FINAL FANTASY writers disscusion thread

[Lulcielid]

FINAL FANTASY games are mostly known for being story driven games with a plot of remarkable quality (in diferent senses) and mostly the reason of which they are known as well as for their gameplay. As the series went on, different people took the responsability of giving us memorable stories, characters, happy and sad moments.

Each of us have our own favourite writer and as such i´d like the MOGNET CENTRAL community to express it here , who would you like to see writing in the franchise future games ? whether it is someone that has previously wrote for FF (or a Square game) or a completly new guy,you´re free to choose.

Extra note: The writer i put on the polls are those that wrote for mainline FF games, at least according to the FFWIKI. Also despite not every single aspect of the plot being done by a single person (for ex: FFVI) i put only the ones that are considered to be "main one in charge" of writing, at least to my interpretation.

 

[Lulcielid]

I like Nomura´s writing (thanks to KINGDOM HEARTS) so my Vote goes to Tetsuya Nomura, even though he´s credited as character designer since FFVII (not sure about writing them), writing wise he´s tecnically making his debut (in this franchise) with FINAL FANTASY XV (with some Nojima assist) i´d like to see how he handles FINAL FANTASY and see his flavour and how he writes. Although you could argue that we´ve already seen how he performs as writer(thanks to the KINGDOM HEARTS franchise)and some of his writing traids, neverthelesss he could give us some surprises when working in the context of a FINAL FANTASY game so i´m very interesting to see him writing some time in future games of the franchise, even if it is not very often or in the near future such as FINAL FANTASY XVI (but if he does i will AAAWWWW YYYEEEAAAHH fangirling)

 

[APZonerunner]

I think Sakaguchi and Kitase are amazing ideas-men who provide an overarching plot and then let individual writers hash out the details, and though it'll never happen again I'd love to see more from Sakaguchi (though Lost Odyssey remains proof that his storytelling prowess endures) as I love the themes he works with. LO is to me in a sense the 'alternate universe' FF13, and tbh if it was an FF it'd be one of the best stories of the bunch, certainly top three, despite the fact it suffers the same act three lag many Sakaguchi stories (FF6, 7, 9 all have this) do.


I have to admit I've never really rated Nomura's writing too much. He fashions very strong characters, but KH is incredibly convoluted and not in a good way (I also have this problem with Kojima, though to a much lesser degree) - but I'm intrigued to see what's accomplished within FF15. Hopefully they can avoid those pitfalls, as the real problems only creep into KH in the sequels and spin-offs - though even KH1's third act starts to bloat. If he were a cook, he's the cook that keeps adding extra ingredients for sharper taste until the taste actually becomes so overwhelming it's not as good, so to speak- at least to me.

 

[Lulcielid]

I have to admit I've never really rated Nomura's writing too much. He fashions very strong characters, but KH is incredibly convoluted and not in a good way (I also have this problem with Kojima, though to a much lesser degree)

Thats surprising to hear , i consider Kojima´s writing to be more convoluting than Nomura´s.

Hopefully they can avoid those pitfalls, as the real problems only creep into KH in the sequels and spin-offs - though even KH1's third act starts to bloat. If he were a cook, he's the cook that keeps adding extra ingredients for sharper taste until the taste actually becomes so overwhelming it's not as good, so to speak- at least to me.

Well FFXV has Nojima assisting in the writing so it don´t have too much worries there.

 

[Koozek]

I think Sakaguchi and Kitase are amazing ideas-men who provide an overarching plot and then let individual writers hash out the details, and though it'll never happen again I'd love to see more from Sakaguchi (though Lost Odyssey remains proof that his storytelling prowess endures) as I love the themes he works with. LO is to me in a sense the 'alternate universe' FF13, and tbh if it was an FF it'd be one of the best stories of the bunch, certainly top three, despite the fact it suffers the same act three lag many Sakaguchi stories (FF6, 7, 9 all have this) do.


I have to admit I've never really rated Nomura's writing too much. He fashions very strong characters, but KH is incredibly convoluted and not in a good way (I also have this problem with Kojima, though to a much lesser degree) - but I'm intrigued to see what's accomplished within FF15. Hopefully they can avoid those pitfalls, as the real problems only creep into KH in the sequels and spin-offs - though even KH1's third act starts to bloat. If he were a cook, he's the cook that keeps adding extra ingredients for sharper taste until the taste actually becomes so overwhelming it's not as good, so to speak- at least to me.

