Final Fantasy producer, director, and designer Naoki Yoshida was interviewed by Anime News Network at last week's Anime Expo 2025 in Los Angeles, California. One of the first questions was about the viability of turn-based combat for future installments in the series. It was Yoshida himself who infamously said that, as the visuals get more realistic, it is increasingly challenging for some gamers to stomach turn-based combat without feeling a dissonance. That's one of the reasons Final Fantasy XVI went with action combat only, angering some fans in the process.
After the incredible success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which does feature turn-based combat (albeit spiced up with real time elements), did Yoshida change his mind? Not quite, based on his answer, though he did not exclude the possibility that the next Final Fantasy might have turn-based combat.
With this question of turn-based versus action, it tends to isolate the gameplay to just the battle system. That doesn't take into account what kind of game the creators want to deliver to players. For example, based on a certain graphical quality we want to present to our players, or the narrative we want to deliver to our players, it relates to how we set up the game's systems around it. This includes the battle system, game design, and gameplay feel. It's not a clear-cut answer, whether it will become all turn-based, or if it's going to become more action-based. I'm not necessarily going to be on Final Fantasy 17, so we also don't want to obstruct or limit our future director or whomever will be producing the games like 17 or even 18. We don't want to put them on a rail.
Yoshida was chosen as the producer of Final Fantasy XVI after his excellent work as director of Final Fantasy XIV. What did he learn during the development of the single player game?
There's a lot, but if I were to pick one, we were able to learn how to produce a high-end video game. There were a lot of learning points through that, and I feel like we gleaned a lot of know-how through the process. I want to challenge myself or apply to future works on how we can swiftly produce something of high quality and minimize the development period without lowering the quality.
Yoshida then said that he and his Final Fantasy XIV already have plans up to version 10.0 (the game is currently at version 7.0 with the Dawntrail expansion). Lastly, he expressed the desire to make a new online game based on a brand-new intellectual property at some point, and he added he doesn't feel anywhere near his retirement (he's currently 52).
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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