Final Fantasy is a beloved franchise that has been around since 1987 and has remained prominent in the gaming industry. Every new mainline entry stands alone, making it easy for players to get into. Familiar terms, mechanics, and mainstays like chocobos, magic, and Cids bring a certain charm to the games, but each new entry has its own unique cast of characters, world, story, and lore. Final Fantasy XVI is the newest tentpole release, and fans are excited to see what it has in store.

Creating a New Title
In an interview with some of the lead developers behind the highly anticipated Final Fantasy XVI, producer Naoki Yoshida reveals the origins of the game. He explains that the team began watching Game of Thrones to get a sense of what was trending in the world and the kind of high fantasy people enjoyed. While inspiration from the popular show is clear, the team took great care to make sure FFXVI didn’t feel like a carbon copy.

The World of Valisthea
Creative director Kazutoyo Maehiro, working alongside Hiroshi Takai (Director), Naoki Yoshida (Producer) and Hiroshi Minigawa (Art Director), took the lead in creating FFXVI’s world of Valisthea. Maehiro indulged in history to add more depth to his writing, scouring real-world examples of nations and societies that rely on proximity to water to thrive. He used this information to determine not every nation in Valisthea should be a kingdom and to create more variety between how these nations work.

Establishing how these nations are governed helps Maehiro and the team write the types of lives people within each place live. Minigawa worked on game’s visual style and aimed for something between illustration and reality without being “necessarily photo-realistic.” He cites northern England’s unique rock formations as well as Iceland’s barren rocky landscapes, Slovenia, the Middle East, and Africa, as sources of inspiration.

Bringing the Action
Director Takai worked with the team to solve the issue of combat. They decided that the game would not be an open-world title and that it wouldn’t be turn-based. Instead, they went for full real-time action. Once they had that, they added people and finalized the scenario. The game’s combat is known as Eikon vs. Eikon, based on the game’s lore.

Fans of the Final Fantasy franchise are excited to experience the new world, story, and characters of Final Fantasy XVI while still finding familiarity in its mainstays, proving yet again, Final Fantasy is a constantly changing franchise.