[PSX] Final Fantasy 8 HACK - International GF Job System

djroomba · August 14, 2019

International GF Job System

------------OVERVIEW
The Final Fantasy 8 International GF Job System is a hack of FF8 that overhauls the GF system, namely abilities, commands and junctions, as well as changing or slightly altering other gameplay elements to make for a new and varied experience. There are very few hacks for the PSX FF8 and I wanted to try and remedy that. This hack is specifically set up for those that want to play FF8 on the go through phone emulators and such.

The game is slightly more challenging as junctions have been significantly altered/reduced but this is not a difficulty hack. The hack is simply meant to streamline alot of the minor nitpicks that I have always had with the game. Things like which Junctions are attached to GF's, unused or broken abilities/mechanics, overly generous stat boosts from both abilities and magic, as well as limits that break the game are a few things that have been changed among many others.

Most of these changes come from my experiences playing the game but alot of them also come from various forums and sources on the internet that had improvements that could really help with the flow of the game. Sega Chief was also a great resource for improvements after the FF7 New Threat was finished and people were
speculating what an FF8 mod would entail.

This patch is used with the Final Fantasy VIII [NTSC-U] rom. The patch was created with the .bin but will work with a .img rom as well.
Included in the download is all 4 discs, use PPF Studio to apply the patch and enjoy.

Notable Changes
I really like FF8 but always had some issues with it, even unrelated to the Draw system. The draw system
was never as bad as some people think even if I never liked it back in the day, but there are alot of
things that could be changed to make the game more fun and interesting. Below are a few of the most notable
changes.

Character Stats- Character Stats have been changed to reflect a character role and make them more you unique.
This is gone into much greater detail below.

GF's - The main focus of the hack, the GF's have been almost completely overhauled to better reflect a typical
FF Job so equipping them would be similar to choosing a class in other FF's. The GF's now specialize in certain
stat junctions and skills to complement a role. This is why the hack is named as such since it takes alot of
cues from the original Japanese version of the Zodiac Age (International Zodiac Job System).
Much more info below.

Abilities - The AP required for skills have been changed and some unique commands have replaced older ones.
% boost abilities like STR +60% was overkill and have been altered to only go up to 30% for most stats
and I believe up to 40% for HP.

Junctions - The second complete overhaul. Junctions have been reallocated with their boosts and almost all have
been changed in some way. Ultima is no longer the strongest magic junction across all stats, as it is mainly
focused toward the Magical stats. Apocalypse is obtainable at several points in the game and is the strongest
magic for STR. Even with this, the highest junction only goes up to 75 for Mag and Str instead of 100 and HP
will not easily hit 9999 without additional % boost abilities.
Much more info below.

Magic - These have been changed greatly as well. Pain now inflicts damage and Meltdown has been significantly
reduced. Meteor is not overly viable to spam on an Angel Winged Rinoa either as it doesn't do nearly as much
damage as the main game, but would still do adequate damage. There are various other changes to and alterations
to magic that are highlighted below.

Limits-Limits have been reduced in damage output and/or been given boosts or qualities that make them less
redundant. Because of the changes in junctions (especially STR), Limits will not be able to one shot enemies.
Overuse of limits is not encouraged or discouraged since it is a viable way to do damage especially with
the new Aura Command. Alot of people seem to want to "limit" the use of Limits but since the damage output in
general is somewhat reduced, it would not necessitate limiting players of the characters most unique skills.

Enemies - Have not been significantly changed but the biggest is that flying enemies now have high Eva
and therefore cannot reliably be hit by all characters. Squall and Irvine have the highest Hit % followed
by Rinoa so they will be the main physical attacker for flying types for the majority of the game. Other
enemy changes are below.

------------CHARACTER Adjustments
Character Stats have been changed to reflect a character role and make them
more you unique. All characters have a stat that they excell in more noticeably
(except for Quistis who is the All Rounder) and can be tailored to suit their role
better. Hit % has been changed drastically with Irvine now having the
highest Hit outside of Squall with the lowest Hit belonging to Zell. This is to take into
account the gameplay element of Flying enemies now having higher Eva and cannot
be hit by the likes of Zell easily, to make it more like FFX and XII.

-Squall is the best physical attacker but has trouble taking damage.
-Zell is fast and can take physical attacks but has poor magic across the board.
-Irvine has the highest HP and Luck but is fairly poor outside of high Hit.
-Quistis excells at nothing but she is not terrible either. She is supposed to
be geared more toward her Blue Magic which have been given minor alterations.
-Selphie is the fastest and has high Magic but is poor with physical attacks in general.
Her weapons now use Mag instead of Str to calculate damage. Her best weapon no longer
has perfect accuracy though.
-Rinoa has now been geared more toward Magic (she had the highest Str in the main game)
and also has better Hit percentages than most others.

-----------GF CHANGES
The GF's have been almost completely overhauled to better reflect a typical FF Job so equipping
them would be similar to choosing a class in other FF's. The GF's now specialize in certain
stat junctions and skills to complement a role.

