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Naoki Yoshida and Hironobu Sakaguchi to discuss RPGs’ future, Final Fantasy XVI at TGS 2021

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Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida will hold a special presentation on “The Appeal and Potential of RPG” at TGS 2021. Famitsu will host the presentation on October 2, 2021, starting at 9 a.m. Japan Time (October 1, 2021, 8 p.m. ET / 2 a.m. CEST). Sakaguchi also said on Twitter that he would ask Yoshida about FFXVI during this TGS 2021 talk. [Thanks, Famitsu!]

The Tokyo Game Show 2021 site revealed new details about the presentation. While details are scarce, the Naoki Yoshida and Hironobu Sakaguchi TGS 2021 talk will reportedly feature the two Final Fantasy series veterans discussing the appealing aspects of role-playing games. They’ll also address the potential of the genre. Moderating the talk will be Katsuhiko Hayashi, former editor-in-chief of Weekly Famitsu and current Famitsu Group representative.

Later, Sakaguchi said he would bring up FFXVI during the TGS 2021 discussion on Twitter. Here’s his exact statement.



In addition to being the series creator of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi is also the founder of Mistwalker. The studio recently released Apple Arcade-exclusive JRPG Fantasian, which also features music from Final Fantasy series composer Nobuo Uematsu. Naoki Yoshida is currently the producer and director of FFXIV and is also working on the development of the next mainline game in the franchise, Final Fantasy XVI. Yoshida originally joined Square Enix back in 2005, and currently serves as one of the company’s executives.

“The Appeal and Potential of RPG” presentation featuring Hironobu Sakaguchi and Naoki Yoshida will run from 9:00 to 9:50 a.m. on October 2, 2021, Japan Time (October 1, 2021, 8 p.m. ET / 2 a.m. CEST). Further information about the presentation and other planned keynote panels can be found on the official TGS 2021 website.



Could be interesting. I definitely want to find out more about Final Fantasy XVI.
 
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Snipping at Sakaguchi I can only reiterate that I'm sure the future of the genre is not on Apple Arcade.

But I quite like the guy and I don't want him to retire (unlike some influent people at the helm of Final Fantasy that worked with him and succeeded him, didn't succeed at it, but are seemingly impossible to remove from the helm).

EDIT: They're both great.
 
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The man is a legend and FF4-10 (+11, and 12) are all just spectacular games, each in their own way.

I don't think we'll ever see such grand, big and complete games ever again. One after another and each feeling so unique.
I have to stress that Lost Odyssey really felt like a Sakaguchi main Final Fantasy installment for me.

It's crazy how much better it was than the contemporary Final Fantasy XIII and it's follow ups.
 

Pejo

Member
I've given up on the notion that gooch will ever make another AA/AAA RPG, which is sad. Still, I'm all in to watch this presentation.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
No doubt he would have seen how unfinished it was and been perplexed by it.

The man is a legend and FF4-10 (+11, and 12) are all just spectacular games, each in their own way.

I don't think we'll ever see such grand, big and complete games ever again. One after another and each feeling so unique.

I mean, we literally have FF14 which is one of the best games in the franchise. Outside of 13 and 15, most of the main entry games have been fantastic. 15 I would argue is a good game, just not a great one.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
A discussion of the genre's future by a man about to retire from the genre.

He has a unique voice on the subject as he was one of the pioneers of the genre, at least in gaming. Discussing with one of the best directors at Square, one who has managed to help save a failed MMO and bring it to one of the greatest entries in the franchise while working on the next mainline? I am excited for the conversation.


Read his title. Dude just pops in to shit on everyone's parade and complain about how everything is bad. That is his only shtick.
 
I mean, we literally have FF14 which is one of the best games in the franchise.
The game that was so bad that it had to be rebuilt from scratch, is somehow the best game in the franchise?
I am sorry, you don't get to ignore the game's original form just because it was rebooted. FF14 as it was, explained how Square Enix failed FF and had no idea what they were doing. it was so bad that the company developers had to publicly apologize on stage, LIVE.

You can't just pretend it didn't happen. And if you are doing this it means Square Enix learned nothing and willl fail us again.
 

