Note: some story spoilers ahead.
I’m a big Final Fantasy fan, going back over 30 years, so it’s a series I’m not usually patient on. However, I don’t have a PS5 (and still don’t plan to get one), and thus had to endure the wait for the PC port. When the demo finally arrived, I had a great time with it, but the DLSS implementation was a blurry mess. I decided to wait a bit longer, as I knew early on that spectacle was Final Fantasy XVI’s key strength.
Waiting didn’t do much for me in the end on the technical side (other than a small price drop), yet I loved this game. The cast–friends and villains alike–kept me entertained, the difficulty was right where I wanted it, and after a brief lull picking up where the demo left off, the game shuffled me along from one big, flashy scene to the next, grinning ear to ear.
XVI has been controversial in the JRPG community, to say the least. It’s certainly light on RPG elements. There’s been no shortage of grumbling over the further shift to action combat. The side quests are mostly filler and likely best skipped. I’m normally a more cerebral, methodical player of these types of games, but that wasn’t the case this time. Forearmed with some of the common complaints, I stayed on the rails by concentrating on the main story and didn’t spend a lot of time on item and skill upgrades. Turning my brain off and going with the flow, I felt rewarded, leaning into what this game does well: punching harpies, giants, dragons, and more in breathtaking set pieces.
What I didn’t know was how much DNA from Yasumi Matsuno’s games (Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics) could be found in Final Fantasy XVI. Like those games, the early setup is gritty, mature political intrigue in a high fantasy setting. But even the storytelling itself started to feel similar, especially through Vivian’s “lectures” at her map. The cast browser at her table is also seriously impressive. It’s state-of-the-art stuff I’d love to see in more high-budget games with big casts and lots of moving parts.
Amusingly, like Matsuno’s games, in the end, XVI’s story also descends into
spoiler
the ultimate JRPG cliche of world-ending stakes and deicide, and perhaps not to its benefit.
However, while mature in tone, Tactics Ogre never went full-on adult, and it never stopped being jarring hearing “Fuck!” in a Final Fantasy game, among other colorful invective. Great Greagor’s gash, indeed. All of the voice actors are outstanding, and I understand why, as Clive, Ben Starr’s earned some buzz lately. My personal favorite was Ralph Ineson as Cid, in a role fully deserving of his namesake’s lineage.
I had a blast with Final Fantasy XVI, and in a refreshingly compact 35 hours, too. I don’t know if I’d want another Final Fantasy in this style, but with the series constantly changing, I’m sure the formula will be different in the next.
I am glad you liked FFXVI.
I hated it particularly because exploration and story sucked. Maybe, I was looking for the wrong thing in this game.
I find that FF16 (which might now be my favorite FF just for the moments and music) is a game of very high highs and very low lows, scored with an insanely incredible soundtrack that keeps me listening and remembering all the best moments over and over again.
I find looking back on those moments as so much fun really helps me overlook the plethora of issues the game has, the relatively boring exploration and side quests, the lack of party members etc. Those are all damning for many people but I find the game strangely refreshing, and I found the combat simple but enjoyable. I honestly think the story is serviceable, but Ben Starr really brings incredible life to Clive, better than the character deserved honestly.
All in all, I’ll never forget FF16. so for that reason alone it is one of my favorite FF games.
I started playing this recently after they removed Denuvo and I am liking it more then I expected.
I’m a few hours in and the music and performances are great and melodrama is pretty good. The combat is shallow but not overly complicated like the FF1 remake.
Overall it isn’t bad so far.
I would definitely like to see the return of elemental damage which seems weirdly missing here since the plot is focused on eikons. The dream would be that they look at the success of BG3 and bring back turned-based combat but that is probably unlikely.
Even among JRPGs, Persona 5 and Dragon Quest XI were turn-based games that were big sellers. Octopath and Like a Dragon have had some success too.
But yes, it does seem like the division leads at SQEX want action combat for mainline Final Fantasy. Maybe we’ll get something in a hybrid style like Metaphor or the recent Trails games.
So hot take here, while the side quest activities are filler the lore they add is great. There are some very touching moments at the end of side quest chains. Especially Torgals chain. Made the side quests worth it in my mind.
I also ended up getting the dlc for the game which I seldom ever do I just enjoyed it so much and wanted more. While the rpg elements are light. I really enjoyed rocking the different powers in combat and felt very flexible on my builds.
I did like the one on the brand surgery. I had a hunch that one would be good and went with it. However, what I really wanted was more on
spoiler
Jill’s curse progression,
but from what I can tell, there wasn’t one for that. Just the one with the flowers. (I haven’t played the DLC, though I plan to some time.)
I’d recommend the dlc. It’s fun to see the characters again. I got lucky and on my first time through the game the second dlc released so I was able to play them both kinda in my run.
turn off your brain
This has not been my experience with practically any Japanese RPG, haha. Each time I’ve tried to play a Final Fantasy game, I’ve gotten immediately turned off by the complex menus/rules, and needlessly long “click through” tutorials showing me every menu page with an accompanying small novel of instructions. Its not that I’m afraid of having to learn a game (I’m a big fan of Paradox games if that’s any indicator), I just find the presentation of it all such a slog.
Ah yeah, this one’s not nearly complicated enough to have all that, hah. You’ll get a prompt concisely describing a new system when you unlock one and a small summary of new powers when you get them. That’s about it.
If Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is the ultimate hand-holding tutorial experience, FFXVI is about as far as you get on the other side of the spectrum while still having tutorials/descriptions.
Quick update, I decided to try out FFXV, and it was far more approachable then the other entries to the series that I’ve tried. A few hours in and I think I’ll stick with it, thanks for the rec!
