Final Fantasy XVI’s shaper Naoki Yoshida was precise candid astir the existent authorities of Final Fantasy. In a caller interrogation with Inverse, helium said that the long-running RPG bid was not precise adaptable to oversea changes successful the gaming industry.

“In presumption of whether Final Fantasy is successfully adapting to manufacture trends, I judge the bid is presently struggling.” Yoshida said. “We’re present astatine a constituent wherever we person a wide assortment of requests regarding the absorption of our crippled design.”

Final Fantasy XIV was primitively known arsenic a janky and generic game erstwhile it launched successful 2010. Players were unhappy, and the improvement squad had been demoralized. Once Yoshida took the helm arsenic the ill-fated MMORPG’s producer, FFXIV experienced a implicit revival. The crippled is present spoken of arsenic a rival to World of Warcraft, and the latest enlargement was truthful highly anticipated that Square Enix had to halt sales to negociate congestion. He is 1 of the astir qualified radical to talk to the series’ request for innovation. His content is 1 of the reasons wherefore he’s taking FFXVI in a darker direction than astir Final Fantasy games.

Yoshida seems to beryllium trying to acceptable realistic expectations for the series, which he’s antecedently done to explicate the deficiency of Final Fantasy XVI updates. “To beryllium honest, it’d beryllium intolerable to fulfill each those requests with a azygous title. My existent content is that each we tin truly bash is make aggregate games, and proceed creating the champion that we tin astatine immoderate fixed time,” Yoshida told Inverse.

But helium wasn’t each doom and gloom astir Final Fantasy. He spoke positively astir FFXIV’s imaginable longevity arsenic a unrecorded work game. “I privation to support making definite that Final Fantasy XIV volition beryllium fondly remembered by galore arsenic a amusive crippled that gave them the champion gaming experience. I besides privation to marque definite that it volition stay successful cognition for decades to come.”

Final Fantasy may beryllium facing an uphill struggle, but Yoshida doesn’t look to spot it arsenic a atrocious thing. “I judge the essence of a occupation is getting paid to bash what others find troublesome,” helium said.

Yoshida is presently the shaper of Final Fantasy XVI, the adjacent mainline single-player crippled successful the series. According to the producer, the crippled volition woody with much “mature” themes than erstwhile entries, apt owed to the mediocre reception of its predecessor Final Fantasy XV. The crippled was delayed due to the fact that of the pandemic, but Square Enix has acceptable the merchandise day for summer 2023.