NanaMiku

Member
The game that was so bad that it had to be rebuilt from scratch, is somehow the best game in the franchise?
I am sorry, you don't get to ignore the game's original form just because it was rebooted. FF14 as it was, explained how Square Enix failed FF and had no idea what they were doing. it was so bad that the company developers had to publicly apologize on stage, LIVE.

You can't just pretend it didn't happen. And if you are doing this it means Square Enix learned nothing and willl fail us again.
The problem was with Square Enix. Yoshida was literally called by Square Enix to fix FF14
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
The game that was so bad that it had to be rebuilt from scratch, is somehow the best game in the franchise?
I am sorry, you don't get to ignore the game's original form just because it was rebooted. FF14 as it was, explained how Square Enix failed FF and had no idea what they were doing. it was so bad that the company developers had to publicly apologize on stage, LIVE.

You can't just pretend it didn't happen. And if you are doing this it means Square Enix learned nothing and willl fail us again.

Yes, the original 14 was trash. The new 14 is one of the best games in the franchise. No one is ignoring the original form - it simply has no bearing on the title as it is right now in present day.

Square Enix put a new team on development duties who overhauled and basically remade the game from scratch. 1.0 is not the same game as 2.0 onwards.

Or are you the kind of person who thinks that no one should talk highly about titles like No Man's Sky because it launched poorly?
 
Yes, the original 14 was trash. The new 14 is one of the best games in the franchise. No one is ignoring the original form - it simply has no bearing on the title as it is right now in present day.

Square Enix put a new team on development duties who overhauled and basically remade the game from scratch. 1.0 is not the same game as 2.0 onwards.

Or are you the kind of person who thinks that no one should talk highly about titles like No Man's Sky because it launched poorly?
Sometime it made me wonder if Yoshi-P is the oldest and strongest of the Primal summon by Square-Exix. Using Emet Voice.
 
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Lethal01

Member
Hopefully, Yoshida is excited to announce that FFXVI is going to take huge inspiration from the FF7:Remake battle system, Since it's the best battle system Square has ever done.
Give me team switching and ATB management, not just FFDMC. Guchi could learn a thing or two.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
With all due respect to Sakaguchi i don't think his opinion is relevant anymore unless he talks about mobile phone RPGs.

I just don't think his output post-Square has been anything to shout about. I know some people rate Lost Odyssey, but I thought it was pretty meh. The visual novel bits were cool, but wore thin pretty fast (Hanna's Departure was a standout) and it was well mounted...beyond that though It was so by-the-numbers it made me think he was only as good as his collaborators.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Headline is a bit misleading no?

Sakaguchi mentioned he would ask Yoshida about FFXVI, not that FFXVI is confirmed to be present at TGS 2021.
 

YukiOnna

Member
Probably my most anticipated panel and it has nothing to do with game announcements or demonstrations. Although it's funny Sakaguchi is also going to be like Yoko Taro and poke Yoshi-P for FFXVI info, lol.
 

NanaMiku

Member
Hopefully, Yoshida is excited to announce that FFXVI is going to take huge inspirate from the FF7:Remake battle system, Since it's the best battle system Square has ever done.
I don't really like the battle system of FF7:R, not too responsive for me.

Luckily, the designer for DMC5 and Dragon's Dogma now works at Square Enix as battle director. He's rumored to be working on FFXVI. And from what I saw on the trailer, it looks better than FF7:R.
 

Lethal01

Member
I don't really like the battle system of FF7:R, not too responsive for me.

Luckily, the designer for DMC5 and Dragon's Dogma now works at Square Enix as battle director. He's rumored to be working on FFXVI. And from what I saw on the trailer, it looks better than FF7:R.

From what I see the system is just a pure action game (we have only seen one trailer) so I'm not seeing anything that makes the actual combat systems more interesting or fun that FF7:R. You can copy the FF7:R battle SYSTEM and make it more responsive.
Having abilities cost meter and being able to switch team mates in real time does not demand being less responsive.

Also, they did make it more responsive in the PS5 upgrade. Lot easier to cancel animations into blocks and other things. Yuffie especially is as responsive as you can get. So again, being responsive or not is not a factor in using the system.
 

DZ_b_EZ

Member
We really need new, younger blood running production of these franchises. Their time was great but I'm kind of done letting these old guys just pass on their old achievements.
 

