One of the biggest selling points for the upcoming Final Fantasy 16 is the fact that the game’s combat has been done by Ryota Suzuki, who also did the combat for Devil May Cry 5. Suzuki, along with the developers, said the May issue of Play UK that it’s much more cinematic even than that.
That type of Japanese tokusatsu, the anime, the manga that we all grew up with, is definitely an influence.
Along with the tokusatsu genre (the same genre of giant monster fights and action that Westerners might be more familiar with in the form of Power Rangers), Suzuki also brought up shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ultraman, Attack on Titan, and Kamen Rider, and said that the newly cinematic angle helps to…
…create this kind of feeling that battles are not just battles, but they’re actually part of the story. And again, having that stretch seamlessly along the narrative.
Alongside things like combos, timed dodges, blocks, counters, and the abilities of various Eikons that you will come into contact with over the course of the story, you will also have cinematic quick-time events. However, these won’t be like normal events where if you fail, you die, according to director Hiroshi Takai.
Even when you fail, we wanted to make it cool and not too punishing. There are two different branches off whether you succeed or fail, and sometimes the failures can be just as interesting as the successes.
The quick-time events are also not just there to be there, either. Much like the battles themselves, they’re integrated into the scene in an organic way, so you won’t randomly be prompted to hit an unfamiliar button and punished for failing, as Takai continues to say.
“We didn’t want it just to be a game where you’re pressing a random button at a random time. We wanted that to feel like it was actually part of the battle itself. Having to press four buttons at the same time, or press the circle button three times in succession at the right time–things specifically designed to have players make mistakes–we didn’t want to do that because we believe it puts stress on the player and takes them out of the battle.”
You’ll be able to experience Final Fantasy 16’s cinematic combat when the game releases on June 22 of this year, exclusively on the Playstation 5.
