Streamlining things down to a main scenario tunnel is another big part of the problem. At their peak, the FF games were accompanied by thick strategy guides full of secrets, some of them so obtuse that it made you think "how the f**k was I supposed to know that?", but it was all part of the series identity. There was a very unique style that separated the series from just any other story-based games out there.

FF XVI doesn't really have any puzzles, any fun minigames, any large cities that can be fully explored with events other than battles, any significant optional/secret zones to discover, any big mysteries to discuss. It's not a terrible game in its own right, but we feel strongly about it because it replaced the old FF signature style. They killed the series people loved and replaced it with a linear story action series.

Yoshida felt S-E needed to regain trust after XV, but XVI is his solution? Funnily enough XV began as a spin-off title because it was too different. They were to brand it Versus XIII until development hell and sunken cost forced them to position it as a mainline title to boost sales. Action games are supposed to be spin-offs like Crisis Core. The core series was what we called JRPG. Then they went from the 4-man action of XV to the 1-man army XVI. No party, no airship, no strategy, no meaningful stats, no RPG, no Final Fantasy.