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 we’re heeding the words of some legends as we discuss upcoming DLC, a new ballad, and a major inspiration for the series.
This week’s newsletter is 2575 words, a 12-minute read.
Yoshi-P On Setting Limits
In new interviews with Famitsu (translated by the amazing Audrey!) and Game Informer, Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida has been subtly changing his tune on some previous statements, while also musing on the future of CBU3 projects, including FFXIV, FFXVI… and maybe more?
What they’re saying:
Yoshida reiterated that the team deliberately left some bread crumbs to lead into potential DLCs
“That being said, we actually did think of a possible route, a possible story, that we could do if we were to do one”
This comes across as a more definitive confirmation that they knew almost exactly what the game’s DLC would entail, at least at its core—though he also reiterates that the plan was to finish the game first before devoting any resources to it (beyond leaving some obvious spots on the world map for the expansions to take place)
The Rising Tide’s battle with Leviathan will be something wholly different than Eikon battles in the main game, according to DLC director Takeo Kujiraoka
“When you look back at past Final Fantasy titles, there actually aren’t many cases where you see Leviathan moving around crazy and in a real-time action battle system”
While the other Eikon battles had specific inspirations (like wrestling for the Ifrit fight), Kujiraoka can’t pin it down to one word or genre
“There’s going to be a lot of water involved—visually, graphically, there’s going to be a lot of attacks made from Leviathan and that comes with a lot of water. It’s going to look really different from past Eikon battles, and that’s one thing that players can look forward to”
Despite adding a new Eikon to the mix, Yoshida says the ending will not be affected by the new DLC, though players “will get a deeper understanding of how the world of Valisthea is”
Beyond The Rising Tide, Yoshida claims that “the possibility of more DLC content for Final Fantasy XVI is not zero” but also admits that the dev team has learned a lot in making the game, and is keen to apply that knowledge to new projects
Yoshida is also eager to bring a FFVII crossover event to FFXIV, though it will be a very long time before this comes to pass
“My personal wish is to approach FFVII in earnest, but with the FFVII Remake series in development, I don’t want to get in their way”
“I would be very happy if we could do something together after the Remake series is completed, and I’d like to ask players to support the FFVII Remake series as well so that this can happen as soon as possible!”
Contrary to some previous remarks, Yoshida seems more open now to the prospect of directing another major project
“Before when I thought about passing on my baton to the next generation, I thought ‘I probably can at least add one more title to my name.’ However, by doing so, I would be setting my own ceiling and limiting myself.”
“Recently though, I’ve been thinking that it might be better to not set a ceiling. […] As to my reasoning, well, a company is an organization after all, and an organization’s decision making is usually based on the top management and their logic to pass judgment. If I were to fall into the trap of thinking “I can only do one more title,” then it might be marked as something odd, like “Yoshida’s masterpiece,” which isn’t a good look.“
“I feel like setting a cap will make things awfully boring. It’s of course good to set goals to gain that momentum [but] I think a better way to approach it is, we don’t know what the future holds, so why not challenge ourselves each time?”
What we thought:
The inevitability of DLC for FFXVI is all but irrefutable now, though I still commend CBU3 for restraining from developing it until the game was complete and released; having a plan in mind was smart, as was waiting to see the reaction to the game before committing resources to it
It’s also commendable that Yoshida wants to wait until the new trilogy is complete before bringing FFVII into the realm of FFXIV crossovers… but I want a Buster Sword for my Dark Knight now, dammit
Not having the ending affected by the DLC is probably the safe choice, as altering it too much might be a slap in the face to players who beat the game and didn’t intend to return for the expansion pass
Without spoiling, I can think of one thing they could add to the final boss fight(s) that would help tie the DLC into the main story without alienating those who didn’t buy it, so fingers crossed that they put a small nod to Leviathan in there somewhere
Perhaps there could be some kind of small additional scene that enhances the ending without altering it? Time will tell
Frankly, Yoshida’s openness to helming another project came as a surprise, given how he spoke about the idea of directing FFXVI and FFXIV simultaneously
Yoshida seems content to work on FFXIV until he’s dragged into forced retirement, so where will he several years to devote to directing a new game?
