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Hironobu Sakaguchi needs no introduction. As the father of the Final Fantasy franchise, he’s the mind behind one of the most successful and popular JRPG series of all time. With FANTASIAN Neo Dimension reuniting Sakaguchi-san with Square Enix, he’s spoken about how returning to his former studio — and to Nintendo consoles — feels like coming home.
In an interview with Famitsu (shared via My Nintendo News and Genki), Sakaguchi and Creative Studio III and Final Fantasy XIV and XVI producer Naoki Yoshida (known as Yoshi-P) sat down to discuss the upcoming expanded rerelease of the Apple Arcade title. And in the chat, Sakaguchi got a little reminiscent about his time with Square and developing games for Nintendo consoles.
Yoshi-P’s Creative Studio III is helping bring the title to consoles, and Sakaguchi is excited to see it land on other platforms:
“I’m really happy that Fantasian will be available to many people again. By the way, Square Enix is my hometown, but I also think of Nintendo as my hometown… So I’m really happy that it will be released on Nintendo Switch. Of course, I’m also happy that it will be released on other hardware.”
Calling both Square Enix and Nintendo his “hometown” is a very sweet way of reminiscing on past Final Fantasy titles. the first six Final Fantasy games were originally released on Nintendo consoles, but Sakaguchi’s first Nintendo-published game was the scrolling shooter King’s Knight, released in 1986. From then, he and Square went on to publish a variety of games before releasing Final Fantasy in 1987. The rest, of course, is history.
So it makes sense that Sakaguchi sees Nintendo as a “home” of sorts — this is the console that really propelled him and Square’s name into the limelight. Of course, Square moved to the PlayStation in the late ’90s, but Sakaguchi’s legacy on the NES and SNES is unimpeached.
The Final Fantasy creator also told Famitsu “…rather than “I want it to be a hit,” I’m just happy that [Fantasian Neo Dimension is] being released (laughs). I’m really happy just to be able to send my child out into the world again.” This is the first multiplatform release for his studio, Mistwalker, since its formation.
Sakaguchi formed Mistwalker back in 2004 after leaving Square. The developer’s most well-known titles are probably Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, two turn-based RPGs exclusive to Xbox 360 (available on Series S | X thanks to backwards compatibility, at least). But the studio has made a number of games for Nintendo consoles over the years: ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat, Blue Dragon Plus, Away: Shuffle Dungeon, and Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow for the DS, and The Last Story for Wii.
Since 2011, however, Mistwalker has been exclusively working on mobile titles, so Fantasian’s huge multiplatform release is a big deal for Sakaguchi. Particularly (it seems) because it reunites him with Nintendo, the hardware that gave him his start.
Fantasian Neo Dimension is due to launch in Winter 2024, so hopefully we’ll get a more concrete release date soon. You’ll be able to listen to Final Fantasy music in-game too, as a nice little nod to the producer’s history — though it’s mostly modern Final Fantasy music.
Let us know whether you’re happy to see Sakaguchi back on the Switch in the comments.