Our flames are our own, and they burn as one.
Where to begin here… Well, I’ve been a Final Fantasy fan for most of my life. I used to stare into the Wal-Mart display case wishing we could afford a copy of FFVII. My brother and I rented FFVIII from Blockbuster, and we would restart our PS1 to watch the opening movie over and over—so much so that we had to buy our rented copy from Blockbuster. My dad wasn’t too happy with that. I’d watch in awe as my brother played FFX… I bought Dragon Quest VIII for the FFXII demo… anyway, you get it. It’s no secret that, with the exception of VII Remake, many think Final Fantasy has lost its way during the post-PS2 years. In my eyes, FFXVI would be the game to change that. A dream team of Square Enix veterans, a strong concept, a new platform… All of the cards were on the table, and I absolutely could not wait to play this. Does FFXVI live up to its namesake?
Well… if I had to describe this game in a single word, it would be “troubled.” It’s like someone at Square Enix tried to serve you the most delicious meal they’ve ever made, but your server dropped your food on the floor, slipped in it, and served it to you anyway. If you don’t stop and think about it too much, your food tastes really good—I mean, really good—but something is missing. I just wish it hadn’t been dropped in the first place. I would’ve really liked to eat my food without compromise. That’s what playing FFXVI is like. A series of half-measures more disparate than they should be. When they work in tandem to form a whole, the game is capable of some of the most awe-inspiring and emotionally resonant sequences this franchise has ever known. When they don’t, well…
Let’s get this out of the way right here: this was billed as FF’s first action title, but it’s neither an action game or an RPG. It’s somewhere in the middle and isn’t fully accomplished at capturing either genre. Combat feels extremely fluid and competently captures the spectacle that director Naoki Yoshida is known for. As for the RPG elements, there are “stats,” but you get the feeling that your level is more of a story progress bar than anything else. In fact, I left the game feeling like the only Eikon ability sets that aren’t phoned in are Titan and Odin. The Odin toolkit did a lot to win me back over, but Odin is also the only Eikon with abilities working in tandem—it feels like a classic Final Fantasy job change. There are numerous Eikon pairings that work well together and, I expect, numerous others that I hadn’t even considered. But again, it’s a half-measure. With only 6 equippable Eikon abilities at a time, a low variety of basic abilities, and the baffling absence of a buff/debuff/elemental weakness system, your options will be kind of limited regardless of how competent you are at Eikon synergy. You’d better enjoy doing the same things over, and over, and over if you’re going to get through this 70 hour juggernaut. Oh, and don’t expect anything from the game’s completely underbaked crafting system.
I’ve played games for 29 years, and FFXVI has the worst pacing I’ve ever encountered. Maybe that’s my fault, since I always try to 100% every game I commit to finishing, but no Final Fantasy game should punish the player for trying to see it to its fullest extent. This series is known the world over for its imaginative, thrilling storytelling, its striking characterizations, and its attention to detail. You’d never know that if FFXVI was your first Final Fantasy game. The game is constantly bookending its most powerful setpieces (which, in a vacuum, represent some of the highest highs in franchise history) with MMO quest design and low-energy NPC writing that, quite simply, don’t belong in this game. Like most of this thing, the concept here was a strong one—world-shaking battles between gods that leave smaller-scale everyday struggles in their wake. In practice, much of the game’s optional content brushes against its more skillfully executed components. You get the sense that Creative Business Unit III was just as bored by implementing these quests as we are playing them. I’m suspecting that the team wanted to make FFXVI a tightly executed 20 hours, but Square Enix’s top brass wouldn’t let them. “You can’t have a 20-hour mainline FF game!” This might be the only game in existence that had too much in the oven.
To put all of this another way, an old friend once recommended I read the Thomas Ligotti short story collection, Teatro Grottesco. It was terrifying, but not for the reasons you’d generally expect. Each of those stories felt like I was watching them unfold through a filthy glass window, like I could still see what was happening but there was a degree of separation preventing me from fully stepping inside Ligotti’s world. It’s the same case here. You might be thrilled by FFXVI’s spectacular Eikon battles or taken with its patient, meticulous portrayal of key players like Clive, Joshua, Jill, and Dion. Even with that in mind, I felt like I was outside of that dirty glass window at almost every turn. The game simply won’t let you inside unless you take every last one of its undeveloped elements as it is, never asking for more from one of the most storied franchises in gaming.
Who knows? Maybe I just need some distance from FFXVI. I enjoyed this plenty, but returning to it someday with a clearer picture of what it is might be to my benefit. For now, I’m happily locking this one up.
