How Final Fantasy XVI Blends High Fantasy With Sci-Fi

Final Fantasy XVI takes place in a high-fantasy setting, having drawn comparison to big-budget series like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. And while it's true that most of the action takes place amid warring kingdoms with armor-clad knights, producer Naoki Yoshida revealed there's more to the world that may blend elements of high-tech fantasy or sci-fi as well.

Yoshida told GameSpot via translator that the team simply prefers high fantasy as a setting, but "we're not completely avoiding that type of advanced technology from a past civilization. There is actually a little bit of that in the game. It's just that we haven't introduced it yet in our promotion."

Yoshida explained that one story element in Final Fantasy XVI involves an advanced, sky-faring civilization that existed 1,500 years before the game takes place. Some kind of calamity that people simply call "The Fall" happened to that civilization that caused it to collapse, both figuratively and literally, and all of its advanced technology came crashing to the ground. The remnants of that ancient society are scattered across the world, and the protagonist, Clive, will find pieces of it and learn more about their history and what happened to them.

"When you mention Final Fantasy and a civilization in the sky, you think, oh, maybe airships that traverse the sky," he said.

Finally, Yoshida said that part of his motivation to use a high fantasy setting was to expand what a modern Final Fantasy can be.

"The series had been in this technological fantasy zone for such a long time," he said. "By going back to high fantasy and creating a Final Fantasy that is high fantasy, it shows the next team--whoever works on Final Fantasy XVII and XVIII--that you don't have to stick with the advanced technology, this high-tech fantasy, that it's okay to go back to the high fantasy. It basically shows the developers that come next that there is potential in the Final Fantasy series to do whatever you want."

In the case of Final Fantasy XVI, that means both high fantasy, and a much more action-oriented direction inspired by God of War. The game sports a unique approach to difficulty in order to help bring turn-based fans on-board. Check out our hands-on preview of Final Fantasy XVI for more on how we felt about this radical new approach.