The latest Famitsu (via ryokutya2089) has an interview with Final Fantasy series scenario writer Kazushige Nojima. In the interview, Nojima has revealed he wishes to make a spinoff for Final Fantasy VIII, featuring one of its main characters.
The interview, which Famitsu hosted to celebrate the 20th anniversary for Final Fantasy VIII, covered different bits on the game’s development. Nojima also revealed that he wants to make a spinoff game featuring Laguna Loire, one of the game’s main characters.
“I’ve recently come to think that Final Fantasy VIII was really good,” Nojima said. The writer was referring to, of course, the polarized reception the game had, and still has to this day. He also joked about how badly it was received.
“I looked at the internet bulletin board to see what my game was like … my heart was shattered (laughs),” he added. Despite the negative reception, Nojima still wishes to expand on the world and characters found in the game. “If I added a new episode, it would focus on Laguna’s life,” he said.
“Could it be like Metal Gear Solid 2?,” Nojima pondered. “If we were to make a new game focused on Laguna, it would be Final Fantasy VIII-0, not Final Fantasy VIII-2.”
Nojima also talked up the development of the game, and how both he and Tetsuya Nomura originally planned on the game having two full protagonists – Squall Leonhart and Laguna Loire. This didn’t happen unfortunately, as both Laguna’s role and his story got smaller and smaller.
“Actually, Laguna’s version was supposed to make up half of the story,” he clarified. “As development continued, his story and content got smaller and smaller. I even worked on a special map for Laguna’s content too, but in the end they were barely used. I always felt bad for the staff and couldn’t apologize enough or even face them.”
Nojima talked up the role of female staff on the game, and how they joked about Rinoa’s outfit being unrealistic. He said her design came from all the cute things the male staff liked in women, but the female staff said her mini skirt wouldn’t let her move the way she does. Nojima also said he wished they got the female staff to give more input on the love bits of the story.
The newly remastered version of the game, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, is now available across Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. In case you missed it, you can find our thorough review for the game here.
