Mario, Zelda, Street Fighter… In the video game industry, only a handful of licenses born in the 1980s have been able to cross the ages by reinventing themselves. Final Fantasy is one of them. Created 35 years ago by the Japanese company Square Enix, this series of role-playing games divided into 15 video games and a myriad of spin-offs has exceeded 173 million sales worldwide. After seven years of waiting, the new part of this saga, Final Fantasy XVI, comes out this Thursday exclusively on the PlayStation 5 console.
For its publisher Square Enix, the stakes are high. Final Fantasy XVI is not only programmed to be one of the most important commercial successes of the year, but above all it must restore the image of a license that is struggling to interest new generations, and give it a new lease of life. Even if it means breaking dogmas and rushing the oldest fans.
This high-risk mission has been entrusted to Naoki Yoshida, producer and director of the online game Final Fantasy XIV. This creator is used to this type of challenge. He and his teams saved this MMORPG (massively multiplayer role-playing game, similar to World of Warcraft) from critical and commercial wreckage, originally released in 2010 and completely rebuilt over three years. A decade later, the online subscription game Final Fantasy XIV and its 27 million players is one of Square Enix’s biggest sources of recurring revenue.
With Final Fantasy XVI, Naoki Yoshida leaves the world of MMORPGs to join that of traditional offline video games, where the player can only rely on his abilities to progress through the story. And in this hotly contested market segment, the aura of Final Fantasy has waned over the past decade.
“Before starting the creation of Final Fantasy XVI, we commissioned a study on the image of the license from the players”, explains Naoki Yoshida to Figaro. On the positive side, Final Fantasy is associated with “a legendary series, with an excellent storyline, high-end graphics and an epic adventure. But the negative feedback has been much more than we expected.
“A lot of players in their twenties have told us that they have never played this series because it does not attract them, he continues. For them, Final Fantasy would be aimed at an audience of teenagers because of its design close to Japanese cartoons, and the pace of the game is considered too slow. And what surprised us is that adults who grew up with this license told us exactly the same thing. They don’t see each other there anymore.”
In an attempt to seduce this skeptical public, Naoki Yoshida took several counter-steps. The first is that of the game universe. Gone is the futuristic science fiction of the last parts of the series: Final Fantasy XVI returns to the sources of the saga by opting for a European medieval imagination where kings and lords meet, castles, but also magic and goblins. The Lord of the Rings is one of the inspirations cited by the creative team.
Another priority is the screenplay. “Final Fantasy XV was a big disappointment because the story was incomplete (in particular, you had to watch an animated film to understand the beginning of the game, editor’s note) and the narration did not live up to the reputation of the series. For the XVI, I wanted the entire story to be told in the game and to satisfy the player 120%”, continues the producer.
Difficult joystick in hand not to think of the Game of Thrones series, which has been dissected by the development team: the tone is serious, the political intrigue, and the dead are counted in spades while the blood flows afloat – the game is not recommended for those under 18, a first for this saga. Something to shake off the clichés associated with Japanese role-playing games, where the end of the world is stopped by a gang of teenagers who seem straight out of a manga… “I’m 50 this year and I can’t no longer identify with this type of story and character”, smiles Naoki Yoshida. If a short flashback allows us to discover him as a teenager, the hero, Clive, is approaching his thirties at the start of the story.
But Naoki Yoshida’s real kick in the anthill – his biggest risk, too – is in the combat system. Farewell to the traditional turn-based confrontations, where allies and enemies act one after the other. Final Fantasy XVI is a frenzied action game in real time, where you hammer the buttons of your controller to swing your sword, dodge, use magic, counter-attack… The team has d Elsewhere called on action game specialists, including the Japanese studio Platinum Games (Bayonetta, Nier Automata), to help with this shift.
“I knew this choice was going to divide the fans, just like our medieval-Gothic style. But it’s our vision and we believe in it,” says Naoki Yoshida. “I communicate a lot with the players and I listen to their opinions. But at the end of the day, I have to decide and make decisions of which I am intimately convinced. If you take into account all the opinions that come from social networks without any critical distance, you end up with a game that wants to satisfy everyone so much that it becomes wobbly. It can’t work.”
Another criticism from social networks and certain American media: the world of Final Fantasy XVI would be sorely lacking in ethnic diversity. How did the producer experience this controversy? “Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I understand that people can take these issues to heart. But no one has played the game yet! So play it, look at the world we’ve created, its characters, its different cultures, and form your opinion. We are open to constructive feedback, it helps us to progress.” Naoki Yoshida adds that “Japanese creation is primarily interested in the personality of the protagonists rather than their physical appearance. Is it good or bad? That’s another debate.”
After having multiplied the trailers during the last months, the editor Square Enix put online on June 12 a free access to the first two hours of Final Fantasy XVI. The very positive feedback from players, who shared their enthusiasm on social networks, helped boost the level of pre-orders for the game. But will it keep its promises throughout the adventure? And Naoki Yoshida, expected at the turn, will he live up to his reputation acquired with Final Fantasy XIV? “I can’t say I don’t feel any pressure, but maybe it’s not as big as you think. On the other hand, I am really stressed!”, confides the producer.
“My job for several weeks has been to talk to the media, build interest and excitement around the game, and make sure we sell so much of it that I can then hand out big bonuses to the production team. You know, it’s an incredible team that really worked very hard on this project”, continues Naoki Yoshida. “So yes, it happens that we fail despite our efforts. I love Steven Spielberg and Christopher Nolan, but I don’t necessarily like all of their films… But in truth, my biggest fear is that developers won’t want to work with me in the future,” confesses the producer.
The creation of Final Fantasy XVI was indeed more difficult than its controlled promotional campaign might suggest, in particular to refine its combat system and offer technical performance to match the visual ambitions of the game. “Before joining Square Enix [in 2004], I always said to myself when I saw the visual prowess of the old Final Fantasy “but this is crazy, how do they manage to do that?”. I’ve always thought that a Final Fantasy should impress,” concludes Naoki Yoshida. Will Final Fantasy XVI’s show-stopping battles between gigantic magical creatures wow audiences? Answer on June 22.
