Final Fantasy 15 is a strange video game for a lot of reasons. One of its most fascinating excesses is its inclusion of over a hundred ridiculously-detailed recipes that you can find or unlock across your journey, which give Noctis and his pals a boost in their stats for the next day of adventuring. And the story behind their creation is as silly and overindulgent as, well, the entirety of Final Fantasy 15.
Recently, food blog Eater got a chance to interview Final Fantasy 15 director Hajime Tabata and art director Tomohiro Hasegawa about the thought process behind each of those sumptuous culinary delights, and what it found goes well beyond what you'd expect. Hasegawa and his team didn't just look at food photography for inspiration, or even settle with simply trying each of the recipes they modeled - they actually took many of the dishes you see in the game and cooked them all using actual camping gear.
"Our team members took out their gear and went camping to cook outdoors," says Hasegawa in Eater's interview. "You know how even the simplest foods can taste really delicious when you’re out camping? We wanted to focus on that same feeling while we created them." The team then took that experience and used that knowledge to refine their 3D representations in the game.
It seems absolutely absurd, but then again, that attention to detail means that each of chef Ignis' creations are actually plausible, whether it's the simplicity of a grilled wild barramundi or the elegance of a creamy milk risotto. The rest of the article is a great read, too, which discusses how food brings a band of J-Rock dudes together regardless of circumstance, how director Hajime Tabata spaced out dishes across the breadth of the Lucian Kingdom to make each region feel distinct, and much more.
Dammit, now I'm hungry.
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