Final Fantasy 14’s Naoki Yoshida Tells Us That The Ascians Are Not Following Their Original Plan

Hot on the heels of Patch 7.3’s launch, I was able to sit down with Final Fantasy 14 producer and director Naoki Yoshida at Gamescom, and you better believe I tried to get a few answers and clues out of him about that character’s appearance at the end of the latest patch and those cryptic final lines.

We also discussed the possibility of whether new crafter and gatherer roles could ever be introduced, and how the team goes about deciding which other game titles they collaborate with after the recent announcement of the Monster Hunter Wilds collab.

On The Return Of Sphene And My Favourite Dawntrail Zone

One of Dawntrail’s central characters was Queen Sphene of Alexandria, an Endless (digital version) created from the memories of the original Sphene, who lived many years prior before succumbing to levin sickness. One of Dawntrail’s main themes was grief and the acceptance of loss, and as part of the expansion’s finale, we, as the Warrior of Light, had to switch off the stunning Living Memory locale that housed the digital versions of deceased characters, and defeat Endless Sphene in the process to achieve a bittersweet victory.

However, in the Dawntrail post-launch patches, the original Sphene has since made an appearance, after unknowingly being kept in stasis all these years, and as of Patch 7.3, Living Memory has been returned to its former glory (albeit with a more natural light).

The reintroduction of both Sphene and Living Memory could arguably undermine the acceptance of loss that they both represented in Dawntrail, but, for Living Memory in particular, we’re over a year on since it closed, giving plenty of time for that messaging to resound with the community, before finding the perfect time for them to narratively fit back within the story arc.

These decisions weren’t made lightly, as Yoshida tells me there were “major discussions” over whether the real Sphene would make an appearance in the story, and whether or not to relaunch Living Memory. He also tells me that Patch 7.1 through 7.3 were already written only a month after Dawntrail launched, so these plot points were decided well in advance of when we see them unfold on the screen.

“Truth be told, I was against the idea of the real Sphene suddenly making an appearance back at that time. The Sphene that makes an appearance in 7.0 is a clone, which was cloned from the memories of the real Sphene, and the original Sphene was in a deep sleep. I felt that after defeating the clone Sphene at the end of 7.0, if the real Sphene returns with the exact same face, and so early in the story, I felt it would come across as cheap, and players would be thinking, ‘Well, just what was that Sphene we just defeated just right now?’ It was one area where we really had a long discussion about how long we should wait for the real Sphene to make a return.”

The team decided that they could complete Sphene’s story arc in about two patches, though Yoshida says that one thing they agreed early on was that her costume would be changed, so that players could distinguish her from the other Sphene.

Deciding the timing of relaunching Living Memory was a similar discussion, with Yoshida telling me, “If, again, we were to immediately revive Living Memory after the end of 7.0, we would be in a similar situation where players would be thinking, ‘Well, just what was that at the end of 7.0?’ It was for that reason that we decided we would utilise Living Memory as a location for the final part of Patch 7.3, where the players would be restoring the thoughts and memories of the people there.

“First, we shut down living memory in order to remove those memories, and then we restored living memory in order to return those memories. As you mentioned, we decided the time that was necessary in order to make that meaningful.”

Who Wants To Live Forever?

Naturally, all this talk of being able to live forever as a digital recreation of your original self has me wondering if this is something Yoshida would ever consider, if technology ever advanced that far. He immediately answers ‘Yes’ without missing a beat.

“I’ve been interested in concepts such as what is it to live, what is it to die, and what is it to be human, and also what we call AI now, what is the meaning behind that. I’ve had this interest for about 20 years now, and I often read science magazines, and I’m also studying technological trends and such.

“I don’t think it’s a question of whether it’s good or bad, but when I consider myself as a human being, maybe 20 years or 30 years later, our cells will eventually die, and we can’t avoid the fact that we will eventually—well, our lives will eventually—come to an end. If there is the possibility of transferring ourselves into a digital format, and to transfer our thoughts and our mind, I think there is a possibility of doing that if it would be for the benefit and good of people.”

However, Yoshida does clarify that if there was a situation where the physical version of himself and the digital version of himself were around at the same time that he didn’t think that would be a good thing, and he would want to avoid that.

