One of the most baffling AAA releases I've played in a while. I was super into the direction they were going with but nothing about the final release clicked for me. I never thought I would say this but I actually liked the story in 7 Remake better than the one in XVI. At least that game had some likeable characters and charm to it.
Don't trust my opinion because I didn't beat it (got to the "Riddles in the Sand" bit), but I would be lying if I said I enjoyed any part of it outside the Benedikta fight and some of the music.
Don't trust my opinion because I didn't beat it (got to the "Riddles in the Sand" bit), but I would be lying if I said I enjoyed any part of it outside the Benedikta fight and some of the music.
Me hace mucha gracia la gente que dice “esto no es Final Fantasy” cuando este juego hace la cosa más Final Fantasy que existe: molar muchísimo durante las primeras horas para luego acabar siendo un puto coñazo.
The spectacle in this game is very very good, and the combat is fun, though it does begin to wear out it's welcome by the end of the game. Less so than most games though. There's also some great production going on, the voice acting is mostly very good.
That said, the pacing is really terrible, mostly because the side quests are nearly all just really boring garbage. You can really see the final fantasy 14 roots, the structure of the game and side quests feels pretty similar even if the combat is completely different.
The main story in this game is generally just ok, but certain aspects do not work.
Mostly, the bearers. The way the bearers are handled does not really make any sense to me. It's implied that in most cases parents just give up their kids to become slaves and hate them if they find out they have magic? Like I understand you could say people in real life will do that sometimes if they have lgbtq+ children, they can basically disown them in some cases, which is a terrible thing, but in this game the same people who follow a king who has special magic powers disown their own children who have normal magic powers? And these magic people, who should be more powerful than their masters, never try to rise up against them? I guess you could argue we're just not shown it because it's not relevant, but I'd still say the way the game handles their slave class largely feels unrealistic. Of course I agree with the thesis of this game that people should be allowed to live on their own terms, have freedom, but it doesn't meaningfully address why people will hate others and oppress them so much. It feels like they're using a really dark part of some humans' natural inclination to hate what's different and exploit others, but they're not really talking about it realistically or saying anything about why it happens and not really using it for any reason other than to say it's bad. There's just no depth at all to any of the themes in this story. And it almost feels like they knew they're not handling it well, because they chose not to include black people anywhere in this game, they took the cowards way out and completely ignored the racial aspect of real life slavery, rather than try to say something meaningful anywhere in their game.
Overall it's a fun game but really poorly paced and has a questionable story
That said, the pacing is really terrible, mostly because the side quests are nearly all just really boring garbage. You can really see the final fantasy 14 roots, the structure of the game and side quests feels pretty similar even if the combat is completely different.
The main story in this game is generally just ok, but certain aspects do not work.
Mostly, the bearers. The way the bearers are handled does not really make any sense to me. It's implied that in most cases parents just give up their kids to become slaves and hate them if they find out they have magic? Like I understand you could say people in real life will do that sometimes if they have lgbtq+ children, they can basically disown them in some cases, which is a terrible thing, but in this game the same people who follow a king who has special magic powers disown their own children who have normal magic powers? And these magic people, who should be more powerful than their masters, never try to rise up against them? I guess you could argue we're just not shown it because it's not relevant, but I'd still say the way the game handles their slave class largely feels unrealistic. Of course I agree with the thesis of this game that people should be allowed to live on their own terms, have freedom, but it doesn't meaningfully address why people will hate others and oppress them so much. It feels like they're using a really dark part of some humans' natural inclination to hate what's different and exploit others, but they're not really talking about it realistically or saying anything about why it happens and not really using it for any reason other than to say it's bad. There's just no depth at all to any of the themes in this story. And it almost feels like they knew they're not handling it well, because they chose not to include black people anywhere in this game, they took the cowards way out and completely ignored the racial aspect of real life slavery, rather than try to say something meaningful anywhere in their game.
Overall it's a fun game but really poorly paced and has a questionable story
L'accomplissement d'une volonté signe-t-il la mort d'un idéal ?
A master piece that was unfortunate enough to be released in 2023
En general lo disfruté bastante, ya que tiene momentos increíbles, un buen protagonista, worldbuilding interesante, combate divertido y variado junto a una presentación muy trabajada. Sin embargo, tiene unos problemas de pacing donde en un momento estas en una misión super emocionante y de repente estas haciendo lo que no es más que sidequest obligatorios para poder avanzar al próximo momento de la historia que de verdad importa. Los sidequests como tal son 90% aburridos, carentes de creatividad y casi todo fetchquests. Narrativamente es una lástima porque entre el excelente worldbuilding y la historia más política empieza increíble, sin embargo luego no puede evitar en caer en los típicos tropes de JRPG especialmente con el villano. Ultima sux. Si se hubiesen quedado con la trama más política y las temáticas que explora el juego como: esclavitud, desigualdad social, el precio de la magia, etc, me hubiese parecido masterful.
