Arguably the biggest surprise at the most recent Nintendo Direct was the announcement of Super Mario RPG for the Switch. It's a remake of Square's 1996 RPG with updated 3D graphics and cinematics.
As excited as fans were, one other person who was equally as surprised by this announcement was Chihiro Fujioka - one of the original directors of this classic. In a brief exchange with a fan on social media, Fujioka revealed he wasn't involved in this updated version, adding he was "very surprised" but also incredibly "pleased" by the announcement.
Chihiro Fujioka: "Oh! Oh my God, finally! Both the art and music are wonderfully upgraded! I'm really looking forward to seeing how the feel of various mini-games and fields evolves!"
Fujioka also mentioned how he was "looking forward" to the game's release on 17th November, so perhaps he will even be checking it out himself.
In an interview last February, Fujioka actually spoke about how he would love to do a follow-up to Super Mario RPG and perhaps even make it his final game. Here's what he had to say (via YouTube channel MinnMax):
Chihiro Fujioka: "Yeah, I would absolutely love to make one...yeah, so in my career, I've been involved in a lot of games and I would really like my final one to be another Mario RPG game, if possible..."
You can read more about Fujioka's idea for another game in our previous story. Apart from Super Mario RPG, Fujioka went on to become the head of AlphaDream - best known during its years of operation for the Mario and Luigi series.