Found an old issue of [Timber Maniacs]!.........You finished reading it!

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

For the longest time I picked up these magazines and had no idea they effected the story. Either that, or I just forgot. I thought they were nice pieces to help decorate the scenery and make the world feel more alive, but apparently they change Laguna's adventures and Selphie's web page.

i.e. reading certain ones can change the dialogue between Laguna and Julia, whether or not Ward is present for the Ruby Dragon.

I did remember that when the keys fall out of Laguna's pocket, draw points are created on the ground when Squall and the gang go there later.

Have you ever gone out of your way to read or not read certain issues of Timber Maniacs to see certain scenes?

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I actually never noticed that they changed the dialogue at all. At least, if I ever noticed it was a long time ago and I’ve forgotten about it. It’s funny how you can still find out new things about these games after years of playing them.

I do remember after a few years of playing the game every year, my mind was completely blown by the fact that they changed stuff on Selfie’s website. It was probably only a couple of years ago that I probably saw everything you could see on the Garden pc as it changes throughout the game. I’m still not 100% sure I checked back at the pc at every possible moment though.

Such a good game. This is the sort of thing I miss from my JRPGs these days, and these touches are probably why the ps1 era will always be my favorite.

[Lord Golbez]

This might be why things changed from what I remembered in the Julia scene when I played it again later, although at the time I was playing on a different (greatest hits) copy and imagined some change had been made between versions.

[Wolf Kanno]

I feel VIII has some of the most underrated game design in the series. Too many focus on the Junction system that they forget little cool elements like this one. Course it doesn't help that so much of these little tweaks are incredibly easy to miss on a first and even third playthrough. I think my last playthrough a few years ago was the first time I ever found all of the magazines and actually completed Selphie's Garden Committee blog. It was also the first time I finished Zell's sidequest with the librarian which I felt really changed my opinion of him a bit.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

I found another small change by viewing bover_87's walkthrough on GameFAQs.

It's amazing what little things effect the story.

Talking to novice SeeD candidates will determine if they show up in the rest of the game or not.


This nifty little quest gives no rewards except for scenes.

In Balamb Garden's Cafeteria, as you go into the Cafeteria there's a table with three students sitting at it, with a Trepe Groupie nearby. Their dialog changes as the story progresses, with the following ones being available:


-Before the SeeD Field Exam.
-After the SeeD Field Exam but before going to Timber.
-After visiting the MD Level but before going to Fishermans Horizon.
-On Disc 2, anytime after visiting Fishermans Horizon.
-On Disc 3, before the Trabia Canyon sequence.


The key is to speak to them until they start repeating the same line. If you do this all five times, after returning from Trabia Canyon they'll have become full-fledged SeeDs; otherwise, they disappear for the remainder of the game.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/197343-final-fantasy-viii/faqs/72431

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I’ll have to check that one out on my next week playthrough I feel like I probably didn’t go back and talk to them every time I would need to on any of my playthroughs.

[MJN SEIFER]

Yeah, it confused me how sometimes the first dream went differently sometimes, though I can't remember if I ever saw Ward during the fourth dream (though the strategy guide I have always mentioned him, and always followed the version of the first dream where Laguna falls asleep - it wasn't an official guide by the way.) I think I only found out why it changes this year, by being motivated to check the Final Fantasy wiki after someone uploaded a YouTube video about the first dream changing.

I have known for a while that Timber Maniacs cause Selphie's "Sir Laguna's Page" to be updated, but there was a time when even that eluded me (I knew about the page, but I didn't know reading the magazines affected it, because it just looked like a random message to me, and I know other people didn't get why they were there either.)

It's a nice touch how certain things can go differently depending on what you do.