The director and producer of Final Fantasy XIV faced fans’ questions during the Japan Expo in Paris. One particularly spicy question made him blush.
What question was asked? At the Japan Expo, players of Final Fantasy XIV could ask Naoki Yoshida questions about the game. You can check out all the questions and the complete stream here on Twitch. One question at about 1 hour and 9 minutes came from French cosplayer Sun Cosplay
(via X.com).
Sun Cosplay wanted to know: Will we one day have the opportunity to be more than just friends with NPCs?
The audience on site celebrated the question with a round of applause. Naoki Yoshida, however, bit his lip and asked back, what
– even before the visibly amused translator could begin.
Naoki Yoshida consistently addresses fans’ questions. This has also been the case at the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festivals. Last year in London, we were even there for you:
More than friends? The head of Final Fantasy XIV blushes
What did Yoshida reply? As soon as the question was translated into Japanese, Naoki Yoshida had to laugh. With a slightly red face, he made a face. After a moment of reflection, he responded:
Well, I get asked this question from time to time. But… we have to stick to the story.
For example: What if Estinien, hypothetically, suddenly appears on another planet? We can never know what happens with [the NPCs].
But… I am very grateful that so many people like our NPCs. Maybe we can consider a little… more. To allow you to be a little more involved with the NPCs.
I hope you can look forward to it little by little.
Naoki Yoshida during the Japan Expo 2024 in Paris, 13.07.2024
What exactly does the head mean? Naoki Yoshida implies that Final Fantasy XIV has a fixed main story. During this, the NPCs travel the entire world, the universe, and even other dimensions. The current cast with the (former) Scions of the Seventh Dawn has been quite stable for a few expansions, yet it can always happen that characters are written out of the story.
Yoshi-P likely thinks that if players could, for example, forge closer relationships with NPCs from the main cast, the story options for his writers would become tighter. That’s what he means with his Estinien example: What if they want to send Estinien away for the plot – how do they reconcile that with a potential dating sim component?
Final Fantasy XIV is known for its really good story. Naoki Yoshida would probably like to avoid putting obstacles in the way of his excellent writing team. So if such a feature were to come, it would only be in a way that is compatible with the story.
If the desire for a dating sim of some sort continues to be brought to Yoshi-P by the community, the chances are good that it will come.
Naoki Yoshida is very close to the players and pays attention to their feedback. Before the release of the new expansion Dawntrail, for example, he repeatedly apologized for potential server issues. After the launch, he immediately addressed the actual bugs: Final Fantasy XIV: The new expansion is live and the head is already apologizing for errors
