Final Fantasy XIV added the Gunbreaker job to the game, which can only be accessed by level 60 players who have purchased the new Shadowbringers expansion. The Gunbreakers use gunblades in battle, a weapon made famous by Squall Leonhart and Seifer Almasy in Final Fantasy VIII.

The 5.01 patch for Final Fantasy XIV will be made available today, and it is adding a new raid dungeon called Eden's Gate that features numerous references to Final Fantasy VIII. 

Related: Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Review: Who Needs Friends When You Have NPCs?

In order to access Eden's Gate, the player needs to have hit level 80 (the current maximum level in the game,) and have an average item level of 425 or higher. The treasure chests in Eden's Gate will offer tokens that can be exchanged for items.

Eden's Gate features new bosses that were designed by Tetsuya Nomura, one of which is Eden Prime. The mighty Eden Prime is inspired by Eden from Final Fantasy VIII, which was the most powerful Guardian Force in the game. The Eden's Gate dungeon also includes a remixed version of "Force Your Way", which is the boss theme of Final Fantasy VIII.

Final Fantasy VIII has long been unjustly ignored by Square Enix, but that seems to be changing, with a remastered version of the game being released for modern systems later this year. The fact that Final Fantasy XIV now has a job that is inspired by Squall and Seifer means that there are still people in Square Enix who haven't forgotten Final Fantasy VIII. Eden's Gate stands as one of the many tributes to the older entries in the series that the player can explore in Final Fantasy XIV, much like how the Crystal Tower paid reverence to Final Fantasy III. 

The 5.01 patch for Final Fantasy XIV is available on July 16, 2019. The new content in the patch can only be accessed by those who purchased the Shadowbringers expansion.