The Final Fantasy X-3 project - After two or so years review

In the summer of 2007 I became occupied in thoughts about a potential Final Fantasy X-3. I imagined countless story plots and considered much such as "where does one follow up from Final Fantasy X-2 bearing in mind the game had multiple endings?" For years I have been thinking of fictional stories and putting them onto paper or into a Word document. The purpose was strictly fan fiction but it would be a dream if one was published. The ideas for Final Fantasy X-3 continued to develop and so I started a Word document containing my concept and vision of what Final Fantasy X-3 could (or rather should) consist of. Initially I thought this would be like any of my previous fan fiction work where I'd put it aside and forget about it all together. I never thought I would still be continuing to develop my ideas a year on or so.

As of the summer of 2008 I was hard at work developing my idea for Final Fantasy X-3 and I had completed a base for its plot. Essentially much of the plot focused on Yuna and Tidus and their ordeal as they journey once more to restore the Eternal Calm to Spira which had been spoilt by an arrogant summoner called Raphas and the main antagonist being the Fayth being the cause of the problems in Spira. One of the key focuses of Final Fantasy X-3 was that if it were to become a reality and a game I would want it to be the definitive epilogue to the Final Fantasy X series. That meant trying the whole story up in the end and making an ending that would deliver and won't prompt another sequel.

But then when I had the story as it was I felt it lacked a lot. If I wanted to be the definitive end then I have to explian what happens to the likes of Rikku, Paine, Wakka and so on. I couldn't just simply ignore them or kill them off. So I went back to the characters in Final Fantasy X and X-2 and from there the project would begin however slowly to evolve. I wanted to stick with the primary plot and the ending idea but I began to develop the remaining key characters and came up with their own stories that would be sought for and written along the course of the main story.

For example I initially didn't have much regard for Wakka's and Lulu's child Vidina. I thought that Vidina would be snatched away prompting Wakka and Lulu to journey with their friends only to find that Raphas had succeeded in turning him into a Fayth. That has since changed and more has been put into Wakka's and Lulu's story. I focused on a typical family with the parents, their child and a family companion in the form of a pet dog. I wanted Lulu and Wakka to be serious and caring when the family picture has been ruined because Vidina had been snatched away. And yet although they do show depth and emotion, there was at times contrasts between Wakka's attitude and Lulu's attitude. Not so that they start hating each other or get into a fight but that there is consistantcy in their characters and differences like Wakka being more laid back and Lulu being more serious but hardly enforcing.

As the project developed I came up with plot twists and moments that change the outlook from a character's perspective. I focused on how Paine, Nooj, Baralai and Gippal could develop further given what happens in Final Fantasy X-2. There are many fans who are curious about the relationship between Rikku and Gippal but with the three remaining surviving members of the Crimson Squad it was hard to come up with anything. Essentially for Baralai I had him to play the manipulated victim once again this time in the control of Raphas. And then Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission gave me the solution. Now I could explain and develop the situation between the remaining Crimson Squad members, Paine and Gippal's entanglement with Rikku.

Nearing the fall of 2008 I started to put together the base for the story. I decided the story will happen nine months after Final Fantasy X-2 International + Last Mission or roghly a year after the destruction of Vegnagun and the return of Tidus. I decided Final Fantasy X-3 could develop from the perfect ending of Final Fantasy X-2 and that Yuna and Tidus are back together. I also decided that like Final Fantasy X-2 there would be several possible endings in X-3. I had even begun to develop the features involved in X-3 such as the CSD and the development for the characters.

But still something was missing...