>>723381258
>>723381093
OK so story goes a man named Tetsuya wanted to make the next Final Fantasy numbering title a break from the recent Final Fantasy games that came before it. It had urban elements, a dark science-fiction bent and comments on contemporary issues such as organized crime and class divide, etc. and it would have gameplay systems that haven't yet been tried in other Final Fantasy games but instead in other genres including platformer-style movement such as running around and jumping thanks to its fully 3D level design and free camera. Mecha robots and politics were going to be big story components, putting this closer to Armored Trooper Votoms, Devilman, or Space Runaway Ideon than Final Fantasy, about personal experiences affected by violence and the separation of church and state.
The producer rejected Tetsuya's pitch because it was too dark and complicated for a numbering title. He said yes to another pitch with the conventions from past Final Fantasy games such as linear progression from cutscene to battle to town to world map, contextual interactions that varied per level with identical inputs, and limited exploration on flat 2D planes with point A to B navigation. This time it used storytelling and railroading to bring people from one FMV cutscene to another almost seamlessly. This was known as the interactive movie design philosophy, as the producer wanted to use games to tell stories that could stand up to movies, and this pitch was very much inspired by shonen anime and some level of social commentary on the environment but had a very classic Final Fantasy narrative on metaphysics and grand philosophical ideas.
Tetsuya's pitch was good enough to get a dev team of young hires from other projects and a budget but Square suffered losses and mismanagement, this new game became compromised from what Tetsuya really intended. People still ask about the original vision Tetsuya had for his game in hushed tones.
Being Tetsuya is suffering.