Mastering the Junction System in Final Fantasy VIII

The Junction system in Final Fantasy 8 opens the way for highly customizable character stats and specialties, and was considered to be one of the outstanding advances in the Final Fantasy series.

Guardian Forces are power beings that can be linked to characters, granting them abilities as well as bonuses to their attacks and defenses. Junctioning is one of the most fundamental aspects of the game, but it can also be very confusing. This guide will walk you through junctioning GFs, switching junctions, junctioning magic, and training GFs.

You begin the game with two GFs available to you: Shiva and Quetzalcoatl. GFs can be junctioned to any of the characters in your party as you choose. However, GFs have a compatibility factor with certain characters over others. Let's find out which of these two is most compatible with Squall.

1. Go to your menu screen.

2. Scroll down to, and select, GFs.

3. Select the first GF - Quetzalcoatl. This brings you to Quetzalcoatl's information screen. On the right side is the compatibility area. The higher the score, the more compatible the GF is with the character listed.

4. Now go back and select the second GF, Shiva, and do the same thing.

At the beginning of the game, when only Squall is available for play, both GFs have a very similar compatibility score. However, once Quistis joins your party you will find that Shiva is much more compatible with her. So, for now, we'll junction only Quetzalcoatl to Squall.

1. Go to the main menu screen.

2. Select "Junction" at the top of the list, then select the character that you want to Junction.

3. On the character junctioning screen, select Junction, then GF.

4. Select the GF that you wish to Junction to that character. When the GF is junctioned, its name will be grayed out.