Kupo Chronicle #4 - Next Fantasy

Multiple Paths Diverged In A Yellow Wood...

Welcome to the Kupo Chronicle, the premium edition of the Wark Digest newsletter, where we explore the Final Fantasy universe in long-form and drill down into unique moments of the series’ history. I’m Chris, aka Hoogathy, and in this installment we’re turning our gaze toward the future for a change and pondering… with fans now so divided on what makes a Final Fantasy tick, what’s the best route forward for the next mainline entry?

This week’s newsletter is 3239 words, a 15-minute read.

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Multiple Roads Diverging In A [Square] Wood

With Final Fantasy XVI almost a year behind us, the topic of an inevitable 17th entry in the storied franchise will only crescendo from here. (Well, let’s be honest, talk of what the hypothetical FFXVII should look like started from the moment they revealed XVI.)

It’s a heavy matter with no clear-cut solution. Final Fantasy is 36 years old now and has spent about half of that lifespan having some degree of identity crisis. If you were to take a sample of fans, from different walks of life and experiences with the series, and ask them what they’d want from the next main entry, you’d likely get a vast array of answers and be hard-pressed to make a very convincing Venn diagram from them.

This is a side effect of the franchise’s experiments and eternal reinvention, as well as its longevity. Ever since Final Fantasy II turned many of the first game’s conventions on their head, the boundary lines of “Final Fantasy” have been shifting back and forth in several directions; thus, each player comes to expect different things, based on where they came in and what they liked or disliked about each game they’ve tried. All the while, the industry is changing in its own ways, shifting expectations for potential new players. To make a new numbered Final Fantasy is like balancing spinning plates.