A new interview withFinal Fantasy 16producer Naoki Yoshida reveals that the new entry’s lack of an open world is largely due to the reception of its predecessor,Final Fantasy 15.Final Fantasy 15had one of the biggest open-world mapsin gaming history, as well as the first in the mainlineFFseries, and it may just be the last.
Final Fantasy 16, the latest addition to one of the longest-running and most iconic JRPG franchises of all time, is now just around the corner. As more details come out about the mechanics of the game, it seems like, in many ways, Square Enix and Creative Business Unit 3 are attempting to give an experience similar to its last mainline entry in many ways while improving on many ofFF15’s shortcomings. A Game Informer interview with producer Naoki Yoshida makes it that much more abundantly clear that areas whereFinal Fantasy 15suffered had a major impact on the team’s approach to its follow-up.
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Yoshida talks in the interview aboutthe problems inFinal Fantasy 15that arose from having a massive open worldthat ultimately wound up feeling a little empty for some players. He also says that simply making a less-vast open world just isn’t possible for a game in this series. Naoki notes, “If you create this open world of the 23 wards of Tokyo, then basically, your story has to take place in the 23 wards of Tokyo, and it can’t take place outside of that. You can create more areas outside of that, but then that takes a lot of resources, and the more that you create, then the bigger chance that you have of that giant area that you created becoming empty, and that’s the one thing that players hate the most: a huge open world but there’s nothing to do in it.”
This isn’t to say thatFinal Fantasy 16will be by any means a small game just because it’s lacking a full open world. The game will instead consist of multiple zones, each of which appears to be fairly large in scalebased on theFinal Fantasy 16gameplay that’s been seen and reported onthus far, and those zones will each contain a number of quests, monsters, and whatever other details the team can manage to squeeze in there.
Yoshida also makes a note aboutFinal Fantasy 16’s lack of DLC, which appears to be the direct result of the plannedFinal Fantasy 15DLC being canceled and ultimately leaving the game’s story feeling incomplete. His comments make it clear that the focus with this newest title is squarely on storytelling and ensuring the entire story can be told within the game players are buying on day one, which certainly feels like the right move given what already passed.
Final Fantasy 16is coming to PS5 on June 22.
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