Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida, better known as ‘Yoshi-P’, says he regrets making the smash hit MMORPG “more comfortable and less stress-free” over the years, expressing an interest in providing more of a challenge for players in the future as Dawntrail’s release looms.
With the FF14 Dawntrail release date coming this year, the critically acclaimed MMORPG is as big as ever a decade later. There is challenge to be had in Final Fantasy 14, but as a relatively new player myself I’ve found it to be a delightful romp, with the occasional difficulty spike sure, but not any that caused too much of a challenge. Granted I’m in Heavensward, but the overall difficulty even up to the first expansion hasn’t been too bad.
Yoshida addresses this sense of challenge and the “stress-free” nature of the game’s design below, with his quotes machine-translated.
“I have once again realized that we must continue to provide players with surprises that go beyond their imaginations. In that sense, I actually have some regrets,” Yoshida says when looking back at this year’s Tokyo Fan Fest ahead of Dawntrail. “As we continue to operate FF14, we have tried to make it more comfortable and stress-free for players to enjoy, but when I think back on the past ten years, I think we may have gone a bit too far in that regard.”
“For example, if you’re playing a side-scrolling action game and there aren’t even any holes where you’ll miss if you fall, then of course there won’t be any stress,” Yoshida tells Famitsu in their interview. “But at the same time, it loses its fun. Speaking of FF14, I would like to return to this part a little bit in the future. If we do that, I think we will be able to provide everyone with a challenge in a better sense than ever before.”
So it looks like FF14 might be finding new and revamped ways to challenge you going forward. We’ll just have to wait to see exactly how.
With Dawntrail closer than ever, we spoke with the game’s English localization lead Kate Cwynar about the game’s “bold approach” to the new character Wuk Lamat, alongside how Dawntrail will give you plenty of reasons to cry.
If you’re looking to dive back into Eorzea ahead of Dawntrail you may want to brush up on your FF14 Island Sanctuary, or if you’re a new player we can help you out with a breakdown of all the FF14 classes and jobs as well.
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