FFXIV’s Director Naoki Yoshida Regrets Turning It Into a ‘Stress Free’ Game

Beloved Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida, or Yoshi-P as he is commonly known, spoke with Shodai Shimoda in an interview released by Famitsu today. The interview covered many interesting topics, but one particularly stood out to FFXIV players, where Yoshi-P addressed his regret in turning FFXIV into a ‘stress-free’ game over the years.

” …We have tried to make it [FFXIV] more comfortable and stress-free for players to enjoy, but looking back on the past 10 years, I think we may have gone a little too far.”

Naoki Yoshida March 11, 2024

Yoshi-P provides an example of how this would look in a different video game, such as a side scroller. What has slowly evolved in FFXIV would be akin to removing any potential falls in such a game away. In doing so, this would remove any sense of stress. As a result, it then removes any real sense of achievement or excitement for those playing the game.

Yoshi-P’s words come when the next FFXIV expansion Dawntrail will soon be released, although there is no confirmed date yet. We can take this to mean that Dawntrail will differ from the path that the previous expansions have gone down and should provide more challenging gameplay aspects that get your adrenaline pumping. While any changes in this area have yet to be discussed, fans have taken to social media to agree with Yoshi-P’s point of view and are eager to see how he addresses this in the future.

Online, the consensus is that FFXIV’s mid-game is where this is most apparent. There’s content that suits beginning players or players who want to play with little challenge, and there’s content for end-game players who want to break a sweat. But, in between, there’s little to challenge the average player, and that’s a problem. If your main class has stayed consistent over the years, you’ve probably noticed the simplification of your rotation, and if you’re anything like me, the only dungeons that make you audibly groan when entering through Leveling Roulette are The Stone Vigil and The Aurum Vale, both from Patch 2.0.

At least Yoshi-P is aware of the problem, and we can anticipate that Dawntrail will be a step in the right direction in rectifying this issue, which makes its upcoming release all the more exciting.