For the first time in the history of the license, the PS5 exclusivity Final Fantasy XVI will be aimed at a mature audience.
The highly anticipated title this month has indeed officially received its age classification, set at 18 in Europe. Naoki Yoshida and Hiroshi Takai, respectively producer and director of the game, split an explanation for this unprecedented situation for the franchise.
Mature Fantasy
If we can retain one thing from the various trailers and gameplay videos of Final Fantasy XVI, is that the title intends to ensure the spectacle and to depict a dark history. However, it is obviously not necessarily the violent nature of the game that earned it its recommendation for 18 and over.
Naoki Yoshida thus indicated that such a classification is in particular due to the fact that the regulation around the age recommendation has clearly hardened since its beginnings. ” Over the years, the rules on this subject have changed a lot. Receiving an age recommendation similar to previous Final Fantasy is proving more difficult these days. »
We can indeed find this observation over the evolution of the franchise. If the first could easily address an audience of 8 to 12 years and more, this bar has been raised over the episodes to 16 years and more. This is particularly the case for more recently released titles such as Final Fantasy VII Remake Or Stranger of Paradise.
Graphics that have become more realistic than fanciful?
Hiroshi Takai has also spoken out on the matter, blaming this more severe age rating on the evolution of graphics, especially on the most powerful next-gen consoles. ” The graphics are getting more and more realistic, and if you want to tell a story that feels real, it has to show. “, he specified.
” With this 18+ age rating, we can tell a story without filters. For example, if you want to tell a story about the war, but without showing blood, it will not be believable. In other words, the visual part of Final Fantasy XVI comes, according to Hiroshi Takai, to refine the border between fiction and reality with a more “graphic” and “raw” representation. So it’s not aimed at a younger audience.
We have already seen it through various videos, the next game from Square Enix obviously intends to fully exploit the power of the PS5 to amaze us. Verdict on June 22!
Source : Game Informer
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