Kazuhige Nojima (Scenario Writer for VII, VIII, X, and KHII) was interviewed in Famitsu recently and fans learned some interesting facts about FFVIII. For those who don't want to follow the link...

  • Nojima used his bonus money from VII's success to buy a computer and checked out fan forums to see how much fans loved his work.
  • Instead, he got called out for Aerith's death being a cheap shot against the players, which lead him to make sure nothing liked it happened in VIII
  • They also criticized the games overuse of flashbacks, which is why they are more sparing in VIII.
  • Originally, the first half of the game would have been just Laguna's story before time skipping to Squall's part.
  • It even had a unique map for it, but was cut when Laguna's story was changed. Nojima says he has a hard time looking at certain staffers faces, whom I assume he's referring to the team that made the cut map.
  • The whole male staff contributed to making Rinoa "cute" which apparently caught the ire of the female staff who criticized the way she walks in her miniskirt.
  • Nojima admits that the male staff should have consulted the female staff members more concerning the love story aspect of the game.
  • Nojima has come to feel VIII is fine as it is, but apparently had doubts until more recently.
  • If he could add an extra episode to the plot, it would be about Laguna.


Thoughts?