Square Enix is currently holding the Final Fantasy XIV The 7th 14-hour Broadcast, which most notably included a talk show with Final Fantasy 14 and 16 producer Naoki Yoshida, FF XIV global community producer Toshio Muro, NieR creative director Yoko Taro, and NieR producer Yosuke Saito – a new update for FF16 was shared. I translated their discussion below.
- FF16 STORY – Latest hints from YoshiP translated
FINAL FANTASY XIV Vinyl LP Box
Most of the talk show focused on how the collab between NieR Automata and Final Fantasy XIV came to be be. With various anecdotes on the development, and the staff answering various questions on the story and world building of the crossover.
One funny anecdote they shared is how cringe of a name Dark Apocalypse is. With YoshiP saying he always wanted to make something named Apocalypse as a kid, but now they’re all embarrassed about it. Whenever they had a meeting about it they’d avoid saying the name and just say “the NieR collab”.
- TGS 2020 – FF16 chat with YoshiP, Yoko Taro, Yosuke Saito translated
Final Fantasy XVI development update shared by YoshiP
The talk show starts around three hours into the full stream. Once the full stream ends, I will link actual timestamps as soon as I can.
Around one hour into the talk show, the final question Yoko Taro and YoshiP answered is “Now that the NieR collab is over, what kind of project would you like to do together?”
- Yoko Taro: “I want to write the scenario for Final Fantasy 16!!”
- YoshiP: “Well, I don’t think that’s possible sadly. We’re pretty much done with the scenario”
- Yoko Taro: “Maybe I can fill in some gaps!!”
- YoshiP: “We’re almost done with the dubbing too so…”
- Yoko Taro: “I can dub characters too! Wait, you’re done with that too?”
- YoshiP: “We’re wrapping up the English dub right now”
Naoki Yoshida saying that the English dub is pretty much done implies that the Japanese dub of FF16 has long been completed. There are extremely rare exceptions like 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, but Japanese games dubbing is usually done very early in development. Most of the time, the seiyuu dubs with a rough draft of their character, the script, and nearly nothing else.
Yoko Taro kept throwing jokes, saying the only reason Yosuke Saito and himself showed up at this talk show is to get news on Final Fantasy 16.
Yosuke Saito: “Ok so the scenario is done and the dubbing is nearly done too. That’s barely anything but I bet gaming sites will still make articles out of it”.
Will Final fantasy XVI show up at Tokyo Game Show 2021?
Moving on, Naoki Yoshida explained it’s not like they don’t want to show more of Final Fantasy 16 right now. But they’re working to reach a quality threshold where when they show it, anyone who sees the game will want to buy it. They’re improving not just the graphics, but also the battle system and many aspects of FF16 they haven’t revealed yet.
He also acknowledged they didn’t show Final Fantasy 16 at E3 2021, and said they probably won’t show it at Tokyo Game Show 2021 either (September 2021).
YoshiP: “I hope we reach that quality threshold by TGS, but I don’t think we’ll make it (laughs). “
Lastly, Naoki Yoshida explained that he basically doesn’t like drip-feeding news over the months. The next time FF16 goes out in public, he wants it to be big. He regularly talks about that with the staff and director Hiroshi Takai too. So you shouldn’t expect FF16 to show up at Tokyo Game Show 2021.
The Final Fantasy 16 update was leaked by Naoki Yoshida?
A lot of Japanese fans on Twitter mentioned YoshiP slipped up and “leaked” these details unintentionally. Personally I don’t believe it. Japanese events like these, even live, are always rehearsed beforehand and scripted. Naoki Yoshida definitely only said what he already planned to reveal anyways.
Note that a similar talk show with YoshiP, Yoko Taro and Yosuke Saito was also held back in Tokyo Game Show 2020. I translated it here.
FF16 – Past development updates
On October 7 2020, the official Square Enix recruitment page for Final Fantasy XVI and Creative Business Unit III had also mentioned scenario production was finished but not the cutscenes. Seeing YoshP’s new comments from today, it’s likely most of the cutscenes are done too now.
Square Enix first announced Final Fantasy XVI on Sepember 16 2020, on both PS5 and PC, but the PC mention was later removed. Earlier in 2021, Sony Australia then shared on its site that Final Fantasy XVI is a time limited exclusive.
Are you hyped for Final Fantasy XVI? You can always reach out to me on Twitter @A_iyane07 to chat about Japanese games.
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