Where to begin here… Well, I’ve been a Final Fantasy fan for most of my life. I used to stare into the Wal-Mart display case wishing we could afford a copy of FFVII. My brother and I rented FFVIII from Blockbuster, and we would restart our PS1 to watch the opening movie over and over—so much so that we had to buy our rented copy from Blockbuster. My dad wasn’t too happy with that. I’d watch in awe as my brother played FFX… I bought Dragon Quest VIII for the FFXII demo… anyway, you get it. It’s no secret that, with the exception of VII Remake, many think Final Fantasy has lost its way during the post-PS2 years. In my eyes, FFXVI would be the game to change that. A dream team of Square Enix veterans, a strong concept, a new platform… All of the cards were on the table, and I absolutely could not wait to play this. Does FFXVI live up to its namesake?
Well… if I had to describe this game in a single word, it would be “troubled.” It’s like someone at Square Enix tried to serve you the most delicious meal they’ve ever made, but your server dropped your food on the floor, slipped in it, and served it to you anyway. If you don’t stop and think about it too much, your food tastes really good—I mean, really good—but something is missing. I just wish it hadn’t been dropped in the first place. I would’ve really liked to eat my food without compromise. That’s what playing FFXVI is like. A series of half-measures more disparate than they should be. When they work in tandem to form a whole, the game is capable of some of the most awe-inspiring and emotionally resonant sequences this franchise has ever known. When they don’t, well…
Let’s get this out of the way right here: this was billed as FF’s first action title, but it’s neither an action game or an RPG. It’s somewhere in the middle and isn’t fully accomplished at capturing either genre. Combat feels extremely fluid and competently captures the spectacle that director Naoki Yoshida is known for. As for the RPG elements, there are “stats,” but you get the feeling that your level is more of a story progress bar than anything else. In fact, I left the game feeling like the only Eikon ability sets that aren’t phoned in are Titan and Odin. The Odin toolkit did a lot to win me back over, but Odin is also the only Eikon with abilities working in tandem—it feels like a classic Final Fantasy job change. There are numerous Eikon pairings that work well together and, I expect, numerous others that I hadn’t even considered. But again, it’s a half-measure. With only 6 equippable Eikon abilities at a time, a low variety of basic abilities, and the baffling absence of a buff/debuff/elemental weakness system, your options will be kind of limited regardless of how competent you are at Eikon synergy. You’d better enjoy doing the same things over, and over, and over if you’re going to get through this 70 hour juggernaut. Oh, and don’t expect anything from the game’s completely underbaked crafting system.
I’ve played games for 29 years, and FFXVI has the worst pacing I’ve ever encountered. Maybe that’s my fault, since I always try to 100% every game I commit to finishing, but no Final Fantasy game should punish the player for trying to see it to its fullest extent. This series is known the world over for its imaginative, thrilling storytelling, its striking characterizations, and its attention to detail. You’d never know that if FFXVI was your first Final Fantasy game. The game is constantly bookending its most powerful setpieces (which, in a vacuum, represent some of the highest highs in franchise history) with MMO quest design and low-energy NPC writing that, quite simply, don’t belong in this game. Like most of this thing, the concept here was a strong one—world-shaking battles between gods that leave smaller-scale everyday struggles in their wake. In practice, much of the game’s optional content brushes against its more skillfully executed components. You get the sense that Creative Business Unit III was just as bored by implementing these quests as we are playing them. I’m suspecting that the team wanted to make FFXVI a tightly executed 20 hours, but Square Enix’s top brass wouldn’t let them. “You can’t have a 20-hour mainline FF game!” This might be the only game in existence that had too much in the oven.
To put all of this another way, an old friend once recommended I read the Thomas Ligotti short story collection, Teatro Grottesco. It was terrifying, but not for the reasons you’d generally expect. Each of those stories felt like I was watching them unfold through a filthy glass window, like I could still see what was happening but there was a degree of separation preventing me from fully stepping inside Ligotti’s world. It’s the same case here. You might be thrilled by FFXVI’s spectacular Eikon battles or taken with its patient, meticulous portrayal of key players like Clive, Joshua, Jill, and Dion. Even with that in mind, I felt like I was outside of that dirty glass window at almost every turn. The game simply won’t let you inside unless you take every last one of its undeveloped elements as it is, never asking for more from one of the most storied franchises in gaming.
Who knows? Maybe I just need some distance from FFXVI. I enjoyed this plenty, but returning to it someday with a clearer picture of what it is might be to my benefit. For now, I’m happily locking this one up.