Editing Final Fantasy XII development

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Final Fantasy XII'' development}}
[[File:FFXII Early Gameplay.jpg|thumb|250px|Early gameplay development of ''Final Fantasy XII''.]]
Developed from 2001 to 2006, ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' cost approximately 4 billion Japanese yen (35 million USD) to produce with a crew of more than one hundred people. 

''Final Fantasy XII'' released two years later than planned, and its delay pushed ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' to become a next-gen project for [[PlayStation 3]].<ref name=polygon060717>{{Refwebsite| page url = https://www.polygon.com/features/2017/7/5/15916862/the-making-of-final-fantasy-12| page name = The making of Final Fantasy 12 | site url = http://www.polygon.com| site name = Polygon| access time = 20180822005205}}</ref> The executive producer, Akitoshi Kawazu, has said in an interview<ref name="IGN Square Firsts">{{Refwebsite| page url = http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/10/26/square-talks-firsts-for-final-fantasy-xii| page name = Square Talks Firsts for Final Fantasy XII| site url = http://www.ign.com/| site name = IGN| access time = 20180822003606}}</ref> that back in 2000 when ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', ''[[Final Fantasy XI]]'' and ''Final Fantasy XII'' were announced as being in the planning stages, ''Final Fantasy X'' was announced as an offline game while the games ''Final Fantasy XI'' onwards would be online games. During the development of ''Final Fantasy XII'', that changed, but, just from the early planning stages the team intended ''Final Fantasy XII'' to be a different experience from ''Final Fantasy X''.

''Final Fantasy XII'' has two re-releases: the Japan-exclusive ''[[Final Fantasy XII#International Zodiac Job System|International Zodiac Job System]]'' and ''[[Final Fantasy XII#Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age|The Zodiac Age]]'', an HD remaster for [[PlayStation 4]], which was later also brought to other platforms, the [[Xbox One]] and [[Nintendo Switch]] versions receiving further enhancements to functionality. The ''Zodiac'' versions a new take on the [[License Board]] system, with twelve boards instead of one, each corresponding to a different zodiac sign and job.

{{See Also|Final Fantasy XII version differences|t1=Version differences|Final Fantasy XII concept art|t2=Concept art}}

==Staff==
[[Yasumi Matsuno]], originally announced as both producer and director, bowed out of both roles before the game was released. The official reason given for his departure was health concerns. On February 25, 2010, Matsuno spoke out on his departure from the ''Final Fantasy XII'' project on his Twitter page, stating that while he had been sick, he had nevertheless let down the [[Square Enix]] staff, shareholders, and fans who had been looking forward to the game.

In Matsuno's place, [[Hiroyuki Ito]] and [[Hiroshi Minagawa]] took over directorial duties, with [[Akitoshi Kawazu]] assuming the role of the executive producer. Matsuno remains credited for "Original Work/Scenario Plot/Supervision". The game continued to follow on the same track after Matsuno left. The playable version of the game had been shown at E3, and at that point it was a matter of polishing up the final product.<ref name=polygon060717/>

==Characters and story==
[[File:Basch-early concept.jpg|thumb|left|Early design of [[Basch fon Ronsenburg]].]]
In early stages of development the main character was to be "big and tough", but as development continued and targeting demographics were considered, he became more youthful. With the casting of voice actor Kohei Takeda, who also did motion capture for the part, he became less so and more "active, upbeat, bright and positive", all traits that characterize [[Vaan]]. The change in lead character happened early on in development. In terms of the story, there were slight changes as to which character would appear at which stage, but nothing that would change the plot drastically.<ref name=polygon060717/> 

