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Final Fantasy Creator Hironobu Sakaguchi Comments on FFXV and Tabata's Future Project

D

DarkLordMalik

Member
During an interview at Anime Expo, DualShockers asked Sakaguchi-san his side of the story, and how he feels about Final Fantasy XV as the father of the series.

First of all, Sakaguchi-san jokingly mentioned that he's more like the ”grandpa" of Final Fantasy. Then he moved on to talk about Tabata-san's work in more specific terms through an interpreter:

”About Final Fantasy XV, it was very ambitious at its onset, and there were a lot challenges in the development phase. I think he [Tabata-san] did a really, really good job at pulling everything together, which looking at it from the sidelines was no easy feat.

More so than anything, I have a lot of respect for what he was able to achieve and pull together with Final Fantasy XV. Of course we are friends, so we frequently have drinks together, and he always says ”oh you can't see this, but what I'm doing right now..."

We have a lot of conversations so if I tell you everything about them it's going to be a huge problem with Square Enix, and I don't want that... But what I can say is that I think he's in a really good place, and is is a very talented guy, and the next thing he'll be working on is going to be pretty good. So you know... look forward to it."
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http://www.dualshockers.com/final-f...omments-final-fantasy-xv-hajime-tabatas-work/

tV5IHxb.gif


Can't wait to see what Tabata is working on next. He is one of my favorite director because of his timely delivery and humble/kind-hearted nature. For those who have no idea, rumors point to BD2 (under Tabata) working on a new IP.
 
A

AEREC

Member
Cool...FFXV was an amazing game. Presentation was a little rough around the edges and the story was disjointed at times, but it had some of the more unforgettable characters in a FF game for me. It's also the only one I've bothered to complete.
 
F

FinalAres

Member
FFXV was rushed because they needed a mainline FF game. I'd like to see what he can achieve with 4-5 years instead of 3.
 
K

Kenzodielocke

Banned
Would he dare to say otherwise? Like, Tabata in my eyes is a nice person, but has yet to make a good game. FFXV really left a sour taste in my mouth.
 
artsi

artsi

Member
Jackstin said:
FFXV was rushed because they needed a mainline FF game. I'd like to see what he can achieve with 4-5 years instead of 3.
Click to expand...

And with something he doesn't have to build together from old project scraps. I'm sure that's one main reason why XV felt unfinished in addition to not enough time.
 
D

DarkLordMalik

Member
Kenzodielocke said:
Would he dare to say otherwise? Like, Tabata in my eyes is a nice person, but has yet to make a good game. FFXV really left a sour taste in my mouth.
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Tabata has made 4 games, out of which 3 were on handheld. His first big break was FFXV so give this guy another chance. He showed his potential with FFXV which wasn't his vision to begin with so with an original IP aiming the top end hardware, since BD2 is very technically competent and highly qualified, I am sure he can create a great game.
 
K

Kenzodielocke

Banned
DarkLordMalik said:
Tabata has made 4 games, out of which 3 were on handheld. His first big break was FFXV so give this guy another chance. He showed his potential with FFXV which wasn't his vision to begin with so with an original IP aiming the top end hardware, since BD2 is very technically competent and highly qualified, I am sure he can create a great game.
Click to expand...
I don't blame solely him for XV, he still is the director though.

Versus 13 should have been canceled for good and 15 should have been a new game.
 
A

AlexFlame116

Member
Good. Whether you believe that Sakaguchi "has" to say that or not, Tabata made what he could in under that amount of time. I enjoyed the game immensely and can't wait for his next project. Yes I'm okay with it being a mainline FF as well.

Although I do wish that he could continue that Type-1 teaser.

Now for the hateful comments...

Sometimes I'd honestly like to see some of you posters here get tasked to try to salvage years of content into one game and see what comes out. I'm sure it will be an easy task.
 
T

Talax

Member
After Type 0 and FFXV, it's his last chance in my eyes. If the next one winds up disappointing me as much then I'll lose hope in his game making abilities.
 
P

Philippo

Member
He really isn't to blame that much about XV's final result honestly.

But this next project should be the definitive test for Tabata as a director:
-new ip (?)
-complete engine
-consolidated team
-big budget
-next gen possibly?
-time
You have a blank sheet with all the good assets in your hands.
Don't fuck this up Tabby.
 
D

dramatis

Member
Philippo said:
Next project should be the definitive test for Tabata as a director:
-new ip
-complete engine
-consolidated team
-big budget
-next gen possibly?

Don't fuck this up Tabby.
Click to expand...
Given his track record with Type-0, I think he is not going to do much good with his own major project.
 
D

DarkLordMalik

Member
Kenzodielocke said:
I don't blame solely him for XV, he still is the director though.

Versus 13 should have been canceled for good and 15 should have been a new game.
Click to expand...
Yoko Taro was also the director of Drakengard 3 and Nier, both of which were critically panned games. He just needed a good team with a clear vision that he achieved with Platinum and he finally made a great game.

