Hironobu Sakaguchi is the man who made Square Enix's Final Fantasy series, arguably one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. Under his guidance, the series experienced many best-selling instalments across the NES, SNES and PlayStation, but never a direct sequel - all of the adventures were brand new, with entirely fresh settings and characters.
Speaking to IGN, the legendary game creator - who was in San Francisco this week to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards - explained his dislike for spin-offs and direct sequels:
I don't like sequels. I hate them. That's why every single Final Fantasy had a new cast of characters, a brand new story, [and] a different system. Our promise to ourselves is that for every single game that we make, we are going to give it our all, and then we finish it, we'll end it in such a way that there is no to be continued checklist.
Since Sakaguchi left Square Enix in 2000, things have changed - there have been several direct sequels to core Final Fantasy instalments, including Final Fantasy X-2, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings and - most recently - Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
[source uk.ign.com]
Comments 53
And he was definitely right!
Makes since. He seems pretty logical about it.
Well, when you're one of the greatest video game creators of all time, I suppose you get to say things like that. Wish he worked more with Nintendo. The Last Story was a fantastic game, better any of the Final Fantasy direct sequels.
Seeing him next to Link makes me wonder.
Why can't Nintendo do the same thing?
Kamiya seems to think similarly. His games always get sequels, but he never makes them. Unlike Kojima who is mostly into Metal Gear.
Suppose I disagree since I'm a fan of those sequels mentioned in the article. It's nice to have sequels for your favourite games
He is a artist and he paints how he wants.
Selfie with a Link doll? Now I've seen everything. XDDD
I like sequels but not a lot of them
This philosophy made games like FF6/7/8 but also games like FF12/13(1,2,3) ... I hope they get back on track and don't f*ck FF15 up as they did with 12 and all of 13 ....
But I have to say, I like the attitude of: "we make the game, so it dosn't leave questions that could hint at a sequal" I respect that and I know what they might be capabel of looking at their past ^^
@Josaku sadly ff15 is actually a part off ff13's timeline (originally called verses 13)
I don't trust there will be a great FF game till they leave it alone. Give the devs a non ff game to work on and come back to it fresh.
@Captain_Gonru No, he says "when I make a game, I want to start with a new idea from scratch and finish that idea in one game". Of course he would use the name Final Fantasy, since it has recognition. In fact, the first Final Fantasy was his last chance to gain that recognition. He would've been stupid to drop it. (And Square would've never allowed it.)
Understandable thoughts. I quite like how each FF game is quite different.
The only one I really wanted a sequel of was 9. That game was something that really made me emotional. Best FF game I have ever played.
@Yai Finally someone else agrees with me on this one, FF9 was Awesome. But I like FFVIII a lot too so my opinions are instantly invalid
@Kirby_Fan_DL3 Direct sequels very rarely do happen in Nintendo. Zelda only has 2 from its main line. Mario has about the same amount of sequels in its main line. Then again, it doesn't exactly have a story to begin with.
It's the other franchises that do have the sequels like Starfox and Metroid.
@Timppis Or instantly valid. FFVIII is my favorite FF. I can see the flaws people dislike it for, but the sum of all its parts is something very special, imo.
If only he was still at Square Enix then we wouldn't have to play three games to get the full story like in the Final Fantasy 13 saga. I like his methods since I also prefer a complete story in a single game.
This is good. Hopefully, there won't be a sequel to The Last Story.
@Kirby_Fan_DL3 um.....they actually do such a thing. Every Mario game is different from the other, every Fire Emblem game is different, every Pokemon game is different, every Metroid game is different and so on.
I generally love sequels, but I think he was right to keep sequels out of the final fantasy equation. Lightning didn't need another game.
FF9 was the last good one (and best one imo) which makes sense since he left in 2000 which is right after it came out.
What bothers me is that if he hates sequals so much why did he make Blue Dragon Plus since it is a sequal.