Not giving this a score as I only played the demo. If I ever do try out the full game I'll come back and give it a proper full review. But the demo made me not want to get the game.
I seem to have had the exact opposite experience with the demo as everyone else. You look at comments on videos of the demo and everyone says that it convinced them to preorder. But I went in thinking I'd get it day 1 only to come out of the demo underwhelmed at best, all interest lost.
I immediately thought the on rails shooting section felt cheaply made and unsatisfying let alone when the climax was the exact same boring thing for 5 minutes straight. The story was half mind numbingly boring and half predictable based off of stricly character archetypes. Was never a fan of Game of Thrones style storytelling and I'm definitely not looking to square enix for western appeal. The art style reminds me of the worst of the 2010's black and brown color palletes the industry has finally broken out of, though ff16 seems to have not gotten that memo.
Perhaps the story and world could grow on me over time but the combat failed to impress me at any point. Damage sponge boss fights you button mash on. And it's like they realized the fight goes on too long so they trigger some quicktime events that are practically impossible to fail just to speed them along. There is a section of the demo showing what combat past the intro is like... Which just made it seem like at best you'd get some shallow abilities and the bosses are still just boring damage sponges. Like they went "don't worry, it doesn't get good later either!"
I wasn't against a mainline FF not being turn based, as I thought FF7Remake and strangers of paradise had really good combat, but I'm just not seeing it here as far as the demos and clips i've seen go. I keep seeing combo showcases and to me it makes the game look so lame. People are doing these 30 second long combos and all I can think of is how underwhelming the visual effects and sound design are. As well as them seeming less like satisfying COMBOS, more like just an MMO ability rotation. Fighting enemies that die extremely quick is lame but anything that's a bit meatier quickly becomes tedious. Slowly staggering an enemy and with each attack seeing its health bar lose a pixel per hit...And then throwing all your most powerful attacks at it once its staggered and seeing its health bar go down by like 15% by the end just feels bad. Makes all your attacks feel weak and weightless especially when the enemy barely reacts and there's no punchy sound effects and all you get visually is some tiny particles. Like compared to even a 2009 game, Bayonetta, both the style and substance are very lacking imo.
If there's enough depth on the builds and strategy side of things to actually deal major damage I can see it getting satisfying. Like bosses in FF13 can have a seemingly insurmountable amount of health but if you get enough buffs and debuffs and weaknesses on top of the multiplied stagger damage it's so satisfying to deal major damage to something that your attacks normally do next to nothing to. But then I hear that very basic things like elemental weaknesses aren't even a thing in this game and I wonder if there is any depth beyond spamming endless weak combos.
Then there's all the little things like the haptics when pressing the trigger to open doors/break fences are very shoehorned in and poorly implemented when I know for a fact the triggers have the ability to be way more immersive than clicking once to charge animation that plays AFTER you already held the trigger. Or how Clive slides/glides when changing what direction you're running in a way that feels like his basic running animations weren't polished at all. All this and I also hear the sidequests are really bad from people who otherwise say this is game of the year.
Idk, I was so down to go all in on the new mainline final fantasy for literally the first time, I've only gotten into the series very recently. But from what I've seen and played it makes me more interested in literally any other game in the series. And side note, really not a fan of them going for an M rating here. If it was just so they could tell a darker story and not shy away from some more brutal scenes, I could respect that. But the strong language and nsfw scenes come off really annoying and forced to me. And I kind of worry every mainline final fantasy from now on will be M rated even if it's not strictly necessary for the story now that they've broken the ice.
Literally the only thing I liked was the sound the goblins made during their cutscenes. Would love to be proven wrong and change my mind on the game someday but I'm really not looking to drop 70$ coming off a demo that was just as much of a deterrent as the balan wonderworld demo was. It just kind of reeks of Square Enix chasing focus tested trends, except those trends were outdated a decade ago let alone now.
I seem to have had the exact opposite experience with the demo as everyone else. You look at comments on videos of the demo and everyone says that it convinced them to preorder. But I went in thinking I'd get it day 1 only to come out of the demo underwhelmed at best, all interest lost.
