Final Fantasy VI – 1994 Developer Roundtable

Hironobu Sakaguchi - Producer
Nobuo Uematsu - Composer
Yoshinori Kitase - Scenario/Events
Tetsuya Nomura - Monster Graphics
Tetsuya Takahashi - Field/Battle/BG Graphics
Hideo Minaba - Field/Battle/BG Graphics
Satoshi Ogata - Programmer

—Final Fantasy VI feels like it has a somewhat different atmosphere compared to previous titles in the series. The title screen in particular feels dark and foreboding, doesn't it?

Uematsu: Ah, that. The title section starts off with the sound of a pipe organ. But actually, that pipe organ part didn't exist at first. In the original scenario outline, there was piano music playing over a scene with fluttering snow, and it didn't feel ominous at all. When I saw the finished scene, the atmosphere had completely changed, so I thought, "We've got to add something here," and I added that pipe organ.

—So the title sequence was completely different?

Takahashi: I wanted to draw clouds. (laughs) At first, I had this image of fire, steam, and smoke for the title, and most of all I wanted to show flames. But that felt a bit empty, so I thought some extra decorative elements would look nice. To connect it to the opening scene where the Magitek Armor walks through the snow, I created the Narshe coal mine underneath. Since the sky above looked plain, I decided, "Alright, let's make the screen descend slowly from the clouds." I just went ahead and did all that stuff on my own, so it was a bit of a "Sorry, Uematsu-san!" situation when I handed him the changed version.

Uematsu: But in the end, it turned out really well. At first, Sakaguchi hated that pipe organ part too. He said it was creepy. (laughs)

Sakaguchi: Well, after looking at it day after day, I reached a point where I couldn't imagine it any other way. It really grows on you.

—Judging by the title screen alone, the story seems like it turned out quite heavy, but we've also heard there's a lot of comical and goofy elements as well...?

Sakaguchi: The underlying story is heavy, but I can't say the same for the silly guys handling the presentation. (laughs)

Kitase: Well, precisely because it's heavy, you have to balance it out with those lighter moments. But it's true... the impressions we heard from people who played past the mid-game, they say it's heavier than anything we've ever done before.

Sakaguchi: The heavy story allows those humorous moments to really shine, though.

—Speaking of the story, the world of FF6 itself is a massive departure from previous entries in the series.

Sakaguchi: From the very start, we decided we weren't going to feature Crystals anymore and that we'd change the nature of the world. The whole team brainstormed ideas together. It was a lot of trial and error.

Minaba: We wanted to feature weird machinery, so we thought about what kind of setting would feel like a natural fit. That's pretty much how we landed on this world.

—With a world like this, did you ever worry it might become a completely different game from past Final Fantasy titles?

Sakaguchi: If a game with a completely different vibe like this can still be recognized as Final Fantasy, it means no matter where we take the series next, it's going to work.

—So FFVI is a stepping stone toward a "new" Final Fantasy?

Sakaguchi: That's right. The development began with the idea of breaking down what we had inherited up until now and starting fresh once more.

Uematsu: Ultimately, even if things like the Crystals don't show up, I don't think the core message Sakaguchi wants to convey in his scenarios, or through my music, or with the airships, has changed from Final Fantasy I through VI. It's just taken a different form. Even playing this entry, I could feel that same familiar wavelength and gentleness.

Sakaguchi: We received a lot of feedback from child playtesters, and many said they felt relieved because, just as Uematsu said, it still felt like Final Fantasy. I'm not entirely sure why they felt it was Final Fantasy, but that was a very common reaction.

—Hearing all this makes me even more excited! Next, I'd like to ask about the graphics. Compared to the previous game, the backgrounds have received a massive power-up.

Takahashi: The graphics team didn't change much from FFV, but we incorporated several techniques we'd never used before. Even so, the portions drawn using those new techniques only account for about 5% of the total game.

—I hear you, but the improved quality really is astonishing. Is there some kind of secret behind it?

Sakaguchi: Uh, is there a secret...?

