Final Fantasy VIII, a 1999 role-playing video game developed and published by Square, is the eighth mainline entry in the Final Fantasy series. Director Yoshinori Kitase and artist Tetsuya Nomura created the world and cast—Nomura contributed the visual design of both the characters and summoned monsters. Yusuke Naora handled the game world's art design and Kazushige Nojima wrote the scenario. The core staff had all previously worked on Final Fantasy VII, incorporating feedback from that title into their work.