At the beginning, I found this game to have an interesting world concept where magic is seen more as a exploit and frowned upon rather than adored and praised. Had high hopes but after playing it a while, I found the combat to be a bit repetitive. questing wasn't that much better since a lot of the times it was more fetch quest than anything else. The only redeeming factor that I found was some of the cinematic fights and how some of the characters develop over time. Personally it isn't for me, but if you're someone who like some of the recent Final Fantasy games, I would say give it a try.
-Loved everything about it except some of the side quests.
-Platinum ✔️
-Platinum ✔️
I took some time to fully digest this game before I wrote about it cause the ending hit me pretty hard.
And holy hell, man. Final Fantasy XVI to me, is easily the greatest visual spectacle in video game history.
The amount of love and passion put into every scene is just above and beyond anything I've ever seen.
Then there's the story, and the phenomenal characters. Clive is easily the greatest FF protagonist, and I adore how he's a mix of Jon Snow and Geralt of Rivia.
To me the story feels like a closure to everything we know about Final Fantasy.
Is the franchise gonna move on from everything we know? Maybe, maybe not. But it sure as hell feels like it here. And for once, the title of the game feels literal.
This is a journey I will never forget. It has moments that are rough with some weak side content, sure.
But the fact is, the highs are so high that everything negative about it becomes irrelevant.
This game is a masterpiece, and I will forever cherish it.
And holy hell, man. Final Fantasy XVI to me, is easily the greatest visual spectacle in video game history.
The amount of love and passion put into every scene is just above and beyond anything I've ever seen.
Then there's the story, and the phenomenal characters. Clive is easily the greatest FF protagonist, and I adore how he's a mix of Jon Snow and Geralt of Rivia.
To me the story feels like a closure to everything we know about Final Fantasy.
Is the franchise gonna move on from everything we know? Maybe, maybe not. But it sure as hell feels like it here. And for once, the title of the game feels literal.
This is a journey I will never forget. It has moments that are rough with some weak side content, sure.
But the fact is, the highs are so high that everything negative about it becomes irrelevant.
This game is a masterpiece, and I will forever cherish it.
Utterly boring Eikon battles. Otherwise it was fine, I guess.
This review contains spoilers
Flawed but beautiful game.
Dion and Joshua are some of my favourite characters ever. I love them so much.
This game also has one of my favourite soundtracks.
Dion and Joshua are some of my favourite characters ever. I love them so much.
This game also has one of my favourite soundtracks.
Truly one of the best masterpieces and my personal favorite out of the entirety of the final fantasy franchise. The way they did world-building, characters, music, and connections—everything about this game. I love to death. I'm glad I was able to experience Clive's story.
This review contains spoilers
This game fucks HARD. First off, the game is gorgeous, and not just in visuals. Masayoshi Soken absolutely cooked with the soundtrack for the entire game, there isn't a song that I don't consider bad in any way. Unfortunately there are a few downsides that bring down the experience for me a little bit. First off, the time spent wandering between each bombastic boss fight can feel long at times, and splitting Main Quests into two or three additional "Sub-Quests" made me roll my eyes each time. Speaking of quests; the Side Quests. Look up a guide that tells you the important ones, and avoid every other one unless you're a completionist. The effort put into them is pretty low, mainly consisting of three objectives for every one (Talk, Go to area and either talk, fight, or collect an item, and go back. It was initially fine when I started out, but eventually devolved into skipping dialogue just to complete them faster. Combat is good but it usually compared to the likes of Devil May Cry, but not nearly as complex. The different Eikonic abilities are unique, and are kinda crucial to prevent the combat from becoming extremely stale. Speaking of Eikons, the Eikon fights were all amazing, probably the best Final Fantasy bosses I've ever witnessed, maybe even best bosses ever? (Extreme bias towards Phoenix/Ifrit vs Bahamut, that shit was CRAZY.) Overall, my time with FF XVI was great, and I was really invested in how the story would play out. One of the two games in recent memory that made my cry (pretty substantially lmaooo). I have yet to play through Final Fantasy mode, as well as the DLC. At the time of writing this the first DLC is only out, so I will likely wait until both are out/on sale before I partake.
