Sora96 prediction: Motomu Toriyama & Yoshinori Kitase are developing Final Fantasy X-3

[Sora96 17,256]

In late 2013, director Motomu Toriyama and producer Yoshinori Kitase released Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII for PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 and a month later they released Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster for PlayStation 3 & PlayStation Vita. The Lightning Saga was finally finished and a new generation of consoles had begun.

 

Released alongside Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster in Japan was a HD Remaster Ultimania included in this was an interview with Kazushige Nojima, the main scenario writer of Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-2 along with Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy XV. Nojima touched on the possibility of a potential third entry in the sub-series by trotting out the typical fan demand mantra – saying that if there were enough demand, then there could possibly be new developments. He himself would, however, like to see a sequel such as “Final Fantasy X-3.” 

 

Clearly, Nojima already has a story in mind because he wrote a novella titled Final Fantasy X-2.5 ~The Eternal Calm~ that released alongside the HD collection in Japan. Now a 2.5 seems a bit weird if there isn't going to be 3. This isn't all though, included in the HD collection is an audio drama also written by Nojima that follows up the events of the novella, however it brings zero closure and instead opens up a million possible outcomes. Sin is back, Auron has a daughter, Yuna is dating another summoner, Tidus has his own issues after his head was blown off and it sounds like Auron is coming back along with Braska and Jecht.

 

Nojima said the usual "if there were enough demand", well Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster sold like crazy and sold over 500,000 copies in Japan alone.

 

In an interview with Famitsu.com, Motomu Toriyama confirmed he was in Business Division 1, which is headed by Yoshinori Kitase. This Business Division structure started in December 2013. Of course this is no surprise since these two have worked together since 1999 as director & producer respectively and even before that on Final Fantasy VII in different roles. So of course, whatever Toriyama is directing, Kitase is of course producing.

 

Of course, some people are going to think, didn't they say it wasn't in development? Well yes, Shinji Hashimoto & Kitase both said so over a year ago but this when they would have still been getting sales from North America, Australia & Europe for X/X-2 HD. Chances are they were waiting to see how the HD collection performed before beginning development. Not to mention, you aren't just going to say to a journalist, "Yeah we're developing this game for PS4 & Xbox One. Please be excited".

 

On December 27, 2014 in a developer survey with 4Gamer.net, Toriyama said “My next title is in well underway in development. We'll be able to announce it in 2015, so please look forward to it!” 

 

Recently, Square Enix president & CEO, Yosuke Matsuda confirmed a new JRPG for home consoles will be revealed at or around E3 2015.

 

E3 of course occurs next month and Square Enix is holding a conference which is a very expensive thing to do and with Final Fantasy XV confirmed to only have a small showing and Kingdom Hearts III likely to be the same, they must have a big announcement planned.

 

Shinji Hashimoto also recently promised more PlayStation 4 announcements from Square Enix in 2015. Shinji Hashimoto is almost certain to be the executive producer of Toriyama's new title.

 

In addition, Business Division 1 is the only major division to have no big projects announced. Division 2 is working on Final Fantasy XV, Division 3 is working on Kingdom Hearts III, Division 4 is working on Dissidia, Division 5 is working on Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Division 6 is working on Dragon Quest XI while Division 7 is working on Star Ocean 5.

 

Also, most of the core team behind the Lighting Saga is not working on any announced Square Enix projects. This includes:

 

Yuji Abe (Game Design Director)

Nobuyuki Matsuoka (Battle System Director)

Daisuke Watanabe (Scenario Writer) - Same role role for FFX & FFX-2

Masashi Hamauzu (Composer) - Same role for FFX & FFX-2

 

And don't forget, Square Enix is releasing a PlayStation 4 port of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster on May 12-15 which boasts even further enhanced graphics. This is rather quick and they're the only developers porting PlayStation 2 games to PlayStation 4 at this stage. Not to mention, the audio drama is still included.

 

Did I also mention Final Fantasy X has won awards recently? Final Fantasy X won a Users' Choice Award and PlayStation Gold Prize at the PlayStation 20th Anniversary event. And even more recently it won a Famitsu Award.

 

Square Enix is also doing something related to Final Fantasy X-2 on May 25 & 26. Bit odd to do something with a game that is 12 years old and the PS4 port comes out a couple weeks before then.

