A new wave of Final Fantasy XVI interviews are doing the rounds, and some new details are well worth pointing out. In particular, Japanese publication 4Gamer has a lengthy article that confirms the existence of what sounds like an extensive New Game+ mode.
Director Hiroshi Takai spills the beans, stating that after completing the game, you can run through it a second time with all of your unlocked abilities and equipment intact. On top of that, main character Clive's level will be carried over to a fresh playthrough — and the enemies of that playthrough will apparently be adjusted accordingly. In other words, this sounds like a proper New Game+.
The development team also wants players to know that there'll be a range of difficulty settings that should satisfy just about everyone. A dedicated 'Story Focus' difficulty eases the challenge of combat scenarios, and it sounds like it'll let you chain attacks and special moves together automatically. There's mention of a hard setting as well, but the devs don't go into too much detail.
And finally, the interview reiterates that more information — a release date, based on what we know — will be made available before the year is out. In 2023, Square Enix will supposedly be looking to share more specific bits and pieces about the game as its summer launch window looms.