Final Fantasy XVI - PlayStation 5

For me, Final Fantasy XVI is a kind of return to form for Square Enix and the main numbered FF games. While SE has had some great games come out in remakes and sequels like FFVII Remake and XIII-2 and XIII LR, the main numbered games have kind of…sucked since X was released…on the PS2. Final Fantasy really saw its best games in X, IX, VII, and VI and really have not returned to form since these games. For me, while not perfect XVI is really the first game that made me excited and wanting to play the game rather than just get through it since X. As always, my reviews are divided into 3 categories; Story, characters, and gameplay with story getting the most weight. Spoiler free for the most part Story: 9.5/10 Is this the best story I’ve ever played? No. But it was a great story. You start off as Clive who is a shield/protector of his young brother who will inherit the throne of his kingdom. However, the story quickly turns into a revenge story as Clive is an outlaw and is striving to make the world a better place, while discovering a vast conspiracy that could doom the entire world. I feel like the first half of the game seems to drive a bit more and is a bit more engaging but the beginning of the story does a great job of building a fantastic interesting world that keeps you invested through the entirety of the game. The story is a MUCH more mature take of a typical FF story and I appreciate that. Darker in tone, graphic in delivery, I was in this story from the beginning and the game did not let me go. This is not the BEST FF story, but it’s the best in 20 years. Characters: 9/10 While the story was great, the characters were almost equally as good. For the first time in two decades, the FF team made a main line FF that actually had an interesting main character who I actually wanted to play as. XII had no main character (I pretend it’s Balthier as he was the only interesting one), XIII’s was boring, and XV was just an emo sad boy. XVI finally saw Clive who had character development, a growth arch, and someone you actually had empathy for and interest in. XVI was a bit different in that you didn’t have a huge cast of side characters to who shared in the focus. This story is told through Clive’s eyes and from Clive’s perspective. Nonetheless, the side characters were, were really good with some outstanding ones that surprised me. Cid’s character was nothing short of amazing. He is an instant crowd pleaser who is extremely relatable and interesting. Even some of the smaller characters who had little screentime, were extremely well done. Gav was hilarious and I enjoyed his story. We were able to watch him grow throughout the story and see Clive and his relationship really blossom. Otto was very relatable and you felt his emotions. Even characters like Blackthorne and Mid were ones that I enjoyed seeing and hearing about. The various villains even had great stories. Kupka was a fantastic villain. Well written and well developed. Clive’s mother was also a villain that you loved to hate. The only let down for me (and it’s slight) was Jill. She had a great backstory. But she felt kind of…bland to me? I think more could have been done with her to be honest. Still, the characters of this game were some of the best I’ve seen from a FF game in quite some time. They don’t hold up to the casts that we had in VII and X but a good cast nonetheless. The character exploration of Otto I thought was a really nice touch for a small character in the grand scheme of things. Oh..and did I mention you have a pet dog? And he’s awesome? Yeah…can’t go wrong with a pet dog. Gameplay: 7/10 This is where the game falls off the most. So I’m going to rant here but first the positives. I love action games. While FFX is my favorite game of all time, the God of War series (especially the Norse games) and Arkham games are way up there too. So I appreciate some of the changes FFXVI took with this. FF never sits on it’s laurels and is always looking for ways to change things up. I’ve never been a huge fan of the whole stagger system that they’ve employed but I feel this is the best version I’ve seen of it. Being able to have so many different abilities is fun. I love the whole hideaway base of operations they’ve created. This game also employs one of the better hunt systems in any of the recent games. And all in all, regardless of the next paragraph, the fight system was interesting enough for me to not lose interest and kept me wanting to play. Now to the bad. While I appreciate that they tried something different with the gameplay, I don’t like what it ultimately ended up being. They tried to make it into an action game (not even sure it’s an RPG at this point) but it falls short of all of the other action games that have come out recently. Games like God of War and Spiderman just blow this thing out of the water when it comes to gameplay. At the same time, I found myself missing some of the staples of FF. Casting Firaga on a group of enemies and leveling up one of party members to be a healer is just completely lost here. You play as one guy with a few rotating side characters that never seem to die in combat. They are invincible it seems and only serve to make the combat even easier. The combat is just too….easy. I know you can beat the game and play it on a harder mode, but I’m not the type of person that wants to play a game, beat it, and then turn around and play it again. So playing it on the hardest mode I had the option to play was still just a breeze. If the story and characters had not been so good, there just isn’t enough on the gameplay to keep me playing. There was also no character customization. No “hey I really want my character to be a super strong swordsman so I’m going to up my damage/ability points here”. No you just get general stat increases as you level up. The only thing you can customize is your special abilities and only a little. Clive cannot be a healer. Clive cannot be a mage. Clive can only be what SE wants him to be. The recent FF’s have all suffered from boring, uninspired sidequests..and unfortunately FFXVI is no exception. While I will say they are better than FFVII remake, the sidequests are little more than fetch quests or kill quests. The loot is meaningless for the most part, save a few. You don’t need extra experience or ability points because the game is already a bit too easy. And the vast majority of them don’t really do much for the story. I do kind of feel the graphics were a bit of a step backwards for this game. The characters seemed stiff and the expressions were minimal. At times the environments could look muddy and bland. There were certain points that this game was honestly comparable to FFXII when it comes to graphics. *Echoes of the Fallen* I really enjoyed this DLC. It’s short. Not sure it’s worth the 10 bucks but I enjoyed it. I wish the main game had side quests like this. Big, multi-hour quests that you could really sink your teeth into. It is kind of disappointing you had to pay 10 bucks to get something like this BUT I did think it was a good addition and gave you a lot of insight into the fallen. *Rising Tides* I liked this DLC. New area. Beautiful visuals. Access to new eikons. A couple of really nice boss fights. For $20 bucks I think it's probably a little steep for what you are getting here. I would have liked more lore, and maybe more exploration of Jill. I think there was an opportunity here to really expand on the story but it didn't happen. Nonetheless, probably the best sidequest in the game. Overall 9.25/10 Overall this is a great game. The gameplay is really where the game struggles. It’s too easy. It doesn’t have a clear identity. There is no character customization. Clive is Clive and you will play as the Clive that SE wants you to play as. But my gripes about gameplay are not enough for me to rate this game too poorly because everything else is fantastic. The story is really good. Maybe it’s because the story of the last several main entry games has been so bad? But I feel like XVI got the story right. While the cast of characters don’t play as big of a role as some of the other FF’s like VII, IX, X and this is more of a one man show, Clive is finally the main character we’ve been waiting for. You feel his anger. You empathize with him. You understand him. The side characters are all very well done and at times just as interesting as Clive. Overall this game is excellent. Is it the best ever? No. It has it’s faults but it has a great story and a cast of characters you are invested in.

