Final Fantasy 16's combat wouldn't have happened without a Devil May Cry veteran

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Naoki Yoshida tells GamesRadar+ how Ryota Suzuki shaped Final Fantasy 16

Final Fantasy 16 PS5 screenshot
(Image credit: Square Enix)

Final Fantasy 16 wouldn't have been possible without Devil May Cry veteran Ryota Suzuki, its producer has revealed. 

GamesRadar+ recently spoke to Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida, and asked how hiring Ryota Suzuki, a Devil May Cry veteran at Capcom, helped shape the new game. "So our development team had very little experience creating action games," Yoshida said of Business Unit 3. "In those first few days of development we really struggled. So that's why bringing in Suzuki-san really helped us out."

"He was able to bring together everything we had," Yoshida continued. The producer went on to reveal protagonist Clive has "so many different ability trees," and it's Suzuki that was able to "string all of those abilities together seamlessly without any stress, and have it look really, really natural."

"His contribution has been great, and without him we wouldn't have been able to do this," Yoshida concluded. 

Suzuki's hiring at Square Enix has always been something of a fascination for Final Fantasy fans. The Devil May Cry lead was originally hired back before Final Fantasy 16 was even unveiled, and fans have speculated ever since that Suzuki was hired to shape the latest game in the Final Fantasy saga.

Now, Yoshida's new comments are finally confirmation that yes, Suzuki was in fact hired to head up Final Fantasy 16's combat. Previously, we've seen Final Fantasy 16 fans draw lengthy comparisons between the new game's combat, and that of Devil May Cry 5, breaking down how individual abilities and move sets compare, so it'll undoubtedly be nice for fans to finally know who's behind the new combat system.

You can head over to our Final Fantasy 16 interview for an inside look at the new game with Yoshida. 

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

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.