Final Fantasy XVI
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: PlayStation 5
Release Date: June 22, 2023
Price: $69.99 USD – Available Here $114.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
Throughout the years the Final Fantasy series has undergone many different changes, with each new release bringing something new to the table. The series has shifted from turn-based, to active turn-based, action with cooldowns, and more along with different tones, settings, and even turning into an MMO. Final Fantasy XVI on the other hand has seen some of the most drastic changes in the series’ history and while many may have been unsure about the direction that Yoshi-P would be taking the game in its next numbered entry, these changes have actually produced an incredibly intriguing and action packed character action game that may move away from the JRPG formula but stands strong on its own merits.
Story
For as long as its residents can remember the land of Valisthea has been blessed by massive magical crystals called the Mothercrystals. These gigantic crystals are used to produce smaller crystals that let anyone use magic capable of living comfortable lives, though those that can innately use magic are treated as less than human and are treated as slaves with brands planted upon their faces. These Branded are abused throughout the continents of Ash and Storm to the point of horrific death though in the nation of Rosaria the kind duke Elwin has made sure to treat Branded humanely, a trait passed down to his sons Clive and Joshua who too possess magical abilities though of a far different nature.
Joshua was born with the power of a Dominant, a being capable of wielding incredible power thanks to an Eikon held within their body. Joshua is the Dominant of the Phoenix and although Clive was not chosen as a Dominant he is still capable of wielding some of the Phoenix’s flames himself. One night as the Rosaria family begins to prepare for their future, they are betrayed by a powerful force that sweeps through their camp, killing Elwin and forcing Joshua to transform into his Phoenix form to survive. As Clive watches in horror, an unknown Eikon known as Ifrit appears during the battle and slays his brother Joshua, leaving Clive the sole survivor who is captured and becomes a new Branded for the Empire. With his brother slain and family betrayed, Clive will do anything to seek revenge against those who took everything from him, even if it means surviving for years as a slave to find his chance. Though far more dangerous forces move throughout the lands of Valisthea that make even the grandest political schemes pale in comparison and Clive will find himself in the middle of a series of events that will change the land forever and put the fate of humanity in his and his allies’ hands..
Final Fantasy XVI tells a grand tale filled with intrigue, plenty of complicated nations that are even further divided by certain factions moving within their borders, a detailed world history, and plenty of little twists and turns surrounded by epic battles on a massive scale that while we can’t go into detail, must be said reach some rather ridiculous levels of detail to the point of being some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in a game. The tone is decidedly darker than most titles in the series and isn’t afraid to show it as brutality is on full display as enemies and other sinister forces inflict pain on the world and especially on those that Clive would call allies. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t some room for levity as there are a few moments of comedy mixed in, primarily thanks to a few relatives that appear in the second half of the game, but players will need to be prepared for a darker story where innocents die for no reason, are killed for sport or as a warning, and much worse as well as a number of other darker themes.
The actual plot of Final Fantasy XVI is also quite detailed as players will initially follow Clive’s journey for revenge as he seeks out the one who killed his family and destroyed his life but not too long after players will begin to unravel a continent spanning tale of powerful machinations, betrayal heaped upon ambition, and a far darker force pulling the strings from behind the scenes. These developments have some great fore-shadowing and while a few twists aren’t as surprising as the writers may have liked, in fact a few are quite obvious including a character that anyone familiar with Game of Thrones will notice has been lifted near wholesale in their motivations as well as numerous other elements blatantly used as reference in the early half of the game, there are a number of shocking events that happen throughout the game as well as plenty of incredibly emotional moments that hit home quite effectively. It is also worth noting that, while the game features a massive cast of characters, it keeps it’s core focus tight with a small group of characters close to Clive that receive plenty of character development and lore that is explored throughout the course of the game, making any scenes they are part of all the more impactful.
One thing that was mentioned when Final Fantasy XVI was in development was that it offered an in-game glossary and while this isn’t anything new for a large RPG, the idea that players can access it at any time including during cutscenes, was. Active Time Lore, or ATL, is a feature that allows players to hold the game’s touchpad during cutscenes and map exploration to pull up a compilation featuring all of the important characters, locations, and even concepts that are currently being discussed in a scene. The game’s writing does use this as a bit of a crutch as there are only a few readable notes throughout the game, minus missives that Clive can receive, and a few concepts aren’t explained through actual dialogue and are only detailed through the game’s glossary. The ATL updates incredibly frequently, sometimes updating from sentence to sentence in a cutscene and offers a great way to not only have in-depth information about any location, faction, or situation but also stay on top of things when numerous factions begin making moves against each other. It also helps expand upon even minor NPCs, giving players a reason to care about their plight, especially when they appear occasionally throughout the course of the player’s journey.
