THE MAKING OF . . .

How action led the way in reinventing the long-running RPG series

BY ALAN WEN

Format PS5

Developer Creative Business Unit III

Publisher Square Enix

Origin Japan

Release 2023

The words ‘Final Fantasy’ might have become something of a misnomer over the decades, this venerable series having spanned some 36 years and 16 releases (not counting the innumerable spinoffs, remakes, expansions, and sub-sequels such as FFX-2). Yet look closer at any given mainline instalment and there is a certain, well, finality to be found. After all, each Final Fantasy has a new world, story and systems – which means that, unless it’s one of those that gets the spinoff treatment, it may very well also be the last outing for all those things too. Perhaps no instalment in this series, though, has so clearly put the past behind it as Final Fantasy XVI. That was apparent right from the game’s initial reveal in 2020, which defiantly set out its stall as a radical departure. Here was a mature fantasy story unafraid to shed blood (or clothing), that ditched the traditional customisable party in favour of a single protagonist, Clive Rosfield, and, perhaps most striking of all, presented a heavy emphasis on realtime action combat, with nary a command menu in sight.

It’s easy to see why Square Enix would choose to entrust Creative Business Unit III, of all its studios, with taking these risks. This, after all, was the team that managed to take Final Fantasy XIV from the series’ biggest catastrophe to its most profitable release to date. It’s a tempting narrative, but one that Naoki Yoshida – producer of both XVI and XIV’s A Realm Reborn comeback – pushes against. Yoshida credits a number of other factors, including the fact that Creative Business Unit I was already busy with Final Fantasy VII: Remake; he does acknowledge, however, the part that XIV’s successful reinvention and the fervent support of its community played in landing this job.

And when they did, Yoshida and his team approached the project with a conscious desire to subvert preconceptions, not just of Final Fantasy but of Japanese RPGs as a whole, though without jettisoning everything that longtime devotees associate with the series. Of this there might be no better microcosm than XVI’s approach to the Final Fantasy bestiary. A number of popular creatures from the series were omitted, so as “not to undermine the setting and world created”, according to creative director and scenario writer Kazutoyo Maehiro. It’s certainly hard to imagine how the cactuar, looking as they traditionally have like a prickly, bright-green take on Animal Crossing’s gyroids,