"And so you shunned the one thing that could made you stronger. Pushed away the hands that could raise you higher. And that's where we're different. I could not made it here on my own. I carry with me the hopes and dreams of my brothers, my sisters. And is it they who will give me the strength to end your reign."
Many people believed Final Fantasy XVI will be a far cry from the series’ origins based on all of the pre-release information. From the Devil May Cry-inspired action combat to the gritty, mature dark fantasy setting influenced by Game of Thrones. Fans of the series doubt the game’s integrity despite beloved Final Fantasy XIV director Yoshi-P serving as the producer of the game, but ultimately Final Fantasy XVI subverted all expectations and become the greatest love letter to the series’ roots in all of the best ways possible while still maintaining its’ own identity. Final Fantasy XVI is one of the greatest games that achieve its grand scope of blending cinematic narrative and gameplay to tell its tale of resisting the cruelty of the world with pure human willpower.
The first thing that can be noticed about Final Fantasy XVI is the game’s visuals. Square Enix has always been a game developer that pushes visual fidelity in the Final Fantasy series with each installment and Final Fantasy XVI is no expectation. From the detailed NPC models to the elemental special effects to the grandiose Eikon battles. Final Fantasy XVI felt like it was truly the first PlayStation 5 game that utilized the system’s capabilities to the fullest’s extent. There are the occasional slowdowns that dip below 30FPS even with the performance mode during the most intense moments of the game. However, Final Fantasy XVI is an incredible and beautiful game with gorgeous set pieces and a stunning art direction that is visualized.
Final Fantasy is also a series known for its iconic score and music with its talented composers and XVI follows the series’ tradition of having a range of soft emotional ballads to bombastic operatic orchestrated pieces during boss battles to ambient soundscapes that serve well as overworld background music. And of course, there are rearrangements to the series’ staples such as the prelude and main theme. The music within FFXVI elevates and heightens the impact of each scene and composer Masayoshi Soken captures the dark fantasy tonality of Final Fantasy XVI. Resulting in some of the best themes in the series’ collection that can rival classic songs.
Final Fantasy has always been a series that evolves and changes its gameplay. From the early action time-based combat to more experimental approaches to gameplay in the later titles. XVI is no different by introducing a new combat system within Final Fantasy. XVI has the typical elements of action RPG combat such as a standard melee and magic attack, precise dodging, and jumping. However, the most unique element with XVI’s combat compared to other Final Fantasy games and even other action RPGs is the Eikon system. Each Eikon is based on the series’ summons such as Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan. By equipping these Eikon, the playable character, Clive, gains a different element to use in battle according to the Eikon such as fire, aero, and stone.
The full potential of XVI’s combat system can be unlocked within the skill tree. By gaining ability points such as defeating enemies and completing side content, there can be different Eikon movesets to unlock, upgrade them to increase their attack potency, and eventually master them so the player can assign the ability to any Eikon, even if the element isn’t matching. As the story progress, more Eikons will be unlocked, giving the player a wider toolset to use to customize their Eikon loadout and experiment with different combos for optimized stagger and damage output. Not to mention, at some point in the game, the player gains a limit break gauge as well that makes Clive immune to death and increases his attack power and speed.
Beyond the combat, the only other gameplay aspect to XVI is stat increases every time Clive level ups as well as gaining new equipment such as swords and accessories to increase strength, defense, and stagger. The equipment can also be crafted and redefined for increased stats as well. While it’s quite shallow compared to other RPGs, it’s effective and easy to understand and does not overly complicate an already refined battle system that can be satisfying to play.
Final Fantasy is always evolving in gameplay for better or for worse, however, the gameplay does not define the series, but rather it’s the stories it tells in each entry. While at the start of Final Fantasy XVI, the tone is a far cry from the rest since the series’ first M rating in a mainline entry allows the game to be very violent, gritty, and mature to match the typical properties of the dark fantasy genre. XVI paints a grim view of the world of Valisthea, divided between six nations that have a magic system that uses crystals to perform magical abilities. And those that do not require crystals are enslaved as Bearers and treated as sub-human, As well as those that can transform into an Eikon, are referred to as Dominants.