Outside of the main storyline the side-quests that players can undertake in Final Fantasy XVI are also mostly worthwhile. These side quests expand upon the world greatly and show not only the nature of the populace but also some of Clive’s allies as well. In fact, many side characters receive some extensive development throughout side quests that they would otherwise not receive in the main storyline, meaning the real reward for many of these is actually for the story since the objectives are generally generic and rewards are usually awful. These quests may appear in a trickle near the beginning of the game, players will find quite a lot to take on in the second half. That being said, while the title does warn players that there is a certain point of no return near the beginning of the game, Final Fantasy XVI does lock side-quest progression for long periods of time in the latter portion of the game as well with no warning. This means it is entirely possible to be stuck with a number of pending side quests for a long period of time and, since there is no free roam once the game is completed, players will need to make sure they finish everything before heading to the finale.
Gameplay
Over the last few entries Final Fantasy has been shifting away from turn-based combat to the point that their most recent entry barely featured such elements but now Final Fantasy XVI has completed the transition entirely as the game has now shifted entirely into being a character action game with fast paced combat fueled by a flurry of combos, air combos, dodges, skills, parries that slow down time, and of course titanic fights of epic proportion when it comes to boss battles. Players will find themselves battling with only complete control of Clive as they make use of his standard ground combo, air combo, and ability to blast standard magic spells at a distance. Depending on the Eikon he has equipped Clive’s spell element will change and so will his movement skill with Phoenix allowing Clive to zip in close to deal damage, Shiva to dodge and freeze an enemy, Garuda to either grab and pull smaller enemies close to him or stun larger foes that are already partially staggered, and much more with each of the Eikon’s that he has equipped also offering two changeable skills that he can use that depend on cooldowns. While Clive can obtain seven different Eikons throughout the course of the game, he can only have three equipped at a time, swapping between these three on the fly during a fight.
While standard enemies can be defeated with ease simply by using combo attacks and special Eikon skills, larger enemies will feature a stagger gauge. Dealing damage, dodging and executing counter attacks, and hitting enemies with skills will deplete their meter and leave them staggered when it is broken. When an enemy is staggered players will be able to build up a damage multiplier the more hits they land, meaning the first blow may only deal an extra 1.05 damage while some final blows can max out at 1.5. This leads to some rather fun optimization as players try to time their skills properly to make the most of using fast hitting weaker abilities first before laying waste to an enemy with a powerful long cooldown spell to make the most out of a staggered damage boost.
There is a certain level of skill and optimization available in every fight and it must be said that Final Fantasy XVI‘s combat just feels incredibly smooth and fun to use. Perfectly dodging an attack to counter an enemy with a charged blow that sends them flying, zipping into the air after them and punishing them further is always a delight and makes for some excellent action gameplay that isn’t too deep but has plenty of room for complex combinations. Eventually players will gain the ability to “Limit Break” in Final Fantasy XVI which allows Clive to enter his “part-Primed” state with his Eikon. While in this mode not only does Clive restore health but also deals faster attacks with increased damage. The limit break gauge works the same as a certain series’ Devil Trigger except when canceled it burns the entire gauge. It is a bit disappointing that all skills related to buffing or debuffing are completely gone from the player’s skill set as only enemies will make use of buff spells and elemental damage types play zero factor into damage, such as flame enemies taking just as much damage from fire spells as ice. This lack of deeper complexity is a disappointment especially given the series’ RPG lineage.
Most of the time players will not be fighting alone and while the various NPCs that fight alongside Clive cannot be directly controlled, one that will almost always be alonside him can be given some commands and that character is the trusty wolfhound Torgal. Players can make use of the D-Pad to swap from their quick item use menu to Torgal’s commands and have him cast light healing, zip in to deal damage, or even work as a launcher that will send weaker enemies flying into the air giving Clive plenty of room to take them down with juggling skills. It is worth noting that those who want an easier and flashier experience can also make use of a number of accessories that make combat easier or offer some quality of life elements. These can be things such as making time slow down to allow for easier dodging to having Torgal fight on his own without the player giving him commands. Since players only have room for three accessories, these assistance items will make it so players cannot use others that provide stat boosts or reduce ability cooldown but, since most only offer minor boosts, they aren’t missing out on much.
