Following the reveal of the brand new Final Fantasy XIV expansion Endwalker, some may have been wondering if there are any changes to the visuals of the game.
Producer and director Naoki Yoshida explained in an interview on the Japanese website Game Watch that renewing the graphics engine is something he’d like to do at some point in the future. Yet, it’s not going to happen with Endwalker.
There are large challenges involved due to the sheer amount of assets created in the game’s ten-year history and performance concerns.
With Endwalker, the team decided to focus on the gaming experience since it’s the conclusion of the story of Hydaelyn and Zodiark. As a result, the hardware requirements for the game haven’t changed.
However, Yoshida-san is going to look into this as the team does the planning for the next few years. As it happened with the ability to travel between data centers (which he actually explained in an interview here on Twinfinite back in 2019 after teasing the possibility in another interview done by yours truly all the way back in 2016), he’d eventually like to do it.
That being said, he also would like it to be clear that it’s going to be extremely challenging.
I guess we have time since earlier today Yoshida-san mentioned that he expects Final Fantasy XIV to continue for “many, many, many, years.”
Earlier today we learned that the next expansion titled “Endwalker” will release fall 2021. You can check out tons of details and the first official screenshots and art.
Yoshida-san also shared many details about the upcoming 5.5 update.
If you’re unfamiliar with Final Fantasy XIV, it’s currently available for PlayStation 4 and PC, and an open beta for the brand new PS5 version will open on April 13 alongside update 5.5. The upgrade will be offered free of charge to those who own the PS4 version.
If you’re interested in the game in general, you can read our latest interview with producer and director Naoki Yoshida, another with composer Masayoshi Soken, and our review of Shadowbringers.
We recently celebrated the 10th anniversary of the advent of Naoki Yoshida as director and producer.
Published: Feb 6, 2021 11:22 am