FFXVI will have a Story Mode for fans who are bad at action games.

[Wolf Kanno]

Yoshida did a recent interview for a Japanese radio station and someone over at Siliconera gave a rough translation.

Naoki Yoshida said the game would feature a story mode that gives players access to special support skills and abilities that will allow them to get through the game sections easier so they can just enjoy the story of the game.

Likewise, he said he hoped to for the story to “create a world within the Final Fantasy universe that those who understand the complexities and realities of good and bad can be excited for.”

Likewise one of the themes of the games if the hardship and experiences of becoming an adult.

[Psychotic]

Good, games should always have options like this as well as hard modes for those who like a challenge.

I can see one scenario where I'd use it: the gameplay is such a boring drudge fest that I simply can't be bothered anymore and want to see how it plays out :p

[Fynn]

They kind of did something like that for Nier Automata, didn’t they? Can’t see myself using it but it’s definitely a good trend to keep alive

[Del Murder]

It makes total sense to me, give players the option of how they want to experience the game.

[sigrid94]

I'm glad we were considered, LOL.

[Mr Gashtacular]

ill be honest: my first playthroughs of long-awaited games have usually been on Easy (or Very Easy, hello MGS) difficulty just so i could cart through to see what the plot was, so i appreciate this kind of thing (hard mode second playthrough tho)

[Del Murder]

I've only ever gone back and played through hard mode in the Kingdom Hearts games. Otherwise, I just play on Normal difficulty. I may have played some Fire Emblem games on Hard difficulty at the start because that series tends to get ridiculously easy after you build up your units.

[Budiwoman]

since it is about hardship, will we see someone die? like a certain flower girl from previous game ?

[Karifean]

I suppose if they keep up their copyright claiming, this is likely their attempt at making people who don't pay for the game but watch Let's Plays of it, into people who do pay for the game and play on story mode.

[Vyk]

I suppose if they keep up their copyright claiming, this is likely their attempt at making people who don't pay for the game but watch Let's Plays of it, into people who do pay for the game and play on story mode.
Are they hitting Youtubers and Twitch streamers? I wonder how I'd never heard of it if so. Nintendo and Atlus both showed their ass in that regard years ago, Nintendo moreso than others. And I never miss a chance to chastise them for it. I will add Square Enix to my black list of companies I rant about as a crotchety old man. Their London division is deplorable and I will never forgive them for closing down the studio that made Sleeping Dogs, or the crap they forced on Deus Ex behind the developers back, after it was finished. I've always thought the Japanese branch was just out of touch about what fans want with their mainline series. Like any Japanese studio. Similar to Capcom with Resident Evil. But if they're being vindictive to content creators, that deserves some ire

[theundeadhero]

I think they just misunderstand half their playerbase's dislike of action combat systems. SE think the problem is people don't like it because they may not be good at it, so put in a story mode and those people will be happy. The real problem is there's a lot of people that just don't like the system in general, with no concern over how easy or hard it is.

[Christmas]

Not me. I pwnz Dark Soul and have super fast reflex. U N00Bz can go play in Baby mode. Remember to get your parents' consent before playing. :bigsmile:

[Loony BoB]

I play pretty much every game on the normal mode as I see that as a sign that it's "as it was intended to be played". Once I'm done with that, on rare occasions I'll play it again on easy/hard modes for the sake of achievements, if I like the game enough and have the time. Mostly though once I'm done with a game, I leave it and move on to the next one, with some few exceptions I'll play regularly (FFXIV, AOE2) with friends, or occasionally replay if they have variation (Roguelikes, Football Manager, games with multiple endings that I want to check out).

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

I tend to play on easier modes if rewards aren't effected.

It's all about balance, though. You don't want it to be too easy that you can just button mash to victory, but you don't want it to be too hard that you pull your hair out decisively dodging enemy attacks.

It varies by game, I guess.

If the middle difficulty option is normal, I might pick that. But if the middle option says "moderate", I might be spooked into picking the easier one lol.

[DeadRinger1986]

I think they just misunderstand half their playerbase's dislike of action combat systems. SE think the problem is people don't like it because they may not be good at it, so put in a story mode and those people will be happy. The real problem is there's a lot of people that just don't like the system in general, with no concern over how easy or hard it is.

I really think this hits the nail on the head for those of us in our 30s. Glad I'm not the only one! I mean we grew up with FF6 through FF10... These, by gameplay mode, were RPGs. The newer games are a completely new gameplay genre that I just don't prefer. I'm always holding out hope that, with the awesome variety of RPG-"allied" genres that SE explores--both new and retro--they just MIGHT give us a mainline (or close to it) FF that is a menu-and-battle RPG again :D When pigs fly, right?

[chionos]

My problem is not even the transition from turn-based or other slower traditions rpg systems to the hyperactive action system but that their(SE’s anything FF or FF-esque like Harvestella) systems have been straight shit. They’re not hard, they’re shit. There are a lot of different ways to introduce difficulty to a game system (inflated enemy hp, complicated timing mechanisms, etc.), but the combination of elements they seem to have settled on the last decade are just not fun to me at all. Every version of the “break” system they’ve done is total shit. I don’t know why they’re so hung up on this idea, but it’s tiresome. Perhaps I wouldn’t feel this way if there weren’t so many really thoughtful, appealing, and challenging-in-a-good-way systems out there in other games, but I guess it is what it is.

ALL THAT to say that if the story didn’t look like, as Del put it, “generic medieval” tripe, I might like the idea of have a story mode like this so I don’t have to deal with an annoying combat system. But here’s to hoping this iteration of the combat is more enjoyable and story mode is moot.

[Wolf Kanno]

I'm in agreement that SE isn't great with action games. Most of them tend to be flashy with no substance or awkward mechanics that add fake difficulty to the experience.

I'm hoping that XVI will prove me wrong though, seeing as the combat designer is coming from the DMC franchise, but we'll see if the higher ups from SE might screw this up by imposing nonsense to the design. Still, the fact the game is going to have an easy mode for people bad at action game is promising, but sadly it sounds a bit like Neir: Automata's design where they just beef you up with items, meaning the gameplay may still be so-so.

Still, we won't know until we play it.

[Loony BoB]

Personally I don't really enjoy DMC/Bayonetta style gameplay so I'm just hoping for more of the same if that's the other option! xD I enjoyed FFVII Remake's gameplay, so I'd be happy enough with that.

I would definitely like more RPG than Action game but a little mixing isn't too bad so long as it's not giving up the RPG side entirely.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

Not me. I pwnz Dark Soul and have super fast reflex. U N00Bz can go play in Baby mode. Remember to get your parents' consent before playing. :bigsmile:

Yup.