Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has said that he has no desire to work with the franchise in the future. Back in 2003, Sakaguchi surprisingly departed from Square after nearly a 20-year run with the company. Since then, he went on to found the studio Mistwalker which has released titles that include Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, and The Last Story. Despite having been independent for two decades, fans have continued to wonder if Sakaguchi would one day return to work on the Final Fantasy series in any capacity. Now, the famed creator has responded to these questions and has shot down the idea.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Sakaguchi opened up a bit about a potential return to work on Final Fantasy again. In recent years, Sakaguchi said that he has become enthralled with Final Fantasy XIV, the MMO set within the Final Fantasy universe. He explained that he practically lives in Final Fantasy XIV to the point that it has become an obsession. As a result, Sakaguchi now sees himself as more of a consumer of the Final Fantasy franchise rather than a creator, which is something that he wants to keep intact.

"If I take on the Final Fantasy brand again, I don't know if I'll be able to genuinely enjoy Final Fantasy XIV as much," Sakaguchi said. To emphasize just how much he plays Final Fantasy XIV, Sakaguchi said that there have been instances in the past when fellow members of Mistwalker had to send him in-game messages within FF XIV to remind him of meetings that have started at the company. Sakaguchi stressed that this wasn't a common occurrence, but it does put into context just how much he plays Final Fantasy XIV.

While Sakaguchi doesn't see himself working with Final Fantasy ever again, he actually is set to collaborate with Square Enix in another way soon. Specifically, Square Enix will be publishing Mistwalker's Fantasian on consoles and PC in late 2024 in a port that is dubbed Fantasian Neo Dimension. This will represent the game's first appearance on PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC after having been an Apple Arcade exclusive since its arrival in 2021.

Posted: Jul 08, 2024 9:12 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/final-fantasy-games-sakaguchi-return/