By choosing a seamless battle system, my idea was to go back to these old games.”Īs was already outlined in Vagrant Story, this is what best describes the soul of Matsuno’s games: an obvious passion for old-school video games that, although less easily accessible, were at the same time more rewarding for persistent players. For example, when you stepped into uncharted territory and spotted a monster you didn’t know, you would have to ask yourself ‘How strong is this thing? Can I defeat it?’ before moving forward. In the past, I think the most interesting titles were the ones that let players enjoy the story at their own pace. He explained: “When playing recent games, I am under the impression that most of them are forcing me to follow the story. For a number of players, however, this also translated into a sparse storyline.Īlthough controversial, it was a conscious choice from the team-Maehiro included. Thanks to its seamless battle system and bountiful contents, Final Fantasy XII inspires a dazzling sense of freedom that, for instance, results in the ability to venture into high-level areas at an early stage. He honestly has a spotty record but I do appreciate this bit: But it did work for them tremendously with FF14 considering the worldwide success it has. Huge D&D style of people rather than just trying to recapture Final Fantasy of eld. In any case, they seem to be a group of people who are very fond of western RPGs and incorporate more of that style into theirs. He also mentions Yasumi Matsuno (FFT, Vagrant Story, FFXII) to be his biggest influence on his career as he worked with him for decades, so I think they're what he would consider games to offer a level of freedom to the player. His style seems to be more of western style RPGs, cherishing experiences for the player to decide to do instead of being forced to follow the story, which is a stark difference with Kitase's studio style on FF10, FF13 and FF7 Remake to really focus on the story above all else.

He went from game designer, to background designer, to designing the battle system of FFXII and TLR, to become the main writer of FFXIV and now a creative director. He worked on FF Tactics, Vagrant Story, FFXII, The Last Remnant and FFXIV. A very interesting overview of Kazutoyo Maehiro's career as he's now under the spotlight for his role in FF16.

Final fantasy xvi profile