Devlog: seriously, we need to talk about ‘diversity’

The following blog post carries the personal thoughts of Elder Prince, founder of Blossomsoft Games.

Hey there, fellow gamers!

So, I’ve been diving into Final Fantasy 16 bit by bit over the past twenty days, and let me tell you, the action-packed battles in this game are something else! It’s a departure from the classic games in the series, but man, I do love it even if I miss the old traditional turn-based battles.

I am absolutely stoked about the amount of cutscenes with mind-blowing graphics in this game! It’s been ages since we had a game with this much in-game dialogue. I’m talking Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy 10 levels of story goodness. You know what I mean? It’s like a breath of fresh air ’cause a lot of games lately have been slacking in the storyline department.

Can we talk about the soundtrack? It’s freaking epic! Okay, I’ll admit, I was a bit skeptical when I found out Soken would be the main composer for FF16. I mean, his tracks in the past didn’t always hit the mark for me, you know? But damn, after listening to what he’s done for FF16, I gotta give the man some serious props. Soken is earning every penny of his paycheck. The soundtrack for FF16 might just be one of the best we’ve had in recent years.

I’m a huge fan of Naoshi Mizuta, and I was secretly hoping he’d be the main composer for FF16. But man, his work in Stranger of Paradise was forgettable, to say the least. So seeing Soken come out swinging with those epic battle tracks in FF16, it’s like a total surprise. I’m loving every second of it!

Now let’s discuss the real issue.

But you know what’s been bugging me? The same darn foes over and over again in the battles. Seriously, where’s the variety? It’s like a broken record. Sure, the game has a “diversity” problem, but I’m not talking about skin color here. Nah, I’m more concerned about the lack of diversity in the bestiary, if you catch my drift. Hehe!

This isn’t a new issue, though. Other games in the series had to deal with memory limitations, and devs had to get creative. You know what they did? They messed with the color palette to make enemies look different. It was a genius move back then, gotta give ’em credit.

So, here’s the plan for my Eternal Eden series, guys. If the budget allows (of course), I’m gonna follow a certain rule and try to spice up the bestiary with more “diversity.” I don’t mean just slapping on different colors, no sir. I want each monster to have a totally unique design. Picture this: if we got a red, green, and blue slime in the game, each one would look completely different from the others. How cool would that be?

So, what do you think?

Are you as stoked about this idea as I am? Let me know your thoughts, ’cause your input means the world to me!