Final Fantasy XIV Director Wants to Increase Game’s Difficulty

Content in Final Fantasy XIV is seemingly endless. The MMO includes something for everyone, whether you’re a more casual, story-based player or someone eager to find glory by challenging legendarily difficult Extreme Trials. While this balance has always seemed to strike a sweet spot with Warriors of Light, XIV‘s director Naoki Yoshida believes the title’s lack of overall challenge leaves much to be desired.

Speaking with Famitsu, Yoshida discussed the changes he’d like to make going forward.

“As we’ve continued to operate Final Fantasy XIV, we’ve made the game more approachable, so that it can be played without stress. But looking back on the last 10 years, we may have overdone it a bit,” Yoshida admitted. “Video games should, of course, include an element of stress, but finding that balance is extremely difficult. For example, if you play a side-scrolling action game and there aren’t any gaps you could fall down when you miss a jump, the game would be free of stress. But it would also not be fun.”

The game’s newest expansion, Dawntrail, is scheduled to release this summer, though an exact date has not been announced. With 7.0 will come a level cap boost from 90 to 100, a new playable race, two new DPS classes, new cities, new dungeons and raids, a new limited job, and an entirely new story arc. The game will also see its first-ever graphical update.

“In terms of Final Fantasy XIV, I’d to restore that [stress] somewhat,” Yoshida said. “By doing that, we could offer players the right kind of challenge, and do it better than ever.”

Final Fantasy XIV is available on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5. The MMO will fully release on Xbox Series X/S on March 21.