Final Fantasy XVI starts off with the main protagonist, Clive Rosfield, that loses everything he once knew and his home of Rosaria due to a coup d'etat performed by the Holy Empire and spends the next 13 years of his life as a Bearer soldier for the Empire and filled with rage and hatred. And this is just the first 2 hours of a 35-hour main adventure with its unexpected twists and turns in every direction. The start of the game is very reminisced of Game of Thrones, but as the story progresses, it naturally evolves into a tale that is more than worthy of the title of “Final Fantasy”.
Final Fantasy tales is about warriors of lights defeating evil and darkness plaguing thier worlds to bring dawn for a better tomorrow and XVI is no different from the rest. Final Fantasy XVI becomes a beautiful tale about the sheer willpower of the human spirit even in a dying corrupted world and breaking the cycle of inhumane treatment and the burdens of magic, even if that means tearing down everything the people of Valisthea knew. Thus it marks the final cycle of a cruel, miserable fantasy. Between the subtle references from past Final Fantasy titles throughout Clive’s adventure and XVI sharing many themes from classic games, Final Fantasy XVI is a dear love letter for the series’ fans on what it means to be Final Fantasy while still having its own unique, modern spin.
Going from the hopeless despair found in dark fantasy at the start to themes of hope, change, and resistance is a massive leap in tonality and one could wonder how to achieve such a drastic change without being jarring and Final Fantasy XVI achieves this very naturally and organic thanks to the expansive world building and character development Cilve and his allies gain. They struggle and fight onwards through even the most daunting challenges. With each threat more sinister than the last, Clive and his allies continue to build strength to resist.
Final Fantasy XVI is also a very heartfelt and emotional tale about the love of Clive for his dearest companions and learning to accept himself for who he is and what he can do. Throughout XVI’s story, the player witness the strong bonds Clive forms and how he will do just about anything for them. Such love is so precious and tender, I’ve personally cried and shed tears in a handful of scenes and I almost never do that when I’m experiencing a story.
What can serve as the peak and cumulation of Final Fantasy XVI is the dramatic and cinematic Eikon battles that occur often in the main story and it blends together its gameplay and story into one interactive, immersive battle. With its intense visuals that push the PlayStation 5 to its limit and grandiose, triumph soundtrack. These battles create a powerful jaw-dropping impressive display of action and momentum that just manages to outdo itself every single time especially when the high stakes of the main story just increase more and more.
On top of its thrilling and epic main story, one of the greatest aspects of Final Fantasy XVI is the side quests. Each side quest expands on Valisthea and its six nations with details not found in the main story as well as personal quests with your allies that create a chance to bond with them stronger and get to know their history and motivations. The side quests can range from getting a clearer idea of the manmade horrors of Bearer treatment to giving children hope to pursue thier dreams to protecting a village from monsters.
However, as the game progress, the side quests become more involved and feature characters in the main story with their own trials and tribulations, they have their own mini-story in the span of a side quest chain. These stories match the overall grim state of the world and sometimes they can end tragically but they also reinforced the theme of unity and bringing people of all life of walks together to stand strong against the most immediate threats that will affect everyone. Not to mention the side quests flesh out and builds upon lore and world-building found across the game.
Final Fantasy XVI is a very dense and intricate tale with various terminology, characters and locations to follow through and sometimes it can be quite difficult to comprehend every detail the game throws at you. However one of the most brilliant inventions for narrative-heavy games is the active time lore system. Holding down the touchpad at almost any given moment will present the player with the most relevant information currently happening on screen. It’s a great way to refresh on certain topics and it’s always updating based on the events that occur and even lists small details that weren’t directly explained on screen. The ATL entries are also stored within an NPC in the hub location, so lore explanations are never missable and could be easily reviewed as well.
Another brilliant and excellent way Final Fantasy XVI hammers on with its complex world-building is The State of the Realm. By accessing this NPC, the player can view current relations with every major character across Clive’s allies and those that are under the six nations as well as the relations for each major story event that has occurred in the past. There is also a map that visualizes the movements of each major party across the continent and the events that occur at a certain location. Between the ATL and The State of the Realm, Final Fantasy XVI is one of the best games to educate and reinforce lore and world-building in a story with its dynamic tools to help the player understand the narrative from different angles and approaches.