Akitoshi Kawazu, the game's executive producer, has later admitted he thought the game is not perfect. The team received fan feedback after the game was released in Japan, and there were players who felt [[Final Fantasy XII story|the story]] wasn't up to the series's standards. Kawazu said it is because of the way the games are made, the story itself is decided early on and the process of getting that realized makes it difficult to change along the way. Kawazu noted there are things he personally would have liked to change, but, practically speaking, they couldn't.<ref name="IGN Square Firsts"/> Many players have compared the story of ''Final Fantasy XII'' to that of ''Star Wars'', but that wasn't a conscious decision during development. The goal was to create an easy-to-understand plot.<ref name="Gsmespot12032017">{{Refwebsite | page url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-12-devs-explain-why-its-re-emerging-/1100-6448635/| page name = Final Fantasy 12 Devs Explain Why It's Re-emerging After 11 Years |site url = http://www.gamespot.com | site name = GameSpot| access time = 20180822005221}}</ref> However, it has been noted that the plot similarities originate from ''[[wikipedia:The Hidden Fortress|The Hidden Fortress]]'', the 1958 Akira Kurosawa film that inspired ''Star Wars''.<ref>{{Refwebsite| page url = https://www.gamereactor.eu/reviews/560713/Final+Fantasy+XII+The+Zodiac+Age/| page name = Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age Review| site url = https://www.gamereactor.eu/| site name = Gamereactor| access time = 20180822005227}}</ref><ref>{{Refwebsite| page url = https://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/gaming/832031/Final-Fantasy-12-The-Zodiac-Age-review-PS4| page name = Final Fantasy 12 The Zodiac Age review - A chance to revisit a much-overlooked classic| site url = https://www.express.co.uk| site name = Express| access time = 16:07, August 31, 2019 (UTC)}}</ref>
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==Logo==
[[File:FFXII Logo Art.jpg|thumb|Logo illustration.]]
The [[Logos of Final Fantasy|logo]] features [[Judge Gabranth]] in blue and purple, with a peach-colored brushstroke on the right. During the time the series's veteran image illustrator, [[Yoshitaka Amano]], created the logo illustration, there was a bit of a distance between his office and the Square Enix office, and he drew up another piece while the Square representative was on the way to pick up the pieces. The one drawn within that hour was the one that ended up being chosen. Amano used Japanese-style ink that was kind of like watercolor, leaving brush marks that led to the the touch and style of that particular piece. Amano has described the forward-thinking brush effect as something that can only come about spontaneously, and said that logos don't necessarily come about following the request.<ref name=GI270416>{{Refwebsite| page url = https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2016/04/27/the-art-that-shaped-final-fantasy-thoughts-from-famed-artist-yoshitaka-amano.aspx| page name = The Art That Shaped Final Fantasy: Thoughts From Famed Artist Yoshitaka Amano| site url = https://www.gameinformer.com/| site name = Game Informer| access time = 20180822005234}}</ref>

==Gameplay==
Despite the struggles that beset the team, the final product closely resembles the team's original creative vision. [[Gambits]] and the open world design were part of the plan since early on,<ref name=polygon060717/> but the hardest part of the project was working with the memory capacity of the PlayStation 2 to achieve seamless battles that take place on the field.<ref>{{Refwebsite| page url = https://uk.ign.com/articles/2006/05/12/e3-2006-interview-with-the-final-fantasy-xii-staff| page name = E3 2006: Interview with the Final Fantasy XII Staff| site url = https://uk.ign.com| site name = IGN UK| access time = 17:38, November 27, 2018 (UTC)}}</ref>

Hiroyuki Ito was in charge of creating the battle system and his motivation for the gambit system was to create a "single-player online game" where the player would have independently acting [[party]] members who would still perform the way the player wanted them to. The gambit system works on the same basic programming algorithms used for the monsters in the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] ''[[Final Fantasy series|Final Fantasy]]'' games.<ref name="1up Ito Science of Battle">{{Refwebsitedead| page url = http://www.1up.com/features/final-fantasy-hiroyuki-ito-science| page name = Final Fantasy's Hiroyuki Ito and the Science of Battle| site url = http://www.1up.com/| site name = 1UP.com| access time = 20161130080624}}</ref> At the time, some people in the development team were concerned about whether the PlayStation 2 could pull it off, as ''Final Fantasy XII'' was more complicated compared to ''Final Fantasy X''.<ref name=polygon060717/>

[[File:EarlyFFXII.jpg|thumb|left|Early gameplay development.]]
Because the game allows the player to swap the party's reserve and active members at any time, at the start of every cut scene, there are several conditions the game has to take into account. Granting the player's control over the game's [[artificial intelligence]] behavior also posed challenges, as party members with active gambits might wander off and trigger a cutscene unintended. Despite the system being a challenge, the team never explored the idea of having the players issue individual commands. Even if there wasn't an intentional sharing of concepts with ''Final Fantasy XII'', at the time, a lot of the staff was playing ''Final Fantasy XI'', and many players have noted similarities.

