W29 on 16 October 2007
Interview: Hironobu Sakaguchi
When This Legendary Developer Speaks, You Listen.
by: Clint McCreadie 16/10/2007
Sakaguchi is a household name in the videogames industry, but you wouldn’t know it to meet him. Quietly spoken, with only the barest hint of an easy-going smile playing on the side of his lips, Sakaguchi seems relatively unassuming about his place in gaming history. That certainly wasn’t the case for the thousands of attendees at this year’s Japan Expo in Paris as he took to the stage before them. The noise was deafening as his name was chanted around the auditorium, taken up by fans that have travelled the world over to see him. We see that smile widening for a fraction of a second, before his head drops with humility.
You see, Sakaguchi is the creator of the best-selling Final Fantasy series. But that’s in the past; Sakaguchi is here today to talk about his new studio, Mistwalker, and his new creations. Set up in 2001 after he stepped down as executive vice-president of Square-Enix, Mistwalker has just released its first title, Blue Dragon (reviewed here) and is currently working on RPG behemoth Lost Odyssey. Well after the chants from that presentation had made their last echo and floated away on the wind, we sat down with the man who defined the modern-day role-playing game to talk about his new creative outlet, and going up against Square-Enix’s new titles.
Gameplayer: Did the response from the audience at the Japan Expo surprise you? Sakaguchi: [chuckles] Yes, it did. I didn’t realise in Paris that there were so many gamers, so many fans. I’ve also heard that a lot of people came from all over Europe. Gameplayer: Has it pleased you getting such great feedback for both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey? Sakaguchi: Yes, for Blue Dragon I’m already 100 per cent satisfied, as we’ve finished development on it. But we’ve still some way to go with Lost Odyssey – it’s currently around 80 per cent complete. Gameplayer: Does the level of anticipation create an undue amount of pressure that Mistwalker’s RPGs have to be on a par with, if not better than, other established titles, like Final Fantasy? Sakaguchi: Well, I don’t feel any pressure by fans to perform, nothing like that. The real pressure is that which I force upon myself, to match my satisfaction in raising the game. There’s a pressure to satisfy my personal demands.Gameplayer: Does that satisfaction also encompass your creative freedom? A freedom that you perhaps no longer felt with your previous company, Square-Enix? Sakaguchi: Yes. When I was part of Square-Enix, my role was managerial only. With Mistwalker, we have a smaller team [Square-Enix currently employs hundreds of staff, while Mistwalker has only a handful of creators] and now that I’m here primarily as a creator, I’m a lot happier. Gameplayer: With that in mind, what do you see as Mistwalker’s agenda, and how does this stand within the games industry? Sakaguchi: The name Mistwalker is to be taken literally; it’s imagining a figure walking through the mists, unable to see what lays head but marching forward determinedly. I believe we need to, and can, create new worlds. Gameplayer: You left Square-Enix in 2001 and immediately formed Mistwalker. Did you know who you wanted to be part of your new company? And with your reputation preceding you, did that allow you to handpick who you wanted? Sakaguchi: [Sakaguchi is silent for a while, weighing up the question, before replying.] There’s a new generation of talented people out there… people who have a great energy for their work. It’s that sort of energy that I want to work with. But at the same time there are those people whose work has fascinated me, like Akira Toriyama [critically acclaimed artist who worked on both the Dragon Ball Z manga and Square-Enix’s Dragon Quest series]. I wanted to mix those talents together. Gameplayer: You, Akira Toriyama and Nobuo Uematsu primarily work on the design aspect of your projects, while you outsource development coding to another studio [Blue Dragon was coded by developer Artoon, while Lost Odyssey is being developed by Feel Plus]. Was this an intentional setup from the start, so you could concentrate on the creative aspect of your work? Sakaguchi: All aspects of our projects are equally important to me, but especially the design of the central story characters. There has to be a balance there that connects this character design to music and graphics – they’re equally important in translating these characters and their emotions to the videogame screen, to the player. You have to allow players to get immersed entirely within that experience – so it’s all about getting fantastic overall quality throughout the entire game.
Gameplayer: Blue Dragon harks back to an almost child-like viewpoint of the wider world, of young central leads fighting against adversity. Was this a response to current RPGs pushing towards more adult tones and scenarios? Sakaguchi: Yes, that’s very true. Gameplayer: So when one of Blue Dragon’s central characters, Shu, repeatedly says, “I won’t give up” is this a moral message that you wanted the game to embody? Sakaguchi: Well, I wanted to give them a very direct message. So when gamers finish playing the game, switch off the console and walk away, that message will stay with them. I wanted it to be a positive message that they’d keep in their hearts; a message that I wanted to pass across to them with Blue Dragon. Gameplayer: Has Blue Dragon’s success in Japan been a relief after the Xbox 360’s poor performance in the country? Sakaguchi: Of course it has. But it isn’t the only videogame that the company is creating; I’m focusing now on my new projects – on creating more great videogames in the near future. Gameplayer: You have reportedly been working quite closely with the localisation teams on Blue Dragon. How do you go about translating the humour and so on across the cultural divide? Sakaguchi: Talking about Lost Odyssey, I’ve worked closely with the director. He’s Japanese-American, so both the team and I have a great confidence in him broaching that divide. He’s been a brilliant influence in helping with both localisation and voice recording. And Microsoft also touts a great localisation team.
Gameplayer: With Blue Dragon now on sale and Lost Odyssey nearing completion, where now for the Mistwalker team? Have you considered branching out of RPGs and moving into new genres? Sakaguchi: I don’t believe there’s a limit to what the genre can still achieve or produce; I still want to create story-driven games that incorporate action sequences, simulations and different types of gameplay throughout them. Gameplayer: How do you feel about going up against Final Fantasy, the series you created? Obviously there are going to be comparisons between it and Lost Odyssey… as well as other RPGs you produce in the future? Sakaguchi: [A small smile tugs at the corner of Sakaguchi’s mouth before he responds.] I have always looked upon Final Fantasy as a son, but Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon are like my newborn daughters. I want a good life for all of them in the future. Gameplayer: And in that future, what are you doing? What do you want to be doing? Sakaguchi: I want to live freely, both professionally and privately. I want the freedom to change direction when I wish it, the freedom to try different things if I decide; if I am resting at sixty degrees, I want to know there’s an extra forty degrees of leeway that I can spin round to.
Sakaguchi’s Top 5 Games
We Take a Look at One of Gaming's Best
by: Clint McCreadie 16/10/2007
1. Final Fantasy
Format: NES / Release: 1987
This was supposed to be Sakaguchi’s final game before leaving the industry! Instead, it set the groundwork for a huge series now in its 19th year.2. Chrono Trigger
Format: SNES / Release: 1995
The first time Sakaguchi worked with Toriyama. Chrono Trigger is revered as one of the greatest RPGs of all time, but was never released locally. 3. Final Fantasy VII
Format: PSone / Release: 1997
While FFVI is arguably the best title in the cannon, FFVII is the highlight for many gamers and it brought the series into the Western spotlight. 4. Vagrant Story
Format: PSone / Release: 2000
Overshadowed by bigger titles, this unique creation moved away from the turn-based system that was so prevalent in Square-Enix games of the time. 5. Blue Dragon
Format: Xbox 360 / Release: 2006
A return to the artistic style of the earlier Final Fantasy games. Its return to Sakaguchi’s roots feels refreshing rather than stiflingly nostalgic. http://www.gameplayer.com.au/Home/FEATURES/FEATURE/tabid/1488/Default.aspx?CID=2d2ac4d5-3403-4a1f-8bca-1b2f6c821d00
