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By now, most fans have heard about how Square Enix lost the source code for the original Final Fantasy Tactics, which made the recent remake a far more daunting task than it might otherwise have been. They got a lot of the information they needed from fan sites. In fact, two directors on Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles found the intense love fans have for the game both encouraging and a little intimidating.

When we sat down with Director Kazutoyo Maehiro and Art Director Hiroshi Minagawa at PAX West 2025, they explained how they had to rely on fan-made resources to fill in the gaps left by the loss of the Final Fantasy Tactics source code. “One other thing I am really thankful for is all of our fans and all the websites they have," Maehiro said. “The list of all the different details and different texts and I think bringing back the original experience, that was an extremely big help for us and it really supported us, so I am thankful for that as well.”

Minagawa had a slightly different take on the intense love that fans have for Final Fantasy Tactics. He was thankful, but also a bit scared.

“There’s also many players who might still be playing the game even today, the original game today, and it felt as though maybe those players might even be more familiar or in tune with how the game actually is. And so, of course, that’s something that made me very happy, but it also felt a little bit intimidating too.”

Recreating a game with the legacy of Final Fantasy Tactics was always going to be a challenge, but the love that fans had for it – and their insistence on preserving every part of it online – helped make the whole project possible. It also seemed to have been a source of pressure for the developers. 

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