I am sure Tabata can do something with a good team once he starts from scratch and I feel BD2 is highly competent enough to do so. They just need their own ideas instead of working on the half-finished ideas of someone else.

dramatis said:
Given his track record with Type-0, I think he is not going to do much good with his own major project.
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Type-0 was another game with troubled development cycle that was originally designed for Smartphones and then retooled for handhelds. So yeh, he has yet to do a proper project.

Crisis Core was Nomura + Tabata
Third Birthday was Tabata + Toriyama + Nomura

If he fails to deliver with his new IP then maybe, I agree. But I believe he has a lot of potential if given full chance.
 
K

kromeo

Member
The only positive I can think of is that his next game won't be forced to feature Nomura's horrible character designs. The 3 games I've played of his are all awful in the story department though so I can't say I'd be thrilled if it was the next mainline
 
M

Mattakuevan

Member
DarkLordMalik said:
Yoko Taro was also the director of Drakengard 3 and Nier, both of which were critically panned games. He just needed a good team with a clear vision that he achieved with Platinum and he finally made a great game.

I am sure Tabata can do something with a good team once he starts from scratch and I feel BD2 is highly competent enough to do so. They just need their own ideas instead of working on the half-finished ideas of someone else.


Type-0 was another game with troubled development cycle that was originally designed for Smartphones and then retooled for handhelds. So yeh, he has yet to do a proper project.

Crisis Core was Nomura + Tabata
Third Birthday was Tabata + Toriyama + Nomura

If he fails to deliver with his new IP then maybe, I agree. But I believe he has a lot of potential if given full chance.
Click to expand...

Yoko Taro's vision has always shined through his games and flourished in spite of technical difficulties. Tabata's are a different sort of beast.

That said, he deserves to be given a chance, but he's in no way shape or form comparable to Yoko Taro from a visionary standpoint.
 
P

Philippo

Member
DarkLordMalik said:
Yoko Taro was also the director of Drakengard 3 and Nier, both of which were critically panned games. He just needed a good team with a clear vision that he achieved with Platinum and he finally made a great game.

I am sure Tabata can do something with a good team once he starts from scratch and I feel BD2 is highly competent enough to do so. They just need their own ideas instead of working on the half-finished ideas of someone else.


Type-0 was another game with troubled development cycle that was originally designed for Smartphones and then retooled for handhelds. So yeh, he has yet to do a proper project.

Crisis Core was Nomura + Tabata
Third Birthday was Tabata + Toriyama + Nomura

If he fails to deliver with his new IP then maybe, I agree. But I believe he has a lot of potential if given full chance.
Click to expand...

100% agree with this post.

The tools, conditions and enviroment for developing a great game are finally there, and both Tabata and SE at large learned a lot from XV's mess in terms of managing a big project.

I only hope that the upper highs of SE won't push too much for a "westernized" game in terms of design.
 
L

LiquidSolid

Member
DarkLordMalik said:
Tabata has made 4 games, out of which 3 were on handheld. His first big break was FFXV so give this guy another chance. He showed his potential with FFXV which wasn't his vision to begin with so with an original IP aiming the top end hardware, since BD2 is very technically competent and highly qualified, I am sure he can create a great game.
Click to expand...

I haven't played Third Birthday, so I can't say much about it (outside of the horrible reception it had) but I have played his other three games and they all had horrible storytelling. Why should I believe his new IP would be any different?
 
M

MatrixMan.EXE

Member
I can't really fault Tabata too much in that his previous 3 games before FFXV were handheld titles. To go from that to having to salvage the next flagship FF game on a new generation of consoles can't have been easy. From the mess that Nomura had left, he salvaged viable product in an acceptable amount of time and it went on to sell very well. It wasn't perfect but good on him, as far as I'm concerned.

Kenzodielocke said:
Versus 13 should have been canceled for good and 15 should have been a new game.
Click to expand...

I mean, if only game development were that simple.
 
D

DarkLordMalik

Member
LiquidSolid said:
I haven't played Third Birthday, so I can't say much about it (outside of the horrible reception it had) but I have played his other three games and they all had horrible storytelling. Why should I believe his new IP would be any different?
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Crisis Core story telling was bad? It is the best FFVII spin-off and there was a HUGE fan following for it along with the ending that people never stopped talking about for years. Funnily enough, Type-0 was considered a great game and better than FFXIII until it was finally released in the West.

Third Birthday was just a terrible project. It had Toriyama as the scenario director and the story was all kind of whack. As for FFXV, you can imagine how it turned out after years of pre-production and trying to cram a trilogy of games into one single package.
 
Perfo

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Worse mainline FF in ages and the Gooch considers it good. I bet he didn't even play it.
 
S

Steiner_Zi

Member
Philippo said:
100% agree with this post.

The tools, conditions and enviroment for developing a great game are finally there, and both Tabata and SE at large learned a lot from XV's mess in terms of managing a big project.

I only hope that the upper highs of SE won't push too much for a "westernized" game in terms of design.
Click to expand...
FFVIIR and KH3 say hi.
 
M

Mr. Nice_Guy

Member
I'd rather had him work on a side line game. I'm still not convinced of him as a director and really don't want him in charge of another main line entry until I see some quality products that were his from the ground up. (I really don't blame FFXV on him).

