Final Fantasy 16 devs worked on a cancelled IP very similar to Bloodborne
Echoes of the past.
You know the feeling where you see something, and you know you've seen it somewhere before but can't quite put your finger on where - and then it suddenly hits you and it all makes sense? Well, that's what happened to the developers of Final Fantasy 16, when Bloodborne was first released. They pretty much had the exact same idea themselves, they say, but their game was cancelled before we got to hear about it.
Writing in Japanese magazine Famitsu, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida detailed what could have been (via ResetEra).
Yoshida and fellow Final Fantasy team members Hiroshi Takai and Hiroshi Minagawa reminisced about their previous game that was "basically Bloodborne", but before Bloodborne was even a thing.
According to Takai, their game had the same weapons and guns that we ended up seeing in Bloodborne and it had a similar "Gothic style". It also had a few "sci-fi elements".
Yoshida added, "when I first saw Bloodborne, I thought, 'Where have I seen this before...?'"
"Thinking about it now, I don't think our personal interests were very 'FF'," stated Takai while Minagawa joked, "if we'd kept going and Bloodborne was released first, we'd probably be freaking out right now."
There would have been differences between this unreleased title and Bloodborne, however.
Apparently, the unreleased IP would have had multiplayer elements, which the threesome likened to those of Evolve. One player would be a strong killing machine, while the other players would have to do their best to avoid being caught.
Yoshida said, "It was basically Bloodborne plus that system... If we'd kept going, I think we'd still be working on it right now."
"I really wonder how it would've turned out," mused Minagawa. I guess we will never know.
Meanwhile, last month Yoshida stated he hoped the forthcoming release of Final Fantasy 16 will "bring back anew the passion" players had in the series.