@Artwark "Every Mario game is different" I hate to be harsh, but that's wrong. Have you played NSMB2, NSMBU, or DKCTF? Almost every single Mario game in the past 4 years didn't offer anything new or exciting, and were just rip offs of the previous Mario title... at least, to me.
@Artwark
You had me until you said Metroid, which is all sequels and prequels with the same character and a continual story line.
You did miss Zelda, however which has a very similar approach to Final Fantasy with similar character roles filled by new characters and situations.
There are advantages to both approaches.
To me the most important thing he is averse to is changing the story to prepare for a sequel. I completely agree with that. The downside to his approach is that the story elements become a bit of a rehash. It feels like a familiar set of characters sometimes, going through similar struggles and if he had made a direct sequel he'd be forced to move the story forward with something maybe entirely new.
Mainline Zelda games have a similar problem.
@SilentHunter382 Sometimes we do what we hate to survive. Very few people get to do only what they want to all the time or even some of the time.
@Kirby_Fan_DL3 Only direct sequel they ever had is Mario Galaxy 2 and the Zelda games for DS...
Aw... does this mean there will be no Blue Dragon 2 and Lost Odyssey 2? Please Sakaguchi change your mind, I love those two games and wish for a sequel for each. Maybe not a direct sequel but an entry sequel like Final Fantasy where it is a new story but using the same idea, gameplay, and stuff.
@Kirby_Fan_DL3
Sakaguchi is talking about story and characters, not just gameplay. I think you'll see that @Arwark was mostly on point if you agree with my assessment. The Final Fantasy games he worked on are arguably just as similar in gameplay to each other than the Mario series games have been.
Mario doesn't even really have a story most of the time, so it's hard to even compare, honestly.
Is it the same Mario doing the same thing every time? I guess it is. Would you know that there any previous adventures from playing any particular game? Not really. The only Mario sequel that comes to mind that feels continuous with story is Mario Galaxy to Galaxy 2.
Just for good measure, I'll disagree with you on the "nothing new" in the past 4 years thing. Super Mario 3D World had plenty I found new and exciting, but the exciting part can't really be argued as it's mostly subjective.
@RainbowGazelle I think he once said that, that is up to Nintendo (in terms of The Last Story getting a sequel). A slight proof that Nintendo own The Last Story and not him or Mistwalker. Here's the original article.
http://mynintendonews.com/2014/09/01/sakaguchi-says-a-new-last-story-title-would-be-up-to-nintendo/
Oh and he wants to see the game for PlayStation 4 too, just take that as a wishful thinking of his.
@aaronsullivan Oh yeah I forgot about Zelda.....except that the series itself is somehow linked together whereas for Final Fantasy, its not like that.
Sure the order itself isn't fixed but the fact is, its still there just not polished enough.
@NintyMan Think of something like A Song of Ice and Fire that wouldn't work in one book of any length.
@retro_player_22 Ok, cool. Thanks for the info.
Shocking
@KirbyKirbyKirby
shaking head, saying.... kirby kirby kirby....
@KirbyKirbyKirby
shaking head, saying.... kirby kirby kirby....
@TooManyToasters Not a selfie when someone else is taking the pic.
@andjahiam
In a way you could say that about almost any Nintendo character. Or any other company like Capcom's Mega Man or Sega's Sonic. I like some sequels if built well.
KIRBY'S Great. Alex Olney that does the Nintendo life videos likes Kirby he said so.
@Kirby_Fan_DL3 ...Nintendo doesn't work on direct sequels, either.
I'm a bit split. Sequels in their very nature very seldom feel justified for being outside of making a quick buck, but at the same time, they can represent an improvement based on the feedback from the first installment.
