Final Fantasy 16 would “still be in full development” were it not for the PS5

Square Enix is waxing lyrical over the PS5’s performance capabilities, saying that Final Fantasy 16 would “still be in development” without them.

Speaking at a preview event for the upcoming game, a group of senior developers explained how Sony’s console helped them bring their ideas to life.

“If we didn't have the memory that the PlayStation 5 has and also the transfer speed, the SSD that the PlayStation 5 has, we would still be in development right now,” director Hiroshi Takai says.

Going more in-depth, combat director Ryota Suzuki points to how the PS5 system helped create a sense of spectacle around the Eikons. The gargantuan summons are essential to both story and combat, though Sony’s console visually added another dimension to those elements. When Clive fights using an Eikon’s ability, you’ll get plenty of visual information to communicate whose power you’re borrowing. 

“So when you have the Phoenix and [Clive] grows the Crimson wing, that represents the Phoenix and feels like something very fiery like the Phoenix, but then you'll have Garuda's claw, which will create the talons that Garuda has and it has that feel of the Eikon,” Suzuki says.

Suzuki goes on to explain that freely chopping and changing between each Eikon-inspired fighting style is taxing on hardware, especially when you’re going big on visuals. As it turns out, though, the PS5 is more than fit to handle that demand.

“You are graphically representing the fists, and the claws, and the wings, all in real-time and all in these beautiful graphics and having all of these different options, but to be able to do all of those seamlessly without any load times is possible because of the power of the PS5,” Suzuki explains.

For more on the upcoming game, check out our Final Fantasy 16 preview and interview.