Final Fantasy 16: will it be an action game, goodbye RPG?
Final Fantasy 16
Ever since Square Enix showed the first trailer for Final Fantasy 16, the frenzy had hinted at an even more explosive approach towards action mechanics. Is the historical saga ready to say goodbye definitively to role-playing mechanics? The Producer of the game, Naoki Yoshida, spoke about the combat system in a radio broadcast, as reported on Twitter by Tony Garsow, Senior Editor of Nova Crystallis. Yoshida said the title will actually be 'action oriented'.Nevertheless, the developers are working on unspecified support for less experienced players of the genre. Unlikely, of course, are the simplifications adopted in Final Fantasy 7 Remake in easy mode, or those related to the ATB bar, given that the sixteenth chapter of the saga will have fights in real time. With this doubt about the combat system, the producer also announced that the team is working hard on the narrative sector.
Final Fantasy 16, does not yet have a release date, but will only be released on PlayStation 5 (although it is not clear whether it will be a temporal exclusivity). For more details on the world and characters, we invite you to view our dedicated article. What do you think of what leaked from Yoshida's words? Obviously it is still early to know what the real intentions of the software house are (intending, among other things, to temporarily silence the title), but we invite you to tell us your theories below in the comments!
Yoshida briefly discussed FF16 on a radio broadcast he was invited to primarily to discuss FF14.
He said that FF16 is "action-oriented" and that they're putting effort into supporting players who are less-skilled at action games - also that they're working hard on the story. https://t.co/G3C2jmm3Rr
- active time boop (@TonyGarsow) February 22, 2021
Here is the description of the game world: “The land of Valisthea is studded with Mother Crystals. Massive, shimmering crystal rock chains tower over the surrounding realms, showering them with aether. For generations, the peoples of this land have gathered around these sources of light to exploit their ether and cast powerful spells capable of guaranteeing them a life of ease and abundance. Great powers have arisen around the Mother Crystals, linked to each other by fragile relations of peace, now threatened by the spread of the Plague and its destructive power ".
On Amazon Italy, Final Fantasy 7 Remake is available at an unmissable price. Click here to view the product page!
Final Fantasy 16 might have an easy mode planned, according to the producer's comments
Final Fantasy 16 producer Yoshi-P has shared a brief snippet of information about the next mainline Final Fantasy's gameplay and difficulty.
According to Reset Era and active time boop on Twitter, Naoki Yoshida was conducting a radio interview about Final Fantasy 14 and its planned new expansion Endwalker, but that didn't stop the interviewer from asking him about another project; Final Fantasy 16.
While Yoshi-P has said recently that he doesn't want to say too much about Final Fantasy 16 in an effort to limit speculation and, ultimately, dash player expectation, he has been reported as saying that Final Fantasy 16 is going to be 'action-oriented' and that the team is putting effort into supporting players who are 'less skilled at action games.'
This might mean that they are trying to make the game more accessible to those who just want to enjoy the story, perhaps hinting towards the introduction of an easier gameplay mode or increased accessibility features - think The Last of Us 2 and its plethora of options for all kinds of different players.
Final Fantasy 16 is the next mainline entry to the storied Final Fantasy franchise. At the moment, thanks to the aforementioned lack of information about the game, we only know a small amount of what we can expect. Square Enix shared an update in October 2020 which delved a little deeper into the characters and world,revealing that we'll be playing as a young hero called Clive as he struggles to protect his younger brother, Joshua.
Thanks to the same October update, we also know that there will be some form of a time skip during the game, confirming that the old character we saw at the beginning of the first trailer is the young man we now know is Clive.
Final Fantasy 16 is going to be a PS5 exclusive but there's no word on a release date yet. In the meantime, now is the best time to jump into Final Fantasy 14 if you want to scratch that Final Fantasy itch.
