Speculation surrounding the upcoming release ofFinal Fantasy 16has drawn some attention to the game’s producer, Naoki Yoshida, recently. Yoshida is a popular figure at Square Enix due to his successfulProducer’s Letter events forFinal Fantasy 14.Final Fantasy 16andFinal Fantasy 14aren’t Yoshida’s only projects from Square Enix, though. Details were recently rediscovered regarding a canceled game Yoshida worked on that he described as similar toBloodborne.
The news is surprisingly somewhat old, as it was originally written in the book Yoshida Uncensored which was released years ago. It took so long to get noticed as it’s only available in Japanese. ResetEra user Dreamboum has called attention to it, sharing multiple fan-translated sections of the book in which Yoshida and other Square Enix devs talked about Square Enix’s failedBloodborne-like. To be clear, Square Enix’sBloodbornewas in development before FromSoftware’s game released, making it all a bit eyebrow-raising.
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The crossover between the two is incredible. Yoshida’sBloodbornewas not an RPG, but he says that it was a “fairly hardcore” action game. That in itself is a rare direction for a Square Enix game. Further, Square Enix’s game featured a gothic style that included many of the sameweapons and guns thatBloodborneeventually featured. Yoshida says that the first time he sawBloodbornehe couldn’t help asking, “Where have I seen this before?”
While there were some surprising similarities between the two projects, the Square Enix action game was very different in other ways. The biggest difference is that Yoshida’s project was a multiplayer-focused game. It was intended to be anasymmetrical competitive experience likeEvolve, with a team of four players facing off against a single strong enemy. It also had some sci-fi elements, though it could be argued thatBloodborneflirted with sci-fi horror, too.
Square Enix’s project was ultimately canceled. Yoshida doesn’t explain why, but does joke that if it hadn’t been canceled he’d probably still be trying to finish it today. It sounds like a challenging project, to say the least. In retrospect, a lot of games have tried to recreate not just the 4v1 experience but alsoDark Souls' style of experienceand failed. Square Enix pulled the plug early.
While it’s disappointing thatBloodbornefans won’t get the opportunity to experience a Yoshida-madeSquare Enixtake on the experience, there’s a positive outcome. Not just Yoshida, but alsoFinal Fantasy 16’s game director also previously worked on theBloodborne-like, among other devs.Final Fantasy 16may never have gotten made without this previous game, for better or worse.
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