In the video game industry, there are few names as important as Hironobu Sakaguchi. While he can't be considered the father of JRPGs, he is one of the key figures responsible for shaping one of the genres that has had the greatest impact on the industry. However, Sakaguchi has done something even more important: he has inspired dreams and better worlds through his work.
Although in the last 20 years, Sakaguchi has led Mistwalker to deliver gems like The Last Story and Lost Odyssey, his most important phase was with Squaresoft, where he created titles such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger. It seemed impossible that this Japanese creator would ever cross paths with the company that once was the home of his imagination, but it happened thanks to the least expected project: Fantasian.
The JRPG that Mistwalker developed for Apple Arcade will soon be relaunched on consoles and PC thanks to Square Enix. To mark the occasion, I had the chance to sit down virtually with Sakaguchi to talk a bit about Fantasian Neo Dimension, his return to Square Enix, his relationship with Naoki Yoshida, and his reasons for developing another video game.
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Returning to Sakaguchi's roots
The fact that Fantasian is escaping the confines of Apple Arcade to reach a wider audience is something worth celebrating on its own. However, one reality is that the announcement of Fantasian Neo Dimension surprised many for another reason: Square Enix is responsible for distributing it.
With this, Hironobu Sakaguchi is not formally returning to Square Enix; in fact, he remains with Mistwalker, so this is merely an unexpected collaboration. Despite this, for those of us who admire his work, it feels like something different, as if the prodigal son were returning home, even if just for a brief visit. But how did Sakaguchi feel about it?
"It's almost like a school reunion"
"It's been a long time since I left Square Enix, so it's almost like a high school or college reunion," Sakaguchi said. "In a way, I feel like I'm returning to my hometown and participating in this reunion. And it's all the little things that really drive that emotion and passion. For example, when I saw the box art for some of the physical versions, I noticed that it says Square Enix on the packaging of my new game. That really makes me reflect on what it means that our game, my game, is back at Square Enix. It's many little things that I can feel."
Sakaguchi officially left Square Enix in 2003; however, his departure began taking shape a few years earlier. The benefits Sakaguchi's creativity brought to the company, then known as Squaresoft, gave him new opportunities but also more responsibilities, which distanced him from the creative process of key Final Fantasy titles. These administrative tasks began to take their toll, but the final blow came with the guilt caused by the failure of an ambitious and costly project: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.
After three years living in Hawaii, completely removed from the video game industry, Sakaguchi found the motivation to found Mistwalker. In this sense, his development studio was not only an opportunity for independence but also represented his desire to contribute to the industry once more. Given this, it seemed unlikely that Sakaguchi would ever work with Square Enix again. He had already taken his own path and was happy with it.
But what changed? How did Sakaguchi and Square Enix reconnect? The one responsible is also the person who has brought the company its greatest fortunes in recent years: Final Fantasy XIV. It's no secret that Sakaguchi is a fan of Square Enix's MMORPG, as he's made clear on his X (or Twitter) account. At an event, Sakaguchi met Naoki Yoshida, the producer of the successful online RPG, and they became friends. Years later, Yoshida proposed bringing Fantasian to a much broader audience through Square Enix.
"I'm currently playing a lot of Final Fantasy XIV, which you might know if you follow my X account, but the initial reason was that I had an opportunity a few years ago where [Naoki] Yoshida and I were going to do a panel or interview, and I thought it would be rude if I hadn't played any of his games. But deep down, I knew that I was a huge fan of MMORPGs, and it would be very dangerous if I started playing. And here we are a few years later, and just this morning, I spent three hours playing Dawntrail. So I think Yoshida-san played a big part in my involvement and in bringing me back to Square Enix.
After that interview, we had the chance to talk a lot more. I really respect how Yoshida-san took Final Fantasy XIV and almost turned it into Final Fantasy Land. He has great respect for the previous installments of Final Fantasy and the franchise as a whole.
At first glance, he might seem like a bit of a rebel, but when you talk to him, he's a very honest and diligent person and producer, so I had a lot of trust in him. Once, I mentioned that I wanted to bring Fantasian to a wider audience, and he said, 'Well, maybe there's a way we can do that together.' The result is what you see now, where Fantasian is being published by Square Enix. So to sum it all up, I'd say Yoshida-san played a key role in reestablishing this collaboration," Sakaguchi commented.
"While developing Fantasian, I began to feel very comfortable with the idea that it could be my last video game"
There's something very interesting about Fantasian Neo Dimension. It's the return of Sakaguchi to Square Enix with a game that, for many, represents a return to his roots. But what does that mean for Sakaguchi?
"While developing Fantasian, I began to feel very comfortable with the idea that it could be my last video game. I think there was a turning point for me, even looking at the start of the project.
One of the main reasons I wanted to make this game was—I don't know if you remember, but there was a time when all the console manufacturers were making miniature versions of their consoles, and one of them was the [SNES Classic Edition] that was released in Japan. One of the ROMs it came with was Final Fantasy VI. So, the distributor at the time tried to gather as many developers from Final Fantasy VI as possible for a live stream, where we would play the game and talk about it. That event gave me the chance to play Final Fantasy VI again with fresh eyes, as I hadn't played it in a while, and it reminded me of my old style of game development, and I really felt it.