I immediately thought the on rails shooting section felt cheaply made and unsatisfying let alone when the climax was the exact same boring thing for 5 minutes straight. The story was half mind numbingly boring and half predictable based off of stricly character archetypes. Was never a fan of Game of Thrones style storytelling and I'm definitely not looking to square enix for western appeal. The art style reminds me of the worst of the 2010's black and brown color palletes the industry has finally broken out of, though ff16 seems to have not gotten that memo.
Perhaps the story and world could grow on me over time but the combat failed to impress me at any point. Damage sponge boss fights you button mash on. And it's like they realized the fight goes on too long so they trigger some quicktime events that are practically impossible to fail just to speed them along. There is a section of the demo showing what combat past the intro is like... Which just made it seem like at best you'd get some shallow abilities and the bosses are still just boring damage sponges. Like they went "don't worry, it doesn't get good later either!"
I wasn't against a mainline FF not being turn based, as I thought FF7Remake and strangers of paradise had really good combat, but I'm just not seeing it here as far as the demos and clips i've seen go. I keep seeing combo showcases and to me it makes the game look so lame. People are doing these 30 second long combos and all I can think of is how underwhelming the visual effects and sound design are. As well as them seeming less like satisfying COMBOS, more like just an MMO ability rotation. Fighting enemies that die extremely quick is lame but anything that's a bit meatier quickly becomes tedious. Slowly staggering an enemy and with each attack seeing its health bar lose a pixel per hit...And then throwing all your most powerful attacks at it once its staggered and seeing its health bar go down by like 15% by the end just feels bad. Makes all your attacks feel weak and weightless especially when the enemy barely reacts and there's no punchy sound effects and all you get visually is some tiny particles. Like compared to even a 2009 game, Bayonetta, both the style and substance are very lacking imo.
If there's enough depth on the builds and strategy side of things to actually deal major damage I can see it getting satisfying. Like bosses in FF13 can have a seemingly insurmountable amount of health but if you get enough buffs and debuffs and weaknesses on top of the multiplied stagger damage it's so satisfying to deal major damage to something that your attacks normally do next to nothing to. But then I hear that very basic things like elemental weaknesses aren't even a thing in this game and I wonder if there is any depth beyond spamming endless weak combos.
Then there's all the little things like the haptics when pressing the trigger to open doors/break fences are very shoehorned in and poorly implemented when I know for a fact the triggers have the ability to be way more immersive than clicking once to charge animation that plays AFTER you already held the trigger. Or how Clive slides/glides when changing what direction you're running in a way that feels like his basic running animations weren't polished at all. All this and I also hear the sidequests are really bad from people who otherwise say this is game of the year.
Idk, I was so down to go all in on the new mainline final fantasy for literally the first time, I've only gotten into the series very recently. But from what I've seen and played it makes me more interested in literally any other game in the series. And side note, really not a fan of them going for an M rating here. If it was just so they could tell a darker story and not shy away from some more brutal scenes, I could respect that. But the strong language and nsfw scenes come off really annoying and forced to me. And I kind of worry every mainline final fantasy from now on will be M rated even if it's not strictly necessary for the story now that they've broken the ice.
Literally the only thing I liked was the sound the goblins made during their cutscenes. Would love to be proven wrong and change my mind on the game someday but I'm really not looking to drop 70$ coming off a demo that was just as much of a deterrent as the balan wonderworld demo was. It just kind of reeks of Square Enix chasing focus tested trends, except those trends were outdated a decade ago let alone now.
Mid!
Wow, what a rollercoaster this game was. Went from liking it to hating it to loving it to liking it to just thinking it’s fine. Maybe one of those that grow over time and I think more fondly of…story was more convoluted than many other final fantasies. Too much GoT! Strip some of that out and make some story changes and I think this is a way better game. Voice cast was amazing.
I'm so conflicted, y'all. This felt like GOTY material for a good while, and I got what felt like very far in (after the Bahamut arc) before I rather abruptly fell off. The pacing just did not work for me, at all. The high points are sublime, somehow managing to convert the majestic feel of Final Fantasy XIV's climactic scenes into action gameplay. I was on cloud nine during these segments... and came crashing down once I hit the slogs of downtime before it picked up again. I could have persevered, it was the side quests that did me in. The exact moment when I stopped was when I looked at a site containing a list of side quests in chronological order. I was sure I'd be near the bottom, yet I was barely over halfway. Fatigue had already set in enough that I could not will myself to keep going, especially with so many other strong titles coming out this year. I want to finish it eventually just to get to more of those high points, but those lows combined with a very unmotivating gear system that may as well not be in the game makes it hard for me to pick it back up.
