In an Iwata Asks interview, The Last Storydirector Hironobu Sakaguchi said the game’s system took precedence over the story.
“During 23 years there are 3 times when I considered the [gameplay] system first,” Sakaguchi reminisced. The first time was Final Fantasy when he figuring out how to bring a PC role playing game to the Famicom. “There was a considerable amount of trial and error.” Sakaguchi thought about how to use 3D graphics over the story when creating Final Fantasy VII.
The Last Story is the third game, which Sakaguchi says has the feeling of a game with a story in it.
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