No one really likes Assassin's Creed, the first one, for example. It had a lot of promise and some great gameplay mechanics that just wasn't used to anywhere near their full potential. Enter Assassin's Creed 2 and Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, and we can see how Ubisoft really tried to perfect what they had. It's really hard to make something great on the first try, but then again, on the flipside, you're bound to in some ways get stuck in a rut and restrict yourself as a creator when dealing with a direct sequel.
Oh well, rant over.
Is it messed up that I kind of agree with him.
A good story has a beginning, middle, and end, not a cliff hanger, not an ending that you feel warrants thirty sequels to quell a fandom's thirst. A good story is satsifying, it can leave things open for sequels, but maybe sometimes its best to rest the characters from the first story, give them a break.
I get tired of watching the poor people from resident evil getting stuck in the same damn situations over and over.
@Melkaticox Other than these games:
I agree, Nintendo doesn't make continuation of story for most of their games.
:U He hates sequels, I hate cliffhangers.
@Kirby_Fan_DL3 What are you talking about? Nintendo's always doing that.
Their "sequels" like of to Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and such usually barely anything to do with their previous games. Even ones like "Super Mario Galaxy 2" kinda rebooted the game, (or don't even regard the events in the previous) and the Mario RPG sequels have nothing to do with their previous games hardly. (Most of the characters introduced in them, don't even appear in the games. Including the "Paper Mario" allies.)
Heck, Zelda is constantly rebooting the entire kingdom of Hyrule's layout, all the characters, and such.
The only Nintendo games I can think of with more conisistent canons/continuities are "Star Fox," and "Metroid."
But even "Star Fox 64" was a reboot of the first game story-wise. (Even though they were completely different games, the stories were similar, and the planets were different. Compare SNES Titania, to N64 Titania, and such. So they kinda contradict each other.)
Well, looks like the Final Fantasy games that came out after he left didn't follow that philosophy. (FFXIII had to be a trilogy, apparently. :/)
@abe_hikura
If wat you sai is true, I really don't want this game anymore ... FF13 was such a bad game, that I just don't want to have anything to do with it anymore ... betrayed me of my 180€ .....
They really should focus more on DQ/Breavly Defeault and other new types of games to get fresh air in the studio ...
@Josaku its got a very heavy focus on action combat and is "unlike any final fantasy"
Its rather telling that its spin offs (tactics, Explorers, crystal chronicles) are more demanded for by FF fans than the main numbered titles
Although I did enjoy Final Fantasy IV: The After Years...
This is exactly why I never really liked the Final Fantasy series. If you're so determined to make a brand new cast of characters set in a whole new world, then doesn't the game itself deserve a brand-new name, instead of just a number tacked on to the name of something completely unrelated (other than various cosmetic similarities)?
Sakaguchi is awesome I wish they never made him leave Square though...
@Beau_Skunk There's also Pikmin, Kid Icarus, and the occasional Fire Emblem and Pokémon game, but otherwise you make a good point. Heck, even the upcoming Xenoblade Chronicles X takes place in a different universe from the original game.
However, I do sometimes appreciate the sense of an interconnected canon in a series like Metroid, though.
The problem there, though, is if it's going to be a long running franchise, it will get harder and harder to find new stories to tell or keep adding to a believable timeline without the heroes getting too old to keep doing what they do or going to the "next generation" of heroes out of necessity. You also run the risk of a series getting canned with an incomplete story like with the Conduit, Mega Man Legends, or Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
It wouldn't make much sense to make sequels to the Final Fantasy games anyways. They pretty much rap themselves up in the end of every one, at least in 1-9. I thought Zelda 2 was a great sequel though, story wise. Oh, and Majora's Mask, heh heh, very interesting.
@Captain_Gonru
True, but rarely are they direct sequels to one another. They share themes, a name, and some gameplay elements, and that's about it, the name Final Fantasy is the only thing letting you know what your getting
That's his point, Final Fantasy isn't a continuous story or saga. It not like, say, Mass Effect or Uncharted, every story begins and ends in the same game. The few games that do have sequels I have no clue about.
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