They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, and the Final Fantasy franchise is chock-full of 2D pixel fan art for its popular 3D entries. Reimagining great characters like Cloud, Vivi, Ashe, and Noctis with a decidedly old-school aesthetic never gets… well, old. So, what happens when the creative director of upcoming flagship behemoth Final Fantasy XVI gets it in his mind to craft not just a 2D pixelized picture of protagonist Clive and faithful canine companion Torgal but a two-minute animation of it?
Brilliance. Brilliance happens.
Props to Twitter’s excellent @aitaikimochi for pulling the full piece from the NicoNico broadcast of Final Fantasy XIV‘s New Year Mahjong Tournament, where Creative Director Kazutoyo Maehiro confirmed this catchy chiptune melody to be from none other than Masayoshi Soken himself — in case you didn’t know, the fabulous Soken is not only Final Fantasy XVI‘s composer, but he’s been the lead composer on FFXIV for a decade and counting.
Watching Clive Rosfield and his grown-up pupper bestie rush across the open field in front of the capital of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque is positively delightful, and it has me hoping we get something akin to that Final Fantasy XV tie-in, A King’s Tale, before the era of this 16th mainline entry is behind us.
What do you think? Are you dancing mad alongside this groovy track? Does it make you want to shuffle or boogie? Final Fantasy XVI arrives at last on June 22nd, 2023 for PlayStation 5. (My bad song title puns, however, are here to haunt you forever.)
Source: Gematsu
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.