Wark Digest #117 - Eikon Daydreams
Welcome back to the Wark Digest, your weekly newsletter of new developments and historical insights from the Final Fantasy universe. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and this week as the heat of summer burned on, we learned the origin of FFXVI’s Ifrit, and the godfather shared his impression of the new game. Also, we took a look at Final Fantasy’s other, other MMORPG—in manga form.
This week’s newsletter is 1867 words, a 9-minute read.
Naoki Yoshida’s Press Tour Continues
There’s no rest for Yoshi-P. The producer of Final Fantasy XVI is still popping up all over the place to talk about the newest mainline game, dropping interesting bits of knowledge along the way. Let’s take a closer look at some of this trivia!
What they’re saying:
Yoshida told GameSpot that the idea for heroes turning into Eikons first came to him at E3 2014, where he had to get across the crowded venue to appearances at various booths
“A thought crossed my mind: wouldn’t it be great if I could turn into Ifrit right now? Everyone would run away, and I’d be back at the booth in a single stride.”
“As I had this thought, the idea occurred to me of humans turning into summons, while still in possession of their own will. The scale of battles would jump up a whole other level—from human vs. human, human vs. monster, to one step further.”
When development first started on FFXVI, he brought up this “pretty outrageous” inkling, and they ran with it
Appearing on a Taiwanese interview, he revealed that development started with only three people, including himself and Hiroshi Takai, who volunteered to take directorial duties for him
“We developed the game little by little. We started off with only 3 people, then 7, then 30. […] FFXIV was also getting bigger and bigger as well, so we developed FFXVI slowly”
He shied away from giving an exact number of people who worked on the game—”you’d be able to calculate the estimated production cost so Square Enix told me that I can’t actually reveal that number”—but said it was “definitely more” than 300, as the interviewer guessed
In his interviews, there’s almost always an obligatory Innocuous Comment That Will Get Misconstrued All Over The Internet, and this was no exception, as he said: “I wish there was only one type of console to develop a game on. Man, seriously, please just make one console for us to work with! It would be so much more convenient for those making games and also playing games too!”
What we thought:
There’s a pure, kid-on-the-playground energy to Yoshida’s anecdote (which conflicts pretty hard with the way Ifrit was used in the final game!)
It’s unclear exactly why Ifrit came to his mind, of all the possible summons, especially since Shiva and Ramuh were being showcased at that event, but imagine some of the different ways FFXVI could have turned out if he’d thought of literally any other summon
Countless stories have started with a simple “what if” scenario—Steven King has extolled this approach for years in his autobiographical book about writing, for example—and it’s neat to have this seemingly idle daydream to identify as the seed for it all
It’s ironic in a way that inspiration came at an event where many hoped in vain for fresh updates on FFXV, having been publicly rebranded the year prior
FFXVI’s development almost mirrors that of the original, in a way: a small team with a kernel of an idea, gradually recruiting more members and snowballing into a new epic, just as Final Fantasy entered planning/development as most of Squaresoft was busy finishing Rad Racer
Obscuring the number of staff seems somewhat silly, since… they’re all listed in the credits anyway, but Yoshida was likely playing around a little bit when he blamed SE for not being able to pin down a number
300+ people is a fairly common figure for a game of this caliber, with even FFXV having about the same at one point
Given how much Yoshida engages with fan feedback and social media comments, well, it’s no surprise he would wish for only a single console to work on
However this was almost certainly in jest, or tongue-in-cheek, and not an endorsement of any one side in the never-ending “Console Wars”
What’s next? Honestly, we just hope Yoshida can lay low for a little bit soon and get some rest! The media engagements never end,
Adventurousness, Courage, Determination
Speaking of FFXVI and ongoing wars, the godfather himself shared that he has completed the game, and his comments (of course) have reignited a prickly philosophical debate.
What’s going on:
Hironobu Sakaguchi tweeted on Sunday that he had finished FFXVI, remarking in Japanese “It was the ultimate fantasy, ‘Final Fantasy’”
Specifically, he used a phrase that he’d also mentioned in the roundtable discussion for the Pixel Remasters that we recently dissected back in issue 114: “kyukyoku no gensou,” or “the ultimate illusion,” a cooler way (in his opinion) to say “final fantasy”
So, because internet, this was taken in all kinds of directions
The comments and notifications must’ve gotten to him on some level, as Sakaguchi later added, in English: “I think... FINAL FANTASY is something that continues to evolve. It is never completed. Adventurousness, Courage, and Determination are the key words.”
