Wark Digest #96 - Final Fantasy Mode
Welcome back to the Wark Digest, your weekly newsletter of new developments in the Final Fantasy universe. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and this week we’re reflecting on a legendary career, witnessing a changing of the guard in a long-running game, and preparing for a truly epic quest.
This week’s newsletter is 1921 words, a 9-minute read.
FFXVI’s Epic Playtime Teased
There ain’t no getting off this train we’re on, as Barret Wallace might say, and that train is the Final Fantasy XVI pre-release media tour. An interview with director Hiroshi Takai and producer Naoki Yoshida, published in Famitsu last week (and graciously translated by Audrey), has given further insight into the game’s length and replayability.
What they’re saying:
The main quest alone, by Takai’s estimate, should take about 35 hours—and if you want to track down all of the side quests, you can double that
Yoshida: “Gamers these days are really busy with other things, so I wanted them to be able to at least aim to complete the story. I thought making the game something you can complete in about 20 hours would make sense, but more and more just got packed in. […] We want FFXVI to feel like a roller coaster experience where just when you think you can see the road ahead of you, you’re pulled into another direction.”
Combined, cutscenes will account for approximately 11 hours of that runtime, not including scenes that play out in-engine
As for the side quests, Yoshida specifically names a few activities that could help reach that 70-hour play time: mastering and leveling up all abilities, gathering all accessories, and doing all the side quests and monster hunts
Takai seems excited about the score board feature “for attack points,” which he considers a potential for “endless gameplay” as you compete against other players (including him!) to score the top spot
Clive’s adventure doesn’t necessarily end when you beat the main story, however; they’ve included “an insanely difficult New Game+ mode that allows you to carry over all your stats called the ‘Final Fantasy Mode’,” which we can safely assume would add another 20 hours minimum
What we thought:
It certainly seems like FFXVI will offer plenty of content, between that epic quest and all the diversions alone
Between this and Octopath Traveler II, which completionists are spending about 100 hours on, Square Enix is offering RPG fans a real feast this year
Vaguely, the named side quests put FFXVI on-par with other modern Final Fantasy mainline entries—monster hunting has been a hallmark since FFX or FFXII, and the thought of mastering all abilities reminds me of trying to complete FFXIII’s Crystarium
Score attacks have lost some of their luster for me, personally, since cheaters have sucked all the fun out of that particular room, but competing against friends (and other FFU community members?) could be an unexpectedly fun diversion
“Final Fantasy Mode” is a somewhat odd name for a mode focused on difficulty; it remains to be seen what makes it so difficult, and how it will accommodate the main mode’s accessibility options, but trophy hunters should be prepared to face whatever nightmares it has in store if they want that Platinum trophy
What’s next? The countdown marches on; this week, Wednesday marked the three-month mark before the game’s release. That means there’s still plenty of time to preorder your copy from your storefront of choice (and get yourself some preorder bonuses!), and that
A Changing of the Guard in Vana’Diel
Who could have imagined that Final Fantasy XI would still be making headlines 21 years after its launch, even as its successor overshadows it? Yet that’s exactly what happened this week, as Square Enix announced that producer Akihiko Matsui is resigning from his post, with his protege Yoji Fujito taking his place.
What’s going on?
Matsui has served as producer on FFXI since August 2012, replacing Hiromichi Tanaka (an OG Square legend since The Death Trap) as he left the company
Matsui’s first work was as debugger on FFIII, before jumping to the battle department on FFIV and FFV
You may also know Matsui as one of Chrono Trigger’s directors
Most of Matsui’s career has been focused on FFXI, coming aboard again as a battle designer and briefly serving as its director, before inheriting Tanaka’s producer position in the leadup to Seekers of Aldouin, the last “real” expansion
However, he also briefly jumped over to FFXIV as lead combat system designer for A Realm Reborn
Fujito’s resume is a little less diverse, though he’s also been with Square Enix for decades—first credited on Einhänder (a tragically overlooked Square gem) and Parasite Eve II before joining the FFXI team in a technical role
Speaking on his time as producer, Matsui said: “I feel I was rather conservative and placed too much emphasis on ensuring that FFXI continues on. The person who proposed making improvements such as revamping the installer and adding the term filter was, in fact, Mr. Fujito. Based on those moments, especially his display of initiative to carry on in my stead, I am confident that no one is more suitable than Mr. Fujito to carry on Vana'diel's legacy as producer.”
Fujito has relatively ambitious plans, while being realistic about the practicality of keeping staff working full-time on a 21-year old MMORPG:
“For developers, working with new technologies and seeing the fruits of their labor take form in new products can be a huge source of motivation and an opportunity to grow. So rather than limit our developers to working exclusively with FFXI and its decades-old technology, I believe it would be better to allow them to gain experience in other development environments and bring back their learnings to FFXI.”
“As such, I have elected to further downscale the scope of our Development team to provide more leeway for our operations to continue. The scope of our version updates will become quite compact as a result, but in exchange, we will focus on stabilizing our operations environment for the medium and long term.”
