Few video game series can hit sixteen mainline entries, but Final Fantasy continues to go strong over 30 years later. Final Fantasy XVI surprised everyone at Sony's PlayStation 5 showcase, and it looks to be a massive departure for the series, with a more stylized action combat system.
After the more futuristic and modern worlds of Final Fantasy XIII and XV, Final Fantasy XVI is returning to the swords and magic of high fantasy. At the same time, the game's story and tone seem to be much darker than that of previous games, and it's something that already has fans excited.
These changes made more sense as Square Enix revealed key members of the team that'd be behind Final Fantasy XVI. The team developing Final Fantasy XVI has quite a history with the franchise.
Creative Business Unit III and Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XVI's producer is Naoki Yoshida, a man who's gained widespread popularity within Square Enix and its community over the last few years. Yoshida is best known as the director that brought Final Fantasy XIV back from the dead, relaunched it with a Realm Reborn, and turned it into the phenomenon it is today. In April 2019 Square Enix restructured its teams into different divisions and Creative Business Unit 3, headed by Yoshida, is responsible for overseeing both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV.
Yoshida will influence the project, but the main creative force will be Hiroshi Takai, who served as an assistant director on Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and as gameplay supervisor on Stormblood. Takai first worked on battle graphics for Final Fantasy V but is also known for working on the Romancing SaGa series and as director on The Last Remnant. The medieval fantasy look of Final Fantasy XVI has some similarities with The Last Remnant.
It's interesting to see a division entirely focused on MMOs develop an ambitious new single-player game. However, Takai and the team at Business Unit 3 definitely have experience with complex narratives and worlds filled with lore. Another interesting tidbit is that Final Fantasy XVI may be the first M-rated mainline Final Fantasy. A recent newsletter for the game suggests it has a PEGI-18 rating, which is the equivalent of an M-rating from the Pan European Game Information. This means Final Fantasy XVI has the opportunity to tell an intense, complex story not bound by the restraints of a T-rating.
Final Fantasy XVI Has Inspirations From XIV
Even with just one trailer, several similarities can be drawn between Final Fantasy XVI and XIV. The general look and feel of the game's world has a lot in common with the "gothic high fantasy" of Heavensward. That comparison goes even further when the main character faces down a Dragoon later in the trailer, who bears a similar look to the iconic Dragoon of XIV. The most obvious connection, however, comes with the summon creatures like Shiva and Ifrit. In the Final Fantasy XVI trailer, these beings are referred to as Eikons, and it seems like someone called a Dominant either transforms into them or has control of them. Final Fantasy XIV is the only game in the entire series that refers to summons as Eikons.
Perhaps the most interesting potential similarity is how Final Fantasy XVI looks to subvert the tropes of the series. A line in the trailer reads "The legacy of the crystals has shaped our history for too long." On a deeper level, this line can be seen as a statement that Final Fantasy XVI is moving beyond the typical magic-crystal story, and going for something wildly different. This is supported even more by the M-rating the game might have. Similarly, Final Fantasy XIV has bucked tradition by subverting the typical light vs dark storyline. In Shadowbringers players take on the mantle of Warrior of Darkness, and fight to bring darkness back to the world, and vanquish light. Yoshida has shown that he loves subverting the history and tropes of Final Fantasy, and it seems like Final Fantasy XVI may take that idea even further.
Final Fantasy XVI is currently in development for PS5.