That being said, I would love to see what he can do with a project he directed from the ground up; he inherited FFXIV and turned it around, but hasn’t had a chance to show what he can achieve from scratch, aside from FFXVI
What’s next? The Rising Tide, Final Fantasy XVI’s second piece of DLC, is estimated to be about 10 hours in length, and is still on track for release sometime this spring.
Uematsu & Allred Share The First Take
Meanwhile, another legend of Final Fantasy (and the genre at large) has been reflecting on his career—Nobuo Uematsu spoke to the PlayStation Blog and Weekly Ochiai, giving some new insights on beloved classics and his newest ballad for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
What they’re saying:
The decision to make “No Promises to Keep” a ballad was pretty much instantaneous, once he saw early visualizations of Aerith singing—which works to his personal strengths and inclinations as a composer
This contrasts Remake’s theme, “Hollow,” which was a rock tune for Cloud
The team at Square Enix wanted Loren Allred to sing it from square one, and she was equally on-board once they reached out to her (“As someone who knew about Aerith’s character growing up, this really meant a lot to me,” she said)
Uematsu began composing the melody before Kazushige Nojima’s lyrics were finished, and the song was recorded remotely, with Allred in the US and Uematsu in Japan
Uematsu feels modern game composers have become somewhat complacent now that technology has evolved so far
The constraints of working on 8-/16-bit hardware necessitated a unique, creative approach, which he continued to use when working on the PS1 games
Nowadays many creative teams are “satisfied with movie soundtrack-like music in games,” he says, and as a result the medium is stagnating
These comments are coincidentally well-timed in two ways:
At the Oscars last weekend, composer Ludwig Göransson threw a little shade while accepting his award for the score of Oppenheimer, when he thanked his parents “for giving me guitars and drum machines instead of video games”
Meanwhile FFXVI was ignored by BAFTA, not making the cut for its nominations for the Music category of its Games Awards (while nominations went instead to Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Baldur’s Gate 3, Tears of the Kingdom, Spider-Man 2, and Jedi: Survivor)
What we thought:
“No Promises to Keep” has big “Eyes On Me” or “Melodies of Life” energy and I’m here for it (especially after seeing it in its proper context in Rebirth)—this might be the most catchy vocal theme in the series since “Suteki Da Ne”
All of this talk about video game music in the last week or two shows there are still certain biases and misconceptions about it
Göransson’s comments are somewhat disappointing; while I love his work on things like The Mandalorian and the MCU, throwing shade at video games and/or their music is unnecessary, as video games have the potential to rival (or even surpass) Hollywood scores
Figures like Uematsu and Koji Konda can stand on the same pedestals as the likes of John Williams and Howard Shore, and an in-depth game score can cover far more than a 2-3 hour movie’s score
It’s also baffling that Soken’s score for FFXVI was snubbed for the BAFTA Games Awards in favour of some of the most generic scores of last year
I loved SM2 and Jedi: Survivor last year but couldn’t really name any particular musical standouts that weren’t simply appropriations of popular themes from their respective, larger licenses
Say what you will about FFXVI but its score is one of its most irrefutable high points, and one of its most-nominated components; to skip nominating it is either an oversight or an insult
Looking at what did make BAFTA’s cut, I can’t help but agree with Uematsu: video game music isn’t pushing the same envelopes it used to
Restrictions breed creativity and unique solutions, as Uematsu proved with the soundtracks of FF1-6; it’s a shame that modern composers rarely push the envelope now, even with all the technology at their fingertips
We can see this effect even within Final Fantasy: once Uematsu stepped back, the games’ reputation for exemplary music began to recede—no shade intended to the other composers, but the non-Uematsu soundtracks just aren’t as catchy or as universally praised, and only Soken and Shimomura can really hold a candle to him (at least in terms of the common reception)
What’s next? Allred performed the new ballad with Uematsu and his band, conTIKI, for The First Take—the “global premiere of the full-length performance.” “No Promises to Keep” will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, and other streaming services next week, while the full 7 or 8-CD soundtrack for Rebirth is still slated for release in April.
(So, if “Hollow” was Cloud’s song, and “No Promises to Keep” is Aerith’s, does that mean the third installment will give Tifa a moment to shine musically?)
In Memoriam: Akira Toriyama
The world lost an incredibly influential individual last week with the untimely passing of Akira Toriyama. Best known as the creator of Dragon Ball, Toriyama’s impact is almost unquantifiable, inspiring countless other franchises and leaving an irrefutable mark on pop culture.
