Hironobu Sakaguchi in/on the Land of RPGs |
CVG: Do you think Blue Dragon could become as popular as Final Fantasy?
Mistwalker">Hironobu Sakaguchi: I see a gradualism in the success that the Final Fantasy series has attained... [Blue Dragon] will continue to build momentum as we get into things like BD2 and BD3 - and that's what we're hoping; to really build on the franchise.
We're starting our coverage of CVG's interview with the Mistwalker chief, founder, and legend, with the (okay, second to the last) question, because it sets the tone not only of the interview, but of what is very much driving Xbox 360 sales in Japan. "Pretty much half of the Xbox 360 gamers in Japan have Blue Dragon in their hands because it's an RPG nation."
Nothing new there - and history may very well repeat itself with Lost Odyssey - but it will most certainly not end there. The interview revealed that he was working on an action RPG titled "Cry On". Downloadable Content">Downloadable content alone will push Blue Dragon even further - Sakaguchi reveals to CVG that the last of a set of DLC will mean that "each time you enter a new dungeon you actually see a different pattern, a different set of characters, enemies and environment."
So what is it really with Sakaguchi's creations? What is it in the Land of RPGs that its citizens are looking for? If you ask him, as CVG asked, what he believed were the differences between Japanese and Western RPGs, Hironobu can only give his perspective on the matter:
I'm not too familiar with Western RPGs! I'm a big fan of Gears of War and also EverQuest the online game, so Final Fantasy XI is an online game.
I really want to stick to what I want to create and what I envision, not depending on the trends that have been happening in the industry. I love trying to create a game that has he (sic) warming effect after you finish it. I want to kind of make the gamers warm-hearted, that's what I'm trying to create.
Gears of War is great but after you finish playing there's a great deal of exhilaration, but there's no warm-heartedness there. So that's what I'm trying to create.
Ultimately, that's the thread that binds Sakaguchi's creations together - and makes all those people (Japanese or otherwise) love him for it. So, will Blue Dragon become as iconic as Final Fantasy, for the same reasons? Noting that Final Fantasy also took its time to become an icon, Sakaguchi laughs: "Maybe it'll take ten years!"
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