Final Fantasy producer warns action RPGs can't be dismissed

Square Enix isn't going to pretend the popularity of action RPGs will go away if it shuts its eyes and covers it ears.

"In the global market we see many players moving away from games that used turn-based systems toward what you might term an action-RPG," long time series developer Yoshinori Kitase told EDGE.

"That's a trend, and you ignore things like that at your peril."

The battle system introduced in recent entries was much faster paced than those of FFIX and earlier, but Kitase reiterated Square's commitment to refreshing the series with each release.

"FFXIII and FFXIII-2's battle systems have those elements of speed and action that are the key words for us, though that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to stick to the same route in our next game. That's something only time can tell. I think the nature of the franchise is to present something new each time."

The next release in the franchise is Final Fantasy XIII-2, which arrives in the west on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 early next year. Recently released PSP title Final Fantasy Type-0 has not been confirmed for release outside Japan, and Final Fantasy Versus XIII is largely AWOL.

Thanks, IGN.