Naoki Yoshida, one of Square Enix’s lead producers and the man often credited for reviving their flagship MMORPG, FFXIV, recently disclosed in an interview with Inverse that the series was running into trouble. Yoshida (or Yoshi-P, as he is affectionately nicknamed) divulged that the long-running franchise was experiencing difficulty adapting to industry trends in the modern gaming era.
In the interview, Yoshida explained:
“In terms of whether Final Fantasy is successfully adapting to industry trends, I believe the series is currently struggling. We’re now at a point where we receive a wide variety of requests regarding the direction of our game design. To be honest, it’d be impossible to satisfy all those requests with a single title.”
The successor to FFXI (which apparently still has a dedicated player base), FFXIV, was initially met with a tepid reception. Yoshida’s timely involvement in 2012 was the proverbial phoenix down for FFXIV, breathing new life into what was once a clunky, half-baked MMO. Every subsequent expansion from Heavensward to Shadowbringers saw more new players brought into the fold, drawn into the deep plot, lore-heavy elements, boss battles, fantastic musical scores, and well-written dialogue. The game saw such a potent revival that when the most recent expansion, Endwalker, was released last year, server congestion was so severe that they had to temporarily suspend new account creation. Those with accounts saw server queues of around 3,000 players during peak hours. Talk about suffering from success.
But aside from FFXIV, the Final Fantasy franchise has inarguably hit a rough patch over the past decade, which is likely the crux of Yoshida’s argument.
FFXV, one of the more recent mainline addition to the franchise, ran into numerous challenges over a decade of development. Everything from swapping staff, switching directors, development delays, story reworks, and gameplay mechanic adjustments all led to a final product where the constant modifications were evident, like when an artist erases a pencil stroke one too many times and the smudge remains. Entire cities like Altissia were rendered in gorgeous detail but were scant on content, indicative of a haphazard development cycle where the zone had more planned for it but it never reached fruition.
Fans also voiced displeasure towards FFVII: Remake for a variety of different reasons. Among the complaints include the action-oriented combat system, where players have full control of Cloud and his compatriots as they move about the battlefield. This stood in stark contrast to the ATB style that was present in the original FFVII. Further critiques include alterations to the plot and a sometimes sluggish story progression, which designers have attributed to the decision to flesh out the Midgar section more and allow players to get better acquainted with our mercenary friends in Avalanche. Whether or not you agree with these critiques, well, you can air your grievances in the comments (I enjoyed the game immensely myself), but the gist of it is that Square Enix receives a lot of feedback. And, as Yoshida has stated, it’s impossible to satisfy all these requests in one title.
While Yoshida didn’t preside over FFXV or the FFVII: Remake as a producer, he is currently the lead producer for FFXVI (that’s 16), the upcoming title to which we know little about. What Yoshida seems to be trying to do is temper expectations. Anticipate that they’re doing their best to create a great game, but don’t expect everything on your Christmas list. Perhaps the battle system will be a departure from what you were expecting. In much the same way that FFXIV exists as an online social experience, perhaps anticipate that the new entry will have less online functionality with a single-player focused experience, for example. It can have absolutely anything, but it can’t have everything.
Yoshida also expressed insight into the future, anticipating that VR will likely become more prevalent as a gaming contrivance, alongside quantum computing. How Final Fantasy can integrate VR, a medium that has yet to be widely adopted by the greater masses, is likely another such struggle that the development teams are faced with. Regardless of what new frontiers the Final Fantasy franchise chooses to venture into, I’m optimistic that the future will be bright.
A rich story with catchy boss music and spiky-haired characters: bring me that and I’ll be happy. Keep up the good work, Yoshi-P.
Meanwhile, while we wait for the next title to drop, why not check out the J-list Store? There’s plenty of Final Fantasy merchandise to choose from, and yes: we have Cloud in a dress. Also, post your WoLs in the comments, I want to see them.
