The latest installment of the Final Fantasy video game series is being blasted due to the fact it’s allegedly not doing enough to cater to the diversity and identity politics crowd. Final Fantasy XVI is the next game to come in the long running franchise that has been a huge part of gaming culture since 1987. It’s being made by Japanese developers, though a good bit of the mythology and the setting tend to take place in a world that looks a whole lot like Western Europe.
Many of the later games leaned heavily away from the fantasy tropes and tended to be more science-fiction in nature, however the new installment is returning to its original form. However, returning to a fantasy style that is similar to medieval Europe is leaving Final Fantasy XVI open to critique from woke folk.
According to Fox News, gaming review website Kotaku called the game “the best Final Fantasy games in ages,” but there was one huge glaring issue they had with it: lack of racial diversity.
“If there’s a fault to be had, it’s in [this fantasy setting’s] lack of diversity. Producer Naoki Yoshida told IGN in November 2022 that the design concept always focused on the ‘historical, cultural, political, and anthropological standards’ of medieval Europe,” the review stated. “In other words, these cultures are mostly different variations on familiar-looking white medieval patriarchies like Transylvania or England and represent only a small corner of this world.”
The site does go on to note there is one area of the game that is clearly coded to resemble the Middle East, the writer of the review whines that other places in the game are “Caucasian,” saying, “The core cast therefore becomes overwhelmingly homogenous.”
The Kotaku review makes the argument that if the fantasy setting is allowed to have magic, then they should be open including people of other racial backgrounds and not just play to the expected stereotypes of inherent in European-themed fantasy.
The review said that many of the characters in the game are born with the ability to use magic, which makes them outcasts of sorts as others in society view them with a bit of fear. The reviewer complained about these characters being white, going on to remark that this “kind of commentary on real-world systems of oppression is obvious, but at the same time, the overwhelming whiteness of the game’s world does make it feel somewhat detached from any such real-world concerns.”
Kotaku isn’t the only publication that is harping on the game due the supposed lack of diversity.
“Leaving aside the fact that there were Black and brown people in medieval Europe, this justification rings hollow given that several locations take open inspiration from north Africa and the Middle East, with towns that, for example, riff on Islamic architectural traditions and attire, but are predominantly or exclusively populated by anglophone white people (I hedge, here, simply because I haven’t been around and talked to everybody),” a review from Eurogamer wrote.
The review added, “I find the deletion of people of colour from these spaces more sinister than the racial stereotypes of older Final Fantasies, particularly in a game that wants to talk about overcoming structural injustice and bringing people together. That ‘togetherness’ is worth fighting for, but it’s characterised here by what it excludes.”
The actual creators of the game already addressed the supposed lack of racial diversity back in November, saying they were going to focus on diverse personalities within this very isolated medieval European region.
“Ultimately, we felt that while incorporating ethnic diversity into Valisthea was important, an over-incorporation into this single corner of a much larger world could end up causing a violation of those narrative boundaries we originally set for ourselves,” producer Naoki Yoshida stated in his explanation. “The story we are telling is fantasy, yes, but it is also rooted in reality.”
He then said “it can be challenging to assign distinctive ethnicities to either antagonist or protagonist without triggering audience preconceptions, inviting unwarranted speculation, and ultimately stoking flames of controversy.”
“In the end,” Yoshida stated in conclusion, “we simply want the focus to be less on the outward appearance of our characters and more on who they are as people — people who are complex and diverse in their natures, backgrounds, beliefs, personalities, and motivations. People whose stories we can resonate with.”
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