Boss battles in Final Fantasy XVI are another beast entirely. While many may feature standard battling mechanics for part of a fight, they almost always evolve into massive scale battles that would put nearly any other big monster fight to shame. Combat in Eikon battles is simpler as players only have access to standard combo chains with two skills coming way too late into the game to be enjoyed. Since boss battles are treated as cinematic affairs, not only do they often feature a wide array of quick time events such as cinematic clashes, dodges, and strikes but even button mashing segments to provide extra flair. Unfortunately this cinematic nature does hurt combat sometimes as players can easily “out damage” a fight’s progress meaning they will deal no actual damage to the boss until enough time passes, though they will receive damage all the same. In one instance this led to a death that otherwise would have been completely avoidable if the boss wasn’t invulnerable for nearly a minute for dramatic flourish.
Now, it is worth noting that the RPG elements and exploration in Final Fantasy XVI is incredibly simple. As mentioned before players can only equip up to three accessories at a time and equipment boils down to Clive’s sword, armor, and one piece of extra gear. Players can use skill points obtained from fights to upgrade and master various Eikonic abilities, with a no cost reset being available for ease of customization, but otherwise players have very few options to actually customize their character outside of their skills. Exploring the world is incredibly basic with there being no real incentive to do so as chests offer pathetic rewards, usually in the form of crafting ingredients of which there is very little of worth to actually craft to the point I was hitting the item limit of some ingredients, and the linear levels that players travel through offer little in the way of unique monsters with the game quickly recycling the appearance of standard enemies with slight differences for each region with a number of signature enemies unique to Final Fantasy not being in the game.
What unique monsters are available are highlighted through a “Hunt Board” manned by the game’s only Moogle that gives clues as to where a special monster may be fought for a reward that often can only be used to craft an item that will quickly be overpowered by the next sword sold through the game’s main store. Town exploration is rather simple, with towns being small and featuring crowds of people with extra bits of ambient dialogue that change as the game progresses but, other than to take on side-quests, offer little else to do as all shops not in the player’s main hideaway are useless. As mentioned before, the side-quests’ true rewards are the story they unveil as actual gameplay involving these quests is very basic. They nearly all boil down to either talking to certain characters or killing an enemy somewhere in a field with the reward often being more crafting ingredients and renown. Renown can be accrued to obtain extra rewards such as new accessories and some quests even provide a boost to how much Clive’s potions heal or even how many he can carry, something that is essential as the starting amount is incredibly small.
Sadly outside of the aforementioned side-quests and hunting board, there is very little else to actually do outside of the main quest. Players will find that there is a combat trial option to test their abilities, a time attack mode that can be unlocked with extra challenges that limit what skills and equipment Clive can use that have small rewards, and a replay mode that allows players to go back through stages they’ve already beat to fight and obtain actual style points or gain extra XP and skill points, though even standard gameplay will see players out-pacing enemies by several levels. Once players complete the game Final Fantasy XVI does offer a New Game Plus option including a higher difficulty level that raises the level cap, unlocks the ability to obtain the game’s legendary weapon, and adjusts enemy and boss positions to spice things up for those looking to dive back into the game with their already powered up Clive.
Visuals & Audio
Final Fantasy XVI is a gorgeous game straight out. Players will find that not only are character models incredibly detailed but the special effects for everything ranging from the simplest Eikon skills used in combat to the epically bombastic boss battles are just amazing to watch. Seriously, some of these boss fights had cinematic segments that were simply unbelievable for a video game. That being said, it is best recommended to play the game in quality mode rather than in performance mode as quality mode at least tries its hardest to lock the game’s frame rate to a consistent state with only stacking large scale spells having any sign of slowdown. The same cannot be said about performance mode and while Square Enix did release a patch that was meant to address these issues, slowdown is still a frequent occurrence that is quite noticeable during even simple battles against normal enemies, let alone the Eikon boss battles. As such it is best to simply enjoy the graphical fidelity and consistent frame rate over performance mode.
With Final Fantasy XVI Square Enix developed the game primarily for the English dub and it shows as the English voice cast both sound amazing and fit their roles perfectly here. The soundtrack deserves some truly special praise as well as the game features such a wide array of music ranging from tender tunes for emotional moments to bombastic sounding music, including vocals sometimes, for the larger than life Eikon fights. Music played during exploration and standard fights flow together wonderfully and even the Chocobo riding music has returned. Final Fantasy XVI‘s soundtrack may just be the best one of the year at this point and easily the best that the series has ever had.
Overall
Final Fantasy XVI tells its epic by taking series lore in an entirely new direction and its use of ATL makes keeping up with Clive’s intricate journey a breeze. With such a gripping narrative, the game’s lack of worthwhile side content and minimal RPG mechanics may disappoint many but in its place comes an action packed combat system that is simply incredible and stands as one of the best feeling character action games in memory. Combine this with some of the most drop dead gorgeous cinematic clashes and an orchestral soundtrack that stands as one of the best in series history and Final Fantasy XVI stands out as an incredible action game with some growing pains.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
