Renzokuken


 * For videos of the various Renzokuken, please go to Renzokuken/Videos.

Renzokuken (連続剣 "Continual Sword", "Sequential Sword", or "Serial Sword") is Squall Leonhart's Limit Break in Final Fantasy VIII. Renzokuken's first stage is a series of slashes from his gunblade. To increase the amount of damage, the player must hit the R1 shoulder button (the "trigger") as the bar of light sweeps through the gauge at the bottom of the screen and into a small box at the left. After the sequence Squall may attack with one of his four finishers.

Execution
When Squall begins the Renzokuken, he rushes forward, and a gauge appears on the screen. Four to eight bars of light sweep through the gauge, and pressing the R1 button when the bars of light move into the trigger box on the left results in a critical hit. It is possible to set the trigger on automatic from the config menu, but it will sometimes miss triggers.

The Crisis Level affects the number of hits in Squall's Renzokuken and the chance to perform a finishing blow.

In addition, there is a 50% chance to perform an additional Renzokuken hit at the end, making the maximum possible amount of hits eight.

Certain enemies have special Renzokuken sequences that are unaffected by Crisis Level. During a special Renzokuken sequence the triggers' timing is different from the regular Renzokuken sequence.

The following Bosses have unique Renzokuken sequences:
 * Elvoret/Elnoyle - 6 Hits
 * NORG - 6 Hits
 * Seifer (All Encounters) - 5 Hits
 * Jumbo Cactuar - 7 Hits
 * Bahamut - 6 Hits
 * Ultima Weapon - 7 Hits
 * Griever - 5 Hits
 * Ultimecia (Junctioned to Griever) - 8 Hits
 * Ultimecia (Final Battle) - 7 Hits

At the end of the Renzokuken sequence Squall may use one of his finishing moves.

Finishing Moves
After the Renzokuken sequence there's a chance to perform a finishing blow.


 * $$Chance \% = (CL * 60 + 1) / 256 * 100$$

Meaning, there's a (CrisisLevel * ~23.4%) chance to perform a finishing blow. Which finishing blow is used is not affected by Crisis Level, but rather has a fixed chance of occurring depending on which weapon Squall has equipped. All finishing blows are physical attacks and can do critical damage.

Rough Divide
Rough Divide (ラフディバイド) is Squall's initial finishing move, as well as the weakest. It hits a single opponent via a charging diagonal upper-cut (similar to the one he used to give Seifer his scar), causing a fair amount of damage with an explosion.

Fated Circle
Fated Circle (フェイテッドサークル) is Squall's second finishing move. Squall jumps up into the air while charging energy into his gunblade. At the peak of his jump he spins in a circle, releasing a shockwave that damages all enemies.

Blasting Zone
Blasting Zone (プラスティングゾーン) is Squall's third finishing move. Squall raises his gunblade overhead, charges up and extends a pillar of energy to the outer atmosphere (even when used against the Propagators aboard Ragnarok) and strikes all enemies with it to deal heavy damage. In most media depicting Squall outside of Final Fantasy VIII, such as the Kingdom Hearts series, the move is instead portrayed as magically increasing the size of the gunblade's blade.

Lion Heart
Lion Heart (エンドオブハート, Endo obu Hāto, End of Heart) is Squall's ultimate finishing move, and can only be used after acquiring his ultimate weapon (also called the Lionheart). It strikes a single opponent nineteen times (the enemy also suffers damage when it is thrown up into the air at the Lion Heart's beginning as well as when it is slammed on the ground after the Lion Heart is over) and generally causes massive damage. After Zell's Duel, it is the strongest Limit Break in the game, accounting for the plus damage of the Renzokuken's four to eight hits. During optimal conditions, a total of 259,974 points of damage is possible in one attack round.

Kingdom Hearts series
In most of his appearances in the series as a combatant Squall's most iconic attack is an attack similar to the Blasting Zone Limit Break where he increases the size of the gunblade's blade in a similar way to Final Fantasy VIII. While in this mode his attacks become more powerful and his reach increases drastically. Other more mundane attacks do resemble Renzokuken techniques, such as the Fated Circle and the multi-combo swipes he sometimes uses; however, the "Blasting Zone look-a-like" is the most notable and powerful.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Squall's EX Burst in Dissidia is the Renzokuken, requiring him to successfully time button presses to land a potential eight hits. Landing all eight allows him to finish the EX Burst with a variation of Lion Heart; rather than attack enemies with several rapid attacks, it is downplayed to a single attack reminiscent of the final blow seen in the original.

Ultimecia's EX Burst is a variation of Renzokuken called Time Compression. It operates identically to Renzokuken, requiring the player to time button presses with a flashing power meter to time the strikes of Ultimecia's magic bolts. She ends the EX Burst with Sorceress Heart (End of Memories), paralleling the name of Squall's finisher, Lion Heart (End of Heart). Rough Divide, Fated Circle, and Blasting Zone also appear as Squall's HP attacks. However, they function somewhat differently compared to the original attacks: Rough Divide is a charge attack, and Fated Circle and Blasting Zone have much smaller ranges of impact from what is shown in Final Fantasy VIII. Squall also has an alternate version of Fated Circle called Aerial Circle, which has a vertical area of effect as opposed to the horizontal area Fated Circle has.