"The legacy of the crystals has shaped our history for long enough".
From its inception FFXVI has signalled its clear intentions of breaking out of all the classic tropes of the series' mainline entries, and they really go for it specially on the gameplay side of things.
This is a truly spectacular game, like nothing seen before in the series and indeed rarely in other games.
The setting, the cast of characters, the story are all fleshed out in a satisfactory way, approaching the level of care seen in XII's world and yet making it more accessible (thanks, Active Time Lore!).
The fact that every single side quest has full voice acting is proof of the care and dedication they put into the world-building and fleshing out each story, no matter how small it was. The group of side-quests in the last parts of the game do a specially fantastic job at this.
On the matter of details, I loved how the NPCs are always commenting and reacting on the latest events in the story. Makes the whole experience more organic.
The soundtrack is immaculate and the performances are grounded and heart-felt and together they elevate the emotional beats of the story to the next level.
And it's all wrapped in stunning visuals, yet again demonstrating Square-Enix's technical prowess.
The summons or eikons were the main aspect of Final Fantasy that hooked me into the series from the beginning, so getting to experience a story and gameplay that's so deeply based to them was super rewarding.
It's true that the (J)RPG elements are either very shallow or just non-existent, but the mechanics and systems that are there still make up for great, fun, varied, and compelling combat all throughout.
XVI is a game that succeeds at breaking away from series' "legacy" at the gameplay level while putting heavy emphasis on the world building and the story. And once you embrace this, it rewards you with unprecedented, staggering spectacle and memorable characters.
From its inception FFXVI has signalled its clear intentions of breaking out of all the classic tropes of the series' mainline entries, and they really go for it specially on the gameplay side of things.
This is a truly spectacular game, like nothing seen before in the series and indeed rarely in other games.
The setting, the cast of characters, the story are all fleshed out in a satisfactory way, approaching the level of care seen in XII's world and yet making it more accessible (thanks, Active Time Lore!).
The fact that every single side quest has full voice acting is proof of the care and dedication they put into the world-building and fleshing out each story, no matter how small it was. The group of side-quests in the last parts of the game do a specially fantastic job at this.
On the matter of details, I loved how the NPCs are always commenting and reacting on the latest events in the story. Makes the whole experience more organic.
The soundtrack is immaculate and the performances are grounded and heart-felt and together they elevate the emotional beats of the story to the next level.
And it's all wrapped in stunning visuals, yet again demonstrating Square-Enix's technical prowess.
The summons or eikons were the main aspect of Final Fantasy that hooked me into the series from the beginning, so getting to experience a story and gameplay that's so deeply based to them was super rewarding.
It's true that the (J)RPG elements are either very shallow or just non-existent, but the mechanics and systems that are there still make up for great, fun, varied, and compelling combat all throughout.
XVI is a game that succeeds at breaking away from series' "legacy" at the gameplay level while putting heavy emphasis on the world building and the story. And once you embrace this, it rewards you with unprecedented, staggering spectacle and memorable characters.