In an exclusive interview with Game Informer, producer Naoki Yoshida says the combat system was “the most difficult” for the game’s development team.
We bite our nails before the imminent arrival of Final Fantasy XVI. It will be next June 22 when the next installment of the JRPG saga from Square Enix arrives, exclusively, on PS5. We already know its protagonists, as well as its playable bases, history and setting.
Final Fantasy XVI is a return to the roots of the saga in many ways. Its fantastic-medieval theme (inspired by Game of Thrones), the invocations or the history factor are some examples.
However, the new PS5 exclusive brings some notable changes. Perhaps the biggest (despite being loosely based on Final Fantasy V) is the combat system.
For the first time in the franchise (which already has 36 years behind it), we will have a real-time combat system, much more direct than the one seen in Crisis Core or Final Fantasy VII Remakealmost like a hack and slash.
There is an explanation for this change. From Creative Business Unit III (the division that has developed the game), assure that Final Fantasy XVI fits like a glove.
The biggest challenge during development
It is not the first time that Naoki Yoshida, producer of Final Fantasy XVIHe talks about the combat system. It is the newest factor compared to other installments, but also a necessary change for the future of the franchise.
In an interview with Game Informer, Yoshi-P confirms that the revamped combat system (with hack and slash overtones) It is due to the tastes of the young public.
Yoshi-P believes that youngsters prefer action games, so Final Fantasy XVI needed to be more direct and wild than its predecessors. And it was a great challenge to tackle it.
”Probably the biggest challenge had to do with designing the battle system and getting into action in real time. We’ve mentioned in the past that with Final Fantasy XVI, we wanted to bring a new generation of players to the Final Fantasy series, and one of our main focuses during early development was how to do this.
Both Creative Business Unit III and the rest of Square Enix workers they had hardly any experience with this fighting system. But it is precisely what would end up convincing Yoshi-P.
The producer of Final Fantasy 16 is a lover of challenges… and for this reason they chose to change the combat, looking for a game that is more in line with the current tastes of the public.
“Instead of going back to turn-based, we said, ‘Okay, this is an opportunity to challenge ourselves and try to do something that the series has never done before, but we really want to try, and that’s getting moving towards the complete system based on action”.
Yoshi-P also mentions that they could have gone for a hybrid system, similar to the one used by Crisis Core or Final Fantasy VII Remake (as well as Rebirth). However, in the end they discarded this option, to focus on the action 100%.
Final Fantasy XVI will be quite an event, and we already assure you (after trying it) that it will be a clear candidate for GOTY 2023. Its launch It will be produced on PS5 on June 22. As for the PC version, Square Enix will take “special care” when developing it.
