Yoshi P's ANN Interview and the Future of Final Fantasy!
- AfroCloud
- Jul 22
- 5 min read
Yoshi P gives us some insights into his creative process, his inspirations and the future of Final Fantasy along with his own.
Naoki Yoshida, better known as Yoshi-P, sat down for an interview with Anime News Network. Yoshi-P talks about his inspirations, his creative process, and his future. The head of Creative Studio 3 also shared his opinions on the future FF.
Multiplatform Releases
The first question was about future Final Fantasy games being released on multiplatform. Yoshi P says that Square Enix is still going multiplatform with future FF releases. He reiterates that current President and CEO, Takashi Kiryu, has made a similar statement in the past.
Going multiplatform is part of Square Enix's Reawaken and Reboot plan. The FF7 Remake Series is coming to Xbox and Switch 2 in the winter. FF16 is already on Xbox thanks to the shadow drop during the Xbox Showcase. Yoshi P also reminded us that Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is coming this September 30th.
Turn-based or Action?
While this wasn’t the exact question that ANN asked Yoshi-P, it certainly seems that way. Why? The interviewer, like some others, has included Clair Obscur and its success into their question. And Clair Obscur and Final Fantasy have been in this debate about whether the latter should return to turn-based.
Yoshi-P answers this question by saying that action vs turn-based isolates the gameplay on the combat system only. In turn, it doesn’t take into account that the creator’s vision is for a new FF game. This not only affects the gameplay systems of the game but also the graphical fidelity, narrative, game design, battle system and gameplay feel.
Yoshi-P stated that he is not necessarily working on FF17. So, he didn’t have a clear-cut answer on whether Final Fantasy 17 would be turn-based or action. And he doesn’t want the director of Final Fantasy 17 or 18 to be limited or hampered if he made such a claim.
I think Yoshi-P's answer was the right one. Also, I feel like what makes a FF game is the progression systems, especially in the Golden Age of Final Fantasy. These progression systems were important to particular FF’s gameplay, story, world, and so much.
In FF7, you have the material system. The Junction system is the progression system in FF8. FF10 has the Sphere Grid to grow your characters and learn abilities.
Personally, the progression systems are what stick out to me when it comes to classic turn-based FFs to me. Besides, ATB, the progression systems are what I remember from past FF games. At least, when it comes to gameplay.
It was a good call that Yoshi-P didn’t say what FF17’s gameplay would be. Giving the director of the game the freedom to create whatever Final Fantasy he envisions. And I believe when he says, he isn’t working on FF17.
He was the producer of FF16. Hiroshi Takai was the director of FF16. And Creative Studio 3 is an efficient and excellent studio of Square Enix.
Creative Process
Next, Yoshi P was asked about his creative process and FF14. He and CS3 make plans very far in advance. They even have a general idea of FF14 up to version 10 which is crazy!
CS3 has a framework that they have been working on since the beginning. Yoshi P reassured us that versions 1 through 6 aren’t going anywhere. For now, DawnTrail will be their next story roller coaster. There will be plenty of ups and downs with a lot of.exciting stories in DawnTrail and future expansions of Final Fantasy 14.
Inspirations
Yoshi P expressed more of his inspirations through books. In middle school, he was fan of Lord of the Rings. He also likes Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi with the illustrations were done by Amano.
Yoshi P is also a mystery reader. He reads a lot of Japanese mystery novels. But he does enjoy Western mysteries like Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christine’s novels.
In his Anime Expo panel, Yoshi-P revealed his favorite movies, anime, and games. His childhood influences were Combattler V, Space Battleship Yamato, Laputa, and Galaxy Express 999.
As an adult, he is inspired by Neon Genesis Evangelion, Berserk, Mobile Suit Gundam, and One Piece. You find homages of Berserk and Gundam in Final Fantasy 14.
For games, he loves Street Fighter II, Commando, and Gradius. In terms of films, Yoshi P is inspired by ET, Rocky 2, Lethal Weapon 2, The Goonies, Rambo, and Back to the Future—as well as Christopher Nolan's films.
These are great films and games. I love Street Fighter II! And it’s pretty cool that Yoshi-P likes Christopher Nolan’s Batman films. Besides the original trilogy of Batman films, The Christopher Nolan Batman films are peak cinema and Batman films.
Working On Other IPs
While he doesn’t have any specific IPs he likes to work with personally. Yoshi P has expressed the desire to make another online game that’s not Final Fantasy XIV. He mentioned making an original IP as well.
Lessons From Final Fantasy XVI
The beloved CS3 head likes to work on high-end games. These games have a lot of learning points. So, Yoshi P and the team can gleam a lot of know-how through the process of making high-end games.
Yoshi P wants to challenge himself and apply whatever to learns to future works. He feels this allows him and CS3 to produce high-quality games swiftly. This knowledge minimizes development without losing quality. These are things he and CS3 learned from Final Fantasy 16.
Yoshi P has compared this creative process and efficiency with Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. He highlighted how the development team took what they learned from the Zelda: BOTW series and applied that knowledge to Echoes of Wisdom. He was impressed by how they made that game with high quality and efficiency with assets from BOTW and TOTK.
Despite how you feel about Final Fantasy 16, the game was definitely high quality in terms of story, presentation and combat. Yes, I said combat, even though, I have my own valid critiques about the combat. FF16 gave us some of the best boss battles in FF and gaming history.
There is no doubt that Yoshi P and CS3 will take whatever lessons they learned from FF16. They will certainly apply those lessons to future projects. I feel their next IP will be even more incredible than FF16 and FF14.
Yoshi P’s Future
Yoshi P hasn’t given any thoughtsto retiring or leaving the game industry. He cited Studio Khara and its directors, Hideaki Anno and Kazuya Tsurumaki. Both directors are older than him and they are still working.
Hayao Miyazaki is another creator that Yoshi P highlighted as Miyazaki is still creating new projects. Yoshi P also referred to Ridely Scott, who is 87 years old. And the man is still working.
Yoshi P feels green compared to them. So, he feels he still has lot of work to do. The CS3 director plans to continue working as he cannot think about retirement or leaving the games industry.
Honestly, I don’t want Yoshi P to retire. Does he deserve it? Absolutely! If he was thinking about retirement, I would be happy for him. Although, it make me a little sad.
He saved FF14 and turned it into the MMO powerhouse that its known today. Yoshi P, Hiroshi Takai and CS3 made an incredible new FF with FF16.
Also, he teamed up with the father of FF, Hironobu Sakaguchi to bring his original IP, Fantasian to modern consoles A game that I just picked up. CS3 is also bringing back Final Fantasy Tactics through the Ivalice Chronicles this September.
But we can all breathe easily because Yoshi P is not leaving yet. Whatever projects Yoshi P and CS3 is cooking up. I am confident that they will make more awesome masterpieces that we can experience, share and reminisce.
Sources:
Anime News Network
Vice
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