Square Enix: Final Fantasy 16 is not turn-based for younger audiences

The producer of the series talks about the company’s decision

Naoki Yoshida , who is a producer on Final Fantasy 16 , talked about the game and, among other things, referred to its more “action” approach. Yoshida spoke to Famitsu and said that the title is not based on turn-based combat, as the studio believes that younger gamers are not interested in the genre.

I’m from a generation that grew up with commands and turn-based RPG elements. I understand how interesting and immersive this gameplay mode can be.

On the other hand, though, over the past decade, I’ve read a lot of opinions that say, ” I don’t understand what’s so appealing about commands in video games .” This opinion is growing, especially among the younger audience, who usually don’t play RPG games.

The producer added that advances in gaming technology have pushed the mechanics of RPGs to be action-based rather than turn-based, but he’s not against revisiting the classic RPG formula at some point.

Square Enix expects the game to be a major commercial success, as well as receiving positive reviews from critics. At the same time, the company hopes that the popularity of the franchise will increase among the younger audience.

Final Fantasy 16 is set to release in the summer of 2023, exclusively for the PS5.