Building Final Fantasy XVI with Producer Naoki Yoshida | AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook Podcast
Shuhei Yoshida chats with FINAL FANTASY XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida. Together they discuss his career and what led to him helping relaunch FINAL FANTASY XIV and eventually producing the newest entry in the series; the key decisions they made with FINAL FANTASY XVI with their approach to story and gameplay; how they navigated the pandemic and how it impacted development; and his thoughts on what young game developers looking to break into the industry can do to prepare themselves.
0:00 Introduction
2:27 Interview Start
4:32 Yoshida-san’s Early Career and Rebuilding FFXIV
12:09 Starting work on FINAL FANTASY XVI
19:35 Taking the Necessary Time to Develop FFXVI
21:14 Building the Story and World of FFXVI
29:14 Matching Game Design Decisions to Story and Concept
35:34 Eikon Battles and FINAL FANTASY Summons
38:47 Biggest Production Challenges
43:21 Developing for the PlayStation 5
46:53 Pandemic’s Impact on Development
56:13 Promotional Strategies for FFXVI
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