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In a new interview with IGN (opens in a new tab)Final Fantasy 16 (opens in a new tab) producer Naoki Yoshida said that the sequel will not have many Black characters or people of color because it takes place in a geographically isolated sphere inspired by medieval Europe, and it would not be realistic to have an “ethnically diverse” cast.
“This is a difficult question, but not an unexpected one, as diversity in entertainment media has become a hotly debated topic recently,” Yoshida said when asked if players could expect to see a more diverse cast in Final Fantasy 16. . “The answer I have, however, may end up being disappointing for some depending on individual expectations.
Yoshida’s explanation is unsatisfactory, but it is also not historically accurate. People of color were present in medieval Europe, and not in some fleeting capacity. As just one example, the Moors lived all over the Iberian Peninsula and southern Europe and ruled Spain for more than 800 years. But that’s probably beside the point: Final Fantasy is not a PhD thesis. Who is in it, and who isn’t, is entirely up to the people making the game.
“Our design concept from the earliest stages of development has always heavily featured medieval Europe, incorporating historical, cultural, political and anthropological norms that were prevalent at the time,” Yoshida said. “Deciding on a setting that best suited the story we wanted to tell—the story of a land plagued by the Blight—we felt that rather than creating something on a global scale, it was necessary to limit the scope to it. a single landmass—one geographically and culturally isolated from the rest of the world in an age without airplanes, television, or telephones.”
And because of the limitations imposed by this completely fictional setting, which Yoshida and the rest of the development team created out of whole cloth, Final Fantasy 16 “will never realistically be as diverse as, say, modern-day Earth.”
It’s not a great answer, but it’s a well-worn one: A commitment to medieval “realism” has been used many times in the past to justify a lack of diversity in games, including blockbusters like The Witcher. (opens in a new tab)Kingdom Come: Liberation (opens in a new tab)and Mordhau (opens in a new tab). (It’s also often used to explain the absence of women in fantasy RPG settings.) But it’s a rationale that crumbles under even the most cursory examination. What does “realism” mean when you have big-ass dragons flying in the sky and nekkers coming up from the ground?
“Ultimately, we felt that while incorporating ethnic diversity into Valisthea was important, too much incorporation into this single corner of a much larger world could end up violating those narrative boundaries we originally set for ourselves,” Yoshida said. “The story we’re telling is fantasy, yes, but it’s also rooted in reality.”
Yoshida also gave a nod to the notion that diversity of thought is what really matters: “In the end, we just want the focus to be less on what our characters look like and more on who they are as people — people who are complex. and diverse in their natures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities and motivations,” he said. “People whose stories we can resonate with. There is a diversity in Valistea. A diversity that, although not all-encompassing, is synergistic with the setting we have created and is true to the inspirations we draw from.”
Final Fantasy has always been a fairly white series, but even so Yoshida’s answer to the question of diversity is, as he predicted, disappointing.
Final Fantasy 16, a brand new mainstream addition to the series that will feature brand new characters in a brand new game world, will debut on PlayStation 5 in the summer of 2023. A PC version was mentioned in the Final Fantasy 16 reveal trailer but has not been acknowledged since, and Square Enix is promoting the game as a PS5 exclusive. If a PC version follows (which seems like a reasonable bet), it could be a while before it happens.
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