Two weeks ago, Square Enix caused a stir when it announced that it would be re-teaming with Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi to bring his latest RPG, Fantasy: Neodimension. Despite the fact that his return to the world of video games has been 30 years in the making, Sakaguchi has tempered fans’ expectations by saying that the collaboration will not mark his return to Final Fantasy or any other video game from his past.
In a recent interview for BloombergSakaguchi has said he has no interest in returning to Final Fantasy or any of the other games he’s contributed to. The 61-year-old simply argues that he’s “moved into the position of a consumer rather than a creator” — in fact, he’d rather just enjoy games as a player than be privy to the details of what goes on behind the scenes.
“If I do the Final Fantasy franchise again, I don’t know if I’ll be able to enjoy Final Fantasy XIV as much,” Sakaguchi told Bloomberg.
Sakaguchi has also expressed a lack of interest in porting other games he has worked on, such as Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, to newfangled consoles. The exception to Sakaguchi’s reluctance to revisit ancient games, however, is Terra Battle, a strategy game that was released in 2014 for iOS and Android devices but was delisted. According to an article by Bloomberg, he would like to revive the title.
Sakaguchi began his career at Square Enix (then called Square) in 1983. During his 30-year tenure, Sakaguchi drew inspiration from formative RPGs such as Wizardry and Dragon Quest to create the first Final Fantasy game. The game, as Bloomberg notes, saved the company from bankruptcy and became a powerhouse in the video game industry, selling over 185 million copies across the series. Sakaguchi also produced other key RPGs such as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger. He officially parted ways with Square Enix in 2003, with Final Fantasy X-2 being his final contribution to the series he created.
After leaving Square, Sakaguchi founded a novel video game company called Mistwalker with other Final Fantasy collaborators, key among them famed series composer Nobuo Uematsu. Fantasian Neo Dimension — previously an Apple Arcade exclusive — will launch on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam this winter.
Thumbnail Source: Jun Sato/WireImage
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