Takahashi: A secret? Well, during FFV, memory capacity was so tight that we had to give up on a lot of things we'd wanted to do. I suppose this was the backlash from that... (laughs)

—Speaking of impressive graphics, the airship has changed dramatically. I imagine that was a struggle to create?

Ogata: It was definitely tough. I had to playtest it myself and find the right speed that felt good, which took some doing.

Takahashi: Also, the fact that we didn't use any special co-processor chips is another notable point.

—Another question regarding transport: will there be any vehicles besides airships and Chocobos?

Takahashi: Nope. Well, if you count vehicles, there is one thing you ride...

Sakaguchi: ...the minecart.

Everyone: Ahhh... (everyone nods in agreement)

—Moving right along with more vehicle questions! What about the Magitek Armor that serves as a key plot point...?

Sakaguchi: Ah, the Magitek Armor doesn't play much of a role as a vehicle. It relates to the world we discussed earlier... as a symbol representing the world itself. It's even in the logo, after all. (laughs)

—How many variations of Magitek Armor are there?

Sakaguchi: There are quite a lot on the enemy side. How many types were there again?

Takahashi: I think there are about 10 types that appear as enemies.

—Since the topic of enemies came up, the monster graphics have also undergone a massive change. What were some of the difficulties there?

Nomura: Oh, the final boss, definitely... (laughs) Which isn't to say the other monsters were easy. It was especially tough making sure players could tell the difference with monsters that had appeared in previous games. So I tried to draw them with a different feel as much as possible.

—The character animation patterns on the field map have increased this time, haven't they?

Kitase: There are probably more than double the patterns now. In FFV, there was a restriction where characters couldn't take the same poses in battle scenes as they did on the field map, which cut down the number of patterns significantly. In FFVI, because we use the same character sprites for both battle and field, it allows us to trigger character-related event scenes in either mode.

—Here's a question for everyone: who is your personal favorite character from the main cast?

Uematsu: I'd say Relm. She's so cute, right? If not her, then Celes. She's strong-willed, but seeing her rediscover that softer, feminine side of herself is really compelling. Tough choice.

Minaba: For me, probably Gau... bit of an oddball pick...

Sakaguchi: My absolute favorite is one of the secret characters, though I can't say the name. But thinking purely in terms of combat, Cyan is #1 for me. Age-wise, I can relate to him quite a bit... (laughs)

Takahashi: I also really like that secret character, but my next favorite would be Mog.

Nomura: I have two favorites as well: Setzer and Shadow.

Ogata: Setzer is the one for me.

Kitase: From a combat perspective, I used Sabin a lot. In terms of writing the story, though, the ones I really grew attached to were Locke and Celes.

—Nobody picked Terra!

Sakaguchi: Although Terra was designated the central protagonist from the start, we actually spent much of development trying to step her back from that role. That's probably why she didn't become a favorite. And the reason we didn't want Terra to be the main character goes back to our original concept: when kids finish playing the game, if you have 10 different kids, I wanted all 10 of them to have a different favorite character. For one kid, the hero of the story might be Shadow; for another, Setzer. I wanted everyone to walk away with a different impression. Surprisingly, the playtest feedback reflected that, and as you can see our staff itself is completely split, so I'd have to say mission accomplished.

Uematsu: When I first heard that concept, though, I thought it would be impossible.

Sakaguchi: Right. Someone always ends up standing out as the clear lead.

—That's certainly been true for previous games in the series, whether it was Bartz or Cecil...

Uematsu: When you look at it that way, I think the way we handled the main cast really paid off.

Sakaguchi: Mind you, the unpopular ones are really unpopular. Strago, for instance... I fussed over him until the absolute end, but he never caught on.

Minaba: I guess people just don't want an old man?

—For Sabin's special skill, you adopted command inputs like in fighting games. What sparked that idea?

Sakaguchi: To really make characters memorable, it's not enough for them to just sit there in the story. Players won't latch onto them. That's why we used their battle commands to help define who they are.

—Some are worried the command input timing will be too strict.

Sakaguchi: Actually, from what they've told me, entering each input slowly, even once per second, is fine. It'll still register properly. Mind you, if you input commands too slowly, the enemies may attack you in the meantime. (laughs)

—Regarding the secret characters you mentioned earlier, will they be easy to find in a normal playthrough...?

