Back to school: the stories behind Final Fantasy VIII

Each episode of Final Fantasy experiments and renews itself in different ways. When Final Fantasy VIII was released in 1999, so far no entry had dared outside the traditional formula of the series. Instead of experienced heroes, the story follows a group of young students. Instead of stylized art, the graphics are more realistic. Instead of learning and casting spells, players use magic items and “connect” them to improve various stats.

For players who were expecting well-known Final Fantasy storylines and systems, these changes were a surprise and led to some disagreements among the fans of the series when the game started. But wherever you land in this spectrum, everyone can agree: Final Fantasy VIII is different. This willingness to take risks makes the game so special: it’s a story that leaps generations, a complex system of progress that encourages players to test their limits, and the addictive Triple Triad card game that has since appeared in several Posts emerged.

The recent release of Final Fantasy VIII Remastered gives fans the opportunity to see this 20-year title in a new light – and some players are now experiencing the adventure for the first time. With this unique game back in the limelight, we asked original director Yoshinori Kitase (now Producer of Final Fantasy VII Remake) for his behind-the-scenes stories as he worked on this classic role-playing game that was ahead of its time.

Game Informer: On which core concepts of the Final Fantasy VIII project did the team want to build at the beginning of the game?

Yoshinori Kitase: I am not sure if this is really a “concept”, but Final Fantasy VII was visually rather dark and it was also a very serious, heavy story. We wanted to make Final Fantasy VIII much lighter in image and sound right from the start. As we sat down to think about what could be a lighter and happier story, we thought of our days as students. I do not know if it was fun to be a student – maybe not all – but when I sat down with (Tetsuya) Nomura-san to find out, we thought, “Actually, yes, a story about kids in school would be a nice, happy story. “

Was there a concern in the team to pursue such a successful game as Final Fantasy VII?

I did not really feel like it was such an incredibly successful game. It felt like more people around the world had a chance to play it – not just in Japan. So there was no pressure to make Final Fantasy VIII so successful or anything special, but it definitely felt like we wanted to make a game that would appeal to people around the world.

Final Fantasy VIII has made some pretty big changes to the Final Fantasy formula, such as: B. stocking magic and crossing. Do you remember that you were worried about how the fans would react?

As far as the intersections were concerned, that was not really something we were worried about. Of course, people had something to say when the game came out! While we did it, we did not really think about it. But it was the first time we made a school drama story. until then, it was always about a hero or a savior or something. So we were a bit wary of how that would be taken.

By the time Final Fantasy VII came out, it was not like everyone had the Internet. We really did not have a chance to find out about these reactions to the game except the reviews written about the game and the fan letters sent to us. But until then, all RPGs were, so to speak, “defeat the monster, you’ll get some money, you’ll get some experience points, and you’ll upgrade.” It was just a sequel over and over again. In these letters and opinions (on Final Fantasy VII), some people said, “Is not it time for something new? We want a new system.” Instead of being unsure or careful, we just wanted to try something new and try it out.

Is this a philosophy you have adopted in the Final Fantasy titles you have worked on since then? They all seem to take different risks with the traditions of the series.

Yes, that’s something I’m always aware of. We had meetings every month where all the teams introduced each other to what they work for, how far they are, and such things. As an icebreaker at one of these meetings, I decided to give a small presentation in which I asked the people involved in the Final Fantasy series, “What is Final Fantasy?” When I asked Tetsuya Nomura what Final Fantasy For him, it was like throwing a children’s toy box all over the floor – meaning a toy box is full of all those things that are fun to play individually, but when you throw them across the floor, Can you do that everywhere? There are so many different things to deal with and watch and play with, and so I think about it.

When Final Fantasy VIII came out, I was thrilled. But I also had quarrels with friends who did not. How did you rate the acceptance of the game to the fans?

