Why Laguna Was Essential to Final Fantasy 8

#FinalFantasy #FinalFantasyVIII #FinalFantasy8 #ffviii #ff8
Laguna is a major character in Final Fantasy VIII, but perhaps because he’s only temporarily playable, his relevance and importance to the game’s story aren’t always acknowledged or understood, so in this video I’ve presented and expounded upon 3 main reasons why I think Laguna is essential to FFVIII and why his character deserves more recognition.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
02:08 - Reason 1
05:07 - Reason 2
07:07 - Reason 3
13:57 - Conclusion
Follow me on twitter: / vagrant_chocobo
FINAL FANTASY is a registered trademark of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.
© SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved
English footage by:
Ricky C from World of Longplays
longplays.org/
Remixed Final Fantasy VIII music by:
Enrico Deiana Channel:
/ @enricodeianamusic
Ride On:
• FF8 Ride On Music Remake
Find Your Way:
• FF8 Find Your Way Musi...
The Man with the Machine Gun:
• FF8 The Man with the M...
Love Grows:
• FF8 Love Grows Music R...
The Oath:
• FF8 The Oath (Squall's...
Julia:
• FF8 Julia Piano/Orches...
Sources:
www.dualshocke...
www.dualshocke...
flaregamer.com...
finalfantasy.f...

[@CorvoBrancoChannel]

That conversation between Laguna and Squall in Dissidia duodecim is such a hidden gem of a moment between those two. Laguna really got some good scenes in that game overall, and I’m glad his importance was recognized when they chose him as the second representative of FFVIII in duodecim. His interactions with any other characters are such a delight, and that is true both in the original game and in other games.

[@second_second_]

Laguna is so cool. Of course he's relevant. He even got the cool theme Man with the Machine Gun. Thanks for the video, appreciate it

[@charleslim77]

i never understand Laguna's role to squall until now.. thanks man

[@kevinstreetgaming]

Laguna is one of my favorite characters from the Final Fantasy franchise.

[@anthroposmetron4475]

What a beautifully-crafted video. Back in the day I always thought the Laguna sections were a distraction, they felt like an obligation I had to go through which were tacked on, kind of like some of the FF7 minigames. But my attitude to a lot of things in the old games has changed a lot, and my attitude to the Laguna sections has done a complete 180. I suppose it's not too strange that as a brooding teenager I identified more with Squall and now I appreciate Laguna a lot more... As you imply at the end here, Laguna must have incredible inner resilience. He has a pretty... well, terrible life might be overdoing it, but he loses a hell of a lot. I'd say I would have loved to see Laguna, Kiros and Ward expanded on in a seperate game, but considering the S-E track record on sequels and spinoffs, maybe it's a good thing that never transpired.

[@VagrantChocobo]

Haha, I completely relate to just about everything you said. The first few times I played FFVIII during my pre-teen and teenage years, I was only focused on Squall's story and didn't care much for Laguna's sections. But the older I get, the more I appreciate Laguna, to the point that his story is now my favorite part of the game. And yes, I feel the same about the prospect of a potential Final Fantasy VIII-0, as in a prequel focused on Laguna, Kiros and Ward's full adventure. On one hand, that is a story I would love to see told in its fullness, but on the other, I also don't have a particularly high opinion of Square's track record when it comes sequels/prequels/spin-offs, so I do wonder if they would manage to do Laguna's story justice now... For what it's worth, though, in the same Nojima interview with Famitsu that I cited in this video, when asked what kind of story he would want to depict in a possible new Final Fantasy VIII related game, his comments were: "It would focus on Laguna’s life. I want to show more of his story." “Could it be like Metal Gear Solid 2? If we were to make a new game focused on Laguna, it would be Final Fantasy VIII-0, not Final Fantasy VIII-2.” So yeah, I suppose there is at least one prominent FFVIII staff member that would like to work on that. But you have to wonder whether Square as a whole will show interest in such a project given how overlooked FFVIII tends to be these days. We're much more likely to see FFX-3 than anything new for FFVIII in the near future, that's for sure. 😅

[@anthroposmetron4475]

@@VagrantChocobo I was pretty much the exact same age as Squall when I was first playing FFVIII - I also remember thinking, playing it at the time of release, that twenty-one seemed so old when I was playing FFVII with Cloud. :D I assume Nojima means Metal Gear Solid 2 in terms of switching the main character rather than incredibly divisive and strange? Final Gear VIII-0: The Phantom Leg Cramps wasn't really a game concept I'd thought about before, but... they have my interest now. Tactical stealth Laguna. It would be interesting to see the bond develop between Laguna and Kiros and Ward. I realise, thinking about it, that it's more or less fully developed by the time things first get going, which really contrasts with how Squall starts off vis a vis everyone else. I'm sure having that support helps Laguna deal with everything that happens.

[@tmwk__]

Always expand on your horizontals.

[@l.radicchi]

Amazing video. You're really good.

