Final Fantasy X-2 Team Interview: Page II

IGN: So just between us, which mini-game do you prefer? Blitz Ball or Sphere Break?

Kitase: Sphere Break!

Toriyama: Sphere Break. We have the most amounts of mini-games in the history of the FF series in FFX-2, so I hope you enjoy them. One of the concepts we had was having a complete line-up of mini-games with lots of variety so that if you bought FFX-2 you wouldn't need any other game.

IGN: Do you think that the already proven success of FFX-2 in Japan and the expected success of the game in America will signal further "true sequels" to past Final Fantasies for the future?

Kitase: I think it certainly created an opportunity, or at least triggered other ideas. However, whether other sequels will be created is up to the director of each of the Final Fantasy titles, so I wouldn't be able to say whether there will be others or not in the future.

Toriyama: Under a series of circumstances, the best environment for making a sequel was prepared for FFX-2.The Final Fantasy series will continue to evolve with the best resources - from talented staff to technology. Just because it was successful this time, that doesn't necessarily mean that we will create more sequels in the future.

IGN: Okay then, but if there was another sequel to an existing Final Fantasy game, which one would you like to work on most? (I myself would love to see a follow-up to IV or VI)

Kitase: Recently announced at TGS, a sequel to FFVII titled Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children is in the works as a visual piece (movie) and scheduled for release next year.

Tetsuya Nomura, who was the character designer on the original title, is on the project as the director. There are no plans at this time for FFIV or FFVI that you mentioned. Takashi Tokita was the director on FFIV so if he wants to, it could happen. I was the director on FFVI but right now, I have my hands full with FFVII: AC so it would be difficult.

Toriyama: Right now, I want to work on a new story so I don't have much interest, but I do like the worlds of FFVI and FFVII.

IGN: What's different about the American version of Final Fantasy X-2 compared to the Japanese release?

Kitase: It's basically the same. The artist singing the theme songs is different, so the direction of the movies for the scenes with the songs is slightly different in the two versions.

Toriyama: There are no differences between the Japanese and North American versions of the game but the story is on the lighter side and very entertaining so I think it will be widely accepted in North America. We were very conscious of the North American version from the early stages of development.

IGN: What do you feel were the most important elements of Final Fantasy X that needed to be incorporated into Final Fantasy X-2?

Kitase: Of course it would be about "him."

Toriyama: Naturally incorporating the peaceful world of Spira achieved in FFX and unification of characters' state of mind (Yuna and the group have not changed as much as they look) was very important. In terms of gameplay, speediness and some freedom during battle were a must.

IGN: Why the big difference in theme between Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2?

Kitase: FFX's theme was "independence" from the ties of law and customs, whereas FFX-2 is about the "changes" that occurred from the chaos after gaining that independence.

Toriyama: From their (the characters) achievements in the original story, their growth in two years is depicted under the theme of "change" in FFX-2. In FFX, each character had something enormous they had to face, but in FFX-2, we show their journey as they search for their new self. There were some sad moments during the journey in FFX so I wanted them to have a fun trip.

That was the first thing I knew we were going to do. That is the background for having a very "pop" and upbeat atmosphere in the first part of the game.

IGN: Why was the sphere movie shown at the end of Final Fantasy X International changed for Final Fantasy X-2? Not only was the perspective changed quite significantly but so was the dialogue and location too, it seemed.

Toriyama: Of course we didn't want to change it but when we created FFX International, it had not been decided that we were going to create a sequel. Thus, we did not have new character models or maps.

New backgrounds and character models were created for FFX-2 so the sphere movie was remade to match the story completely. However, the basic story, world and character settings are the same. The dialogue was refined with no changes to the plot. It should not feel out of place as it can be seen as a part of the FFX-2 story.

IGN: There seems to be a lot of pop-culture references scattered in various areas of the game. What were some of the direct influences that helped shape the overall presentation of FFX-2? And is it safe to assume that Charlie's Angels was one of them?

Kitase: Not just Charlie's Angels, but as a recent trend, there are more and more movies where strong female characters take the lead/action. That is something that I've kept an eye on and felt it could work for us. Also, the costume change/transformation (dress up system in the game) was based on styles derived from anime series featuring magic girls who have the ability to transform and other hero transformer-type characters that have existed for a long time in Japan.

Toriyama: Female characters taking the leading role are not new for Hollywood films and it's strange that we have not seen more of it in games. We did have a "Charlie's Angels" style/look in mind as a concept, though. The sub-characters, Le Blanc Gang, are positioned as a typical comical role often seen Japanese anime series.

Tsukamoto: I think this question is more for the art director, but from my standpoint, I believe it is an element that can be seen throughout the game. Personally, I feel as if I still have a lot to learn about pop-culture and I wouldn't want my designs to be seen as just another version of something that already exists.

IGN: The same duo that composed the Bouncer soundtrack (Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi) was responsible for the music in FFX-2, was there a particular reason that you brought this duo in compose the music and was Uematsu-san ever approached for some kind of involvement with the project?

Toriyama: As symbolized in Yuna's live performance in the opening, we wanted to incorporate a pop feeling even with the music this time, which is very different from the typical Final Fantasy world. Ms. Matsueda and Mr. Eguchi were a perfect fit to the changes we were trying to achieve so we asked those two to handle the music for FFX-2.

In fact, the drastic change in the music is one of the big differences that gave new direction for FFX-2. I wanted Mr. Uematsu to participate but due to other projects, we weren't able to have him on board for FFX-2.

Click here to return to page I of the FFX-2 Team Interview.

Thanks to IGN for the transcript.