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| Final Fantasy XII - Interviews |
Thirty questions on Squares new game.
November 20, 2003 - A day after a press briefing which brought to the
world the first true flood of details on Final Fantasy XII, Square Enix made the
unprecedented and bold move of giving access to the game's development core to a
bunch of shabbily dressed and notably smelly members of the foreign press.
The following is a transcript of a Q&A session with FFXII character designer Akihiko
Yoshida, art director Hideo Minaba and background director Isamu Kamikokuryou.
Not present (but referred to numerous times, so remember his name) was the
game's producer and director Yasumi Matsuno.
Interviewed by IGN.com
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Q: Can you tell us how the Final Fantasy XII
camera system works?
Minaba: The camera system is fully 360 degrees and closer to FFXI in that you
can see from the first person and third person. We aren't just working on
backgrounds, but we're also creating things like the ceiling. You'll be able to
view the ceiling as well.
[NOTE: we think by saying "first person," Minaba is referring to being able to
look around at the world rather than moving around in first person. This would
be in line with comments from yesterday. Whatever the case, having an FFXI-like
behind-the-character perspective is a change for the series.]
Q: Can you comment on some of the equipment
from the game and your possible role in designing it?
Minaba: I was not in charge of the design of any of the equipment - swords and
shields, etc. That intertwines with the battle system so I can't say much, but
there will be a lot of equipment.
Q: There seems to be a trend of FF games
towards younger looking, more effeminate male leads. Did you ever consider
making a more rugged looking hero?
Lot's of laughter as the super translater person tries to figure out how to
describe Vaan as "effeminate."
Yoshida: In the early stages of development the hero character was more rugged
-- big and tough. As we started shaping up the scenario and taking into
consideration the target demographic, the character became what you see today.
There were other ideas tossed around.
Until motion capture and voice actor Kohei Takeda was cast for Vaan, the main
character was actually a little more effeminate. With him playing the role, the
character became more active, upbeat, bright and positive. The character would
have been even more effeminate had Takeda not been cast.
Q: Compared to other FF games, there seem to be more emphasis on airships.
Will airships be an integral part of gameplay in FF12?
Minaba: In a sense, yes, airships will have a more prominent role, whether it be
just a stage for an event, or just used as a means of transportation.
Who's in charge of mechanical design (airships, vehicles, etc.)?<
br/>
Minaba: Me. Plus some other staff.
Q: For Mr. Yoshida, there's been some comments
that the characters in the game are similar to the style of Tetsuya Nomura
(famous Square Enix character designer who heads up the Kingdom Hearts project).
What do you feel about this assessment?
Yoshida: You're very direct for a journalist.
[everyone laughs]
Yoshida: I didn't have anything in mind about Nomura's style or anything Nomura
related when starting out FFXII. I actually begin with designing Vaan, the main
character. I don't hink my first rough version of Vaan looks anything like
Nomura's style.
If I were to say one thing though, the perceived similarity to Nomura's style
may be because of the colors that I ended up using on the characters. In FF
games until now, the design of the characters and the feel and design of the
world were connected. The two were very much together because the colors were
consistent between the characters and the world. In this game, the colors really
stand out. It's probably the different kinds of colors that I've never really
used that's adding the Nomura flavor to my work. Pink is a new color for me, for
instance.
Q: Is the Ivalice of FFXII the same Ivalice as
that of Tactics?
Minaba: If you ask me what the world of Ivalis in FFXII is, it's something
that's only in the director's mind, so it's hard to say what it's going to be or
how different it's going to be. But I would say that it's another version of the
world you've seen previously. We'd like to show a different version of Ivalice.
To the staff, many of whom worked on the previous Ivalice worlds, what does the
world of Ivalice feel like, what does it mean and what feeling are you trying to
bring to the game?<
br/>
Minaba: Yes, a lot of our staff has worked on the previous Ivalice world, so in
that sense the feeling we get from the world is that we get to portray the world
in a different way. It's a world that we all love that we can present in a
different game and in a different way.
Q: A lot of people talk about change. What has
changed the most in FFXII?
Minaba: I've been asked not to reveal details on the changes. All I can say is
that once you play it, the game will give a fresh, new feeling, but also at the
same time shock you in a good way. From the trailer that you saw yesterday, I
hope you saw that the controls and gameplay are quite different. I'll leave it
to your assumption as to how that's going to tie in with the meaning of change
in the game.
Q: It seems that non-human characters take a
big role in this game. Can you comment on the importance of race in this game?
Minaba: The human races will have the primary role, but the non human races will
play a big part in the game as well.
You might have heard Matsuno say that he and myself are big history fanatics. I
don't think we can talk about history or present anything about history without
talking about races and the social classes. Races and social classes are things
that should exist for the Final Fantasy XII story to progress as it does.
Q: It was said yesterday that some of the
influences for the art style and environment were Mediteranian in nature. Many
in the audience also saw some possible influence from Episode 2 of Star Wars.
