Hironobu Sakaguchi needs no introduction. Like a father Final Fantasy franchise, he is the mind behind one of the most successful and popular JRPG series of all time. With FANTASIAN Neo Dimension reuniting Sakaguchi-san with Square Enix, he talked about how returning to his former studio—and to Nintendo’s consoles—feels like a homecoming.
In an interview with Famitsu (shared via iGamesNews and Genki), Sakaguchi and Creative Studio III i Final Fantasy XIV and XVI producer Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) sat down to discuss the upcoming expanded re-release of the Apple Arcade title. And in the chat, Sakaguchi reminisced a bit about his time with Square and developing games for Nintendo consoles.
Yoshi-P’s Creative Studio III is helping port the title to consoles, and Sakaguchi is excited to see it on other platforms:
“I’m really happy that Fantasian will be available to a lot of people again. By the way, Square Enix is my hometown, but I also think Nintendo is my hometown… So I’m really happy that it’s going to be released on the Nintendo Switch. Of course, I’m also happy that it will be released on other hardware.”
Calling Square Enix and Nintendo your “hometown” is a very cute way to remember past Final Fantasy titles. the first six Final Fantasy games were originally released on Nintendo consoles, but Sakaguchi’s first Nintendo game was the scrolling shooter King’s Knight, released in 1986. Since then, he and Square continued to publish various games before releasing Final Fantasy in 1987. Other is, of course, history.
So it makes sense that Sakaguchi sees Nintendo as a kind of “home” — it’s the console that really brought him and Square’s name into the spotlight. Sure, Square moved on to PlayStation in the late 90s, but Sakaguchi’s legacy on the NES and SNES is undeniable.
The Final Fantasy creator also told Famitsu “…instead of “I want it to be a hit,” I’m just happy that [Fantasian Neo Dimension is] release (laughs). I’m really happy to send my child out into the world again.” This is the first multi-platform release for his studio, Mistwalker, since its inception.
Sakaguchi founded Mistwalker back in 2004 after leaving Square. Probably the most famous titles of the developer Blue dragon and The Lost Odysseytwo turn-based RPGs exclusive to Xbox 360 (available on Series S | X at least thanks to backwards compatibility). But the studio has made a number of games for Nintendo consoles over the years: ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Blue Dragon Plus, Away: Shuffle Dungeon and Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow for DS and The Last Story for Wii.
Since 2011, however, Mistwalker has been exclusively working on mobile titles, so Fantasia’s massive cross-platform release is a big deal for Sakaguchi. Especially (it seems) because it reunites him with Nintendo, the hardware that gave him his start.
Fantasian Neo Dimension is set to launch in winter 2024, so hopefully we’ll get a more concrete release date soon. You’ll be able to listen to Final Fantasy music in-game as well, as a nice little nod to the producer’s history — although it’s mostly modern Final Fantasy music.
Let us know in the comments if you’re happy Sakaguchi is coming back to Switch.
