The Japanese Hironobu Sakaguchi (Hitachinaka, 1962) has never been the typical video game creator. It wasn’t when he directed the first final fantasy; nor when he decided to bet everything on an animated film that was too advanced of its time; nor when he left the company that had given him success and the country that had seen him grow to found a completely new project far from his roots. Despite being one of the architects of one of the most popular video game genres, that of the so-called JRPG (from English japanese role playing game), doesn’t seem to give it much importance.
From his residence in Honolulu, the Hawaiian city where he founded his Mistwalker studio twenty years ago, Sakaguchi serves The Vanguard via video call. The Japanese creative is promoting Fantasian: Neo Dimensionthe recently announced version for consoles and PC of this adventure set in a world created from dioramas and which five years ago served as a letter of introduction for Apple’s own video game service.
During the conversation with this veteran designer, screenwriter and producer, there is time to talk about this new title, but also about the origin of the game that made him world famous, his relationship with the recently deceased Akira Toriyama and his present and future projects.
How has it worked? Fantasy on Apple Arcade?
Publishing a game this way has been a different experience. The most interesting thing about Apple Arcade is that it allowed us to launch Fantasy simultaneously in one hundred and fifty countries. I think it was the first time that one of my games reached so many countries, so the experience was very fun.
Are you satisfied with the result?
It makes me very happy to think that what I have created can reach all those corners, since I have always wanted as many people as possible to play my games.
What performance has he had at the player level?
I can’t share the exact numbers, but I can say that they are numbers that I am very pleased with. However, I’ve also gotten a lot of comments saying that they couldn’t play because they didn’t have an iPhone or an iOS device. So, now that Apple Arcade’s exclusivity period is coming to an end, I was looking forward to releasing the game on consoles and PC.
Image from the video game Fantasian
It’s pretty rare that a team of thirty people has been able to create a game on the scale of ‘Fantasian’
How many people have worked on the development of Fantasy?
The core of the team was made up of about thirty people. It included programmers, game designers, and some 3D graphics artists. In addition, companies specialized in creating dioramas participated, and this is where there were really a lot of people involved. I really can’t know the exact number of people, since we used several of the best diorama companies in all of Japan, so a lot of people were involved.
And all this without counting the soundtrack.
Indeed, the music was the work of Uematsu-san [Nobuo Uematsu]and he also has his usual team that he always works with. Music, as a unit, also has its own group of people, and although I don’t know the exact number, if we count everyone, there would easily be over a hundred people involved in music alone. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, the core of the game was very small, only thirty people, and of those, only five were programmers. For a game of this scale, I think it’s pretty rare to have such a small team, but we were lucky to have five really talented programmers.
Image from the video game Fantasian
‘Fantasian’ comes from the idea of wanting to walk inside a diorama
Where did the idea for dioramas come from?
I have always liked dioramas and scale models. In fact, in the past I used to build and modify Gundam models. I don’t know if you know, but there is a Tamiya model kit modification contest and Akira Toriyama participated anonymously and won without them knowing it was him. I have always loved both dioramas and scale models. The idea of wanting to walk inside them was what led me to create Fantasyso in the game there is a great connection with my personal hobbies.
Now that you’ve mentioned Akira Toriyama, who we sadly learned of his death very recently, you worked closely with him on some of his games. How do you remember the experience?
Working with Toriyama-san was a great pleasure. I developed Chrono Trigger and Blue Dragon because I was a big fan of his, I wanted to work with him and getting it was a great joy. I remember that he was a professional with a unique talent. Surprisingly enough, I knew what all of his designs and characters looked like from behind, even without him having drawn it, it was like he had a three-dimensional understanding of things. For example, he sometimes came with three-view drawings without me asking. At that time, when we did Chrono Trigger3D graphics did not yet exist, but I felt that Toriyama-san’s mind already conceived everything as if it were in 3D. It was impressive, and I really felt his genius in that.
Chrono Trigger featured the recognizable character design of Akira Toriyama, the author of Dragon Ball
I was a big fan of Akira Toriyama, I wanted to work with him and getting it was a great joy.
What do you think is the secret to the success of the so-called JRPGs, that is, Japanese role-playing games?
My first contact with RPGs (role playing games) was with Wizardry and Ultima IItwo games [publicados a principios de los 80] for the Apple II computer that had a great cultural and personal impact. final fantasy It was born from the shock that those Western role-playing games caused me. Based on the impact they had on me I decided to convert them to my style and interpretation. And then, at some point, those games started being called JRPGs.
I really don’t know if there is a secret formula. Living in Japanese culture, I think it is very difficult to overlook the importance and influence that manga and anime has had in the lives of Japanese creators, and I am no exception. I probably reflect those accumulated influences myself in my games, and that is, perhaps, the ‘J’ of JRPG.
Final Fantasy VII marked the leap to 3D for the franchise
I think it is very difficult to overlook the importance that manga and ‘anime’ have had on Japanese creators.
Many of the stories in their games are related to real-world situations. For example, I think of Final Fantasy VII and I think it is inevitable to relate it to climate change. Do you think that video games are a good means of raising awareness about these problems?
In my games I not only refer to environmental problems, I also try to reflect what I myself feel when living in today’s world. Now, when creating a world or building a story, instead of introducing these feelings directly, I prefer to include them as hidden messages in the background. In that sense, not only in Fantasybut in all my works, I always try to incorporate some theme from the current world in which I live. It shouldn’t be too obvious, but if it’s important, I want to include it. That has been a constant for me.
Do you plan to work on more games set in the world of Fantasy?
Fantasy It is a completed story. During its time on Apple Arcade, it has been released in several parts, with additional stories added later as bonus content. But now, with the new version, everything will be neatly packaged and present a conclusive story in a single installment. That’s why, right now, I don’t feel like expanding that world.
In 2021 he stated that Fantasian could be his last game. Are you still with that idea?
when I started Fantasy It seemed to me that it could be like that, and I thought that, if that was going to be my last project, I would have no complaints, because the game is a very honest expression of what I like to play and a return to my origins. Now, however, I am working on a new project with the same team that developed Fantasy. I can’t go into details as we are doing brainstorming at a very early stage, but this new project, this new world, will be quite different.
Hironobu Sakaguchi during the interview with ‘La Vanguardia’
I have nothing against remakes, but the idea of remaking previous works doesn’t really appeal to me.
Will we see re-releases or remakes of other games from your company (Mistwalker) in the future, for example, Lost Odyssey? Is there that possibility?
For a long time now, the idea of redoing previous works has not appealed to me very much. I have nothing against remakes, but as a creator, it’s not something I personally want to do. Making a remake probably requires the same amount of energy as creating something completely new. Therefore, my desire has always been to continue creating new things. On that note, while I really appreciate the comments from fans, especially those asking for something like Lost OdysseyI prefer to continue moving towards new creations.
Recently, Microsoft has closed the Xbox 360 digital store and, although the game can continue to be purchased, there are concerns that one day they may end up being inaccessible games.
Perhaps it was naive to think that with digital stores the games would be there forever. I see your point and yes, it is unfortunate that some games can no longer be purchased for this reason.
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