The launch of a new mainline Final Fantasy game is always a big deal for Square Enix and RPG fans, and the latest game in the series, Final Fantasy 16, is due out next month. In a new interview with GQ, Final Fantasy producer Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) was asked if the team found the numbered system problematic. Mr. Yoshida explained to the site that they considered removing the numbered system for new games in the long-running series, as he says the numbered system is not only problematic for the marketing team, but some newcomers to the franchise mistakenly assume they need to play earlier entries in the series. Here is what Mr. Yoshida had to say:
Still, the numbers must be hard.
Yoshida: A lot of players will come in and look at it as a comic where you have to read from the beginning to know what’s going on now. It’s hard for marketing because every numbered title that we release in the series, we have to go into it like, “It’s okay, you don’t have to play the others.”
Do you think you’d ever ditch the numbers entirely? We’ve seen big franchises like God of War reboot without numbered entries
Yoshida: It’s actually something I’ve discussed with the higher ups. Maybe it’s high time we took the numbers out of the headlines. For example, you have Final Fantasy 14. You have a new player come in and it’s like, “Wait a minute, why do I have to play Final Fantasy 14 if 16 isn’t?” Why don’t we just call it Final Fantasy Online – just get rid of the number altogether and it’ll be easier to understand. Whether or not Final Fantasy 17 or Final Fantasy 18 should have a number is up to whoever is going to develop that game and whoever is in charge of branding, so that’s their problem, not ours!