The Patch 7.3 Puzzles

One of the things I enjoyed the most about Patch 7.3 was the puzzles involved in the A Calculated Evolution main scenario quest, where we had to piece together clues from our companions and explore the surrounding area to solve a series of puzzles in order to progress further. Yoshida tells me the team also found implementing the puzzles “really fun” and “a new challenge”.

“We wanted to make the story of the game more realistic,” Yoshida explains, telling me that they didn’t just want to have “a situation where people were just talking on and on,” but instead have the players experience the story and uncover the answers themselves. Yoshida tells me it’s not going to be the case that they are actively looking to incorporate more puzzles, unless they feel it’s necessary, as they don’t want to force themselves to put in unnecessary mechanics without good reason.

“In terms of the player response, we did find that there has been a positive reception to this portion. But on the other hand, there were also some players who just wanted to rush through to the boss fight, and for them, this portion got in the way of that, so we do want to take into account feedback from both types of players.”

The Ascians Are Back, But Not As You Might Expect

Patch 7.3 concluded with us defeating Calyx, only for the final scene to show him still alive (or at least as alive as an Endless can be) and with an Ascian lurking in the background behind him as they cryptically discuss their plans. We all knew there were a few Sundered Ascians left as loose ends somewhere out there in the reflections, but after the closure of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc in Endwalker, specifically the defeat of Zodiark, the grand Ascian plan of the Rejoining to restore the ancients has been well and truly foiled. So what are our favourite masked miscreants up to now?

Yoshida tells me the team discussed how best to depict the remaining Ascians, and that it was “an intentional decision to leave a time gap up until their appearance in the story” as “with the end of the Hydaelyn Zodiark arc, for the Unsundered Ascians, we were able to cleanly conclude their story, and it would obviously be a turn off if suddenly the other Ascians suddenly made an appearance.”

Fans have been left wondering whether the remaining Ascians will somehow want to find a new way to trigger the rejoining, or whether they are each fulfilling their own personal motives without the guidance of the Unsundered Ascians.

“We don’t intend on having the remaining Ascians carry over that plan,” Yoshida says about the Ascian’s aim to reclaim Etheirys for the ancients. “The reason being is, of course, because the Unsundered Ascians are no longer there. At the end of Endwalker, Emet-Selch was satisfied with leaving the rest of the world over to the Warrior of Light, so we have no intention of writing that story again, I also feel that we shouldn’t be writing that.”

This is likely a relief to hear for most fans who were worried about retreading old ground and the same story beats again, but it’s clear that we’re in for some fresh Ascian adventures in the future.

“The Unsundered Ascians have all gone, but because [the Sundered Ascians] have the Memory Crystals, they do have knowledge of the secret arts and techniques that are passed on from the Unsundered. Since they have their own strength and the memories, we will be able to see very soon in the story what they are planning, and because that will be coming quite soon, I do hope that players will look forward to it.

“One thing that I can say is that you will be able to see that there is clearly a different goal that the Ascians have, and also you will be able to find out what is the key that is in the possession of the Warrior of Light.”

Emboldened by Yoshida giving me a few clues about the Ascians, I couldn’t help but ask about the “Winterer peers” that Calyx mentions to the Ascian he’s with in the final moments of Patch 7.3. We’ve been left wondering if this is the term that the remaining Ascians have given themselves, or whether it’s a nod to what’s to come, perhaps foreshadowing us traveling to “the frozen waters of Blindfrost, in Othard’s north” that Emet-Selch mentions to us in Endwalker.

Yoshida tells me we will find out soon what “Winterer” refers to, but confirms it is not the name for the remaining Ascians. As an added tease he tells me, “I could say that it might be easier to discuss about the possibilities if you check the definition of Winterer as a word.”

Let further discussions commence!

Will We Ever See A New Crafting Or Gathering Role?

New job roles are added to FF14 with each expansion, but never any new crafting or gathering roles. It’s understandable, as these are all so intrinsically linked to each other and the economy that introducing new roles could entirely upset the whole balance of the game. Regardless, I am ever hopeful, so I asked Yoshida if it would be possible to add in new crafting and gathering roles, and he told me “there’s not zero possibility of it happening”.

“If we feel like we want to do it, then we could make it happen,” he tells me. “If we consider the existing economy that we have within Final Fantasy 14, when we think about where would we put in a new role, we haven’t found one which we think would be a good fit.”

As an example, Yoshida says if they were to add a crafting role specifically for housing items, the problem is that housing items can already be made by other crafting roles who would then no longer be able to craft them as it would get reassigned, and that would negatively impact players.

