With the release of the Rising Tide DLC on April 18, Final Fantasy XVI’s story will finally be over. While that doesn’t mean Square Enix is done working on the project (a PC port is still in the works), it does mean fans are curious as to what the team will do next and if we will ever see the game’s world and characters again. In an interview with The Gamer, producer Naoki Yoshida discussed the idea of spinoffs, specifically, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Yoshida said it’s about time that spinoff made a comeback.
Final Fantasy Tactics is a beloved 1997 tactical RPG spinoff of Square Enix’s series. The Gamer asked Yoshida about making a Tactics game set in FF16’s world of Valisthea. Yoshida and the FF16 team are fans of Tactics, but he doesn’t think FF16’s world would make a good fit for the grid-based tactics combat. “How would we even do the Eikon versus Eikon battles in that style?” Yoshida asked, “If you have the Eikons, how many squares is an Eikon going to be?” Though the tactical approach won’t work in FF16’s world, Yoshida did say that “it’s probably about time that we do a new one.”That’s a sentiment shared by fans of the spinoff series, who have been incredibly vocal about wanting Tactics to make a comeback.
The FF16 team working on a Tactics game wouldn’t be an absurd idea, as many of its members are veterans of Tactics. That includes Kazutoyo Maehiro, creative director of FF16 and planner on Tactics, as well as Hiroshi Minigawa, who was art director for both games. Yoshida has also worked with Tactics director Yasumi Matsuno in the past, with Matsuno contributing to Final Fantasy XIV’s Shadowbringer and Endwalker expansion, namely the Tactics-inspired Return to Ivalice raids.
Still there hasn’t been any word on the spinoff series making a comeback. In the meantime, Yoshida should follow Matsuno’s own advice and just go play Unicorn Overlord.
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