Final Fantasy 16 producer says it “makes no sense” to go back to turn-based combat

Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida says the game targets a younger audience, so “it doesn’t make sense” to use slow turn-based combat instead of action gameplay more dynamic character that modern players love.

In his recent interview with Famitsu (via VGC), Yoshida explained that young audiences generally don’t play RPGs, and the opinion of not understanding the appeal of selecting commands in video games is becoming more common. In his words, the evolution of console technology has pushed RPGs towards action-based mechanics rather than turn-based.

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“For several console generations now, all character expressions can be done in real time. As a result, it doesn’t seem to make sense to go through a command prompt, such as ‘Battle’, to take a decision during a battle It is not an argument about what is good or bad, but there is a difference based on the player’s preferences and age,” said Naoki Yoshida.

Having grown up with command systems and turn-based RPGs, Yoshida himself understands how interesting and immersive it can be and wants to continue developing such games for different audiences. Still, the producer has to think about the expected sales of a blockbuster like Final Fantasy 16.

“I think it’s entirely possible that the next Final Fantasy will either use a command system again or be an open-world game. However, at this point, if we were to develop it, Final Fantasy 16 would be like that. “

Of course, Final Fantasy 16 won’t be the first game in the series to opt for something faster and more dynamic. In fact, Final Fantasy 10 was the last mainline game where everyone had separate turns. All recent entries, including Final Fantasy 15 and even Final Fantasy 7 Remake (which mixes action-based systems with turn-based strategy design) rely on the player controlling the battlefield in real time.

Earlier, Naoki Yoshida revealed that the Kingdom Hearts team helped shape Final Fantasy 16’s real-time combat and boss battles, calling it “a culmination of the company’s past experiences.” The team also have their own big project to work on – Kingdom Hearts 4 – so it will be interesting to see how the two projects differ from each other in this regard.

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