RPGSite:
I mentioned the Ivalice Alliance earlier on, which boasts Final Fantasy XII among its number. The game had a troubled development, so do you have any knowledge of what happened when Yasumi Matsuno suddenly left the development team?
Alex: I believe the company line is that Matsuno had to leave for health reasons, and that rings true enough to me. I think the team did a remarkable and commendable job of filling in the void left when he departed, while keeping that essential Matsuno-character of the game intact.

RPGSite: Despite their efforts, would you agree that losing the ‘father’ of the game midway through development led to the second half of XII’s story being weaker than the beginning?
Alex: There are so many factors that can influence a game’s story, it’s really impossible to know what parts of the game were affected in what way by Matsuno’s departure.
No wonder that I lost interest in XII's story part way through the game. The main whose focus was on that part had left halfway through.