Square-Enix has had a number of interesting releases this year. Star Ocean The Second Story R (review here) shocked pretty much everyone and before that it was Final Fantasy XVI, which is what you’re here for. Now, you wouldn’t expect a AAA title from a major studio to catch you off guard but that’s exactly what Final Fantasy XVI does. The last few mainline releases in the Final Fantasy series have been polarizing to say the least. XV was a uniquely modern take on the franchise’s direction and the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy was somehow both too linear and too open at the same time, leading to a host of complaints from some corners of the gaming community. But Final Fantasy XVI is something different.
If you managed to entirely avoid spoilers up until now (like some of us), you had no idea that the series was moving back to its fantasy routes in a big way. XVI introduces us to Clive Rosfield, a prince of the country of Rosaria but passed over as heir because his younger brother is able to control Eikons (basically Espers if you’re an old Final Fantasy fan like some of us). Now, let’s just say that Clive steps into the thick of it and things go pretty wild from there on out because unlike some other Final Fantasy releases, XVI is basically a giant 30 hour movie with some impressive plot twists and storyline. The narrative is the star of the show here and it’s witty, compelling, emotional, and intense in turn. It’s not a stretch to say that Final Fantasy XVI is possibly the best written game in the entire series.
It would be genuinely criminal to tell you much more than that about the storyline of Final Fantasy XVI but suffice it to say you’re going to be riveted for almost the entire duration of the game. Many of the sidequests are a bit weak but we’ll get to that. The main point is that this is a plot and dialogue driven game and also that Cid is the absolute bomb. There are chocobos and moogles and plenty of other recognizable things here as well, but this is a fascinating story told through an over-abundance of cinema sequences so complex that it’s a bit surprising there’s no movie that accompanies the game. Be ready for noticeably extended scenes that delve deeply into both character histories and motivations and you won’t be at all disappointed.
This is also a surprisingly adult game with repeated and vigorous use of profanity, surprisingly violent imagery and complex moral quandaries that leave the characters themselves confused as to which side they should be on. Not everything is black and white in Final Fantasy XVI and just as in real life, you’ll have to consider who to help and why they want that help in the first place. Even though this is a fairly linear experience, players will have to choose whether or not to help various villagers and NPCs and how to react to some situations. The script itself parallels real life with a variety of situations including slavery and bigotry in various forms and the world of Valisthea is better for it, seeming to become a fully-realized world in many aspects.
With the plot running the show, it’s important to ask what gameplay brings to the table in Final Fantasy XVI. This is not your standard FF game either. Instead of turn based menu management, Square-Enix has shaken up the status quo considerably, giving FFXVI an active combat system with combos roughly akin to Devil May Cry. Naturally the timing and complexity isn’t the same and you’re not out to S-Rank anything but you get the idea: three-dimensional combat with a variety of enemies and a fair number of powerful magic combos. Not only is Clive an absolute bruiser in battle but he can wield some magic as well, making him a powerful threat to the villains of the game. If you’re thinking you’ll just sit, chill, and fight a few enemies, you’re barking up the wrong tree though because FFXVI forces you into some pretty hairy combat with enemies that take every advantage they can. Learning the ins and outs of the battle system and how to use your abilities is crucial to survival and if you don’t learn at least a few basic combos, you’ll be in big trouble.
Things aren’t just about simple combos though. You’ll need to find, forge, and upgrade equipment as well or risk being underpowered and you collect points through side missions and combat which allow you to learn new special attacks and master existing ones. With the game being designed primarily around maintaining the momentum of the story, grinding for gil (Final Fantasy money) and upgrading weapons takes a backseat as well and these systems feel somewhat underdeveloped compared to previous entries in the FF series. You’re not going to spend near as much time in menus as you do in, say, Star Ocean Second Story R and this design choice creates a much more focused experience in Final Fantasy XVI. Aside from scrounging treasure and bits to forge with by fighting optional enemies in the open areas between story segments, you honestly won’t be spending much time in the menus other than to check maps, upgrade abilities, or look at stats if that’s your thing.
What we have so far is a dark medieval fantasy version of Final Fantasy with action-based combat and minimal menu systems. At this point, it’s genuinely hard to think of Final Fantasy XVI as a Final Fantasy at all. At the same time, that’s kind of the purpose of the franchise at this point – shattering boundaries and expectations. You never know what a Final Fantasy will be like because they’re only tangentially linked and there are no hard and firm rules for the design. That’s both a blessing and a curse for Final Fantasy XVI however. Shifting to action based combat is an effective change but it disrupts expectations for traditional Final Fantasy players. But the combat itself is not simple combat and it requires players to take a very active role in the fight as opposed to selecting a menu option and watching what happens.
This is the first area where Final Fantasy XVI fails a bit. Not entirely as it’s a spectacular game, but certainly the combat choices are frustrating. Major boss fights are wars of attrition between Clive and the enemy. You’ll have to use the R1 button to dodge attacks, strike with the face buttons, and set off combos that are detailed in the menu system. This leads to a fair bit of button mashing however and that’s very much not what Final Fantasy has been traditionally about aside from the online games in the main series. Some of the boss fights are particularly grueling and you can only hold 4 regular potions and 3 high potions in total, meaning that you’ll be down to your last iota of health in some of the toughest battles unless you master Clive’s move repetoire. Doing things just right will preserve health but you have to be extremely attentive in FFXVI or you’ll be dead from even weaker creatures. This approach to combat certainly won’t appeal to everyone but it does streamline battles and combat is entered and exited nearly seamlessly with negligible load times.
