For gamers, few franchises have not only had a bigger impact on the cultural zeitgeist, but also represented the peaks and valleys of success than “Final Fantasy”. What started as a last hurrah by a group of developers eventually turned into one of the most influential gaming series of all time. Yet, the standard set by previous numbered and even spin-off entries in the franchise eventually caused future presentations to be both more ambitious and downright underwhelming.
Not to be deterred by their own past, the developers struck forward in hopes of making the sixteenth numbered entry in the series one of the best, if not the most revolutionary with the people responsible for turning around the MMO “Final Fantasy XIV” into one of the most heralded experiences in its genre. After playing the somewhat beefy demo, I had a newfound excitement for what was to come and gladly purchased the “Deluxe Edition”.
Did I Complete “Final Fantasy XVI”?
There was a level of promise to “Final Fantasy XV” that the developers initially failed to reach including the combat system, a condensed narrative isolated to one medium, and characters that feel rooted in more realistic presentations than some of the more wacky protagonists & antagonists of previous games. As per the norm with numbered “Final Fantasy” games, this is a new story with characters unlike any other in the franchise.
Taking control of Clive Rosfield, players discover a conflicted lead character struggling with the fall of his family’s kingdom and the apparent death of his little brother he was meant to protect. Clive’s brother Joshua is revealed to be a “Dominant” – a person with an affinity to magic and an association with “Eikons” (the mythological creatures usually connected to “Summon” spells in previous “Final Fantasy” games like Shiva, Odin, and Bahamut). Eventually, the power of Eikon Ifrit finds itself awakened in Clive; leading to monstrous battles throughout major narrative moments.
About a third into story gives way to a time skip that really opens up the world and, unfortunately, populates the map with a plethora of side quests that range from utterly mundane like helping pick flowers after killing a few monsters for a lamenting cook to emotional moments one would’ve expected for the actual story including how Clive reunites with his beloved Chocobo.
Sadly, there isn’t much else to experience beyond the main story, side quests, a few grueling trials associated with previous boss battles, and a “Hunt” bounty board where the player can track down differently skinned versions of enemies already fought who usually have slightly more health and hit harder during a first playthrough. It’s through the option of “New Game Plus” and “Final Fantasy” mode where the player is afforded the chance to further upgrade Clive’s skills & equipment as well as take on adversaries that didn’t appear at certain portions of the game to increase the difficulty.
Choosing “Action Focused” difficulty between the two original difficulty offerings including the aforementioned and “Story Focused”, finishing the story, all the side quests, hunts and a few trials took nearly seventy hours. The journey for a platinum trophy will come to an end in the near future, but that will only happen after completing the game once again on “Final Fantasy” difficulty that seems a lot less taxing than “Final Fantasy VII Remake’s” “Hard Mode”.
What Makes “Final Fantasy XVI” Unique?
“Final Fantasy XVI” embraces the “action” in “action RPG” by refusing to give the player a moment to breathe when a fight begins. There is no pause option to plan an attack like in “Final Fantasy 7 Remake” or enemies gratuitously waiting around both to set up an offensive strike or giving the player a chance to slay them. Clive can use his sword to slice through foes with an automatic parry slowing down time & stunning enemies if the player is able to hit a target right before Rosfield is struck. With the right bumper button/R1, Clive is able to dodge with a “Perfect Dodge” occurring right before he gets hit; giving the player a chance to retaliate. A somewhat surprising addition is a “Jump” button that doesn’t get enough usage both in battle and when traversing the lands.
The most interesting combat implementation that makes “XVI” feel more like a simplified “Devil May Cry” or “Bayonetta” than even the most recent “Final Fantasy” action-oriented experiences is “Eikon” abilities. There are seven Eikons whose powers Clive attains throughout the story with both primary and special abilities. The primary Eikon ability can be activated at any time in battle such as a teleport dash thanks to the Phoenix Eikon that, not surprisingly, closes the distance on an enemy that’s wonderful after pulling off a perfect dodge on a rampaging adversary. The Eikon special abilities work on a cool-down system after being activated including Phoenix’s “Scarlet Cyclone” for knocking back a group of enemies surrounding Clive, or Bahamut’s long-winded, though heavy-damaging “Gigaflare”.
