Hironobu Sakaguchi weighs in on what makes a Final Fantasy game, and why it's Final Fantasy 16 itself

The road to Final Fantasy 16's release and beyond has seen fans debate what makes a Final Fantasy game. While the action-RPG features a medieval setting that couldn't be more nostalgic for the series, ditching any form of turn-based combat in its entirety provoked some debate. Now, though, the series' founding father has weighed in. 

As part of Final Fantasy 14's European leg of Fan Fest, Hironobu Sakaguchi has taken part in a panel that ended with some questions from the audience. The last one posed a simple one of what makes a Final Fantasy game.

"I thought this when playing Final Fantasy 16, and this comes from someone who also works on the development side, and it honestly boils down to the challenges you come across and the adventures you take on to build a new system for a new game," the industry veteran says (as translated by Audrey on Twitter). "It's the courage to do so, albeit it is a truly difficult task."

"The Final Fantasy series has continued on for so long that you might think, well, 'why don't you just make something similar like you did before?' I don't think that works. 

"With each new title, you should carry that sense of adventure and courage to take on new challenges. If you can continue with that mindset and move forward, then the gravity of Final Fantasy will start to work and pull people in, which then results in a Final Fantasy for everyone.

"I think Final Fantasy 16 did exactly that and faced those challenges, and the game truly made me feel that this is Final Fantasy."

Elsewhere at the latest iteration of Fan Fest, we also found out what one of Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail's new classes will be, and it's the all-new Viper. It was also revealed that the expansion's Alliance raid will feature a team-up with the original Final Fantasy MMO and that the long-teased Final Fantasy 16 crossover will arrive as part of series 6.5x - so soon.

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy 16 is getting a musical.