In a recent interview, Final Fantasy XVI’s producer Naoki Yoshida explained how he believes Final Fantasy should be “what the creator at that time thinks Final Fantasy should be,” and hopes that future creators will continue to make the best thing they can imagine for the franchise.
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While discussing the major differences between Final Fantasy XVI and the rest of the franchise with Den of Geek, Naoki Yoshida explained that he was given a piece of advice when he took over Final Fantasy XIV’s development from the director at the time. He was told that the Final Fantasy series should be whatever the creator at that moment in time thinks it should be, adding, “I really took that to heart. I want that to be the same thing that creators moving forward can do.”
Final Fantasy XVI is a big shift from previous entries in the franchise because it mostly features real-time combat and is seen as an ARPG, not a JRPG. Yoshida knows the series has become known for certain tropes and wanted to break the mold with this entry. He outlines that even at a studio level, the series falls into the trap of always being a JRPG, “Ok, we’re making Final Fantasy, but we have to do it this way because this is the way they did it in the past.” He hopes to show future developers and creators that work on the franchise that you can move past these ideas and make something completely different that still fits within the series and sells just as well.
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Several interviews with the Final Fantasy XVI producer have been published today, many of which touch on the possibility of a PC port of the game. Yoshida has remained consistent in each interview, stating that the game has been optimized for PS5, even going as far as saying it would take a $2,000 PC to run in its current state.
The game is part of an exclusivity deal with Sony, meaning it’s exclusive to PS5 for 6 months. However, Yoshida says that this isn’t enough time to optimize the game for PC, given all the potential hardware it needs to work on.
A translation of a Japanese PlayStation Blog post confirms that Yoshida would like to produce a PC version of Final Fantasy XVI, but it’s not going to happen anytime soon. If you’re holding out to play the PC port, you’re either going to need to wait a very long time and avoid spoilers or look for a way to play the game on PS5.