There are some disappointments that come with the Eikon abilities, though. While players can switch between three equipped Eikon sets of abilities with two special skills per Eikon set, Clive’s general gameplay doesn’t change depending on what Eikon is currently active. For example: one of Clive’s purchasable abilities in the game’s skill tree/circle is being able to hold down the strike button to envelope his blade in flames for a strike that immediately extinguishes the flame no matter if the swing hits something or not. Instead of, say, having the same blade elemental attack but with ice when the Shiva Eikon is currently equipped would’ve made things a little more interesting.
Another issue with enjoying the Eikon special abilities is the lack of “Ability Points” given to the player with the costs of upgrading and eventually mastering said special skills being astronomical especially when it comes to the late-game Eikons gifted to Clive. While this is somewhat understandable considering the developers want players to try “New Game Plus” to get the full experience, the interesting feature of a mastered special ability being fully unlocked to equip in any slot associated with any Eikon is practically unavailable in an initial playthrough. Gamers will have either prioritize upgrading certain high-end skills or wait until the main story is complete to grind against higher level enemies for the opportunity to have something like Shiva’s “Diamond Dust” special ability associated with the earth-based “Titan” Eikon.
Though Clive is the only fully controllable character in combat, he does have allies including his dog Torgal that the player can command to perform two specific attacks including a launcher strike via the directional pad. On the opposite end, the rotating cast of characters joining Clive on the battlefield do their own thing when a fight begins without the player having any type of influence on their actions. Clive’s allies cannot be incapacitated in battle and my hinder a player’s planned upcoming attack if they pull off a big magic spell that propels an enemy just as the player lunges forward for a “Burning Strike” with Clive’s sword.
Magic is handled better here than in “Final Fantasy XV” or “Final Fantasy Origin: Stranger of Paradise” and its weapon wheel with free aim style explosions by having Clive fire off elemental attacks associated with the Eikon equipped like a ranged attack from an “Infamous” game that is meant to pepper enemies and whittle away a health bar while preparing a bigger attack when the adversary gets close. Though enemies can perform grand versions of “Blizzard” and “Lightning”, Clive’s magic pee shooter style never improves or gets better beyond the initial ability of “Charged” magic shots. This really would be a bigger problem rather than just a disappointment if not for the fact enemy elemental weaknesses and debilitating status effects don’t exists for either adversaries or Clive & his allies.
As expected, foes have health bars needed to be depleted for success. Bigger foes, however, also have a “Stagger Bar” underneath their health that becomes more of a priority as emptying the “Stagger” meter temporarily stuns a collapsed foe for uninterrupted damage; proving the perfect time to active Clive’s “Limit Break”.
Similar to “Final Fantasy VII”, Clive’s ability to increase his speed & attack power through the “Limit Break” is only available when Rosfield takes damage that fills up a segmented bar underneath his health. As mentioned, there is a lot of recycled content regarding enemy variations including the hunt board. Moving throughout the various biomes in “XVI”, a majority of the enemies seen in the first few hours show up with a slightly different skin like a scorpion creatures both in the wetlands and the desert. In a franchise filled to the brim with different enemy types, the fact there are so few here to keep combat interesting is absurd. Another issue when fighting non-boss enemies is the combat “arena” where a circle limits how far Clive can distance himself from an enemy before said foe just scurries away; allowing a full health restoration where the player has to fight them all over again – an issue that can happen even during hunts.
The most interesting and impressive examples of grandiose showdowns are the Eikon battles where Clive transforms into Ifrit. It’s during these monstrous bouts the combat gets shaken up slightly with on-rail shooter moments, impressive traversal sections, and, of course, fistfights where the game’s usage of quick-time events goes into overdrive by the end; taking away the gratifying feeling of landing that final blow after an exhausting clash.
When a battle comes to an end or a mission completed, the player is awarded everything from experience points to crafting items with the latter being one of the most disappointing aspects of “XVI”. Clive can craft new equipment (two defensive items and swords) at the blacksmith with items won through fights, found throughout the various lands, and gifted as side quest rewards. Like changing Eikons during a fight, switching weapons and defensive equipment doesn’t alter the combat. Getting a new, potentially better sword increases Clive’s overall striking and “Stagger Bar” depletion strength. Defense items improves Clive’s ability to take less damage and deepens his health pool. With no elemental qualities to foes or status aliments, the feeling of lackluster equipment options is more profound especially when it becomes obvious a player can built Clive into, say, a magic-casting machine that keeps every enemy afar.