Amazing game with serious pacing issues
“Final Fantasy XVI” charts its own path from the rest of the mainline FF pack and it does so on its own terms and quite successfully. Despite having some uneven execution in both storytelling and gameplay, the issue’s it does have do not detract from what’s otherwise quite a journey thru a morose world filled with inhabitants who want to break free from the gods that have abandoned them.
kiraj
I have heard the criticisms aimed at this game and agree with pretty much all of them. However, my opinion of the game is not nearly as negative.
For starters, the story at first implies there is going to be a complex story with medieval politicking, lots of scheming, backstabbing, etc. But it ends up being as complicated as a heisei Kamen Rider show. Even the main villain reminds me of "Evolt" from "Kamen Rider Build", a character who's motivations were at first mysterious, but in the end was just an evil alien that wanted to blow up the Earth. The lead writer, Kazutoyo Maehiro, also worked on FFXIV A Realm Reborn, and Heavensward, both of which have similar issues to this game. The most prominent of which is the fact that some characters that seem like they should have bigger roles just don't have much of a presence in the story. He also tends to have characters show up just to die for dramatic purposes, if you are familiar with FFXIV you probably know what I mean. Regardless, I enjoyed just being fantasy Kamen Rider, the story didn't piss me off or annoy me or anything, it was just a bit too dry for its own good and would have been better if it were more anime/tokusastu.
I agree with the complaints that the combat is too easy, it definitely could have used an additional, harder difficulty level in the beginning. The fact that the trash enemies barely fight back while the larger bosses are the real opponents make this closer to a Dynasty Warriors game rather than Devil May Cry. Now this isn't too big an issue, because Final Fantasy games tend to be easy. I can't recall ever struggling with any of the ones I've played. Hell, I beat FFXV (FF15, my least favorite) barely engaging with the combat. After finishing the much more intense DLC campaigns, I'm more optimistic about action Final Fantasy, and wouldn't mind FFXVII also being an action RPG, assuming they don't make another MMO. (Please SquareEnix don't do another MMO, you do some dumb stuff but you're not nearly as bad as ActiBlizz.)
Another issue is the padding, the sidequests could have been trimmed a bit, maybe even merged some of the hunts with the sidequests. Most of the sidequests felt like MMO busywork, not really adding much to the setting. In addition, the areas weren't that interesting to explore (Again, like an MMO).
Anyway, this is much more than I would normally write. Overall, I'm more disappointed in the fact that the game is only good, when I wanted it to be amazing. Better luck next game? In a franchise this old? Who knows.
For starters, the story at first implies there is going to be a complex story with medieval politicking, lots of scheming, backstabbing, etc. But it ends up being as complicated as a heisei Kamen Rider show. Even the main villain reminds me of "Evolt" from "Kamen Rider Build", a character who's motivations were at first mysterious, but in the end was just an evil alien that wanted to blow up the Earth. The lead writer, Kazutoyo Maehiro, also worked on FFXIV A Realm Reborn, and Heavensward, both of which have similar issues to this game. The most prominent of which is the fact that some characters that seem like they should have bigger roles just don't have much of a presence in the story. He also tends to have characters show up just to die for dramatic purposes, if you are familiar with FFXIV you probably know what I mean. Regardless, I enjoyed just being fantasy Kamen Rider, the story didn't piss me off or annoy me or anything, it was just a bit too dry for its own good and would have been better if it were more anime/tokusastu.
I agree with the complaints that the combat is too easy, it definitely could have used an additional, harder difficulty level in the beginning. The fact that the trash enemies barely fight back while the larger bosses are the real opponents make this closer to a Dynasty Warriors game rather than Devil May Cry. Now this isn't too big an issue, because Final Fantasy games tend to be easy. I can't recall ever struggling with any of the ones I've played. Hell, I beat FFXV (FF15, my least favorite) barely engaging with the combat. After finishing the much more intense DLC campaigns, I'm more optimistic about action Final Fantasy, and wouldn't mind FFXVII also being an action RPG, assuming they don't make another MMO. (Please SquareEnix don't do another MMO, you do some dumb stuff but you're not nearly as bad as ActiBlizz.)