So I thought, 'If Fantasian is to be my last game, I want to go back to that same excitement I felt when making Final Fantasy VI and what the fans would have felt when playing it.' It was a very honest expression of what I thought an RPG could be. I hope that when players get the chance to play it, they'll feel the same and find it very, very fun and entertaining, which would make me happy."
Fantasian: Neo Dimension: the present of Hironobu Sakaguchi
The reconnection between Sakaguchi and Square Enix would have been impossible without Fantasian. The JRPG for Apple Arcade will return 3 years after its release with a new version, whose main novelty is that it will be available to more people. Instead of being restricted to users of iPhone and iPad who decide to pay for a subscription service, Fantasian will be playable before the end of the year by users on consoles like Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, or even those with a PC.
There is something important about Fantasian: Neo Dimension, and its name hints at it: it's not a simple port. In fact, it's an enhanced version that Sakaguchi himself describes as a "director's cut." What other new features can we expect in this edition, which represents the present of the Japanese creative?
"I think the result is pretty amazing"
“There are some changes you can see in Fantasian: Neo Dimension compared to the original Fantasian, and one of the biggest is the inclusion of both Japanese and English voice acting. For this version of the game, we hired actors to voice all the characters, and I think they really brought another layer of emotional narrative to the world itself.
Personally, I hadn’t considered voice acting a high priority in my game creations, but Yoshida-san said, ‘you know? We should really consider this. I think it will improve and enrich the experience,’ and he convinced me. So, we decided to move forward with it. I think the result is pretty amazing. I’m glad we made that decision.
Some of the other changes are visual. The game now runs in full 4K, so you can see even more details in these handcrafted dioramas. Players can be fully immersed in this world. Another change was the difficulty. I believe that in the second half of the game, the difficulty curve was quite steep and very, very high, especially for many of the different boss encounters and puzzles.
So, I went back and played through the entire game, adjusting everything, making it more accessible to a wider audience and making it feel very satisfying. Minor changes also include interface optimizations for the controller, as well as adjustments to movement speed to improve game pacing and similar tweaks,” he mentioned.
"We are starting to fall out of balance, and we are beginning to approach more in that direction of chaos"
Returning to a game like Fantasian is a perfect opportunity to improve it but also to change it. Sakaguchi is a creative for whom it is important that his games have a theme, and with how much the world has changed since Fantasian’s development began in 2018, would he have liked to modify elements of its narrative?
“One of the central themes of Fantasian is the balance between chaos and order, and I believe this theme can certainly stand the test of time. Like almost everything in our world and universe, balance is required. So, this is a persistent and eternal theme. As long as we are human and society continues to exist. As you mentioned, since the beginning or very start of this project, about 6 years have passed, and many, many different events have taken place in our world. I believe that, regardless of what is happening, this is a theme we must always keep in the back of our minds: finding the balance in what is a sustainable way for us to exist. In that respect, if you look at the world right now, we are starting to fall out of balance, and we are beginning to approach more in that direction of chaos.
As entertainment, and considering video games as a medium, one way to use this would be to show how things could continue down this path by representing it in the entertainment we create. I think it could be a very reflective exercise for the audience to really think about what they are doing and the decisions they are making. At the same time, video games are entertainment, so themes and any kind of commentary shouldn’t take the front seat or be the main focus. It has to be entertainment first, and if you can think about relevant themes that matter in our current climate, then I think that’s fine. In fact, I encourage having some kind of thematic pillar in my games.”
What does Sakaguchi see in his future?
For a long time, there was an aura of nostalgia and sadness surrounding Fantasian. Although from the start, it looked like a promising JRPG, it was widely thought that it might be Sakaguchi's farewell. However, the creative mind changed his perspective and is already working on a new and mysterious project. Exactly what made him embark on the arduous journey of video game development once again?
The answer isn’t surprising, but it is romantic, showing that Sakaguchi is a person who deeply admires creativity. What motivated him to create another video game was that the development team who worked on Fantasian started bouncing around ideas for a new project, and he didn’t want to be left out.
"I realized it was a very, very honest expression of what I think is very fun"
“I would say the most important reason is the team, the team that developed Fantasian. It’s a great team. I think for the scope of the kind of game Fantasian is, the core team, the main members who developed it were quite few. There were only about 30 key members on the team who worked on this game.
Because there were so few of them, each person had to carry a lot of weight. I would almost consider them a kind of elite squad of game developers. And because they were such incredible people, this team of 30, we started talking about what would happen if we made another game together. And, of course, I got excited about that opportunity and the chance to take on this challenge again with the same team, knowing how much fun we had together on Fantasian.
I think that was a big contributor and motivation for me to return and want to create more games,” he said.
The excitement Sakaguchi feels for Fantasian is natural. After all, he considered it might have been his last video game, and he would have felt satisfied with the result, as he believes it is an honest reflection of who he is.
"I want that feeling of kindness to stay with the players"
“At one point, I thought I would be fine and have no regrets if Fantasian was my last game because I realized it was a very, very honest expression of what I think is very fun as a video game. So, it’s a very honest reflection of myself, and any kind of creation on this scale or caliber is like a child. So, I would say that Fantasian is like a very cute child. I hope it gives players a comforting and uplifting feeling while playing and after finishing it. I think that should be one of the main takeaways.
Of course, making the game fun is a prerequisite for any video game or any form of entertainment or content. But after the fun is over, I want that sensation or feeling of kindness to stay with the players. That’s the emotion I want to convey.”
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