Final Fantasy VIII made waves again recently with its remastered edition. Now, Square Enix is eager to keep that momentum up with their new “Inside Final Fantasy VIII Remastered” documentary.
The documentary isn’t just about the remastered game, though. They spend time with director Yoshinori Kitase, producer Shinji Hashimoto, and art director Yusuke Naora to get a much more in-depth idea of how FFVIII came about.
The documentary covers a ton of ground, from visual conceptualization to battle design. They talk about backgrounds, characters, cutscenes and more. If you love FFVIII, or are even remotely interested in game design, this is a great 24 minutes of your time.
As it turns out, a recurring theme in the development was making a more visually “realistic” game. They played around with the proportions of the character designs, as well as the world around them, to give a more realistic feel. They even visited schools in order to get the vibe right.
More Final Fantasy:
- Final Fantasy VII’s Planet As Seen From Space
- Dating the Primals of Final Fantasy XIV
- Final Fantasy IX: The Series High Point, 18 Years Later
One influence that may only be a slight surprise is in the creation of the game’s sorceresses. The developers share that the Wizard Of Oz was a direct influence. Obviously there are the witches of the east and west. But also, the city of Esthar was conceptualized as emerald green before taking its current blue form.
And as it turns out, the romance between Squall and Rinoa was one of the first concepts fleshed out. Interestingly enough, Tetsuya Nomura, the game’s director, said he wanted the key colors to look something like a tequila sunrise cocktail. When they followed through and checked out the cocktail, it seemed like more of a sunset, technically, so that’s how that scene was visually played out. The game’s logo is an extension of that aesthetic, colors included.
If you’re really into the fluffy stuff, all the interviewees talk about their favorite characters in the game, as well as favorite Guardian Forces.
You can watch the “Inside FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered” documentary now on the official Final Fantasy channel. FFVIII Remastered was released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC via Steam this September. Our own writers here at Fanbyte thought pretty highly of the remaster.