Hunts are another side activity the player can eventually engage with by going to the hunt board and speaking to the Moogle next to it. These monsters rank from C to S based on strength and difficulty and the hunts test and challenge the player’s combat skill and how well they understand the fundamentals of the Eikon system. While it’s fairly easy to understand, the hunts prove it’s a hard system to master since it is very dependent on knowing what each Eikon ability you are equipped with what can the player exactly do, and how to chain them together in a specific way for optimization. The hunts are a great way to get the most out of Final Fantasy XVI’s gameplay. However, it would be ideal to access the hunt board on the main menu rather than just at the hub location since it can be difficult to memorize where each monster is approximately located.
For all of the greatness and amazingness Final Fantasy XVI achieves with its story, gameplay, and presentation, it is not free of flaws. Towards the end of the game, there are a number of plot holes that is unexplained or contradicts the game’s established logic. They are minor but notable enough. Also, quite a few main characters do not develop as much in comparison to others or had their character arc ended too soon and just stagnated as a character afterward. Not to mention the aforementioned occasional performance hiccups and the hunt board's lack of accessibility. However, for every flaw the game has, it’s easily overshadowed by how much Final Fantasy XVI does amazingly well with its theming and story execution.
Between the emotional, heartfelt main story about fighting for a better tomorrow in a harsh, violent dark fantasy by experiencing Clive’s journey, the well-executed and smooth battle system, and its deep lore and world-building expanded with its side quests. All while having some of the series' best scores and utilizing everything the PS5 is capable of to create these cinematic over- the-top Eikon battles that really capture the energy and spirit of Final Fantasy XVI. It just as well be one of the greatest games of all time and Square Enix’s best effort of displaying what it means to be a Final Fantasy game down to the core. Final Fantasy XVI is a generation-defining game that will have the same renowned legacy as Final Fantasy VII and X over time. Final Fantasy XVI is the reason why anyone should pick up a PS5 and experience such an epic and legendary tale of hopes and dreams that only Square Enix can visualize.
Many people believed Final Fantasy XVI will be a far cry from the series’ origins based on all of the pre-release information. From the Devil May Cry-inspired action combat to the gritty, mature dark fantasy setting influenced by Game of Thrones. Fans of the series doubt the game’s integrity despite beloved Final Fantasy XIV director Yoshi-P serving as the producer of the game, but ultimately Final Fantasy XVI subverted all expectations and become the greatest love letter to the series’ roots in all of the best ways possible while still maintaining its’ own identity. Final Fantasy XVI is one of the greatest games that achieve its grand scope of blending cinematic narrative and gameplay to tell its tale of resisting the cruelty of the world with pure human willpower.
The first thing that can be noticed about Final Fantasy XVI is the game’s visuals. Square Enix has always been a game developer that pushes visual fidelity in the Final Fantasy series with each installment and Final Fantasy XVI is no expectation. From the detailed NPC models to the elemental special effects to the grandiose Eikon battles. Final Fantasy XVI felt like it was truly the first PlayStation 5 game that utilized the system’s capabilities to the fullest’s extent. There are the occasional slowdowns that dip below 30FPS even with the performance mode during the most intense moments of the game. However, Final Fantasy XVI is an incredible and beautiful game with gorgeous set pieces and a stunning art direction that is visualized.
Final Fantasy is also a series known for its iconic score and music with its talented composers and XVI follows the series’ tradition of having a range of soft emotional ballads to bombastic operatic orchestrated pieces during boss battles to ambient soundscapes that serve well as overworld background music. And of course, there are rearrangements to the series’ staples such as the prelude and main theme. The music within FFXVI elevates and heightens the impact of each scene and composer Masayoshi Soken captures the dark fantasy tonality of Final Fantasy XVI. Resulting in some of the best themes in the series’ collection that can rival classic songs.
