S.E.E.S.

Riding the meteoric success of the PlayStation Final Fantasy entries, Square Soft (that felt nice to type) announced the one-two-three punch of Final Fantasy X, XI and XII in 2000. I remember reading about it in an issue of EGM. Not long after Square released the first teaser image of XII:

Obviously, the illustration doesn’t give away much in terms of story or setting, but what it lacks in specifics it makes up for in scope. Underneath a sky crowded with towers and airships, a city teems with life. We see the various races of Ivalice as they go about their day against the backdrop of a vivid world.

But players didn’t have to wait until 2006 to gain access to Ivalice. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance set the stage for Moogles, Bangaa, Nu Mou and Viera, all whom have distinct patterns of speech, dress and culture. An enormous amount of preproduction work went into making Ivalice feel lived-in, the effects of which are immeasurably satisfyingly, from a player perspective. I’m primarily drawn to Final Fantasy for the world-building, hence my disappointment with Final Fantasy XV (too empty) and Final Fantasy XVI (too stale).

I want to go back.