Square Enix’s Hopes Lie in Agni’s Philosophy
Square Enix’s Japanese game development studios (along with many others) haven’t had the best luck with HD console development in this generation, something best evinced by the still-in-limbo Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Their internally-developed games have been using Crystal Tools, which seems inefficient considering how long it took to release the first game running on the engine. Though Final Fantasy XIII’s development-to-release period seemed quick compared to the aforementioned Versus, it still took a long time compared to many other titles of the same caliber, especially outside of Japan. Crystal Tools took so long to develop that they had to use Unreal Engine 3 for their first HD game, The Last Remnant, and they’re using the same engine for other games presently in development.
But it’s a problem they hope to avoid in the next generation, and Square Enix’s new graphics system, codenamed “Luminous Studio Engine,” is designed for precisely that purpose. This engine has been known about for a while, and is based off technology from their western development district, formerly known as Eidos Interactive.
To be precise, it was made from Crystal Dynamics’ Crystal Engine and IO Interactive’s Glacier 2 engine, which are currently powering Tomb Raider and Hitman: Absolution, respectively. Assuming that this is one of the main reasons why Square Enix purchased Eidos wouldn’t be farfetched, and it seems to be paying off for them from what they’ve shown so far. Neither of the aforementioned engines could have been used to make the kind of games Square Enix Japan wants to develop in the future (RPGs and action/RPGs), and that led to the Luminous Engine’s creation.
We received a real showcase of its potential at E3 2012 with a little tech demo called Agni’s Philosophy: Final Fantasy, whose development was assisted by Visual Works. This may or may not be a tease for what lies ahead for the Final Fantasy franchise — though if it was, it wouldn’t strike anyone as a surprise. Square Enix chose the FF lore because they wanted to depict a world that utilized magic and technology, all within a little less than four minutes. The results? They did a pretty good job, if the reaction around the internet is accurate. Square Enix CTO Yoshihisa Hashimoto said their plan was to show people that the Luminous Engine could be used to create a real time demo that resembled this generation’s pre-rendered CG.
The creative staff behind the video is comprised of Japanese and American staff, with some of the latter being from Crystal Dynamics. You might recognize some of the Square Enix Japan staff there. Isamu Kamikokuryou assisted with the concept, who served as art director for Final Fantasy XII, XIII, and XIII-2. Tetsuya Nomura served as character design advisor, a man whose reputation precedes him. Again, this isn’t intended to be a tease for a game in development, but most wouldn’t mind if there was a new game developed as a collaboration between Japanese and western staff.
Famitsu interviewed Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada about the potential of the engine. He dodged the question about whether the engine would be used for future Final Fantasy games, but said he would like it to be used to make new IPs. He can see the engine being used for a variety of games across multiple genres, and plans on sharing it with contracted developers they intend on working with. Wada believes that Japanese companies shouldn’t give up on making games for the world without trying first, which is a good intention if the development team is capable of having success with that. Many Japanese developers have struggled with that during this generation, either coming too late to capitalize on trends, or through plain demographics mismatching. Hopefully they can do better next generation, or the repercussions could be dire with the perpetually rising cost of game development. Also, as AndriaSang noted, Wada didn’t mention Crystal Tools once in the interview.
Luminous Engine won’t be ready for game development until sometime in 2013, so expect Square Enix’s first games for next gen consoles to use something else, probably Unreal Engine 3. Square Enix’s graphics engine issues might be fixed, but their internal development methodologies will have to change with them if they want to pursue HD console development.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter