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Final Fantasy 16 is the next legitimate sequel to Square Enix's 35-year-old RPG series, but this game will focus on action-packing. For longtime fans of the Final Fantasy series, even though the series has been pushing this evolution across multiple canonical titles, real-time action gameplay is at best an adjustment rather than an improvement.
But Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida went all-in on action gameplay for his own reasons, and invited former Capcom designer Ryota Suzuki (Devil May Cry 5, Dragon's Creed) to join Square Enix to realize the game's vision. The game's protagonist, Clive Rosfield, is essentially the Final Fantasy 16 version of Dante, able to wield swords, spells, and the classic fantasy powers of the Final Fantasy series, summoned beasts called Eikons.
At a recent Final Fantasy 16 preview in New York, I spoke to Yoshida, Suzuki, and Final Fantasy 16 director Hiroshi Takai to ask the producers why they decided to choose action.
"I made the decision, let me tell you why," Yoshida said through a translator, "In the years I've been working on Final Fantasy 14, before I started working on Final Fantasy 16, I've had the opportunity to travel the world and talk to fans, players, and media around the world to find out what they think about Final Fantasy. I'm not just talking about Final Fantasy 14, but the entire Final Fantasy franchise. From the feedback I've got, people have an established impression of the Final Fantasy franchise."
Yoshida said that this stereotype is that "Final Fantasy will definitely be a JRPG, there will be anime-style characters, the plot will always be about teenagers saving the world, [and] it will definitely be turn-based gameplay."
"It's not a bad thing." Yoshida continued, "We grew up playing this kind of game, and we loved it. And we know that there are many, many players who love this game. But again, there are many players who are not interested in the series because of this."
Yoshida said there is now a generation of young people who grew up playing first-person shooters and the Grand Theft Auto series, who enjoy the instant thrill of action games and think the Final Fantasy series is not for them. This is a market that remains untapped.
"We want Final Fantasy 16 to attract as many players as possible." Yoshida said, "We want not only to bring back fans of the series, but also to attract people who once didn't like the series... And we think a great way to re-engage a lot of players is to go down the action path."
Yoshida and Takai said they spent two years developing an early version of the Final Fantasy action game, creating a prototype that would allow players to fight two boss-type characters. The prototype also includes a spectacular early version of the Battle of Souls – a gorgeous battle between summoners that looks like a 3D fighting game.
"We presented this prototype to the board and they approved our project." Takai said, "But then the problem comes: we have a good battle now, but we still have to do a lot of soul-to-soul battles, and we also have to do a battle between Clive and the enemy." It's not a certainty, we need to make a system that will work throughout the game." Takai said they looked at the team at the time and found that there were no experts in making action games.
So Final Fantasy 16 Battle Director Ryota Suzuki appeared.
"I had just finished Devil May Cry 5," Suzuki recalls, "and I had been working at Capcom for almost 20 years, so I started thinking about how I could go further in my career. During those 20 years, I did all action games (and) fighting games. So the skills I have are very, very limited. And then I started thinking, well, now there's a set of skills that I've developed over a lifetime. Will anyone need it? Can it be used in other companies? Do people need me?"
Takai and Suzuki recalled how they met through a mutual friend, and then Suzuki asked Square Enix if he needed someone with a special skill like him. Takai was secretly excited about the opportunity, but at the time of that meeting, Takai couldn't tell Suzuki that they were planning to make a Final Fantasy action game featuring Devil May Cry.
"We ended up hiring him." "The timing was perfect in every way, his presence was destiny, he happened to have 20 years of experience making action games, and that's exactly what we needed," Yoshida said. I can tell you for sure that if he hadn't joined the project, if Final Fantasy 16 hadn't gotten his help, we wouldn't be chatting here right now, because the development cycle would have to be extended for at least another two years."
Original author: Michael McWhertor Translation: Night Cat Editor: Panda Life