Q& A
HAJIME TABATA
Final Fantasy XV, perhaps more than any other game in the series, is a departure from the format laid down by the early games. How did you decide what of the series’ tradition could be thrown out, while maintaining some essential feel of Final Fantasy- ness? It’s not easy to put into words. We certainly didn’t try to create a title that just focused on revisiting memories we have from past Final
Fantasy titles. Rather, we wanted to create the best RPG we could for this time, with the time we were given. The question of how we could retain that essence of Final Fantasy within the new formula we came up with came later. Essentially, we wanted to have the base game in place and working, before adding the Final Fantasy adornments. That process started with creating the story, then figuring out the best mechanics to serve that story, then finally building out into the universe from there. The core squad is comprised of four men – something that’s never happened in the series before, which has always had a diverse playable cast to appeal to a broad audience. Why only male characters this time? Firstly, we bring in guest characters throughout the game. They’re not necessarily playable, but they do appear within your party at different points throughout the story. In terms of balance, we didn’t factor in too much of the traditional Final Fantasy balance, because we were focusing on the theme of experiencing the journey, and different events that might happen on a road trip. That kind of roadmovie structure works well in terms of bringing in guest characters. When you took over directorship of the game, you made a lot of changes to the team, promoting some junior staff and demoting certain others from senior positions. What are you looking for in an ideal staff member? Someone who can find their own goals or objectives when nothing has been set for them or confirmed. It’s a challenging game to work on so I was looking for self-starters. People who are competitive work well too. You need people who hate losing, in a way. Do you still think this reorganisation was the right way to do things? For sure, it was the right way to move the project forward. We were able to improve upon the overall team’s performance, which directly correlates to where we are with the game at this precise moment. You’ve talked in the past about ‘ Final Fantasy disease’, referring to complacency with people in the company, combined with an unwillingness to be daring and to take creative risks. Has that attitude, which you saw as poisonous, changed now? There’s been a major shift in everyone’s mentality. Especially in terms of what we think are given in terms of what a Final Fantasy is supposed to be. We’ve been able to examine the various elements and critique them, looking at them objectively. You can only do that when you let go of complacency. Earlier this year I heard Eiji Aonuma talking about Zelda. He said that, with the new game, they want to revisit and redefine what everyone believes to be standard for the series. That attitude reflects my posture towards Final Fantasy XV. We’re not basing the development on what traditionally has to be in there, but rather what is best for the player in any particular situation within the game. Prior to this major project, you worked with more modest-sized teams, budgets and responsibilities. How have you coped with the shift to blockbuster development, and particularly the pressure of finishing such an expensive and long-running project? Prior to Final Fantasy XV my projects were indeed all significantly smaller, not only in terms of the size of the teams involved, but also in terms of the potential impact that the game’s success or failure could have on the company. For one thing, not just the past year, but ever since I started working on this game, I started to realise that it’s not just one title that we’re creating here. A numbered Final Fantasy title involves a huge number of departments who pull together to make it a success. That increases the pressure exponentially. When I asked if we could delay the launch of the game, I had a fresh realisation: this kind of decision doesn’t just impact our company. There are also the platform owners, the retailers and all of these other groups and organisations. Even competitors who are figuring out when best to schedule their activities are impacted. You’ve worked on games of all sizes over the course of your career. Do you want to work on a smaller game next, or have you got a real taste for blockbusters now? Blockbusters are really hard. I do have a desire to create something of a small scale, but I guess I’m starting to feel that may not be feasible, or allowed. I feel jealousy when I see smaller, independent games. What have you learned through this process? I learned a lot about how to develop and market a blockbuster. In the end, all of that experience means that I’m probably going to work on a similar game next, to be honest. This time around the main focus was to create a Final Fantasy that could draw in new fans. To ensure that we can keep making these games, we need to be interesting newcomers. That was a focus for this round. But moving forward I want to look into new IPs and perhaps establish one. Whose opinion of Final Fantasy XV are you most anticipating hearing? The players’, of course. Their opinions have to come first. I’m aware that some of those opinions won’t be favourable. But if people form those opinions earnestly from having played the game, then I certainly want to consider those points of view, one by one. Of course, I also want to hear what Hironobu Sakaguchi has to say. It’s always interesting to hear feedback from the people who worked on the very first Final
Fantasy titles. I always ask for their opinions and listen to what they have to say.
After last year’s Tokyo Game Show the opportunity arose for me to meet Sakaguchi-san. We spoke at length and he had some critical points to bring up, which he shared. He always has a lot more to say when he’s drunk. I have to take him out properly if I really want to get some information out of him.