Square Enix's Hiroyuki Ito has revealed to 1UP the origin of the turn-based battle system in the original Final Fantasy - and it's somewhat unexpected, to say the least.
Driven to create an efficient system for Hironobu Sakaguchi's seminal NES RPG, Ito turned to professional sports for his inspiration.
1UP: So did you create the battle system, or work on balancing it...?
HI: I actually created the battle system, yes.
1UP: What was your inspiration for that?
HI: Basically, there's no one inspiration that I got that battle system from. It was just a logical process, where I thought, "How can I create an efficient battle system for a role-playing game?" That's the answer that I came to. At the root of it all, though, there's a basic kind of system that comes from professional sports...
1UP: Any particular sport that you had in mind?
HI: Yeah, the NFL. Football is probably the closest thing.
Whatever next? Super Mario was influenced by Tiddlywinks? Zelda was inspired by Volleyball? Where does it all end?
[source gonintendo.com, via 1up.com]
Comments 23
Well, don't that put things into perspective? Never would have thought JRPGs owed anything to football.
I pronounce it "Tiddly Winks."
Oops. Fixed!
You learn something new every day..
The NFL is so awesome. (I thought the battle system was based on Dragon Quest tbh just like the rest of the game)
Now I know why I hate turn-based RPGs.
That black mage casting the spell in the picture is looking at a 10 yard penalty minimum.
@The_Fox That is a Personal Foul bro, 15 yard penalty and automatic first down. You can't use Thunder on the Quarterback!
@edcomics Yeah. Chrono Trigger, the first 9 Final Fantasies, Dragon Quests, Super Mario RPG, ect.... I hate all those game! (not)
Chrono Trigger is not traditional turn-based though...
False Start....Black Mage....5 yard penalty, repeat 1st down.
Fun Fact: Super Mario Bros. was actually inspired by Alice in Wonderland, the eating mushroom to grow big, exploring a fantasy world where everything is trying to kill you, and taking down a royal villain.
Well when you look at the statistics and play calling, the NFL looks like one big RPG/RTS game. In fact, Football is becoming more popular worldwide in places like Japan for its focus on a strategic play style and overall appeal.
Black Mage used Sack! -10 yards!
So basically...as Final Fantasy fans, doesn't that technically make us jocks? And they said we had no lives.
So, when is Zanarkand getting a football franchise to join the blitzball Abes? Time to see if Tidus can do the Bo Jackson two-sport superstar thing.
Oh, that black mage is perfectly welcome to use Flare on Tom Brady, Meteor on Ben Rothlesberger, and Ultima on Eli Manning. And we need a summoner to sic Bahamut on Tony Romo.
Also, there is evidence part of Ocarina of Time is based off of tennis! Link & Ganondorf were playing "hit the lightning ball" Sampras & Agassi-style. Not too fair that Ganondorf is always on serve, though. Maybe Link would like to serve for a change!
that's actually kool.. it makes perfect sense for me... I usually care more about the stragety of the game than actually play the game itself... awesome...
maybe that's why I like rpgs some much
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WOAH. It all makes sense now! So that's where the convention to have player characters and enemies line up to face each other came from...
You learn something new everyday
And it all comes full circle with the Inazuma Eleven games, huh.
White Mage casts cortizone shot. Suh is revived for second half
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