Sakaguchi: Probably not.

Kitase: We've provided proper hints, so if you use those as a reference...

Sakaguchi: Honestly, someone like Shadow might actually be harder to keep around.

—Speaking of Shadow, what about the abilities of his canine companion, Interceptor?

Nomura: He's stronger than his master. The running joke was that he's actually tougher than Shadow.

—Is he really that active in battle?

Sakaguchi: Every now and then he'll leap out with a "Woof!" and deal massive damage. It's like, "hey, if you're that strong, why don't you just fight the whole battle?" He blocks for you and repels attacks with a 'clink!' too... poor dog!

Nomura: He actually comes out holding a kunai in his mouth.

Sakaguchi: But wait, wasn't he useless against floating enemies? I heard he whiffs against flying targets. I guess Interceptor can't fly. (laughs)

—Next, I'd like to ask about the Espers, the other face of Final Fantasy. About how many Espers will appear this time?

Uematsu: How many were there? Quite a few.

Nomura: 20-something, or thereabouts.

—That's more than the previous game then. Is it difficult to track down every single Esper?

Sakaguchi: I wouldn't call it easy. Plus, this time, if you're selective, you surprisingly won't use them all that much. That was part of the original concept too. When you obtain an Esper, you equip its Magicite to learn spells, so we pushed the magic system to the forefront. You can only summon an Esper once per battle, after all. Besides, in a world where magic was once lost and is now re-entering the picture, we wanted to put a stronger spotlight on magic itself.

—How many spells can you learn from a single piece of Magicite?

Sakaguchi: Up to about six spells maximum. Beyond that, it also affects stat boosts like strength and HP.

—What about the animations for Espers and magic?

Sakaguchi: A massive amount of effort went into the animations. The combat animations were among the first things we completed, and staff and other producers gathered around saying, "Whoa, this is incredible!"

—Next, we'd like to ask: unlike IV and V, is there no alternate world in VI?

Sakaguchi: Well, as far as the world itself goes, there's just the one.

—"As far as the world goes"... meaning?

Kitase: Looking at it purely as a game, well, it might not be just one. But narratively, there's only one world. This time, the story ends with our feet grounded on the earth until the very end.

—I see. It sounds like there's a deeper meaning there. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the story unfolds!

(At this point, Uematsu left the table for work, leaving behind the comment: "It's a very fun game. The absolute best we've ever made.")

—I've also heard that swapping party members is possible this time.

Sakaguchi: Yeah. That was a huge pain in the butt to implement though.

—Because of the balancing...?

Sakaguchi: Well, the real problem is that since they can be swapped, you never know who is going to be where! 1

—It might be premature since VI isn't even out yet, but what about the production of VII...?

Sakaguchi: I'm sure we'll end up making it. In what shape or form, I don't know yet.

—Understood. We'll be looking forward to it! Now for the final question to everyone: what's the one thing in FFVI you really want players to keep an eye out for?

Kitase: I was in charge of events and direction, so I can't go into too much detail, but something happens in the story that plunges the characters into the depths of despair, an absolute nadir. I hope it really shocks people and gets them completely locked in for the rest of the game. All I can say is: brace yourselves.

Ogata: For me, it's definitely the airship. I really put my heart into it. I want players to be able to kick back and just enjoy flying around.

Nomura: For the monsters, remember that almost all of them have a weakness somewhere. Don't just give up, try out all kinds of strategies. That advice goes for mid-bosses too.

Takahashi: I didn't work on him directly, but the secret character is really cool, so definitely keep an eye on what he does.

Minaba: The world this time is quite grim. My hope is that players will spot those little glimmers of light hidden within all that darkness.

Sakaguchi: This ending delivers even greater emotion than FFV. The length is about the same, so the moment you think you've defeated the final boss, be sure to hit pause, set up your VCR, and record it for posterity. I want players to savor the whole thing. It’s absolutely worth every second, so don't give up. You can do it!

—Thank you all so much for taking time out of your busy schedules today!

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