The Complete History of Square (Part 1) | Documentary

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In the first of our comprehensive look at the History of Square, we investigate how the company was formed and how key individuals such as Hironobu Sakaguchi, Hiromichi Tanaka, Nobuo Uematsu, Kazuko Shibuya and Hisashi Suzuki, worked together to create games like The Death Trap, Cruise Chase Blassty and Alpha.
This documentary was produced thanks to the support from Patreon
Patreon: / ffunion
Website: www.finalfanta...
Twitter - / ffunion
Discord: / discord
Written & Narrated by Darryl
Edited by Travis ( / travesty2000 )
Thanks to Chris Kohler ( / kobunheat )

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

This is the first feature-length video documentary we have ever produced and it wouldn't have been possible without our supporters on Patreon. If you'd like to see more content like this, please consider supporting us: www.patreon.com/ffunion

[@jarodantonovich5722]

Is there a part 2 coming? This was really interesting to learn about

[@elusivelight3766]

Good job! This is well made I really enjoyed it. Thanks and keep it up!.. ✌️

[@FinalFantasyPeasant]

dayum this is dope, FFunion are the true professionals I pretend to be 😂

[@pandaeyez]

You're awesome too mate! I can see the passion you have for FF is boundless!

[@Zuko997]

I love your content. Don't sell yourself short!

[@UltimaV24]

You’re awesome too

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you so much! We love your content monsieur Peasant, don't sell yourself short :)

[@johnnymontalvo5620]

You both rock!

[@torgan]

The way you guys delivered this really makes me wish that there was a docudrama about Square.

[@CompleteAnimation]

I hope that once all the parts of this documentary are complete, you'll upload a complete cut, regardless of how long it is.

[@travesty2000]

When all the parts have been finished and released, uploading a super-cut is our plan!

[@JoelBurger]

Really excited to see the full story, especially since so much of this has been mythologized over the years. "Square had no hit games and were going to go out of business, until they made one last effort with FF" kind of stuff.

[@aoijeka]

I always knew Hiromichi Tanaka is one of the co-founders of Square, but seeing his young self and his closeness to young Sakaguchi legit teared me up on how the company treated him during/after XIV development.

[@Alucitary]

"Hironobu Sakaguchi chose to defer his university studies, but perhaps fearing that someday the dream would end, Sakaguchi chose to stay enrolled at Yokohama." What you did there, I see it.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

I couldn't help myself :D ~Darryl

[@samanthanicklin8130]

I legit teared up.

[@Walamonga1313]

I don't, help?

[@austins.2495]

If YoU kNoW yOu KnOw

[@crystalpeaches7825]

@@Walamonga1313 final fantasy x reference :)

[@Dansg08]

I planned to watch this in 2 parts but I got hooked in, great work and excellent storytelling, can’t wait for the next part!

[@Muncheiy]

I would never open a 40 minute documentary about a company by any other youtuber. But I just love the way you guys research so deeply, explore the most interesting details, and deliver the content so well. Nicely done.

[@drummerlinn]

At 1.5 speed, it’s less than 25 minutes

[@jayromero7535]

Thank you so much for creating this. As a lifelong fan of Square/soft/enix since the 1980s, the was so much I knew and so much I realized I didn't know about the near failures in making this company what it is today. Excellent work to all those involved in making this.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

You're most welcome Jay, we're so happy to hear you enjoyed the video! ~Darryl

[@kevindepuy5390]

Thank you Final Fantasy Union, Ive been meaning to make a SE documentary, but no need since you covered it so well and looks like you will cover everything. I was specifically going to make the documentary about the formation of SE, and the battle at Squaresoft between Sakaguchi and Yoichi Wada in the late nineties; the Suit vs the artist, the guy who wanted to use the FF brand everywhere, vs the guy who wanted to keep FF humble, not produce sequels etc. It was basically an explanation in how badly Yoichi Wada screwed up the company, first by replacing Sakaguchi/blaming him for the FFX delay that got him fired(Sakaguchi formed Mistwalker before the FF movie even came out, so he was on the way out already) then by producing the first sequel, FFX-2 which was a success but set a bad precedent, as Sakaguchi put it on twitter, started "whoring out final fantasy". Wada respected the FFX- story director so much thinking he was the "golden child" as he put it, put him to work on too many projects and all of them ended up failing and in some cases destroyed the (brand ala Front Mission Evolved, Third Birthday), including FFXIII that needed help from tons of teams like the Versus XIII team and the director couldnt direct as the teams werent coordinated properly. Then Wadas nail in the coffin was the creation Of SE internal engines, which delayed so many games(Versus XIII, XIV) and games turn out poorly (XIV) that it basically brought the company to a collapse. Thank god Wada is gone. Just saying, cant wait till you get to that part lol

[@thepaper888]

This unofficial documentary should be recognized/accepted as official, then shown on PBS round the clock.

