Speaking to IGN, he confirmed that the game won’t feature a seamless open world, even though Final Fantasy XVI does take inspiration from open world games in some ways. Also, as part of his interview with IGN, Yoshida-san revealed that party members will accompany Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield. However, unlike Final Fantasy XV, it won’t be possible to command them directly. On the other hand, speaking to German publication GamePro, the Final Fantasy XVI producer said Clive Rosfield will be able to command a so-called buddy. Naoki Yoshida also talked about the uniqueness of Eikon battles. Each one will be wildly different, even from a mechanics standpoint, as he told Game Informer. Lastly, Yoshida-san explained to the PlayStation Blog that Final Fantasy XVI is playable from start to finish. However, voiceover in the various languages is still being completed and the developers are also taking the time to fine-tune the combat difficulty. For example, maybe one Eikon versus Eikon battle, if you have Eikon A versus Eikon B, that battle will be reminiscent of a 3D shooter. Whereas another Eikon versus a different Eikon, it’s more like a pro wrestling match, and then maybe even a third with one Eikon versus another Eikon will transform an entire area into a battlefield. And so again, we didn’t reuse these systems and each one of these Eikon versus Eikon battles is unique and will change with each battle. Final Fantasy XVI was recently confirmed to be targeting a Summer 2023 launch window. Platforms other than PlayStation 5 haven’t been announced yet.
