A release date for Final Fantasy XVI may be coming by the end of the year, according to a new interview. Some interviews have been released about the game on various sites, such as IGN and Famitsu. In these interviews, new information about the story and characters, especially Clive, was revealed, as well as a tease on the development.
Final Fantasy XVI New Details
The interview with IGN focused on new details for Final Fantasy XVI while talking with director Hiroshi Takai, localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, creative director Kazutoyo Maehiro, and producer Naoki Yoshida. The first thing they talk about are the crystals. While they will be crystallizations of aether and the source of magic, similar to how they were in previous Final Fantasy games, Takai has teased that they server another purpose that isn’t known yet.
Maehiro has confirmed that there will be no hidden, surprise Eikons (this game’s version of Summons). There also won’t be too many of them. This is because they are at the core of Final Fantasy XVI’s story, and having fewer of them will allow the story to explore each one and their Dominants more thoroughly. And speaking of Dominants, Maehiro briefly talks about the new characters Dion Lesage and Barnabas Tharmr. He has confirmed that these two embody the Dragoon and Dark Knight archetypes, respectively.
However, this is still very much Clive’s story. During the interview, Koji Fox says that since the early concept stages, the game’s story has “always been about Clive.” The characters and companions he encounters will still be important to the story, and vital to his growth as a character.
Released Date Announcement Teased
The interview with Famitsu focused more on details into Final Fantasy XVI’s current stage in development, with Takai and Yoshida. Takai confirms that the game is “about 95%” complete. At this point, the team is constantly going through the game, finding and fixing as many bugs as possible.
Yoshida then teased the Final Fantasy XVI release date. He mentions that “we plan to release the information again later this year, so I think we can say it at that time.” With only 2 months left this year, this means we could be finding out the official release date very soon.
Five Reasons Final Fantasy XVI Will Amaze Us
As of now, Final Fantasy XVI has a planned release window of Summer 2023 as a PlayStation 5 exclusive. In the next couple of months, we can expect to learn some more information about the game.
