Bombastic, indulgent and extreme, Final Fantasy XVI pushes far beyond what I would have expected from an action-oriented Final Fantasy. It represents a pivotal shift for the series, as any semblance of turn-based turn selection, active timed battles, or anything else in its story has been abandoned in favor of a fast-paced, extravagant, combo-heavy combat system that has only grown robustly throughout my 60+ hour journey.
There is a linear action game in FFXVI, and it is the pinnacle of the experience. But standard RPG tropes, mechanics, and the game’s more open nature outside of story-driven dungeon quests put the brakes on an otherwise explosive story about gods, eikons, crystals, and the importance of free will. Still, Final Fantasy XVI’s highs are easily some of the highest in the series, and even in action games.
“The legacy of the crystals has shaped our history long enough,” is FFXVI’s slogan. It’s a topic talked about throughout the game. Narratively speaking, the protagonist Clive Rosfield and his band of outlaws, which includes Cid, Jill and many others who make up the excellent cast, are revolutionaries. In more ways than one, they aim to overthrow the pillars of Valisthean society that have grown stronger throughout history and seek to reshape life on the continent.
The story begins as a revenge story against a backdrop of slavery; In Valisthea, wielders, or humans capable of using magic, are enslaved, traded, and sold to whomever and wherever they are needed. FFXVI says nothing new or noteworthy in this regard; A failure that’s all the more glaring considering there are few blacks in the main cast of FFXVI. Inspired by medieval Europe, FFXVI’s biggest flaw is a majority-white cast that comments on and opposes slavery and the systems that perpetuate it, without insights or the kind of people in the real world who are often affected by slavery Representations received.
The story eventually drops that discussion and focuses on other, more general pillars of life in Valisthe that need to be overthrown. And this is where the story shines. Even if it is sometimes a little too close game of Thrones Inspiration to feel original, the voice behind these characters still lends itself to every beat and it works. Final Fantasy fans and fans of shows like Kingdom Hearts who love a dose of cheesy love in their stories (both romantic and platonic) will enjoy the flow of FFXVI.
FFXVI’s story is bolstered by a visual style that’s great at times, although there are areas I’m less impressed with or even disappointed with. NPC models, especially those of non-main characters, are often plastic and stand in stark contrast to the main cast. Performance mode struggles to hit 60 FPS, but even when it does, it doesn’t stay consistent.
FFXVI is stylized rather than realistic, very “medieval Final Fantasy”. When the visual parts, like the UI, environments, and flashy combat effects, merge, the overall visual presentation shines. However, sometimes it is difficult to see through everything and understand what is happening.
The outdoor areas are the least impressive. They’re large, but mostly unforgettable empty spaces apart from the occasional side quest, random treasure, or hordes of enemies. Its emptiness speaks to my biggest problem with FFXVI – it’s an excellent action game, but the same can’t be said for an RPG. There are dozens of crafting materials out there, and I can’t name a single one because crafting in FFXVI isn’t so much a system as it is a word. There are no weapons that make you work better The design or The – There is only the strongest weapon and it is obvious that you should craft it. And aside from some endgame weapons, you’ll always have the materials you need by completing story missions and the occasional side quest. The same applies to other pieces of equipment.
It’s the Eikonic powers where the RPG mechanics of FFXVI come into play. As Clive gains the powers of more Eikons throughout the story, he gains access to new abilities, allowing you to overhaul your build. I especially fell in love with my Phoenix-Garuda-Bahamut combo. Additional accessories reinforced this, such as one that reduced the cooldown on my Phoenix Heavy Attack by 12 seconds. But aside from those abilities and attachments, FFXVI is disappointingly linear for an RPG. Players who reach the credits will likely have access to most of the same weapons, attachments, and skills. It all comes down to how they are mixed and matched, reflecting playstyle diversity.
Side quests are almost always a variant of fetch quests. Talk to this person, go here, attack some enemies and come back to get your reward. And while that’s not always the case, many of them offer a surprising amount of dialogue and detail, and it’s usually a great read. Creative Business Unit III adds a quality of life feature that I’d like to see in every RPG – side quests with a plus sign on the marker mean that completing them rewards you with something beyond gil or resources. Using this marker, I was able to complete side quests that would eventually reward me with an increased potion supply, greater potion strength, and even a rideable chocobo.
Also, many of these side quests build on each other, and as these stories progress, I like how they breathe life into the surrounding world. That was a particularly welcome feeling given that Clive is embroiled in a war and FFXVI’s narrative spans decades. Seeing the world outside of Clive’s mission change visually and narratively over time adds seriousness to my actions.
However, the pacing and content of these side quests and really everything that happened outside of the main story quests just doesn’t compare to what the main quests do, and it makes them feel significantly slower and less exciting. I enjoy collecting new songs to play in my hideaway’s orchestration jukebox and stopping by the Loresman Harpocrates to learn new things about Valisthea, but these side activities often felt more like my duty of care than anything that I actually wanted to do.
Maybe that’s the point. Clive and the gang need some downtime after what they’ve accomplished in the story missions – mind you, missions that constantly amazed me and gave goosebumps down my arms – but the characters’ deserved downtime doesn’t mean it does is a welcome break for me. It’s not so much that everything that happens outside of the main story is routine, but that the work of Creative Business Unit III in these story missions is so awesome that I kept finding myself doing the best I could to rushed to next mission.
I’m not exaggerating when I say there was one moment in FFXVI, a boss fight that lasted what felt like an hour, that I would call my favorite moment in Final Fantasy, and even more so in all of gaming. It is unforgettable and shows Creative Business Unit III’s trust and control over the brand. That moment almost being surpassed by another later in the game speaks to the extreme highs of FFXVI, which accentuate the otherwise beautiful and predictably bloated lows of a Final Fantasy RPG.
These peaks are so high for several reasons. Creative Business Unit III has created my favorite action combat system to date. On the surface, it’s quick and easy to understand. But it has a lot of depth and how far you want to go with it depends on how willing you are to delve into the different systems. The addition of Eikonic abilities only makes the action more intense, and I found time-tested skill combos that I could rely on to stagger and ultimately defeat even the toughest of enemies. Controlling the Ifrit Eikon at certain moments wasn’t as varied as I would have liked from a gameplay perspective, but the spectacle surrounding those moments makes up for it.
Those familiar with FFXIV won’t find this surprising, but composer Masayoshi Soken’s FFXVI Score beats almost every element of the game. And I’m not saying that to dampen expectations of the game and what’s to come; I say this to raise your expectations for Soken’s score, which features new personal favorites in the extensive Final Fantasy catalogue. Weaving between smooth piano keys and powerful scene-enveloping chorus-tinged epics, Soken masterfully demonstrates several times throughout FFXVI’s run why he’s one of fan-favorite Final Fantasy composers.
After more than 65 hours of FFXVI, I still have a lot of work to do beyond the story and I’m glad my time with the latest version of Creative Business Unit III isn’t over yet. FFXVI has some of my favorite moments in modern Final Fantasy, but its lows threaten the pace at which they occur. I wish the various elements of FFXVI meshed more seamlessly. However, when I look back on my time with Clive, his friends, his enemies, and Valisthea, it’s those highlights that I remember vividly. FFXVI is very different from its predecessors, but is very familiar in many ways. And it’s still a Final Fantasy through and through, which reminds me why I love this series so much.