I bought this game back in February and over the next couple of months I would 100% this game to completion and I would complete both of the DLC expansions. This is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best games I've ever played in my life. Everything about this game I absolutely adored. The graphics were phenomenal and breathtaking. The gameplay and combat was engaging and satisfying and badass. The soundtrack was perfect and is one of my favorite soundtracks from any video game I've ever played. Every song in this game is memorable and hits. The story and the characters had me locked in and truly made me care about what was happening. Clive and Jill are legit the best couple I've seen in any video game. The fight scenes had a sort of anime-esque feeling to it in every single positive way. The big bombastic boss fights in this game are some of the best I have played in any video game and are some of the best in the whole industry. This is one of the few games where I truly felt like I was playing a " next-gen experience". The fact that it didn't even get nominated for game of the year is absolutely baffling and it was definitely robbed. Completing this game's story made me feel empty. It wasn't that I was disappointed in the ending. Far from it. But because I was so sad to see it end. The journey that this game took me on was an emotional one that I will never forget. And hot take, I think this is the best Final Fantasy game ever made. And the expansions? ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!100% you should buy it. The expansion pass which includes “Echoes of the Fallen” and “The Rising Tide”, is only $25. Both of them are absolutely amazing and are MORE than worth $25. You won't regret buying it. And OMG how can I end this review without talking about the voice acting. The voice acting in this game is some of the best in the entire industry. Ben Starr, who is the English voice actor of the Main protagonist: Clive Rosfield, is AMAZING. To say that he knocked it out of the park is an understatement. The amount of passion that he brings to the table can't be ignored. His performance in this game is up there with people like Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan. When ever a scene requires him to give it his all, he gives it all AND MORE! It doesn't feel like an actor just acting a character reading lines off a script, he literally transforms into Clive's Character and it 100% shows. Even during emotional scenes where Clive is talking, he is able to make his voice sound shaken and on the verge of tears to truly immerse you in the scene. But its not just him, Everyone else who is in this game brings their A game to acting and do a terrific job. I will say though. Just play this game in quality mode. The performance mode in this game is just terrible in my opinion. It goes down to like 720p and probably doesn't reach any over 45 FPS. But the poorly optimized frame rate mode can't really make me take down any points from it. I just played it in quality mode and I had a phenomenal time. Hopefully they update the performance mode for it to be more stable but for now just stick with the original quality mode. 20 out of 10. Definitely worth every single penny. It's worth it when it's at full price and especially worth it when it's on sale.

I loved playing the old Final Fantasy games on PS1 & PS2, especially FF9 & FF10. Moving from turn-based to action RPG was a bit of an adjustment for me but once I got used to it the game was great. As with all the FF games I've played, the story was awesome and the characters have depth. Clive is one of my favorite protagonist of all time. I did a couple playthroughs and thoroughly enjoyed the game & the story. Definitely worth my time.

