Hamauzu and Kubu discuss FFXIII ahead of launch
Ahead of Final Fantasy XIII’s launch in just two weeks time, Square Enix have released two new posts in which both Masashi Hamauzu and Yoichi Kubo discuss their roles within the project.
Masashi Hamauzu, Composer of Final Fantasy XIII’s incredible score, discusses the honour of creating the music for a title within a franchise that he has had plenty of admiration for from a young age;
I have dreamt about producing the music for Final Fantasy since I was very young, so when I finally received the offer to do so, I was overjoyed – and more than a little daunted by the challenge of living up to the series’ lofty reputation. Thankfully, my anxiety disappeared soon after work on the project had begun. Thanks to the truly inspirational game world and the surpassing quality of the gameplay, I was able to approach the music with hunger, motivation, and just the right amount of tension right up until the very end of development.
This latest instalment of Final Fantasy offers a huge variety of musical genres and sounds, all of which are wholly in-keeping with the game’s unified visual style, and tailored to the unique emotions of each scene.
I have great confidence that you will enjoy what we have created.
Masashi Hamauzu
This is followed by a note from Yoichi Kubo, Background Graphics Director for the title. Here he discusses the implications of the game design, and more interestingly the way in which the game doesn’t rely on reading from the disc too much having loaded an area;
Welcome to the world of Final Fantasy, reborn for a new age!
Take a step within and what awaits you is a seamless, high-speed, high-tension, adrenaline-fuelled world of unprecedented experience, like a super-blockbuster action movie, smashing aside existing concepts of what an RPG is!
In order to render the backdrop to this world in real time we have constantly been carrying out cautious testing and then making bold and fearless decisions and implementations based on that.
With the overarching goal of maintaining the levels of tension throughout the game, we started with a data setup that completely removed the need for further reading from the disc after entering a location. From there we repeated and perfected an endless process of trial and error for the graphical composition and game structure using rough models, until we were almost ready to feint from exhaustion! We thoroughly bashed the data into shape until every element on screen, from the backdrop’s colour and contrast to the atmospherics exuded dynamism.
When all the masses of data; the story, battles, events and the backdrops that set the stage for the adventure were tied together and merged, it is safe to say that the finished product exceeded the expectations of us, the creators by a long way and the definitive Final Fantasy for a new generation was born.
The feeling of claustrophobia in amongst a grimy, oil caked morass of machinery, a lush green forest and the tranquility of wild flowers, the warmth of the stars spreading far and wide into the night sky, the feeling of overwhelming freedom in the soaring azure heavens and rolling earthly landscape and the majestic beauty of the setting sun as it illuminates a metropolis of the far future. The colours, atmosphere and change in all of these locations, the rolling movement of their clouds and water and the vast differences in history and culture. We hope that you can feel all these and more when stopping to take in a moment in time in a world of eternally shifting myth and fantasy.
I am overflowing with happiness from the core of my being in knowing that the day is drawing close when the entirety of our vision is delivered, a Final Fantasy world the likes of which has never been seen before!
May all of you eagerly waiting smile with joy when you get your hands on the game.
Please just hold on a little longer! (???)/
Thanking everyone from the bottom of my heart.
Yoichi Kubo
http://www.thelostgamer.com/2010/02/23/hamauzu-and-kubu-discuss-ffxiii-ahead-of-launch/