Regarding Sakaguchi: I really liked the characters and their dialogue in The Last Story, but the story was pretty mediocre besides a few good thematical themes. I loved LO, but I don't really remember if the story was good. The short stories in-game, which were written by a professional writer, were beautiful, though.

I'm tired of Watanabe and Nojima (lost all respect after the FFX-2.5 novella ). I doubt they will ever write believable, grounded dialogue and stories that I would sincerely enjoy now that I'm older. I can't stand the convoluted, and what I like to call eso-metaphysical, story elements and typical tropes/archetypes they tend to rely on every time anymore. Please no more fighting gods who actually just want to free mankind from the painful burden of existence at the end.
Hopefully FFXV's story really is as simple as Nomura promised. Would be pretty ironic if the writer of KH was responsible for that.

To answer the thread's question: FF needs new blood in the writing department.

 

[Lulcielid]

To answer the thread's question: FF needs new blood in the writing department.

Then use the poll and write here who you want.

 

[APZonerunner]

Thats surprising to hear , i consider Kojima´s writing to be more convoluting than Nomura´s.

Well FFXV has Nojima assisting in the writing so it don´t have too much worries there.

I think it's more that although MGS is even more twisty and turny, it's easier to grapple every aspect of its story at the same time. KH really does some intensely mental knots in its plotting, which happens, sure. It's not really about Nojima assisting - he worked (alongside Akiyama, Watanabe) on KH1/2 as well, but that still got bogged down in the end just because of how Nomura wrote the outline, and that's what I mean. I'm sure FF15 will be fine - KH1/2 are too - but I wonder if it'll have the same bloat as KH. Speaking of this...

Regarding Sakaguchi: I really liked the characters and their dialogue in The Last Story, but the story was pretty mediocre besides a few good thematical themes. I loved LO, but I don't really remember if the story was good. The short stories in-game, which were written by a professional writer, were beautiful, though.

I'd definitely say at least that Sakaguchi is better as somebody providing ideas and worth to the overarching story of a game; the overall beats of what it is, what it's about, who the characters are - not necessarily the moment-to-moment dialogue and stuff. Same for Kitase; I think they both need to be paired with a strong team of scenario writers for the actual job of realizing their visions.

 

[Koozek]

Then use the poll and write here who you want.

Well, fresh blood means someone I don't know yet. I want new ideas from young, aspiring folks.
See how SE hired new game designers and artists from all over the world for FFXV. Their writers, however, have been largely the same for nearly 20 years now.

 

[Jenova]

I would love to see Yasumi Matsuno (Vagrant Story) take a crack at Final Fantasy again or Sawako Natori (Nier) give us a fresh take on the series.

 

[BrokenHeart]

The writing in FF games is not the problem. It's the event direction that really needs work. For example, FFXIII had a very good story, but way too much of the good aspects were reserved for the Datalog, while all the melodrama was used in the actual cutscenes.

Anyway, I voted "Other writer" in this poll. I'd like to see Jun Akiyama take a stab at another mainline FF. He actually became the scenario director of FFXII after Matsuno left, but I don't see his name included in this poll (unless that Jun Aikawa option is a really bad spelling mistake by the TC). The fact that Jun Akiyama is also an event director would lead to a narrative that's populated with more interesting cutscenes. My second choice would be Kazutoyo Maehiro, who was the lead writer of FFXIV: A Realm Reborn and upcoming FFXIV: Heavensward. Again, for some reason, the TC has not included this person in the poll.

Also, while they don't get my vote, Hiroki Chiba, who wrote FFVIII, Dirge of Cerberus: FFVII, FF Type-0, and currently writing FFXV, is also missing from this poll.

 

[Sora96]

Well, fresh blood means someone I don't know yet. I want new ideas from young, aspiring folks.
See how SE hired new game designers and artists from all over the world for FFXV. Their writers, however, have been largely the same for nearly 20 years now.

Ummm, those new designers and artists worked on previous titles. The lead game designer and battle system designer worked on Type-0 while the artists have been the art directors of the mainline games since VI.

 

[Sora96]

I want Toriyama, Kitase, Watanabe and Nojima to work on the story. Yes, FFX ftw.

