Fantastic world, gameplay, and story. Voice acting is incredible and I love all of the characters. Extremely fleshed out lore and the vibe is on point. Feels like it kinda wanted to be a movie sometimes, but low-key I was engaged the whole time in both gameplay and plot. Loses a little bit of steam at the end and becomes a little too "JRPG" for a pretty grounded game, but meh I think it wouldn't be FF without that. The side quests however completely kill all plot momentum and I wish the game was just set piece to set piece. Overall really great and an extctiting look at what a FF XVII may look like if Square takes what they have learned from this, FF XVI and Rebirth. Probably will be one of the best mainline games.

Good lord, I was not ready for the sheer amount of kino that would be directly injected into my veins. Nor did I expect the absolute emotional rollercoaster that was the story and the endgame sidequests. Some of them really hit hard. The ending in a way without spoiling was bittersweet.

I thought the gameplay was really fun, even if some Eikons were straight up worse than others and it sometimes got repetitive. It still at least allows you to map it to another Eikon once you master a skill. However, I definitely see the complaints that this is less of an Action RPG and more like a DMC-like with RPG elements.

A lot of things seem to be recycled from previous Final Fantasy games, in fact I noticed the overarching plot was very similar to the last numbered game, 15. While 15's combat was more mind-numbing, I'd argue it had better attention to detail and more RPG elements than it. Where it lacks in those areas, it more than makes up for it with an extremely strong narrative.

Don't let my musings about its "less RPGness" dissuade you from playing though. It's absolutely one of the best FF titles, if not one of the best games of 2023. It's absolutely worth it, and I'm glad I got a PS5 for it because my ass was too impatient for the PC port.

Onwards to the DLCs now!

Wanted to start off by saying that with the most recent patch, the game added some really nice QoL changes that are likely to save a good few hours of playtime. Combat is mostly fun, but starts off pretty simplistic and a bit boring in the first few hours. This ramps up quickly, though, and stays fun and engaging until the end of the game. This is also where the first QoL update change comes into play. You are now able to have a few presets when it comes to equipped abilities and can switch between them freely. Unfortunately, if you don't have enough ability points to unlock/master everything you still have to refund and unlock abilities between presets which is something they should've also changed in the patch. This means you likely won't be able to have two presets with vastly different abilities unless you have an insane amount of ability points.

The second QoL update is being able to instantly travel to the side quest giver upon fulfilling their request instead of having to open the map, fast travel to the nearest fast travel beacon, then walk to them. This will save a lot of time and help with pacing a bit if you are wanting to complete the side quests. Doesn't change that most of them are still pretty boring and give you no real reward or payoff.

Everyone has pretty much talked up all of the good points and it's hard to disagree with them. Music is fantastic, story is engaging and has an edge to it to keep it fresh from other entries. The set pieces and boss fights are typically of very high quality. There's a good mix of cinematic fights that aren't too engaging to play but amazing to look at and more lowkey, mechanically engaging ones. Lovable characters and most are better than just eye candy.

Overall wish it were 10+ hours shorter and didn't include side quest designed MSQs, but still a great game.

Eu gostei muito da nova roupagem que colocaram em final fantasy, e para mim esse jogo até o momento é o único que demonstrou o motivo de termos uma nova geração. O combate e a historia dele são pontos fora da curva além da trilha sonora, mas aonde ele brilha de verdade são nas lutas contra chefes, foram experiências únicas para mim e que enquanto eu jogava eu sempre achava que não tinha como ser mais épico(até vir o boss seguinte).

Se não fosse pelos gráficos ultrapassados e mundo aberto pobre esse jogo seria EXCELENTE.

Uma bela história, batalhas de chefe maravilhosas e únicas... mas acaba aí, os personagens tem todos o mesmo tom melancólico do começo ao fim, aqueles que se sobressaem tem pouco tempo de tela e deixa um gostinho de quero mais, mas que é pouco pelo tempo de tela dos outros personagens sem sal. as batalhas são legais até certo ponto, pois como um RPG o personagem principal demora pra evoluir, quando evolui, vc ve pouca diferença, que você só vê mesmo quando derrota algum chefe e pega seu poder. A exploração também deixa a desejar, pois apesar dos mapas enormes, não tem muita recompensa e as vezes é melhor só passar reto e ir direto ao objetivo. Infelizmente uma das piores gameplays de FF que já vi, e uma história que poderia ser muito melhor explorada, mas que perde parte do seu folego no terço final.

Final Fantasy 16 is a seriously inconsistent game with many issues that will put people off. Its pacing is horrific, the open-world sections are dull, most of the sidequests are completely forgettable, and at many points it seriously feels like this game does not respect my time. However, the high points of this game are absolutely extraordinary. Some of the boss fights and story moments of this game are among the best and most memorable moments of any game that released in 2023. If you want to enjoy this game, you really have to trudge through a lot of boring busywork, even with the main quest. Considering this game took me 50 hours to beat (of which I think 35-40 hours was story-related content,) that is asking for a lot. However, if you are looking for a game that is a slow burn with its story that climaxes near perfectly, then I recommend this game.