Final Fantasy III/XI - Hiromichi Tanaka Feature

Having produced Final Fantasy XI on PC, PlayStation2, and Xbox 360 in recent years, Square-Enix's Hiromichi Tanaka has turned his attention back to a past project - Final Fantasy III. TVG recently sat down with the man behind both titles and the likes of Secret of Mana, to discuss the forthcoming remake, Square-Enix's forthcoming MMO and Xbox 360, amongst other things...

Thank-you for speaking with us today. First off, why was the decision made to remake Final Fantasy III on Nintendo DS and not PlayStation2, and why do it now?

It's been sixteen years since the original version came out, and during that time, there have been times when we thought about doing a remake of Final Fantasy III, and we did consider it on a different platform. That somehow didn't work, so this time we are going to do a remake of Final Fantasy III. At that point we were considering PlayStation2, but before we started actually developing for PS2, we had a call from Nintendo saying "We're going to make this new platform, so could you please make FF3 [Final Fantasy III] for it?", so we thought it was good timing.

One thing that we always wanted to do was bring Final Fantasy III to other countries, because it was only released in Japan. The DS is a good platform for other countries; it's easy to set up in other languages.

You were one of the original designers of Final Fantasy III back in 1990; what were some of the challenges that you and your team faced in bringing the game over to Nintendo DS?

The biggest change that we thought could be made was with the graphics, so that was a challenge for us. Because the original version was released sixteen years ago, it was in those days good quality, but if you saw it now it would look old fashioned. We wanted it to make it new for Western players who hadn't seen the original version, but we had to consider the Japanese players who had played the original version and didn't want huge changes to be made, it was difficult to get a balance.

And what do you think the biggest differences are in Final Fantasy III on Nintendo DS, aside from the graphics?

One of the big things that we decided to do in this version was to create a background for each character. In the original version, they didn't have much personality, they were very plain, but this time we wanted each of them to have their own backstory.

There's been a period of time when the relationship between Square-Enix and Nintendo hasn't been as strong as it perhaps was around the release of the original Final Fantasy III. That now seems to have changed given the decision to remake the game on Nintendo DS, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, and the announcement that Dragon Quest IX would be a DS exclusive. What do you think is the reason behind this renewed warmth between the two companies?

(Laughs) I think it's got more to do with the variety of platforms. In the old days, with all of the platforms like SEGA and Nintendo, it was difficult to create a game to suit more than one platform. So if we were going to make a new game, it was just easier to make an exclusive title for a platform. But these days, because we have things like Wii, which is quite unique, the Xbox 360, which is strong online, and the PlayStation3, which has strong graphics, we can chose which platform suits which title.

You mentioned Wii there; would you like to see the original versions of your past works like Final Fantasy I, II, and III made available on Virtual Console? Also, with the strategy of remaking them on Nintendo's handhelds , do you think that we'll see PSP remakes of the PlayStation Final Fantasy titles?

It is possible to see other Final Fantasy games on Virtual Console and PSP; yes it's something that we're considering for other platforms.

Moving onto Final Fantasy XI; how do you rate its success as a multi-platform title not only in Japan, but also in the West. Has it met your expectations?

When we came up with the concept of Final Fantasy XI being a cross-platform title, it was for people who played it constantly at home who might want to play it at work - and it would be easier for them to play it on PC there. But then it turned out that there wasn't much of an option for players to do that...

From a cross-culture point of view, because of the time difference been Japan, Europe, and North America, it doesn't matter when you log on, there's always going to be someone to play with. You're never isolated from other people. It also has the translation tools too for people to use.

Are you planning to continue to support Final Fantasy XI with more expansion packs, or are you now beginning to focus more on Square-Enix's upcoming MMO?

We are still working on Final Fantasy XI as well as the new MMO, with new updates to expand the world a bit, but we are also working on the new title too.

What were the unexpected challenges in developing Final Fantasy XI; it was the first online title for Square-Enix, and with production of a new MMO, how has solving these difficulties helped smooth the development for the new MMO?

When we started making Final Fantasy XI, we knew nothing - we started from scratch - so you could say that everything was a challenge. But also, the biggest difference between it and the standalone titles was the need to continually work every day to update it. To decide in our minds that we were going to do this, that was the biggest challenge for us. For the next MMO, we know how it goes now, so we feel a bit more confident. When we first made it [Final Fantasy XI], we weren't sure how it would end up. Of course we wanted it to succeed, but there was no guarantee - now, we feel more confident.

So when can we expect to hear more details on the new MMO?

Soon. It won't be too far away [laughs].

Capcom has had a lot of success on Xbox 360 with both Lost Planet and Dead Rising, something that they have admitted to being surprised at. Do you think that this success will prompt you to develop a standalone title for Xbox 360?

It's not only for the Xbox 360, but they [Capcom] are using the same engine for both Dead Rising and Lost Planet. Before we were using different engines for different titles, but from now on we have noticed that we should have a common one, hence last week's announcement that we've licensed the Unreal Engine 3. It's not being used in the development of Final Fantasy XIII, that's using a 'white engine'.

So there's a greater chance that a 'Final Fantasy XIV' would be cross-platform?

From a technical point of view, yes. That doesn't necessarily mean that we're going to be releasing cross-platform.

After creating standalone titles like Final Fantasy I, II, and III, you went on to develop new titles before returning to the Final Fantasy franchise with Final Fantasy XI. Do you think you'll return to making standalone Final Fantasy titles, or will you now stay in online gaming?

When I made up my mind to create Final Fantasy XI, and as I said earlier that you have to make up your mind first because you have to concentrate. However, when there was the chance to remake Final Fantasy III, we had to do it. From now on though, I'd like to stick with online gaming.

Thanks for answering our questions today, and best of luck with both Final Fantasy III and the new MMO.