Wark Digest #185 - Deliberate Design
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 spoke to Naoki Hamaguchi about Rebirth, part 3, and beyond, while Final Fantasy keeps chasing trophies in award season and the godfather comes home.
This week’s newsletter is 2131 words, a 10-minute read.
Hamaguchi On Rebirth & Beyond
Continuing off Final Fantasy VII Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi’s press tour from last week, Darryl and Lauren had the opportunity to speak with the man himself and ask him the burning questions about the GOTY contender.
What they’re saying:
The first year of Rebirth’s development was spent determining the scale of the world map and its combat, then they plotted the minigames’ locations on the map
When devising Queen’s Blood, they made physical card mockups and a prototype Windows application to test the game
Trying to avoid having too many cooks into the story kitchen, they put their trust into the scenario written by Kazushige Nojima—he presents a story, then Hamaguchi and the team adapt it into a game’s outline
A prime example? The Queen’s Blood tourney on the cruise ship didn’t exist in Kazushige’s outline, which very closely resembled the straight throughline of the original game, but the team thought it was unrealistic if the party wouldn’t be exploring this amazing ship (plus the lighthearted diversion makes the Jenova fight all the more powerful)
Rebirth’s sense of humour comes organically from the development team, since so many played FFVII at a young age and can bring their memories to bear (leading to things like Red XIII’s chocobo-riding posture, or Aerith’s sunglasses)
Audience feedback is important in determining if their ideas connected with people or not, but absorbing it all can be a problem to
Fan feedback helps refine their ideas, but once they lock in, they tune it out
That being said, Hamaguchi is very tuned into comments on his personal Twitter account and tries to interact—so much so that some believe he’s set up a bot or subordinate to automatically like tweets
Having been inspired by Final Fantasy, and now bearing the responsibility for its future, leads to a complex blend of emotions, and he sometimes struggles to be “Hamaguchi the fan” instead of “Hamaguchi the director,” as he’s looking to dissect all manners of art he consumes
Now as full director for Rebirth, he’s felt the responsibility fall on his shoulders
“I’m proud of what we managed to achieve on FFVII Rebirth in terms of going away from the more traditional, story-driven, more linear, gameplay experience and really creating that exciting, fresh new look at a more free, open world exploration style of game. That’s definitely something that will pay dividends in the future. So I’m looking forward to what my team is going to be making in the future [and] to see where we can take that new concept as well”
What we thought:
The results of their deliberate map planning can be seen clearly in the finished product, and likely contributed to the game’s well-balanced open world traversal
The minigames are very rooted in their respective regions, and this explains it
Likewise, the care that comes from making physical Queen’s Blood cards shows in the way so many people have become engrossed with it, and how it immediately rivalled the old greats like Triple Triad
There’s an intentionality that comes with designing or testing the game from this perspective
There’s often confusion over who makes what decisions, so Hamaguchi’s example here is very illuminating: Nojima’s story is the road map (ie. “Cloud’s party steals aboard the cruise ship and eventually fights Jenova”), while Hamaguchi and a few others determine pit stops and detours (ie. “before the Jenova fight, Cloud competes in a Queen’s Blood Tournament, and xyz happens”)
Now as the next generation of developers is coming up, we get to reap the benefits as people get to work on revivals of the same games they loved as kids, which explains why there were so many great homages and neat little details for fans of the original
Hamaguchi’s closing remarks suggest he’s already thinking of not just part 3 but beyond as well, and how this engine can be applied to further projects (something we posited as a possibility for a hypothetical Final Fantasy XVII back in Kupo Chronicle #4)
He seems ready to take on the challenge of leading Creative Studio 1, which is a daunting task—inheriting one of Nomura’s former babies
What’s next? Thanks again to Hamaguchi for taking the team to answer our questions, and to Square Enix PR for offering the opportunity! You can check out the complete interview here.
Thundaga Round!
