FF30th Anniversary Creator Comments
Hello! I'm Ichiro Hazama, the game's producer!
I’m not sure I’m up to the task of commemorating thirty years of FINAL FANTASY...having joined the company in 1998, at a time when more than half of the current numbered series had already been released.
But since it IS the 30th anniversary, we’re going to be getting comments from the true legends, and if my grand greeting pales a little in comparison, well, that’s just too bad.
Speaking of which, I nearly forgot something really important: asking the legends for their comments! And all I can offer in return is my thanks.
I am truly, truly grateful to have been in your company for so long!
I’m sure I’ll say this next year, and the year after that, but I really can’t express how grateful I am. You have my sincerest gratitude.
Having been able to meet all of you through this game has been a true joy.
May it last for many years to come!
I’m not sure I’m up to the task of commemorating thirty years of FINAL FANTASY...having joined the company in 1998, at a time when more than half of the current numbered series had already been released.
But since it IS the 30th anniversary, we’re going to be getting comments from the true legends, and if my grand greeting pales a little in comparison, well, that’s just too bad.
Speaking of which, I nearly forgot something really important: asking the legends for their comments! And all I can offer in return is my thanks.
I am truly, truly grateful to have been in your company for so long!
I’m sure I’ll say this next year, and the year after that, but I really can’t express how grateful I am. You have my sincerest gratitude.
Having been able to meet all of you through this game has been a true joy.
May it last for many years to come!
—Ichiro Hazama, Final Fantasy Record Keeper Producer
I’ll start by saying how happy I am to be involved with FINAL FANTASY’s 30th anniversary!
My involvement with FINAL FANTASY began with the publicity for FF VII, and has continued through FF XV.
Now more than ever it’s become a global game, but the effort put into creating and selling the first game defies imagination.
When I started working on FF, the game wasn’t as widely known overseas as it is now, and we had our hands full just letting people overseas know there was this great thing called FINAL FANTASY.
But as the days and months rolled by, and the number in the series kept growing, more and more people around the world learned what the game is.
These days, even if I’m not at a particular gaming or FF event, people ask to shake my hand as soon as I mention the game, that’s how well known it’s become.
There’ve been a lot of memories so far, and I look forward to experiencing all of the new things still to come alongside each of you.
It made me feel just a little important, and that’s still a fond memory.
My involvement with FINAL FANTASY began with the publicity for FF VII, and has continued through FF XV.
Now more than ever it’s become a global game, but the effort put into creating and selling the first game defies imagination.
When I started working on FF, the game wasn’t as widely known overseas as it is now, and we had our hands full just letting people overseas know there was this great thing called FINAL FANTASY.
But as the days and months rolled by, and the number in the series kept growing, more and more people around the world learned what the game is.
These days, even if I’m not at a particular gaming or FF event, people ask to shake my hand as soon as I mention the game, that’s how well known it’s become.
There’ve been a lot of memories so far, and I look forward to experiencing all of the new things still to come alongside each of you.
It made me feel just a little important, and that’s still a fond memory.
—Shinji Hashimoto, FF 30th Anniversary Producernote
The first FINAL FANTASY I worked on was FF V.
At the time, the first task when production began was to design the world map.
Nowadays a specialist designer would draw some really cool map, but then it was customary for the most senior person on the project to do it. It was an unspoken rule.
So for FF V and FF VI, Sakaguchi-san drew the maps, then on FF VII I finally got to draw it myself.
It made me feel just a little important, and that’s still a fond memory.
At the time, the first task when production began was to design the world map.
Nowadays a specialist designer would draw some really cool map, but then it was customary for the most senior person on the project to do it. It was an unspoken rule.
So for FF V and FF VI, Sakaguchi-san drew the maps, then on FF VII I finally got to draw it myself.
It made me feel just a little important, and that’s still a fond memory.
—Yoshinori Kitase, Square Enix Business Division 1 Executive
Congratulations on 30 years of FINAL FANTASY!
I’ve made a number of titles, and now that I stop to think about it, I’ve spent more than half of my life involved with FINAL FANTASY.
For my first Final Fantasy, I worked on monsters and minimap crests as a pixel artist.
On FFIII I made the sound effects.
Then on FFIV I worked on events and the story as a main game designer, and I was in charge of NPC placement.
Looking back, I’m reminded that Final Fantasy is what brought me up as a game creator.
If it weren’t for Final Fantasy, games like SaGa, Secret of Mana, and Hanjuku Hero would never have existed.