…then he went back to tweeting his FFXIV progress
What we thought:
Almost two months after its launch, the debate continues on where FFXVI sits in the grand canon of Final Fantasy games, from inter-community squabbles to think-pieces in gaming media to flame wars on social media: for some, it’s “not Final Fantasy enough,” while for others, it is
To a degree, there isn’t an answer to this that’s 100% objectively correct
The game is called “Final Fantasy [number],” it is made by Square Enix, it does hit a lot of the essential thematic notes that made previous games so special
At the same time, it diverges heavily from conventions like battle style or character development, and there some beloved staple monsters are missing
For our money, though, we still feel the same as we did at launch: this game hits all the right notes, or enough of them at least, to justify its numbered position in the main series… and it seems Sakaguchi is on a similar page
The courage and determination to embark on an adventure of innovation is the core of the franchise, and in this case, it meant that CBU3 had to have the courage and resolve to shake up so many standard conventions
The downside of this, however, is that this particular game may not strike everyone’s fancy, and that’s okay too—it’s a side effect of reinventing your franchise with each new installment, you’re going to wind up producing games that even your most devout might not fully enjoy
What’s next? Since Sakaguchi apparently picked up a PS5 so he could play FFXVI, we can’t help but wonder, what will he play on it next? (XIV notwithstanding, naturally.)
Review: Final Fantasy Lost Stranger, Vol. 1-2
Did you know there’s an official manga about a Final Fantasy MMORPG, but it’s not about either FFXI or FFXIV? With the series expanding into publication more and more by the year, I recently took a look at the first two tankōbon volumes of this unconventional adventure, Final Fantasy Lost Stranger.
What’s it about?
Lost Stranger (no relation to FFXI, FFXIV, or Stranger of Paradise) is a manga series written by Hazuki Minaze, illustrated by Itsuki Kameya, and published by Gangan Comics in Japan (Yen Press or Mana Books elsewhere)
Falling into the popular isekai genre, Lost Stranger follows a Square Enix employee named Shogo Sasaki, a lifelong Final Fantasy fan who started working at the company in hopes that he’d get to work on a Final Fantasy game someday—until a truck careens off the road and appears to strike both him and his sister, fellow employee Yuuko
Shogo awakens in what appears to be a Final Fantasy world, similar to Eorzea or Vana’diel but different, and discovers that Yuuko has also been transported here
The siblings link up with an adventuring party, calling upon their deep knowledge of the series to wow their new comrades and help townsfolk
However, tragedy strikes again and Yuuko is slain by a monster—teaching Shogo the hard lesson that some spells he knows of, like Raise, are only legends here, and his sister cannot be saved
Shogo embarks on a quest to discover Raise and other legendary spells, to bring Yuuko back… but of course, it won’t be that simple
What we thought:
Though isekai stories aren’t my cup of tea, Lost Stranger works quite well as both a tribute to Final Fantasy and a story in its own right
The frame of Shogo being a Square Enix employee is interesting, and I can’t help but wonder if that element will be resolved someday, or if it was just there as a background detail
While I gave it a shot for the series’ name, I stayed for the Raise plot, as well as the other clever ways it adapts other elements of the games
The other adventurers in Shogo’s group skew toward being tropes, but there’s some potential for growth and personality
Granted, there are some “fan servicey” moments or character designs (particularly in a certain homage character introduced at the end of the second volume) that go above the usual domain of Final Fantasy, which I could have gone without
If you read manga at all, it’s probably worth giving this series a go and seeing if it resonates for you
For a frame of reference: I didn’t mind the first season of Sword Art Online, and so far this is a much better take on the genre
This could have some serious potential for an anime adaptation as well, especially with the resources at Square Enix’s disposal in this department
What’s next? Lost Stranger debuted in 2017, and the 9th volume was published in English just last month—so if you give it a shot and enjoy it, there’s plenty of ground to cover. Collected volumes, or even individual chapters, are available through a wide variety of online and physical retailers.
Around the Union
It’s fitting that Yoshi-P was sharing his Ifrit daydreams this week, as we’ve revamped our “Complete Evolution of Ifrit” to span 1990-2023, covering the OG summon’s latest appearance in Final Fantasy XVI! As one of the most iconic recurring summons, this fiery boy has been going through a sort of renaissance in recent years, so tune in and check out how his arc has been altered by Clive’s journey!
And don’t forget, copies of our first book are available once again! Check out the shop on SendOwl for more info!
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Until next time, kupo!