Atlus Studio, Christmas Eve.
Kobayashi Tetsu casually wrote a number on the whiteboard for everyone.
"Latest news from North America: Final Fantasy's first-week sales reached 220,000 units, and sales continue to climb. We predict first-month sales will reach 700,000."
A brief silence followed, then an eruption of cheers.
No wonder they were so jubilant!
On one hand, the sales curve showed a steady upward trend. This indicated that after the initial marketing push, the game's positive word-of-mouth was attracting an ever-wider player base.
On the other hand, this proved that their development approach was effective!
Was Final Fantasy selling poorly in Japan? Absolutely not.
Unlike Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy was a story-driven role-playing game. As such, it needed time to build momentum. Without that incubation period, sales couldn't have improved. Players had to play it to discover its appeal.
If it continued to gain traction, Final Fantasy would likely reach 400,000 to 500,000 sales in its first month in Japan.
Final Fantasy was priced at nearly double the cost of a standard cartridge, making its sales figures quite impressive.
Development Division 2 had put considerable effort into creating the sequel, and Kobayashi Tetsu had also taken time to offer some guidance based on future market trends.
So far, the results were excellent. In Japan, the sales curve was steadily rising, though outsiders couldn't see this and might assume the game was failing.
Kobayashi Tetsu raised his hand and made a calming gesture.
"Next, I'd like Iwata-kun to explain the game's design philosophy."
"Yes," Iwata Satoru replied, unable to conceal his excitement.
"Actually, we have to thank Nintendo for this. Because of the cartridge compression technology, I visited Nintendo several times on business trips and learned about their advice for expanding into the North American market."
"Simple, yet complex."
"These two goals seem contradictory, but they magically harmonized in North America. North American players enjoy games with a certain depth, yet they also prefer straightforward controls."
"So I kept thinking, 'If we're aiming to conquer the North American market, how can we achieve that?'"
"The biggest challenge for role-playing games is always the maze. Development Division 2 experimented with several different maze styles, and while the internal playtesters' opinions were fairly consistent, I still felt it wasn't enough."
"At that point, the President gave me a crucial hint: 'Iwata, try referencing old mansions.'"
"I suddenly understood what he meant. Many old mansions appear to have overlapping corridors, but when you turn a corner, you discover a hidden world. The President explained that this is a Japanese characteristic—due to our limited space, we've had to be creative and make the most of every courtyard. This is what we call a 'Miniature Garden.'"
"We decided to call this type of maze a 'Miniature Garden Maze.' The seemingly complex paths actually lead to the same destination, with only a few dead ends. By focusing on 'live paths' rather than dead ends, we made the map feel more alive."
"But that alone wasn't enough. At that crucial moment, the President made a decisive move."
Iwata Satoru looked at Kobayashi Tetsu, his gaze seeking confirmation. He still hoped Kobayashi Tetsu would explain the rest of the story.
Kobayashi Tetsu smiled and stepped forward, sketching a few lines on the whiteboard.
"There are many diverging paths. How do we guide players to the correct one? We could simply place an NPC here to tell them, 'Go left.' Players would follow, but that's the most crude approach."
"Map guidance is a critical element, especially in games that require intricate map design. The most important design challenge is how to encourage players to look at the map and find their way."
"That's why, in the maps of Final Fantasy, we adopted soft guidance instead of hard guidance."
Kobayashi Tetsu casually pointed to the diagram. "Now, there are two paths here: a main road and a side road. Which way would you go?"
The employee he'd pointed at spoke up. "Of course, the main road."
Kobayashi Tetsu raised his hand. "What if we placed a tiger on the main road?" He drew a circle to represent the tiger.
Before Kobayashi Tetsu could even speak, everyone else nodded in agreement: "Of course, we'll take the side path."
"Right. So this is the core idea behind our design: Soft Guidance."
"When players detour through the side path, they'll find themselves behind the monster. They can either continue fighting or follow the path onward without any consequences. If they attack the monster directly, they can skip the detour entirely."
"Even if they fight the monster and then take a loop, the worst outcome is simply returning to the correct path, while still gaining some items and experience."
"This is our core design principle: Guidance!"
Kobayashi Tetsu had worked closely with Iwata Satoru on the map design for Final Fantasy, putting in a tremendous amount of effort.
The game was largely designed using Miniature Garden-style areas, while employing Soft Guidance for the branching paths and main routes to ensure players explored as many side areas as possible.
This approach maintained the exploratory nature of the dungeons without making them overly difficult.
Kobayashi Tetsu once played a domestic game, Heavenly Sword and Dragon Saber: Huan Shen Jie, whose dungeon was truly hellish—it was practically unplayable for humans.
Using a maze to stall for time is the lowest form of trickery.
Atlas would never resort to such tactics.
Kobayashi Tetsu clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"Anyway, Development Division 2 has worked hard on this project. With the completion of CPS1, First Development Division will soon begin preparations for a new game. We'll give everyone a long holiday break for the New Year. When you return, we'll start working on the new game."
The most exciting part, of course, was the bonus!
Even Iwata Satoru was looking forward to this one.
Kobayashi Tetsu always paid bonuses in US dollars!
Each member of Development Division 2 received a $10,000 bonus. As the executive producer, Iwata Satoru also received a share of the sales profits. First Development Division didn't feel jealous at all, knowing that when their turn came to make a game, they would receive the same treatment.
After settling everything, Kobayashi Tetsu stood up.
"Find media outlets, buy advertising!"
The phenomenal success in North America must be reinvested to boost the domestic market.
When Kobayashi Tetsu first pitched Final Fantasy, he had already set his sights on the overseas market!
This also aligns with historical development. Dragon Quest is a national IP in Japan, with Final Fantasy trailing slightly behind. However, Final Fantasy has greater international influence, while Dragon Quest is slightly behind in that regard.
Ultimately, this stems from Dragon Quest's adherence to classic Japanese fantasy tropes. As time progressed, Final Fantasy increasingly embraced a more "hair salon" aesthetic. Even the first six installments differed in style from Dragon Quest.
Enix created Dragon Quest, while Hironobu Sakaguchi led Square to develop Final Fantasy. The goal was to differentiate themselves.
Therefore, Kobayashi Tetsu wouldn't challenge Dragon Quest in Japan unless he could develop technology far ahead of its time. Otherwise, even the best story would fall short against Dragon Quest.
His market lay overseas!
The press release was purchased and published that very day.
[ Atlus's New Title, Final Fantasy, Sells 700,000 Units in North America! ]
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