No turn-based battles in Final Fantasy 16: This is how Yoshida appeals to younger players

The reason there won’t be turn-based combat in Final Fantasy 16 is that Final Fantasy Producer Naoki Yoshida wanted to get the younger generation excited about the game. The team behind Yoshida believe that young players will find an action-based combat system more appealing.

Yoshida says younger players aren’t very into turn-based combat anymore

In the latest issue of Famitsu, the producer talked about how he had to reassess Final Fantasy 16’s audience and adapt the game accordingly. The whole thing was translated from VGC.

“I come from a generation that grew up playing commando and turn-based RPGs,” Yoshida began. “I think I know how interesting and compelling this can be. On the other hand, over the past ten years I’ve seen a fair number of opinions saying I don’t understand the appeal of command selection in video games.

“This opinion is growing more and more, especially among younger audiences who don’t usually play role-playing games.” Yoshida also blames the evolution of console technology for this shift in interests.

“For several generations of consoles, all character expressions can be performed in real time. Actions like ‘pull the trigger and your character will shoot a gun’ or ‘press the button and your character will swing his sword’ can now be easily expressed without going through a command system ” says the producer.

“It’s now common for younger players to love games like this, so making a decision on a command prompt like ‘combat’ during battle doesn’t seem to make much sense.”

More on Final Fantasy 16:

Yoshida would have liked to go with a command system, but…

Yoshida elaborates on the whole thing: “It’s not about what’s good or bad, but there is a difference based on the player’s preferences and age.”

“RPGs have their roots in tabletop roleplaying games, and I believe roleplaying games were invented by replacing tabletop discussions with videogame commands.”

“Like I said, I think I know how much fun command systems RPGs are and I want to develop them further, but I’ve been thinking about the expected sales of Final Fantasy XVI and the impact we need to deliver. ”

Although open worlds are currently very popular, Final Fantasy 16 does not have one. However, this has less to do with the preferences of the target groups with high purchasing power than with how much longer the development with such a world would take.