Final Fantasy XVI won't feature Final Fantasy's classic turn-based combat, and producer Naoki Yoshida says that was a deliberate choice to appeal to younger players.
Speaking with Famitsu (as translated by VGC), Yoshida explained that turn-based combat, which was the only possible system when Final Fantasy was first released in 1987, simply isn't appealing to younger audiences. As he says, "For several console generations now, all character expressions can be done in real-time. Actions such as 'press the trigger and your character will shoot a gun' and 'press the button and your character will swing their sword' can now be easily expressed without going through a command system."
Yoshida doesn't necessarily see turn-based combat as a relic of the past, though. He says the system still has its place in modern gaming, and he's not done utilizing it in his own games just yet. "This is not an argument of what is good or bad, but there is a difference based on the player's preferences and age," he says. "I believe I know the fun of command system RPGs, and I want to continue developing them."
For Yoshida, the exclusion of a turn-based system was not an immediate given. Apparently, he was open to new ideas from the game's team, and the combat system went through a number of iterations as a result -- "At times, I said that it was okay if the development team would explore new options, and the system would be only half-finished, and as a result, it would be remade many times."
Yoshida compares the decision to forgo turn-based combat to the decision not to set Final Fantasy XVI in an open world. According to him, "It's the same feeling as not utilizing an open world: if you have a good idea, you should approach it, but if you feel differently and think 'it's better not to have a command system' instead, I don’t mind." Basically, if FFXVI's developers decided that the game would be better served by turn-based combat, Yoshida was willing to explore the concept, but the game was ultimately left with a new action-oriented combat system.
Final Fantasy XVI will be released in Summer 2023 for PlayStation 5. The game was announced for Microsoft Windows as well, but recent marketing has focused on the PlayStation 5 release, and Square Enix has yet to comment on if and when the title will release for the platform.
Source: Famitsu via VGC