Remaining Fantasy 16 was certainly one of our favorite video games of 2023, and so we wished to search out out extra about The Rising Tide — the title’s second and closing enlargement — forward of its launch on the 18th April. Luckily, we had been fortunate sufficient to land an interview with Takeo Kujiraoka — the veteran Sq. Enix dev who’s really the director of Remaining Fantasy 16’s DLC, having beforehand been a lead fight designer for the bottom recreation.
We requested Kujiraoka-san about Remaining Fantasy 16’s success, his workforce’s strategy to crafting expansions, and what, in his opinion, makes a memorable DLC journey.
Push Sq.: To start out with, what are your basic ideas on Remaining Fantasy 16, now that the sport is approaching its first anniversary?
Takeo Kujiraoka, DLC Director: Remaining Fantasy 16 is uncommon amongst latest mainline Remaining Fantasy video games in that it has a grittier story set in a world that attracts inspiration from medieval Europe, to not point out the truth that it’s the primary fully-fledged action-RPG of the collection. Each elements had been challenges that we undertook with the sport.
In recent times, gamers of the Remaining Fantasy collection have tended to skew in direction of a better age vary. Nonetheless, this time there are survey outcomes exhibiting that extra individuals of their teenagers and 20s performed Remaining Fantasy 16. I feel this reveals that, to a sure extent, we’ve achieved certainly one of our preliminary targets – to have gamers of all ages play the newest Remaining Fantasy recreation.
This doesn’t imply that every one future Remaining Fantasy video games will take an identical path to Remaining Fantasy 16, however I do assume it signifies that we’ve been capable of convey new gamers on board and open new prospects for the event groups that may work on future instalments within the collection.
How did the event workforce provide you with concepts for Remaining Fantasy 16’s DLC? The bottom recreation already tells an entire story, so was it troublesome to conceptualise further adventures?
Our producer, Naoki Yoshida, was clear from early on in improvement that we should always make a title that might have a self-contained story – and that he wished us to focus all our energies into growing the principle recreation. And that’s precisely how improvement went.
On the identical time, we’d been requested to incorporate some potential crumbs by way of setting and lore that we may choose again up shortly if there was demand from gamers for DLC. So, the essential concepts and ideas existed earlier than we ever started work on the DLC itself.
From there, we began work on world constructing and writing the plot in earnest. However you will have seen that there are some factors left undiscussed in the principle story, proper? The workforce engaged on the state of affairs for the DLC determined to present the story of Valisthea much more depth by tying a few of these bits and items to the tales within the DLC.
To provide an instance, The Rising Tide touches upon the histories of two Mothercrystals that don’t seem in the principle recreation: Drake’s Horn and Drake’s Eye.
So, whereas conceptualising further adventures was troublesome, I feel the top result’s one thing that blends seamlessly with the story of the principle recreation.
Remaining Fantasy 16’s first DLC, Echoes of the Fallen, had a loopy closing boss that actually stood out, even amongst the sport’s many memorable boss encounters. What was the considering behind having such a difficult battle?
Remaining Fantasy 16 is the primary time the collection has adopted this type of motion gameplay. So, to be sure that long-standing followers of the collection would be capable to attain the top of the sport, we deliberately balanced the issue to be extra average for the principle recreation.
The fight workforce – myself included – had been frightened that it was a bit too simple, however once we noticed how gamers who weren’t too assured with motion video games had been nonetheless having enjoyable and finishing the sport, we felt prefer it was in all probability the fitting strategy.
Having mentioned that, we may additionally see suggestions on livestreams and social media from gamers who wished battles that they might actually sink their tooth into. For the reason that underlying fight system in Remaining Fantasy 16 was created as a sturdy motion recreation, we had the muse in place to create high-difficulty battles – and there are new challenges you possibly can solely create at excessive problem.
I assumed that these challenges can be accepted in the event that they had been within the DLC and determined to extend the baseline problem of the DLC’s fight.
I used to be relieved to see that this was well-received in Echoes of the Fallen. We’ve used the identical baseline to stability The Rising Tide, so I hope gamers benefit from the fight on this chapter of DLC as properly!
Are you able to inform us extra about The Rising Tide? What are your targets for this second DLC?
