In a word, disappointing. The demo was really good and convinced me to get this game sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, FFXVI seemingly hits its peak not long after the demo's 2 or so hour slice, and isn't showing signs of reaching such heights again. The combat, which I felt had a lot of potential from the demo, has proven to be a slog. Fights are incredibly drawn out and the system is just not fun enough to make these experiences anything more than tedious. Add to this the fact that there basically is no gameplay in FFXVI except combat, and you've got a real problem. If Square wants FF to go full action combat permanently, they're going to have to figure out a better system. And don't even get me started on the Eikon fights. Huge wasted potential. Nothing but button mashing and QTEs dressed up in ridiculously over the top cinematics. All fluff with no substance. At this rate I worry for the future of the franchise. And if this shit ass combat system gets anywhere near FFVII Rebirth, I will spit nails.

In general, I'm struggling to connect with any part of this game. The story, lore, characters, gameplay, environments. It all feels extremely lackluster and soulless to me. I don't even like the art style. Like Square was trying to have their cake and eat it too by combining the stylized FF aesthetics with this bland, overdone, gritty GOT realism. It's not a good combination, to say the least. FFXV was a huge disappointment when it first came out, but at least I was engaged enough to finish that one. At this rate FFXVI will likely be sitting in my backlog for a long time.