
It’s a strange fantasy to pursue, that characters of color in a world Square Enix itself is creating could not be portrayed in the same complex, nuanced ways as its white cast. Yet Yoshia’s assertion that the team wanted players to focus “less on the outward appearance of our characters” and more on them as “people who are complex and diverse in their natures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities, and motivations” undermines that point more than anything.
#Final fantasy xvi age rating series
“ has more potential.”Īccording to Yoshida, the series has always been about conflict “between the empowered and those used and/or exploited by those privileged few … it can be challenging to assign distinctive ethnicities to either antagonist or protagonist without triggering audience preconceptions, inviting unwarranted speculation, and ultimately stoking flames of controversy.” “There's this idea that the Final Fantasy series is just this series about teens going out and saving the world,” Yoshida says. People expect sci-fi stories, characters that feel very anime. It’s as though the franchise’s identity was solidified in the period between Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X. “A lot of players, their view of what Final Fantasy is had kind of fossilized,” he says. Younger players purposely avoided the series because it was Final Fantasy. Yoshida, while working on both Final Fantasy XIV and XVI over the past few years, traveled the world to talk with fans. He has lost his younger brother and the Dominant of his nation, Joshua. Clive, more antihero than model champion, is on a quest for revenge. The game spans three decades of its protagonist’s life.

Some Dominants rule their nations, while others are considered tools to be used as needed. Dominants, a handful of individuals with the ability to transform into powerful creatures called Eikons, modeled after the series’ summon monsters, represent each civilization. The 16th main installment takes place in a medieval fantasy world, one where warring nations fight among themselves for dwindling resources.
