Final Fantasy 14 director on killing off characters in Endwalker

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 14’s director has addressed killing off characters during the upcoming Endwalker expansion.

Speaking to GamesRadar+ in a recent interview, Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida addressed worries that Endwalker could kill off fan-favorite characters. Yoshida tells us: “The Haedalyn and Zodiark story is going to be drawing to a close, so there is going to be a big climax at the end of that. As we’re moving towards that climax, we need to think about how the stages of that progression unfold, but we don’t feel, for example, as part of that we need to kill off a character.”

“If a character dies that doesn’t spell the end of the whole story, or the end of everything happening there. So I think that’s one aspect that we think differently when it comes to creating and developing the story.”

Yoshida continues: “The player along with the scions are going to be taking on their biggest challenge yet in Endwalker, so there is going to be very difficult trials and tribulations ahead, and so I would be very glad if you don’t have the focus on ‘oh, maybe this character is going to die,’ rather focus on the acts of all the Warriors of Light together with their companions combining their powers and energy together in order to combat that big difficulty that they face at the end of this story.”

In fact, Yoshida was keen to reiterate that Endwalker isn’t the end of the Final Fantasy 14 saga, but merely the end of the Haedalyn and Zodiark story that began in A Realm Reborn. “We’re drawing that big saga to a close, but players can rest assured that this is not going to be the end of Final Fantasy 14. From 6.1 there will be a new story starting.”

There’s going to be plenty more adventures in store for the Scions after Endwalker has concluded, then, and from the sounds of things, perhaps there’s a happy ending in store for every one of our Scions.

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Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.