The driving design philosophy behind the game was to have players exploring a world. As walking around a town has people standing around, the developers wanted there to be the same experience when going through a desert with monsters roaming about. Since that was the type of gameplay the developers wanted to provide, a real-time battle system that got rid of [[random encounter]]s was chosen.<ref name="gamespot-akitoshikawazu">{{Refwebsite| page url = https://www.gamespot.com/articles/qanda-final-fantasy-xii-producer-akitoshi-kawazu/1100-6160463/| page name = Q&A: Final Fantasy XII producer Akitoshi Kawazu| site url = https://www.gamespot.com/| site name = GameSpot| access time = 20180822005239}}</ref>

''Final Fantasy XII'' was initially planned to have a [[job system]], but the idea was scrapped when the developers thought it might be too overwhelming to players in lieu of the gambit system being introduced,<ref>{{Refwebsite| page url = https://retronauts.com/article/421/the-trials-tribulations-and-trial-mode-of-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age| page name = The trials, tribulations, and Trial Mode of Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age| site url = https://retronauts.com| site name = Retronauts| access time = 19:35, January 30, 2019 (UTC)}}</ref> so the idea was condensed into a License Board system. However, players did not respond to the License Board system as anticipated, and the team returned to their previous idea of using a job system in the ''Zodiac Job System'' version.<ref name="12intulti-ito">{{Refbook|[[Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System Ultimania]]|323-327}} ([http://web.archive.org/web/20180822005023/http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/english-translation-of-hiroyuki-ito-interview-from-the-ffxii-international-ultimania.190722331/ translation])</ref>

One intended theme for the gameplay was to add a feeling of finality and destiny, where the player may or may not end up with the best results. This is reflected with the [[Treasure (Final Fantasy XII)|random treasure chests]], as well as perhaps the fact that [[zodiac Spear|the game's ultimate weapon]] is [[permanently missable content|easily missed]]. The developers did not intend players to unlock every license for every character, but plan different paths for each. In retrospect these ideas did not end up working as planned, as many players kept trying at the same treasures until they got the item they wanted, and many players unlocked all licenses in order, essentially making the player characters clones of each other.<ref name="12intulti-ito" /> Some of these ideas were rectified in the ''Zodiac Job System'' version.

==Music==
{{Quote|When writing music for a movie, the timings are fixed and you can write things very precisely to match each and every cue. Writing for games is very different. Although the music can't always be written to match the scene you have much more time to develop themes and impressions over the course of the game. Using sounds, melodies and chords you can control the impact this has on the player.|Hitoshi Sakimoto}}
[[Hitoshi Sakimoto]] composed the game's music while [[Nobuo Uematsu]] contributed a single composition—the vocal theme, "[[Kiss Me Good-Bye (song)|Kiss Me Good-Bye]]", performed by [[Angela Aki]]. Renowned violinist Taro Hakase provided performances for [[Symphonic Poem "Hope"]], which served as a promotional theme along with "Kiss Me Good-Bye". Angela Aki was approached by Uematsu and Square Enix team, asking if she would be interested in singing the theme for ''Final Fantasy XII''. When Aki heard the song Mr. Uematsu has written, she was deeply moved. Uematsu wanted Aki to write lyrics to it, and first thing in her mind upon hearing the melody was a scene of a new journey after good-bye, and so she structured the lyrics based on it.<ref>{{Refwebsite| page url = https://www.ign.com/articles/2006/10/27/twelve-days-of-final-fantasy-angela-aki-interview-part-1|page name = Twelve Days Of Final Fantasy: Angela Aki Interview Part 1| site url = https://www.ign.com/| site name = IGN| access time = 20180822004057}}</ref> "Kiss Me Good-Bye" was the first song written specifically for the ''Final Fantasy XII'' [[Final Fantasy XII: Original Soundtrack|soundtrack]].

Yasumi Matsuno chose Sakimoto to compose the music.<ref name=1up>{{Refwebsitedead| page url = http://www.1up.com/features/ffxii-composer-interview| page name = Final Fantasy XII Hitoshi Sakimoto Interview| site url = http://www.1up.com/| site name = 1UP.com| access time = 20160614161356}}</ref> Sakimoto described the project as "huge", and that he was nervous about it. The main ''Final Fantasy'' series up until ''Final Fantasy XII'' had been known for Nobuo Uematsu's music, and Sakimoto was originally wondering whether he should try to emulate Uematsu's previous work or not. After considering the situation Sakimoto decided to go with his own style.<ref name="1up"/>

Before starting, Sakimoto already knew where the song "Kiss Me Good-Bye" was going to be used in the game, and how the song was going to sound, so he took that into consideration.<ref name="IGN">{{Refwebsite| page url = http://www.ign.com/articles/2006/10/24/twelve-days-of-final-fantasy-xii-hitoshi-sakimoto-interview-part-i| page name = Twelve Days of Final Fantasy XII: Hitoshi Sakimoto Interview Part I| site url = http://www.ign.com/| site name = IGN| access time = 20180822004344}}</ref> By the time Sakimoto joined in the project, the basic battle parts had already been in the works and the storyline and character settings had been done. Sakimoto discussed some basic principles with Matsuno, such as the atmosphere that the music needed to create and the characters' emotional changes, and created the tracks following these principles.<ref name="IGN"/>

