5 Reasons Why Final Fantasy VIII Should Have a Sequel

GameDynamo - "Why doesn't Final Fantasy VIII have a sequel? Square-Enix is coming out with FF XIII-2, XII had spin-offs, X had X-2 and is getting an HD remake, and VII had an animated sequel as well as a handful of side stories. If there's ever been a Final Fantasy that has engendered so much debate and division, it's Final Fantasy VIII.

And yet, the game is a remarkable entry that many fans, including this writer, really enjoyed. Here are my top 5 reasons why I think FF8 should be the next Final Fantasy to get a sequel."

[Pozzle]

As much as I love FFVIII and think the world would look incredible in HD graphics, I don't think it needs a sequel. It ended so perfectly: the villain was defeated, the world was saved, and the protagonists "lived happily ever after" so to speak. I really don't think there's anything Square could expand upon without somehow ruining the wonderful story/characters/world they created (*cough*like Dirge of Cerberus*cough*).

[Lord_Sloth]

Dirge of Cerberus was actually pretty fun, it just had some level design issues. The story was fine, besides in FFVII there is no Happily Ever After.

Maybe not a Sequel to VIII but maybe a spinoff or remake with a more traditional RPG playstyle.

[Pozzle]

The story was the main problem I had with Dirge of Cerberus, tbh...

The Lifestream being used as an internet network that you can "download" into someone's mind, Vincent's limit break being the destined savior of the world all along (wtf), ShinRa having an entire army of super SOLDIERs underneath Midgar that NOBODY knew about, Hojo uploading his conscience into a computer system then downloading it into Weiss, Genesis appearing out of nowhere as the new savior of the planet, the "plot twist" that Lucrecia chose Hojo over Vincent because she felt guilty over Vincent's father's death, etc. (Oh and apparently Vincent got his fashion sense from his dad. Hooray! I'm SOOOO glad we now know that! /s)
Aaaand the entire FFVII team is utterly useless except for Vincent, who for some reason gives a damn about saving the planet now (even though he never gave a crap in the past)...and OMG isn't it convenient that Vincent ends up being The Only One Who Can Save The World in the end.

Ugh it was like something out of a really bad fanfiction. >_>

Instead of expanding on the story and world that Squaresoft had created with FFVII, it seems Square Enix wrote the story first THEN tried to make it fit into the FFVII world. So there were all these WTF moments that made no sense in context of the original FFVII story. (funnily enough, I was just discussing The Third Birthday having this exact same problem in another article).

[Reibooi]

Story issues aside I enjoyed Dirge of Cerberus. I think teh whole thing was SE just making a game for Vincent and kinda going a bit to far and not thinking it through. That said it wasn't a masterpiece but I enjoyed it for what it was.

However on topic. I would like to see something else in the FFVIII universe. While Pozzle hit the nail on the head in saying the story is perfectly wrapped up it doesn't mean there can't be more to explore.

For example(and it's been like 5 years since I last played the game so forgive me) Squall and most of the members of the Garden would more then likely not just stop being SEED's because the story ended. I would assume the Garden would keep on being what it was and that alone allows for some interesting future stories that could come out of the universe without needing to ruin what was the original game.

Perhaps a new war breaks out and the Garden and it's SEED's step in to try to resolve the whole thing. Just the basic concept of the garden's being a military school of sorts allows for some interesting little spin offs that wouldn't need to ruin what the original story was.

It doesn't even have to be about Squall and company. Perhaps have it take place down the road with new members of the Garden and maybe there can be Cameo's and what not. It could work. The world itself and concepts introduced are interesting enough in my opinion although I'm sure there are those that would not want another game set in that world if it didn't have the original characters and I can understand that.

That said after the 3rd Birthday I am kinda hesitant for SE to go back and touch any of it's classic PSone era games. I'm just saying the possibilities are there and they don't have to ruin the original game if done right.

[WhiteLightning]

I thought FF7 and FF10 ended well but they got a sequel, even the crappy FF13

I think it should, Square should take that theory about Rinoa becoming Ultimecia (which they've already debunked....but still) and the SeeD have to find away to rewrite history while at the same time battle an even bigger threat....maybe another war starts.

Although to be honest I'd rather they do a remake, get FF7 out of the way and start on a remake for FF8. The Garden battle in HD with good voice acting would be amazing.

However they could do a prequel with Laguna, Kiros and War leading up to the final battle with Sorceress Adel, how Laguna trapped her and won the Sorceress war making him president of Esther.

[WildArmed]

Agreed.
The beauty of FFVIII was everything was neatly packed with a bow tie on top by it's end.

Laguna's story, Squall's story, Seifer's story, etc they all come to an conclusion.
Really loved the game <3

[Lord_Sloth]

Actually the storyline tied directly into Vincent which is why the others stepped back. They allowed him to decide on his own. After all, he kept helping them.

