Final Fantasy Creator Makes Yoshi-P Cry Live on Stage with Heartfelt Praise

This is really cool. Yoshida seems to be a really down to earth dude.
One could only hope this would shut up the people that go "FF16 isn't a Final Fantasy" but alas...we know how that goes.

FFXVI deserves all the praise it gets. It was one of the best, if not the best, Final Fantasy title in years. With XVI and FF VII rebirth it looks like Final Fantasy is back in form. I hope Square-enix manages to keep this up.

You asked the question so I will give you my honest answer: No. I am not a fan of Yoshi-P's work and i am not looking forward to what he does next. I think FF16 is such a departure from what I enjoy about this series that I cannot praise him for it.
For the record: these are just my opinions. If you love FF16 I am very happy for you. We all have different views, that is what makes life interesting.

Awww that's beautiful man

XVI is truly a masterpiece, all things change, even FF. I got my turn-based itch scratched sufficiently this year by Octopath 2 and Sea of Stars.

I respect Yoshi P, he's done outstanding work on 14… but not so much with FF16.
Nevertheless, I can't wait to see what he's up to next.

I absolutely love FFXIV but thought that FFXVI was really rather average.
Props to him for making FFXIV great.

@NinjaSixx The guy who created the whole thing disagrees

I'm a big fan. FFXIV's arc up to Endwalker is probably the best FF story ever.
Of course, it cheats cause it's more than one game. But, incredible nonethelesd.
I am a big fan of his work. I enjoyed FFXVI a lot too. Even if i do want FF to go back to it's roots and be turn based and party based cause it's the superior formula for story telling and emotional investment with the characters in RPG's.

Final Fantasy 16 is in my top 3 games of this year and my favourite FF game so far. He deserves all the credit he's getting and hopefully we get some decent DLC in the future.

Regardless of what people think of FFXIV and FFXVI Yoshi P is clearly dedicated to his work and genuinely loves Final Fantasy. Sakaguchi acknowledging that was probably a dream come true.

I bet this hit double hard after all the "not a true FF" hate 16 got. I really enjoyed 16. Sure it isn't my favorite in the series but I'd put in the upper echelon for sure.

Love both 14 and 16. Must feel great to get that kind of praise from the creator of one of the most storied franchisees in gaming history.

@Athrum Well, the people who love Final Fantasy XVI seem to very much outnumber the ones that decry it, even if those ones are louder. Yoshi-P and his team deserves all of the praise they get.

@Jake3103 You WERE a lifelong FF fan, if you don't like where the series has gone then its in the past my friend and you are clearly not a lifelong fan anymore.
I've also played all the games since the first titles were available in the west. I've not had occasion to play 14, but I enjoyed my time with 16 and so can claim to still be a life long fan.
I hope the new remake appeals to you when we get it early next year...

As a 14 player who been playing since day 1 yoshi p has turn that game into of the best in the series and cant wait to see 7.0.

Yoshi and FF aside I like seeing positive news for a change and not just controversies^^

I love both FFXIV (it's the only MP game I play) and especially Final Fantasy XVI (I can't decide if FF16 or Spider-Man 2 is my GOTY). Great to see Yoshi-P getting the credit he and his team deserve.

To be told by the creator himself that you did right by his creation... I don't blame Yoshi-P for tearing up. Honestly even I felt my eyes glass over from the video.

I have spent the entirety of 2023 playing XIV for the first time, and I'm sad I missed out on so much of the journey. But I have loved every minute of the experience.

@somnambulance I was not expecting to love 16 as much as I did so yeah it is my GOTY even after finishing Spiderman 2 and I love the crap out of that game's story and gameplay.

Crazy because the lame attempt and dumbing down the IP via FF16 made me cry too!

I'm happy people enjoy it, but I can certainly empathize with people who dislike the direction. Especially the reasons stated for choosing it. Being told that the type of game you like is out of date or old fashioned or whatever is certainly going to rub people up the wrong way.

Note: kind of odd that the 'archaic' turn based games that noone supposedly wants anymore are always the ones that are constantly getting rereleased.

For many, Final Fantasy XVI has probably been the year’s most controversial game, but for me, it has without a doubt been the years BEST game! Nothing else has even come close. I put 82 hours into what I feel is a genuine masterpiece that stole my heart and walked all over Tears of the Kingdom – which, until FF16 came along, was my Game of the Year. I genuinely feel for those who don’t like the direction that Yoshi-P has taken the series, but I absolutely freaking loved it.

That’s a sweet moment! FFXVI is surely not my favourite entry in the series but I can respect what Yoshi-P tried to do with it.
For me as a player, it needed a couple of mini-games or some other third element (other than story and combat) and maybe a better villain. In terms of modern FF games I loved XV and XII way more. I would put XVI in the same category of XIII: very good combat system but too streamlined. XVI has a stronger story going for it but also a weaker cast of characters. Jill must be the dullest female character in a FF game ever. She is pure cardboard. Cidney or Lunafreya showed more personality in the 10 minutes they had in XV than she ever does in the 10 hours we hear her talking in XVI. Beta female character that is there just so we can see Clive grow. Not cool.

@NinjaSixx define a historical fan. Since beginning my binge in 2007, I've beaten every offline flagship except for the ongoing yet variably advanced XII, Revenant Wings and XV playthroughs. Each and every one of them, the aforesaid three included, has proven to be a legitimate and recognizable Final Fantasy game. I have all the reasons to expect the same from XVI, especially given what I've seen in the presented footage before - although I also have all the reasons to expect XVII to be a yet different Final Fantasy (and yet again send the fandom out on a witch hunt) because that's how the franchise has really rolled for decades. Perhaps experiencing it at the natural release pace has left "historical fans" at the disadvantage of forgetting how the old and the new are juggled here from game to game.

The beauty of Final Fantasy is that every installment is different in setting, characters, and gameplay. So if XVI isn't you're cup of tea, XVII might be.