It's no secret that Square Enix has been trying some new things for Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy XV went fully open world, while the Final Fantasy 7 Remake ended up being a linear trilogy with flashy, action-based combat. Final Fantasy 16's director recently admitted that the series has been ‘struggling' to adapt in the modern era.
Final Fantasy 16 will do away with the open world format found in the previous entry, and will instead be a more linear experience with big set piece moments, like Final Fantasy 7 Remake. The new game's combat will have a heavy focus on summons and turning battles into giant spectacles.
Speaking with Inverse, Final Fantasy 16 producer, Naoki Yoshida, explained that Final Fantasy is “currently struggling” to adapt to industry trends but added that it is impossible to fulfil every request in one game. With that in mind, Yoshida wants to see Square Enix continue to create multiple games and trying new things.
There has been some concern for the future of Square Enix recently, as the publisher has been talking up the idea of investing in NFTs and incorporating blockchain into future games, including long-running IP like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest.
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KitGuru Says: With some tweaking to make the combat a little less simplistic, I think Final Fantasy 7 Remake's structure is a good place to start for other mainline Final Fantasy titles.