At the recent Pax East 2023 panel,Final Fantasy 16producer Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) showed off the game’s incredible variety of scenic vistas in a new trailer dubbed ‘World of Valisthea’, and fans are in awe of how incredible the game looks.
Final Fantasy 16 hasn’t been as clear about the “exploration” aspect of the journey in previous promotional trailers, but this new trailer features not only locations with aesthetic variety, but also activities such as Chocobo riding and fishing areas,as one fan noted. Fans alsopraised the work of art directorHiroshi Minagawa, who previously worked on Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy 12, and Final Fantasy 14. (The variety of locations was alsoa point of criticismwe had forFinal Fantasy 15).
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The producer also addressed many of the fans' criticisms or impressions from previous trailers. He confirmed that the game isn’t really that dark most of the time, and the locations aren’t as small as the place where Clive fought Benedikta, calling that place a “stage” rather than a field. He said that each field will have many different stages, and the map size as well as the design and layout will be unique to each stage.
The producer even brought out a controller to explore the fields in real time, showing how open and spacious they are. Inside the locations, players could see ancient relics from a forgotten civilization everywhere, as well as hub areas where players can rest and manage their equipment, so there was an incredible variety of elements even within the locations. An arcade mode was also shown where players could replay previous battles and compare their scores with other players around the world.
Another criticism that the director addressed was that players think that QTEs will be the norm in every battle, but he explained that this is not the case and that the focus of the battles is on phase shifting and environmental changes. QTEs are simply integrated in a simple way to give those boss phase shifts a dynamic feel, but they are not the focus, and losing them does not mean it’s gameover.
The Accessibility Rings were also shown in action, and they weren’t quite as game-changing as their nature would suggest. For example, the Timely Focus Dodge Ring gives you a very limited window of time to dodge, but the battle will still require skill and wits to initiate these dodges, as enemy movement can be quite erratic.
A second short trailer was shown at the end of the showcase, showing more varied Eikon battles, and after watching it, it becomes clear that no two Eikon battles will be the same. There are fights where Ifrit will be flying, or fighting enemies that are a hundred times larger.
As for the criticism that the game doesn’t have much “RPG” next to the “action” elements, the producer said that more about these elements will be addressed in April, and asked the fans to wait for more information.
