Final Fantasy XVI leads talk action, history, and the pressure of forging a new legend

destructoid.com:

Making a new Final Fantasy is a big deal. The series has been running for over three decades, and each numerical entry leaves its own mark. Final Fantasy XVI isn’t just a new RPG in a long-running series, but one that has to carry a legacy and forge its own path at the same time.

In some ways, then, the creative team that’s been assembled for Final Fantasy XVI makes a good amount of sense. As part of a media preview event for XVI, we got the chance to sit down for a roundtable interview with four key members of the team: producer Naoki Yoshida, main director Hiroshi Taki, combat director Ryota Suzuki, and localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox.

Producer Yoshida isn’t a stranger to Final Fantasy, as he and several other members of the team at this interview spent quite a while revitalizing the 14th entry in the series . It was, as Yoshida tells us, why they were approached to create Final Fantasy XVI: because of what they did on Final Fantasy XIV.

“So yes, that was very difficult,” Yoshida said (via translator). “That said, creating Final Fantasy XVI, I think I’ve felt more pressure on this project.”

While many names on the roster may be familiar to those who have played a good chunk of Final Fantasy XIV, Suzuki hails from a different background. With a past at Capcom, developing more action-oriented games like Devil May Cry 5 and Dragon’s Dogma, his experience falls on the real-time end of the battle spectrum. But so does Final Fantasy XVI.

As we saw in our preview, Final Fantasy XVI is an action-RPG in the full sense of both words. There are role-playing game elements, including a fair bit of character customization and equipment for protagonist Clive. But it moves at an action pace, as Clive