Edit: I forgot he was kind of the main guy for Type 0. Nevermind. Please don't put him in charge of XVI. FF has been a dumpster fire since '09 (Realm Reborn notwithstanding apparently), so please find someone competent.
 
J

James Scott

Banned
Kenzodielocke said:
Would he dare to say otherwise? Like, Tabata in my eyes is a nice person, but has yet to make a good game. FFXV really left a sour taste in my mouth.
Click to expand...
Yep.
People started putting him on a pedestal for FFXV before it came out. He hasn't done anything to deserve that

"He finished a game when Nomura never finishes a game!"
but Nomura has finished several project last gen and it's not like FFXV is finished, lol.
Type 0 is easily the worst game I've played on PS4. That was his attempt at FF. Wasn't a good sign
 
J

James Scott

Banned
Ahasverus said:
Nomura shouldn't be in charge of /any project/ whatsoever.
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They shouldn't force/allow him to juggle 2-3 projects at once, but I don't see how this is warranted.
KH3 started development around when it was revealed while XV had longer.
If KH3 feels unfinished or is a huge mess then sure.
 
L

LiquidSolid

Member
DarkLordMalik said:
Crisis Core story telling was bad? It is the best FFVII spin-off and there was a HUGE fan following for it along with the ending that people never stopped talking about for years. Funnily enough, Type-0 was considered a great game and better than FFXIII until it was finally released in the West.

Third Birthday was just a terrible project. It had Toriyama as the scenario director and the story was all kind of whack. As for FFXV, you can imagine how it turned out after years of pre-production and trying to cram a trilogy of games into one single package.
Click to expand...

Yes, it was bad. People conveniently overlooked its issues because it was a handheld game and it was by far the best thing to come out of the FFVII compilation, but the story and story telling were both genuinely bad.

Sorry but that FFXV excuse doesn't fly with me when Type-0 has the EXACT same issues. Tabata seems to be under the impression leaving out important story details is a good story telling device and all it results in is incoherent messes.
 
D

dramatis

Member
DarkLordMalik said:
Type-0 was another game with troubled development cycle that was originally designed for Smartphones and then retooled for handhelds. So yeh, he has yet to do a proper project.

Crisis Core was Nomura + Tabata
Third Birthday was Tabata + Toriyama + Nomura

If he fails to deliver with his new IP then maybe, I agree. But I believe he has a lot of potential if given full chance.
Click to expand...
Troubled development cycle or not, Type-0 is an exhibit of when Tabata is given a sizable budget to enact his own original ideas for story and gameplay, both of which are poor in Type-0.

I don't think Tabata has a lot of potential, I think he's only in a director position at SE Japan because everyone else who has talent has either left SE Japan or are working on FF14.

Barring Hiroyuki Ito, who is doing god knows what.
 
D

DarkLordMalik

Member
LiquidSolid said:
Yes, it was bad. People conveniently overlooked its issues because it was a handheld game and it was by far the best thing to come out of the FFVII compilation, but the story and story telling were both genuinely bad.

Sorry but that FFXV excuse doesn't fly with me when Type-0 has the EXACT same issues. Tabata seems to be under the impression leaving out important story details is a good story telling device and all it results in is incoherent messes.
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Well if you think Crisis Core was a mess, then you should drop all hope for FFVII: Remake. Crisis Core was written by Nojima and he is also the one handling VII: Remake.
 
K

kromeo

Member
The story in Crisis Core felt like some random fan fiction they found on the internet, no game has ever annoyed me so much
 
D

DarkLordMalik

Member
Mattakuevan said:
This is a... Weird statement given Nojima wrote the original FF7 as well.
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Modern Nojima is very different from peak Nojima. He wrote X-2 and X-3 novel too. His current output doesn't instill any confidence.

FFVII was also developed at a time when SE was full of talent with Toriyama, Nomura, Ito and Kitase all contributing to the project while Sakaguchi headed the team.
 
A

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
Sakaguchi doesn't "have" to say shit, he teared into XII when that released.
 
C

CaviarMeths

Member
DarkLordMalik said:
Well if you think Crisis Core was a mess, then you should drop all hope for FFVII: Remake. Crisis Core was written by Nojima and he is also the one handling VII: Remake.
Click to expand...
Nojima is the Wachowskis of video games.

Hey guys, remember that thing he/they wrote back in the late 90s? That was pretty great, right?

kromeo said:
The story in Crisis Core felt like some random fan fiction they found on the internet, no game has ever annoyed me so much
Click to expand...

"felt like some random fan fiction" is Nojima's calling card.
 
Y

yunbuns

Member
DarkLordMalik said:
Modern Nojima is very different from peak Nojima. He wrote X-2 and X-3 novel too. His current output doesn't instill any confidence.

FFVII was also developed at a time when SE was full of talent with Toriyama, Nomura, Ito and Kitase all contributing to the project while Sakaguchi headed the team.
Click to expand...

X-2 was a good game though and while it has some flaws shouldn't be brought down to the level of the audio drama....
 
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