The Lifestream is magic and has power over the soul so using it to "hack" into the soul wasn't a terrible idea.

Vincent decided to save the world because he had friends who showed up to help him. Besides, Lucrecia would be upset with him if he didn't.

But these are all opinions really and there isn't much sense arguing about opinions.

[Pozzle]

But that's my point. It doesn't really make sense that the others would step back and let Vincent do all the dirty work when such a big part of FFVII was working together and being a team. They defeated Sephiroth because they were all stronger than him, and even though FFVII was mostly Cloud's story, the others didn't just step back and let him take on Sephiroth by himself (not counting the last battle that took place in his mind). Because they were all in this together, y'know how it goes - "all for one and one for all".

But of course since Dirge was a shooter, there could only be one main character, so Square just dumped the rest of the team in the background and hoped nobody would care enough to question why Cloud and Co. aren't too worried about letting one of their closest friends save the entire planet on his own...even though if Vincent lost it would result in his death AND the complete destruction of the planet.

Same goes for the whole Lifestream-internet crap. I get that the Lifestream is a magical force and doesn't go by any real-world logic, but there are limits to what the Lifestream should be able to do. And using it as a computer system of sorts was what crossed the line into WTF territory for me. Especially since at no point in FFVII did anyone mention that the Lifestream COULD be used as an "internet". Like, why the hell did this plot even exist? Is this REALLY the only way Square thought they could continue the FFVII story? D:

Don't even get me started on the Lucrecia thing. Vincent forgave himself and Lucrecia at the end of FFVII (when you get his final weapon) so that she could finally disappear and he could finally move on. He accepted that he no longer deserved punishment and that the real villain was Hojo. That was a HUGE part of his characterization that Square Enix completely forgot about so that they could add more angst to Dirge's plot.

[Tanir]

if anyone even understood the ending of ff8 or what ff8 was about they would know *Spoiler Alert*

Squall has been dead since the end of disc one. there for Noooo Sequel......

dont know if anyone is aware but Squallisdead.com can fill you in if your confused

and @Pozzle about Dirge....sooooo true man, sooooo true.

although a proper ff7 sequel finishing off genesis would be nice :P

[tieryas]

Hi Tanir, I'm the writer of this article, and I found the site for squallisdead fascinating, and a real interesting perspective on the story of FF8. Thanks for posting.

[TheBlackMask]

<sigh>

That whole "Squall is dead" crap was debunked by Square ages ago. They even said something along the lines of that even though something which happened to Squall would kill a man in real life they didn't want to give off that impression during that scene that he was dead and the events after were just his dream

Squall is alive and kicking

[Lord_Sloth]

Yeah...That's too much for me to bother reading. Ciao.

[jthamind]

bring on the disagrees, but i thought Final Fantasy VIII was a horrible game, and honestly one of the most ridiculous i've ever played of any genre. the graphics (for its time) and soundtrack were amazing, but everything outside of that was garbage to me.

so i personally wouldn't be looking forward to a sequel. lol.

[bozebo]

Enix will just butcher it. FF8 ended perfectly and doesn't need any spinoffs (you can point out holes in any story if you want).

@jthamind, just out of curiosity. Did you think 8 would be a continuation of 7? Most people hate 8 because they played 7 first and didn't understand that FF games were mostly in different universes, then stopped playing early on and didn't give 8 a chance.

[jthamind]

i didn't think that, i just didn't like most of the aspects of it. i hated most of the characters, the story, the battle mechanics (drawing magic, the summons, cards), the weapons, the plot twists, the set pieces...

i'm not trying to make it sound like blind hate or anything, because i love Final Fantasy games, and i went into 8 fully expecting to love it, i just thought it was a poorly made game in design, not in the technical aspect.

[WhiteLightning]

Obviously people like you who think FF8 was a porrly made game overall because of "crap" characters, drawing magic and the card game never even played it or understood it......a third likley reason could be that you just want to hate it because it wasn't FF7 which is where the small amount of hate for this game comes from....FF7 lovers.

"i'm not trying to make it sound like blind hate or anything"

To say you hated everything......yeah it's blind hate alright.

FF8 had some of best developed characters in the FF franchise, especialy Squall.....or how you would blindly put it that "emo" kid.

[jthamind]

@WhiteLightning

i played the game from start to finish, i leveled most of the characters to max, and i even beat the superbosses. sorry, but the "you haven't played it or understood it" aspect won't work on me. i play every FF game from start to finish, no matter how much i like them.

blind hate would be hate without a reason. i have my reasons, whether you agree with them or not. :)

[Nerdmaster]

Oh, God, my eyes started to bleed when I read "FF8 had some of best developed characters in the FF franchise, especialy Squall". You're comparing it to which FF game? FF1?

