Wark Digest #219 - Tabletop Thundaga
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 a celebrated developer reflects on a formative title, the maestro digs up some lost footage, and we have a slew of updates on Final Fantasy games… for your tabletop!
This week’s newsletter is 1960 words, a 9-minute read.
Shedding New Light On A Tale of Crystals
April marked the 35th anniversary of Final Fantasy III, while this month is the 19th anniversary of the 3D remake on Nintendo DS. For the occasion, Square Enix shared some translated interviews with related staff, including Hiromichi Tanaka and Tomoya Asano.
What they’re saying:
Asano, now the namesake of Square Enix’s esteemed “Team Asano,” cites FFIII as his “introduction to gaming” and still one of his all-time favourites
“My formative experience with games was one with the job system. I think that still affects how I create games even to this day”
As the DS emerged, there was talk internally about making a Final Fantasy for the promising new console, and since the first two games had recently received ports (on Game Boy Advance), they decided to do Final Fantasy III, since it was still widely inaccessible (and unreleased, even, outside of Japan)
Tanaka was in charge of Final Fantasy XI at the time, so he was chosen to produce the game and backup a full-fledged director—while Asano jumped at the opportunity to remake a beloved classic, and earned the role over other eager young producers
Tanaka gave Asano a 10-point list of things to include/focus on, and the first on the list was giving the characters actual names
Since the Famicom release, having a defined party of characters had become a staple, so he thought the remake should include this now-core aspect
Tanaka wanted very unique names, the kind that get very few search results
Though the remake gives them new characterization, changing them too much would’ve changed the entire story
Tanaka: “An idea we had that we scrapped was changing conversational dialogue depending on the favorability of the protagonists. We ended up scrapping it as a mechanic, though we did feel that dialogue changes quite a bit when you take the player's feelings into account“
Other points included notes on converting the 2D original into 3D; Tanaka put Asano in touch with Ryosuke Aiba (Final Fantasy XI art director), who fleshed out backdrops and created illustrations of the characters
Asano: “It was a little difficult for me to grasp from [Aiba’s] drafts alone, but once [co-developer] Matrix Software brought them to life, I finally saw the vision and I was quite amazed. Parts of what we learned from that were used as the foundation for our later HD-2D works, as well“
Using a pixel art style “wasn’t even a thought we had”
Balancing the jobs was a key concern, and they attempted to finetune them so that each would be “equally viable up until the end”—to which Tanaka replied, “‘why not let strong jobs be strong?’”
Kazuhiko Aoki from the original FFIII team consulted on adjusting enemy strength and the calculation of damage from multiple-hit attacks (a “persistent issue since FFI,” Tanaka claimed; “in hindsight, we should’ve put more thought into the formula [in FFI]”
Asano cited this is as his first experience working closely with Square Enix’s own senior developers, and gained a lot of experience—though he added his own input as well
They debated adding a save point to the infamous Crystal Tower, but ultimately decided (at the end of development) not to include it
Asano: “In getting to work on my beloved FFIII, I learned a lot about what goes into creating games. I consider the FFIII remake a core part of my resume. After, I went on to be involved in more FF titles using the DS hardware, such as FFIV's 3D remake and The 4 Heroes of Light. All that experience culminated in the creation of Bravely Default, which I consider the pinnacle of DS gaming. I'm realizing now that I always make games with abilities and switching jobs [laughs]“
What we thought:
Though the timing of this interview may seem a little late, given the anniversary was in April, it’s actually interesting in the wake of Team Asano’s announcements during last week’s Nintendo partners stream
Knowing FFIII was Asano’s gateway to gaming, and one of his first major projects, is like a key piece to the jigsaw puzzle of his career—this game’s fingerprints are all over his acclaimed games like Bravely Default and Octopath
It’s curious, in a cosmic sense, that a sometimes-overlooked remake from the start of Square Enix’s troubled era was also the launchpad for the developer behind some of their biggest successes in the last dozen years
Though he left Square Enix officially in 2012 for health concerns, Tanaka’s impact is still seen all over the company as well, in mentoring future generations like Asano as much as his work in the early days
It’s like he stepped in to help fill this part of the void Sakaguchi left, where Kitase kept up the game development side
While the old guard surely would’ve had thoughts about adding a save point in the Crystal Tower, it would’ve been a net positive to add one in… for this version
Going without one in the Pixel Remaster feels more in-line with that project’s goals; saving in the Crystal Tower could’ve been “a 3D thing”
That long gauntlet is a defining feature of the game’s reputation (and you don’t need a save point if you trek back outside to rest and save, and head back inside at a stronger level than the last time)
Characterizing the main party was clearly a high priority, and has proven beneficial in the long run… but I still think it could’ve worked with generic heroes and a little more depth given to the actual events themselves
Especially since the characters’ “stories” are pretty limited still, once you assemble the party and leave the original area
Desch, Cid, Aria, and the other guest NPCs could’ve helped carry the plot more
At the end of the day, it’s just nice to see FFIII get a little spotlight (especially after it was royally shunned in the Magic: The Gathering—Final Fantasy crossover, once again)
What’s next? If you enjoy Team Asano’s modern games, FFIII is a worthy history lesson—the remade 3D version he worked on is still available on Steam, while the Pixel Remaster is available now on all major platforms.
