SQUARE ENIX MEMBERS

Q. What did you look to for inspiration during development? What was your influence while directing this game?

A. At first we looked at several sandbox games, but I was never a fan of the genre. In the end, no element from those games made it into this title.

In latter stages of development I started to draw inspiration from strategy and empire-building games, both genres that I like very much. You can see their influence in the ability to create diverse buildings once you clear dungeons, which can be compared to the realm expansion and economy building common in strategy games. However, one thing that we made sure to do was to try and smoothen the high learning curve and complex schemes that the strategy genre is notorious for, which tends to turn off a lot of gamers, including myself. I think we’ve succeeded in that regard and our title should look and feel much different from those games.

Q. Are there any elements, story or character-wise, that overlap from the other CRYSTAL CHRONICLES titles?

A. The architek skill that lets you build structures in your kingdom is derived from the manifestation of thought into reality, which is the main theme of FFCC.

As for characters, Stiltzkin the moogle is the only one from other CRYSTAL CHRONICLES title to appear in this title.

Other than that, if you look at the information displayed for travelers who stay at your inns, you’ll find that they hail from locations introduced in the GameCube version of FFCC.

Q. There are frog footprints on some of the walls. Is there really a frog somewhere in the kingdom?

A. A certain important character has a liking for frogs in the story, and that is the reason it became the motif of the kingdom’s emblem. No actual frogs appear in the game, but the bulletin board in the center of your kingdom is frog-themed.


Q. What is elementite composed of? Is it the same material as the crystals or is it something else?

A. Elementite is actually different from crystals. Elementite recovered from dungeons have a connection to one of the major characters in the story. Their connection is revealed as you progress through the game’s story.

Q. Tell us about your favorite characters and scenes and why you like them.

A. My favorite character is Pavlov. I think the way he trips and falls down is very cute. I probably also like him because he’s the only one out of the many characters I suggested that actually made it into the game.

Q. Are there any plans to continue the story of the “little king”?

A. We haven’t decided if we would yet, but I can tell you is that this isn’t the last title of the FFCC series. It would be nice if we could make a sequel, though.

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