Another issue is the padding, the sidequests could have been trimmed a bit, maybe even merged some of the hunts with the sidequests. Most of the sidequests felt like MMO busywork, not really adding much to the setting. In addition, the areas weren't that interesting to explore (Again, like an MMO).
Anyway, this is much more than I would normally write. Overall, I'm more disappointed in the fact that the game is only good, when I wanted it to be amazing. Better luck next game? In a franchise this old? Who knows.
I loved the game. But.
Strengths:
Beautiful graphics, incredible story, beautiful world, cool characters, amazing skills.
Negative points:
Boring side missions, performance issues, overly easy fights, and slow main story missions break immersion.
I loved the game, but it has a lot of problems, a sequel fixing them would make it easier, a GOT. I couldn't give up on it because of the story, but it was tiring, finishing it.
Strengths:
Beautiful graphics, incredible story, beautiful world, cool characters, amazing skills.
Negative points:
Boring side missions, performance issues, overly easy fights, and slow main story missions break immersion.
I loved the game, but it has a lot of problems, a sequel fixing them would make it easier, a GOT. I couldn't give up on it because of the story, but it was tiring, finishing it.
Loses half a star for what I can only describe as dense final act bullshit, but otherwise very solid game. Ben Starr as Clive is inspired, a joy to witness perform.
Game suffers from a serious lack of Dion, but like a good meal it's always better to be left wanting more than wishing you'd endured less.
No game does spectacle this way. Titan and Bahamut are highlights.
Cid might be the franchises best Cid, played to perfection by Ralph Ineson.
Game wears the game of thrones influence on its sleeve, but doesn't suffer because of it. Wish it stuck in the mundane a bit longer before spinning off into the Mythos Logos stuff, but overall it gets right more than it gets wrong.
Music goes hard. Find the Flame might be a better title track than Liberi Fatali.
I miss Clive.
Game suffers from a serious lack of Dion, but like a good meal it's always better to be left wanting more than wishing you'd endured less.
No game does spectacle this way. Titan and Bahamut are highlights.
Cid might be the franchises best Cid, played to perfection by Ralph Ineson.
Game wears the game of thrones influence on its sleeve, but doesn't suffer because of it. Wish it stuck in the mundane a bit longer before spinning off into the Mythos Logos stuff, but overall it gets right more than it gets wrong.
Music goes hard. Find the Flame might be a better title track than Liberi Fatali.
I miss Clive.
fantastic combat with weirdly boring side content
This was by far my least favorite final fantasy. A game that started off decently strong but then fell the fuck off. Start of the game was hype, I mean HYPE. The music, the fights, the story, all fucking hype. The battle system was pretty good from the start, pretty average and really seemed more like a devil may cry thing (from what I heard from other people). The few boss fights was sweet, and the overall monster designs are sick. The story was also pretty hype with Clive accidentally killing his own brother and their mother betraying her own kingdom. And the MUSIC, OH THE MUSIC IS SO GOOOD. Then after a couple of hours it all started to fall off. Though the thing of getting all the other EIkons abilities through the story is cool, the battle system is not really all. Maybe I'm just not utilizing it to its best ability but it wasn't all that intriguing to use. The gear and leveling progression are pretty straightforward
You just go up from one weapon to the next with not a lot of options. Grinding is really just doing a side quest or a hunt, which both suck ass. story and its progression started to get really repetitive and boring, especially the side quests. There are some good characters like Joshua (my pretty boy), Cid, Torgal (yes I'm adding the dog) but most of the characters and antagonists were forgettable (except Ultima because he's so hawt). And Jill's and clives romance was not really all that (in all honestly I just see Jill as just there). The only thing I can still see good is the boss fights BUT The EIkon boss fights suck ass and the music. That being said, Joshua is cute and Ultima is hot
You just go up from one weapon to the next with not a lot of options. Grinding is really just doing a side quest or a hunt, which both suck ass. story and its progression started to get really repetitive and boring, especially the side quests. There are some good characters like Joshua (my pretty boy), Cid, Torgal (yes I'm adding the dog) but most of the characters and antagonists were forgettable (except Ultima because he's so hawt). And Jill's and clives romance was not really all that (in all honestly I just see Jill as just there). The only thing I can still see good is the boss fights BUT The EIkon boss fights suck ass and the music. That being said, Joshua is cute and Ultima is hot
This review contains spoilers
Oh where to begin. Final Fantasy is a franchise that I got into in 2020 with FF 7: Remake and it has become of of my favorite franchises and I am happy to say that this game did not disappoint.
