[03/11] Square Enix CTO comments on Japan’s projects (brief mentions of VsXIII, Type-0 & LR
III)
Square Enix’s Chief Technical Officer Julien Merceron was the willful subject of a fascinating new interview conducted by French Final Fantasy fansite FFDream about some of the Japan’s upcoming titles and projects. In the following article, we paraphrase Merceron’s comments from the original French language article that appears on FFDream.
Though Merceron admitted his background is in technology and not localization announcements, he echoed the company’s recent statments about Final Fantasy Type-0: they do want to localize the title for fans — but are looking for opportunities to get it done amidst a tough handheld gaming market. Merceron has played the Japanese version of the game and personally enjoyed it.
Having worked closely with Naoki Yoshida on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Merceron had high praise for Yoshida and the team’s new vision of the MMORPG — going as far to say that few at Square Enix could have done what he did in the director’s chair. Thus, he’s drawn admiration from staff around the globe at Square Enix and not just Japan. (Paraphrasing: “His leadership comforts me a lot”, Merceron added, “The Final Fantasy XIV experience Yoshida and the team want to deliver will be very different from the original.”)
Moving on to projects farther in the future, Merceron commented that Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will borrow some tech (and technical skill) from Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Versus has borrowed technology from the company’s new Luminous Engine, such as lighting, but still operates on a highly-modified version of Crystal Tools. This previous engine brought us Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2. Lightning Returns will be significantly different from its predecessors, and currently the game is being focus grouped to bring out what fans want to see in the final act of the trilogy.
Merceron commented on the ongoing development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, stating that there is a lot of ambition behind the game — with CEO Yoichi Wada supervising the game very closely and wanting to push the development team very hard. This reflects a comment Final Fantasy producer Shinji Hashimoto made at the 25th Anniversary Event in Japan, where he said the team desires to make a “nostalgic” Final Fantasy experience. From my own deductions, I think Hashimoto implies that Versus will be an experience that will create nostalgic memories — and a Final Fantasy that is an achievement on all fronts, much like the games in the “Golden Era” of the series.
On the subject of Agni’s Philosophy, Merceron let it slip that we can expect to see the engine running on different platforms other than PC around June (E3 alert) next year. What those platforms are hasn’t been revealed yet, but you could make a safe bet he is alluding to next-generation consoles.
When asked what type of game he would like to see Square Enix dive into, Merceron was openly enthusiastic about large sandbox-style games. He feels some of Square Enix’s intellectual property (franchises) could definitely benefit, having been more traditionally linear and narrative-driven. The level of technology to facilitate that is a type of development Merceron would be excited to pursue.
Should you want to read the entirety of the article (it is in French), you can do so at FFDream!
Source: Final Fantasy Network
III)Square Enix’s Chief Technical Officer Julien Merceron was the willful subject of a fascinating new interview conducted by French Final Fantasy fansite FFDream about some of the Japan’s upcoming titles and projects. In the following article, we paraphrase Merceron’s comments from the original French language article that appears on FFDream.
Though Merceron admitted his background is in technology and not localization announcements, he echoed the company’s recent statments about Final Fantasy Type-0: they do want to localize the title for fans — but are looking for opportunities to get it done amidst a tough handheld gaming market. Merceron has played the Japanese version of the game and personally enjoyed it.
Having worked closely with Naoki Yoshida on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, Merceron had high praise for Yoshida and the team’s new vision of the MMORPG — going as far to say that few at Square Enix could have done what he did in the director’s chair. Thus, he’s drawn admiration from staff around the globe at Square Enix and not just Japan. (Paraphrasing: “His leadership comforts me a lot”, Merceron added, “The Final Fantasy XIV experience Yoshida and the team want to deliver will be very different from the original.”)
Moving on to projects farther in the future, Merceron commented that Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will borrow some tech (and technical skill) from Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Versus has borrowed technology from the company’s new Luminous Engine, such as lighting, but still operates on a highly-modified version of Crystal Tools. This previous engine brought us Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2. Lightning Returns will be significantly different from its predecessors, and currently the game is being focus grouped to bring out what fans want to see in the final act of the trilogy.
Merceron commented on the ongoing development of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, stating that there is a lot of ambition behind the game — with CEO Yoichi Wada supervising the game very closely and wanting to push the development team very hard. This reflects a comment Final Fantasy producer Shinji Hashimoto made at the 25th Anniversary Event in Japan, where he said the team desires to make a “nostalgic” Final Fantasy experience. From my own deductions, I think Hashimoto implies that Versus will be an experience that will create nostalgic memories — and a Final Fantasy that is an achievement on all fronts, much like the games in the “Golden Era” of the series.
On the subject of Agni’s Philosophy, Merceron let it slip that we can expect to see the engine running on different platforms other than PC around June (E3 alert) next year. What those platforms are hasn’t been revealed yet, but you could make a safe bet he is alluding to next-generation consoles.
When asked what type of game he would like to see Square Enix dive into, Merceron was openly enthusiastic about large sandbox-style games. He feels some of Square Enix’s intellectual property (franchises) could definitely benefit, having been more traditionally linear and narrative-driven. The level of technology to facilitate that is a type of development Merceron would be excited to pursue.
Should you want to read the entirety of the article (it is in French), you can do so at FFDream!
Source: Final Fantasy Network
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(secretly my hearts breaks inside 
)