Now there are about 4 months left until the release date of Final Fantasy 16 that this year’s giant RPG game from Square Enix Before we can experience the game together, the Online Station team has the opportunity to interview with you.Naoki Yoshida Producer position and youMichael-Christopher Koji Fox The position of Localization Director until getting some great information about the game to share with friends, not least, with what issues are there? Let’s watch!
interview
Q: It is undeniable that Final Fantasy fans are interested in the plot. So what do you think about the expectations of the fans in this section?
- Yoshida said that the story was a very important element of Part 16, and that he and his team wanted the story to feel powerful from the beginning and continue throughout the game. Not making the game look good just during the climax or the ending. which the team wants to present Clive’s story (The protagonist of the game) as well as what drives him to do things, as well as telling what happened during his childhood. and affect him later
- However, to be able to do so The team needed to split the plot into three parts, the first of which was during childhood so that players would know what had happened to Clive. Next is to jump to Clive in his 20s to tell what Clive experienced at that time and end with Clive at the age of 3, which was shaped by experiences from past stories. Until the player can understand what made Clive become like this.
- Mr. Yoshida explains the picture that Today we live in a world full of people. And each person’s point of view is different. Now, different perspectives would inevitably lead to some conflicts. When there is an event that happens at a certain time People will look at what happened from a personal point of view. In which he has applied it to the game that there are people who believe that doing it is right doing that is wrong and what do they want to do? What did you do? Everyone has their own goals. He and the team would like to present that if the event happened to different types of people. And when background, needs, and goals are involved. Will he think the same way or contradict it? what one thinks is right Will it really be the right thing? what one thinks is fair Will it benefit his people?
Q: As a producer who has been involved in several Final Fantasy games, what elements do you think make the series more interesting?
- Mr. Yoshida replied that the Final Fantasy series itself is over 35 years old and has many spin-offs. Each sector has its own world, design, and character. The uniqueness of each sector, including having a different storyline in every sector, is one of the reasons why this series has been standing up to the present. To be honest, the Final Fantasy series is all about challenging new things, so we decided to bring real-time action to the full game. That hasn’t been applied to any entry in the Final Fantasy series before and we’re okay with investing in something new to make the series look even more interesting. All of this is for players to experience the game with good graphics, full of intense storyline. packed with various content mixed with quality background music and chocobo
Q: Define your Final Fantasy XVI in one sentence, please.
- “Budget Hollywood movies in real time” (Mr. Yoshida laughs)
Q: I see that this part 16 is rated M (or Mature, suitable for players aged 17 and over) from previously being rated T (or Teen, suitable for players aged 13. up) all along. Were you concerned that this installment might be less accessible to players than previous installments?
- Mr. Yoshida said he was not worried about the issue. In practice, the Teen rating is more restrictive. And a lot of content wouldn’t be available in a Teen rated game at all, so we decided to make the game rated Mature instead. But it’s not because we want to include more violence or heartbreaking scenes in the game. If you want to give an example, it’s like there is a battle scene in the war that I want to present to make it look a little dramatic. You have a character that uses a bow as a weapon. After firing, the arrow lands on the enemy, revealing a gaping wound, a puncture wound, which in turn makes the content rated Mature.
- Moreover With the power of the PS5, everything we create looks more realistic. And it meets the needs of the team who want players to feel real. But if it’s a Teen rated game, these things can’t be presented. Because there are full limitations. Our intention for the game to be rated Mature is to be in line with what the team wants to tell. want to present it to the players
Q: Will this sector have a multiplayer mode? If not, can you tell me the reason why it doesn’t?
- Mr. Yoshida confirmed that there is definitely no multiplayer mode. This sector will have different development objectives from sectors 11 and 14. In which the past offline sector was developed from scratch on the console before There are also many players who think that this game should not be online and should be single player, butThe main reason for that is from a game design perspective. Because the factors that make singleplayer games and multiplayer games to be good are different. Bringing multiplayer features into a game designed for singleplayer isn’t impossible. But in practice, it takes time to rebuild the whole system to be able to pull multiplayer game features into a single player game and fit together perfectly. And if doing so, the team will not be able to release the game in the middle of this year.