YukiOnna

Member
We really need new, younger blood running production of these franchises. Their time was great but I'm kind of done letting these old guys just pass on their old achievements.
I mean Yoshi-P is still in his late 40s and when he started on this, even younger. He's also the most out there executive on their board ever since they reshuffled it.
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
I mean, we literally have FF14 which is one of the best games in the franchise. Outside of 13 and 15, most of the main entry games have been fantastic. 15 I would argue is a good game, just not a great one.
13 and 15 are the only single-player mainline games in the last 15 years. You are basically saying “there’s only been one good mainline FF game in the last 15 years and it’s an MMO”. Not exactly high praise.
 

Daymos

Member
I'm looking forward to this! I finally got my head on straight, got the backlog and game-buying addiction in order, and I'm ready to play a bunch of old jrpgs!

Yeah.. sure I'll listen to the future too. I don't have much hope for it though. Just update the last story and lost Odyssey and throw them on switch or steam. Fantasian too of course, man I'm NOT buying an apple device.
 
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YukiOnna

Member
Too bad FF16's Side Quests are almost done so Sakaguchi couldn't handle one. Next FF14 Expansion perhaps?
 

Kumomeme

Member
The game that was so bad that it had to be rebuilt from scratch, is somehow the best game in the franchise?
I am sorry, you don't get to ignore the game's original form just because it was rebooted. FF14 as it was, explained how Square Enix failed FF and had no idea what they were doing. it was so bad that the company developers had to publicly apologize on stage, LIVE.

You can't just pretend it didn't happen. And if you are doing this it means Square Enix learned nothing and willl fail us again.
nobody pretend it never happened lol. everyone know the fiasco of FFXIV 1.0 is. even Naoki Yoshida acknowledge that and thats the lesson that drive them foward. that game is suck and part of the history if FF14. however the real interesting stuff is how they bounce back from that. dont focus only on past failure but how they learn from it and rebound from one of the worst MMO out there to be arguably the best MMO out there.

that apologize also one of class act from the team. try to look from another persepctive. rather than giving excuse around, they choose to be honest and transparent and that public apologize is the first step for them to regain the trust. Naoki Yoshida even cry on stage. we rarely see developers bow down and being humble like that toward fans nowdays. yes it is kind of humiliaton but look at where they are now. the trust between developers and community grew up to be very strong today as result of that.


for MMO, once launch is a failure, it doomed to fail. what the team achieve is can be consider a 'miracle'. it is not a feat anyone can do. rather than focus on their past mistake, look at what they gained as a lesson and where they are now which is as result of it.


current FF14 wont be here if if 1.0 not a mess. that experience definitely shook Square as whole. even the community itself acknowledge the existence of previous terrible 1.0 game. nobody try to erase that.

when people praise FFXIV, they mean the 2.0 onward.
1.0 not same game as 2.0. it is completely remake from ground up. yes we can 'ignore' the 'original form' because it is not exist anymore. but nobody try pretend it not exist.
 
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Vaelka

Member
RPG's really feel like they've been dumbed down in recent memory imo.
They've become more like action games with minimal RP elements.

With some indie exceptions.
 

Kumomeme

Member
13 and 15 are the only single-player mainline games in the last 15 years. You are basically saying “there’s only been one good mainline FF game in the last 15 years and it’s an MMO”. Not exactly high praise.
in someway it is and it is not

a MMO that has story even better than their single player game? thats a high praise
but from another perspective it also dissapointment that among of all game, the one that has quality worthy to be called a 'final fantasy' is in form of MMO. how far their single player game fallen.
 

OsirisBlack

Banned
in someway it is and it is not

a MMO that has story even better than their single player game? thats a high praise
but from another perspective it also dissapointment that among of all game, the one that has quality worthy to be called a 'final fantasy' is in form of MMO. how far their single player game fallen.
FXV is a good game it’s just a bit different and wouldn’t be considered in the top V. Also FFXIV might just be the single best game they have ever made MMO or not. Gives me a ton of confidence in FFXVI.
 

Vaelka

Member
It's a bit unreasonable perhaps to expect every Final Fantasy to be a hit, I mean I don't like the God of War reboot but it's not like the devs have only put out bangers.
There's receny bias involved.

Maybe FF games haven't been as highly praised recently as in the past, altho it's hard to say.
But I think it's a bit unfair to expect that all the time no dev studio or publisher is perfect.

