Producer Yoshinori Kitase shares Final Fantasy X, X-2 development challenges and choices in new blog

Final Fantasy X and X-2 are among Square Enix's RPG classics available via PlayStation Now, and the platform holder is celebrating with a few tales from developing Spira. In a new PlayStation Blog, producer on both games, Yoshinori Kitase, shared a few hurdles and design choices along the way, including how we wound up with no world map. 

Perhaps it's not a big surprise, but some of Kitase's central themes throughout his guest post reflected the challenges that come with creating a game on a new console. He noted the PS2 as quite the step up from its successor, but that its limitations still prevented Square Enix from achieving the visual in FFX they wanted to. When it came down to it, the company, "we had to choose whether to prioritize resolution or the number of colors." The team opted for colors.

But the choice didn't stick, with trends indicating players wanted higher resolution. "As a result, we switched from focusing on the number of colors to making the game as high resolution as possible," Kitase wrote. "And we did this about six months before the master deadline!"

Final Fantasy X's leap into a new generation of visuals was also pricey for the publisher. The game wound up without an overworld map to alleviate the costs, making it the first Final Fantasy without one. It was also the first entry with voice acting, and the producer dropped an interesting detail revealing conversations back then had to be recorded as a group. There was no recording lines separately. 

The poppy sequel also had its own hiccups; Square Enix wasn't fond of the "X-2" part of its name fearing fans would mistake the game for Final Fantasy XII. Kitase says the team also "looked to a genre of kids’ TV shows in Japan" for transformation inspirations, and that's how you got some of those flashy numbers from Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. As someone who adores both Sailor Moon and Final Fantasy X-2, I reckon I've always connected the two, so it's pretty neat to hear the confirmation. 

The full blog post over on the PlayStation site has a few more interesting bits and bobs from the journey. And while even the remaster of both PS2 games are close to a decade old now, Square Enix is still talking about Yuna and Tidus. Back in July 2021, character designer Tetsuya Nomura confirmed that a story synopsis for Final Fantasy X-3 exists.