Maneirin
la ele
Ce jeu est la définition même de l'inégalité et de l'inconstance
Un jeu dont je suis mitigé. Mon souci avec ce dernier est l'instabilité de sa qualité, par moment il est absolument phénoménal à en être bouche-bée, et d'autres il est ennuyeux et pas du tout intéressant. Malheureusement c'est ce dernier qui m'a le plus marqué, et je me suis senti moyennement à la fin de ce jeu.
Un bon jeu, qui aurait pu être meilleur
Un bon jeu, qui aurait pu être meilleur
The best single player Final Fantasy since IX.
My personal GOTY 2023, by a LOT.
This review contains spoilers
Hugo really let a bad bitch ruin his life, that's real asf.
Final Fantasy XVI foi uma montanha russa de emoções do inicio ao fim tanto falando em questão de história quanto em sentimento pela franquia que eu tanto amo.
A história e o universo do jogo é extremamente bem feito e elaborado, aqui o jogador dificilmente vai encontrar algum ponto solto ou vago. Tudo é bem construído e mastigado pro jogador no final não ficar com nenhum "e se?".
Mas nem todo jogo vive de história e na questão jogabilidade caso você esteja esperando um RPG ou um Action RPG vai acabar se decepcionando pois Final Fantasy XVI ele quase não carrega nenhum elemento desses dois gêneros. O jogo é praticamente um Hack 'n Slash super frenético estilo Devil May Cry que usa dos elementos de Final Fantasy, você vai encontrar magias como Fire ou Fira, Potions ou Hi-Potions, mas nada disso passa de uma espécie de um nome apenas pra deixar os jogadores antigos se sentido em casa e não sentir falta de como esses itens antigamente eram.
Outro ponto importante é na questão dos equipamentos, eles existem, mas eu não senti aquele prazer de trocar os equipamentos que os outros jogos da franquia traziam.
As side quests também são uma critica forte no jogo pois inicialmente elas parecem bobas e genéricas não levando a lugar algum, mas conforme o jogador vai realizando as side quests lá no final elas recebem um final merecedor. Infelizmente pra chegar nesse final o jogador vai precisar de paciência pra chegar até lá pois muitas vezes são diálogos enormes e muitas vezes chatos dando vontade apenas de desistir das side quests.
Outro ponto importante e que me deixou um tanto incomodado foi o jeito que o jogo acontece, uma hora você está numa batalha épica e no minuto seguinte após a batalha você está pegando itens bobos pra uma quest principal boba e que poderia ter sido simplificada. E eu digo que isso me deixou incomodado porque foi muito brusco o jeito que eles aplicaram isso, aquele momento de adrenalina e emoção e depois uma calmaria exorbitante e um tanto tediosa. Acredito que se tivessem feito isso de uma maneira mais sútil teria sido melhor e causado menos incomodo no meu ver.
O jogo possui fator replay ou seja assim que você termina ele você libera um modo de New Game Plus com um modo mais difícil e nesse modo o jogador pode ir até o nível 100.
Vale ressaltar que as batalhas são incríveis e épicas, o áudio do jogo é uma das coisas mais incríveis que eu já vi e a história principal é muito forte e emocionante.
Por fim meu sentimento pela franquia não muda e espero que os próximos títulos sejam mais voltados pro público que ama RPG e pros fans de longa data.
A história e o universo do jogo é extremamente bem feito e elaborado, aqui o jogador dificilmente vai encontrar algum ponto solto ou vago. Tudo é bem construído e mastigado pro jogador no final não ficar com nenhum "e se?".
Mas nem todo jogo vive de história e na questão jogabilidade caso você esteja esperando um RPG ou um Action RPG vai acabar se decepcionando pois Final Fantasy XVI ele quase não carrega nenhum elemento desses dois gêneros. O jogo é praticamente um Hack 'n Slash super frenético estilo Devil May Cry que usa dos elementos de Final Fantasy, você vai encontrar magias como Fire ou Fira, Potions ou Hi-Potions, mas nada disso passa de uma espécie de um nome apenas pra deixar os jogadores antigos se sentido em casa e não sentir falta de como esses itens antigamente eram.
Outro ponto importante é na questão dos equipamentos, eles existem, mas eu não senti aquele prazer de trocar os equipamentos que os outros jogos da franquia traziam.
As side quests também são uma critica forte no jogo pois inicialmente elas parecem bobas e genéricas não levando a lugar algum, mas conforme o jogador vai realizando as side quests lá no final elas recebem um final merecedor. Infelizmente pra chegar nesse final o jogador vai precisar de paciência pra chegar até lá pois muitas vezes são diálogos enormes e muitas vezes chatos dando vontade apenas de desistir das side quests.
