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From the Junction system to the fact that monsters level up along with the party, the team made many decisions here that didn’t go down very well. Neither did some of the party members themselves. Galbadia Garden’s Irvine Kinneas is often considered unimportant and tacked on. In reality, though, there’s much more to this charming sharpshooter than you might think. Here are some interesting details about him you might not know.

10 He’s The Youngest Member Of The ‘Orphanage Gang’

As players will know, the main party this time around is one of the youngest in series history, consisting largely of young SeeDs. The main party members are all approximately 17 during the time of the story’s events.

The last primary party member to join the group is Irvine Kinneas. The player meets him during their first visit to Galbadia Garden, where the headmaster assigns him as the sniper for the assassination mission. Interestingly, his birthday is November 24, making this 17-year-old the most junior member of the party.

9 He’s Not Such A Loner At All, Being Truly Dedicated To His New Friends

Speaking of the assassination mission, there’s no denying that it was an unmitigated disaster. The pressure is too much for Irvine to bear, he takes an eternity to fire (encouraged by the always-hapless leadership of Squall), only for Edea to effortlessly stop the bullet with magic and incarcerate our heroes.

It’s little wonder that Irvine’s nerves got to him to such an extent. He always went to great pains to explain to the group that he’s a lone wolf, but as with a lot of people who make these claims (such as Captain Social Skills Squall himself), he’s tremendously caring deep down. As the Final Fantasy Wiki reports, when the player briefly controls Irvine at Fishermans Horizon, he reveals in conversations with NPCs that he considers the party his ‘saviors,’ trusted comrades, and that he hates being alone. Interesting insight lots of players miss when they don’t take the opportunity to explore as Irvine.

8 He’s Not A Fan Of Triple Triad… Unless He’s Playing Against Women

While the recent Final Fantasy VIII Remastered made certain cuts and changes to the game, the fundamental elements remain completely intact. One of them, where Irvine is concerned, is the sharpshooter’s love for the ladies.

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This trait extends into every aspect of the young man’s life. The player can’t battle him in a match of Triple Triad, but they can try. On doing so, he’ll state that he isn’t interested in the popular card game, unless he has a female opponent.

7 When He Does Play Triple Triad, He’s Mistaken For Squall (Well, Sort Of)

Speaking of Triple Triad, the addictive minigame hides a curious little oversight on the developers’ part. As we’ve mentioned, the player briefly takes control of Irvine in one trip to Fishermans Horizon, and can journey around Balamb Garden as him.

It’s even possible to progress the Card Club sidequest as Irvine, but on doing so, gamers will notice something interesting: the members of the Club will refer to Irvine as Squall in their dialogue, despite the fact that Squall is nowhere to be seen during this segment.

6 He Can Go On A Special Tour Of Balamb Garden

When the player first meets the energetic Selphie Tilmitt, she’s a brand-new, helplessly lost student. Squall can kindly offer to give he a tour of the Garden, a luxury that’s not afforded to poor old Irvine later. However, the player does get the chance to give him his own tour of the complex while controlling him.

Yes, we’re supposed to be simply picking musical instruments for Zell, Selphie and Quistis at Fishermans Horizon, but it’s possible to stray far beyond that. Go back into the Garden, the Final Fantasy Wiki reports, and Irvine will be free to have a friendly chat with as many ladies as he likes. Not only that, but he can visit Squall’s room, where our be-scarred hero will be sleeping.

5 His Ultimate Weapon Is The Only One That Can’t Be Unlocked Super Early

Veteran players will know that the Junctioning system, in combination with the Card Mod ability, enables the player to buff their characters to ludicrous proportions incredible early in the game. Not only does this give the player access to very strong magic for Junctioning, it also allows access to characters’ ultimate weapons.

Squall, Rinoa, Zell, Quistis and Selphie’s strongest weapons are all available on ‘disk one’ of the game, if the player’s willing to put in the hours of Triple Triad grinding to gain the necessary items. Only Irvine’s ultimate weapon, the Exeter, is unavailable this early. One of its materials is a Moon Stone, which the player can’t get their hands on before ‘disk three’ by any in-game means.

4 His Triple Triad Card Is A Bit Of A Pain To Get

If you’ve ever put in the time to collect a full set of Triple Triad cards, you’ll know that it totally wasn’t worth the effort just for that star symbol next to the Card sub-menu. If that darn Random rule manages to spread anywhere important, you’ll rue the day like you’ve never rued a day before. Whatever rueing is.

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For certain rare cards, the player will need to lose another rare card to somebody else, before the aforementioned card you wanted is played by the NPC you want to win it from. To nab Irvine’s card, you’ll have to lose the Sacred Card to the Queen of Cards (it can be won back elsewhere), then you’ll be able to win Irvine’s card from Mayor Flo later.

3 He’s More Important Than He Might Seem

You’ve probably heard a lot of the bad press that Irvine gets. He’s not interesting, he doesn’t really matter to the plot. He’s one-dimensional. While there’s some truth to such allegations, there’s more to him than meets the eye.

As we’ve mentioned, he has a lot of hidden depth, but it’s not just that. We learn later that the Orphanage Gang all grew up together, though none of them remembered except Irvine. Why? Because he was the only one who hadn’t Junctioned a lot of memory-sapping Guardian Forces. Not only does he help them remember their pasts, but he stiffens their resolve and, perhaps, is the key to keeping them ‘together’ during Ultimecia’s casting of time compression.

2 He Was Originally Supposed To Wear Goggles

There’s something truly unique about the character design of the Final Fantasy series. Tetsuya Nomura might be a little too enthusiastic about giving his characters superfluous belts and other accessories (it gets a little glam rock around here at times), but a solid design is a solid design. Sometimes it takes several attempts, though.

As Flare Gamer reports, Irvine’s design went through a lot of refinement. Of Nomura, we’re told, “he created Irvine’s character as one that was cool looking, but wasn’t too serious personality wise. This made him a little less desirable. At first, Nomura had him wearing goggles, but that made him seem too similar to FF7’s Cid.”

1 He’s Actually A Very Powerful Party Member

With the Junctioning system and lack of job classes, there isn’t a lot that differentiates the main party members of the game in terms of power. Their use in battle largely comes down to Limit Breaks.

In this area, the likes of Squall and Zell (Beat Rush and Booyah combos agogo) reign supreme. Irvine’s Shot Limit Break is also potentially super strong, but without the ease of use Zell’s provides. Pulse Ammo is far too scarce to blast away with for his strongest attack, Hyper Shot, and it’s really slow too. Armor Shot, however, is very nice, especially as it bypasses defenses. In battle as in the story, Irvine is far from mediocre.

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