Final Fantasy VIII Developers Detail How Elements of the Game Were Inspired by Wizard of Oz in Inside Series Video

Square Enix continues their Inside series with a new episode centered around Final Fantasy VIII Remastered  as the developers who worked on the title discuss moments of the game’s development and how they created the world. They also talk about their favorite characters and systems in the game.

The video includes Final Fantasy VIII Director Yoshinori Kitase, Final Fantasy VIII Producer Shinji Hashimoto, and Final Fantasy VIII art Director Yusuke Naora

Kitase-san states that in order to keep the fantasy elements of Final Fantasy, he wanted to include the sorceresses. There would be a battle between the good sorceress and the evil sorceress. The evil one is from Esthar which resides in the east. The city is of Emerald Green that was created with The Wizard of Oz as inspiration. Overtime those elements would be watered down, but the idea was always there.

Naroa-san mentions that the team wanted Squall and Rinoa’s relationship to feel real and convey that to the players. They remade the scene where they hold each other several times. At the time, Tetsuya Nomura suggested that the key colors by like a Tequila Sunrise cocktail. What was funny about this is that he wasn’t much of a drinker, but it made sense. This is also how the logo of the game happened.

It was also Naroa-san who mentioned the battle director, Ito-san, that the Junction System is 10 years too early for the industry. He still thinks it’s a unique system and different from other games available.

Hashimoto-san also remembers a time that he and Nomura-san got Squall’s name wrong during a presentation and people still bring it up.

In case you missed it, please read our review of the game.

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is available now on PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC.

You can watch the video below:

https://youtu.be/-GXL_xcSnn0