Early on it was decided that the game's music would use a fundamental orchestra form, not because of the image of the game itself, but to avoid a particular kind of arrangement that can be created by an unbalanced orchestration with use of folk instruments.<ref name=IGN/> Because [[Battle (term)|battles]] take place on the field instead of in a separate battle screen like in previous ''Final Fantasy'' titles, Sakimoto was initially unsure whether he should put the music's emphasis on battle or exploration.

Ultimately, Sakimoto decided to try to match the game's music to each location, a strategy that would convey the atmosphere regardless of whether the player is engaged in battle. As a result, many pieces alternate between being bombastic and quiet.<ref name=Collect>''Final Fantasy XII'' Collector's Edition Bonus DVD</ref>

The music in the opening and the ending were recorded live and have been fully mixed to support [[wikipedia:Dolby Pro Logic|Dolby Pro Logic]]. Most of the music uses the console's internal sound chip. Sakimoto didn't want the game's overall mood to be too dark, so he tried to incorporate elements to keep things lighter. He names the "Cerobi Steppe" as his favorite piece from the soundtrack.<ref name=Collect/>

==Localization==
Almost an entire year before the North American release, the game's [[Final Fantasy XII Playable Demo Version|playable demo]] was included along with the North American release of ''Dragon Quest VIII.'' 

From the dialogue to the flavor text to the menus, everything was translated by two people: [[Alexander O. Smith]] and Joseph Reeder. Smith had previously worked on the localization for ''[[Vagrant Story]]'' as well as several other ''Final Fantasy'' installments, including ''Final Fantasy X''. The voice overs were directed by Jack Fletcher, who had previously directed the voice overs for other ''Final Fantasy'' games.

The game about halfway complete when the localization process started in earnest, taking two years to complete. By the time localization started the original director Matsuno was already out of the picture and thus has no influence on the localization.<ref name="usgamer">{{Refwebsite| page url = https://www.usgamer.net/articles/a-voice-for-ivalice-the-localization-and-voice-acting-of-final-fantasy-xii| page name = A Voice for Ivalice: The Localization and Voice Acting of Final Fantasy XII | site url = https://www.usgamer.net| site name = USgamer| access time = 20180822005242}}</ref> Smith was tasked with writing the script around the lip movements animated for the Japanese version, but the game would still have the same audio file length restriction that had been a problem with ''Final Fantasy X'', where the audio files must be the same length in both Japanese and English. However, the English voice work is smoother in ''Final Fantasy XII'' because Smith was prepared for this being an issue, and had the Japanese developers add couple seconds of blank sound to every scene to allow for some wiggle room.<ref name="edge">EDGE #278 ''Tale of Tales Meet Alexander O Smith the translator who's brought some of Japan's biggest RPGs to the West'', p.94-95</ref>

The voice script was slightly smaller than the one in ''Final Fantasy X'', but the non-voiced was large.<ref name="usgamer"/> Writing the voiced script took 9 months and was still only 10% of the total text; translating the rest of the game took 5 months. Because the game was still in active development, new text kept arriving during the work, but because the English version had as much time to be translated as the Japanese script had time to be written, the localized version could be polished.<ref name="edge"/>

Dialogue was translated first as it requires more time to get right, and helps set the tone for the world. The movie and scenario dialogue tends to be completed first in the Japanese version due to recording schedules, and similarly needs to be done first in the English for recording. The recording proceeded during the middle of the project, after which the translators returned to finish the rest of the text.<ref name="usgamer"/>

While the medieval tone comes from the original game, the localizers could decide on the specific accents the characters would use and voice models were used to guide the writing: Vaan was Leonardo DiCaprio from the ''Titanic'', [[Balthier]] was Aragorn from the ''Lord of the Rings'' and [[Fran (Final Fantasy XII)|Fran]] was the Icelandic singer Bjork.<ref name=edge/> While everyone in the Japanese version speaks with unaccented, standard Japanese, the translators have explained that it doesn't make sense in the context of a global story to use the same accent of English everywhere.<ref name="usgamer"/>

