Final Fantasy has been one of the most beloved franchises in the world due to the amazing lore, setting and characters. Final Fantasy XVI is upon us and a lot of people are excited for this new addition as Naoki Yoshida (known as Yoshi-P) turns up on stage as the producer of this upcoming game. Yoshi-P gets praised highly as he managed to lift Final Fantasy XIV (MMORPG) to new heights after its downfall at launch. Final Fantasy XVI could only benefit from his knowledge and understanding of the Final Fantasy world. Will Yoshi-P’s legacy continue to grow or crumble as he takes on one of the most promising-looking Final Fantasy games for PS5? Let’s find out!
Final Fantasy XIV starts the story in the world of Valisthea which is divided between six nations: Grand Duchy of Rosaria, Holy Empire of Sanbreque, Dhalmekian Republic, Kingdom of Waloed, Crystalline Dominion, and Iron Kingdom. This world is built upon the foundations of the Mothercrystals. These Crystals play a very important role in the lore of Final Fantasy. The Crystals produce aether energy which can be harnessed and used to prosper any civilization within the region. It provides wealth, fertility, and power for those who make use of this abundant energy. Fifteen hundred years before the story of FFXVI, a war was brought upon the people of Valisthea. It was a collapse between the biggest forces within the region with the help of powerful Eikons. Eikons are elemental creatures that can exist through aether energy. Within this world of Valisthea, there are dominant humans. These humans are born as a host for a specific Eikon and can draw upon the powers of the Eikon that resides within them. They are also able to transform into these Eikon-powerful beings to confront a greater threat. The people of Valisthea see these dominant humans as respected and royal. The plebs are convinced that only humans with a Royal Lineage are born with an Eikon influence. Only one dominant of each element can live among us, but it appears that this theory might be wrong. A second Eikon of Fire namely Ifrit appears and wreaks havoc among others to disturb the balance and order of the world.
“This is where Bearers and Dominants play a big part in the world.”
Each nation’s land is confronted with the Blight, a corruption that spreads across the land and threatens to destroy all natural life forms that they hold dear. It’s important to know that this blight also eradicates the aether that flows within this land. In other words, your land dies and can no longer be used to draw aether from, that can be used to perform magicks. However, how this sickness spreads and how it occurs remains in Mystery. This sickness is an important factor that drives politics between nations crazy because, with no Aether in their surroundings, life will drastically decrease. So nations are testing out the opposition and trying to take over the land of other nations.
This is where Bearers and Dominants play a big part in the world. These types of people can perform magicks without the use of Crystals. The only big difference between these types of people is the fact that the Dominant can change into one Eikon-influenced powerful being. Every nation sees these types of people as a force to be reckoned with, especially in these times when nations are declaring war against each other. Nations either dominate with Dominants or capture Dominants to gain benefits. You play Clive, one of Rosaria’s King’s sons. You are a bearer and devoted your life to protecting your younger brother Joshua who is the Dominant of fire, the Phoenix. Rosaria’s kingdom gets destroyed and Clive witnesses it all… He’s baffled that Ifrit, a second Eikon of fire, is responsible for the kingdom’s destruction. He goes out in pursuit to find Ifrit and gets his revenge. Of course, he soon finds out he’s got a bigger part to play…
“It truly makes you feel like you’re playing in a movie.”
The moment you boot up the game, you’re thrown into a rollercoaster of emotions that’s been represented by the highest form of cinematic gameplay scenes. If you weren’t aware that you’re playing a high-quality game, you would think you’re seeing a movie within the setting of Final Fantasy. The gameplay of Final Fantasy XVI includes fast-paced hack-and-slash action where you’re able to perform different fighting skills in combo with powerful Eikon power moves. You will get to parry enemy attacks, dodge incoming blows from menacing beasts, order your dog-wolf Thoral to sic opponents and eventually devastate the opposition with your godlike incarnation. Every move feels powerful and convincingly cinematic. To top it all off, you will also get some (quick-) time events to make the game feel like a movie instead of a game. By pressing the right button at the right time, you’ll be able to perform a cinematic Slash, cinematic parry, or even a cinematic dodge. I’m also putting the word “Quick” between brackets because the game gives you more than enough time to respond. It’s obvious that these events are having a more aesthetic focus than a gameplay mechanic but I do love it. It truly makes you feel like you’re playing in a movie.
