"It was a secret concept I had in mind": Yoshi-P discusses wrapping up the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga in Final Fantasy 14 (Exclusive)

At the end of Day 1 of Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest London, Yoshi-P held a major press conference. Quite a few questions were sent in from outlets worldwide, including our own. Thankfully, one of mine made the cut, and we can discuss what he had to say. The focus of the question was if any of the concepts of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga (ARR through Endwalker) were things he didn’t think would click with fans.

Yoshi-P focused his answer on the saga's ending, the Endwalker expansion. The Director and Producer of Final Fantasy 14 had a very interesting “secret” goal in mind during the Endwalker expansion, which he brought up during our discussion:

“I thought of it as a preparation phase of sorts, in order to reach that goal. It was a secret concept that I had in mind.”

---

Yoshi-P discusses the end of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark saga in Final Fantasy 14

When I asked Yoshi-P about moments from the last ten years that he was worried might not click during Fan Fest London, he wasn’t so worried about those bits of time.

Yoshi-P, as he explained, looks at things with a more long-term lens. Even if players focus on moment-to-moment experiences, he had a big picture to look at:

“Firstly, when we look at it from a player's perspective, players mostly focus just on the moment, or a particular point in time. In contrast, I tend to look at the long term for Final Fantasy 14.”

Perhaps, Yoshi-P's development of 6.0, through 6.X was to show that he wanted to bring around players that aren’t typically MMO players. To do this, he began to focus more on content that all players can get into, regardless of how they feel about this type of game. That way, more people will experience this story:

“But when we look at the span between 6.0 and 6.X, the concept I had in mind was to put more of a focus on solo, or content focusing on low numbers of players. I think some players probably felt that.”

One way this happened was to expand how much content players could participate using the Duty System. That way, they could play through the main story without focusing on finding groups of other players if they didn’t want to.

Suddenly, the game had become more accessible to non-MMO players. This is something I noticed personally, whether on Twitter or talking to people I know.

Not everyone I know is an MMO player, and suddenly, so many people were interested in diving into Final Fantasy 14, knowing they didn’t really have to work with others as often. This was a “secret concept” of Yoshi-P’s. Wrapping up this story and making the game more accessible for solo players ultimately served that end:

“So especially when we look at 6.0 - 6.0 served as the conclusion of the Hydaelyn arc and Zodiark saga. I really wanted to deliver that conclusion to as many players as possible, so that even includes players who may not be so traditionally open to playing MMOs. I thought of it as a preparation phase of sorts, in order to reach that goal. It was a secret concept that I had in mind.”

It appears it’s partly about the story and the mechanics used to tell it for Yoshi-P. He understands that it can get tiresome to do the same things repeatedly in MMOs, so he wants to create “waves” of content throughout the game to keep things fresh and interesting.

This could be done through different storytelling types - Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail beginning as a “summer vacation”, for example, and changing up how the content itself is delivered. By creating interesting, emotional moments and varied gameplay, a wide assortment of video game fans can come into the game and take part in this epic story:

“So when we look at 7.0 and moving through 7.X, I want many more people to enjoy the content in the game. Especially when you are doing the same things, down the line, you'll start getting tired of it. I want to generate various waves through the game, so players will be able to appreciate various other types of content.”

It’s an amazing time to be a Final Fantasy 14 fan. Even if you aren’t into the game now but are curious, a whole new story arc is about to begin. There’s more than enough time to play through the current story as well. The game is currently celebrating its 10th year anniversary and shows no signs of slowing down.

---

Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest London wraps up today, with plenty of events and panels yet to come. If you’d like more information on the event, here is what we think the upcoming limited job could be. It was a pleasure to speak to Yoshi-P, and we hope to do so again in the future.