 

And before someone brings up Mobius Final Fantasy, development is likely to be finished before E3 begins so the staff from that title will likely be working on Toriyama's title afterwards. They've also most likely outsourced part of the game.

 

Also, Yoshinori Kitase is still an executive at Square Enix, so Square Enix still has complete faith in the man who directed Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII along with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI with others.

 

Motomu Toriyama has also now directed more Final Fantasy games than Hironobu Sakaguchi and unless he's working on a new IP, his new record is set to be made bigger.

 

Yes, I know a lot of you might have negative feelings towards these two after Final Fantasy XIII but you must remember the game suffered from development issues and in case you forgot they addressed all the criticisms (Linear, no towns, no mini-games, quests) from Final Fantasy XIII to the extreme in Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

 

And to anyone who's still saying that X or X-2 had a perfect ending, I agree completely, I love those endings, but Nojima wrote the novella and audio drama and they're canon so they really should bring closure some how. Even if it resulted in a movie like Kazuyuki Ikumori the director of Visual Works said he'd like to make one of, I'd be very excited for that too.

 

In conclusion, I personally can not wait to see Motomu Toriyama and Yoshinori Kitase's new title. I have been waiting for this since April 2014. I personally like every single game Toriyama has ever directed or written and the same can be said for every single game Kitase has worked on that I've played. Even if their title turns out to not be Final Fantasy X-3 and is instead a new IP or even Parasite Eve 4 I will have no issue with it at all. I am excited for their new title whatever it is. Toriyama is my favourite director while Kitase is my favourite producer. Please be excited, I know I am.

[Soravids 1,056]

If X-3 happens, I bet Tidus is full of anger and hate after what Yuna did to him!

[Sorarocks93 678]

If X-3 happens, I bet Tidus is full of anger and hate after what Yuna did to him!

You mean leaving him? Although it is quite stupid, he will probably be crying in a corner.

 

And yeah, she doesn't seem to understand how love works. You don't just push away others even if you want to save them. You stick together till the end. Also wtf, they defeated Sin together once, why wouldn't they be able to again?

[Soravids 1,056]

You mean leaving him? Although it is quite stupid, he will probably be crying in a corner.

 

And yeah, she doesn't seem to understand how love works. You don't just push away others even if you want to save them. You stick together till the end. Also wtf, they defeated Sin together once, why wouldn't they be able to again?

I lost all my respect for Yuna as a character.

[KeybladeLordCheeseCurd 1,542]

Either more dressphere shenanigans or Return of the HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA

[Terra VII-XIII 5]

Hey Sora96, you have just made me fell excited too!! Thanks for your "analysis" and opinion!

I really always very appreciate your work here!!

Edited May 4, 2015 by Terra VII-XIII

[Odin Babajic 14]

Why is Toriyama still employed at SE?  >_>

[Sora96 17,256]

Why is Toriyama still employed at SE?  >_>

 

Because Square Enix loves him!

[Odin Babajic 14]

They love the wrong child!  It's Naoki Yoshida who needs love!  Yoshida!

[Sora96 17,256]

They love the wrong child!  It's Naoki Yoshida who needs love!  Yoshida!

 

Yoshida is an executive and is the head of the online department....

[Hearts Creed 142]

As odd as the audio drama was, I agree that the series definitely needs some closure after that. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing Auron in another game. Braska and Jecht, too. 

[Soravids 1,056]

Hey, this might be covered in a manga.

[Sora96 17,256]

Hey, this might be covered in a manga.

 

The Final Fantasy series isn't big on manga. Plus I don't think Nojima has ever written a manga. And this is really more focused on what game they're developing now.

[Soravids 1,056]

The Final Fantasy series isn't big on manga. Plus I don't think Nojima has ever written a manga. And this is really more focused on what game they're developing now.

Well, an FF game being quite for over 12 years and then finally getting a sequel doesn't seem very likely. I do think you're onto something when you say a movie is possible though.

[Sora96 17,256]

Well, an FF game being quite for over 12 years and then finally getting a sequel doesn't seem very likely. I do think you're onto something when you say a movie is possible though.

 

It didn't seem very likely to get a novella called 2.5 and an audio drama too, but here we're.

[Soravids 1,056]

It didn't seem very likely to get a novella called 2.5 and an audio drama too, but here we're.

I agree, but movie still seems more believable to me.

