The Challenges of Adapting Final Fantasy 16’s Eikon Battles for a Tactics-Style Game

The possibility of a new Final Fantasy Tactics game is being considered by Square Enix, but the story from the most recent main installment, Final Fantasy 16, is not deemed suitable for this purpose. The combat between Eikons in Final Fantasy 16 is too complex to be adapted to a Tactics-style game.

In Final Fantasy 16, players can look forward to two upcoming DLCs: ‘The Rising Tide’ and ‘Echoes of the Fallen’. ‘The Rising Tide’ will be released on April 18 and introduces a quest to save the missing Leviathan Dominant, Eikon of the Water. ‘Echoes of the Fallen’, released in December, leads players to investigate smuggling of black crystals and explore a new location called the Tower of the Sages.

Despite these DLCs expanding the adventure in Final Fantasy 16, Naoki Yoshida, director and producer of the game, has confirmed that it’s time for a new installment. Yoshida believes that while Tactics games are well-suited for storytelling in the Final Fantasy series, adapting the Eikon versus Eikon battles from Final Fantasy 16 to a grid-based format presents technical challenges that must be overcome. He raises concerns about translating complex combat systems into turn-based strategy games.

While Square Enix remains open to developing a new Final Fantasy Tactics game, they are aware of these challenges and are exploring ways to overcome them. A new experience awaits fans of this beloved series as they continue their journey through Middle Earth with The Lord of Rings Online: Shadowlands Expansion Pack!