The Curious Case of Final Fantasy VIII-2

As a kid I was at Toys R Us playing in a Pokemon card game tournament, and after I lost and was waiting for my mom to pick me up, I promptly took my Christmas card money and purchased my copy of FFVIII. I brought it home, booted it up, and immediately forgot all about the sting of my elimination from the tournament.

That's interesting to hear about the influence of Wizard of Oz on FF8. I'm surprised I never noticed it before. Laguna is the Wizard of Oz, becoming the leader of the Emerald City of Esther. Rinoa is Dorothy, complete with her dog Angelo as Toto. Squall with his Greiver necklace might seem like a stand-in for the cowardly lion, but his character is more like the Tin Man, being seemingly cold and emotionless, and needing to find his heart. Zell is more like the cowardly Lion, full of bluster but unsure of himself. And the scarecrow might be Selfie, who acts like a ditz, despite being the brains of the group. There's even a scene where the characters fall asleep in a forest, like Oz's deadly poppy field, and the Shumi Village is reminiscent of the land of the Munchkins. Oh and the reveal of master Norg in the garden basement is very like the man behind the curtain...

god what i wouldn't give for an 8-2 or an 8 remake

Ultimecia stole her plan from Garland. Chaos!

8 is one of my favorites out of the whole series!!!

Final Fantasy 8 had that peak y2k fashion aesthetic that still gives me so much inspo! I'm wildly thankful for it!

I always loved FF8 more than any of the other titles, it just resenated with more more at that time of life. The story and characters are all incredible. I desperately want a remake in the style of the new FF7 games, I really hope SquareEnix can do this from the success of the remake trilogy.

It's so hard to watch your videos without getting distracted by that nostalgic soundtrack in the background😂 ff8 soundtrack has always been my favorite🥹

I Absolutely Love Final Fantasy VIII SO much from my Childhood Years! Squall Leonhart and Ultimecia and the characters of this Game are all Super Epic and Amazing!

I'm partial to 8 because that is the final fantasy I first played to completion

8 is my favourite of all Final Fantasy games. It was the first one I ever played and got my hooked on the series. I would love to see a remake and another game in the series both, and while I do like the Laguna sequences, I don't know if that's the way to go, but it would certainly be interesting to explore. But I know that I will probably never see either as much as I would like to.

I am very intrigued by the original parallel time plot that was was originally envisioned. That would have been neat. Also, that little detail on the entry of the moombas makes the whole 'Laguna! Laguna!' thing (which I never knew before) certainly helps fills in how to natively figure it out along the way :) And yes, I would absolutely love a Laguna themed game.

FF VIII Remake is and will ALWAYS be one of my biggest Dreams! Give me that i cry for a Week!

that music immediately takes me back

I remember playing this game in Puerto Rico on my cousins PlayStation and he was too dumb to figure out anything. I was about 7 or 8 and I started progressing his gameplay. The rest of my trip with my family consisted of us only getting to disc 2 by the time I left. I went home and saved my birthday money to buy this game. Years later it’s the only nostalgia game I go back to and play it through. ❤❤

Timber never got liberated and that sucks.

If Laguna's half of the story had been there, FFVIII might've had 8 disks!

I always thought the designs of the sorceresses were SO COOL. So, I've always wanted them to show up again in any way possible. A sequel, prequel, or remake would make that possible 😆

FF8 needs more love. A remake would be awesome. Maybe they could test the waters by making a prequel mainly featuring Laguna first, and if reception is good, move forward with an 8 remake? That would be great!

I would personally crowfund a VIII-2 if there was the slightest chance of seeing it happening