As I previously mentioned, Final Fantasy is one big action-packed game and I’m not taking this lightly. You’re actually being thrown from one action sequence to another action sequence without too much “unnecessary” story-telling to get to a certain point. Don’t get me wrong, the way the story is being told feels streamlined as all of the most important factors are being told by fully-voiced characters. Which then again adds up to the cinematic experience and makes the story-telling fluent and immersive. Now, I can understand that this isn’t for everyone… Some players truly play Final Fantasy for the story, as the lore has so much to offer. The developers are aware of this and made sure you’ll be able to choose between an action-packed mode or a story mode. If you choose to follow the story mode, you’ll be playing an even more streamlined story as battles will be less frequent and the focus is being placed on the story. If you’re something in between, the developers have also kept this in mind. Some people want to play an FFXVI story but are aware that action-packed-styled games aren’t really their thing because of the difficulty level. The developers have also thought about this and that’s why the beginning of the game will give you the opportunity to set the difficulty level in a more immersive way. Let me explain… Most of the time, you’re given a choice to lower the difficulty level, based on your experience playing these types of games. This setting will make monster attacks less frequent and these attacks will take less from your life bar. Final Fantasy XVI will take this a bit in another direction… The game will also lower the difficulty level but they will also give you some items to keep your gameplay smooth. You’ll be given items that literally make you dodge automatically or that your dog- wolf Thoral will automatically give himself orders instead of you so that you can focus on your own attacks during battle. There is also an item that will automatically give you an (available) potion at the brink of death. At first, I felt that this was kind of like cheating, especially if you want to play the game as intended but I do have a feeling that this was in the most genuine way intended. Not all players are skilled to play a difficult action-packed game or don’t have the mental or physical capacity to approach the game as they want to. With these items/ options available, a broader amount of people will be able to enjoy the game. It’s all decision based, so if you don’t want to use the “helpful” items, you don’t have to but they are still available to use as they’re put in your inventory.
“So you’ll have to think when to use what kind of attack because…”
How do battles occur in Final Fantasy? You’ll be able to see the monsters during your playthrough in kind of like “instanced” zones. Final Fantasy XVI isn’t an open-world type of game but the world is divided into different play zones/ sections. All of these sections are big enough to explore and to grind for experience points, so it doesn’t bother me that the game isn’t open-world. Even in these instanced zones, they are filled with “opportunities” to explore, battle “extra” enemies, or take in the views but these instanced zones also give you the opportunity to go straight to the main objective. The sections are a controlled environment that still gives you the ability to make your own choices when playing.
So in these different zones, you’ll be confronted with different packs of enemies. These monsters are visible, so you’ll be able to either attack them straight on or avoid a certain path, especially if you don’t want to fight. These packs of monsters vary by type: you have smaller enemies like a wyvern, trolls, combatants, and wolves, … but also slightly bigger monsters like trolls, and harpies, … The mentioned enemies all have a stagger bar underneath their life bars. By attacking and countering enemies, you’ll deplete this bar. This bar is divided into two sections. If the first section is depleted the enemy is slightly stunned but will continue to fight onwards. This gives you a brief moment to power up certain attacks because of the light stun. If the whole bar is depleted, the enemy is completely stunned for a bigger duration of time. The monster becomes “staggered” and will be completely stunned. From the moment it’s staggered, the bar will slightly fill up again but during this time, the monster is more vulnerable to your attacks. In other words, when a monster is staggered, give it all you got. Some abilities or moves will help you deplete the stagger bar much faster. Normal attacks will chip off a bit of life and a bit of staggering but Eikon’s abilities will chip large chunks of stagger and a small chunk of life. So you’ll have to think when to use what kind of attack because the “stagger moment” is a very important moment as it can change the battle drastically.
“Clive, the main character, has the ability to absorb powers from other Eikons.”
You will also be able to dodge incoming attacks. If you do it at the right time, you’ll be able to perform a quick counterattack. This will also chip a larger part of the stagger bar. You can also parry incoming attacks but this is a bit more difficult. It’s definitely possible to parry certain attacks but you’ll have to really learn when to swing your sword as the parry window is very small. However, if you manage to parry successfully, you’ll slow down time to perform multiple attacks in a brief window. Another great thing to mention is the fact that the game tells you when to dodge. Especially with big attacks, every time the monster performs a heavy attack ( that can have multiple gameplay mechanics), you’ll see the title of the attack appear on the screen. This allows you to prevent a lot of damage as you’ll be able to react properly to these big attacks. Most big boss monsters will have these big kinds of attacks, the monsters mentioned before will have lesser heavy attacks and will be more easily evaded. The Cinematic strikes will also only be available during big boss monsters as they have a more aesthetic way to deal with a certain monster.