[@gushen_]

“Ah neat, a documentary on Square! Can’t wait to learn more about Final Fantasy.” Begins a history lesson on the US offensive against Imperial Japan in WW2.

[@GamingKume]

This documentary is brought to you by the word, “pragmatic”. Good stuff, guys. Can’t wait for the next part.

[@darrelllewis5798]

Hey Darrell, this is Darrell. This was great and I can't wait for the next part!

[@maggiebrinkley4760]

This is a cracking documentary! Thank you, Darryl and Lauren, for all your hard work.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

You're most welcome Maggie - glad you enjoyed it!

[@kurokusa-199]

this make me feel like a kid again, like when i first watch "final fantasy retrospective" series when they come out, done by gametrailers team, can't wait to see more.

[@lucinae8512]

Thanks for bringing up Falcom and Dragon Slayer! Even with the Trails and Ys series becoming more popular, many people are unaware of the Square connection and how pioneering they were for action RPG's at the time.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

You're most welcome! We made a conscious decision to delve a bit into the back story of some of those older companies and it's great to hear it's been appreciated ~Darryl

[@TheDeChaser]

A very deep respect for what you are doing here and how you want to provide a detailed and specific historical record of the rise of this interesting company. Thank you for all of the hard work that was put into even just this episode, and I will patiently await each new segment of this series. Keep up the exceptional work.

[@truecrescent00013]

When you talked about July 4 1945. My heart just sinks for them. I think it's absolutely incredible you mentioned it. You guys are the best.

[@chrisludwig2733]

SPOILER ALERT: It's been confirmed that FFXVI will have a subtitle - Final Fantasy XVI: Cruise Chaser Blassty What a superb documentary! The personality, detail, and (so far as I'm aware) obscure info on the origins of the creators and the company were exquisite. Excellent work, Final Fantasy Union! Thanks, and looking forward to part two. I also got a kick out of the upgraded Square logo prominently featuring triangles.

[@xavierninetwofourfiveone6901]

Great video! I've been waiting for this for so long. I can't wait til the next part! Keep up the amazing work!

[@megustare8337]

This documentary is amazing from the start! Creating and narrating a documentary is something I would like to do one day now that I'm done with college.

[@BigGahmBoss]

You exceeded expectations with this. You guys are a great team and deserve all the support you get

[@toddnicholson2121]

When my feet get back on the ground financially speaking you are most definitely getting a new patron. This was absolutely amazing! Keep up the badass work!!!

[@ty_sylicus]

This was a very deep dive. Well done team!

[@skyserpent14]

As always, I am impressed by your extensive research on everything to do with this company. Can't wait to see the next video 😁

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you so much Savannah! The next video should be even better :D

[@Zogamer7]

Huge recognition to everyone involved with this amazingly detailed and beautifully presented documentary. Square is my favorite game developer and learning their fascinating orgins through this documentary was awesome! Now excuse me while I watch it again and again.

[@Y0y0Jester]

I had no idea what I would get when I typed "history of final fantasy" into the search bar. I was looking for something to hype me up to play FF1. The results I found did not hook me. Then I saw this video in the list of recommended videos. Before I knew it 50 minutes had passed and I watched Part 1 entirely. This is some AAA rated high quality premium documentary content right here. Excellent job to everyone involved in the making of this video. An absolute gem. I hope you get million more views on this.

[@TheGamersState]

Videos like this 1 is why I love this channel, I'm stoked for the next part!

[@kidzarentright]

I felt nostalgic when I heard Sakaguchi and Uematsu, two names I always remember when seeing the opening credits of Final Fantasy games. It's nice to see what happened before their rise, can't wait for part 2!

[@SuperSupersoda]

Today I learned that two of my absolute favorite game developers, Square and Nihon Falcom, were working together from the very beginning, and that Square helped Falcom with DragonSlayer, the game whose sequel would eventually become the first "legend of heroes" game and would give birth to my favorite non-Square JRPG franchise: the kiseki series. It must have been amazing to have been there, in the room, in the early 80's when so much that would define the future of gaming was being invented.

