TVG sits down with the man behind Final Fantasy and the top Xbox 360 title in Japan, Blue Dragon...

Make a shortlist of the most influential videogame producers, and Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi will certainly be up there, probably surrounded on either side by Shigeru Miyamoto and Hideo Kojima. Revered as the man behind Square-Enix's Final Fantasy franchise, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, he left the familiar surrounding of the then SquareSoft in 2001 to found conceptual studio Mistwalker. Sakaguchi -san has already spearheaded the release of his latest 'child', Xbox 360's Blue Dragon, across Japan in late 2006, which has gone to become the most successful title for the platform in the territory.

Fronting a 'Holy Trinity' of near-deities in the RPG genre, which includes artist Akira Toriyama (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Dragon Ball) and acclaimed composer Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy, Lost Odyssey, Chrono Trigger), Sakaguchi is now putting the final touches to both the European and North American versions of Blue Dragon - coming August 24th and August 28th respectively.

Surrounded by Cosplay, Manga, and Go! Championships at Paris' Japan Expo, TVG recently sat down with Sakaguchi-san to discuss his latest creation, his next title (Lost Odyssey), and beyond...

TVG: Can I start off by asking that as it's the twentieth anniversary since the release of Final Fantasy, along with the impending release of Blue Dragon in the West, what keeps you motivated after two decades?

I think that with my style of RPG and the addition of MMOs that this will be a new movement for my games. I think that people think of MMOs in very separate ways [compared to] my RPGs like Final Fantasy and Blue Dragon - I'd like to bring them together.

TVG: You mentioned your upcoming project brings together RPG and MMO gameplay...

Yes, I would like to try that.

TVG: ...Will that be 'Cry On' or a brand new game?

It will be a different game.

TVG: Going back to Blue Dragon; what were your initial inspirations for the game, and how were they moulded further when Toriyama-san and Uematsu-san came on board?

Actually the inspiration came to me when I saw some of Toriyama-san's drawings. I saw one of the drawings that he'd done for Dragon Ball, which I took into PhotoShop and touched it around; from there, the idea for Blue Dragon came.

TVG: Blue Dragon has already become the best-selling Xbox 360 title in Japan; how important was it for the game to be success there, especially as the console hasn't performed as well as perhaps Microsoft would have hoped?

Well a console is nothing without a game inside; it's just an empty box. When you look at past consoles like Nintendo and Mario, PlayStation and Final Fantasy VII, it's the combination between having strong software, otherwise a game console cannot [be successful].

TVG: You mentioned the links between Nintendo and Mario, PlayStation and Final Fantasy VII, in the success of the consoles; do you mean that Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey could be the games to help Xbox 360 achieve that level?

I expect that at this point [in the west], it's more down to Halo and Gears of War. I don't focus that much on the big hits. I focus more on the creation of the game; if they [gamers] like it, then it will be a hit.

TVG: In an interview several months ago, you mentioned that Mistwalker was in the planning stages of Blue Dragon 2. Will it be a standalone storyline like the Final Fantasy series, or will it be part of a larger story arc?

At this time, I cannot really say but this October perhaps I will be able to tell you. I'm thinking of Blue Dragon 2 in a different way than before - so maybe you will be getting some news that perhaps you won't be expecting.

TVG: And are you still confident that Blue Dragon 2 will be released on Xbox 360 and not the next Microsoft console?

I don't know (laughs).

TVG: How important is the ability to release additional content over Xbox Live Marketplace, and what plans do you have for Blue Dragon?

We've already done it in Japan, but we're looking to do it internationally. There'll be new dungeons and higher levels, enabling players to build their characters in a different way.

TVG: You've worked with Uematsu-san for a number of years now, including Final Fantasy, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and Cry On; how important is his music when it comes to realising your vision for a game?

It's very important for me. The game is created along with the music right at the beginning of the [development] process. As soon as I put the music of Uematsu-san into a game, then it lifts the quality of the game. It really adds to the creation of emotion in a scene.

TVG: I think that's something everybody would agree with; Uematsu-san's piano theme at the beginning of Blue Dragon really creates a strong emotion...

Yeah, yeah, it also helped because I didn't want the Microsoft and Mistwalker logos up at the beginning of the game - it's not something that happens often in games. I just wanted it to start with the widescreen [shot], and there it is.

TVG: There's inevitably going to be the idea of a rivalry between Final Fantasy and Blue Dragon, given that Final Fantasy today is quintessentially PlayStation and Blue Dragon is quintessentially Xbox. What are your thoughts on that?

(Laughs) I was going to say something very dangerous then. I keep in contact with the company and colleagues that I used to work with; Final Fantasy is like my son. I believe that Final Fantasy has grown up to be stronger...

TVG: Very briefly onto Lost Odyssey, which follows the story of a thousand-year old man. How have you ensured that the storyline doesn't lose focus given the amount of scope that such a character provides?

You don't need to focus on the storyline; I'm trying to make a very fast, high tempo game. I just wish that you enjoy the tempo of the game rather than focus on the story when it comes out early 2008 in Europe.

TVG: Well it's a very different sort of game compared to your previous work...

Yes, it's probably about twice as fast as Blue Dragon. In fact, it's so fast that sometimes I think that it's going to break!

TVG would like to thank Hironobu Sakaguchi, as well as Kate Szlendak at Microsoft, for taking some time out to chat with us. Blue Dragon will be landing across Europe on August 24th, and North America on August 28th. As you've already heard, Lost Odyssey will be arriving here during Early 2008...