Final Fantasy has always been a series that evolves and changes its gameplay. From the early action time-based combat to more experimental approaches to gameplay in the later titles. XVI is no different by introducing a new combat system within Final Fantasy. XVI has the typical elements of action RPG combat such as a standard melee and magic attack, precise dodging, and jumping. However, the most unique element with XVI’s combat compared to other Final Fantasy games and even other action RPGs is the Eikon system. Each Eikon is based on the series’ summons such as Ifrit, Garuda, and Titan. By equipping these Eikon, the playable character, Clive, gains a different element to use in battle according to the Eikon such as fire, aero, and stone.
The full potential of XVI’s combat system can be unlocked within the skill tree. By gaining ability points such as defeating enemies and completing side content, there can be different Eikon movesets to unlock, upgrade them to increase their attack potency, and eventually master them so the player can assign the ability to any Eikon, even if the element isn’t matching. As the story progress, more Eikons will be unlocked, giving the player a wider toolset to use to customize their Eikon loadout and experiment with different combos for optimized stagger and damage output. Not to mention, at some point in the game, the player gains a limit break gauge as well that makes Clive immune to death and increases his attack power and speed.
Beyond the combat, the only other gameplay aspect to XVI is stat increases every time Clive level ups as well as gaining new equipment such as swords and accessories to increase strength, defense, and stagger. The equipment can also be crafted and redefined for increased stats as well. While it’s quite shallow compared to other RPGs, it’s effective and easy to understand and does not overly complicate an already refined battle system that can be satisfying to play.
Final Fantasy is always evolving in gameplay for better or for worse, however, the gameplay does not define the series, but rather it’s the stories it tells in each entry. While at the start of Final Fantasy XVI, the tone is a far cry from the rest since the series’ first M rating in a mainline entry allows the game to be very violent, gritty, and mature to match the typical properties of the dark fantasy genre. XVI paints a grim view of the world of Valisthea, divided between six nations that have a magic system that uses crystals to perform magical abilities. And those that do not require crystals are enslaved as Bearers and treated as sub-human, As well as those that can transform into an Eikon, are referred to as Dominants.
Final Fantasy XVI starts off with the main protagonist, Clive Rosfield, that loses everything he once knew and his home of Rosaria due to a coup d'etat performed by the Holy Empire and spends the next 13 years of his life as a Bearer soldier for the Empire and filled with rage and hatred. And this is just the first 2 hours of a 35-hour main adventure with its unexpected twists and turns in every direction. The start of the game is very reminisced of Game of Thrones, but as the story progresses, it naturally evolves into a tale that is more than worthy of the title of “Final Fantasy”.
Final Fantasy tales is about warriors of lights defeating evil and darkness plaguing thier worlds to bring dawn for a better tomorrow and XVI is no different from the rest. Final Fantasy XVI becomes a beautiful tale about the sheer willpower of the human spirit even in a dying corrupted world and breaking the cycle of inhumane treatment and the burdens of magic, even if that means tearing down everything the people of Valisthea knew. Thus it marks the final cycle of a cruel, miserable fantasy. Between the subtle references from past Final Fantasy titles throughout Clive’s adventure and XVI sharing many themes from classic games, Final Fantasy XVI is a dear love letter for the series’ fans on what it means to be Final Fantasy while still having its own unique, modern spin.
Going from the hopeless despair found in dark fantasy at the start to themes of hope, change, and resistance is a massive leap in tonality and one could wonder how to achieve such a drastic change without being jarring and Final Fantasy XVI achieves this very naturally and organic thanks to the expansive world building and character development Cilve and his allies gain. They struggle and fight onwards through even the most daunting challenges. With each threat more sinister than the last, Clive and his allies continue to build strength to resist.
Final Fantasy XVI is also a very heartfelt and emotional tale about the love of Clive for his dearest companions and learning to accept himself for who he is and what he can do. Throughout XVI’s story, the player witness the strong bonds Clive forms and how he will do just about anything for them. Such love is so precious and tender, I’ve personally cried and shed tears in a handful of scenes and I almost never do that when I’m experiencing a story.
