end up depending on others after all..."

I love this character! Probably the most realistic final fantasy character ever, and you gotta love his hair

Even though he gets some hate I can relate to Squall being somewhat of an introvert myself, and given his backstory it is even more understandable he is that way. If you also consider the development that he shows it is easily enough to make him my favorite character in the game.

You're totally right about the remaster models. Squall's complexity, for example, is undermined by the bright eyed cartoonish model they have for him. They should have uprezed the originals but kept them as close as possible to the original designs.

Protect the hot-dogs!

The war is over if we can't protect the hotdogs!

thank you for showing some love to ff8...i never understood the amount of hate against it as it is by far my very favorite. i cant really describe what it is but theres always been something about ff8 that no other ff game managed to deliver to the me. fictional but yet feeling so realistic... the more realistic artwork, the character design featuring characters acting like real humans based on motives rooted in basic human desires... all of that makes me feel like ff8 is a story that could easily happen to each of us...in my opinion by far the best written story among all ff games. unlike others i personally really enjoyed squall as a main character to the point i could see myself in him and his actions... dont know if someone else feels the same way too but everytime i replay the game its like a whole new experience making me wonder if the game changed or if i did. getting quite philosophical about this but having played this game from very young age to my late 20s now my perspective on it changes with each playthrough..thank you for the videos! been watching all of them for the last couple of hours!:)

Excellent video! Love Squall, definitely my favourite FF lead. I found him very relatable, particularly as a teenager. I love that his story is predominantly a personal one - much more about his perceptions and relations than about an external conflict - despite there being that as well. It strikes me as a much more character driven story than plot driven. And that central conflict of his; whether to be as self sufficient as possible, or to open up and lean on others - even at the potential cost of disappointment and hurt - is incredibly real. I love how Squall's often frantic neurotic inner monologue contrasts so much with his outward brevity and stoicism. Very relatable for the more introvered among us, I'd think haha. He's always going off on his own to his room to reflect on everything. And it can be quite comedic how chaotic his inner world is versus his projected exterior. That's one thing I'm actually not sure how they'd do in a remake; would you have all his inner monologue voiced? How would that fit with the flow of a modern cinematic game? I *would* love to see them remake 8 though. 8 was the first FF game I saw as a kid at a friend's house, and it's still definitely one of my favourites - I remember my friend showed me the opening, and then a section of Edea's parade in Deling. It was iconic. I think it must have been the first time I saw motion capture in a video game, and possibly also the first time I'd heard a full live orchestra track in one. The atmosphere in the game is so unique and dreamlike. Very surreal, particularly whenever the sorcery kicks in. Good observations regarding the names! I honestly hadn't made all those water connections with Laguna and Rain, haha. I share your distaste for the term "emo" - it does seem to so often be used to just dismiss any character who struggles with identity or adolescence in any form. Totally agree on the character design; I always liked the slightly more adult, angular look the original design had (and that the FMVs still have, as you say) - it's been a bit disappointing to me that Squall has never retained his original look in any spinoff material, and the remaster is very much his Dissidia aesthetic (which I think is also a style that, despite looking pretty good, runs the risk of making all the different heroes' faces look a bit too similar - and it certainly takes some of the maturity away from Squall).

I agree. I thought the "Squall is dead" theory was intriguing but I don't side with it.

Love your analysis! Playing through the remaster right now. All his dialogue options and thoughts always pull you into his mind unlike any other ff protagonist. His abandonment issues make him one of the more interesting characters to play as and the game has always stood out for me. It was also my introduction to the series on my PS1 so I’ll always have strong nostalgia for it like so many do. His introspective nature made me love him especially when I was about to reach his age myself as a kid. He seems so young now that I’m older than him but at the time it was the opposite.

My fav ff character. Even better then cloud sephiroth all of em squall Trump's them all.

I completely feel for squall, being an introvert myself and not being understood. Also, I don't know about anybody else, I feel that the relationship with Rinoa was forced. At least to me. Also, all his friends just seem to treat squall badly. No one even tries to understand him. It's just sad how everyone in real life think poorly of him. All the more reason I relate to him.

I think it's a very interesting fun fact that Squall, Cloud, and Noctis, all characters similar in personality, all have birthdays in August. As someone who's birthday also happens to be in August, it's something that caused me to latch onto all 3 of these characters instantly. Other than Noctis who's a Virgo, I also think it's interesting that both Squall and Cloud don't really have a stereotypical "Leo personality", something I only realized cause it's yet another thing I have in common with them lol

I've only just stumbled onto your videos, but I have to say you have a really nice way of putting things and presenting your points. I'm definitely looking forward to what else you're working on.

This is a next level analysis video. Solid job mate!

Amazing. My favorite character in all of media

I'm so relieved you agree about the remaster!

Love the more realistic design

One of the greatest characters written in gaming

I know it's not the main point of the article but you've put into words exactly why the character redesign/remaster in FF8 bugged me a lot. I'll take the pixellation over the cartoonised version any day

Squall is literally my childhood hero and always will be

Just got done watching ur ff8-2 video and loved it glad this came out.