Outro ponto importante e que me deixou um tanto incomodado foi o jeito que o jogo acontece, uma hora você está numa batalha épica e no minuto seguinte após a batalha você está pegando itens bobos pra uma quest principal boba e que poderia ter sido simplificada. E eu digo que isso me deixou incomodado porque foi muito brusco o jeito que eles aplicaram isso, aquele momento de adrenalina e emoção e depois uma calmaria exorbitante e um tanto tediosa. Acredito que se tivessem feito isso de uma maneira mais sútil teria sido melhor e causado menos incomodo no meu ver.
O jogo possui fator replay ou seja assim que você termina ele você libera um modo de New Game Plus com um modo mais difícil e nesse modo o jogador pode ir até o nível 100.
Vale ressaltar que as batalhas são incríveis e épicas, o áudio do jogo é uma das coisas mais incríveis que eu já vi e a história principal é muito forte e emocionante.
Por fim meu sentimento pela franquia não muda e espero que os próximos títulos sejam mais voltados pro público que ama RPG e pros fans de longa data.
Una odisea fantástica que convence gracias a su historia y personajes, al mismo tiempo que sorprende con su banda sonora y dirección artística, pero que termina por verse lastrado por una estructura especialmente desfasada que nos hace replantearnos toda nuestra opinión hacia mitad de la aventura.
This game made me a better man
I am very conflicted about this game. I love the story, characters, dialogs, graphics and music and the combat is fun if repetitive and too easy but you get into a groove and it can be quite addictive. What really lets it down is that all the RPG element are undercooked and paper thin. The skill tree is minuscule, the amount of weapons and accessories you get is laughably small. There’s no real use for the plethora of crafting material you gather. The maps are tiny. The sidequests are very basic. It all feels like they ran out of time and stopped before they could flesh out all these elements further. it’s a real shame as I did really enjoy my time with Clive and company.
good stuff the combat is super flashy but it needs to be as rewarding as it is flashy
El primero desde el X que puedo decir que es bueno sin un pero al final, con unas expectativas de tamaño realistas que les ha dado la cancha de meterlo todo a la historia y a demostrar que Asura's Wrath era la polla y fuimos tontísimos de no entenderlo
Finalizado a história com 47 horas jogadas.
Me when the story uses symbolism and references to side stories for you to properly interpret the ending instead of just telling me >:(((((((((
Story was great tho and the ending which I would prefer is more hinted at so I don't mind too much, also kinda funny how the platinum backs it too
Time to grind out new game+
Story was great tho and the ending which I would prefer is more hinted at so I don't mind too much, also kinda funny how the platinum backs it too
Time to grind out new game+
Does a lot right but sadly the combat is incredibly boring (unless it's a boss fight)
This review contains spoilers
Some really great moments, atmosphere and visual/world designs. But also a lot of weird choices throughout that add some tedium that kind of tarnished the overall thing too much I find.
I cringed at a lot of the dialogue but looking back at the story through a JRPG lens (though this game is absolutely not an RPG) may have won me over in the end because I'm a sucker for these tropes, they just don't get old to me.
Still kinda sour overall though, it started off so well too.
I cringed at a lot of the dialogue but looking back at the story through a JRPG lens (though this game is absolutely not an RPG) may have won me over in the end because I'm a sucker for these tropes, they just don't get old to me.
Still kinda sour overall though, it started off so well too.
I want to start off by saying no, this game is not perfect, I don't think any game is, I do wish side quests offered more and that you could play as other party members (albeit I understand why you can't) but with that aside. FFXVI has managed to do something I've wanted from a RPG for so long, I felt so immersed in this world, in this experience. From the beautifully crafted story, immaculate worldbuilding, phenomenal gameplay and combat, and dare I say the best boss battles I have ever witnessed in a video game, this game does it all. There wasn't a moment in this game where I wasn't enthralled by the sheer spectacle this game put me through. The cast and their dynamics were beautiful, especially between the two brothers, the world building was so thick yet so easily accessible, I felt like I could get lost just reading about Valisthea and it's history, and god man, when this game peaked it peaked. Each boss battle had me exhilarated and on the edge of my seat, and the soundtrack as well was just gorgeous, captured exactly how the scene felt every time. And the flexibility of the gameplay allows for even the longest battles to never get dull. I am trying to be vague so I won't go into spoiler territory, but I wish I could just list ever single time Clive's Journey took my breath away. Please play this game, you will not regret it.
No he chillado tanto con el gameplay de un juego en años
I feel like the combat could've been a little bit more complex but IT FEELS LIKE A MOVIE.