Final Fantasy 16 will be the first mainline game in the series to come with a mature content rating. As well as the implied nudity in the trailer, you can expect the upcoming game to be more violent and touch on stronger themes than other games in the series.
Naoki Yoshida is working on the project as a producer. He’s the person who’s often credited for successfully saving Final Fantasy 14, the critically acclaimed MMO that suffered a rocky start.
Speaking to GameSpot, he opened up about why the team decided to pursue a mature rating for Final Fantasy 16.
“Video game ratings have become more and more restrictive recently regarding what can or cannot be shown,” Yoshida explained. “That said, I do believe that ratings are very important to ensure that younger players are shielded from extreme material.
“But on the other hand, when trying to tell a story with difficult adult themes, these ratings can end up becoming somewhat of a hindrance. And you find yourself changing things that you wanted to do in the game based on that rating. You wanted to show something, but because you have this certain rating that you need to go to, you need to move the camera away. And that ends up making the entire experience feel a little bit cheaper.
“So, this time, to make sure that we could tell the story that we wanted in the way that we wanted to, we decided to pursue a mature rating in most of the regions that will be releasing the game. But again, this is not because we simply wanted to make the game more violent or the game more explicit, this is because we felt it was necessary to allow us to explore those more mature themes that the game tackles.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he spoke about how some of the summon battles will be like 3D shooting games, while others will be like wrestling matches. He also chatted about the game’s themes, the main differences between it and Final Fantasy 15, and plenty more. It’s worth checking out in full at the link above.
Final Fantasy 16 will follow the story of Clive, a character who you’ll play as through different stages of their life. Instead of being joined by traditional party members, your companion will be a wolf.
Final Fantasy 16 is coming to PS5 in 2023.
Written by Kirk McKeand on behalf of GLHF.
