Final Fantasy XVI - Thoughts

This post is a re-publish from the original, which is currently only available to paid subs. I wanted to re-publish this particular post because there’s an actual method to my madness with the order in which I play games. This also gives me more breathing room to get a backlog of posts done. So, enjoy this free post if you aren’t a paid sub!

---

Final Fantasy XVI is the 16th and most recent entry in the long running Japanese RPG series as of the time of this writing. Released on June 22, 2023, on the PlayStation 5, the game takes a much more action-oriented approach as compared to its predecessors, something more akin to Devil May Cry. The game has received generally favorable reviews across the bigger review outlets and sold very well despite Square/Enix stating that the sales numbers weren’t quite as high as they would have liked.

I just finished the game, and I have quite a few thoughts.

What I Liked 😃

Story

The absolute best thing about this game is the story. Reviewers online will compare the story to that of Game of Thrones, the wildly popular HBO series based on the George R. R. Martin fantasy novels. While FF XVI does have a darker tone and can be gory and everyone speaks with a British accent, that’s about the end of the similarities. This is a Final Fantasy story chalk with crystals, larger than life beasts and monsters and mythical creatures. There are Chocobos and a lot of the other requisite nods to the Final Fantasy series. What makes the story great and is probably why the Game of Thrones comparison is apt, is the sense of grandiosity, high stakes and the themes explored. The story touches on subjects of discrimination, greed, the disparity between levels within a caste system, relationships between siblings and friends and, of course, religion. Some topics are in your face while others are more subtle. But they all blend into a really interesting plot that I was engaged with throughout the entire game. There’s so much here that it would take paragraphs and paragraphs to explain all of it. And it would be spoiler-y so I will stop here and just reiterate, the story is wonderful.

Characters

However, the story would be a bit of a miss if there weren’t really good character portrayals. Fortunately, FF XVI has some really likeable and interesting characters. Clive Rosfield is the main character of this game. He is part of royalty, and we get to see his story from the moment he is about 15(maybe?) to his late 20s/early 30s. He’s a guy who loves his brother and would do anything for him. But he is led to believe that someone killed his brother and so goes on a bit of a revenge mission. However, things are not what they seem. I will not spoil anything here because those reveals were part of what made things to interesting. Suffice it to say, Clive goes on a bit of a rollercoaster ride, trying to understand who he is and how he fits into the world. Clive isn’t the only great character though. There’s Cid Telamon who is the leader of an “outlaw” band of misfits. He is one of the coolest characters in gaming. He looks cool and has a really gravelly British accent that makes you want to know more about this guy. Joshua Rosfield is Clive’s brother and is a Dominant (someone who can become a classic summon from previous Final Fantasy games) and can become The Phoenix. Joshua has his own arc that is more centered around protecting Clive and figuring out what drives the main bad guy. There are some NPC characters that aren’t as fleshed out or interesting and we’ll get to that when I talk about what I didn’t like. But overall, the main players are great, and I just want to know more about them.

image: Los Angeles Times

The World

Alas, the plot and characters would be missing something if there wasn’t an interesting world to live in. Yet again, fortunately, the world of Valisthea is so visually striking that there were some moments that I took a break from moving the story to look up and around at everything. This is partly due to the absolutely stunning graphics in the game but also the inventiveness that Final Fantasy seems to always know how to pull off. At its core, this is a medieval world. But it’s populated with magic users and Dominants and crystals as big as Mount Everest and larger than life monsters and Eikons(summons). There’s an overworld map that, at first takes some time to understand where all of the factions operate, but eventually becomes a really cool overview of the game’s landscape. The population of the world seems a little sparse and I’d say a downside to the game is that NPCs just seem to stand around and say/do the same things for the most part. But that still doesn’t take away from the fantastic castles, buildings, ships, etc. that make up the world.

Active Time Lore

Have you ever watched a TV show, like Game of Thrones, or read a fantasy novel and got confused about who a person was and what their relationship was to others? Or maybe you read/saw a location and forgot the significance of that location? Well, FF XVI has one of the best solutions to this problem. It’s called Active Time Lore (ATL), and it works kind of like Amazon Prime Video’s ability to pause and see the actors who are in a scene. At any time, you can stop the action or a cutscene and see relevant people and places and refresh your memory about them. It’s ingenious and really well done and I hope that future games, not just Final Fantasy games, implement this system.