For all the highs and lows associated with the combat system, the same can be stated regarding the main plot and implementation of side quests. Initially, Clive seemed poised to be the most powerful “Dominant” in his royal family so he could control the power of a particular Eikon to protect his kingdom. But Clive’s birthright is gifted to his little brother to which the elder Rosfield pledges to protect so his sibling can reach his potential.
Unfortunately for house Rosfield, an attack that wipes out his kingdom and results in Clive being abducted leads him on a journey in hopes of avenging his brother’s fall. It is years after Rosfield’s life is changed that he encounters Cid who reveals himself not only as a “Dominant”, but also someone understanding that the “MotherCrystals” used to essentially power the world and keep people healthy are doing the opposite and starting the drain the planet & its people of their resources and life energies; the latter causing a deadly effect dubbed “The Blight.”
The political intrigue is both exciting as the perspectives change from kingdom to kingdom with their own laws, set of leaders, and internal drama, and exhausting with certain cutscenes reaching “Metal Gear Solid 4” levels of length. There is an “Active Time Lore” available via the controller’s touch pad that gives greater depth regarding what is currently happening. For as enjoyable as a majority of “XVI’s” main story is, the side quests leave a lot to be desired initially before improving greatly by including more defining story elements and emotional moments beyond helping a bartender convince an unruly patron to pay their tab.
After helping wait tables and clear a nearby area of literally three bugs, the side quests opt to give Clive and the player some memorable character presentations and stories like a short encounter with a little girl who got her friend killed by unwisely playing with magic during the rise of “Blight”, and learning what Torgal needs to live a happy life. Just when it seems the developers are on the right track with enjoyable side quests, the game’s last third dumps a bunch of side quests similar to those seen in the first few hours in regards to their overall narrative & character simplicity.
Technically, “XVI” is a mixed bag thanks to odd frame rate drops even on “Performance Mode” instead of “Fidelity Mode” when moving around certain hubs alongside unbelievable lighting effects when Eikons appear. For some reason, the odd decision to not allow players to, say, push in the left analog stick so Clive sprints makes moving throughout towns and the general over-worlds quite annoying. The voice acting is absolutely magnificent with Ben Starr (Clive), Ralph Ineson (Cid), and Stewart Clarke (Dion) producing some grand performances while Logan Hannan (Joshua), Susanah Fielding (Jill), and Alex Lanipekun (Hugo) have their shining moments as well.
The soundtrack really stands out during cutscenes and battles, but mostly fades into the background otherwise; being more for atmosphere rather than becoming synonymous with certain scenarios like the “Final Fantasy” experiences twenty-plus years ago. An interesting addition to allow gamers a chance to enjoy the game’s songs is being able to buy records to play in the jukebox located in Clive’s resting spot known as “The Hideaway”.
With primarily numbered “Final Fantasy” games moving toward a more action-oriented presentation, “Final Fantasy XVI” embraces the idea of changing times and affinities in gaming while taking chances on what really makes a “Final Fantasy” game special from a narrative perspective. In no way is “XVI” a masterpiece, but it does reach a level of enjoyment not felt since “Final Fantasy” games during the Playstation 2 era.
Should You Play “Final Fantasy XVI”?
By doing more than just improving upon the gameplay and trying something different in terms of narrative, “Final Fantasy XVI” tries to be the greatest outlier in the franchise’s deep history. Mature storytelling, bombastic combat, and some fantastic voice acting will draw gamers into the world a lot better than expected. But there are quite a few flaws including mundane side quests throughout, lacking loot & equipment options, and shortcomings in battle especially when it comes to magic.
For people who enjoyed “Final Fantasy XV” or the “Kingdom Hearts” games, this is an experience right up those alleys without certain major implementations including the ability to command party members to do an attack outside of Torgal; making it a must-buy. Others may want to wait for a sale if they weren’t blown away by the demo, only want to play through the main story and ignore the side quests, or hope for an announcement for DLC that may further expand the combat options similar to what happened with the release of “Final Fantasy XV”. No matter if someone plays “XVI” shortly after its release or in several months, this “Final Fantasy” is closer to the exhilarating feeling of overcoming a grand foe than someone suffering from survivor’s guilt ready to be struck down by an outlaw.
