As Final Fantasy fans well know, Moogles are a mainstay of the series (introduced in Final Fantasy III), and are as iconic as they are capricious. The little blighters made life difficult during the development of the imminent Final Fantasy XVI, too, according to some amusing anecdotes from the game's developers.
In a new interview, XVI producer Naoki Yoshida, art director Hiroshi Minagawa, and localisation director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox (three class acts we had a chance to talk to recently) sat down to discuss what players can expect come launch day. The specific Moogle thing arose as humourous interaction between Yoshida and Minigawa, and led to the technical tidbit:
"Probably the greatest challenge, on a fundamental level, was the Moogle," Yoshida said, interjecting as Minigawa was explaining an aspect of XVI's graphics. Minagawa agreed, confirming: "The biggest moogle problem arose when we were implementing performance mode towards the end of development. Performance mode alters the appearance of the polygons slightly, and we particularly struggled with the moogle…it just ended up with less fur. It kind of ended up looking like a hedgehog! We were like: 'Is…is this a moogle? Hmmm...'"
Tragically, we don't have an image of the monstrosity in question to share (that's Good King Moggle Mog from Final Fantasy XIV above), but the problem was resolved eventually. Yoshida recalls being concerned about the furry little fluffballs fitting with XVI's grittier, more grounded setting, and said: "Our assistant producer was like, ‘I don’t care, just put them in the game!’ In the end, we took her advice and put one in the game but it was a lot more work than we expected."
Are you glad Square Enix went to the extra effort to properly implement at least a single Moogle into Final Fantasy XVI? How badly do you want to see that hedgehog nightmare fuel, which we have to imagine was immediately destroyed or locked someplace secure? Let us know how you feel in the comments section below.
[source square-enix-games.com, via thegamer.com]
Comments 23
Gotta have the staples of the games.
I hope we'll get real moogle on final fantasy 7 remake 2.
It's not Final Fantasy without Moogles and Chocobos
I’m actually a bit disappointed there is only one Moggle, according to the quote. But I’m glass there is at least one. My only one gripe with FF7 was the only “presence” of a moggle was a kid in a furry suit.
Moogles are part of what make the worlds of Final Fantasy distinct, and every time a game avoids adding them for grittier “more realistic” themes I get very annoyed. It’s like saying pixies can’t be in a fantasy setting just because the story is dark. It’s absurd, it’s fantasy for bleeps sake!!
@wiiware me too!!!
Moogles fits ins medevil setting but god forbid to include people of colour.
I must admit I’m still sour about that. I thought with Lord of the Rings series, wheel of time media, marvel movies, marvel tv series, was finally understanding importance of representation.
I have it on order but I may cancel and pick it up second hand as I don’t want to contribute to the sales figures for this games.
@Wolfie_Pie The word is spelt out as Moo-gles, not Mog-gles.
Sorry to be a stickler but seeing that irks me.
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Moogle_(race)
No fur on 60fps moogles, no buy
With all respect, all this emphasis on "grittier and more grounded" can sometimes come across like Yoshida-san being under some impression of XVI having invented gritty and grounded for the series. Mog, for one, is the source of much goofy cuteness in XIII-2 which doesn't make it any less grimdark in the wide range of other story/lore aspects (including but not limited to its ending). And the list goes on.
@Shadcai FFI (and FFII as far as moogles are concerned):
@KidRyan . . . except the person you're replying to was referring to a particular character / boss in FF XIV and his theme
song & the official roman-script name of that character is "Good King Moggle Mog"
EDIT: nvm, I see they replied already.
@bighal Don't weaken your morals.
Cancel it. Job done.
@bighal
As a person of color, I got to admit, I don’t get the controversy around this stuff.
The game’s world and lore is obviously inspired by Central Europe, specifically medieval Germany.
There weren’t too many black people in medieval Germany.
It’s a work of fiction yes, but the setting is heavily inspired by a certain place and time period.
That was my problem with Rings of Power. Considering what Tolkien had based his fictional world on, it just didn’t make a lot sense to have a multiracial society.
Had they used their black actors to represent a specific group of people from a part of that world, that would have made more sense. Since medieval Europeans did interact with black Africans during the inspired time period through trade.
But medieval society was anything but a multiracial integrated place. Which is what Rings of Power did.
