Kupo Chronicle #1 - A Different Dollet

The shores of Dollet sure have changed (but the robot spiders are still here)

Welcome to the first edition of the Kupo Chronicle, the premium edition of the Wark Digest newsletter! In this new addition to the Final Fantasy Union umbrella, we’ll be drilling down into unique moments of Final Fantasy history or taking a long-form (and sometimes personal) look at other matters within the Final Fantasy universe. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and for our first issue, and for the game’s 25th anniversary this week, I’ve unearthed the demo for Final Fantasy VIII—an early look at the game that’s both familiar and wildly different.

This week’s newsletter is 3438 words, a 16-minute read.

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The Demo In Context

Final Fantasy VIII Trial Version was released alongside SquareSoft’s Brave Fencer Musashi as a bonus disc—in the case of the North American release, dubbed the “SquareSoft ‘98 Collector’s CD Vol 2”* for the North American release on November 12, 1998. It would later be re-distributed in Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine’s August 1999 issue, a special preview issue of the European Official PlayStation Magazine, and as a promotional giveaway from… Pizza Hut, of all places.