Astro Bot’s director addresses the weird Final Fantasy problem

Astro Bot director Nicholas Doucet has offered something of an Astro Bot Final Fantasy explanation, but it does little to answer our lingering questions.

Lee Brady

Published 30 Sep 2024

While collecting all those Astro Bot trophies, you'll notice that Final Fantasy characters like Cloud Strife and Clive Rosfield are completely absent from the PS5 game. That's because there's a strange mystery affecting this latest PlayStation Studios effort, and it seems that even the game's director doesn't have a satisfying Astro Bot Final Fantasy explanation for us.

Astro Bot director gives vague answer about Final Fantasy characters

In an interview with Game File (paywalled; thanks Eurogamer), Team Asobi's Nicholas Doucet was pressed to explain why there was no Final Fantasy representation in Astro Bot. The PS5 platformer pays homage to many classic PlayStation games, so the absence of Final Fantasy characters sticks out given the franchise's storied relationship with Sony's consoles.

Doucet responded to the absence by stating, "It's difficult to comment on. We really respect the choice of each publisher." Here, Astro Bot's Game Director might be suggesting that Square Enix rejected Team Asobi's offer to be involved — a surprise given that apparently "almost 100%" of those asked said they were happy to lend characters.

Lee —

Let's not count Final Fantasy out of Astro Bot just yet

If I was in denial before when I suggested that Final Fantasy could get some surprise Astro Bot DLC down the line, then I'm absolutely going full tin-foil hat mode now because I think an Astro Bot x Final Fantasy crossover could still happen.

Astro Bot features plenty of characters belonging to other companies.

As I wrote in my previous article regarding Astro Bot and Final Fantasy, I admit that it's possible that Square Enix simply weren't interested in collaborating on Astro Bot. With Final Fantasy's PS5 exclusivity ending and the publisher pulling most of its franchises off PS Plus (a move that now includes Dragon Quest), it feels like Square Enix wants less and less to do with PlayStation.

Still, with Astro Bot's core development predating all of these recent moves, and with the fact that Final Fantasy has just launched two back-to-back exclusives on PS5 (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI), I struggle to accept that Square Enix would outright reject Team Asobi. It feels far more likely to me that everyone would want to go bigger, not smaller, when it comes to ringing in Final Fantasy's relationship to PlayStation.

Final Fantasy featured in Astro's Playroom, the previous game.

That's why, with this tinfoil hat firmly on my head, I can't help but see Doucet's vague response here as another potential nod towards Astro Bot getting Final Fantasy DLC. I mean, the guy could have just said, 'Unfortunately, Square Enix was one of the companies that we simply couldn't get permission from.' That would have shut this conversation down entirely, but that's not what he said.

Instead, Doucet gestures towards each publisher's "choice" in working with Team Asobi without naming names — a classic executive tactic that we tend to see when there's either a conversation still happening behind the scenes, or there's another announcement to be made that they can't talk about.

Surely it's possible.

Personally, I would be more than happy to stop holding out hope for a collaboration between Astro Bot and Final Fantasy were Doucet in a comfortable enough position to tell us that it's not happening. However, until then, consider my suspicions raised — not lowered — following this latest excerpt.

In the meantime, I guess I'll just keep enjoying some of the best PS5 games to have released this year — Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Shall the two ever meet? Will I ever be free from this tinfoil hat? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.

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Written by Lee Brady

Staff Writer Lee keeps one eye on the future (Astro Bot), one eye on the past (PS1, PS2, and PS3 games), and his secret third eye on junk he really likes (Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Sonic). A PlayStation fan for over 25 years, he loves replaying classic games via PS Plus.