A Tabletop Thundaga Round!
In a rather unusual confluence of events, there’s an entire Thundaga Round’s worth of news related just to Final Fantasy-related tabletop game news!
Square Enix has announced another moogle-based tabletop game, Chocobo’s Crystal Hunt Deluxe, combining the original game and its expansion, Chocobo’s Dungeon & Monsters, into one box set
Featuring new illustrations and additional rules, and language support for English, Japanese, French, and German
Retailing at $34.99 USD, it will be available in February 2026 through the Square Enix Store (and possibly other retailers)
Meanwhile, the board game Final Fantasy: Moogle Bounty Mayhem has been released this week, designed by Seiji Kanai (Love Letter) with illustrations by Ryoma Ito (Final Fantasy XII)
Inspired by FFXII’s Mob Hunts, players compete to fell the most monsters
In even more tabletop news, the newest set of the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game, Gunslinger in the Abyss, officially releases today
This set features the most newly illustrated cards, totaling 38—including Bartz, illustrated and signed by Toshiyuki Itahana
Later this month the 2024 World Champion Decks will be released (including two decks drawn from championship players), then two new “Starter Set” decks are on the way October 3
While we’re on the topic, Wizards of the Coast reported the MTGxFF crossover immediately became the single fastest-selling set in the game’s 30 years, earning over $200 million in just one day
And lastly, to put the “tabletop” in this segment, we haven’t forgotten about the Final Fantasy XIV Tabletop RPG—the game was present at the industry’s biggest convention, Gen Con, last weekend; the Scenario & Gamemaster Guide is now scheduled to release in January 2026
Stay tuned for our hands-on impressions of the Standard Rulebook as well…
While software releases are fewer and farther between than we may like, at least we have plenty of options for getting a Final Fantasy fix the old-fashioned way!
An Unearthed Oddity
The maestro, Nobuo Uematsu, shared an interesting video this week, one he unearthed while sorting through “some old materials.” It’s rehearsal footage of his band, the Earthbound Papas, rehearsing “The Decisive Battle” from Final Fantasy VI, recorded back in June 2014.
What’s curious or notable here, is that this is a song the band never officially covered. However his first band, The Black Mages, did on their first album, back in 2003. After that band split up, Uematsu formed the Earthbound Papas to branch out from exclusively playing Final Fantasy arrangements (and others that belonged exclusively to Square Enix). Yet as we can see here—in a rehearsal video with some pretty cool camera work—it seemed the Papas still had some Final Fantasy up their sleeves.
Who knows what other gems lay hidden in Uematsu’s mysterious archives? Time will tell, but hopefully he continues sharing interesting bits as they emerge.
(For the complete story of the Black Mages and Uematsu’s rock star experience, check out this recent issue of our premium newsletter, the Kupo Chronicle!)
Around the Union
Over on YouTube, we detailed “7 Jobs That Ended Up Being Almost Completely Useless!“ Listen, I love a good job system, but sometimes you end up with a few classes that aren’t as effective as others… and sometimes they’re outright stinkers. We explore the jobs you don’t necessarily want to encounter at your next Job Fair—but if your favourite “bad class” example isn’t on the list, let us know what it is in the comments!
Speaking of jobs, our Unabridged Timeline of Final Fantasy Tactics series continues with part 2, “The Horrors of the Fifty Years War Exposed.“ War has inexorably marked the annals of Ivalician history, and in this installment we look at one of the most notorious, the Fifty Years War.
And lastly, in this week’s installment of our premium newsletter, we drill into the mighty Flaming Amarant, the odd man out in Final Fantasy IX’s otherwise nigh-universally beloved cast of characters. What makes him tick? Why do so few people like him? And what is the true benefit he’s bringing to the table? Find out in the latest Kupo Chronicle, available to our paid subscribers:
Kupo Chronicle #39 - Flaming Foil
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 in this installment we re-examine the contribution of another misunderstood and underutilized party member, the Flaming
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