[PillowHead 569]

I'm gonna be honest here, FFX is my favorite game of all time.  I didn't like FFX-2 for a number of reasons that by now have been said by people who care more than I do. But I mean seriously...Tidus getting his head blown off, Yuna and Tidus separating after everything they went through, Sin returning.  It's too much for me;all these things and more just don't make sense in the way that I have FFX settled nicely in my head as this beautiful tragedy (which I know is an exaggeration, but still).

 

I'll just keep pretending the story ends with FFX.  But more power to those who want it to continue, I guess.

Edited May 4, 2015 by PillowHead

[hatok 6,413]

Why is Toriyama still employed at SE?  >_>

because the stuff he makes is popular and sells well?

[Dio Brando 5,810]

because the stuff he makes is popular and sells well?

You mean Unpopular(A.K.A criticized by many) and the sales of his stuff are on a decline as evident by how LRFFXIII didn't even sell half of XIII-2's sale.....and that was half of what the original XIII sold

 

And before you say FFX he was an event director there not the producer in fact he didn't began producing and actual directing until the infamous X-2

[hatok 6,413]

You mean Unpopular(A.K.A criticized by many) and the sales of his stuff are on a decline as evident by how LRFFXIII didn't even sell half of XIII-2's sale.....and that was half of what the original XIII sold

 

And before you say FFX he was an event director there not the producer in fact he didn't began producing and actual directing until the infamous X-2

FF13 is one of the bedt selling FF games period, the sequels sold well for low budget sequels

do you honestly think the avaerage consumer even knows who makes the games? Square doesn't care what some random people think about his games on the internet

[Dio Brando 5,810]

FF13 is one of the bedt selling FF games period, the sequels sold well for low budget sequels

do you honestly think the avaerage consumer even knows who makes the games? Square doesn't care what some random people think about his games on the internet

Only FFXIII.......and only XIII-2 sold well for a low budget sequel

 

Also,while the average consumer won't care,the core fanbase will and once you allienate those sales of your series will begin to decline cuz the average consumer nowadays usually seek mobile games and stuff with lots of a media coverage.

 

Sure you'd think LRFFXIII sold well but that won't be the case when FFXV suffer the same fate cuz the core fanbase was alienated and they decided not to buy it

 

The moment a developer stop addressing complaints about his games is the moment where hisher career will fall on it's face and end up being fired after causing the company or gets limited to small projects and mobile games

[hatok 6,413]

Only FFXIII.......and only XIII-2 sold well for a low budget sequel

 

Also,while the average consumer won't care,the core fanbase will and once you allienate those sales of your series will begin to decline cuz the average consumer nowadays usually seek mobile games and stuff with lots of a media coverage.

 

Sure you'd think LRFFXIII sold well but that won't be the case when FFXV suffer the same fate cuz the core fanbase was alienated and they decided not to buy it

 

The moment a developer stop addressing complaints about his games is the moment where hisher career will fall on it's face and end up being fired after causing the company or gets limited to small projects and mobile games

well one, you just said the core audience knows who makes the game, but now you're saying they're so offended by a guy making a game they don't like that they won't buy someone else's game? What?

 

Also the claim that complaints weren't addressed is outright wrong, I'm sorry. 13-2 literally went out of its way to deal with EVERY complaint people had with 13

 

And someone at Square clearly knew Lightning Returns wouldn't sell that well because they let the game be experimental and unique, which they wouldn't otherwise. LR did, again, sell well for a low budget game. Millions of units. That can't really be bad except with high budget games

[Dio Brando 5,810]

well one, you just said the core audience knows who makes the game, but now you're saying they're so offended by a guy making a game they don't like that they won't buy someone else's game? What?

 

Also the claim that complaints weren't addressed is outright wrong, I'm sorry. 13-2 literally went out of its way to deal with EVERY complaint people had with 13

 

And someone at Square clearly knew Lightning Returns wouldn't sell that well because they let the game be experimental and unique, which they wouldn't otherwise. LR did, again, sell well for a low budget game. Millions of units. That can't really be bad except with high budget games

Way to miss the point Mr H

 

Do you have any idea how many people I saw were like "I'm not gonna buy a Final Fantasy game ever again after this"?

