Nieuws: FFX-2 Interview
Door Joni Philips op 11-01-2004 om 20:45
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Computer en Videogames had onlangs een interview met Yoshinori Kitase, de producer van Final Fantasy X-2. Op FFX-2 zelf is het nog even wachten voordat Electronic Arts het hiet uitbrengt.
For those of us who are new to the series, can you explain how Final Fantasy X-2 relates to its predecessor, Final Fantasy X?
As the first title for the PlayStation2, our development team put a lot of time and resources into developing FFX. Although it had never been done before, the development team thought that a sequel would work, especially with the assets and tools that were developed for the original. More importantly, what really motivated the development team was the fans' "wish" to have a FFX sequel.
Obviously you cant give too much away, but can you give us an idea of the story in this game?
Kitase: Countless fans were touched by this story telling of the pilgrimage of the young summoner Yuna, who was willing to sacrifice her life in order to defeat the mysterious force known only as Sin. Japanese fans of the game were treated to an epilogue with the inclusion of Another Story on the bonus disc of FFX International, released in January 2002; this gave tantalising hints as to what happened after the conclusion of the story.
After hearing from fans that they wanted to know what happened next, the decision was taken to create a sequel for the first time in the history of the Final Fantasy series. A remastered version of Another Story will be released in Europe this coming September under the name Eternal Calm, Final Fantasy X-2: Prologue. It will be part of the special edition of Unlimited Saga, published by Atari.
How do you keep the plot, the script, the dialogue taut and exciting in a game that can take upwards of 50 hours to complete?
Kitase: The first thing is to look at the game as a whole, and get a solid idea of exactly how we want people to play it. The basic concept can be explained by breaking it down into four main stages:
1. Preparatory stage C The player learns the basic game system.
2. Middle stage C The player develops their characters, and focuses on characters and abilities that they favour.
3. Broadening stage C More and more abilities, summons etc. become available to the player, widening the scope of the gaming experience.
4. Final stage C The player makes their own particular choices about how to approach the game, finding their own personal strategies and undertaking the quests they choose.
As far as the script and plot go, we try and think about it in the same way, imagining how long it will take for the player to get bored, and working back from our idea of the game as a whole to spread events etc. out over time.
There always seems to be some kind of refinement of the gameplay in each subsequent FF game C whats changed this time? Magic system? Combat? Anything else?
Kitase: The Active Time Battle in FFX-2 is a new form of ATB, which incorporates features borrowed from the Conditional Turn-Based system from FFX. As with the ATB systems in previous games, the battles progress swiftly, but every time a technique is used, there is a waiting period between inputting the command and its being carried out, indicated by a gauge. By keeping an eye on this gauge you can adjust the order in which characters perform their actions, and it is also possible to inflict major damage by chaining together characters attacks.
Also in FFX you could swap characters in and out of battle, but in FFX-2, instead you can dress up (change jobs) mid-battle, and because it is possible to progress through a battle by using various abilities of the same characters, it makes for a speedy and more strategic system. Some of the job classes are Warrior (physical attack commands), Black and White Mage (offensive and defensive magic commands) and Thief (self explanatory). FFX-2 also includes many new events and mini games.
What about the CGI cut scenes? We hear they're some of the best ever seen?
Kitase: FF games have so far been best known for their use of CG movies for big spectacular scenes of battles etc., which there have been a lot of. Players tend to focus mainly on these as well, but in truth, there is another very important feature of many of the CG scenes in FF games C dance. In FF8, there was the scene at the ball, and the Sorceress Parade scene. In FFX there was of course the sending, which was more of a Japanese-influenced dance.
As far as FFX-2 is concerned, we have been more reserved with the spectacular scenes, but there are song and dance scenes in there which are of a higher quality than anything we have done before.
RPGs can often be daunting for the newcomer C is FFX-2 going to be more newbie friendly?
Kitase: Its not set up in such a way that the player is bombarded with a huge amount of information at once - we have tried to make it so that they are introduced gradually to, and will pick up almost instinctively, the various gameplay concepts.
Also, it is possible for the newcomer to complete FFX-2 without having mastered all aspects of the game, but for hardcore gamers there are many extra items, events and features to be found. In this way, we have tried to make it enjoyable for the broadest possible spectrum of gamers.
What else should we know about the game? What kind of cool new features have you included, what new skills can players bring to the table, etc?
Kitase: Because the protagonists are three women, it is a game with a very Poppy appeal. It allows the player to enjoy another side of FF, which they were not previously able to do. Also, the game system has an incredible level of freedom to it, and this is something else which has not been seen to this degree in any previous FF title
Can you tell us why Square Enix decided to make an animated movie based on the happenings of the hugely popular Final Fantasy VII, rather than a brand new game?
Kitase: Because FFVII was the title which the creators were the most passionate about, and which had the greatest imaginative scope for the story of What happened next.
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