Kuja Las Vegas
Sep 24 2009, 12:45 AM
The following conversation was overheard at Square Enix headquarters as they were brainstorming prior to the development of Final Fantasy XII. ;)
Yoichi Wada, President Square Enix: "We need more money. Let's make a game starring Yuffie and Red XIII."
Hiroshi Minagawa, Game Designer: "Here's a crazy thought. How about we make a different game than one that is based off Final Fantasy VII?"
<Wada spits out the coffee he was drinking. Takes out a gun and shoots Minagawa>
Wada: "Matsuno, you're the new Lead Game Designer."
Yasumi Matsuno, Game Designer: (nervously) "Okay...."
Wada: "How will YOU design the next installment of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and also please me to avoid getting 'downsized' by my deagle?"
Matsuno: "Here's a crazy thought..."
Wada: <cocks gun>
Matsuno: "Now, now...bear with me here. BEAR WITH ME."
W.: "I'm listening..."
M.: "Okay. So we released Final Fantasy X in 2001. It was a very linear game, perhaps the most linear game thus far. It was very character-driven and storyline-oriented. You could say it was almost 90% story and 10% battle."
W.: "Yes, and that was a good game. Very popular. It created a golden age of RPGs for the PS2."
M.: "Next, we released Final Fantasy XI online. It was our first ever MMO. We created a new Real Time Battle system (RTB), and a massive world with huge outdoor areas. However, not everybody was able to play the game, because it required a willing adult with a credit card and $12 a month to spare for their bratty kid who should have been doing homework instead of playing stupid video games."
W.: "Yes, it's a shame not that many people were able to get into Final Fantasy XI when it was first released, either because their computer was too shitty to run it, or they couldn't afford to buy the HDD expansion for the PS2, or their stupid mom and dad wouldn't pay $12 a month for a subscription."
M.: "What if, now please bear with me here, what if...the next Final Fantasy game we created was an "MMO Offline Simulation Mode" experience for the single-player who was unable to experience FFXI?"
W.: "What the hell are you smoking? I oughta shoot you right now. I should just shoot you anyways, since you're not talking about a theoretical new Compilation game like I told you to."
M.: "Well no, think about it for a minute. You take the RTB combat engine, modify it and tweak it a little bit to make it fun for the single-player. We'll call it 'ADB' or Active Dimension Battle. Combat will take place seamlessly and in ATB-oriented real time directly on the overworld map instead of teleporting to a different battle screen a la random battles as in the past, so it will be similar to an MMO.
W.: "Yes, go on..."
M.: "Because it will be an experiment in MMO simulation for the single-player, we'll have to make it 90% battles and 10% story, i.e. the opposite of FFX. It can't be linear like FFX. In fact, it has to be non-linear. Very non-linear. Like, all the outdoor areas and dungeons have to be connected somehow. We'll have to create a massive world, though not as massive as Final Fantasy XI."
W.: "Hmm. Intriguing."
M.: "Because MMOs are never-ending, and FFXII has to have an eventual end, we'll have to make the Final Boss sequence different. In previous Final Fantasies, we had the player go through a huge final dungeon to reach the final boss. However, due to the open-ended nature of our MMO simluation, we will want the player to be able to continue on and do quests and hunts if they still want to."
W.: "So how about we create a huge semi-final dungeon, the Pharos at Ridorana, and then give the player the option to travel to the Bahamut whenever they want at that point? So they can travel to the Bahamut and end their MMO simulation experience, or they can continue from that savegame and keep doing quests and hunts."
M.: "That's a good idea Mr. President. And since it's an MMO simulation, we'll have to make the story political in nature. We won't be able to achieve the same high level of character-driven plot and character interaction as seen in previous FFs. How about we create a political villain too, like Vayne Solidor? And instead of taking the clear cut route like totally good or totally evil, we'll have shades of gray. No one will be quite totally evil or totally good, they'll all be working for their own political aspirations and machinations."
W.: "Sounds good. We already committed to our first ever sequel experiment, FFX-2. Why not another experiment? We can also go back to Final Fantasy's roots when Final Fantasy XIII is released. I have a fear though, that we might alienate some veterans with our radical departure from turn-based battle. And some people might be put off by the political nature of the story."
M.: "To hell with them. We're Square Enix and we do what we want. Who cares what some non-Japanese Western infidel eighth grader thinks, who is too stupid to understand the political story anyhow?"
W.: "Fine I'll sign off on this game, as long as there's a bow in the game named after me, the Yoichi Bow. And it better be top tier too."
M.: "You got it."
Obviously I just made the entire conversation up, but you get where I'm going with this, right? Somewhere down the line they had a conversation just like that. They decided to make FFXII their experiment.
If you hate FFXII, you're entitled to your own opinion. I'm not trying to change it, I'm just trying to tell you what I think they did with this game, and why it is so different from the time-honored, time-tested, tried-and-true formulaic methods of Final Fantasy development.
And it doesn't matter what you or I think, all that matters is that FFXII made sales and $$$ for Square Enix, so they could develop something that will possibly be even better, like Final Fantasy XIII.
Final Fantasy XII sold more than 1,764,000 copies in its first week in Japan, almost equaling the sales of Final Fantasy X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_X) in its first week.[112] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-111) The total number of copies sold stood over 2,150,000 after five weeks of release.[113] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-112) A Square Enix conference report stated that Final Fantasy XII sold more than 2.38 million copies in Japan in the two weeks since its March 16, 2006 release,[114] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-113) In North America, Final Fantasy XII shipped approximately 1.5 million copies in its first week.[115] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-114) As of March 2007, the game has shipped over 5.2 million copies worldwide.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-sqex07profile-0) It is the fourth best-selling PlayStation 2 game of 2006 worldwide.[116] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-115)
Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII)
There, I think I'm done defending FFXII for the moment.