 

Even if Toriyama didn't touch XV,the reputation of the franchise overall has been tarnished to the extreme and I won't ask you to believe me cuz you can go on any final fantasy forum or even look up how many rants under the final fantasy name exist on youtube,google and countless blogs around

 

Also,where did I firetrucking say XIII-2 didn't address complaints?I did say many times before that XIII-2 is good,sure it didn't address all complaints with Auto-battle and such but it was good but LRFFXIII sure as firetruck didn't address complaints but rather add even more

 

Also,I'm sorry but unique isn't a word I describe LRFFXIII with.....cuz it's a poor man's version of Majora's Mask when you think about it

 

Also,last I checked,LRFFXIII didn't pass the 2 million mark especially in Japan

Edited May 4, 2015 by Smash Mega Koopa

[hatok 6,413]

Way to miss the point Mr H

 

Do you have any idea how many people I saw were like "I'm not gonna buy a Final Fantasy game ever again after this"?

 

Even if Toriyama didn't touch XV,the reputation of the franchise overall has been tarnished to the extreme and I won't ask you to believe me cuz you can go on any final fantasy forum or even look up how many rants under the final fantasy name exist on youtube,google and countless blogs around

 

Also,where did I firetrucking say XIII-2 didn't address complaints?I did say many times before that XIII-2 is good,sure it didn't address all complaints with Auto-battle and such but it was good but LRFFXIII sure as firetruck didn't address complaints but rather add even more

 

Also,I'm sorry but unique isn't a word I describe LRFFXIII with.....cuz it's a poor man's version of Majora's Mask when you think about it

 

Also,last I checked,LRFFXIII didn't pass the 2 million mark especially in Japan

you know how many people say that versus how many actually follow through on it? People SAY things all the time, yet the hype of FFXV even after a decade is HUGE. Look at the hype for just a demo

 

And yeah, I can go on a FF forum and watch fans complain about how FF13 is literally worse than Sonic 06. But that's not even 1% of Square's audience. It's not even 0% of their Japanese audience. Most of those people bitching will buy all the new games anyways. Internet anger doesn't translate to major losses. And when people talk abot FF13 they tend to ignore the fact that a lot of people don't hate, or even outright love the game. FF13 got a LOT of NEW fans for FF. But that gets ignored so people can spout a narrative about how it's REVILED and will ruin Square Enix, and how this guy needs to be fired for making a mildly mediocre game with two great sequels

 

You literally said he wasn't addressing the complaints in his games, what else am I supposed to take that as besides "He's not addressing the complaints he gets"? Because he did. 13-2 changed a lot to accommodate the criticism of the original, and LR was its own thing (but still dealt with people's problems)

 

Poor man's Majora's Mask? That's a comparison I can only see coming from someone who has heard vaguely of the game, not actually played it. The only similarity is that there's a time limit and side quests are important. That's the most superficial comparison you could've made

 

"Especially in Japan" ...that phrasing. What

Again, almost two million for a budget game  like that isn't exactly a surprise. Like I said, Square clearly expected this

[Dio Brando 5,810]

you know how many people say that versus how many actually follow through on it? People SAY things all the time, yet the hype of FFXV even after a decade is HUGE. Look at the hype for just a demo

 

And yeah, I can go on a FF forum and watch fans complain about how FF13 is literally worse than Sonic 06. But that's not even 1% of Square's audience. It's not even 0% of their Japanese audience. Most of those people bitching will buy all the new games anyways. Internet anger doesn't translate to major losses. And when people talk abot FF13 they tend to ignore the fact that a lot of people don't hate, or even outright love the game. FF13 got a LOT of NEW fans for FF. But that gets ignored so people can spout a narrative about how it's REVILED and will ruin Square Enix, and how this guy needs to be fired for making a mildly mediocre game with two great sequels

 

You literally said he wasn't addressing the complaints in his games, what else am I supposed to take that as besides "He's not addressing the complaints he gets"? Because he did. 13-2 changed a lot to accommodate the criticism of the original, and LR was its own thing (but still dealt with people's problems)

 

Poor man's Majora's Mask? That's a comparison I can only see coming from someone who has heard vaguely of the game, not actually played it. The only similarity is that there's a time limit and side quests are important. That's the most superficial comparison you could've made

 

"Especially in Japan" ...that phrasing. What

Again, almost two million for a budget game  like that isn't exactly a surprise. Like I said, Square clearly expected this

I did play Majora's Mask on my 3DS so there ya go

 

Also,mind you complaints include both Gameplay and story-telling not just gameplay alone