- The team wants all players to focus on being a single player. And I want players who are familiar with multiplayer systems to understand this point as well. The game itself has one online feature, that is. Arcade Mode that will be unlocked after completing one round of the game In which this mode allows players to choose a level to play. And then pass the level to get a high score to make your own record to be on the top Leaderboard Compete with other players in the online world.
Q: Why is this part not an open world even though parts 14 and 15 are still open world?
- Mr. Yoshida said From a game design point of view He and his team wanted the game to tell the whole story. And there is a specific combat system in parallel. Therefore, it would be more appropriate to make a game that is not an open world. based on the main story first and then put the gameplay that you want to do again The team wanted to put the details into the game to the level of a Hollywood action movie. There are beautiful locations showing the story of each kingdom. Battlefield and beautiful nature Of course, these things would come with huge costs. And the game must have a large enough scale to get all these details into it.
- At the same time, when players want to travel from one realm to another. It wasn’t just that the team created two different-looking territories just bordering on each other. But they have to create a story of these two lands. Which characters, quests are connected? All of the above takes a lot of time and budget to do with.
Q: Is there a chance that this game will be released on platforms other than PS5?
- Yoshida admits that when he and his team made Final Fantasy 16, they had support from the company. Sony in many aspects, whether it is technology, artwork, as well as marketing support So we optimized the game to run on PS5 to its fullest potential. Including a contract that will not bring the game to other platforms for at least 6 months from the release date. However, it does not mean that after 6 months, we will immediately port the game to other platforms. Therefore, his answer to this question is “not down”.
- The team spent a lot of money on the development of this game. and want this game to sell well reach players around the world as much as possible We are also considering bringing this game to other platforms as well. But because we are working with Sony and bringing the game to other platforms, we have to consider optimizing it to run well on other platforms as well. If the team knows the exact date, it will definitely update later. Which has to be said here that we may port this game to other platforms. Or maybe there is no port at all. Of course, the process of optimizing for other platforms takes more than 6 months (very much overload).
Q: What was the most difficult or challenging thing during the development of this game?
- Mr. Yoshida said for him The first is chocobo. This is what he wanted to put into the game in the first place. But the team said that if doing so would cost a lot more and it didn’t fit the world in this game at all. So they don’t want to do it. But he insisted that there must be a Chocobo appearing in the game.
- The other is to provide a seamless playing experience. The game has to switch from cutscenes to battle scenes with almost no load. So we in the team have to communicate. Discuss how games can deliver that kind of experience. even when the fight scene ended Both designing where Clive is facing. How to pose when winning Where should the camera angle be? Here, the team has to work hard to ensure that every detail is accurate. Including hundreds of other cutscenes, which are a lot.
Q: I saw that in the video clip that the team watched before the interview, there was also a QTE section to press the button. I would like to know if the number of QTE sections will vary according to the difficulty level of the game or not?
- Mr. Yoshida clarified that in Final Fantasy 16 there will be no difficulty level to adjust at all. Story Focused or Action Focused Story Focused mode will be available for players who want to experience the game’s story and experience purely, as well as those who are not good at action games.
- however Yoshida further explained that Story Focused and Action Focused are not choosing between easy and hard modes. Because the essence of both modes will remain the same. But what is different is the “helper” that the player will receive. which comes in the form of jewelry For example, an ornament named Ring of Timely Focus It has the ability to slow the speed of all attacks that come towards Clive. Give the player time to press the R1 button to dodge those attacks in time.
- Or if any player sees that even if slowing down the attack and then waiting to press the R1 button, it’s still too difficult The game also has an accessory called Ring of Timely Invasion which has the ability to automatically dodge all attacks directed at the player Therefore, players will not be tired of pressing dodge at all.
- Moreover There is also an ornament named Ring of Timely Strikes Which has the ability to help players complete a series of combos by simply pressing a single button repeatedly, without having to press that button back and forth to switch combos to make your fingers tired It can be seen that the game has given freedom to the players all the way. If you want to stick to the story and don’t want to get a headache from the battles. can rely on the accessories mentioned above at any time Or if you want to turn and try to challenge yourself, you can take off those jewelry as well. It all depends on the player’s needs.
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