[[File:XII Viera.JPG|right|100px|thumb|A viera.]]
Since the Japanese text lacked specific accents, the localizers had to derive them from the [[Ivalice (Final Fantasy XII)|Ivalician]] mannerisms and culture. Thus the [[viera]] became Icelandic to give their speech an alien quality. To avoid stereotypical Indian accents for [[Bhujerba]], a Sri Lankan accent was chosen. Following the "rule of ''Star Wars''" the [[Archadia|Empire]] is British and the rebels American.<ref name="edge"/>

While Japanese games are often comfortable breaking immersion to deliver in-game information, this aspect was to be "Westernized". For example, in one place in [[Rabanastre (Final Fantasy XII)|Rabanastre]] where Vaan encounters a [[Chocobo (Final Fantasy XII)|chocobo]] vendor, the Japanese had the vendor explain the yellow birds are chocobos that can be ridden. As Vaan, a street-wise orphan, would know what a chocobo is, the English version instead has the vendor lamenting that some guy rode off on one of her chocobos without paying, to deliver the same information more fluidly. Other differences include the Victorian-styled [[Bestiary (Final Fantasy XII)|bestiary]] that reads more like a biology text book in Japanese, and using metered verse with an unusual rhyme scheme for the speech of the godlike [[Occuria]].<ref name="usgamer"/>

The voice recording was done in Los Angeles under the direction of Jack Fletcher in eight weeks. Smith and Reeder sent descriptions to Fletcher who did casting and voice direction, and sent the translators options fro which they picked from. The development team had a final check and veto power, but never disagreed with the translators' choices. The localization team argued for nine to ten weeks to finish, and ended up recording from morning to eve with many nighttime sessions.<ref name="usgamer"/>

[[File:LarsaUOmega.jpg|left|120px|thumb|Larsa Ferrinas Solidor.]]
The translators did not want to use the "go-to anime voice actors", especially for the [[Archadian Judges|Judges]] who wear masks, and thus didn't need the voice actors to be able to match the lip animations. Stage actors were auditioned for the parts, many of whom had never done voice acting before.<ref name="edge"/> The localization team valued great character actors, like [[John DiMaggio]], and have actual young actors as the voices for kids, like [[Larsa Ferrinas Solidor|Larsa]], rather than use adult women for the child parts as is common in Japan.<ref name="usgamer"/>

The voice recording for ''Final Fantasy XII'' has been compared to doing a play or a film script, being different from a regular JRPG voice recording. Ivalice was to be a classical sort of world with Shakespearean and Greek influences, and the cut scenes were both relationship- and action-oriented, and key to the story. As with almost all games, the script wasn't released ahead of time and all the actors knew were the character names and a few lines of description. Fletcher as the voice director guided the actors in the game world in filling in backstory and setting and helped make the localization from Japanese to English. In games, and often in regular animation, actors record individually. The team had dialogue already recorded the other actors could follow, and never did a "cast record."<ref name="usgamer"/>

The English voice work for ''Final Fantasy XII'' has been highly acclaimed and both Smith and Reeder identify it as the highpoint of their careers, with Fletcher naming it his favorite game he's worked on due to the story and the characters.<ref name="usgamer"/>

==Censorship==
[[File:Penelo captured.jpg|thumb|The scene where Penelo is held hostage is censored from the Japanese version.]]
[[Final Fantasy XII version differences|Changes]] to the game's North American version include the addition of widescreen 16:9 support, and additional scenes and content that [[Censorship|were left out of the Japanese version, due to rating issues]]. The scene where [[Penelo]] is tied up in [[Ba'Gamnan (Final Fantasy XII)|Ba'Gamnan]]'s [[Lhusu Mines]] hideout was cut from the original Japanese version of the game to get a lower rating. Producer Akitoshi Kawazu has explained the decision to do this thusly: "[...] at the time right before the Japanese release there were various incidents in the real world which...basically there were some similarities there that would have made it a difficult thing to release at the lower age rating that we wanted."<ref name="gamespot-akitoshikawazu"/>

This is a rare case of a ''Final Fantasy'' game being [[Censorship|censored]] for Japan, but not for overseas versions. The "incidents in the real world" Kawazu refers to, but does not specify, may refer to [[wikipedia:Tsutomu Miyazaki|Tsutomu Miyazaki]], a Japanese serial killer who abducted and murdered four young girls in Saitama and Tokyo Prefectures from August 1988 to June 1989. His death sentence was upheld by the Japanese supreme court in January 2006, two months before ''Final Fantasy XII'' came out.

==References==
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[[Category:Development]]
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