Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 16 is an absolutely stunning PS5 only RPG. However, fans have clamoured for a PS4 version, negating the need to upgrade their console.
FF16 director Naoki Yoshida, aka Yoshi-P, discussed the nature of cross-generation development in an interview with the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
Alongside PlayStation president Shuhei Yoshida, Yoshi-P discussed the development of the title. The game director revealed that the title was originally developed as a cross-gen game but was moved to PS5 only halfway through development.
“It was around the middle of development [when we switched],” Yoshida said. “[We] were expecting to have a multi-platform release on PlayStation 4 as well.”
Yoshida revealed that the asset quality and the vastness of the game was pushing the aging PlayStation 4 too hard. If they wanted the game to run on the system, it would have to look worse than Final Fantasy 15, a game from 2016.
“There were certain parts where we were having to reduce the quality to a point lower than [Final Fantasy] XV,” the director said.
Alongside the higher quality visuals, the team behind the game wanted to completely eliminate loading screens, which would’ve have been possible on PS4 with the level of visuals they wanted to achieve. At the end of the day, they didn’t feel they could reach the level of blockbuster needed for a new Final Fantasy.
“[We wanted to make a game] that made you feel like you were blasting through it on a roller coaster… [it was] really hard to do that on PS4”.
Of course, Square Enix had already pushed the PS4 to its limits with Final Fantasy 7 Remake. This game also saw issues running on the system with high quality textures taking ages to load in during some of the bigger areas of the game.
While it would’ve been interesting to see a PS4 version of Final Fantasy 16, the team’s resolve to make a next-gen only game so early in the system’s life is commendable.
Final Fantasy 16 is available right now on PS5. A PC version of the game is also in the works.