During the second day of Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest in Berlin, a panel called Naoki's Room was held. This was a talk session where fans could listen to Naoki Yoshida, producer and director of Final Fantasy 14, known to many as Yoshi-P. Naoki Hamaguchi, director of the FF7 Remake series, was the special guest on the panel, which led to what could be some very interesting revelations.

Yoshi-P's comment at Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest hints that Hamaguchi might be directing the next mainline Final Fantasy title. Naoki Hamaguchi has showcased his impressive work on FF7 Rebirth, so fans are curious to see how he would handle an original title.

Yoshi-P highly praised Hamaguchi's work ethic and capabilities throughout the panel. Before signing off, Hamaguchi thanked the audience, and Yoshi-P took the opportunity to mention how the two of them discussed both the tough and rewarding aspects of working on the franchise. He said that even though he wouldn't ask Hamaguchi to work on more remakes directly, he'd noticed that quite a few fans have commented on how they would love to see him work on Final Fantasy 17. Hamaguchi said "If I answer..." but before he could do that, Yoshida cut him off and laughed it off. The audience cheered, and both Naoki Yoshida and Naoki Hamaguchi waved goodbye and walked off the stage.

"I would like to ask — you don't have to answer this — but we did talk just a while ago about the tough things and rewarding things about working on the franchise, but I saw a lot of things in the comments, and they were like, 'Okay, I get it, I get it, Naoki Hamaguchi, I'm not going to ask for a six, eight, or nine remake, but they were comments along the lines of: "I want this guy to make Final Fantasy 17.' I think that's probably the highest praise you can get. But you don't have to answer."

Yoshida said this with a suggestive smirk on his face, and given that this was briefly mentioned right at the end of the panel, speculation began almost immediately. Fans who want to watch the entire panel can check out the livestream on the official Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest webpage. The Naoki's Room panel runs from 4:45 until 6:02.

It is possible that this may be the developers teasing Hamaguchi's role as director for the next mainline title in the Final Fantasy franchise. Not every longtime fan fell in love with the remake titles, but Hamaguchi's work still received plenty of praise. For the time being, gamers need to keep an eye out for more news.