Starting with the good, I loved the combat. I loved performing perfect dodges, timing magic bursts, and creating my favorite combo of Eikonic abilities. Especially late game when the abilities are fully upgraded and I have all this freedom to use whatever abilities I wanted, Rook's Gambit and Satellite being my favorites. The boss battles were epic and the Eikon battles were just as good, especially Titan! I know people had mixed feelings on the story but I just loved it. I loved the darker tone, I loved seeing villages fall and be rebuilt and especially loved our main characters. Gotta mention the music because it was also fantastic. Of course the boss themes were epic but there were also very pretty pieces that I fell in love with, My Star being and Find the Flame were my favorites.
I've gushed about what I love but there were a few issues I had with the game. By late game I was having a blast customizing my Eikonic abilities, but the combat itself was getting pretty repetitive. For example, there are four major area to explore in FF 16: Sanbreque, Rosaria, Dhalmekia, and the most dangerous, Waloed. The problem is when we get to Waloed, almost all of the enemies and bosses are just stronger reskins of enemies we've already fought. There was also little reason to change Eikons. In many Final Fantasy games there may be a specific item or party member that makes a boss fight more bearable, but in 16 there's almost never a reason to for example, swicth from Phoenix to Bahamut, I vastly prefer Phoenix and there's never a boss where I just GOTTA use Megaflare.
The side quests also got very repetitive by the end. I really wanted to experience everything this game had to offer but by the end I was forcing myself to do side quests because they all became the same thing: NPC needs thing/protection, you fight thing, you fight stronger thing, you talk to NPC again. You do this for every side quest EVERY SINGLE TIME: over and over and over and over and over etc. I just wish there was more variety and there were less enemy reskins.
Overall, fantastic game, I loved it, just got pretty repetitive by the end. Will def 100% at some point.
I also wanted to rank the Eikonic abilities for fun. Ranked based on each unique ability:
7. Ramuh: Blind Justice slows the combat to a halt, I need my fast paced battles.
6. Bahamut: Similar issue, but you can still perfect dodge while charging Megaflare with Wings of Light.
5. Odin: Charging Zanetsuken is actually pretty fun, but most of time I felt like I was forcing myself to use Arm of Darkness rather than wanting to use it.
4. Phoenix: I actually really like Phoenix Shift, it's fast paced and satisfying, but it's a bit simple to go higher than 4.
3. Garuda: Deadly Embrace is so fun to use on boss fights, it's super cinematic and fun.
2. Shiva: I'm biased toward ice abilities, also timing cold snap to freeze a bunch a enemies for a while is amazing.
1. Titan: Titanic Counters are the most satisfying thing in this game I LOVE it.
P.S. I'll add Leviathan when I play Rising Tide.
Starting with the good, I loved the combat. I loved performing perfect dodges, timing magic bursts, and creating my favorite combo of Eikonic abilities. Especially late game when the abilities are fully upgraded and I have all this freedom to use whatever abilities I wanted, Rook's Gambit and Satellite being my favorites. The boss battles were epic and the Eikon battles were just as good, especially Titan! I know people had mixed feelings on the story but I just loved it. I loved the darker tone, I loved seeing villages fall and be rebuilt and especially loved our main characters. Gotta mention the music because it was also fantastic. Of course the boss themes were epic but there were also very pretty pieces that I fell in love with, My Star being and Find the Flame were my favorites.
I've gushed about what I love but there were a few issues I had with the game. By late game I was having a blast customizing my Eikonic abilities, but the combat itself was getting pretty repetitive. For example, there are four major area to explore in FF 16: Sanbreque, Rosaria, Dhalmekia, and the most dangerous, Waloed. The problem is when we get to Waloed, almost all of the enemies and bosses are just stronger reskins of enemies we've already fought. There was also little reason to change Eikons. In many Final Fantasy games there may be a specific item or party member that makes a boss fight more bearable, but in 16 there's almost never a reason to for example, swicth from Phoenix to Bahamut, I vastly prefer Phoenix and there's never a boss where I just GOTTA use Megaflare.
