One of the producers of the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI suggested, in a recent interview, that the game may have a special difficulty mode for those who aren’t as into its action gameplay, but still want to experience the story. While it’s not a new thing for a game difficulty to offer an easier path for casual players, the producer also said the gameplay will still be fun for non-action junkies.
In an interview with the show Game Hack (via GamesTalk, translated by Siliconera), Naoki Yoshida mentioned the development team was working on a story-focused mode for players who weren’t huge fans of action gameplay. Specifically, when you’re playing that mode, there will be some sort of in-game support that will allow you to play through more easily.
Yoshida implied that this mode isn’t complete or fully implemented yet, and that the gameplay should still be fun, even for those who aren’t really into action gameplay. So far we know the game will have mostly action gameplay with RPG elements, and that main character Clive uses both a sword and magic-based attacks. Yoshida said he hopes this game will be interesting for those who, like him, have been playing the series from the beginning.
Story-focused modes — which is usually a nice name for an easy mode, but not always — have cropped up here and there in games. Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s easiest difficulty is called “Tell me a story.” Mass Effect 3 has the “Narrative” difficulty. The Witcher 3’s easy mode is just called “Story.” Whatever your opinion of easy modes in general, branding them as a way for players to experience the story isn’t new. It would be interesting to see if FFXVI’s story mode is just an easy mode, and what changes will be made to the gameplay to facilitate better immersion in the story.
Source: Siliconera