Look at the shitfest that Blizzard has become and how highly praised they used to be.
Maybe they'll return to the glory days of what they used to be at some point too, it goes up and down.
People use Naughty Dogs as an example but it's not like every game they made before Uncharted and TLOU were these huge icons of the industry and TLOU2 has definitely not been as positively received universally.
I mean people are just assuming that the next God of War is going to live up to how good they thought the last one was, that isn't a guarantee it might be a huge disappointment.
 

YukiOnna

Member
anything noteworthy?
Yoshi-P just said the game is in polishing stage basically. NovaCrystallis summed it up:
- Main scenario is currently complete
- Working on the last side quests
- Character models are just about done, but they are working on quality improvements
- Growth system that is similar to a skill tree
- Development started with a very small team (2016)
- Didn’t increase the number of developers until they were confident on the design they were going to implement
- For FFXVI, they also focused heavily on the action-based gameplay
 

YukiOnna

Member
would be cool if he write for 24man Raid or instance area like Eureka/Bozja quest.
Yoshi-P offered for FF14 since there's no way they can fit him in for FF16, but Sakaguchi declined because he doesn't want to compete with Matsuno's Return to Ivalice, Bozja storyline or Yoko Taro lmao. I think they settled on him designing a Chocobo Skin or something at the end there.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
It's a bit unreasonable perhaps to expect every Final Fantasy to be a hit, I mean I don't like the God of War reboot but it's not like the devs have only put out bangers.
There's receny bias involved.

Maybe FF games haven't been as highly praised recently as in the past, altho it's hard to say.
But I think it's a bit unfair to expect that all the time no dev studio or publisher is perfect.

Look at the shitfest that Blizzard has become and how highly praised they used to be.
Maybe they'll return to the glory days of what they used to be at some point too, it goes up and down.
People use Naughty Dogs as an example but it's not like every game they made before Uncharted and TLOU were these huge icons of the industry and TLOU2 has definitely not been as positively received universally.
I mean people are just assuming that the next God of War is going to live up to how good they thought the last one was, that isn't a guarantee it might be a huge disappointment.

Its just the typical cycle of any big named franchise. New game gets announced, everyone thinks its shit, killing the franchise, destroying gaming, [insert other hyperbole here], etc. The game sells well, people who bitched about it buy it, realize it isn't awful, enjoy it for a couple weeks, then claim it is the worst thing that ever happened and the last game was better and the game before that was really a masterpiece no one understood.

People bitched that FF12 was the worst, that 11 was better, and that X was the last good one. Then 13 released and *that* was the worst, 12 was better, and 11 was the last good one. Then 15 released and *that* was awful, 13 was actually good, and 12 was the last great game in the franchise.

Also insert all the typical Nomura-haters who, for some reason, have a massive hate boner for the guy and like to bitch/cry about him every chance they get.

The reality is that this looks like a simple, fun little Nioh/Souls-like game set in the FF1 universe with its own unique spin. Plays well, looks good, won't be and wasn't designed to be the next big thing. Just a little spinoff title.

Square has been mostly hits with the franchise, despite what some folks want to claim. Spinoffs have been mostly great. Theatrythm, Chocobo Mystery Dungeon, Dissidia, Final Fantasy 4 Heroes/Bravely Default, Worlds of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Type-Zero, etc. Great remasters like with the SaGa series and HD Remasters of PS1 classics.

Mainlines have been getting steadily better. XIII and XV have had their issues, but clearly have a good fanbase for each, both are fine and the continued support both had in terms of DLC/Sequels were major improvements on the originals. FFXIV went from one of the worst games in the franchise to easily one of the best, with constant patches, support, and content that clearly has care/passion put into it and treats the players with respect.

People like to highlight the, admittedly awful, games like All The Bravest and act like that is how the entire franchise is these days - when it isn't. People just want to bitch/moan about anything they can. They spew out hyperbole like it is going out of style.
 

YukiOnna

Member
Its just the typical cycle of any big named franchise. New game gets announced, everyone thinks its shit, killing the franchise, destroying gaming, [insert other hyperbole here], etc. The game sells well, people who bitched about it buy it, realize it isn't awful, enjoy it for a couple weeks, then claim it is the worst thing that ever happened and the last game was better and the game before that was really a masterpiece no one understood.