Yoichi Wada, President Square Enix: "We need more money. Let's make a game starring Yuffie and Red XIII."
Hiroshi Minagawa, Game Designer: "Here's a crazy thought. How about we make a different game than one that is based off Final Fantasy VII?"
<Wada spits out the coffee he was drinking. Takes out a gun and shoots Minagawa>
Wada: "Matsuno, you're the new Lead Game Designer."
Yasumi Matsuno, Game Designer: (nervously) "Okay...."
Wada: "How will YOU design the next installment of the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, and also please me to avoid getting 'downsized' by my deagle?"
Matsuno: "Here's a crazy thought..."
Wada: <cocks gun>
Matsuno: "Now, now...bear with me here. BEAR WITH ME."
W.: "I'm listening..."
M.: "Okay. So we released Final Fantasy X in 2001. It was a very linear game, perhaps the most linear game thus far. It was very character-driven and storyline-oriented. You could say it was almost 90% story and 10% battle."
W.: "Yes, and that was a good game. Very popular. It created a golden age of RPGs for the PS2."
M.: "Next, we released Final Fantasy XI online. It was our first ever MMO. We created a new Real Time Battle system (RTB), and a massive world with huge outdoor areas. However, not everybody was able to play the game, because it required a willing adult with a credit card and $12 a month to spare for their bratty kid who should have been doing homework instead of playing stupid video games."
W.: "Yes, it's a shame not that many people were able to get into Final Fantasy XI when it was first released, either because their computer was too shitty to run it, or they couldn't afford to buy the HDD expansion for the PS2, or their stupid mom and dad wouldn't pay $12 a month for a subscription."
M.: "What if, now please bear with me here, what if...the next Final Fantasy game we created was an "MMO Offline Simulation Mode" experience for the single-player who was unable to experience FFXI?"
W.: "What the hell are you smoking? I oughta shoot you right now. I should just shoot you anyways, since you're not talking about a theoretical new Compilation game like I told you to."
M.: "Well no, think about it for a minute. You take the RTB combat engine, modify it and tweak it a little bit to make it fun for the single-player. We'll call it 'ADB' or Active Dimension Battle. Combat will take place seamlessly and in ATB-oriented real time directly on the overworld map instead of teleporting to a different battle screen a la random battles as in the past, so it will be similar to an MMO.
W.: "Yes, go on..."
M.: "Because it will be an experiment in MMO simulation for the single-player, we'll have to make it 90% battles and 10% story, i.e. the opposite of FFX. It can't be linear like FFX. In fact, it has to be non-linear. Very non-linear. Like, all the outdoor areas and dungeons have to be connected somehow. We'll have to create a massive world, though not as massive as Final Fantasy XI."
W.: "Hmm. Intriguing."
M.: "Because MMOs are never-ending, and FFXII has to have an eventual end, we'll have to make the Final Boss sequence different. In previous Final Fantasies, we had the player go through a huge final dungeon to reach the final boss. However, due to the open-ended nature of our MMO simluation, we will want the player to be able to continue on and do quests and hunts if they still want to."
W.: "So how about we create a huge semi-final dungeon, the Pharos at Ridorana, and then give the player the option to travel to the Bahamut whenever they want at that point? So they can travel to the Bahamut and end their MMO simulation experience, or they can continue from that savegame and keep doing quests and hunts."
M.: "That's a good idea Mr. President. And since it's an MMO simulation, we'll have to make the story political in nature. We won't be able to achieve the same high level of character-driven plot and character interaction as seen in previous FFs. How about we create a political villain too, like Vayne Solidor? And instead of taking the clear cut route like totally good or totally evil, we'll have shades of gray. No one will be quite totally evil or totally good, they'll all be working for their own political aspirations and machinations."
W.: "Sounds good. We already committed to our first ever sequel experiment, FFX-2. Why not another experiment? We can also go back to Final Fantasy's roots when Final Fantasy XIII is released. I have a fear though, that we might alienate some veterans with our radical departure from turn-based battle. And some people might be put off by the political nature of the story."
M.: "To hell with them. We're Square Enix and we do what we want. Who cares what some non-Japanese Western infidel eighth grader thinks, who is too stupid to understand the political story anyhow?"
W.: "Fine I'll sign off on this game, as long as there's a bow in the game named after me, the Yoichi Bow. And it better be top tier too."
M.: "You got it."
Obviously I just made the entire conversation up, but you get where I'm going with this, right? Somewhere down the line they had a conversation just like that. They decided to make FFXII their experiment.
If you hate FFXII, you're entitled to your own opinion. I'm not trying to change it, I'm just trying to tell you what I think they did with this game, and why it is so different from the time-honored, time-tested, tried-and-true formulaic methods of Final Fantasy development.
And it doesn't matter what you or I think, all that matters is that FFXII made sales and $$$ for Square Enix, so they could develop something that will possibly be even better, like Final Fantasy XIII.
Final Fantasy XII sold more than 1,764,000 copies in its first week in Japan, almost equaling the sales of Final Fantasy X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_X) in its first week.[112] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-111) The total number of copies sold stood over 2,150,000 after five weeks of release.[113] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-112) A Square Enix conference report stated that Final Fantasy XII sold more than 2.38 million copies in Japan in the two weeks since its March 16, 2006 release,[114] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-113) In North America, Final Fantasy XII shipped approximately 1.5 million copies in its first week.[115] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-114) As of March 2007, the game has shipped over 5.2 million copies worldwide.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-sqex07profile-0) It is the fourth best-selling PlayStation 2 game of 2006 worldwide.[116] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII#cite_note-115)
Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FFXII)
There, I think I'm done defending FFXII for the moment.