Our idea for The Rising Tide was to strategy it like an MMO enlargement pack, and embody all the weather that make up Remaining Fantasy 16.
There’s a brand new area space and village, new facet quests, new tools and skills for Clive, fearsome bosses in addition to an Eikon battle, and even endgame content material that may be performed after finishing the DLC. There actually is quite a lot of content material packed in.
For these coming again to Remaining Fantasy 16 for the primary time shortly, it would little question really feel like Valisthea has grown together with Clive’s story. In case you’re taking part in Remaining Fantasy 16 for the primary time, the general recreation expertise will probably be richer and all of the extra satisfying to play.
The workforce poured all our efforts into creating one thing for the gamers who fell in love with the world and gameplay of Remaining Fantasy 16, so I actually hope individuals will choose it up and provides it a go.
Are you able to give us perception into how improvement of DLC really unfolds? How carefully does your workforce work with builders from the principle recreation?
After the producer, Yoshida, gave us the go-ahead to create the DLC, I first labored on pinning down the precise content material. It was at this level that we determined to develop the DLC as two separate items, in order to not maintain gamers ready too lengthy after the discharge of the principle recreation.
From there, a DLC improvement workforce was created – comprised primarily of workforce members who had already accomplished their work on the principle recreation. That was when improvement on the DLC started in earnest.
All of the whereas, we had been getting increasingly more suggestions from gamers. We proactively took on board something we may incorporate and used it to tell the DLC and updates to the principle recreation.
A lot of the workforce engaged on the DLC had additionally labored on improvement of the principle recreation, so we didn’t have to plan any type of formal coordination between the groups engaged on the DLC and the principle recreation. Slightly, I might say that we had been ready to make use of our expertise of engaged on the principle recreation to develop the DLC at a breakneck tempo.
I additionally had common discussions with the producer, Yoshida, and the principle director of the bottom recreation, Hiroshi Takai, to examine that what we had was becoming as DLC for Remaining Fantasy 16.
Ultimately, we had been capable of implement much more than what I’d put into my authentic proposal – so I’m extremely grateful to the event workforce.
In your personal opinion, what do you assume makes an awesome DLC? What does it want with the intention to elevate the entire recreation?
I consider that DLC ought to protect and respect the ideas in the principle recreation, concurrently offering additional gameplay and enjoyable for gamers who loved the sport.
DLC clearly can’t faux the principle recreation by no means occurred, and it could’t be one thing utterly completely different – no matter whether or not that “one thing completely different” may be good enjoyable in its personal proper. However, it’s not a good suggestion for the expertise of the principle recreation to be incomplete until you play the DLC.
These are all pretty frequent sense, however they’re the sorts of issues I attempted to remember. And, after all, I feel it’s actually essential to be aware of participant suggestions. That’s one of many benefits you could have when the DLC is created after the discharge of the principle recreation.
That is much less about what elevates the sport per se, and is extra about my very own preferences, however I do typically marvel if altering a easy levelling or development system within the base recreation to one thing extra advanced makes the expertise extra pleasing.
And eventually, do you could have something you’d prefer to say to our readers, and to followers of Remaining Fantasy 16?
The narrative of Remaining Fantasy 16 has reached an finish with this DLC, The Rising Tide. The DLC improvement workforce was solely capable of make it this far as a result of the followers tell us how a lot they’d loved the principle recreation. Thanks a lot!
We have now the discharge of the PC model forward of us, and we plan to launch a demo that may also act as a benchmark – so I hope that you just’ll give it a go if you happen to’ve but to play Remaining Fantasy 16.
Over the course of Remaining Fantasy 16’s improvement, we’ve had the chance to realize all types of expertise. We’ll do our greatest to place that to good use within the improvement of future titles and create video games that you just’ll get pleasure from much more, so I hope you’ll proceed to look out for and help the workforce.
Thanks.
Large because of Kujiraoka-san for taking the time to reply our questions. Particular because of Michael Bryant and the workforce at Sq. Enix for making this interview potential.
Remaining Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide is out for PS5 on the 18th April, however are you wanting ahead to this new journey with Clive and the gang? Strive to not soak the feedback part beneath.