By comparison, Barrett and the other black characters in the world of Final Fantasy VII makes total sense. The game’s setting was inspired by the modern world with a few twists. So a multiracial integrated society was the correct way to depict it.
Plus contrary to most people’s takes, I actually think Barrett was a pretty well written black American character even back in the original FFVII by Japanese standards anyway considering most of their media relies only on negative stereotypes for their depictions of black people, specifically black Americans. Barrett was a nice change of pace since he’s always been depicted as highly competent, a good natural leader that people are willing to follow without hesitation, fiercely loyal, and brave. If a bit rough around the edges. He cusses a lot but to be honest that’s pretty accurate for our community. It’s not a negative stereotype in my opinion.
But like another poster said, don’t compromise on your morals. If you feel you need to cancel your preorder then do it. Never compromise on your principles.
@OrtadragoonX May I respectfully offer a counterpoint to your argument: Moogles. Obviously their vision isn't so rigid that it prevents them from staying true to Final Fantasy. Of course, I respect that it is their artistic choice, however I reject the idea that their vision was a real barrier rather than one of their own making.
As a black American and decades old Final Fantasy fan, I will be skipping the game. However, I respect that others will choose to play it. It is just fun and games when all is said and done.
I do not know whom this assistant producer is they speak of, but whoever she is, needs to direct FFXVII.
@OmniHawk
That’s a very reasonable position to take.
I am only half black (mother white, father black) and I was mostly raised by my white family so I will admit that my personal views on certain issues are heavily influenced by that upbringing. I didn’t really get to live the black American experience like my cousins or my father did. Not to the same extent anyway.
I would like to see more games developed around black history. I thought the opening mission of Battlefield 1 was an excellent representation of black American history that often isn’t talked about. The 369th infantry regiment was the most highly decorated American unit of World War I and it was nice to see DICE choose to focus on a relatively little known piece of black history, since the 369th was an all black infantry regiment that experienced a ton of racism during their training in the United States.
@OrtadragoonX Give it time. Much has changed. Much needs to change. I would rather see gradual organic progress over forced change in the name of progress anyway. I have been gaming since 1971 (Atari) and worked as a game developer in the 90s. Things have come a long way. Also, I believe everyone's experience is valid whatever their racial makeup.
Final Fantasy 16 looks to be a great game. I think anyone should feel free to purchase and enjoy it as long as it doesn't create inner turmoil. Gaming should remain a fun activity. Not that there is not room for serious games with a message, but I game primarily to have fun. If you get it, I hope you have a blast!
@OmniHawk, @Ortadragoon, @TheMightymp2
First off, thanks for a constructive conversation, respecting each others views. Lovely to see.
Orta you make a point about historical context, but this is it. This is in no way historical, if we can have dragons, and all
manner of creatures, I think having people of colour does not diminish the inspiration of medieval setting.
For Rings of power, wheel of time was infinitely enhance by a bit of colour (and the best part, there was NO story reason or narrative attention drawn on it).
Anyway, I did cancel (I have too many games to play anyway), and if and when I do feel like playing it, it will be a second hand copy.
It’s such a shame forespoken was done so badly, as no doubt some marketing execs will think it’s because they had a black female lead rather than it was a mediocre game.
FFXII had the best looking moogles.
@bighal they wanted a historical setting with fantasy elements. You don't realise that you're comparing black people to dragons and moogles which sounds ridiculous. It's pretty infantile to say "it has that so why not this too!" and skipping what looks to be an amazing game over that is just silly.
Also Rings of Power did not do it properly.
other than the comments getting off track, couldn't they like care less if a Moogle has millions of tiny polygons to insinuate fur and instead make it furry like a baby penguin? or just make a tuff of fur?
The take I get from this tidbit of info matches a lot of what else we know about this game. Its clearly not been rushed and patched together, its creators have had time to consider and perfect many of the smaller details. Im hoping its all as polished as it looks, and theres not long till we find out! I dont often preorder a title, I took the plunge on this yesterday 😁
@JohntheRaptor, I was not comparing black people to dragons, you are making that, my point was regarding using accuaracy as an excuse. Also I always mentioned deliberately about people of colour, as I am one. Your resorting to dismissing my view as infantile is more a reflection on your maturity.
@dancingstar93 @Wolfie_Pie My apologies, didn't know that character even existed.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...