[@DistantSon1]

It begins!!! Long time in the works, so happy!

[@kaylamartin4838]

This was very interesting to watch! I can't wait for part two! There have always been Square games over the years that I've enjoyed, mainly the Final Fantasy series of course. Kingdom Hearts had a huge impact on me as well. But other smaller things like the Fullmetal Alchemist games they made for the PS2 and many others. Its really intriguing to hear their full history like this! Really enjoyed it! Thank you for putting so much time and effort into such a huge project!

[@TarksGauntlet]

This is brilliant work guys. I made a similar video a number of years ago called "Square Enix Before the Merger - A history of Squaresoft, Enix, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy" With that thing clocking in at 50 minutes I thought for sure it was all the depth this sort of topic would ever get, but what you guys got here.. man.. I wish I had your resources haha. Excellent, excellent work. Truly. I'm floored.

[@sean9284]

This is so awesome! Great documentary dude

[@genkaiba15]

Very informative and well done. I look forward to the next entry.

[@annisk768]

Been waiting for something like this for god knows how long! You guys are a true gift to the FF/KH communities, can't wait for Part 2

[@Renegated27]

This was awesome!!! It got me hooked from minute 1!! Thank you so much. Can’t wait for Part2

[@orcuswells649]

I’m so glad this project has been realized- it was a great story, and I’m impressed at the level of detail in the story and editing. Given how deeply you delved into things even before FFI, I can’t wait to see what else is in store. I loved learning about this unknown part of history too

[@alarsenal10]

Sterling job, Final Fantasy Union! This video was a joy to watch. Thank you for creating spectacular, memorable content.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

You're most welcome alarsenal! We're so glad to hear that you enjoyed it :)

[@vladimirmlotschek3265]

Y'all are awesome - great work on this one, Darryl, Lauren, Travis, and Chris :)

[@Zeul28]

Cant wait for the 2nd part. This documentary was quite close to heart

[@KCanbutwont]

Fantastic content as always, thank you again FFUnion!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

It was our pleasure! ~Darryl

[@angbald]

I want to thank everyone giving money to this channel so that this content can be made. If I had any money at all it would be yours.

[@ChromeColossus]

Wow. This is a level of detail on the company that I didn't even know existed. Awesome work!

[@paulodanteneto1645]

Oh, hell yeah, this will surely be awesome. Happy to be here for the launch.

[@DarkMagiciansMaster]

Been waiting for this one. Loved the video can't wait for the rest of it. Great work!!

[@Grieva-SeeD-]

This is the sort of content that makes KZbin a great platform. Really professional guys, thank you!

[@Ch3micalboy]

Great job, so professional!!

[@WCCXtra]

I see comments like this all across KZbin, but considering the quality of this doc and the popularity of Square I think this series should definitely have more views. Great job!

[@naetle07]

You guys have clearly put a ton of time and effort into researching this. It really shows. But I'd love to see a list of all the sources you used for this doc to explore more deeply.

[@jacksonlevine8751]

I thought I knew everything about Square already but I've never seen anyone dig as deep as you guys and I ended up learning a lot. Excellent job!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you Jackson! We were worried it might have been too granular, but it's been great to see how much everyone has appreciated the level of detail we went to. ~Darryl

[@amos7458]

The quality of your long-form content is top tier. I feel like I’ve discovered a gold mine that nourishes all my FF nostalgic needs. ❤❤❤

[@camilovelez8851]

What an amazing video guys! I hope you feel really proud about this, you totally should

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you Camilo! Honestly, we weren't sure what the response would be like, but we've been blown away by how positive everyone has been!

[@kdemographic8109]

Absolutely fascinating. Thank you so much for this!

[@WCworkhorse]

You all are amazing! This is a fantastic documentary. I really appreciate all of your hard work and absolutely love your content.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you for the kind words Mike

[@Nicko0925]

This deserves millions of views. This was so well done!

[@jakedeschamps4454]

I'm really looking forward to part 2! This video was amazing! I loved every part of it. Y'all are awesome!

[@miarose5156]

And thus my week started off to a good start!!!!! Super excited for this video!!!!!!!!! Edit: was not disappointed at all and this video was super informative and went so in depth I honestly feel like I’ve learned from this and yet I feel like I have more to learn from rewatching it!!!!! Fantastic work guys so proud that this finally got released!!!!!! Love you lots!!!!

