Final Fantasy 16 has for some time been under the magnifying glass of those who accuse him of a lack of care for the representation of diversity, such as the failure to include black characters. The Verge magazine returned to the subject by interviewing Naoki Yoshida, the game’s producer, from whom it obtained some unsatisfactory answers, so much so as to talk about medieval approach to the problem.
The question arose from an old interview of Yoshida granted to IGN.com, in which, when asked about the presence of black people in the game, the developer had replied by stating that the game world was built using medieval Europe as a model , thus incorporating the historical, cultural, political and anthropological standards of the time. As we reported at the time, YoshiP explained that for the setting it was preferred to avoid creating an entire world, focusing on a single, large territory, geographically and culturally isolated in an age without airplanes, television or telephones.
Yoshi-P: “Due to the geographical, technological, and geopolitical limitations of the setting, Valisthea could never have the diversity of modern-day Earth… or even Final Fantasy XIV, which has an entire world (and a moon) filled with different nations, races, and cultures. The isolated nature of this realm, however, ends up playing a large part in the story, and is one of the reasons why Valisthea’s fate is tied to that of the rest of the world.”
Ash Parrish of The Verge therefore wanted to return to the subject by interviewing Yoshida, to understand if the feedback received after that response has had any effect. The developer of him gave a somewhat vague answer and one that the journalist found unsatisfactory:
“I believe that with Final Fantasy XVI, we have intertwined a huge variety of people and cultures into an enthralling fantasy tale that we have tried to craft with care and respect. We hope that when players are finally able to take the game into their own hands, they will be able to see what we have tried to accomplish and hopefully eventually they can connect with that unique experience.”