Final Fantasy XVI won't be an open-world game, but its levels are inspired by recent "triple-A open world RPGs" according to producer Naoki Yoshida. In an interview, Yoshida explained that the development team felt restricted by the idea of a single open-world space and instead focused on creating unique areas that are independent of each other.

"We've found in our extensive user research that many of the younger generation of gamers have never played a Final Fantasy or don't have any interest in the series," Yoshida said to IGN. "To create a game that might excite and resonate not only with our core fans, but also with that new generation, we played a lot of games ourselves, and so yes, in [Final Fantasy XVI] you'll find inspiration from recent triple-A open world RPGs.

According to Yoshida, this approach allows the story to span across the entire world of Final Fantasy XVI and will allow players to experience the adventure on a "global scale" thanks to the independent area-based game design.