Speaking of FFVII Rebirth, it has made it to the second round of voting for The Game Awards’ Player’s Choice awards—be sure to go cast your vote to help its chances in this fevered contest
Meanwhile it’s been nominated for a fitting seven awards at the PlayStation Blog’s GOTY awards (Best Story, Best Graphical Showcase, Best Art Direction, Best Audio Design, Best Soundtrack, Best Use of DualSense, and Best PS5 Game), while FFXVI has been nominated for Best Expansion
Rolling along with award season, at the PlayStation Partner Awards Rebirth won the Grand Award and User’s Choice Award, while Yoshinori Kitase was presented with two PlayStation Generation Awards, a user-voted award for the “favorite Japan/Asia titles from across the PlayStation generations, featuring a selection of previous Gold and Platinum Partner Award winners” from previous generations
The Grand Award is awarded to the top 3 Japanese games in worldwide sales, and Rebirth won against stiff competition like Black Myth: Wukong and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdree)—which suggest it could’ve sold pretty well after all?
Namely, Kitase took home the awards for FFVII (PS1 division) and Final Fantasy X (PS2 division)
In unpredictable news, Creative Studio 3 is cooperating with Yellow Brick Games () to feature free post-launch content, after it releases on January 28, 2025
Elsewhere at Square Enix, they’ve announced that Dragon Quest III HD-2D has already surpassed two million copies sold (digital + physical, worldwide)
Review: Fantasian Neo Dimension
Hironobu Sakaguchi’s studio Mistwalker has joined forces at last with Square Enix to bring Fantasian Neo Dimension to consoles, effectively ending his 20-23 years of exile from the company he built. Since the godfather of Final Fantasy has brought his (possible) crowning achievement back to Square Enix, let’s take a quick look at what Fantasian is, and if it’s worth it for FF fans to check it out.
What is it:
Fantasian Neo Dimension is an upgraded version of Mistwalker’s Fantasian for consoles, which debuted in two parts on Apple Arcade back in 2021
Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu both treated this classic-style RPG as the last full game they’d work on (and that has held true for Uematsu-san)
Each environment in the game was created first as a diorama in the real-world, using real materials, then scanned into the game
The story revolves around Leo, a young amnesiac, as he tries to regain his memories and gets embroiled in the age-old conflict between Chaos and Order, soon meeting up with young mage Kina and princess Cheryl as they try to make sense of the “mechteria” infesting the land
Combat is turn-based, and employs some interesting curveballs like curving magic and the “Dimengeon” system
What we thought:
The dioramas look really good on the big screen (no longer locked to iOS devices); the unique textures give several environments a signature appearance, and the level design is all the more interesting for it
Though a little basic and clearly originating from mobile, combat in Fantasian can have a bit of a puzzle feel to it, especially when you need to target enemies with Kina and Cheryl’s AoE attacks (and the diorama aspect only heightens this feeling)
The Dimengeon system, where you can essentially save up the monsters from random battles and fight them all together later, takes out a lot of the repetition in exploring—you fight a battle when encountering a brand new foe, then on subsequent instances the monsters are auto-caught
Neo Dimension changes the difficulty level, adding a “normal” level that attempts to split the difference between “easy” and the original (which haunted some players on iOS), and also adds voice acting
The score doesn’t quite live up to big FF soundtracks, but it’s still a Uematsu score and therefore a cut above a lot of other games
Though not connected to any Final Fantasy properties, there are some moments (themes, names, etc) that seem too obvious to be anything other than direct homage to the series he pioneered
Should you play it? If you like old-school RPGs, or games with a very strong aesthetic, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this one too. While it’s not quite as grand as most Final Fantasy games, Sakaguchi’s team has created a masterclass in RPG fundamentals, and a love letter to a genre he helped pioneer.
What’s next? Check out my full review at CGMagazine for more info, or head over to the newest issue of our Kupo Chronicle as we do a deep dive into Sakaguchi’s departure in the first place, how he’s spent the last 20+ years, and what this team-up between Mistwalker and Square Enix might lead to.
