The legendary director behind Final Fantasy 12 recently addressed a long-standing rumor about the disgraced knight-turned-party member Basch fon Ronsenburg. Released for the PlayStation 2 in 2006, Final Fantasy 12 marked a shift in the long-running JRPG franchise by introducing an open-world setting, real-time battles, and a revolutionary “gambit” system that allowed players to program their AI-controlled squadmates to perform certain actions in response to particular situations. Its story takes place in Ivalice, a medieval-style world divided into warring kingdoms that has since served as the setting to numerous Final Fantasy spin-offs.It is here that players were introduced to Final Fantasy 12’s party of rebellious heroes, including the fallen knight Basch. A former captain of Dalmasca’s Order of Knights, Basch was framed for the murder of King Raminas and sentenced to death before being rescued by Vaan and his band of sky pirates. The honorable Final Fantasy hero Basch joins this group in its efforts to overthrow the oppressive Archadian Empire, proving to be a valuable ally thanks to his powerful swordsmanship and experience. He would prove popular enough to return in 2007’s Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings and have his backstory further fleshed out in the Final Fantasy 12 manga adaptation. There has even been a rumor that Basch was originally meant to be the main character of Final Fantasy 12, and that Square Enix had decided to instead put the spotlight on the teenage Vaan and Penelo to attract a younger audience. This rumor would persist for many years after Final Fantasy 12’s release, but director Yasumi Matsuno recently took to Twitter to state that it isn’t true in response to a discussion from fans regarding who would be Final Fantasy’s oldest protagonist.
The rumors of Basch being the original main protagonist of Final Fantasy 12 stem from the game's long and troubled development cycle, which saw it release two years behind schedule and Yasumi Matsuno resigning partway through due to both health reasons and creative differences with Square Enix. He would go on to develop games like 2009’s MadWorld as a freelancer before joining Level-5 in 2011 and helping with Crimson Shroud. Matsuno eventually returned to Final Fantasy to work on additional content for Final Fantasy 14 - including a raid that saw players return to Ivalice.
The recent discourse surrounding Final Fantasy 12 comes right before Final Fantasy 16 - a new installment that bares many similarities to FF 12. Having an older protagonist out to avenge his fallen kingdom is one such similarity - though unlike Final Fantasy 16’s time-shifting Clive, Basch was never meant to take up the starring role in Final Fantasy 12 as Yasumi Matsuno has just confirmed.
Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.