Final Fantasy VIII sold very well and in that sense it was successful. But as far as the ratings went at the time, they were sort of everywhere. They were very mixed. For example, if you defeated a monster by then, you got money. But in Final Fantasy VIII, we decided to give players salaries so they could get paid after a while. There were definitely people who were not happy because it was not what they expected or were prepared for. But just as I thought it would be a new stimulus to the people. As I said, we did not have internet at the time, but now we can see what people are saying about the game online, and many fans have said it takes some time – as far as the draw system and juicing are concerned But if you do it, it’s really fun. I think we have managed to present something new and engaging. Even now, in forums, I’ll watch it when I see posts titled, “Actually, Final Fantasy VIII was pretty good.” (Laughs) Like, “This person knows what’s going on!”

Do you think Final Fantasy VIII was treated fairly in these reviews?

The Japanese media were not particularly keen – they did not talk very openly about these kinds of things. And we did not do a media tour for Final Fantasy VIII. If there were such reviews in the western areas, we did not really deal with them. At that time, it was very difficult for players to get information on how to play the game or what strategies to use unless they had a strategy leader. I think if the game had come out when there were really strong internet communities, there could have been more information exchange among the players about how to do this and that, and it might have had a slightly different perception. I think that was something missing, because there really was no way to effectively communicate these new elements to the players.

The opening film is still considered one of the best beginnings of a game. What kind of planning was behind it?

This was almost exclusively the product of (Tetsuya) Nomura-san. He came up with the concept and said, “I want to do that,” drew a storyboard for us and also led the scene. In Japan there is a tradition of “morning practice”. So, if you are active in a club that is usually made up of sports or similar, you have practice before the school starts in the morning. This scene has this whole structure that looks like a fight, but you find out it was just morning practice.

The Gunblade is such an iconic weapon from this game. Is the origin as simple as someone just saying, “Would not it be cool if we put together a weapon and a sword?”

Nomura-san makes all character designs. And when he designs characters, he also designs weapons, and that was the weapon he designed. It was somewhere in his head – I have no idea where it came from. At first I just thought it might be both a blade and a weapon. When he explained to me that actually no, it increased the strength – if it falls down, it has the added power of a weapon – that made a lot more sense. I think it would have been pretty lame if it had just fired bullets, but having that extra power was a pretty cool idea.

Triple Triad was the first mini-game in the series that spanned the whole game rather than being a one-time event. How did his role in Final Fantasy VIII begin?

This time, I wanted to do a mini-game that will last all over the world and can be played anywhere. At the time, Magic: The Gathering had just been released and very popular. So we thought, “Instead of adding a card game as a mini-game, what if we add a card game that everyone in the world has played? A tradition or a cultural element that has been continued in recent years? “And we thought if we added that, it would contribute to the development of the world. We also wanted to add elements such as: When you play Magic with your friends, you can swap cards so you both have better decks. Even with normal playing cards, I can say that I play a kind of game here, but the rules I have may differ from those in Osaka. Adding such elements makes it more realistic.

When the time came to draft the rules, you selected one of the team and said, “Hey, design a whole deck of cards!”

Yes! It was developed by (Takayoshi) Nakazato-san, who now works for Luminous Productions, but at the time he was the planner for Final Fantasy VIII. We had him responsible for the combat systems, so there was absolutely no plan for him, the card game close. But one day I called him and said, “Could you do that?” He did it.

Fans have discovered assets and data for scenes with Laguna cut out of the original. What was originally planned for these sequences?

I honestly can not remember the scenes that were cut, but I seem to recall that for the beginning of the game there should be about the same volume of history for Laguna as for Squall. In the end, Squall’s story became the most important one, but originally they should somehow be parallels to each other, with the same amount of content. Since it was ultimately Squall, many scenes were cut with Laguna.

If you could go back and change a thing on the original game, what would that be?

There is this scene where Squall and Rinoa are talking at Fisherman’s Horizon, and I can not remember what exactly was going on, but Rinoa tells Squall something cheeky and he throws his hand at her. She evades, but even then Nojima-san (Kazushige) said, “He should not beat her, it’s really not good for a man to beat a girl.” Looking back, I wish I could change that.

This article originally appeared in Game Informer Issue # 319. If you want to rekindle your memories of this classic, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is currently available for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. For more talks with Yoshinori Kitase about his previous work in the Final Fantasy series, see our articles on Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy X.