I can't give you the sources now, because as far as I know, there is an interview in a Swedish magazine, but I've been told from a friend of ours who is working on translating the interview that Rieko Kodama admitted being strongly influenced by FFIV on making PSIV.
For me that was obvious, but what fellow PSIV fans think about that? Do you really think PSIV has far more similarities with FF series than the previous games? Do you think the influence was positive?