With Final Fantasy XVI’s release looming, something needs to be set straight in regards to my favorite video game series. “Return to your roots!” state the misguided, but I’m here to tell you: outside of a long legacy there’s little “traditional” at all at the heart of it.

So what is Final Fantasy then? It’s everything you would think a great RPG with almost 40 years of history behind it would be. But it isn’t ONLY that and it certainly isn’t defined by how it looked, sounded, and played when it all began either.

One look at the series’ trajectory over the past 20 years and you’d be hard-pressed to find one constant throughline amongst the games OTHER than change. When you get down to it, there isn’t another franchise in video games that’s tweaked or re-invented itself more. In and of itself, change isn’t always for the best. But you can’t deny it’s a reality with Final Fantasy when it’s laid out in front of you.

In that spirit, next month’s release of Final Fantasy XVI embodies every facet of what the storied franchise has always been about, change. So what’s the problem?

The eyes rarely lie and being as visuals are front and center. Graphics are the most obvious proof of that change. Yet the first 5 entries didn’t embrace this as a core tenant. It wasn’t until Final Fantasy VI that Final Fantasy began to push the boundaries of hardware capabilities. Following that up, VII’s move to 3D cemented visual excellence as Final Fantasy’s mandate moving forward. Every entry since has been at the cutting edge of current gaming technology, pushing what we believed possible in visuals and presentation not for just RPGs, but video games as a whole.

Despite critiques, Final Fantasy XVI is no different. Being developed from the ground up exclusively for the PlayStation 5 was explicitly done with the goal of making the most beautiful RPG ever created. In this, XVI is not a unique pursuit, it’s modus operandi for Final Fantasy and what the series has sought to achieve for almost 30 years.

Wanting developer Square Enix to step back from their lofty graphical pursuits to about-face and make something lesser is asking to remove the backbone of their franchise. Besides, delivering top-notch visual feasts has almost never been to the game’s detriment.

XIII Was The Exception, Not The Rule

Aside from one lone hiccup which fell on the shoulders of Final Fantasy XIII and Square Enix’s insistence on creating, then utilizing its own proprietary development tool, the Luminous Engine. That, along with coming to grips with the new shift to high-definition fidelity during development harmed XIII’s cycle, leading to significant cuts and delays. To its credit, XIII is still one of the most beautiful games in the genre to this day, and in this, mission accomplished I suppose. Still an unworthy consolation prize in the face of the significant toll on XIII‘s overall finished product.

Evolving Beyond Turn-Based

Beyond eye candy, how Final Fantasy delivers combat and gameplay systems to us remains the key to how change is the rule, not the exception. Even when classical turn-based battle systems were still considered the norm, no two Final Fantasy games were the same. Whether changes were minor in nature; the Esper system in VI and Materia in VII. Or vast evolutions like Gambit’s that embraced a more MMORPG combat style in XII. Conversely, even full-blown MMOs altogether in XI and now XIV, combat either added new wrinkles to a traditional base or completely re-invented the genre’s feel moment to moment.

So sweeping were these game-to-game changes that eventually in Final Fantasy XIII, an action-oriented combat hybrid was embraced, refined further with its sequels. Now with Final Fantasy XVI, the series is full-blown action RPG but still refuses to forget where it came from. Square Enix has never been a developer to rest on their laurels. While some may think they’ve meddled a step too far, Final Fantasy is never stagnant.

Tradition Is To Be Respected, Not Beholden By

Traditionalism can be an anchor holding one back when strictly adhered to and with Ryota Suzaki of Devil May Cry fame leading the way, Final Fantasy XVI has shed that weight and embraced something new entirely. Whether it ends up being for you or not, the pedigree behind this new direction in combat cannot be questioned. Final Fantasy XVI‘s gameplay will absolutely nail what it is aiming for.