 

[King Bimpy]

I like Nomura´s writing (thanks to KINGDOM HEARTS) so my Vote goes to Tetsuya Nomura, even though he´s credited as character designer since FFVII (not sure about writing them), writing wise he´s tecnically making his debut (in this franchise) with FINAL FANTASY XV (with some Nojima assist) i´d like to see how he handles FINAL FANTASY and see his flavour and how he writes. Although you could argue that we´ve already seen how he performs as writer(thanks to the KINGDOM HEARTS franchise)and some of his writing traids, neverthelesss he could give us some surprises when working in the context of a FINAL FANTASY game so i´m very interesting to see him writing some time in future games of the franchise, even if it is not very often or in the near future such as FINAL FANTASY XVI (but if he does i will AAAWWWW YYYEEEAAAHH fangirling)

He isn't a writer though.

 

[Koozek]

Ummm, those new designers and artists worked on previous titles. The lead game designer and battle system designer worked on Type-0 while the artists have been the art directors of the mainline games since VI.

Well, Yusuke Naora can stay that as long as he wants, as far as I'm concerned. His work is great.
Yeah, I know about Wan Hazmer and Roberto Ferrari's involvement in Type-0, but they're still relatively new to the FF franchise. The same with Prasert Prasertvithyakarn who only sang on one or two songs on Lightning Returns' soundtrack before, worked on one game (Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom) and now is the lead game designer for FFXV's "Buddy System". I'm sure it helped that Yoshida came in as an "outsider", fresh to the franchise, when he started rebooting FFXIV.
FFXV's international team members are surely bringing in new flavors and ideas, which I find very exciting. I'm sure there a few others we don't know yet and SE's recent job postings showed that they're very open for motivated people with no experience in game development at all (or even foreigners with no Japanese skills). It's a great approach and together with the more open communication since Yoshida and Tabata are at the forefront of the series currently makes me pretty optimistic for SE's future after the whole last-gen debacle.

Now only the writing department has to be rejuvenated. Let Nojima and Watanabe write a few more FFX and FFVII novellas or work on mobile games, like the Mobius series.

 

[Squirrel Emperor]

I think Nomura is more of an idea guy who sets the groundwork, thus why he's credited for "base story" in FFXV. Guys like Kazushige Nojima are the ones who write the script and make edits based on Nomura's vision and what he wants.

The writing in FF games is not the problem. It's the event direction that really needs work. For example, FFXIII had a very good story, but way too much of the good aspects were reserved for the Datalog, while all the melodrama was used in the actual cutscenes.

FFXIII is not really a good example.

Primary plot wasn't a focus. Bad world design. Style over logic and substance. No explanation on important plot elements. Overuse of melodrama. Character arcs had no sense of subtlety, nuance or care.

I've said this before but FFXIII could have been a much better game if it wasn't built and structured the way it was. Toriyama just doesn't know what good game design is. The story he wanted to tell did not work with the game design he came up with.

 

[LeonBlade]

I think Nomura is more of an idea guy who sets the ground work, thus why he's credited for "base story" in FFXV. Guys like Kazushige Nojima are the ones who write the script and make edits based on Nomura's vision and what he wants.



FFXIII is not really a good example.

Primary plot wasn't a focus. Bad world design. Style over logic and substance. No explanation on important plot elements, overuse of melodrama. Character arcs had no sense of subtlety, nuance or care.

I've said this before but FFXIII could have been a much better game if it wasn't built and structured the way it was. Toriyama just doesn't know what good game design is. The story he wanted to tell did not work with the game design he came up with.

Yeah, Nomura doesn't write stories, that's Nojima in KH etc. I agree with XIII as well.

 

[Lulcielid]

Yes i'm aware that Nomura is not a fulltime writer , thats my bad for not explaining well, should i change the title to creative/conceptual writer ?

 

[LeonBlade]

Yes i'm aware that Nomura is not a fulltime writer , thats my bad for not explaining well, should i change the title to creative/conceptual writer ?

It's fine really, people like him for his concepts I think that's fine to have it there.

 

[Tellet]

I imagine it to be frustrating putting so much effort into a complex and amazing story, just to have the characters visualized by a wave of generic, androgynous faced avatars. However good the characters may be written, that writing is crippled by these manikin manifestations.

 

[BladeRunner]

I imagine it to be frustrating putting so much effort into a complex and amazing story, just to have the characters visualized by a wave of generic, androgynous faced avatars. However good the characters may be written, that writing is crippled by these manikin manifestations.

If you say so...