The announcement ofFinal Fantasy 16during Sony’s most recent PlayStation 5 event came as a huge surprise to fans of the series. While the title has been rumored for years, actually seeing the reveal trailer and ambition in the game’s dark fantasy style is more refreshing than evercoming off of this year’sFinal Fantasy 7 Remakeand 2016’sFinal Fantasy 15, two games which make heavy use of more science-fiction visual motifs. Thankfully, the nearly 5 minute long trailer left fans with lots to think about given that the next piece of information will not be coming until 2021, however, we may already have an idea of how far the game is into development.
One thing that can be sure ofFinal Fantasy 16judging from what we have seen so far is that the game seems to have already had a few years of development behind it, with the trailer sporting a consistent tone, world, and character designs. This is because, according to a job listing on Square Enix’s website,Final Fantasy 16has already completed “basic development.” According to the job listing, “We have already completed basic development and scenario production, and are continuing to create large-scale resources and build boss battles while expanding our various development tools.”
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One thing to be sure of is that, while the game has seemingly already surpassed some major development milestones, this does not mean that development ofFinal Fantasy 16is reaching its conclusion. The same job recruitment page that lists this information also features positions for level designers,staff that can work on “large-scale cutscenes”, and character animations, plus, as the previous quote mentions, the team is already continuing to design the game’s boss battles. All of this is a good indication thatFinal Fantasy 16’s development is powering ahead steadily.
More importantly, what fans can take away from this information is thatSquare Enix’s announcement ofFinal Fantasy 16last monthhas been strategically positioned to avoid any long-term delays and open development struggles that games likeFinal Fantasy 15or evenFinal Fantasy 7 Remakefell victim to during their development cycles. With this type of announcement structuring, fans can rest assured thatFinal Fantasy 16will release within the next decade as opposed toFinal Fantasy 15which, including its original title ofFinal Fantasy Versus 13, took 10 years to release after its initial announcement.
Final Fantasy 16is the first number entry to be announced since the release of 2016’sFinal Fantasy 15, it is being developed by a team lead byFinal Fantasy 14director Naoki Yoshida and directed byThe Last Remnantdirector Hiroshi Takai. The game’s art style returns to the franchise’s high fantasy roots with some inspiration seeming to have come from CD Projekt Red’sThe Witcherseries. The game’scombat is being directed byDevil May Cry 5andDragon’s Dogma: Dark ArisendesignerRyota Suzuki.
Final Fantasy 16is currently in development as a PlayStation 5 console exclusive.
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