Have you heard of the critically acclaimed MMORPG "Final Fantasy 14"? Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the "Final Fantasy" series, knows.

Sakaguchi had been widely distanced from Square Enix after leaving the company in 2004 to found developer Mistwalker, but the ice has been broken in recent years, and Sakaguchi has teamed up with Square to re-release the mobile RPG "Fantasian." He was also really into FF14, playing 12 hours a day, sometimes trolling the game's director, Naoki Yoshida, in live on-stage broadcasts.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Sakaguchi recalled the eerie feeling of working with Square for the first time in over 20 years, saying, "It was like going to a 20-year high school reunion."

As for his new habits, at an event he was asked to attend in 2021, he logged into FF14 for the first time and, like many of us, disappeared down the rabbit hole: "I started out as a favor ...... Now I mostly live in Final Fantasy 14." Sakaguchi plays Ultimate Raid, the game's most difficult content. The Ultimate Raid is a grueling eight-player fight that takes 15 to 20 minutes and requires months of practice and multiple attempts to defeat the first time.

Sakaguchi admitted to Bloomberg that he had been playing the recent expansion "Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail" until just minutes before his interview with the magazine. He added, "On rare occasions - and I want to emphasize rare - one of the Mistwalker team members will jump on Final Fantasy 14 and see the message, 'Hey, the meeting has started.'"

His return to Square Enix does not mean he will help create Final Fantasy games. This is partly due to his commitment to move on to new things, as he did back in 2004, but he also hinted that he does not want to ruin FF14 for himself: "If I take on the Final Fantasy brand again, I'm not sure I'll genuinely enjoy Final Fantasy 14. I don't know if I would genuinely enjoy Final Fantasy 14 if I took on the Final Fantasy brand again."

That's fair enough. Dawntrail itself is currently playable, and the reception has been mixed, but spoilerific NPCs notwithstanding, I've enjoyed the game overall. I'm enjoying it overall.