Sakaguchi discusses Final Fantasy's future

[01.21.01] » Final Fantasy XII "might" be offline, Final Fantasy XI to incorporate strong story -- are you people happy now?

   In an interview with Sweden's Super Play magazine, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi discussed the future of the long-running RPG series. Final Fantasy XI will certainly be an online-only title, but "that does not mean the series will change for good," Sakaguchi said. He explained that Final Fantasy XII could revert to an offline experience, just as Final Fantasy IX reversed VII and VIII's trend towards more realistic character designs.

   Sakaguchi also discussed his role in the development of Final Fantasy XI. While other teams have developed FFs IX and X, Sakaguchi has been working to create an original online experience that will be handle thousands of players while still including traditional RPG elemetns. "Most PC online games today do not have a set story but leaves most up to the players themselves. FFXI will be different in that respect," he stated.

   Final Fantasy XI is scheduled to be released worldwide next year.