Final Fantasy producer YoshiP says there’s “no clear-cut answer” on if future games will return to turn-based as its all about the “kind of game the creators want” to make

Final Fantasy has sadly left its turn-based roots behind as the iconic JRPG franchise continues to move towards action gameplay. While modern FF is still spectacular, some players have craved for a return to turn-based action, especially after the success of Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

While Square Enix has acknowledged the popularity of Sandfall’s turn-based game, Final Fantasy producer Naoki ‘YoshiP’ Yoshida explained that there’s “no clear-cut answer” on whether the series will actually get a new turn-based entry.

Will Final Fantasy ever return to turn-based gameplay?

Speaking to Anime News Network, Yoshida explained that the move from turn-based to action gameplay isn’t just Square Enix focusing on trends. Instead, the direction of gameplay for new Final Fantasy games is also decided by the people who are actually making the project.

“With this question of turn-based versus action, it tends to isolate the gameplay to just the battle system,” YoshiP explained in the interview. “That doesn’t take into account what kind of game the creators want to deliver to players.”

Yoshida explained that the direction of new FF games are “based on a certain graphical quality we want to present to our players, or the narrative we want to deliver to our players”. For Square Enix, these elements are how they “set up the game’s systems”, and for the team sometimes turn-based simply doesn’t fit.

“It’s not a clear-cut answer, whether it will become all turn-based, or if it’s going to become more action-based,” Yoshida explained while also stating that the Final Fantasy 14 and 16 lead isn’t spearheading the next games in the series.

Importantly, Yoshida stated that Square Enix as a whole doesn’t decide what direction the director of Final Fantasy 17 or 18 will be taking. Instead, it’s up to them, and if turn-based makes sense for that project and the developers want to make it, then that’s the gameplay it’ll have.

“We also don’t want to obstruct or limit our future director or whoever will be producing the games like 17 or even 18. We don’t want to put them on a rail,” he said.

I would absolutely adore an official Final Fantasy return to turn-based gameplay on a huge cinematic scale, and that’s as someone who also adores what Square Enix has done with both FF16 and the FF7 Remake trilogy. Hopefully, one day, we could see a proper, AAA turn-based game from Square Enix, but it still seems unlikely.