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I never thought I'd say this about a Square-Enix FF project, but that premise has me kind of excited for FFXVI. Time skips can be a great way to show the consequences of a story (especially in games that give the player meaningful decisions to make) as well as a neat way to extend the longevity of environments. It's something that's surprisingly rare in the RPG genre, so any instance of it happening is cause for optimism IMO.

Here's hoping they at least remember to, you know, update the character models to show the passage of time. That element often seems to be... forgotten.

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multi-game showcase we were all hoping for

According to last weeks article, it was you trying to will it into existence.

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Obviously, there's a lot of information to be learned from these varied interviews, but a few key points stand out: combat will be real-time, the environment will not be an open world, the story will take place over decades in the life of protagonist Clive, and the spectacular Eikon-versus-Eikon battles we caught a glimpse of in the last trailer are going to offer unique and varied gameplay for each fight.

You left out one of the biggest key points that should have been mentioned: Yoshida stated that they are aiming for a Mature rating.

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There was implied nudity in the recent trailer. Is this a more adult, M-rated Final Fantasy?

So this is something you can say, not just with the Final Fantasy series, but in general, compared to the past, video game ratings have become more and more restrictive recently regarding what can or cannot be shown. That said, I do believe that ratings are very important to ensure that younger players, younger children, are shielded from extreme material.

But on the other hand, when trying to tell a story with difficult adult themes, these ratings can end up becoming somewhat of a hindrance. And you find yourself changing things that you wanted to do in the game based on that rating. You wanted to show
something, but because you have this certain rating that you need to go to, you need to move the camera away. And that ends up making the entire experience feel a little bit cheaper. And so, this time, to make sure that we could tell the story that we wanted in the way that we wanted to, we decided to pursue a mature rating in most of the regions that will be releasing the game. But again, this is not because we simply wanted to make the game more violent or the game more explicit, this is because we felt it was necessary to allow us to explore those more mature themes that the game tackles.

This is important because Stranger of Paradise, which released this year, is the 1st Cero D (17+) FF game ever in its 34 (not a typo; count it) year history. FF has only reached as high as Cero C (15+) before. FF is a Japanese series developed in Japan so no, Type-0 HD being M rated overseas (Cero C in Japan) because of foreign sensibilities increasing its rating doesn't count. 16 will be the 1st Cero D numbered FF in its history (2nd overall). It is great that SE are allowing their best selling series to reach adult audiences rather than the usual focus on teens and younger. This generation of gamers grew up with FF from the late 80's and 90's. They'd be in their 30/40's or late 20's. Of course, this now presents a contradiction and makes one look back at the ethics department inserting themselves in regards to Tifa's outfit in FF7R. We know in the Ultimania, she's shown wearing a thong in one of her outfits that wasn't in the game itself. The FF7R Japanese Twitter account even posted that Ultimania artwork earlier this year. How SE proceeds going forward will be telling. Other series need to take note.

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But that also ties in with an important announcement: My time here at This Week in Games is coming to a close.

*Michael Scott voice* Goodbye Heidi. It's been niiiice. Hope you find your... paradiiiise.

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We've already got the next TWIGmaster lined up, and they're a person ANN readers likely know well already, so things will be in good hands.

Well, I can only hope that person loves giving neutral accurate reporting without inserting their personal bias then actually accepts when their incorrect statements are corrected with facts and learn from it to improve in the future instead of making excuses that are unacceptable for someone that is writing and publishing articles.

Lastly, Cloud >>>> Zack forever! Source: Many Final Fantasy character polls.

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That's not necessarily a bad thing, either – it just depends on if it's boring-busted or highly-entertaining-busted.

Hahaha yeah for sure. I can only hope it’s the latter but admittedly the beta didn’t fill me with much confidence. Hopefully now that people actually have a training mode they can find some funny stuff!

This is one of the only regular columns on ANN that I actually take the time to read every week so I will definitely miss reading this column written by you, Heidi! Best of luck with everything game-writing-related (and game-playing, of course).