Hironobu Sakaguchi has reunited with Square Enix after a 20-year hiatus to bring Fantasian to PCs and consoles from Apple Arcade. He also has plans to revive other games from his past, but not the ones fans might expect.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Sakaguchi stated that he has no intentions of bringing Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon to modern platforms, despite fan hopes.
However, he expressed interest in reviving Terra Battle, a game released for mobile devices in 2014 that is no longer playable. This tile-based tactical RPG with collectible card and puzzle game elements received a sequel in 2017 but was quickly removed from digital stores.
Currently, the focus is on Fantasian. A new version called Fantasian Neo Dimension will be released on PCs and consoles this winter, featuring upgrades such as 4K graphics, voice acting, and a new difficulty mode.
Sakaguchi revealed that the collaboration with Square Enix came about during a dinner with Final Fantasy 14 director and producer Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida. When Sakaguchi mentioned his desire to expand the horizons of throwback JRPGs, Yoshida suggested Square Enix take on the project.
Reflecting on the reunion with Square Enix, Sakaguchi shared, “I was a little bit concerned about how people would feel about working with me — perhaps they’ll have mixed feelings. It was actually quite a warm welcome. Once the news was announced, I got tweets from a lot of current Square staff saying, ‘Welcome back, Sakaguchi-san.’ Some people I know, some I don’t. Everyone’s working hard toward a common goal.”
The Final Fantasy creator admitted that his obsession with Final Fantasy 14 led to some of his employees messaging him on the MMO to remind him about missed meetings.