Final Fantasy 16 has a lot going for it. In addition to returning to a more traditional fantasy world — eschewing the post-apocalyptic boy band aesthetic of its predecessor — the game seems to have a more serious tone, a world filled with political intrigue, and core characters with grizzly backstories, strong motivations, and unlikely name. By remembering what made the series great, Square Enix’s next blockbuster RPG could right the series’ recent wrongs.
But while the game returns to Final Fantasy’s retro roots in some ways, the game innovates in one place: combat. Early on in the game’s lifecycle, it was confirmed that Final Fantasy XVI would not feature turn-based combat–a staple of games before Final Fantasy XII. Instead, the action will focus more on real-time, player-directed sequences similar to what a player might find in, say, devil may cry 5.
It’s not just me pulling a name from an aerial juggling group to make a point. Final Fantasy 16 hired DMC5 combat director Ryota Suzuki to lead the game’s action. After fumbling around with Final Fantasy 15’s combat a bit and realizing that real-time and turn-based jerks aren’t really what the new numbered title in the series needs, Final Fantasy 16 is all about pulling the devil’s trigger and going all-in . I am very happy about it.
From what we’ve seen of the game so far, Suzuki’s remarkable talents are put to good use. The video below shows footage of Devil May Cry 5 with FF16 protagonist Clive in action (taken from the game’s earliest trailer). You can even see Clive “juggle” some enemies in the footage – one of the key combat tricks in the Devil May Cry game. YouTuber P44/GPRS managed to highlight which moves could be “inspired” from Devil May Cry 5, specifically from main character Nero’s move set, and showed their possible input in FF16.
It’s an educational watch that really highlights how action-oriented FF16 will be. That was before we saw those bombastic, massive summon battles we saw in the dedicated trailer (I think they’re more of Bayonetta’s massive scenes than anything particularly DMC, but we’ll see ).
So why am I bringing all this back? Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition (read; the best version of the game with a fully playable MYSTERY PERSON) is now available on PS+ at no additional cost for anyone with a Premium or Extra subscription. It’s a PS5-optimized version of the original and, at least from a technical standpoint, represents the pinnacle of the series’ stylish action to date. All this is made possible by the unlimited potential of the RE engine. If you want to experience a great demo of the combat in FF16, or want to show off your PS5 prowess (the game has next-gen features like ray tracing and enhanced 3D audio), you can do much better than check out this basic action Game Over . You can read our review of Devil May Cry 5 here.
Given that Final Fantasy XVI is being handled by the same in-house studio at Square Enix that made the earth-shattering Final Fantasy XIV MMORPG (developed by producer Naoki Yoshida and director Hiroshi Takai), the general consensus is that Final Fantasy 16 is that it’s going to be a good game. The team involved in Final Fantasy 15 is somewhat split: some continue to work on Forspoken – we’ll see how it lands next week – while others are isolated in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake mines. You can see the fingerprint of FF15 somewhere.
However, FF16 is an entirely different beast. It could end up being as different as Final Fantasy IX, somewhere between Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X–and that’s exactly what we need. The game is a throwback to a very different Final Fantasy era–a fantasy romp full of menace and action. If the game sticks to its landings, it could be the best single-player Final Fantasy game in years.