There are two kinds of people who will read this headline: the patient who sees it and says “yes, haha, yes!” And tired people saying “oh please, no”. But I’m here to tell you that, actually, it’s not as bad as it sounds. final fantasy 16 A real effort has been made to ensure that its narrative is tight, exciting, and fun–even if you’ll sometimes sit there with your hands off the mat for minutes and minutes at a time.
Producer Naoki Yoshida (who you might consider the voice and creative force behind Final Fantasy 14) seems to know that people aren’t happy with the way Final Fantasy 15 was released, and are somewhat disappointed; some parts of it feel incomplete , and the story is only really rounded out and properly told through DLC episodes released in the years after the main game. Final Fantasy 16 is almost a direct response to that; an apology is Square Enix’s way of showing that it knows how to release a proper, grown-up game.
“One of the important things is to tell a complete story from beginning to end,” Yoshida said in an interview (via a translator). “At this point, we think we’ve nailed it. To facilitate this, there are over 11 hours of cinematic cutscenes alone, all seamlessly woven into the game and played in-engine in real-time.”
Elsewhere in the interview, I mentioned that the “sword and sorcery” combat at the heart of Final Fantasy 16 reminded me of a cutscene from Final Fantasy 8 where Squall and his team invade Galbadia Gardens, you see To a SeeD casting a fire spell in the background, then moving forward and attacking with a gunblade – in my mind, in combat, that’s how Final Fantasy 16 feels; this magic and melee is intoxicating The mix lives up to the promise of Final Fantasy.
“You mentioned that you could see, in this FF8 cutscene, this guy doing these moves, but you couldn’t actually do it. One of the things we focused on during the development of Final Fantasy XVI was , we didn’t want the cutscenes to have Clive doing something that you can’t do in the game. You always have these cutscenes where the character is doing all these awesome things and you’re like ‘Wow!’ and then you Going into the game, you can’t do anything … we hate that.”
These cutscenes look good. I can’t describe how impressed I was when protagonist Clive and companion Cid stormed the castle to confront Cid’s old ally — and Garuda, master of Eikon (read: summon). The trio has an intense confrontation, with a lot of destructive world-building that I won’t get into here. But when it comes to Cid’s own turn, Garuda’s face breaks into a sneer—the crease on her nose deepens and extends to her eyebrows. It’s an astonishing level of facial motion capture, and the only time you can see the broken enamel is when she lifts her lips as she growls. Honestly, I wish there were worse pictures in Hollywood animation. I’m surprised that’s what we’re getting in the game now.
Backed by stunning voice acting (Cid yells “Nonsense!” in his broad Yorkshire voice when he’s ambushed by two flying enemies) and a cinematic, prestige TV-like director, you’ve got Cutscenes, they’re actually engaging and fun–not just some babble that has to happen in order to glue the gameplay pieces together.
“Each character’s background and motivations are unique, and each has its own unique storyline,” Yoshida says as he introduces us to some of the supporting cast. “While the main focus of the story is Clive Rosefield as he seeks revenge for his lost family and country, on his journey the player will witness the fate of many other players, or any number of other characters.” Well, this It does sound like a Final Fantasy story.
In all important respects, Final Fantasy 16 is an improvement on the storytelling of Final Fantasy 15 – and a reminder that, if need be, the series can deliver top-notch narrative that blends with gameplay in the most cinematic and appropriate way possible. One way. Final Fantasy 16 is back, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the finished product.
Final Fantasy XVI will be released on PlayStation 5 on June 22, 2023.
