FFT's Composer Would Pick Ogre Battle Over Tactics

When you ask a composer which of two beloved franchises he'd rather score next, you expect a diplomatic non-answer. Hitoshi Sakimoto, the man behind Final Fantasy Tactics' soundtrack, didn't bother with diplomacy. In a recent interview with RPG Site, Sakimoto was asked whether he'd prefer to compose for a new FFT or a new Ogre Battle game. His answer was immediate: "Given what we've spoken about so far and what I've said, I would choose Ogre Battle."

That's a surprising pick coming from someone whose career is so tightly linked to Ivalice, the setting shared by Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and Final Fantasy XII. Sakimoto's work on FFT is the reason half the people reading this can hum the game's battle themes from memory. But Ogre Battle, the tactical RPG series created by Yasumi Matsuno before he ever touched Final Fantasy, hasn't had a new entry in over two decades. The franchise is effectively dormant, and Sakimoto's preference reads like someone who recognizes that FFT at least got its moment in the sun recently, while Ogre Battle has been left to rot.

I think this is the more interesting story buried inside the interview, because it reframes the conversation around Matsuno's legacy. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles sold a million copies in its first three months last year, beating Square Enix's own projections of 800,000. That remaster proved there's still a massive audience for this style of game. But Ogre Battle and its sequel Tactics Ogre occupy a different space in the JRPG canon: darker, more politically complex, and arguably more ambitious in their storytelling. Sakimoto choosing that franchise over the one that made him famous suggests he sees unfinished creative business there.

Ivalice Isn't Dead Either

Sakimoto didn't limit himself to Ogre Battle enthusiasm. He also expressed clear interest in returning to Ivalice, describing Matsuno's world as "grand and sometimes harsh, but also full of warmth and human emotion" and saying he'd love to see a new story set there. He's not alone. Ivalice Chronicles director Kazutoyo Maehiro said before the remaster's launch that a direct FFT sequel could happen if sales justified it. Naoki Yoshida, who directs Final Fantasy XIV and produced Final Fantasy XVI, has publicly said it's about time for one. Even Ben Starr, Clive Rosfield's English voice actor who went on to voice FFT villain Dycedarg Beoulve in the remaster, was calling for more Ivalice before the game was announced.

So there's no shortage of people inside and adjacent to Square Enix who want this to happen. The million-unit sales figure gives them ammunition. But what Sakimoto's answer highlights is that the appetite extends beyond FFT specifically. Matsuno built two interconnected but distinct tactical RPG universes, and only one of them has received any attention in the modern era. Tactics Ogre: Reborn launched in 2022, sure, but that was a remaster of a game from 2010, itself a remake of a 1995 title. There hasn't been a new Ogre Battle story since 1999's Tactics Ogre: The Knight of Lodis on Game Boy Advance, if you're being generous, or 2000's Ogre Battle 64 if you're counting the main series.

The last original Ivalice story, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, is 19 years old. Ogre Battle's drought is even longer. Both franchises are sitting on proven audiences and vocal creative talent who want to return to them. Square Enix has the sales data from Ivalice Chronicles to know the demand is real, and Sakimoto's interview makes it clear the composers and creators aren't the bottleneck here.

What I find refreshing about Sakimoto's answer is the lack of hedging. He didn't say "both would be wonderful" or dodge the question. He picked Ogre Battle, and he picked it fast. That kind of candor from someone this close to both franchises about where the creative passion lies. Whether Square Enix acts on any of this remains a business decision, but the pieces are all sitting on the table: a composer ready to work, directors who've publicly endorsed sequels, and a remaster that outperformed expectations. Sakimoto just made it clear which project he'd pick up the phone for first.