The side quests also got very repetitive by the end. I really wanted to experience everything this game had to offer but by the end I was forcing myself to do side quests because they all became the same thing: NPC needs thing/protection, you fight thing, you fight stronger thing, you talk to NPC again. You do this for every side quest EVERY SINGLE TIME: over and over and over and over and over etc. I just wish there was more variety and there were less enemy reskins.
Overall, fantastic game, I loved it, just got pretty repetitive by the end. Will def 100% at some point.
I also wanted to rank the Eikonic abilities for fun. Ranked based on each unique ability:
7. Ramuh: Blind Justice slows the combat to a halt, I need my fast paced battles.
6. Bahamut: Similar issue, but you can still perfect dodge while charging Megaflare with Wings of Light.
5. Odin: Charging Zanetsuken is actually pretty fun, but most of time I felt like I was forcing myself to use Arm of Darkness rather than wanting to use it.
4. Phoenix: I actually really like Phoenix Shift, it's fast paced and satisfying, but it's a bit simple to go higher than 4.
3. Garuda: Deadly Embrace is so fun to use on boss fights, it's super cinematic and fun.
2. Shiva: I'm biased toward ice abilities, also timing cold snap to freeze a bunch a enemies for a while is amazing.
1. Titan: Titanic Counters are the most satisfying thing in this game I LOVE it.
P.S. I'll add Leviathan when I play Rising Tide.
Holy fuck.
amazing boss fights, intense yet combat, incredible acting, music and world building. Story is brilliant with an amazing opening. pacing is a bit off as the game has some boring moments holding it back from being 5 stars. The ending was incredible
Pese a la crítica y saber que objetivamente no es un juego de 5 estrellas ni mucho menos, simplemente este juego significa demasiado para mi y su historia me pareció simplemente increíble y con un combate absurdamente divertido.
🏆PLATINO
(90 horas totales)
🏆PLATINO
(90 horas totales)
tem uns bixo grande e boss fight épica. brabo.
This review contains spoilers
The entire third act Is such a drag that it bumpy my score down by a whole star
Fantastic game brilliant Story very good gameplay with a decent amount of variation. Very good soundtrack overall a 10/10 game couldn't wish much more from a final fantasy game
had to replay this a 3rd time due to having to buy a us copy for the dlc: i fear a 4th playthrough would make it a one star
I have only one minor complaint: I felt that most overworld enemies could be beaten the exact same way. Special moves often felt unnecessary, unless you felt like speeding things up.
HOWEVER: the characters, the story, the boss battles, the kaiju-themed battles, the lore, side-quests and all the way up to the finale; I simply had an amazing and every couple of sessions I was left in sheer amazement and gratitude for this game. Must-play for action-RPG enthusiasts and fans of wide expansive lore
HOWEVER: the characters, the story, the boss battles, the kaiju-themed battles, the lore, side-quests and all the way up to the finale; I simply had an amazing and every couple of sessions I was left in sheer amazement and gratitude for this game. Must-play for action-RPG enthusiasts and fans of wide expansive lore
This review contains spoilers
"the only fantasy here is yours. and we shall be its final witness!"
Incredible game, probably my fave from the franchise
This game is one of the few games i 100% and in my second playthrough the game lost some of its charm and the flaws started to appear, there are serious pacing problems in this game, the side content fells kinda dull and the world yet pretty gorgeous is empty, Only the main scenarios shines for me now. The combat of the game is pretty neat and dynamic they really nailed and I liked the more serious approach the story had, Clive is such a good protagonist and the crew such as Jill, Cid, Gav and cia are really charismatic as well. And the Eikon battles are the peak of this game, not only the battles but the music score is one of the best among the franchise. I see FFXVI flaws but it is still one of the best games I played in 2023
This has quickly become my favorite Final Fantasy and one of my favorite games altogether. An story that slapped me in the face with a fish and made me question it's main message and apply it to my own life, absolutely amazing characters with stellar VA's and, even though there are a bit too many, amazing sidequests.
ABSOLUTE CINEMA.
I will write a bigger review really soon!