Sakaguchi reminisces Final Fantasy I development

Have you ever wondered what Hironobu Sakaguchi and his development team went through while they were developing the very first Final Fantasy RPG?

It wasn’t a walk in the park, that’s for sure. In a recent interview, Sakaguchi admitted that he and his team were off to a rocky start at the time. Sakaguchi has more of a story to tell after the jump!

Have you ever wondered what Hironobu Sakaguchi and his development team went through while they were developing the very first Final Fantasy RPG?

It wasn’t a walk in the park, that’s for sure. In a recent interview, Sakaguchi admitted that he and his team were off to a rocky start at the time. According to Sakaguchi-san, rejection, lack of popularity, and a shortage of staff members marred the development of the first Final Fantasy.

In fact, Mr. Sakaguchi even revealed that he had decided to quit the games industry and go back to the university if the game didn’t sell-hence the word “final” in Final Fantasy.

Sakaguchi persevered nevertheless. It even came to the point wherein he pleaded with Square to ship 400,000 copies of Final Fantasy, instead of the originally planned 200,000. Though doubtful, Square management granted the grateful Sakaguchi’s request, and the rest, they say, is history. When asked what Final Fantasy meant to him, Sakaguchi replied:

Way back then, the spirit was that we werenÂ’t making a product but a creation. It was putting our soul into the production – pouring all of your ideas into the game, even if they crop up during development; not saving anything for the sequel.

So when you finish, youÂ’re empty – youÂ’ve got no idea what to do next. But by pushing yourself forward, new things come to light. I think itÂ’s good if that spirit is continued forward with Final Fantasy from here on.