The 1990s are the decade of great innovations in the world of computer and video games: 3D technology increasingly replaced the tried and tested 2D pixel optics. The CD-ROM as a data medium for complex games put the cartridges in trouble.
And right in the middle: Final Fantasy. The role-playing epic from Square began its triumphant march in 1987 and developed into one of the most important brands in the games business. As of July 2023, the franchise has sold more than 180 million units worldwide and grossed over $18 billion.
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Final Fantasy 6 played a significant role in this, which was not only the last 2D Final Fantasy, but also set new standards in terms of storytelling and character design. A mammoth project that Square put together in just over a year.
Final Fantasy under new management
Nowadays, years, sometimes even decades, pass between the release of major role-playing games and their successors. However, Japanese developer Square was firing on all cylinders with the Final Fantasy series in the late 80s and early 90s.
Since the successful publication of the first part in 1988, series installments have appeared very regularly in the following years. RPG hits were produced here like on an assembly line. Accordingly, development of Final Fantasy 6 began (buy now ) with the publication of the fifth part in winter 1992.
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For the first time the creator of the series, Hironobu Sakaguchi, no longer responsible for production. Sakaguchi had risen to executive vice president within Square and was busy with other projects such as the development of Chrono Trigger (1995). In his place came the dual leadership of Yoshinori Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito.
Source: Moby Games
The two had very different backgrounds: Ito came to Square straight from Tokyo Zokei University in 1978 and worked his way up over the years. For example, he was a debugger for the second and third Final Fantasy and therefore had a good eye for errors and gameplay details.
He was a game developer through and through. Kitase, on the other hand, was a trained filmmaker and was influenced by the first part of the Star Wars series. He wanted to tell stories and arouse emotions. When Kitase joined Square in 1990, he had no programming knowledge.
Because of these very different characters and strengths, the tasks were divided between Kitase and Ito. Kitase-san explained this Process to Edge magazine:
“When it came time to begin work on Final Fantasy 6, Sakaguchi divided the responsibilities between us. (…) He gave me responsibility for event production and carefully considered the roles in which I would play I was essentially given the task of combining all the scenarios and dramatic sections of the game into a coherent narrative.” Ito, in turn, took care of the combat system – the second major pillar of every Final Fantasy game.
A big story
Even though the team around Kitase and Ito already had a lot of experience with Final Fantasy, each part of the series meant a small new start.
“Sakaguchi developed the premise of the story, which was based on a conflict with Imperial forces. Since the game's framework was designed to give major roles to all characters in the game, everyone on the team had ideas for character episodes,” Kitase said in the first steps of the game Conception of Final Fantasy 6.
The team members brought in ideas and story backgrounds, and Kitase himself had to put them together. Final Fantasy 6 should ultimately have 14 playable characters. Each individual had a past and individual skills, some of which arose from their backgrounds.
Source: Moby Games
“The idea was to transform the then-Final Fantasy characters from mere ciphers for combat into real characters with substance and backstories that could evoke more interesting or complex feelings in the player,” Kitase said.
“As the scope of each character's individual story increased, I began to tie this into the concept of different dramas unfolding in the game depending on the player's character choice.”
Although Kitase-san was responsible for the story elements and the overall context, not all of the characters and ideas came from his pen. Locke and Terra, for example, were heavily influenced by Sakaguchi, who continued to produce the project.
What was special about Final Fantasy 6 was not only the large number of interesting characters but also the scenario. Square clearly moved away from the prominent fantasy term and instead relied on a steampunk setting in which the industrial revolution was accompanied by magic through the so-called Espers. Even though on paper it was a classic battle of “rebels against the evil empire”, the structure of the adventure is still remarkable today. The story was divided into two parts, culminating in the apocalypse for the first time in the middle.