“Final Fantasy 9’s Development: A Bold Move to Hawaii Without a Clear Plan”

Legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu reflects on the “recklessness” of Square during the development of Final Fantasy 9, highlighting how the team made bold moves like relocating to Hawaii without a concrete plan and even splurging on cars with custom license plates.

The late ’90s marked a peak for Square, with a string of iconic titles released between 1997 and 2000, including Final Fantasy 7, Parasite Eve, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy 8, Tactics Ogre, and Vagrant Story. Riding high on this success, Uematsu believes the company became a bit extravagant with its finances.

In a translated interview, Uematsu shares insights about the Hawaii move, which seemed to be driven more by a vibe than a strategy. “I wonder why [the team moved to Hawaii],” he muses. “Maybe [Final Fantasy creator Hironobu] Sakaguchi just wanted to live there. Square had a kind of recklessness at that time. We definitely didn’t have a solid plan. There was just a ‘if we go to Hawaii we can do it’ type of vibe.”

The lavish spending didn’t stop with the team’s relocation. Game artist Hideo Minaba showcased his Hawaiian personalized license plate, ‘FF9378’, where ‘378’ cleverly represents his name in Japanese.

Uematsu notes that Minaba wasn’t alone in indulging in custom plates. “City buses were very inconvenient [in Hawaii] at the time, so everyone bought a car,” he explains. “I also had the personalized license plate ‘FF9.’ But then I saw that one of the American animators had the plate ‘ani-m8r,’ and I thought, ‘why did I get a license plate as simplistic as FF9?'”

The American animation staff were newly brought on board for Final Fantasy 9, indicating that Square was willing to invest generously in even its latest hires. In an industry often filled with uncertainty, it’s refreshing to hear about a time when developers were well-compensated.

While Uematsu admits he can’t listen to his own music due to embarrassment, he expresses satisfaction with the medieval theme of Final Fantasy 9, reflecting his passion for that genre.