Square Company Limited's Final Fantasy VIII game was a Japanese import that caught on big in the United States. The game followed on the heels of the very popular Final Fantasy VII game, which sold well over 10 million copies around the globe. Final Fantasy VIII built on the concept of Limit Breaks by offering a magic spell entitled Aura, which allowed casters to access Limit Break attack systems without depleting their health.

Final Fantasy VIII employed what became known as a junction system to catalog and organize spells and magic items. Players could summon Guardian Forces (also known as GFs) to assist with attacking, vitality, and strength building. Junction system allowed adroit game players to craft very powerful characters early on and thereby delve deeper into the game.

Final Fantasy VIII also inspired a card game called Triple Triad, which, while popular in some circles, never reached the popularity level of the computer game itself. The PlayStation Series eventually inspired a full-blown motion picture, and it continues to attract disciples of more modern Massively Multiple Online Role-Playing Games, such as The Matrix and WOW.

PlayStation released the game on 25 January, 2000, published under the auspices of Eidos Interactive on five CD-ROMs. Players can interact with the world via map screen, field screen, and battle map. Final Fantasy VIII moved away from the armor-based fighting of the earlier versions to make room for the junction system of magic metering.