Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida is tired of negative comments from trolls
by Danny Craig
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Square Enix
In a new documentary, Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida, also known as Yoshi-P, reveals that reading negative troll comments has become "tiresome.”
The details:
- In the show about the series' director and producer, Yoshida is seen checking social media for fan reactions to news about FF14 and FF16, with his attention drawn to a handful of negative comments (translation via Audrey of Aitai Kimochi) regarding the latter. "There's a lot of people who just yell at you, people I've never seen, met or talked to before. It's weird,” Yoshida said of the troll comments. “What did we do to them? Perhaps they just write it from a place of negativity and malice. It's tiresome.”
- Some of the comments featured in the show (via Reddit user u/elevenmile) included "Eikonic battles are so plain looking," and "Still [the only Final Fantasy] that I'm not going to buy on day one." Although these comments appear to be tame, they were likely chosen as they were the safest for television. Yoshida has previously stated that he would appreciate it if fans were respectful when providing feedback to the game's developers, Creative Business Unit III, asking that FF14 players refrain from name-calling and keep their comments strictly related to the part of the game they did not enjoy.
- FF16 has been met with mixed reception since its release in June, with many players praising its incredible cinematics and fun combat system, which was directed by Devil May Cry 5's Ryota Suzuki. Criticisms were leveled at a variety of other aspects, including the game's dark fantasy setting, surface-level RPG elements, a lack of accessibility options, such as the ability to turn off motion blur at launch, and that it didn't "feel" like a Final Fantasy game.
- Those outside of Japan who want to watch the documentary special will have to wait a little longer due to it being region locked, but in the meantime, Audrey has put together a full thread on Twitter recapping some of its most intriguing parts. You can check it out here.
More gaming news:
- Square Enix has responded to reports that FF16's sales have dropped significantly since its first week by claiming that sales are "strong." Analysts believe the drop from 5 million units in the first week of FF15 to 3 million is due to FF16's exclusivity and different circumstances regarding the size of the PlayStation 5 install base.
- Activision Blizzard has laid off approximately 50 employees from its esports division, leaving fans to wonder what will become of its competitive Overwatch and Call of Duty leagues in the future. Before the layoffs, the company was working on new tools to run tournaments, and it has been suggested that esports will be handled by an external contractor in the future.