[@Metro4466]

Laguna is my favorite fictive character on any medium

[@marogaraeh]

I hope this gets a remake and we'll get to see more Laguna

[@TheArthias]

Sure would have been nice to have more Laguna segments. A shame they were cut.

[@Lunariant]

Your videos are so poignant and thoughtful. Thank you. I wish more than anything that we could see all of the cut Laguna content. It troubles me that Laguna (apparently) didn't do more to protect Ellone once he found out she'd been orphaned, but I'm sure there's more to it that we don't know.

[@michaelb8176]

I love this video! I always thought it was strange that Laguna took such a backseat role but still was really important to the main plot. Explains a lot. Laguna is one of my favorite characters in the whole series, he's happy go lucky and cheerful but deep inside he's got a bit of melancholy. Also, would you consider covering a bit more of FF8? I've read the translations for some of Squall's dialogue, and wow. He is a huge jerk 😂

[@SaturnBlade]

VIII really deserves the REmake treatment like VII is getting to Flesh out all the ends that didn't make the content and make the game feel complete and not forced at the end.

[@Bunni89]

Man I wish they really had done it the way that manual seemed to imply! I would have enjoyed the game a lot more if the Laguna scenes were equally as frequent as the Squall ones. Or, at least, just a bit more of them. I always felt they were the way more interesting side of the story!

[@JoeyJoverAgbayani]

laguna plays central part of FFVIII narratives. being the father of the protagonist squall was way more compelling than any other FF series which no correlation to much deep than FFVIII's. its has this relatable core that this game brings without thinking of the game systems that some people and hate. family, human relations. and dealing with loneliness that you need someone to be with is one thats been hooked up to this game. its relatable and has real human crisis that we everyone dealt with our lives in someway.

[@malunguymark]

SPOILER: Loved your video, but did you purposefully leave out the fact Laguna is Squall’s dad? Enjoyed the way you contrasted the parallels. I was around 10 years old when I first played 8 and I too nvr realized the importance of Laguna’s story till now.

[@Robbs101]

I think he did as this topic always causes arguments among people even though I think it's pretty damn clear that he is in fact, Squall's dad.

[@kingtapir69]

mate well explained. very smart!

[@sora6748]

ANd Laguna gets one of the best regular battle songs in any game man with the machinegun its become a leggandary song up there with one winged angel, Rivers in the desert, Driving MAD etc. Laguna iswhat zack is to cloud in rebirth limited with him but evantually meet up it could be 8 was what they used to merge both timelines its not done here but you can than clearly tell its taken from 8.

[@bellyblack1472]

Laguna Leonhart

[@54raynor]

He was essential in that he gave the game an actual likable character, but his story could have been cut out completely and it wouldn’t have mattered.

[@tasselhoff1293]

Laguna is squalls dad, so without Laguna rinoa never would have gotten her powers, Edea would have ruled Galbadia and the entire story never would have happend

[@Demon1987AS]

Laguna is Squall’s Dad… so obviously Laguna is very important lol.

[@pepsicola433]

My sawing ff7 came before ff6 & ff5

[@vicsid23]

Its sir laguna

[@kyletaylor4312]

"Squall was sent to an orphanage after the death of his mother....." Ellone is his sister dude.... Why say this right after the part "Raine dies and Ellone is sent to the orphanage..." they got sent there at the same time when Raine died..... Laguna got Raine pregnant and got called back to war before he knew. Why avoid that key point? You talked a whole lot to not get to the point.....

[@sephirrothvt]

Laguna is the zack to cloud, again, all final fantasy secondary characters are always cooler and more complex, cloud has nothing ahead zack and squall falls flat when compared to Laguna each should have it's own game

[@vintage2983]

Laguna is just the other half of FF8 story and it’s theme of love…there’s alot of story to tell maybe with a remake they can integrate the storylines alittle more seamless. It is 3 different love stories Laguna & Julia (Rinoa mom) the tragic love story of Laguna and Raine and eventually Squall & Rinoa. He is Squall father and Raine son, all of their storylines are connected they all have a place. With the comparison with Zack and Cloud it’s abit different in comparison with Laguna & Squall story since his personality was complete opposite of Squall due to many contributing factors and Laguna story was necessary for the main story aswell Squall story. I agree Zack was probably the better protagonist we didn’t really get to know Cloud until deeper in the story and it did fell kinda flat.

[@solisimperium1203]

I'd disagree. Zack was less interesting as a character imo. he was just, I WANNA BE A HERO, trope. and no other quirk about him than that. with that being said, laguna was a better character than Zack. he had more personality and wasn't just saying he wanted to be a hero. But Cloud had more complexities about him. Cloud was a confused man with his identity lost from himself. you could say squall is literally this too but squalls arc wasn't as smooth as clouds arc. squalls arc felt like it came out of no where and felt forced. imo Cloud is a better character than Zack and squall. and laguna is better than Zack and squall

[@FuzzMustard]

He boinked Raine and made Squall. Mystery solved.