For instance, Ifrit is the Warrior and starts with Str and Vit (instead of HP). His Mad Rush
skill has also been changed to Bravery (more on that below), to better enhance that role of
Warrior as well as not completely inhibit the party.
Similarly, Shiva is now the Monk and emphasizes defense and speed. She also no longer carries
Doom but now has the Aura command that grants Aura on self (Shiva's character only).

More GF's carry new junctions and certain combinations will allow for all characters to
access all junctions without the need for items. Items that grant Junctions are solely for
customization and are not required to get all junctions on all characters. An example would be, only
Ifrit has the STR-J early on but his defeat at the Fire Cave yields a STR-J scroll to use
how you see fit. Other GF's yield certain junction scrolls as well. For quick reference of
the GF Job System changes, consult the following table:

Tiers 1 and 2 have more common Junctions + SPD and EVA is more prevalent now.
Tier 3 GF's now have more spread out junctions for HIT and LUCK as well. All Tier 3 GF's now
have Abilityx4.

Certain GF's unlock Elem Attack only after with Elem Def is learned. Same with Status Def.
In addition to this, certain abilities only unlock after GF is leveled up to 5, 10, 15, 20,
25, 30, 35, with higher Tier GF's unlocking skills at the higher levels.

The new GF's are not limited to their Junctions either, the roles they have are also based
on the commands they use both from the normal game and new ones.

------------NEW COMMANDS
Doom >> Aura
Never used Doom so created the Aura command. Aura command casts Aura on self but also Slow.
Shiva makes use of this as the Monk Class. Limits are a pretty viable means of damage now
since Str has been reduced and Slow makes this command not overpowered.

Mad Rush >> Bravery
Mad Rush has been changed to Bravery which casts Haste and Berserk on self.
Ifrit makes use of this command as the Warrior Class. Eden also gets this command.

LVDown >> Shield
Shield replaces LvDown which allows the free casting of Protect on one ally.
Doomtrain receives this command as the Green Mage. Tonberry the Magus also gets it.

LVUp >> Wall
Wall replaces LvUp which allows the free casting of Shell on one ally.
Leviathan the Geomancer receives Wall. Tonberry the Magus also gets it.

Kamikaze >> Infuse
Infuse replaces Kamikaze since killing an ally for damage seems like such a cheap move.
Infuse still removes ally but instead of damage, grants Shell, Protect, Haste and Regen on
remaining allies. I thought of adding invincible instead of the two barriers but it seemed
like a bit much.

Devour >> Faith
Devour has been removed and changed to Faith which is the magical version of Bravery.
It is similar to Angel Wing in that the character casts random magic for free but Haste
is also added. Eden obtains the Faith command.

----------Junction Changes
Junctions have been reallocated with their boosts and almost all have been changed in some way.
Ultima is no longer the strongest magic junction across all stats, as it is mainly focused toward
the Magical stats. Apocalypse is now obtainable at several points in the game and is the strongest
magic for STR. Str and Mag junctions are reduced overall but some are now stronger than they were
in the main game. This was to create balance and not make the timed stuff at the beginning of the
game overly difficult. Over the course of the game Magic will scale gradually and only offer slight
variations, meaning the STR and MAG will not increase drastically once Ultima (or Apocalypse) is obtained.

With this in mind, the highest junction only goes up to 75 for Mag and Str instead of 100 and HP
will not easily hit 9999 without additional % boost abilities.

Magic in general has been altered with Pain and Meltdown doing around mid tier damage now. Meteor damage
has been reduced and does earth elemental damage. Cure and Float now have an element to be junction to and
Scan is a viable option early game since it has not much use anyway.

There are others that may simply need to be discovered (in that I don't remember all of them).

----------WEAPONS
Weapons have been changed to better suit a type of role. The biggest changes are that Hit for
all characters have been changed with Squall, Irvine and Rinoa now having the highest.
Selphie's weapons now all factor in Mag to the damage calculation and her best weapon no
longer has perfect acc.

The STR Bonus of all weapons have been reduced except for the Ultimate Weapons.
Revolver and Shear Trigger unlock Rough Divide
Cutting Trigger and Flame Saber unlock Fated Circle
Twin Lance and Punishment unlock Blasting Zone
Lionhear unlocks Lionheart

Edea's attack is also Magical as opposed to physical now.

---------ENEMY CHANGES
Flying Enemies: Now have the highest Eva and cannot be hit physically by anyone, save for Squall or
Irvine, without some kind of Junction Boost. By end game even Zell should be able to
handle flying foes but early on only Squall and Irvine have the Hit necessary to land
a regular attack. This was done to create a sense of purpose and differentiate the weapons
a bit more like in FFX where Wakka specialized in flying foes for the first half of the
game.

Large Enemies: Armored enemies and larger foes have had their Vit increased and should be
dealt with through magic if possible.

Smaller enemies: Small enemies have high Spr and Mag and physical attacks should be used
against them.

Serpentine enemies are much faster now and will attack accordingly. Various other enemies have
had their stats tweaked as well as offer slightly altered items upon defeat.

International GF Job System
PATCH DOWNLOAD

Full Change Log File
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Edited August 19, 2019 by djroomba

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[PSX] Final Fantasy 8 HACK - International GF Job System

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