Can you comment on some of various influences for the game?
Minaba: I am a big fan of star Wars -- I will admit that. But, if we say Star
Wars is our influence and create our game, you won't end up with an FF game nor
will you end up with FF12. I'll just say that I'm a fan. I wouldn't say that was
necessarily an influence though.
Kamikokuryou: These days, user demands and expectations for our games are very
high. It's true that we still have do things such as, for instance, going to
Turkey as we did for this project. The reason we went there is so we can see
what's really out there. But if we just took that and made the game we wouldn't
be able to satisfy everyone. So, we're still keeping true to creating something
that's original and a fantasy world while referring to something that exits. We
try to take something out of what exists and create our own original work.
Q: Are there any other influences outside of
Turkey?
Kamikokuryou: Outside of Turkey, Matsuno mentioned the entire Mediterranian
region yesterday. Outside of that, maybe a little bit of India. Also parts of
New York, actually -- the art deco areas and the regions of New York. You'll
see, hopefully sooner than later, that throughout the game, we're trying to
maximize the variation from each location of the game. We're trying to maximize
what you see in each of the regions and create a sense of variety.
I think that in FFX there was one very strong world and one very whole world.
But in FFXII you'll see more a variety of influences that I've had in creating
some of the areas.
Q: Considering Matsuno's heritage, will there
be any strategy-style gameplay outside of the standard RPG strategy?
Minaba (laughs): I'll leave it up to your assumption. It's too early to tell.
It's obviously too early too comment on the gameplay -- if there'll be any war
strategy elements coming into gameplay, for instance. The setting of FFXII is a
place where a lot of races, beliefs and countries meet, though. Of course there
are battles and wars. In terms of gameplay, though, it's too early to say.
Q: Can you comment a bit on the Judge
character He makes the logo very big.
Minaba: I thought the logo was big too.
Square Super PR Rep (to members of the press): It may be hard for you to use the
logo as an image in your publication.
FF Expert: It may be hard to fit it on the box.
Minaba: It probably won't fit on the spine. However, by making the logo bigger
we may get more exposure in game magazines.
[Laughter]
Minaba: The judge plays a key role in the game.
Q: Does he have a name?
Minaba: Yes.
Q: Is there more than just one judge, or is
there just one?
Minaba: Not one. But we can't say more than that.
Q: Are the Judges the forces behind the
Empire, or are they servants of the Empire?
Minaba: He is called the judge, so...
Q: How many people will be in your party? Will
it be a standard three-party system? <
br/>
Minaba: As you can see from some of the assets yesterday, there are three
members of the party. Anything beyond that is up to your imagination at this
point. We'll be revealing more info on FFXII before the end of the year in
Japan.
Q: How about support characters that can be
switched into battle? How many of these can we expect?
Minaba: To be continued...
Team FFXII isn't ready just yet to field questions on the game's battle system.
Q: How does Vaan compare to previous FF
protagonists?
Minaba: Well, the person who's creating the characters is different -- that's
one difference. I don't think he can be compared to any of the FF characters.
Q: Can you see all three characters on the
world map at the same time?
Minaba: Yes, it's possible.
Q: What games have impressed you in this
generation in terms of art direction?
Minaba: It's an old Japanese game -- you may not know it. Genpei Toumaden
Kannoni (Namco PC Engine game from 80s, also known as Samurai Ghost).
Yoshida: Metal Gear Solid 2. I'm really looking forward to part three.
Kamikokuryou: The entire Front Mission series -- even though it's our own game.
Q: We noticed that Hironobu Sakaguchi was at
the presentation yesterday. Will Mr. Sakaguchi have more of an influence on this
FF or other FF games, or was his presence just out of respect for Mr. Matsuno?
Minaba: We may not have any communication with Mr. Sakaguchi, but Mr. Matsuno,
as the game's director, has respect for him since he is the father of the
series. If changing the direction of the series, Mr. Matsuno will probably
discuss the issue with Mr. Sakaguchi.
Q: (from special Final Fantasy Expert who will
still remain nameless): If you look closely at one of the pamphlets from
yesterday, the pamphlet that has the release dates for of all the Final Fantasy
games written in it, you can see the release dates for Final Fantasy Tactics and
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance hidden in the background in a light shade of grey.
[ Pauses dramatically ]
Does this mean that the team feels that they are mixing the Tactics world view
with the main FF world view?
Minaba: What the!? Oh wow, it is there, isn't it!
Actually, as you hold on to the pamphlet, the numbers become darker and darker.
[Laughter]
Q: Will there be a romance in this game?
Minaba: Obviously, there's a hero and a heroine, so there has to be some kind of
relationship. However, the relationship may not be as obvious or serious in
terms of love as in previous games.
Q: So it may be just like "Let's just be
friends."
Staff laughs.
Yoshida: It may not be just love between the two -- it may be other love.
The End of the Interview
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Last Updated Thursday, September 7th, 2006
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