[@joshuab1707]

Minute and a half in and you already gave me goosebumps

[@keyofb3528]

Bring on part two already xD What great way to start my morning!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

We'll try our best Bryar! Glad to hear you enjoyed Part 1 :) ~Darryl

[@dpc4548]

Sakaguchi made a whole new genre for the disk system that's gone from strength to strength. The dude's a monster. Love him.

[@havocbringer2100]

Daaaamn that cliffhanger! When will the next part drop?

[@lucasberg5907]

This is so interesting, i love it! Can’t want to see the next one!

[@kut5ara256]

Love love love!!! There was so much that I didn't know before! I cant wait for the next part!

[@holymolythejabroni9040]

Squaresoft 1995-2000 is the best era any developer has ever had, rivaled only by Nintendo’s 1990-1995 and perhaps Fromsoft’s 2011-2016.

[@UltimaV24]

Thank you Union for this amazing video 🤍

[@ItalianAvalanche]

This was detailed af. I'm really impressed.

[@davids7654]

Very well done. Can't wait for the next part

[@BlueDude87]

This documentary was so amazing. I loved learning about the early days of Square. I can't wait for Part 2!

[@ElTaitronAnim]

Not to diminish the incredible work you've done here, but I couldn't help but mentally finish "but that all changed" with "when the Fire Nation attacked" at 2:16. Looking forward to part 2!

[@ChicagoRetroGamer]

Awesome video. Keep up the great work. Might watch it again tomorrow.

[@rokerius94]

I am very interested in seeing this documentary through. Thank you!

[@buddah1978egypt]

Absolutely fascinating. I had to turn on adblock after a while, crazy amount od ads

[@Mana2Burn]

This is amazing. Cannot wait to see the next entry!

[@jmrob161]

Fantastic first episode FFU! I can't wait to see the rest of the videos in this series!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thanks jmrob! We'll try our best to get the next part out as soon as possible! ~Darryl

[@RasenRendanX]

I wanted to wait for Part 2 to binge both parts but i couldnt wait anymore as expected this was amazing. Its funny to see the origin of the company name came from Golf of all things.

[@putolburat8031]

now i know where final fantasy thirteen can from one of the best final fantsy games

[@Kaaru-VS]

Fantastic video, loved it. Can't wait for the next part! :)

[@rikkuricky]

This is incredible! Out of curiosity, where did you find footage of some of the older games? Can't wait for more docs like this.

[@ashtonkerr6276]

This was so fascinating. When you said Hironobu Sakaguchi for the first time, I had a little Final Fantasy Nerd attack! I was like, IT'S THE FATHER OF FINAL FANTASY! Can't wait for part 2!

[@morelan6987]

This is SO good. I cannot imagine the ammount of reasearch it must take to do something like this. Amazing work.

[@joshuafitzpatrick7714]

Must watch. So well done! Worth every minute!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you so much Joshua

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

Wow I'm blown away by how good this documentary is. Well done guys i can't wait for the rest to come out.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you Darklord, that means a lot! We'll hopefully have the next part out a lot quicker than this one took :)

[@montenague]

Not gonna lie, your aesthetic makes me so emotionally sentimental.... these are wonderful videos. Thank you.

[@DeBeOtaku]

Can't wait for part 2!!!

[@roaktornokar4032]

27:59 I thought it said ''Wii'' and i was like ''what? wrong company :v''

[@catharina1905]

This was amazing, and I'm so excited for the parts to come!

[@SirenoftheVoid]

Wow, quite the story! I could feel the evolution as the company grew into a solid group of people sharing their dreams and helped one another. Very well done :)

[@michaeld7925]

i cant wait for part 2. If i ever meet you two im going to bow down. you guys keep me going. Please keep it up

[@qxz9p]

Great video. Very well researched and presented.

[@BigMujK]

Great video, This is the FFU content I subscribed for

[@Nehezir]

Did anyone else laugh in horror at Tanaka's almost meme-tier illustration?

[@jamesjam671]

I tough it was a documentary about how people decided to add corners to circle, I still like tho.

[@boodro2122]

I see this video is 8 months old. I specifically searched for a video on these topics and this presented itself. Thank you. Greetings from Kansas, USA.

[@arecord86]

Love love love this. Stellar work, can’t wait for the next episode

[@marcuslee3051]

Never clicked onto a KZbin video so quickly before.

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thanks for your support Marcus!

[@FLIK510]

Great stuff, pro level documentary.

[@baebeenut6582]

Amazing video! I was completely hooked from the start!!!

[@FinalFantasyUnion]

Thank you Baebee, glad to hear you enjoyed the documentary!