The Game of Thrones influence is strong in Final Fantasy 16's demo

Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida previously told Eurogamer that Game of Thrones was a major influence on the upcoming game – something that’s now apparent from the many references to the series already obvious from the game’s freshly-released demo.

“We wanted to create something that really resonated with a lot of people,” Yoshida said previously. “And when we saw how Game of Thrones, and before that the Song of Ice and Fire series, has really resonated with players, we knew that this was something that we wanted to do as well.”

The development team were required to watch the Game of Thrones Blu-ray boxset in order to keep the series’ style front-of-mind – something that is now apparent more than ever. Did George RR Martin secretly pop over to the Square Enix office while writing lore sheets for Elden Ring?

Beware, this article discusses Final Fantasy 16 demo story spoilers.

Firstly, the overall tone of the game is clearly inspired by Martin’s work. This is the first Final Fantasy game to be given a Mature rating, and it shows. There’s lying, deceit, scheming, and back-stabbing. There’s violence and murder, blood, implied sexual tension, and swearing. Within the first few minutes one character is called a “cock”. Thank you Benedikta for that exceptional line delivery.