Right now people all over the world are playing FF on everything from PS4 to smart phones, and this fall they’ll have a new game to play, Final Fantasy Dimensions II.
It’s a game with my own brand of FF in it, and nothing would make me happier than if you gave it a try.
I’ve made a number of titles, and now that I stop to think about it, I’ve spent more than half of my life involved with FINAL FANTASY.
For my first Final Fantasy, I worked on monsters and minimap crests as a pixel artist.
On FFIII I made the sound effects.
Then on FFIV I worked on events and the story as a main game designer, and I was in charge of NPC placement.
Looking back, I’m reminded that Final Fantasy is what brought me up as a game creator.
If it weren’t for Final Fantasy, games like SaGa, Secret of Mana, and Hanjuku Hero would never have existed.
Right now people all over the world are playing FF on everything from PS4 to smart phones, and this fall they’ll have a new game to play, Final Fantasy Dimensions II.
It’s a game with my own brand of FF in it, and nothing would make me happier than if you gave it a try.
—Takashi Tokita, Square Enix Business Division 8 Senior Manager/Producer
If I write something self-congratulatory that won’t be very interesting, so instead I’ll write something about my memories from back in the day.
When we started working on Final Fantasy, everyone was saying it would be part of a trilogy, even Sakaguchi-san.
Thanks to the influence of a certain science fiction movie, we even considered calling it something like “Episode ?” right from the beginning.
So when we were finished with Final Fantasy I and said, “Okay, now what do we do for Final Fantasy II?”, we abandoned that trilogy idea that had been in our heads, and landed on a new topic, which was “How do we make something different from FFI?”.
Sakaguchi-san had been saying, “What about an urban adventure?” (This would later be realized in FFVII’s Midgar.)
So this is when the FF practice of starting fresh with every game was born.
It’s too late to change anything, but now I think about how much needless suffering we put the people who made the later games through.
I’m sure there are many more FF games to come, and I hope the developers continue to suffer as they make them.
I mean that in the best possible way!
When we started working on Final Fantasy, everyone was saying it would be part of a trilogy, even Sakaguchi-san.
Thanks to the influence of a certain science fiction movie, we even considered calling it something like “Episode ?” right from the beginning.
So when we were finished with Final Fantasy I and said, “Okay, now what do we do for Final Fantasy II?”, we abandoned that trilogy idea that had been in our heads, and landed on a new topic, which was “How do we make something different from FFI?”.
Sakaguchi-san had been saying, “What about an urban adventure?” (This would later be realized in FFVII’s Midgar.)
So this is when the FF practice of starting fresh with every game was born.
It’s too late to change anything, but now I think about how much needless suffering we put the people who made the later games through.
I’m sure there are many more FF games to come, and I hope the developers continue to suffer as they make them.
I mean that in the best possible way!
—Akitoshi Kawazu, Square Enix Business Division 3 Producer
Congratulations on 30 years of FINAL FANTASY and 3 years of FFRK in Japan!
I've been involved in the development of FF for 26 of those years.
Now 26 out of 30 may sound like a lot, but sometimes people still talk to me like I'm the new guy.
Guess I'll have to try harder.
I've been involved in the development of FF for 26 of those years.
Now 26 out of 30 may sound like a lot, but sometimes people still talk to me like I'm the new guy.
Guess I'll have to try harder.
—Tetsuya Nomura, Final Fantasy Record Keeper Creative Director
FINAL FANTASY is something we all made together.
There were arguments, differences in the direction we thought it should go, stress, laziness, stubbornness, and many other factors we dealt with on the development team.
But I think that’s only because we took what we were doing so seriously.
As for the result... take a look at the pictures.
◊
To be connected with this thing called FINAL FANTASY, for those of us who had the pleasure of pouring our souls into its creation, it really is a true pleasure.
And now our baby is 30 years old.
From the bottom of my heart, I wish it a very Happy Birthday!
There were arguments, differences in the direction we thought it should go, stress, laziness, stubbornness, and many other factors we dealt with on the development team.
But I think that’s only because we took what we were doing so seriously.
As for the result... take a look at the pictures.
◊ To be connected with this thing called FINAL FANTASY, for those of us who had the pleasure of pouring our souls into its creation, it really is a true pleasure.
And now our baby is 30 years old.
From the bottom of my heart, I wish it a very Happy Birthday!
—Hironobu Sakaguchi, Father of the Final Fantasy Series
