Game Director at Square Enix Naoki Yoshida recently hinted that Endwalker may be the start of a new chapter for Final Fantasy 14. The designer is apparently in the very early stages of planning the next expansion for the game. Yoshida however said that he has no intention of pushing out content before the time is right.
“Things are the most fun when I’m fantasizing and imagining what sort of things I can make and the process of shaping those thoughts into reality is when it’s very painful,” Yoshida explained. “So, please give me a little more time to enjoy my fantasy.”
The news comes from a recent interview with The Verge in which the designer dives into the details of Endwalker. The story in the expansion pack has become beloved among fans of the Final Fantasy franchise for tying up the various plotlines that began over a decade ago in A Realm Reborn. This apparently was more of a happy coincidence than a careful calculation.
“If you were to ask if I ad-libbed it, well, that would be the case,” Yoshida said about tying up the plotlines in Endwalker. “We were careful to leave room for adjustments to some degree when scattering parts and foreshadowing which may have contributed to everything seeming to have been planned from the beginning.”
Endwalker may be all about closure, but this doesn't mean much when it comes to concluding the story in Final Fantasy 14. You can see this in the character of Emet-Selch who tells you about the many mysteries left in the world, some of which players have already had the chance to discover in the latest patches.
“With how cleanly Endwalker reaches its conclusion, there may be people out there who feel uncertain about future adventures,” the designer said. “That’s precisely why I had Emet-Selch take on the role of chiding like ‘what’s with that lonely look as though you know that you've adventured through everything there is to see in the world? That’s nonsense, there are so many views you’ve yet to see. I’ve seen them, now you go see them, too.’”
Endwalker hints at what players can expect to see in future expansions. “The story of Final Fantasy 14 has always been woven together with a thorough schedule and regular patches,” Yoshida noted. “We’ve always readied our overall plans two years in advance and that hasn’t changed this time, either. Having said that, I don’t think it’s necessarily possible to go to all the places that Emet-Selch mentioned in two years, but it sure would be nice if we could visit those places someday.”
Yoshida concluded by saying there was “no limit to the mysteries and excitement that await in all the adventures to come.”