Kupo Chronicle #22 - The Creator's Exile
Welcome to the Kupo Chronicle, the premium edition of the Wark Digest newsletter, where we explore the Final Fantasy universe in long-form and drill down into unique moments of the series’ history. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and this week, as the godfather of Final Fantasy’s latest magnum opus arrives on consoles with Square Enix’s help, we’re taking a look back at his schism from the company he helped build, where he’s been since, and what this might mean for the future.
Around the Union
This week’s video is our “BIG Naoki Hamaguchi Interview: Leadership, FFVII Narrative Changes, and the Future of Final Fantasy!” Be sure to check out the full answers from the man himself (via Square Enix interpreter Gavin)!
Last week we asked, which iconic mage class would you like to have in real life? And it seems a lot of people want to call down some divine retribution:
31% - Summoner
28% - Red Mage
19% - White Mage
12% - Black Mage
11% - Blue Mage
I appreciate how close all of these answers were, with my own personal choice (Red Mage) coming in a close second—lots of people also want a repertoire of different tools at their disposal. But its’s Summoners who called down the victory on this one.
In lieu of another poll this week, we’re looking for a different form of input!
It's almost the end of the year, which means it's time for us to turn the reins for the Wark Digest's final issue of 2024 over to you! In keeping with tradition, the final issue (or rather, with the way the calendar falls, the first of 2025) will feature your answers to a personal prompt.
In 2022, we asked what Final Fantasy means to you, and in 2023, your favourite FF character. This year we want to know, which Final Fantasy is your all-time favourite, and why? Anything from across the series—from main series or spin-offs (or even spiritual successors like Bravely Default, from popular to black sheep—is fair game, and repeat answers are fine, so don't sweat it if someone "takes" your answer.
What is it about the game that drew you in and and held your attention? What do you like about it, compared to other FF games? Is there a special, personal resonance for you, or did you just like the challenge? Would you like to see this game become the inspiration for a future FF? Let us know in the comments here (or better yet, in the dedicated thread on our Final Fantasy Union Discord server!)
The January 3, 2025 issue (#188) will be all about your stories - our annual "cozy" issue of anecdotes from your fellow FF fans to close out the year with some warm and fuzzies.
(Responses may be trimmed and lightly formatted to fit the newsletter, without altering their intent.)
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Until next time, kupo!
My favourite game in the series is FFVIII. I've lost count of the number of times I've played it and I've watched a fair few LPs, too, but it can still surprise me. It helped me through a really hard time - slicing up big ugly monsters with a huge sword is a great stress-reliever! I enjoy its constant twists and turns, its symmetries, and its secrets. The drawing and junctioning system was really interesting to me when set against the materia system from FFVII (the only other FF I'd played at the time). And I even enjoy the plot holes you could ride a chocobo through, because they really inspired me as a fanficcer! The OST is so beautiful and I still listen to it a lot (it's great 'white noise' when I'm writing minutes - I write a LOT of minutes). I found Squall rather annoying at first but now I can see how he grows and develops. I would love to see a remake - not a 'fix' of the OG but the game the devs wanted to make, with the larger role for Laguna and any of the other ideas that ended up on the cutting-room floor.
My favorite game in the series is Final Fantasy X. I think it had some of the best music in the series which sends chills down my spine even today. The Sphere Grid as a leveling system was unique and terrifically fun to navigate and build upon. While I love so many characters throughout the series, I feel that FFX in particular had a standout ensemble of party members who went together very well. Sin is unlike any other boss we have seen elsewhere in the series and felt monolithic, like an unbeatable foe and imposing force of nature. Blitzball was a fun ongoing side-game and at the same time symbolic of how the people of this world were trying to find temporary light and joy in otherwise dark times. Finally, I don't recall any other game in the series having quite the variety of terrain from island beaches, the Thunder Plains, the Moon Flow, Guadosalam, Luca, Zanarkand Ruins, Macalania, and Mount Gagazet.