In a recent interview with GQ, producer Naoki Yoshida revealed a litany more of information about Final Fantasy XVI, the next mainline title of the renowned decades-long franchise. One of the more revealing statements Yoshida made was his desire to potentially drop the numbered titles from mainline games as they may deter new and younger players from getting into the series, suspecting they need to play previous entries to get the gist of a newer Final Fantasy title.
While the claim surprised many Final Fantasy fans who are well aware none of the games are connected in any way — excluding Chocobos, Cactuars, and the very rare direct mainline sequel in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII— ditching the mainline numbered titles would transform the franchise into an entirely new era. There’s also the case of select titles such as Final Fantasy VII, one of, if not the most titular game of the entire franchise outright, still beloved today, which has received numerous sequels, prequels, remakes and movie tie-ins. As well there’s been two MMO titles Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, however, XIV has been far superior and profitable for Square Enix and has seen registrations skyrocket for the online game in the past 3 years.
Yoshida also stressed the importance of XVI’s narrative, being both massive in lore and the forefront in keeping players engaged. This came in response to the previous mainline Final Fantasy title, Final Fantasy XV which wasn’t widely well received from fans for its convoluted and lackluster story. Speaking to RPG Site, Yoshida commented, “I want to know how people think when they get to the end of the game and they’ve finished watching all the way to the end of the credits, and what they feel at that moment. How will they feel? That’s what I want to know. I want to know if they’re going to say, ‘This was the greatest thing ever’, or ‘This was a really interesting story’. I’m just waiting to see how the fans react to the story, because that’s what we’ve put so much effort into.”
Final Fantasy XVI lore is said to be so in-depth that at any time during gameplay, in-game cutscenes, there’s an option to access an information screen focusing both on detailed lore, what’s happening between which characters, factions, empires, etc. it’s to better ensure players aren’t lost within the larger story.