His legacy:
Toriyama became known as a mangaka with Dr. Slump in 1980, and shot to legendary status with Dragon Ball—inspiring Enix to recruit him to work on their new RPG, Dragon Quest
Having him attached helped Dragon Quest reach a larger audience, especially with the rising success of Dragon Ball at the same time
Toriyama would serve as the main illustrator for the Dragon Quest series through all of its subsequent releases, right up to his death—he was to DQ what Yoshitaka Amano is to FF, but even more involved
Of course, Dragon Quest would go on to inspire Hironobu Sakaguchi and Square to make their own RPG for the Famicom, leading to Final Fantasy
You might expect some degree of competition between Square and Enix, and the teams behind both series, in those days—but the relationship between them was considerably cordial, with Toriyama “crossing the aisle” to work with Square on a few occasions pre-merger:
Chrono Trigger was originally pitched as a team-up of the teams behind FF and DQ, and saw Sakaguchi working with Toriyama and DQ creator Yuji Horii on a bold new RPG which has gone down in history as one of the genre’s best
Coincidentally, this week marks the 29th anniversary of Chrono Trigger
Toriyama also lent his iconic designs to Tobal No.1, one of Square’s first games on the PlayStation following their split from Nintendo (which came packaged with a FFVII demo) where he actually appeared as a hidden fighter (albeit in the form of his robotic avatar, “Tori Robo”
He worked with Sakaguchi again when he left Square Enix to form Mistwalker, designing the characters for Blue Dragon on the Xbox 360
Response from the community:
Sakaguchi shared his condolences (translated by Genki): "Toriyama-san taught me what it means to be a 'professional' and what 'work' is. I deeply respected him from the bottom of my heart. I sincerely pray that his soul may rest in peace."
Other figures like Chrono Trigger co-composer Yasunori Mitsuda, Shimomura,
Scores of FFXIV players took to its digital streets to pay their respects, keeping vigils in cities like Ul’Dah and pulling off their best DBZ cosplay (with similar displays happening in Dragon Quest X (and even Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2)
FFXIV players put on a similar display in 2021 when Berserk creator Kentaro Miura passed away
A final anecdote:
As shared by the Shinra Archaeology Department, Toriyama was one of the first people in the world to play Final Fantasy VII, and he shared his thoughts in V Jump magazine as the game was launching:
“What can I say? I’m floored! To think RPG graphics have come this far! […] Seriously, how did they even make this? It must have taken tons of people working together. It’s amazing how unified the overall world feels—as though it was all done by one person. The worldbuilding is incredibly well done, in my opinion.”
“I’m just in awe of how much the Final Fantasy series has evolved! The visuals have always been great, ever since the beginning. It feels like a glimpse at the cutting edge of technology. When I think about how far the ability to depict things has come, I can’t help but be excited for how incredible games are going to be in the future.”
Around the Union
From Garland to Ardyn, Final Fantasy has been blessed (or cursed?) with some truly legendary villains. They want to destroy all of existence, they have killer tailors, and they (usually) have nuanced motivations… which sometimes lead us to almost side with them. Thus, this week we present the “7 Bad Buys You Ended Up Feeling Sorry For!”
Did your favourite villain make the cut? Either way, let us know who your favourite FF villain is and why in the comments below!
This week also brings the third issue of our new premium newsletter, the Kupo Chronicle! In this installment we’re looking at the forgotten “original” version of Final Fantasy VII and how some of the game’s most iconic elements almost got cut due to deadline constraints. Click the link below to subscribe and dive into the story:
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I've gotta strongly disagree that Sakimoto or Hamauzu fail to hold that candle the way the others have. XII and XIII had so much more unique soundtracks that deserve any lauds you've got, and are absolutely catchy. Any lack of universal praise was more a result of backlash to them not being Uematsu, but for my money they made two of the best soundtracks in the series.
On the other hand, no disrespect to Soken, but I came out of XVI not remembering a single piece of music from it, aside from the default battle theme. It's not that I have anything bad to say about it, I just don't have anything to say about it because I never felt like the music engaged me enough that I even noticed it. That's definitely a first for the series, but not a good first. It's like, well, a film soundtrack. I didn't notice it and never thought about it after, which would make it more an example of what Uematsu was talking about than an exception.