People bitched that FF12 was the worst, that 11 was better, and that X was the last good one. Then 13 released and *that* was the worst, 12 was better, and 11 was the last good one. Then 15 released and *that* was awful, 13 was actually good, and 12 was the last great game in the franchise.

Also insert all the typical Nomura-haters who, for some reason, have a massive hate boner for the guy and like to bitch/cry about him every chance they get.

The reality is that this looks like a simple, fun little Nioh/Souls-like game set in the FF1 universe with its own unique spin. Plays well, looks good, won't be and wasn't designed to be the next big thing. Just a little spinoff title.

Square has been mostly hits with the franchise, despite what some folks want to claim. Spinoffs have been mostly great. Theatrythm, Chocobo Mystery Dungeon, Dissidia, Final Fantasy 4 Heroes/Bravely Default, Worlds of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Type-Zero, etc. Great remasters like with the SaGa series and HD Remasters of PS1 classics.

Mainlines have been getting steadily better. XIII and XV have had their issues, but clearly have a good fanbase for each, both are fine and the continued support both had in terms of DLC/Sequels were major improvements on the originals. FFXIV went from one of the worst games in the franchise to easily one of the best, with constant patches, support, and content that clearly has care/passion put into it and treats the players with respect.

People like to highlight the, admittedly awful, games like All The Bravest and act like that is how the entire franchise is these days - when it isn't. People just want to bitch/moan about anything they can. They spew out hyperbole like it is going out of style.
I think it's crazy to me that some people can't register FFO is a fun side project they did like all the other ones. If the cutscene or it being a collab title didn't make one realize, then the fact that the concept has existed since Dissidia 012 and never saw daylight till as a side project should have. It in no way represents the mainline series or other great spin-offs over the years and still has a solid chance to be a fun title.

It is what it is I guess. Easier to do a pot shot than anything. But yeah, typical cycle.
 

Kumomeme

Member
Yoshi-P offered for FF14 since there's no way they can fit him in for FF16, but Sakaguchi declined because he doesn't want to compete with Matsuno's Return to Ivalice, Bozja storyline or Yoko Taro lmao. I think they settled on him designing a Chocobo Skin or something at the end there.
dont worry. if he decline now doesnt mean he wont do it forever. hopefully he has fun designing stuff. let him him taste the water first. he also still quite earlier in the game.
 

KingT731

Member
Its just the typical cycle of any big named franchise. New game gets announced, everyone thinks its shit, killing the franchise, destroying gaming, [insert other hyperbole here], etc. The game sells well, people who bitched about it buy it, realize it isn't awful, enjoy it for a couple weeks, then claim it is the worst thing that ever happened and the last game was better and the game before that was really a masterpiece no one understood.

People bitched that FF12 was the worst, that 11 was better, and that X was the last good one. Then 13 released and *that* was the worst, 12 was better, and 11 was the last good one. Then 15 released and *that* was awful, 13 was actually good, and 12 was the last great game in the franchise.

Also insert all the typical Nomura-haters who, for some reason, have a massive hate boner for the guy and like to bitch/cry about him every chance they get.

The reality is that this looks like a simple, fun little Nioh/Souls-like game set in the FF1 universe with its own unique spin. Plays well, looks good, won't be and wasn't designed to be the next big thing. Just a little spinoff title.

Square has been mostly hits with the franchise, despite what some folks want to claim. Spinoffs have been mostly great. Theatrythm, Chocobo Mystery Dungeon, Dissidia, Final Fantasy 4 Heroes/Bravely Default, Worlds of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Type-Zero, etc. Great remasters like with the SaGa series and HD Remasters of PS1 classics.

Mainlines have been getting steadily better. XIII and XV have had their issues, but clearly have a good fanbase for each, both are fine and the continued support both had in terms of DLC/Sequels were major improvements on the originals. FFXIV went from one of the worst games in the franchise to easily one of the best, with constant patches, support, and content that clearly has care/passion put into it and treats the players with respect.

People like to highlight the, admittedly awful, games like All The Bravest and act like that is how the entire franchise is these days - when it isn't. People just want to bitch/moan about anything they can. They spew out hyperbole like it is going out of style.
Something I always tell my friends "Final Fantasy Fans Hate Final Fantasy" lol
 
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