Talking about the battle mechanics, you’ll also have a range of Eikon abilities to use. Clive, the main character, has the ability to absorb powers from other Eikons. Without spoiling too much on how you gain these powers, you just have to play the game but I’m just giving you a heads-up that it’s possible. These Eikon abilities are linked to a certain element and you will have the choice of which element-specific ability you equip. Each Eikon element has 4 abilities to choose from, you choose 2 abilities from each element and equip them to the ability bar. It’s possible to attune yourself to a certain element ( with the specifically equipped Eikon abilities) in real time. In other words, these Eikon abilities offer the chance to perform multiple combinations of attacks. Some Eikon abilities will be preferred over others. I haven’t really found if the elemental Eikon abilities are better against certain enemies, so from what I’ve seen so far, it’s more a question of preferred combat style. All of these abilities, Eikon, and normal abilities can be upgraded to a better version. There will also be a moment where you can incarnate Godly powers and when you can use this OP power, you’ll also be able to see an extra section of bars underneath your life bar. When you use this power, you transform into an all-powerful elemental being that can unleash devastating attacks. The bars for this transformation will be filled up when dealing but also taking damage.
“The boss battles are a very exciting part of the game.”
During the battle, you also have control over the action panel of Thoral, your companion. You can unleash powerful attacks and healing abilities. Whatever you need at the moment. Most of the time, the dog will do its thing but it’s great to be able to control the actions of your dog. Some enemy attacks grey out your life bar instead of depleting it. This means that this grey-out area can be filled-up again with the healing ability of your wolf. You will also probably order more attacks when your enemy is staggered because these attacks will be a lot more powerful as these abilities get powered up from the staggering effect. The control panel of Thoral can be switched to an item panel. This item panel is mainly used to equip potions or offensive/ defensive tonics. These two panels give a bit more spice during battles as you’ll have to manage your dog and healing capabilities. I often forgot that I was in the item panel instead of the dog panel, which concluded in me using up my potions unintentionally. So keep an eye out!
Killing off packs of monsters will grant you crafting materials, Gill (currency), XP points to level up your basic attributes, and ability points to upgrade your normal/ Eikon abilities. Exploring the instanced areas, you’ll find items scattered around or even chests. These include namely Gill or crafting materials. Story Boss monsters give you items as well, but these are fairly limited. After a boss battle, you’ll be able to pick up some extra potions.
“I feel like my attacks aren’t doing much, even when I upgrade them.”
The boss battles are a very exciting part of the game. These big boys come at you with devastating attacks and it’s important to keep an eye out for the attack cycle of your boss. The boss will perform multiple big attacks, in other words, you’ll be able to see what kind of attack the boss will perform. This gives you a heads-up to position yourself better or perform preventing actions to take the blow. You can also tell that the boss battles take some inspiration from the FFXIV (MMORPG) game as you’ll have to take into account multiple action sequences. With every 1/3 of the health bar depleted, the boss will either switch up his attacks or add other attacks to its sequence. In other words, you’ll have to keep at it, if you want to be successful. Like any other game, boss battles differentiate in difficulty and action but nevertheless a joy to fight with it. I do have a bit of concern with the normal battles as multiple enemies feel a bit like sponges while battling them. I feel like my attacks aren’t doing much, even when I upgrade them. Of course, my level is mostly one level above the enemy’s level or the same, so maybe this influences the battle a bit.
With Gill you’ll be able to buy potions, crafting materials, tonics, orchestra songs, and amulets, … Not only can you buy items but you can also craft items at the forge. The forge can be found in “important” story-wise instances. The forge also allows you to upgrade a piece of equipment to heighten the damage of defensive attributes. Items range from your primary weapon to amulets, chest pieces, belts, and gauntlets, … Some items also boost specific Eikon abilities and you can only benefit from these boosts if you equip the specified Eikon ability. This makes it sometimes hard to fill in the slots of your Eikon ability wheel. It’s a good thing that you’re truly free on which abilities you use. The game stimulates you to get a playstyle that suits you best.
“The game has a feature called “Active Time Lore” which helps you understand the story a lot better.”
The game also has one of the most unique features that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s very simple and I (personally) find this groundbreaking, especially for people who have a weak mind like I do. The game has a feature called “Active Time Lore” which helps you understand the story a lot better. Final Fantasy has an abundance of interesting Lore and this game also has a lot of “new lore” to absorb. Sometimes when I play the game, I tend to zone out because of stress or progressing the events of my workday. There are many reasons to zone out and this feature helps me to get a grip on the storyline, even when I feel like missing “important details” of what has been told.
The Active Time Lore is a tool that can be accessed during cinematic storytelling by pressing the touchpad. If you press the touchpad, the game opens up the tool with different Lore bubbles as I call them. These lore fragments in the form of a bubble give you a bit more information on characters/ places/ events/ details that have been mentioned or will be mentioned during this story sequence. In other words, the Active Time Lore helps you with the background information that you might have missed throughout the main storyline. This has helped me so much, not only for parts that I might have forgotten but also just to verify that I heard certain parts right. Very simple tool and truly great.
