Final Fantasy 16 Designers Discuss Why The Series Hasn’t Been Turn-Based For A While

gameinformer.com:

The Final Fantasy series’ numbered entries haven’t been turn-based RPGs for quite some time. With each new game, the series moves further away from its classic turn-based roots toward a more action-oriented combat system. Combat has never been further from being turn-based in a Final Fantasy game more so than in Final Fantasy XVI, which is the most action-based game in the mainline franchise yet. I recently played about two hours of the game to dive deeper into the combat system’s mechanics, and you can read my preview thoughts on that here. 

But after playing some of the game, I spoke with the FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida, director Hiroshi Takai, and combat director Ryota Suzuki about this continued shift to deep action and whether Final Fantasy will ever return to its turn-based roots. As for why the series has moved comfortably into action, each of these three development leads had an answer. 

Yoshida: «When creating FFXVI, you can't ignore the data that's been taken from the fan base, from Final Fantasy I to XV. 

So, again, creating a Final Fantasy, a numbered Final Fantasy, has become such an endeavor, to the point where your development costs can go upwards of $100 million, just to create one game. And so to recoup that development cost, you need as many people playing your game as possible. And while a lot of the older fans are used to what Final Fantasy had in the past, a lot of younger [players] have never played a Final Fantasy game. They grew up playing first-person shooters, they grew up playing games like [Grand Theft Auto], where basically you press a button and something happens immediately. 

It's not a command-based system. When you press the square, your guy shoots. Why do you have to wait for him to