What can serve as the peak and cumulation of Final Fantasy XVI is the dramatic and cinematic Eikon battles that occur often in the main story and it blends together its gameplay and story into one interactive, immersive battle. With its intense visuals that push the PlayStation 5 to its limit and grandiose, triumph soundtrack. These battles create a powerful jaw-dropping impressive display of action and momentum that just manages to outdo itself every single time especially when the high stakes of the main story just increase more and more.
On top of its thrilling and epic main story, one of the greatest aspects of Final Fantasy XVI is the side quests. Each side quest expands on Valisthea and its six nations with details not found in the main story as well as personal quests with your allies that create a chance to bond with them stronger and get to know their history and motivations. The side quests can range from getting a clearer idea of the manmade horrors of Bearer treatment to giving children hope to pursue thier dreams to protecting a village from monsters.
However, as the game progress, the side quests become more involved and feature characters in the main story with their own trials and tribulations, they have their own mini-story in the span of a side quest chain. These stories match the overall grim state of the world and sometimes they can end tragically but they also reinforced the theme of unity and bringing people of all life of walks together to stand strong against the most immediate threats that will affect everyone. Not to mention the side quests flesh out and builds upon lore and world-building found across the game.
Final Fantasy XVI is a very dense and intricate tale with various terminology, characters and locations to follow through and sometimes it can be quite difficult to comprehend every detail the game throws at you. However one of the most brilliant inventions for narrative-heavy games is the active time lore system. Holding down the touchpad at almost any given moment will present the player with the most relevant information currently happening on screen. It’s a great way to refresh on certain topics and it’s always updating based on the events that occur and even lists small details that weren’t directly explained on screen. The ATL entries are also stored within an NPC in the hub location, so lore explanations are never missable and could be easily reviewed as well.
Another brilliant and excellent way Final Fantasy XVI hammers on with its complex world-building is The State of the Realm. By accessing this NPC, the player can view current relations with every major character across Clive’s allies and those that are under the six nations as well as the relations for each major story event that has occurred in the past. There is also a map that visualizes the movements of each major party across the continent and the events that occur at a certain location. Between the ATL and The State of the Realm, Final Fantasy XVI is one of the best games to educate and reinforce lore and world-building in a story with its dynamic tools to help the player understand the narrative from different angles and approaches.
Hunts are another side activity the player can eventually engage with by going to the hunt board and speaking to the Moogle next to it. These monsters rank from C to S based on strength and difficulty and the hunts test and challenge the player’s combat skill and how well they understand the fundamentals of the Eikon system. While it’s fairly easy to understand, the hunts prove it’s a hard system to master since it is very dependent on knowing what each Eikon ability you are equipped with what can the player exactly do, and how to chain them together in a specific way for optimization. The hunts are a great way to get the most out of Final Fantasy XVI’s gameplay. However, it would be ideal to access the hunt board on the main menu rather than just at the hub location since it can be difficult to memorize where each monster is approximately located.
For all of the greatness and amazingness Final Fantasy XVI achieves with its story, gameplay, and presentation, it is not free of flaws. Towards the end of the game, there are a number of plot holes that is unexplained or contradicts the game’s established logic. They are minor but notable enough. Also, quite a few main characters do not develop as much in comparison to others or had their character arc ended too soon and just stagnated as a character afterward. Not to mention the aforementioned occasional performance hiccups and the hunt board's lack of accessibility. However, for every flaw the game has, it’s easily overshadowed by how much Final Fantasy XVI does amazingly well with its theming and story execution.
Between the emotional, heartfelt main story about fighting for a better tomorrow in a harsh, violent dark fantasy by experiencing Clive’s journey, the well-executed and smooth battle system, and its deep lore and world-building expanded with its side quests. All while having some of the series' best scores and utilizing everything the PS5 is capable of to create these cinematic over- the-top Eikon battles that really capture the energy and spirit of Final Fantasy XVI. It just as well be one of the greatest games of all time and Square Enix’s best effort of displaying what it means to be a Final Fantasy game down to the core. Final Fantasy XVI is a generation-defining game that will have the same renowned legacy as Final Fantasy VII and X over time. Final Fantasy XVI is the reason why anyone should pick up a PS5 and experience such an epic and legendary tale of hopes and dreams that only Square Enix can visualize.