300°

Final Fantasy 16 Producer Confirms It Won't Be Open World

But producer Naoki Yoshida says it will "find inspiration" from the genre.

PhoenixUp673d ago

Not every modern AAA game has to be open world

roadkillers672d ago

How has the sentiment on FF and it not being open world changed so much? I can’t remember a FF game that wasn’t open world except for FF13… the one that was attributed for ruining the franchise for over a decade.

Kurisu672d ago

FFX, FFXI, FFXII, FFXIV? None of them are open world.

luckytrouble672d ago

Really need to reexamine your definition of "open world". Look at FF4 - FF9 and your open world is actually a very linear path of progression with limited to zero access to previous locations until usually quite late into the game, with often limited secondary content that would even warrant a revisit. Remember that an open world should allow you to ostensibly going anywhere, any time, right from the start.

Then you have FF10, a game that was only as open world as a straight line can be, where you only even get some kind of fast travel function at the tail end. Almost as far from open world as a game can get. Exceptionally traditional JRPG in a lot of ways.

FF12 is set up more like an MMO than a traditional open world game as we know them but shares many of the more linear access ideas of previous games in the series. It most certainly isn't a go where you want when you want from the word go style of game though.

FF13 is linear entirely for the first 70% until you get a kind of sort of pseudo open world in a late chapter that is really only open in the context of the new area. Probably the closest the series gets to open world up to its release, but conflicting director visions gated the concept to late game.

FF15 is the only truly open world game in the series to date, and I'm sure most would agree it didn't really benefit from using the game design model. You could go all over the place from the minute the game lets you loose, and the story suffered for not being enough of a focus in a troubled development process.

The series has almost never actually been open world. It's been a traditional JRPG series poking at more modern concepts as it goes, sticking pretty closely to a linear storytelling and progression model for the vast majority of the series until quite late into each respective title.

Eonjay672d ago

Most FF games are zones of various sizes with an overworld map. This sounds like a traditional FF game in world desgin.

TheTony316672d ago

FF15 is the only "true" open world game in the series. Every other game uses zones with linear progression. Even FF14 (the mmo) isn't really open world.

CrimsonWing69671d ago (Edited 671d ago )

I don’t think they were ever open world were they? I mean, yea you had optional places you could visit on the world map, but the story moved linearly. I could be wrong, because in my eyes open world games are like the formulaic Ubisoft stuff or GTA.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 671d ago
MaximusTKG672d ago

@Kurisu

FFXI and FFXIV are the very definition of open world.

Kurisu672d ago

They have areas/zones. To me open world means you have one, open map in which you can traverse without having to enter said zones.

TheTony316672d ago

They use big zones but have very restrictive paths and loading screens between each area.

Snookies12671d ago

Nah man, FFXIV is not open world. It has interconnected zones. If the game has a loading screen at any point from one side of the world map to the other. Then it's not open world.

Tapani671d ago

You are correct! This should be akin to FFXII style most likely. They have some pretty good names behind it, the scenario writer and event designer from FFT and Vagrant Story who acts as the Creative Director, and Yoshida-san is a big fan ot Matsuno's work as well (there's a blog where he describes how Ivalice alliance was his dream come true), and finally we have the largest questionmark, The Last Remnants's Director. Let's see what kind of world they can create!

RaidenBlack673d ago

enough of boring open worlds actually

MadLad673d ago

Probably for the best.
They didn't make it interesting with 15.

F0XHOUND672d ago (Edited 672d ago )

Title makes that seem like a bad thing. Play FF14 and you will see how yoshi-p builds worlds and maps. very detailed and pretty large zones to fully explore. The game should still feel relatively open and able to offer exploration, just per zone you need to probably teleport/load in to navigate between areas. Youtube some FF14 map exploration videos for an idea on scale and detail, feels very open to me :)

MeteorPanda672d ago

what crack you smoking? out of all the mmo's out, ff14 has been absolutely limited in what they can offer for maps. it still looks like a ps3 game in terms of map design

F0XHOUND672d ago

I didn't exactly mean in what 14 offers 100% should be how 16 is, as i know its dated. But i mean one massive open world isn't the only way to have large and vibrant areas to explore and that ff14 does offer many locations with various themes and atmospheres. something 16 can surely evolve to a current gen spec and really push the boundaries within the genre so "this game isn't open world" isn't such a headline anymore.

Frodosmugins672d ago

As awesome as FF14 is I don't know how you can praise the map and world design..
You can hardly interact with anything....just bunch of mobs and symmetrical design.. No sense of discovery or adventure.

Mulando672d ago

So FF 13 again?
Almost every FF game before was open world. So why not now? Doesn't make much sense for a game where the world map once was one of the big features.

F0XHOUND672d ago (Edited 672d ago )

FF13 was literally pathways and tunnels though. This will be multiple maps, that are pretty big in scale and able to be explored with a much higher level of detail and features.

Will be similar to this from FF14 - https://youtu.be/lBoB_v96YO... - very long, but have a quick look :)

mixelon672d ago

“Has a world map” isn’t necessarily the same as open world. FF7 for example isn’t open world.. Nor are the older games. You still did the gameplay in a relatively linear order and the core gameplay wasn’t in the world map it was inside locations you get to from the world map.

FF12 was touted at the time as the first open world FF.. the definition might have changed since then, or mean different things to different people?

“Independent area based game” could still have a world map for traversal between the areas. It just won’t render said world map at the same scale/ LOD as the core gameplay.

Show all comments (53)
60°

Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors: "I deserve a lot of criticism."

Embracer CEO demonstrates a masterclass in mental gymnastics in latest interview.
"I'm sure I deserve a lot of criticism, but I don't think my team or companies deserve all the criticism. I could take a lot of that blame myself. But ultimately I need to believe in the mission," he said.

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
on_line_forever1h ago

OK give us Kingdoms of Amalur 2 with AAA budget and we will accept your excuse

260°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

Read Full Story >>
insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere14h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN11h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos9h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN2h ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo4h ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

ChasterMies9m ago

I think Microsoft and other game publishers are letting people go because they think ai will replace them. Doesn’t matter how much profit they make. They were always going to be let go.

PassNextquestion14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger11h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Profchaos14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto13h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos13h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long10h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel12h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator11h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

Show all comments (18)
70°

I’m Glad Atlus & SE Changed Dates To Avoid Competing With Shadow Of The Erdtree

Saad from eXputer: "I'm glad I don't have to choose between Square Enix, Atlus, and FromSoftware due to bad release windows and Shadow of the Erdtree."

H91d 8h ago

More intelligent than guerilla games

raWfodog14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Atlus is releasing their game one week before Erdtree, SE is releasing theirs one week after.

HZD released four days before Zelda, HFW released one week before Elden Ring.

It seems to me like they are still releasing their games too close to Erdtree.