In fact, most of the game is fairly seamless and load times are rarely more than moments at the most, expanding the feeling of a fluid and moving environment and making the narrative feel even more cohesive. Shifting from combat to story to open world and back with very few interruptions really makes Final Fantasy XVI feel next generation in a way that few other games have managed effectively. Here’s where we encounter our other major failing, motion blur. This is a spectacular looking game; one that you’d expect to look good. And look good it does! Even in 1080p, the visuals are rich and highly detailed, at least most of the time. But when you’re in an open world area of the game and you move the camera, be prepared for significant motion blur. Grass, trees and buildings turn instantly to a muddled visual soup until the camera stops moving. At that point, everything jumps instantly back into focus. It’s a somewhat realistic representation of most people’s vision but at the same time, blurry visuals look terrible and it’s hard to visual reference points while turning if everything is blurry.
This blur issue carries on into cinemas and combat as well. Combat is a high-speed jumbled mess and while it’s mostly clear where you’re at and what you’re doing, occasionally you can get lost in combat and struggle to orient yourself. Not great if you’re under siege from all sides by a horde of enemies or a powerful one is tearing you limb from limb (figuratively). In cinemas, sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s going on from moment to moment, especially when the action is particularly heated, leaving you with barely enough time to enjoy the various landscapes before they have blurred by or been destroyed during the battle. It’s hard to say why this much blur was incorporated into Final Fantasy XVI but the simple fact is that sometimes things are crisp and gorgeous and others they are blurry and muddied, especially when things get hectic.
Visuals themselves are utterly spectacular however. Final Fantasy XVI is Square-Enix at the absolute pinnacle of their game (no pun intended) both for design and visuals. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the extensive cinemas detailing Clive’s exploits. Close up shots show realistic emotions, detailed expressions, and highly compl3x backgrounds, all moving crisply with no artifacts or issues. You can even see Clive’s pores, which is pretty wild. Nothing else looks even remotely like FFXVI and that’s remarkably impressive. The menu GUI is easy to use and incredibly clear as well and the creature designs are simply fantastic, even if the monsters do start to be a hair repetitive after a while. There really isn’t anything to complain about visually in FFXVI unless your complaint is that you don’t get to enjoy some of the spectacle of the game long enough in the heat of combat. That’s not to say that everything looks perfect in FFXVI however. Most notably, water effects and physics are lacking and the occasional stream or wetland that you walk through without impacting the water visually is distracting and limits the immersion of the game from time to time.
Masayoshi Soken (previously composer for Final Fantast XIV) composed the soundtrack for Final Fantasy XVI and his expertise makes this one of the best mainline entry soundtracks in a long time. The tracks are complex and varied and the music is so good that you’re going to want at least a download of the soundtrack if not a physical CD set. It’s really that good. Sound effects are also excellent here, with suitable bold monster sounds, atmospheric effects and subtle background sound. The voice acting is also top notch and there are no irritating characters that make you want to turn the voices off. If the cinemas were part of a major Hollywood studio production they couldn’t really have better voice work than what’s seen here and the actors’ portrayals of individual characters (Clive, Cid, Jill, etc.) are nothing short of masterful.
There’s really only one other minor sticking point for Final Fantasy XVI and that’s the maturity of the game. Yes, this is a dark fantasy game but at the same time, the amount of swearing in the game means that it’s inappropriate for younger audiences. If you have younger kids, the language and casual violence are likely too extreme for some children and characters are casually run through with swords with ichor everywhere on a regular basis. In short the violence level is significantly higher than previous entries in the series, creating a sort of soft entry barrier for younger players. That’s kind of a shame but the plot wouldn’t work for younger audiences anyway as both plot and dialogue are too nuanced and complex. This is no SNES Final Fantasy, that’s for sure.
There are also two versions of the game to buy, the standard edition and the deluxe edition. There was some controversy with this when the game released this summer as the digital deluxe edition comes with a digital mini artbook and a digital mini soundtrack. That’s honestly more than a bit insulting for the extra $20 you’re spending. The physical deluxe at least comes with a steelbook case and a cloth map, justifying the extra expense but there’s really not much incentive to buy the digital deluxe to be honest. The standard edition should do just fine now that the preorder bonus content initially available with the game’s release is a thing of the past.
There’s no question that Final Fantasy XVI is a stand-out title of the year and should probably be up for at least a few honors at The Game Awards. This is JRPG storytelling at its best with a powerful story, skilled delivery and pacing and knockout graphics. There are definitely some design flaws such as button mashing, motion blur, and notably adult content that keep this from being the perfect game but it’s pretty darn close and anyone that’s even remotely a JRPG fan should be checking it out. Square-Enix have outdone themselves this time, creating an all new Final Fantasy experience that will wow new fans and old hands at the series alike with its unique designs, flashy cinemas, and excellent plot. In short, Final Fantasy XVI is absolutely not to be missed.
This review is based on a digital copy of Final Fantasy XVI Deluxe Edition provided by the publisher. It was played on a 55” Sony 1080p TV. Final Fantasy XVI is exclusive to the PS5 at this time, though a PC port has been announced.
Nate Van Lindt has been a gamer since the days of yore (aka Commodore 64), and has played a bit of virtually everything out there. He's also an avid comic book collector, both vintage and current, and reads a fair amount of sci-fi and fantasy. On top of that, he watches a fair number of movies and TV shows as well. Oh, and he has a family, a full-time job, and lives somewhere in the urban wilds of Southwestern Ontario, Canada, foraging for old video cables and forgotten game soundtracks.