A "Final Fantasy disease" infected Square Enix, says Tabata
Something called the "Final Fantasy disease" has affected Square Enix and lots of fans.
A "Final Fantasy disease" infected Square Enix, says Tabata
Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata opened up about a few things in a new interview with Japanese website 4Gamer.
The interview was conducted by Tekken series producer Katsuhiro Harada, who proped Tabata about the game's long and troubled development cycle. Tabata said that there was a backlash when he took over in 2012.
"It wasn't only from inside the team, but outside as well," he said, as translated by Kotaku. "The reason was that if my way of doing it ended up working, there are those whose circumstances will worsen."
Tabata was reportedly laughing after saying this.
"Around that time, I realized that among fans as well, there are people who've caught Final Fantasy disease," he said about some of the negative feedback Final Fantasy 15 had received.
"It refers to people within the company who can't imagine anything other than their own view of Final Fantasy," Tabata elaborated.
"Since the root is a strong self-affirmation, one’s own view of Final Fantasy takes more priority than the team’s success. If that view of Final Fantasy isn't fulfilled, then they’re convinced that it’s bad for Final Fantasy.
"They think, ‘Since Final Fantasy is a special team, then we are also special because we are making it. When the new Final Fantasy comes out, everybody is going to be so into it.’ But that’s not the reality of the situation, is it?"
Tabata added that because of this, he had to tell the development team at one point, "We're not special. Wake up."
"I realized that when Final Fantasy XV news was made public--this wasn't only inside the company. Everyone has FF disease."
The idea, according to Tabata, is to modernise the series to save it from vanishing forever.
The interview is pretty big, and Final Fantasy fans who understand Japanese should definitely give it a read.
Final Fantasy 15 is out in September.