It's sad that Square went back to the d*ck/b*tch protagonist with Lightning. Although I don't like XIII, at least her change was gradual and somewhat believable, not "I'm a d*ck the whole game and in the last two hours I change completely" like Squall.

[bozebo]

Hmm...

Squall wasn't a d*ck, you must have misinterpreted the narrative ^_^ I played the game originally when I was young and replayed it more recently and I reacted totally different to the characterization the second time through.

Some of the FF8 characters were developed really well and the others were just... kinda there. But the pace of the game overall is fantastic - the way the story is incrementally uncovered and the way they pose new areas to explore was just great.

I didn't mind the junction and drawing systems, every FF game does something unique so it makes sense that lots of people will dislike the methods they may choose.

The secret areas and extras were also top notch and very well presented. Lots of interesting "difference" if that makes sense, that you don't see in most games these days. (like, they don't just copy and paste scripts to add "content" with different names for things >_>)

I have a similar opinion of FF12, though the story just left some chunks unexplained and most of the characters were too "meh".

Also, for anybody in this discussion that loves FF. Try Lost Odyssey if you havn't played it, it is even worth buying a 360 for if you are a fan of the series, trust me. It is the spiritual successor to the great FF games of old and it has a lot of the developers of the older FF games who left Enix and founded Mistwalker. Check out some youtube videos or something, it's such a fantastic game.

[jthamind]

@bozebo

i completely agree with you about Lost Odyssey. i thoroughly enjoyed it. it had the feel (as far as gameplay) of a lot of the old Square JRPGs while also feeling a bit more mature and fresh.

[Relientk77]

Squaresoft > Square Enix

If it was Squaresoft I would say yes, I would love to see a sequel to FFVIII, and FFIX as well.

[Acquiescence]

I'd love a sequel for FFVIII; I adore that game. But knowing Square Enix, they would just make a mockery of it or something.

[WildArmed]

lol, like they killed FFX ...
such a perfect game that was.
The ending was tough but not all FFs needed to end on a light note.

Then they did FFX-2 :(

[elbeasto86]

I would welcome a sequel. I really loved FFVIII and I would welcome anything that would expand on the game. Maybe it could be about Squall and Rinoa's son or daughter and include a few more Garden's. Also, how about a revamp of the junction system? haha I really doubt this would happen but I'm getting excited just thinking about the possibilities. :P

[WildArmed]

idk about most people, but I really loved the junction system. I practically was lv7 on my Squall until the last disc and still destroy coz of junction system <3

Sure drawing magic in front of Ultimaweapon and Omegaweapon was never a good idea.. but it had to be done LOL

I didn't like how you had to draw magic, but it fit well with the junction system i guess.

[TheBlackMask]

OMG....

Some of the excuses about why people hated this game are so bad.

For example

"I hated drawing magic in battle"

HELLO.....it was OPTIONAL. I never did it and by the end of the game I had loads of good magic to max out my junction system. Thank you island hevean and hell. Anyway what was wrong with selecting the enemy and using his magic without wasting your own...it was great especialy if they were weak to whatever they were carrying.

I could go on about peoples other crappy excuses to hate this game....don't get me started on the whole "Squall was a total emo" thing even though he was the best developed main FF character in the series.

[tigertron]

I have FFVIII but I never got round to finishing it. I'm only at the beginning, so maybe I'll give this another shot. I'm in the mood to complete some of my old games.

[Chrono]

Best series ever is owned by the most stupid/stubborn company ever.

[Hicken]

To be honest, there are a few things that could be expanded upon in VIII, but not a lot.

Ultimecia's identity and desire for time compression is supreme among them: we know why she did it, but we don't know why she felt that way. Fanfics have theorized that, due to SeeD's hunt for the sorceress, she lost her family/love in the future and became obsessed with a world where time was nonexistent. She could, potentially, pull her loved ones from before they were killed so that they could live in this time with her, or maybe she simply intended to exist for all eternity on her own.

The Moon. Obviously, monsters come from the moon, as evidenced by the Lunar Cry. But exactly what the hell are they doing up there? Why do they periodically fall to Earth? What is it about Lunatic Pandora that attracts them? Is some fragment or aspect of it from the moon, as well?

History. Given the events that occur during the game, it's not a stretch to say that the mythologies in the world of VIII are more than just a myth. If so, it's entirely possible that the Great Hyne could have descendants, or still be roaming the world, himself. Legends only have him as disappearing. But why? Where was he when Ultimecia was scheming, or prior to that, when Esthar was scheming?

These are the biggest things that pop into my head when I think of where they could go with a sequel. As opposed to most FFs, I think VIII may have the fewest questions left when the end credits roll, but I believe there's enough space there for a sequel, if done right.