Despite downscaling, Fujito also announced updates to the backend hardware supporting the game, new merchandise, and the possibility of real world events, which have been impractical since the game’s pandemic resurgence
What we thought:
We may say this whenever the game bubbles up to the surface, but it’s still truly amazing that FFXI keeps chugging along, still charging the same subscription fees
That Fujito is replacing Matsui speaks for the scale of FFXI’s remaining lifespan—if the company intended to wind it down now that the 20th anniversary is over, Matsui’s departure probably would have been a quiet and unceremonious affair
The prospect of its developers bringing more modern insights back to FFXI is another positive sign, and if executed well, it could breathe some truly fresh air into the aging game
Investing in the infrastructure while downscaling and planning “compact” version updates suggests that FFXI will be around for a considerable time to come, maintaining its current glacial pace but for longer than most would have expected
They’re simultaneously investing in it while trimming its manpower, keeping it lean so it can coast even longer—and with no alternative way to experience this mainline game’s story, that’s at least a win for game preservation and its devoted community
What’s next? It’s currently unclear where Matsui is going from here, whether he’s moving to a new project or retiring. However, you can actually fight him if you wish, in a way—he appears as a humourous combat encounter in Final Fantasy IV’s Developer Room, in the versions that include this easter egg.
Nobuo Uematsu at 64
Few names are more synonymous with Final Fantasy than Nobuo Uematsu. Though he left Square Enix almost twenty years ago, his reputation as the series’ composer has not diminished whatsoever. To celebrate his 64th birthday this week, let’s take a look back at his storied career and untouchable legacy:
His career:
Born in Kōchi, a prefectural capital, he never had formal music training in his youth, learning by watching his older sister play
Early on, he was inspired by Tchaikovsky, British prog rock, Elton John, and film soundtracks, while playing small gigs in various amateur bands and working at a music rental store—and earning his first composition credit on an adult movie
He was connected with Hironobu Sakaguchi and started working for Square with Cruise Chaser Blassty, King’s Knight, Rad Racer, and, of course, Final Fantasy
In the 90s he touched most of Square’s other big franchises: Front Mission, SaGa (Final Fantasy Legend in NA), Mana (Final Fantasy Adventure), and Chrono Trigger
Uematsu was the composer for FFI-X and has contributed to several main series games since
In 2004 he formally left Square Enix—dissatisfied with the new corporate HQ location in Shinjuku, and wanting more control—and became a freelancer under his production company, Smile Please, and record label, Dog Ear Records
Despite distancing himself from SE, he remains connected to ongoing Final Fantasy concerts and projects:
Composed for Advent Children and FFXIV 1.0, as well as FFVII Remake’s main theme, “Hollow”
Collaborated with Hironobu Sakaguchi on his major projects at Mistwalker (Lost Odyssey, The Last Story, Fantasian)
Also formed the a FF cover band, The Black Mages, with other Square employees—producing three full albums between 2003-2008
Widely considered one of the greatest video game composers (if not the greatest) of all time, and has been recognized multiple times on the Classic FM Hall of Fame, a rare honour for game music
Most recently, Uematsu released Modulation, a new arrangement album
What we thought:
Uematsu’s achievements are astounding; you’d be hard-pressed to name a FF developer, or video game composer, with a stronger track record
Koji Kondo (of Mario and Zelda fame) is probably his strongest competition
He’s a master of theme and variation, producing music that is incredibly listenable outside of its intended context—a subtle quality that his successors sometimes struggle to attain
His work has the recognizability of Kondo’s themes but with an elevated complexity and musicality, truly bridging the gap between game and classical music (and probably owing to his love of Tchaikovsky)
Think of him as the John Williams of video games
It’s impressive enough that he’s achieved so much without fundamental training, but it should also be remembered that he came into the industry at a time when most games’ soundtracks were little more than beeps, boops, and public domain jingles rendered by programmers with little to no ear for music
He’s not only an exemplary game composer—he’s a trailblazer for the medium
One could argue he’s one of the main reasons why game music has become so popular in its own right, a pathfinder for the medium
What do you think? Sound off in the comments - what’s your favourite score or song composed or arranged by Uematsu? (I’ll go first: the Black Mages’ “Maybe I’m A Lion”—you can watch him shred the synthesizer in this live recording.)
Around the Union
In book news, we’re pleased to announce that shipping from the Kickstarter completed this month! There are still some copies of "The Legacy of the Crystal: An Unofficial Guide to Final Fantasy” available—so if you’re interested in picking one up, know someone who missed out on the original campaign, or want to grab another copy as a birthday/holiday present, you can order one here.
Now you’re up to speed! From the whole team at Final Fantasy Union, thank you for subscribing. Please let us know what you think of our coverage, and what you’d like to see covered in our weekly installments. As ever, if you’ve enjoyed our work, please share it with your friends!
Find us on social media: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Discord
Until next time, kupo!