1UP: You say you're a jack-of-all-trades, but what trade did you practice with Final Fantasy? HI: I dealt mostly with the battle system. 1UP: So did you create the battle system, or work on balancing it...? HI: I actually created the battle system, yes. 1UP: What was your inspiration for that? HI: Basically, there's no one inspiration that I got that battle system from. It was just a logical process, where I thought, "How can I create an efficient battle system for a role-playing game?" That's the answer that I came to. At the root of it all, though, there's a basic kind of system that comes from professional sports... 1UP: Any particular sport that you had in mind? HI: Yeah, the NFL. Football is probably the closest thing. 1UP: I guess I can see that, with the parties lining up on either side and taking turns... HI: Yeah. A lot of it has to do with how in the NFL, the plays are pre-planned. Each side has a strategy. That's kind of the idea.
