Final Fantasy Creator Was Chewing Out Square Devs Before He Was Even A Full-Time Employee

Long before Square became Square Enix, its developers were a much smaller crew figuring out the intricacies of the game industry as they went along. Katsuhisa Higuchi, director of an upcoming turn-based JRPG Eternal Anima, was there for much of it, having worked alongside Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi since the late 1980s. In Famitsu issue 1964, the two veterans looked back on nearly four decades of working together. And apparently, Higuchi’s first impression of Sakaguchi wasn’t exactly a friendly one.

On Higuchi’s very first day, he walked into a morning meeting and found Sakaguchi already giving everyone an earful. “He was yelling things like, ‘You are all utterly useless!’,” imitated Higuchi. “My first impression was, ‘What a scary guy.’ Then I asked my senior, ‘What’s wrong with him?'” Higuchi continued. “He just said, ‘Oh, that’s the part-timer, Saka-chan.’ (laughs).”

That might sound strange, considering Sakaguchi is often referred to as one of Square’s founding figures. But during the company’s earliest years, he was actually hired as a part-time employee while still at university — having looked for work simply because he needed money to buy software for his expensive bootleg Apple II computer.

Sakaguchi explained that Square was in a very different place back then. He compared its more casual atmosphere to a ‘club,’ rather than the multinational company Square Enix is today. “That was the dawn of the game industry, and Square’s staff were in the same age group, so there was a club-like atmosphere,” commented Sakaguchi. In various interviews, former staff have also described the company as more like a family business or ‘college club’ back in the day.

However, despite his position, at that point he had already begun taking on projects and acting in a ‘director-like role.’ That meant someone needed to step up and keep everyone toward the same goal. “If I’m not being a little strict, everything will just end up falling apart. That’s why I might have raised my voice a little (laughs),” he joked.

Well, ‘a little’ might not be what Higuchi remembers. The man behind Lost Odyssey‘s distinctive combat then added that Sakaguchi always demanded an immediate ‘impact’ from his games. The original Final Fantasy, for example, holds back its title drop until players defeat Garland. Final Fantasy 2, meanwhile, immediately throws players into an unwinnable battle.

And considering Higuchi still remembers getting yelled at by Saka-chan the Part-timer nearly 40 years later, Sakaguchi definitely knew how to make a strong first impression outside his games, too. Eternal Anima itself is planned to be released on March 3, 2027, for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X, and PC via Steam. For more gaming news and interviews, don’t forget to keep an eye on GameObserver.