For each crafting role they have, they also add a corresponding gathering role, and so if they wanted to add one new role, they’d actually have to add two, and that then increases the amount of gear players need to equip, and would lead to people complaining about the lack of slots in their armoury chests, and so overall Yoshida feels “it would increase player stress”.

However, Yoshida emphasises “I do want to add more to the game, but when I consider the question about whether it would be a positive for all of the players, then that’s something that I’m really torn about.”

It leads to Yoshida spitballing more ideas, throwing out the example of a mount-crafting role, but then pointing out that having only one craft that could craft mounts might not go down well either. Another example he mentions is an instrument crafting role, but that would also be moot, as instruments can be made by Carpenters.

“We get a lot of requests for implementing snowboarding in-game,” Yoshida says, explaining that theoretically they could make a crafter class to craft the boards, but then when he considers that pre-existing crafters could already do it and without the need for players to grind out a whole new class, it makes him feel “really torn”.

The New Monster Hunter Collaboration Is A Permanent Fixture

At Gamescom, Yoshida announced an upcoming collaboration with Monster Hunter Wilds, with some balking at the idea of having to get to level 100 and complete Dawntrail before being able to participate. While it was a safe bet that this new Monster Hunter collab would be a permanent fixture, much like the previous one, Yoshida assuaged all doubts by confirming this during our interview.

“It will be permanent. We do understand that some players may be taking a break, and we don’t want them to resubscribe immediately to FF14. More details will be announced next month, but what I can say is that we have prepared a lot of rewards, and we’ve prepared the battle content so that it can be enjoyed both by casual players and also hardcore players. We have been investing a lot of resources into the development of the content, and I hope that players will be able to enjoy it in the long term.”

Final Fantasy 14 has collaborated with many other games over the years, including not just other Final Fantasy or Square Enix titles, but other series like Yo-Kai Watch and Fall Guys, so I can’t help but wonder how and which game titles the team decides to work with.

“I think the way that collaborations are decided depends greatly on the team. Within the Final Fantasy 14 development team, we consider how much we know the game title that we’re interested in working on, and how much respect and admiration we have for those titles. I believe that unless we have that respect, we wouldn’t be able to create the best content possible.

“We don’t really consider a promotional aspect as it were, but it’s more the case of if we feel that it would generate hype, then we would want to do it. It’s often the case that I would be talking with the producer or director of the partner, and we would have a mutual respect for each other. In that regard, I think it’s kind of mysterious because there’s no format that’s set in stone. Sometimes I will approach the other party, or sometimes they will approach me.”

Using Fall Guys as an example, Yoshida tells me the team knew that they were big FF14 players in the past as he’d seen it on social media, so when they reached out to say they were interested in doing a collaboration, he was only too happy to agree.

“It’s really a case of us respecting each other as developers, and with that respect and going through that process, I think we can create something that typically wouldn’t really be possible usually. I would like to continue working on crossovers and create an element of surprise for our players.”

As a final question, I ask Yoshida what he enjoys most about his job, you know, when he’s not permanently stressed by everything, if that ever happens.

It’s something he has to think hard about, but finally he tells me, “I think it’s when I’m doing game design, because I didn’t get into this job because I wanted to be a producer, but rather I think that the title game designer is what fits me best. When I’m working on planning the new game and planning systems, and for FF14 when we’re working on designing content, I think that’s the most enjoyable for me.”

Yoshida also adds that when he gets to travel the world and speak to people at events and fan meetings, “it is questionable to think about whether that counts as work” but that speaking with players and fans is also something he enjoys.

“I’m able to hear their responses directly, so I can hear they might give me some really critical and tough feedback, or they might give me a very positive response, but at the end of the day, I consider all of our players our comrades together, and we are creating Final Fantasy 14 together. I think this is one aspect of my job, which may be me being in my position, only I can appreciate and I can enjoy, but it’s something that I really do appreciate, from the support of all of our players.”

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and start spiralling down the rabbit hole with new theories about the definition of Winterer and what the Ascians are up to next.

Final Fantasy 14

Systems

Released

August 27, 2013

ESRB

T for Teen – Language, Mild Blood, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence

Engine

Originally the Crystal Tools engine, but currently it’s a custom engine using parts of the Luminous Engine.

Multiplayer

Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer

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