In height its popularity, Final Fantasy to be the The JRPG franchise, a must-have sold PlayStation consoles throughout the ’90s and beyond. But the platform that defined Final Fantasy games in the past have fading relevance—Something that even one of the series’ most lauded developers has acknowledged.
In the world of Final Fantasy, veteran game developer Naoki Yoshida is considered a savior. He is recorded as resurrected Final Fantasy XIVone MMO once too bad even the former president of publisher Square Enix admits it is a black mark. But while Yoshida sticked as producer Final Fantasy XVI—The next big entry in the series — he even admitted that the franchise hasn’t kept up with the times.
“As for whether Final Fantasy will successfully adapt to the industry trends, I believe the series is currently struggling,” he said. Inverse.
There is a golden era when it comes to Final Fantasy games, though fans will hotly debate when it begins and ends (Final Fantasy VI arrive X, if you ask me). Its most iconic game to date, 1997 Final Fantasy VII, beloved to this day, it has inspired spinoff games and even a movie; Square Enix is being careful redo it today such a great experience divided into three games. But, as Yoshida’s comment points out, the franchise can’t rest on its past glories forever.
It was a difficult decade. Final Fantasy XIII is a series that ‘transports to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 generations, and — do Linear design, dull story and characters in one note—Considered one of the franchise’s weaker entries and shows its lackluster entry in more recent console generations. Its successor, Final Fantasy XIV, which is objectively bad, bogged down with confusing gameplay, a slick combat system, and a tedious story. Yoshida’s ambition for a new medium was clear even in the name of game relaunch: A realm of rebirth.
Although the first games in the series were released consecutively every few years, the development period has stretched a lot. It took a decade to get Final Fantasy XV out the door. And even with all that time and energy, the series no longer sets the standard for the genre. The field is more competitive than ever, with franchises like Persona or Yakuza Continued innovation and indie games recreate the feel of classic RPGs.
Now, Final Fantasy is grappling with what players want in the modern era. Yoshida said the turn-based gameplay, the foundation of the series, felt outdated and slow for some players. “I belong to the generation that grew up with turn-based and command-and-play RPGs,” Yoshida said in a July interview translated by VGC. “I think I understand how exciting and engaging it can be. On the other hand, over the past decade or so, I’ve seen quite a few comments saying ‘I don’t understand the allure of command selection in video games.’ “It’s a growing sentiment, he added, especially with young people. players.
Games like Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Remake provides a glimpse into how Square Enix is thinking about its evolution– get rid of the strategy that involves patiently waiting for your turn and switch to a more action-oriented experience. Yoshida told Inverse that Square Enix gets a lot of requests for what each new game should be, adding that it’s “impossible to accommodate all of those requests with a single title.”
Instead, he suggests the way forward is to “make more games” while staying true to the core tenets of the game. Final Fantasy: “A deep story, rich game design, best game sound go with those aspects,” he told Inverse.
Is that — set in a high fantasy setting where the main characters are confusingly named Joshua and Clive — enough to keep Final Fantasy relevant today? Square Enix is still figuring that out.
