Final Fantasy XVI, the highly anticipated upcoming JRPG from Square Enix, will be getting a playable demo before the game’s release next year. Producer Naoki Yoshida confirmed the news in a recent interview with Japanese publication Dengeki, also teasing that a release date may be unveiled sometime before the end of the year too.
Yoshida stated that Final Fantasy XVI will get a demo before the game’s launch, though stopped short of mentioning when we can expect it. As is tradition with most Final Fantasy games, a demo is usually released by Square Enix before release. The company released demos for Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Remake in the past.
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“If information about the game is released too early, it won’t carry that same kind of excitement so we plan on sharing the information about three months before it releases,” said Yoshida in the interview. “We also plan to have a Final Fantasy XVI demo available, but we want to do so with that momentum.”
Final Fantasy XVI received a number of updates recently, including its development entering “the home stretch” in October. A new trailer, titled ‘Ambition’, was also released last month that gave us a better glimpse at the game’s warring kingdoms, factions and epic Eikon battles.
Square Enix describes the world of Final Fantasy XVI:
“The land of Valisthea is studded with Mothercrystals—glittering mountains of crystal that tower over the realms around them, blessing them with aether. For generations, people have flocked to these beacons to take advantage of their blessing, using the aether to conjure magicks that let them live lives of comfort and plenty. Great powers have grown up around each Mothercrystal, and an uneasy peace has long reigned between them. Yet now the peace falters as the spread of the Blight threatens to destroy their dominions.”
Final Fantasy XVI will be making some daring changes to the usual JRPG series formula, gearing the game more towards action-heavy combat instead of turn-based. Unlike the last entry, Final Fantasy XV, it won’t feature an open-world. Instead, the world will feature massive segmented areas divided into the various kingdoms that players can freely explore.
Final Fantasy XVI launches in summer 2023 exclusively for PS5.
Source: Dengeki
