There’s a rumour that Square Enix and Team Ninja are collaborating on a Souls-like Final Fantasy spin-off game for the PlayStation 5.
Charge your controllers and have your walkthroughs ready because Final Fantasy is being given the “Dark Souls/Nioh/Jedi Order” treatment… allegedly.
The rumour comes from a tweet by French gamer and leaker, SoulsHunt, who has gained credibility in the gaming community by accurately predicting information such as the existence of a now released Ghosts of Tsushima DLC.
According to SoulsHunt, the rumoured game will most likely be called “Final Fantasy Origin”, with Team Ninja (the studio behind the notoriously challenging Nioh games) playing a huge role in its development.
Comparing the game’s mechanics and feel to the unnecessarily difficult Dark Souls and user-friendly Jedi Fallen Order, SoulsHunt also claims that the game will be announced at this year’s E3 with a playable demo being made available via the PlayStation Network (PSN).
Both Square Enix and Team Ninja will use the demo as an opportunity for player feedback, before releasing the game as a PS5 exclusive.
A Final Fantasy Soulslike by Team Ninja (Nioh devs) sounds rad! I hope that’s an actual thing but I’m not getting my hopes up.
— Seth Parmer ベルセルク (@Parmersan) May 23, 2021
The move to garner feedback from demos is a strategy that Team Ninja used in the past when developing the Nioh games.
The rumour appears to have some validity as an industry insider, Navtra of ResetEra, has also spoken about the alleged game. “It’s certainly Souls-inspired, but it’s not exactly what you’d imagine when you hear ‘Souls-like FF’,” Navtra says.
It might be too good to be true, are those madmen really going to give us a Nioh: Final Fantasy Edition? https://t.co/cWvXh5BWuT
— Yuri Von Zanat (@VonZanat) May 23, 2021
News of this rumour comes in the wake of a flood of Final Fantasy announcements.
Not only has Square Enix been hard at work developing the previously announced Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2, but fans have been eagerly anticipating the release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade (a re-release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake with additional content).
While nothing about the game has been confirmed beyond rumours, Square Enix president, Yosuke Matsuda, confirmed in an interview with Japanese publication, Nikkei Cross Trend, that the company will be announcing new projects at this year’s E3.
In that regard, it appears that SoulsHunt information may contain some credibility. However, like with all rumours, we’ll have to wait and see.
