As Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 continues to steal the hearts of both turn-based game fans and newcomers to the genre alike, Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida reveals he's not sure if Square Enix will swap back to the combat style itself.
Speaking in a recent interview with Anime News Network, Yoshi-P admits as much as asked whether the success of turn-based game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which itself was inspired by JRPG gems such as Final Fantasy 10 and Persona 5, might flag a possible return to the format for Square Enix in future Final Fantasy titles. As the lead says, however, there's "no clear-cut answer" as to what the studio will do just yet.
"With this question of turn-based versus action, it tends to isolate the gameplay to just the battle system," explains the director. "That doesn't take into account what kind of game the creators want to deliver to players. For example, based on a certain graphical quality we want to present to our players, or the narrative we want to deliver to our players, it relates to how we set up the game's systems around it."
Yoshi-P continues, describing why he can't provide a yes or no answer. "This includes the battle system, game design, and gameplay feel. It's not a clear-cut answer, whether it will become all turn-based, or if it's going to become more action-based." He also states that, as he's not "necessarily" working on Final Fantasy 17 or 18 himself, he and other developers don't wish to overstep or "limit" those who will be producing them.
"We also don't want to obstruct or limit our future director or whoever will be producing the games like 17 or even 18," he concludes. We don't want to put them on a rail."
It makes sense, and as a longtime fan of the Final Fantasy series myself, I'd agree that older entries being turn-based isn't what makes them great – it's how well every element worked together.
