Interview: Naoki Yoshida sheds new light on Final Fantasy XVI

blog.playstation.com:

For those eager to know yet more about the much-anticipated Final Fantasy XVI, your wait is over.

Like us, you’ve likely pored over every piece of text, every screenshot and trailer since the game was originally announced back in 2020. We’ve had the first information about its world and characters, and most recently, a closer look at gameplay as well as that all-important release window. Producer Naoki Yoshida has guided us through all three here on PS.Blog.

Now, we’re able to quiz Yoshida-san to pull back the curtain (a little) on the game’s development. Here, we get his personal perspective on, amongst other things, answering the call to create the latest mainline Final Fantasy title, developing for PlayStation 5, and his favorite Summon. Let’s get to it.

Naoki Yoshida, Producer of Final Fantasy XVI

PlayStation.Blog: What do you think are the core tenets of a Final Fantasy game? Did the development team look to past titles in the series for guidance or inspiration when building FFXVI?

Naoki Yoshida: I’d say the core elements of a Final Fantasy game are a deep story, deep gameplay, cutting-edge graphics and cutting-edge sound… as well as chocobos and moogles, of course.

In the 35-year history of the Final Fantasy series, it’s always been the guiding policy that each new installment has to be the very best game that the director at the time can put together, no matter how the game world, the characters, or the battle system might change. Because of this, gamers and Final Fantasy fans around the world have very different ideas of what a Final Fantasy game should be—but to me, it’s those elements I mentioned.

“Each new installment has to be the very best game that the director at the time can put together”

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