The producer of Final Fantasy 16, Naoki Yoshida (AKA Yoshi-P) has spoken about the future of the Final Fantasy series, and he thinks it could be time for a newer team to lead development on the next game rather than “the same old guys.”
In an interview on the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’ Game Maker’s Notebook podcast, Yoshida was directly asked if he's set to be the director of Final Fantasy 17 (which hasn’t yet been announced), to which he replied: “I’m on the board of directors now so I really need to watch what I say here.” He clarified that “nothing’s been decided yet,” but went on to express his view that it could be time to bring younger developers on board.
“I’ve had the chance to work on two of these, [Final Fantasy] 14 and 16, so maybe it’s time for someone new, you know,” he said. “Instead of letting the same old guys handle the next one, I think in some ways it would be good to look to the future and bring in a younger generation, with more youthful sensibilities , to make a new [Final Fantasy] with challenges that suit today’s world.”
When asked what advice he’d give to a hypothetical younger director, Yoshida said that he’d suggest that they “just dive in and first put down on paper what you believe would be the most enjoyable FF, before thinking too hard about it.” After that, he suggests, they’d be able to nail down exactly what kind of features they’d want it to have, whether that’s a combination of turn-based battles and real-time action, or even a return to the series’ pixel art roots.
Right now, Final Fantasy fans can look forward to the release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - the second game in the planned Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. It’s set to release exclusively on PlayStation 5 on February 29.
For more games like Final Fantasy, be sure to check out our recommendations for the best RPGs, as well as the best story games.