Nothing like other Final Fantasy games I played before. One of the things I'm thinking now is "why I haven't played this game before?" The battles, the music, the story, think about a mix of FF and put some of GOT in it. The Eikons battles are truly epic! And the music timing is terrific, I don't know how the developers decided this approach, but they sure made a gem of a FF game, this is one of those games that takes a special place in my memories. Totally worth it!

It took me a moment to truly appreciate this game,I had just finished playing Tears of the Kingdom and jumping from a very open experience to a liners one took a bit of getting used to. I was under the wrong impression thay FF16 was open world so kt took me off guard when I found the opposite. That being said, I still gave it a chance and im so glad I did. Some of my most favorite games of all time didn't click with me instantly, and so was the case with this one. Final Fantasy 16 harkens back the series' core while still adding a refreshingly new experience. Avid fans will recognize music motifs from older titles interwoven into the new tracks in a beautiful way. The music of this game is incredible and deserving of the Best Music VGA(I hope it's nominated!). We also get to explore the crystal them of the games in a brand new and unexpected way that I had never seen in the crystal-driven stories from previous titles. The world building is very solid and I adore how crystals are integrated into every day lives like drying clothes using wind magic or keep fish fresh using ice magic via crystals. It's a simple detail but it breaths so much life into the world and you don't usually see how magic affects every day lives in games. I've been enjoying the gameplay so much. It's not an ultra challenging experience but that's ok. Not every game needs to be a soulsborne to be good. The game makes up for this by letting you replay stages to get ranks based on how well you performed and there are difficulty modes available for new game plus players and for the challenges or so I am go understand. I am yet to play challenges so I'm not sure how it works, been focusing on the main campaign and side quests first. The story is amazing, deep and fresh. I've been loving the narrarive of this game, and the linearity really strengthens the storytelling. The side quests start out feeling like filler but quickly become into informative and impactful world building moments. I'm in the endgame segment and I'm loving every moment of this game. One of my favorite games of all time, and in top 5 Final Fantasy titles. A true attestation to how games don't need to be open world to be great, and how linear games shouldn't be frowned upon.

80 hours on action difficulty. Final Fantasy is not a franchise I’ve ever been interested in. So how did FF16 end up on my radar? It caught my attention because it seems to be a departure from the previous turn-based combat, and it was nice to try a game that had ZERO souls-like DNA! — Is the action-oriented combat an upgrade over the turn-based combat? As I alluded to in my opening paragraph, I tend not to play turn-based games; they’re a bit too “slow” for my taste. For me, it’s a massive upgrade because the combat was the best part of the game! It’s fast, frantic, and over-the-top fun! If you’re not a fan of action games, don’t worry because there are plenty of options to slow things down for you if you choose. — Is there a party system? I understand that was a big part of the older games. However, that isn’t the case here. Well, sort of not. You’ll rarely fight alone, and you’ll usually have at least one other person with you. With that being said, you can’t give them commands, so they’ll be left to their own devices. I’m not sure if you can choose your companions in the other games, but you definitely can’t here. — Is it too easy? In a nutshell, yes. I rarely felt like I was in any real danger. The game is very self-aware, and to combat this, they made the enemies really tanky — especially the bosses. The main character’s health bar is gigantic, and there are plenty of health potions. The game gets a little trickier towards the end, but still not all that bad. I think they should have made the harder difficulties available from the start. — Are the boss battles as “eikonic” as I hear they are? I’m not sure I’ve ever played a game where the boss battles were this much of a spectacle! They’re simply FANTASTIC!! It feels like you’re part of a box office movie where one minute, you’re the main character Clive, then the next, you’re controlling this massive Eikon! Granted, while some of these fights are a bit on the long side, they’re never ever boring. — Is the side content engaging? This was the only boring aspect of FF16. By and large, the side content wasn’t very memorable. A ton of fetch quests and other nonsense. I forced myself through them because of the XP. The only redeeming quality was a special set of side quests that opened up towards the middle of the game. I won’t spoil anything, but they were enjoyable. — Are there too many cutscenes? Before playing the game, I read there were 11 hours' worth of cutscenes. Like, wow… This is usually a turnoff for me. To my surprise, I really enjoyed these. They were engaging, and there’s a feature where you can pull up a synopsis at any time during the cutscene. If you get burnt out, you can skip them. I had a great time with this game, and it surpassed my expectations. I thought the pacing was top-notch, and I looked forward to every main mission. I can’t speak to whether or not die-hard fans of the franchise should play this because I’ve not played the older games. However, you can 100% enjoy FF16 without having played the other games. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown; you’re up next!

This is my first FF game and I felt disappointed at first, the scenes were too long. However, I gave it a chance and it kept getting better and better until I realized that it was a masterpiece. I still think the cut scenes are very long and I wish there was more gameplay, but overall I really liked the story, the medieval environment, the epic music, the medieval fantasy feeling, dragons, magic, fights, armies, drama, honor, brotherhood, etc. This game has all of that. Definitely an amazing game.

Story had me on the edge of my seat.