Combat

The combat in FF XVI is a lot like combat found in games like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. It is purely action based and you perform wild combos, and aerial juggle moves in succession to take down your enemies. Final Fantasy XVI puts a slight spin on this formula however by adding in spell-like powers that makes those combos pop off the screen. Particle effects abound to the point where honestly it was sometimes hard to see if the enemy was about to attack. Because of this I took damage when it could have been avoided. In addition, the more epic fights involve Kaiju-like monsters fighting one another. These are also very well done and very satisfying but often involve a lot more quick-time events.

image: WIRED

The Music

If any one thing I mention is likely to receive universal praise in this game, it would have to be the music. Final Fantasy games always have masterfully crafted music score, and FF XVI is no exception. I listened to the score while playing the game and I have listened to the OST on its own. It’s really really good and has undertones of classic melodies from the series but also wholly original music. It also, for the most part, fits the tone of the game. There is one modern rock track that sticks out like a sore thumb, however it’s still good and really gets you pumped for the sequence that is taking place.

What I Didn’t Like ☹️

Combat Can Get Old

The combat is great…until it isn’t. There are three main issues with the combat. One, there are maybe one or two dozen monster “types” in the game. No matter what part of the world you are in, you will see the same enemy types with maybe a different skin. It’s pretty disappointing especially for a game that spent so much time building the set dressing in the world. Two, there is almost no strategy involved in the combat. With this being a Final Fantasy game, one would assume that fighting a fire enemy with fire spells would be a frustrating exercise. Heck, using fire spells might even heal the fire enemy. Not so in FF XVI. Enemies take just as much damage no matter what element type is being thrown at them. This means that there’s no reason to swap powers…ever. The only strategy involved is figuring out the most efficient way to stagger an enemy and this can be done with powers that have a higher stagger effect. Third, the game is pretty easy. As long as you generally figure out the move sets for those one or two dozen enemy types, you’re going to have a breeze with this game. In addition, many of the powers will heal you while it’s activated. And also, you have a dog companion that you can command to heal you. And also again, you have companions that will heal you. There is a Final Fantasy mode that is supposedly more challenging, but it doesn’t unlock until the game is beaten.

I’ve started a Ko-Fi page! Don’t feel like subscribing to my Stack but enjoy my writing enough to send an occasional tip? Click the button to help me with my latest goal.

Side Quests are Boooooorrring

I could not believe how little effort it seemed was put into the side quests for FF XVI. Most of the quests are nothing more than “talk to NPC, fast travel to location, talk to another NPC, fast travel back to the original NPC, talk to NPC, QUEST COMPLETE”. Granted, there are some side quests that flesh out some supporting characters and SOME of them are interesting. But, by and large, I felt like I was going on fetch quests rather than learning more about the world and its inhabitants. Near the end of the game, I was pressing a button to skip ahead to the next paragraph rather than listening to the excellent voice acting.

The Crafting System is a Joke

Another area where I felt like a Final Fantasy game would excel but did not at all. One would think that crafting items would be easy for a few of the lower tier items and then progressively get more challenging. But in FF XVI, it’s so easy and mundane to find the materials necessary to craft 95% of the items in this game. There are a few higher tier items (three to four items to be exact) that require the player to battle the Notorious Marks. Other than that, I didn’t even have to grind to get more than enough materials to craft whatever I wanted.

There’s Almost Nothing to Do with My Gil!

At the beginning of games, I usually am very frugal with my money because I’m not sure what kind of items will be offered later in the game. So, for FF XVI, I did the same. I only bought the necessities(potions). About halfway through the game, when I looked at my Gil and I had about 120,000gil, I started to question my decisions: “why am I holding on to all this money?”. It was becoming increasingly clear that the game wasn’t going to offer me anything different. And that’s kind of sad. I could buy music for the music player at Clive’s hideaway. While I like the music a lot, this just seemed like a waste. I could buy weapons and armor but why would I do that when I can easily craft whatever I wanted (see above)? I could buy accessories, but the game is so easy and there’s no strategy to the combat so why do I need this (also see above)? So, I ultimately decided to buy some music tracks and keep my potions full at all times. And I still had plenty of money left over at the end of the game.

What would I change?

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with Final Fantasy XVI. But it was not a perfect game by any stretch. Here are some things I would change that I think would make it much better:

• Better and more interesting side quests

• Make combat more strategic. Fire attacks should not hurt-or barely hurt-a fire enemy, for example.

• Add more collectibles and more interesting Notorious Marks. Just one collectible could have made a world of difference.

• Completely overhaul the crafting system. Make it more challenging to make items.

Have you played Final Fantasy XVI? What did you think? Why not leave a comment, I would love to hear other opinions!