Video Games

Final Fantasy XII Director Calls Longstanding Rumor About Real Protagonist a ‘Fake Story’

Final Fantasy XII was a blast when it first released on PS2 in 2006. But it also had a notoriously difficult development cycle for key developers, including game director Yasumi Matsuno.

It’s not publicly known how difficult the game’s development was, but one of the rumors circulating among fans about the early production of Final Fantasy XII was that protagonist Van was originally planned for FFXII. It was that he was not a hero.

On Twitter, the game director took the time to reply to a fan’s comment that Baksch von Ronsenburg (FFXII’s Disgraced Knight and eventual party member) is the game’s first protagonist. This comment is from a thread about Clive, the protagonist of Final Fantasy XVI, who is going to be the oldest protagonist of his FF game.

In the simplest of terms, Matsuno denied that Bash was the original hero of Final Fantasy XII in the early production, stating, “That rumor is a fake story. Thank you.

long-standing rumors

Per long-standing rumors, Final Fantasy XII’s original pitch was a dark fantasy story in the vein of PS1’s Vagrant Story or Final Fantasy Tactics, which was also directed by Matsuno.

Rumors circulating for nearly two decades suggest that the original vision of Final Fantasy XII has been changed to be more approachable to all players, and that Van, an energetic street rat who bears a strong resemblance to Tidus, was introduced as the central protagonist.

The rumor is a hoax. thank you.


The reason this particular rumor about the game has stuck with fans over the years is because Vaan wasn’t well received upon release, with a broader cast of characters such as Balthier, Fran, Basch and Ashe being very popular. However, Vaan’s position in the core story seemed set as a point-of-view character rather than someone with a major role in the larger plot.

That said, Vaan eventually hit his stride throughout the game, even making an appearance in the FFXII spin-off game for the Nintendo DS called Final Fatansy XII: Revenant Wings. Fans have grown to like him better over the years, thanks to a meme about a quest Van had to shout in the street. Or “Don’t listen to Ondre’s lies”.

In IGN’s first review of FFXII, former editor Jeremy Dunham gave the game a 9.5, stating, “Final Fantasy XII is a fantastic RPG. It blew all of this year’s PS2 competition out of the water and is one of the best roles of all time.” – The player ever made for the system.”

Since its release, publisher Square Enix has re-released FFXII as Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age with updated visuals, revised combat and character growth mechanics, and added new encounters enhanced only in Japan. bottom. Edition of the game from PS2. Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is out now on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Alessandro Fillari is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and his Instagram @afillari.

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