Final Fantasy is one of gaming’s most well known and storied franchises. Nowadays, it’s not often that we get a new mainline entry in the series with the last coming seven years ago. After such a long wait, Square Enix has brought the mainline games back to the forefront with one of the most exciting entries in the series yet in Final Fantasy XVI.
Let’s jump right into the shining achievement of Final Fantasy XVI. The game absolutely nails the scope and scale that it’s aiming for. From the onset when you see the first Eikons Titan and Shiva and their epic battle at the beginning of the game, you know the game is going to be something special. Then, when you actually get to fight the Eikons in battle, Square Enix has shown what grand, epic boss fights can be. From the scale to the differing combat in each fight to the incredible music there is nothing that can compare in games today to what Final Fantasy XVI is able to achieve on that front.
The combat system in Final Fantasy XVI is definitely a highlight of the game as well as it moves the series into a more action focused experience. Clive’s basic attacks and magic may feel a bit repetitive and button mashy at times, and magic itself doesn’t feel too useful as no enemy has an elemental weakness. However, once you unlock your Eikon abilities and start mixing those into your combos, combat takes on a whole new level with what you can do. You are able to equip three separate Eikons for Clive to use in battle with each having two different abilities to use, though each has four you can choose from. Though, as you upgrade Eikon abilities you are able to assign different ones to different Eikons. This allows you to mix and match which abilities you want to use and pair them to which Eikons you like using the most. Thus, allowing for a plethora of different ways to tackle any battles you encounter on your journey.
The story of Final Fantasy XVI follows Clive Rosfield throughout three distinct eras of his life. Though, the majority takes place during the third era which is longer than the first two combined. The story itself is an absolutely riveting and compelling tale of politics between warring nations, the concept of free will, and saving the world from an ecological disaster all while sinister machinations happen in the background. I was thoroughly enthralled throughout my 60+ hours with the game. The only real problem I had with the story was some early cutscenes linger a bit too long creating awkward moments before jumping back into the game as well as facial animations can be a bit lackluster when dialogue is happening outside cutscenes.
With so much going on in the story, Square Enix implemented one of the best mechanics for any in depth story called Active Time Lore. At almost any point in the game, you can hold down the touchpad on your controller and it’ll bring up a menu which displays important characters, places, and events happening at the moment. These are updated as the game progresses with more details and can be viewed any time at your hideout if you missed them. Thus, if you forget something or someone you can easily find all the information you need.
Then, you have the characters. Clive is an excellent protagonist and feels like a more fleshed out version of what they wanted from Noctis in Final Fantasy XV. Clive’s journey go from one of vengeance to one of shouldering the burden of saving the world feels well earned. Plus, you have Clive’s closest confidants in Jill, Cid, and Gav who each shine throughout the story with them all having important moments at some point in the story. There are way more characters than you could imagine in this game, and almost all of them have an impact from the other Dominants to side characters like Charon the merchant and Blackthorne the blacksmith.
While the main story and the quests surrounding it are excellent, the quests that happen in between those feel inconsequential. You can go from these intense and grand scale story moments to meager quests that feel so out of place with what’s going on in the story. The same can be said for most of the side quests in the game. The majority of the 70+ side quests in the game are bland with very little story. There are some side quests that have interesting stories and connect you more to the side characters you meet through your adventure. However, most of these side quests are locked to later in the game due to how the story is structured. There are a few that progress throughout the story, and it’s nice to see the impact of doing an earlier side quest on the world while you wait for the next part to unlock, but these are so few and far between.
The biggest fault many are sure to find with Final Fantasy XVI is the lack of actual RPG elements in the game. Final Fantasy is one of the biggest RPG franchises ever, yet there are many modern games that feel more RPG-like than this game. There are only three slots for armor and weapons and then 3 additional slots for accessories, and almost all of these feel underutilized. Weapons and armors have no unique stats or abilities, thus you are only switching these to see your attack and defense stats go up as you get stronger ones. Accessories mostly just provide damage boosts or reduce the cooldown for Clive’s Eikon abilities. Then, there’s crafting, a core mechanic in any RPG, which feels completely pointless with how much crafting materials you get. You’ll only ever really need to craft something when there’s a new sword or piece of armor which has higher stats than your current one.
Final Fantasy XVI is an excellent experience overall. From the captivating story and top tier combat to the beauty of the world of Valisthea and epic scale and feel of boss fights, Square Enix continues to show why the Final Fantasy series is one of the most beloved franchises. While the game has some faults, especially when it comes to the RPG aspects, Final Fantasy XVI is still an absolutely incredible experience that anyone who is a fan of the franchise or action games should give a go.
Score: 9 out of 10
Reviewed on PlayStation 5