“Graphically speaking, the game looks tremendously well.”
We have talked about the main story which can be completed under 40 hours, if you want to do all side quests, you’ll have a couple of 30 hours extra. The reason why you should do side quests is to get a bit more grip on the storyline or background lore that might strengthen the main storyline. You will also gain XP, Gill, crafting materials, or equipment that’ll help you move forward. These side quests are very helpful if you feel underdeveloped. That bit of XP or materials should do the trick to get passed a certain level. It’s also a lot more fun and interesting than to grind your way to the top, just by killing mob after mobs.
Graphically speaking, the game looks tremendously well. I do have to mention that I like to play my games with a steady FPS and that’s why I had to play FFXVI in performance mode. Even playing the game with fewer shaders, details, textures, … etc. The game still looks good, even great! I do feel like the game’s performance could do a bit better and I hope that in the future we will be able to tweak the technical side of the game ourselves. For example, I don’t like Motion Blur so it would be great if I could turn it off, even in performance mode. By tinkering with the technical sides ourselves, we can play the game as we want to and this will eventually get our hype up very fast. This of course is a side note, because the game looks great. The weird thing is that the game for 90 percent runs fluently and simply, but at some points (it doesn’t even have to be a moment that’s hard to render for the PS5) the game stutters a bit but thankfully not for long. It’s weird to think that these stutters exist because, after a Boss Battle, I’m often baffled by how great and fluent this boss battle ran. Nonetheless, it’s great to have the choice to play the game in performance or graphical mode.
“It’s amazing what sounds, atmosphere, and graphical presentation can do for a person.”
As a fan of the MMORPG- genre, especially Final Fantasy XIV, it was an even greater pleasure to play the game. In my opinion, the influence of Yoshi-P is definitely present in the game. How Boss Battles function and how they’re presented in these different sections of confrontation, is an example of Final Fantasy XIV’s influence. Even the soundtrack’s undertone fits perfectly into the world of Final Fantasy and there are some songs that wink towards the music of the MMORPG. Also, the way the story is being told, build-up and unfolds, just feels like I’m playing a different version of Final Fantasy XIV. I felt right at home. It’s amazing what sounds, atmosphere, and graphical presentation can do for a person.
The game also has some features to keep the player around after he/she finishes the story. As I said before, you’ll be able to do sidequests to fill in the gap between certain chapters or levels. There is also an arcade mode that lets you replay different boss battles or events again to get a combat score and time rating. It’s a feature that lets you improve your own skills in Final Fantasy XVI. It’s a great way to challenge yourself. There is also a new game plus mode where you’ll be able to re-do the story with all of your gear and abilities you might have collected to give the whole story a new playthrough but with a higher level of difficulty. If you don’t want to play throughout the whole story and just focus on the PlayStation trophies you still have to get, you’ll be able to replay stages instead of going through the whole process again. Combat encounters will also re-mix the monsters you’ll be facing. You can see this as an opportunity to get more in-depth with the combat system. The highest-difficulty end-game mode is the Chronolith Trials. The trials consist of 3 rounds of randomized enemies that will increase their difficulty with each wave that’s passed. The fourth round is a boss fight. These trials are timed and will have certain combos/ action sequences listed that can help you in retrieving time. Health can also be regained by activating a limit break.
Conclusion
Final Fantasy XVI is a must-have Playstation 5 exclusive. It’s the perfect game to pick up and get drawn into the Final Fantasy series as well as the capabilities of the PlayStation 5. There was a lot of hype for this game and I’m pleased to tell you that the game has been worth the wait! The game delivers on so many aspects that a lot of other triple-A games fail to even come close to a Final Fantasy XV has achieved. The standards have been raised and it’s a breath of fresh air. The story is qualitative and compelling to suck you right in. The way it unfolds and builds up keeps the player going. Just to find out a little more before you shut down the PS5… The game is action-packed with boss battles with unique mechanics and the freedom to create your own playstyle as a Bearer. Every type of player will be able to pick up the game and play the game as they want to, without certain limitations. It’s amazing to see that the developers are aware of the different broad spectrum of gamers. With this production, they’re literally saying to everyone: “Come and get a taste of the Final Fantasy world and play the way you want it!” These little details will definitely open up the franchise to others. Graphically speaking, the game’s a beast! It’s not only the technical side of things but also the way it’s represented. How cinematic scenes draw you in and make you sit on the edge of your seat. It’s an awesome cinematic experience that gives you the opportunity to really play a part in these epic moments. Is the game perfect, no but it’s very close. This game manages to deliver the hype. If you’re looking for that Final Fantasy fix of true fantasy, this will be the best choice.
9.5/10
tested on PS5
