Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon Executive Producer Shinji Hashimoto and Producer Yuuki Yokoyama talk to Square Enix members about the latest Chocobo game and its origins. This interview can be found here. But for those with no access to the interview you can view it below.

- This new “Chocobo” title marks the 10th anniversary of the series, correct?
Hashimoto: It’s been exactly 10 years since the first game (Chocobo no Fushigina Dungeon) came out on the PlayStation. It’s been nine years since a sequel.

- What was the reasoning behind making a sequel after nine years?
Hashimoto: I wanted to expand our interpretation of the Mysterious Dungeon genre through Square Enix’s eyes. As you know, the new title has a richer story, detailed characters, boss battles, and other features that add a traditional RPG feel to the game. It’s been a new challenge to create Square Enix’s vision of a Mysterious Dungeon game.

- The game world of the new title seems similar to FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo Tales (FFF:CT below) released on the Nintendo DS in 2006.
Hashimoto: Yes. It generally takes about ten years to establish a character. If we start changing things around during the course of 10 years, the character’s design or atmosphere will change with every iteration. That’s why we decided to use the FFF: CT game world as a base and expand upon Chocobo and his friends as familiar characters. This way, whenever you visit the farm or town in the game, the player will think “this is what makes it a Chocobo game.”

Yokoyama: The farm especially is similar to the one found in FFF:CT in that such things like the silo and windmill are in the same spots. So FFF:CT players may think “hey, there was a card here last time!”

The Themes in FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo’s Dungeon

- What are the main themes that are prominent in this game?
Yokoyama: The main character is a chocobo, so we wanted to inject the many essential elements of FINAL FANTASY (FF below) into this title. Included in these elements are the soundtrack and summons, but the most prominent is the job class system.

- How did you decide on the ten jobs that made it into the game?
Yokoyama: In the end every job represents FF. We initially made designs for every job, but ultimately decided on what to keep in the game by its looks.

Hashimoto: Some just didn’t make the cut.

Yokoyama: We first had jobs like Machinists and Summoners. We had to decide how far we could take Chocobo that lead to discussions like “if Chocobo was a knight, could he carry a sword and shield?” We had illustrations made of Chocobo wielding a sword and shield, but it seemed like we were overdoing it.

Hashimoto: We decided not to personify Chocobo too much, which determined his current form.

- Where did the idea of having people’s memories as dungeons come from?
Yokoyama: We wanted more dungeons but the problem was that we’d have to make entrances for each of them, which would be a lot of work in terms of making graphics. The idea to directly connect dungeons to the townspeople came from the staff at h.a.n.d. (the development team responsible for FINAL FANTASY FABLES: Chocobo’s Dungeon and FFF:CT), and we thought that it could work.

Hashimoto: Before entering production, I lent several movies to Yokoyama that he just had to see.

Yokoyama: There was a particular movie that Mr. Hashimoto recommended that I used as reference. Chocobo was entering an unfamiliar world, so we wanted something that made the user think “hey, this isn’t like the world that I’m used to.” After discussing this with h.a.n.d., they created a demo of puzzle pieces sparkling out of the playfield. This was definitely out of the ordinary.

Hashimoto: Opposite to the expansive worlds present in FF and DRAGON QUEST, we wanted to cram as much into a small town as we could. In a way, FFF:CT was a collection of mini-games brought into an RPG setting, so it’s somewhat similar. For the atmosphere of the dungeons, we wanted a haunted house feel to them. Real dungeons are not made by humans, so you can never guess what will come out at you next. We wanted to create this feeling of anticipation while exploring for this title. Also, Chocobo is a very happy character, so it’s easy to place him in an equally happy world. We wanted to take on the challenge to go against this idea by making the world much more profound.

Yokoyama: The atmosphere of the initial script was quite dark and heavy as well. Even more so since the story takes place after a great tragedy. The first event in the game is followed by this tragedy, so the characters should react accordingly. For this reason the script was rewritten multiple times.

- How long was the development period?
Hashimoto: A little over a year. When we started we were still working on FFF:CT, so we debated if we should release this game on either the Nintendo DS or Wii. For the Nintendo DS, we do our best to make a great game within the memory restrictions. The Wii on the other hand has much more memory, so in turn it can include voiceovers, movies, and other such things that increase the workload.

Yokoyama: It was quite an endeavor since there was a lot more work than we initially planned. [Laughs]

Hashimoto: The development really was a difficult process. For example, the game’s logo was chosen out of 100 different comps. Even for little things, we would come up with many variations and choose the best.

- Any closing comments for fellow Chocobo fans?
Hashimoto: The characters are very precious to us and we want to explore and see them grow. So please, everyone, show us your love for them, too!

Yokoyama: While we had our share of difficulties during production, I believe that we’ve made a game that caters to Mysterious Dungeon fans, RPG fans, and of course Chocobo fans. I feel very confident in the quality of the game, but I think that I could have put in more effort in certain areas. I believe there will be other iterations, so please look forward to our next project.

Interviewed at Square Enix in December 2007

Source: Square Enix Members NA

View Dean's Profile      Subscribe via RSS