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I think Yoshi-P has a lot on his plate; Head of Creative Business Unit III, FFXVI Producer, and FFXIV Producer/Director. Clearly the company has pinned a lot of hope on him, giving him and his team the next Final Fantasy numbered title.
I think there are certain aspects of FFXIV that have started to show cracks; current battle system comes to mind with old concepts no longer working in the current design.
I'm going to assume that he gave the development leads more freedom to design things while he's been busy with all the other projects. If anything the game could use a shake up of Leads and maybe add an Assist or Co-Director.
Also, some things are just hit or miss when adding new features. Adventure island is meh IIMO but so was Limited Jobs, Lords of Vermillion, and Ocean Fishing. Some people like it however and some don't.
Idk about ‘stepping down’, but I will say that it feels like he has a fairly twisted view of what ‘Western’ players want. Ff16 is a pretty good example; it looks like an empty shell with some vague ‘final fantasy’ flavour sprinkled on top of yet another dull, boring ‘dark gritty violent’ storyline that’s actually completely tame (visible blood spatter is not ‘dark’ or ‘gritty’ lmao).
Then you have FFXIV which has moved from being a ‘video game’ to an ‘experience’. Rpg
Mechanics, team play, class skill sets and individuality, all reduced to the absolute minimum possible with very likely more to come, so the true endgame of FFXIV becomes…starting a Twitter account? Even things like making players run through dungeons after completion; it’s not for gameplay purposes, it’s for social/advertising purposes (people can get their gpose screenshots shared in peace lol).
And I mean, there’s nothing wrong with catering to the social aspects of an MMO; that’s what they’re for. But warping the gameplay as a whole just to cater to some invisible demographic that ‘just wants to relax and take screenshots’ has been a huge detriment to the game. Easier fights, less decision making during gameplay, less mechanics used in fights, fights often being designed around a specific cinematic event and not to be actual video-game battles (the Proto-Carbuncle basically exists solely for the cinematic). Like, you really have to try for the fight to go badly lol. He even conveniently repositions himself the entire fight (though they all do that now lol).
Realistically though it seems misguided to blame ‘Yoshi-P’ solely for everything that’s happened in the game. He’s the director, sure, but I think there’s more to it than him just barking orders at people, ‘MAKE THIS EASIER’, ‘DONT MAKE THE PLAYER CHOOSE’, including pressure from higher ups to meet what id assume are insanely high sales/profit with an infinitesimal budget.
If anything I think the higher-ups are the ones most responsible
ok but no seriously if Yoshida steps down entirely from 14, the game might nosedive harder than FNC
idk ff16 reminds me a lot of the the matsuno games, im playing TO right now and i feel it, makes sense since yoshi is a fan of the matsuno games but hes only a producer, not director. And one of the combat directors from dmc5 is involved? i couldnt be more excited. Especially witht he complete mess that was ff15 that wasnt even the original vision of Versus and had some of the sloppiest, chunky, bad feeling gameplay of anything resembling action games when KH2 already had a great blend of rpg and action.
Also, casual players pay the bills, dont expect anything signifigant out of normal/story mode trials and raids.
I'm very happy with XIV so he's doing a great job to me. *shrug*
A good director surrounds themselves with a good team. If that director leaves or moves on typically those team members will more then likely leave as well. We quickly forget FFXIV is kind of an enigma in the gaming space. It should have just been a disaster and swept under the rug. It could have become an Anthem, Babylon's Fall, or a multitude of other live service games that were a failure at launch. FFXIV could have stayed a failure....but Yoshi P didn't see it that way. The fact that asking for a director that doesn't cry on camera is a shallow attempt to belittle a person that obviously cares deeply about what he does. Also, for a culture that looks at crying in public is a GIANT fopah, hell Japanese men are expected to not even cry at all. Some of the most creative people in the world are INCREIBLY in touch with their emotions. I think it takes a crazy amount of stress and shouldering a lot of the emotional blame....it shows with Yoshi P. This dude would rather everyone send all the blame to him, rather then his team.
Again FFXIV is huge enigma in the gaming space. It was a failure...but now it's a gigantic success. Do you think that just happens automatically? Much of the success should be directed toward Yoshi P. SE owes him a statue in the lobby/quad, and his game design philosophy is exactly what the video game industry needs desperately now.
Not every choice is perfect. Not every design choice is welcome. Not every design choice is accepted. I think the slow change is unbearable and I for one hate that it takes a long time to change something so simple.
But I also have to understand that drastic changes only complicate the entire game/mechanics. Small brush strokes until it's complete, other wise your starting over.
FFXIV and Yoshi P has found a formula that works as a business model for the game. It simply works. We may not all agree with every single decision, but it's better then getting NOTHING for literal years.
If Yoshi P were to step down as a director it would have to go to someone that is WELL respect on the dev team, and also upholds the same game design philosophy the Yoshi P has practiced. Giant shoes to fill...since FFXIV is currently the ONLY game SE has right now that is propping up a fading game library/franchises.