Sadly, many mistake Active Time Battle and other traditional RPG cliches for what the franchise is defined by. When in reality, these systems were designed due to technological limitations and only utilized until that technology allowed us to explore broader, more expansive avenues. Final Fantasy cannot be summarized by menus, battle turns, or watching your sprites play “follow-the-leader” across on overworld. That’s just a surface-level analysis of Final Fantasy‘s deeper truth.

All this goes without mentioning the ever-changing worlds and settings that accompanied the demands for maturing stories and the need to create complex characters. Other RPG series mainstays seem content to stick close to home in the when, where, and how their games take place. However, Final Fantasy can’t be defined by a time period or locale. Worlds can range from classic fantasy tropes of the genre, to steampunk-inspired metropolises, futuristic fantasies, or even a blending of background aspects seen nowhere else.

Characters and relationships began rudimentary and heavy-handed during Final Fantasy‘s inception but swiftly adopted nuance as the medium evolved. Be it a complicated love triangle centered around Rosa in Final Fantasy IV, a love unrequited for Cloud and Aerith in Final Fantasy VII. Or an endearingly confused Wakka in Final Fantasy X coming to grips with Spira’s jarring religious truths. These are just samples of the changing character archetypes and maturing relationships blooming within the series’ ever-expanding horizons.

Final Fantasy XVI again seems poised to push ever further here. Armed with the next generation of creators at its helm, Naoki Yoshida has long been groomed to take over Final Fantasy’s future. He was famously known as the savior of Final Fantasy XIV after its initial disastrous launch. Four expansions of the MMORPG later, accolades for writing and narrative have poured in. With that type of resume, one would be hard-pressed to imagine having any qualms with whatever direction Yoshida, or Yoshi-P as he’s fondly referred to, decided to take Final Fantasy in narratively.

A New Direction for Final Fantasy

One place where Final Fantasy XVI decides to embrace tradition is in its setting, but with a darker twist. In a first for the franchise and in almost all RPGs for that matter, Final Fantasy XVI will sport a Mature rating. Regardless of what Yoshi-P and company have in store for us it’ll be complex, deep, and deal with mature themes befitting of the very change that is required to be a new entry in Final Fantasy‘s legendary legacy.

As a legacy franchise and RPG leader, Final Fantasy has continually reshaped and exceeded expectations of its genre. Through impeccable visual language that’s on the cusp of what games present to players. In addition to gameplay systems that refuse to align with what we acknowledge an RPG to be, change remains the engine that pushes it all forward. Without ambitious teams and leaders challenging what each series iteration can be, Square Enix would doom Final Fantasy to RPG mediocrity along with other stagnate relics.

All of this is without mention of the awe-inspiring sounds and songs of the series. Long created and personified by visionary composer Nobuo Uematsu, long since semi-retired, Final Fantasy‘s audio tour de force responsibilities have now changed hands. Mighty big shoes to fill. None of which are more capable than Masayashi Soken who after blowing our ear drums away throughout Final Fantasy XIV‘s many expansions, navigates Final Fantasy XVI‘s music to the awaiting masses.

As blasphemous as it may sound, I believe the franchise’s musical endeavors are better than ever and have been for some time. If the music teased in the many trailers so far is anything to go by, Final Fantasy XVI may have the best music we’ve heard to date.

What is Final Fantasy?

Nostalgia is an immensely powerful draw, but it can’t define your future. Demanding Final Fantasy‘s return to its roots is a fundamental misunderstanding of what those building blocks are. The past permeates the DNA of every entry. Be it through a subtle nod, familiar adversaries, the series-defining character classes, a theme song, or in-jokes strewn throughout. Just because we no longer view them through a sprite-based lens doesn’t mean Final Fantasy has forgotten where it came from. Change has always been the essence of Final Fantasy and its legendary past remains the blueprint for how Square Enix will push once more to newer, loftier heights.

If I haven’t answered the question of “What is Final Fantasy?” for you adequately by now then I’ll just let Yoshi-P close us out. In his own words:

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