Interesting how you connect noctis and Squall, for sure there is a sense of existential freedom in Squall, like when he thinks about the possibility of letting go everything, or through his constant whatever attitude.I'd be happy if you develop this idea further more cause i found it very interesting. Unlike you i think that Squall is the opposite of that very freedom, being the perfect little student, following orders without any sense of subjectivity.Even through leadership he is forced to take that place he is not making a choice he is undergoing the situation.To me Seifer is the figure of that freedom, a rebel, not following rules, making his own choices even at the cost of the unknown, following his "dream" like he says, he is the child who does not want to grow and fight for it.Only through love Squall is freed from his slavish life, making his own choice for the fist time in the game (taking Rinoa to esthar).In the ending scene you see Squall bound to the BGU, to his responsabilities, to Rinoa and everyone when you see Seifer fishing and laughing just watching the BGU pass by with a calm glance. Even there I have the feeling that they depicted him as a freer lonely wolf.

I think I dislike squall simply from disliking the parts of myself that remind me of him. I’d almost say that’s actually good writing if that’s the intent. You’re supposed to learn and grow along with him and understand the first half of game he’s in the wrong.

Squall was alone as a child, but atleast he still had the Raine to keep him company.

Your analysis is amazing, so happy to see other people who's favorite game is FF8. I know this comes off as a pretty basic question, but who is your overall favorite character of the FF series, and since your favorite game happens to be 8 I would assume it would be someone from 8. Oh also subscribed to your channel. :)

Thx, that was instructive. ++

I love your character analyses. Very informing and thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you very much for doing them! I was thinking how the ATE system of IX would be a good addition to VIII, I feel. Like, you could do one where Irvine is showing Selphie around Fisherman's Horizon. Then, they come to the theater part of the town and Irvine says something "Hey, why don't we see a movie and chill?" And Selphie says something like: "Okay! Sounds fun!" and then Irvine points to a poster, showing the movie Laguna made with the Dragon, and says something like: "Let's go with this one. I hear it's a classic, babe." and then maybe it ends there, or goes a bit further. Or maybe one with Zell on his T-Board. He runs into Quistis and thinks she needs to loosen up more so he convinces her to try hopping on and using it. Eventually, she does, but it becomes apparent it takes a bit of practice to use and she falls off, lol. Then Zell gives pointers and Quistis tries again. Moving slowly on it, Quistis gets the hang of it and Zell congratulates her and asks if it's fun. Quistis agrees, but is concerned of being seen on one as she thinks it's juvenile to use T-Boards that late in age. Zell disregards it and again tells her to loosen up and have fun. And you could do many others like those. Would really help build the characters of ones that could use it the most. What do you think of an ATE system in VIII, Jack? And do you like my examples? LOL!

Squall is my favourite FF character

This breakdown of Squall makes him so much more relatable. I think the original game was too slow in pace to present this. Also, it’s harder to feel the emotions when it’s all subtitle dialogue. Think they should remake the game like with FF VII

I love this game.

The moment he's walking over the train tracks thats when i got him

I won’t be playing the remake specifically because of the new cartoony look of the characters. It just doesn’t align with the rest of the game’s aesthetic to me and is really distracting.

The most Sad Boy of all FF heroes

My favorite Final Fantasy protagonist after Tidus.

ff8 squal leon heart my best katakter, skill,and playing games

Squall is a very well written character, but he suffers from what I call "the Holden Caulfield" effect. People who hate him hate him because he rubs them the wrong way, not because of any fault on the writer's part. Shinji from NGE is very much in the same boat, he's very well written but everyone hates him due to their personal taste. I personally find the complaints about Squall and Shinji to be very shallow, so I've always enjoyed them.

This guy are sick ;)

Just saw the video. And yep could relate to squall back in the day and now. Down to squalls thing with his branding of griever(mine was the phoenix due a motorcycle crash were I got a hard reset from a brain injury)like enough that my highschool class ring has a phoenix on it and almost all of my usernames revolve around it. Wearing mostly black. to his abandonment issues ( me personally i had all those and more). To being rather silent most of the time and taking an inordinate amount of time to open up. Yea..Got some personal experience with all that. Don't want to be the leader but once forced into it I can be really competent albeit reluctant to do it.. Too bad I saw this video 3-years after it dropped lol. Squall is particularly a human, who's seen some shit.

much as i love ff7 squalls lionheart looks cooler and does more damage then omnislash

While I like the updated graphics and look forward to playing the remastered game, I really wish they would have gone with a more realistic art style. I can't help but feel like making it look so anime was a bit of a cheap move. It's not that it looks bad, I guess I just long for that more realistic style.

So is Squall better with ice magic?

Rather have squall be a cold and ruthless machine than “mature” squall. Reference: Tatsuya, mahou koukou rettusei

“What to do with hot dogs” ….forever an iconic battle command from Squall 🤡

The problem with Squall is that he doesn't fit the role of a main hero in FF8. The most characters in FF8 have silly, lighthearted tone to them. This doesn't match Squall as a character. Squall would fit in better in a game with serious, angry, and dangerous characters, like Batman. Squall would fit a game where the characters are extremely cold and threatening. Squall simply got put in the wrong setting. Rinoa doesn't fit Squall at all. Quistis would actually be a better girlfriend for Squall.

The fact that Squall thinks that Laguna is a moron is so, so deeply, comically, ironic. I like Laguna a lot more than Squall, he's so much more easy going and personable. A lot like Zack.

I take it one step further. I believe Seifer can be viewed as almost a mental projection of Squalls innermost feelings. I often refer to him as "Squall with balls" He's everything Squall wants to be. And I've always had this feeling that Seifer remembers everything, like Irvine does.

Squall Leonheart is the Cyclops of Final Fantasy. Likewise, Cloud is its Wolverine. Just like how Cloud overshadows Squall, Wolverine overshadows Cyclops

Please stop calling a clearly anime look "cartoony". I think you are a good reviewer, but the anime community can always find anyone.