Final Fantasy X-3? Seriously?
Can you believe it’s been over two years since Square Enix announced Final Fantasy X HD for PS3 and Vita? It happened at Tokyo Game Show 2011, a time where the Vita had yet to launch, yet it took until early this year for the company to finally start divulging information on the work they’re doing. We constantly hear about the development hell woes that plague numerous projects at Square Enix, given that the company has struggled with producing every numbered non-sequel Final Fantasy game post-Final Fantasy XI, but they couldn’t provide info or release a mere HD port for too long of a time. It’s not a good look for the company.
Then they announced that FFXHD would also include its sequel: Final Fantasy X-2, also remastered in HD, giving us Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster. They also showed us the work they were doing with the former, involving redoing many details on the character models (especially for Tidus and Yuna), refining the backgrounds (including the indoor, pre-rendered environments), and remastering the music. That shouldn’t require two years of work, but the extra effort is appreciated. Mostly. The remastered music, provided by Masashi Hamauzu, sounds better in some cases. In others, though, the tempos and instrument use have been altered so much that they don’t even sound the same. The impressions of it are probably
more mixed than the reception to Final Fantasy X-2. To call it a “remastering” is actually doing it a disservice, as Hamauzu went a little too far in the other direction. Better examples of this technique are utilized in the remastered soundtracks for Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX, whose soundtracks keep the same tunes and tempos despite being altered.
Now that the package has released in Japan (America and Europe have to wait until March), we’re receiving detailed impressions of the ports. Any FFX-2 fan might be disappointed that it didn’t receive anywhere near as much attention. Square Enix simply took the game’s assets and increased them to HD resolutions, and called it a day. This also means Yuna has a different character model in both HD versions, including a different face, which could be jarring when comparing the two.
But hey, that’s not the big news here. No, that actually concerns the epilogue, unlocked after completing both games. In order to help sell the package to anyone who played FFX before, it also includes a lengthy audio drama detailing events that happened after FFX-2. It’s a doozy because it’s actually not the “epilogue” people have been referring to. No, it’s very obviously teasing a continuation. Additionally, FFX and X-2 scenario writer Kazushige Nojima said he would be open to doing a Final Fantasy X-3 in the new FFX|X-2 Ultimania book. Also, Tetsuya Nomura provided designs for two new characters and redesigns for Tidus and Yuna, which are pretty obviously early design documents. Oh, and a Final Fantasy X-2.5 novel set one year after the end of X-2, written by Nojima, released in Japan yesterday. Put all of that together, and we have some genuine clues suggesting that it could be in development.
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Actually, no. In fact, I would be surprised if it wasn’t in development at this point. Anytime a member of Square Enix’s development staff has teased a project in an Ultimania Guide, it’s always happened. Think back to when Final Fantasy XIII’s much-beloved director and writer Motomu Toriyama (who also directed the FFX games) and producer Yoshinori Kitase were both open to making a sequel to the game, right after the game released in the west in March 2010. Following that, a novel was released detailing events that happened after the game. Nomura also provided the infamous “She Must Not Be Forgotten” sketch to Square Enix Members subscribers. It wasn’t long after that until Final Fantasy XIII-2 was revealed.
As for the details of FFX-3 possible story setup that have been divulged online, I won’t mention them here, since I know some of you will be playing FFX and X-2 for the first time with the HD collection. They, of course, contain massive spoilers for both games, so read (and listen to) them at your own risk. After reading them, though, if someone told me they were pilfered from a fanfiction website, I would believe them. If that’s the direction they’re going on, then…well, no one ever said Nojima had a perfect record. See Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII’s Genesis and Kingdom Hearts II for some of his crazier story ideas. He’s also serving as scenario writer for Final Fantasy XV, so maybe he’s saving his better ideas for that.
The other question involves which system (or systems) it will go to. If they’re developing it for Playstation 4 and Xbox One, there’s a chance that it could release for FFX’s 20th anniversary. But it could likely be for Vita, or maybe Nintendo’s next handheld, or mobile phones, or…well, I could keep this up all day. Who knows where it could go, but they might put it on a platform where they can easily reuse the new assets created for FFXHD. PS3 won’t be relevant by the time it releases, so the final choice will be interesting.
As someone who enjoyed FFX and X-2, I’m not sure if I want an FFX-3, especially with the plot details we know. X-2 justified its existence by addressing how the game’s world, Spira, adjusted and its citizens adapted the numerous changes that took place in ten years, even if the game was a mirror image of its predecessor in terms of tone. The concepts we’ve heard for FFX-3 thus far have done no such thing, and make it sound like a blatant cash-in. It could very well be an enjoyable game in the end, though, which is what matters most, but a fun story would be a nice bonus. If anything is certain, it’s that this will be a fun saga to watch.
P.S. Well, unless we’re being taken for fools and this is all a red herring. But the chances of that aren’t very high.
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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
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Yuna Must Not Be Forgotten.
Honestly, I’m expecting this to happen pretty soon.