FINAL FANTASY XVI review (spoiler-free)
What is Final Fantasy? For me it has always been the story, and the story of FF16 is definitely captivating. What first seems like a typical middle-ages kings and castles story will make you think about problems our own society is facing too, regarding how we are treating those who are different from us.
The game has a lot of Game of Thrones vibes, there is swearing and lots of blood and nude people. Producer Naoki Yoshida said in one of his interviews that he made the development team watch the Game of Thrones box set to get into the right mood for the game he imagined.
There is no modern technology which you might be familiar with from previous Final Fantasy games, instead you will wield the power of Eikons. Pretty cool if you ask me, there are many games out there where you can shoot laser beams, but show me another game where you can turn into Ifrit and unleash Hellfire.
If Final Fantasy for you is a turn-based RPG, then this game might not be your cup of tea as the battle system is real-time action.
And if you don't like if a game leaves the ending up to your interpretations, then probably this is not a game for you either. I personally love it when even weeks after playing a game I still get the "but what if..." ideas.
Battle System
Apart from your basic sword combo your main abilities will be of Eikons such as Ifrit and Garuda to name a few (these creatures are returning elements of Final Fantasy games, so fans of the franchise will be familiar with their names and elements at least.) As you progress in the story and unlock more Eikons you will be able to reroll your Ability Points any time, which makes it very easy to try out new setups and experiment with all the new abilities. There are some combos capable of devastating damage and there are other less powerful but fun ones, so hopefully everyone can find a style they enjoy playing.
As I've mentioned FF16 is not turn-based, you can't switch between party members, you will play as Clive, the main protagonist. This is something I missed from the game at the beginning, as the other characters are very fun and well written as well, but maybe one of the 2 announced DLCs will give us an episode for a comrade like FF15 did.
This guy for example, Cid (because what is Final Fantasy without a Cid?) absolutely steals the show early on.
Difficulty
You can start the game in either Story or Action mode. For those who have some experience playing such games on console even Action mode will feel easy, probably one of the reasons why the game has received mix reviews, as many people were complaining it was too easy. But what is too easy? There are so many players with different skills and experience out there, it's really hard to make a game which will please everyone.
You can further adjust the difficulty of the game with accessories which will assist you with dodging, auto-executing combos or controlling Clive's faithful companion, Torgal. I have read some reviews where people who complained about the game being too easy where playing with these support accessories on. As someone who has a slight visual impairment and thus having trouble with taking in everything what is happening on the screen, I found the accessory which gives you more time to dodge very helpful.
There is harder mode available for those who like a challenge even before you would hit +NG (New game plus, for those who are not familiar with Final Fantasy) There is a function called Arcade mode where you can replay battles with increased enemy difficulty, without using the assist accessories and you get scores.
+NG is called Final Fantasy mode where you keep your previous level and skills and can replay the game with more difficult enemies and additional monsters added to certain locations. This difficulty also has a feature like the Arcade mode, it's called Ultimaniac. Maybe letting people start the game with Final Fantasy mode would have helped with some of the complains around the game being too easy, but then what do you have left to give for +NG?
Yes, you can pet the doggo.
Quests
The main story quest is very straightforward, takes your through the realm, opens up new maps, gives you new equipment. If you are not bothered too much about side-quests, you can just follow the main story.
Side quests are another part of the game which got some negative reviews and I can understand why. At the beginning you get 2-3 quests at certain points and it's pretty easy to do them as they are fairly short and give you some money or crafting materials. Surprisingly most of the side quests are towards the end of the game and people who want to do these but also want to progress through the main story at a good pace might find this frustrating.
I still suggest if you want to learn more about the main characters and the world, do the side quests. Some of them should have been part of the main story, they add so much extra meaning to everything what is happening. The first quest which made me swear and cry was a side quest...
Highlights
I could go on for hours about every aspect of the game I loved, but I'm pretty sure you had enough of me already so I better keep this (fairly) short.
The music composed by Masayoshi Soken absolutely blew my mind away. The tracks he wrote for this game make the eikonic battles even more epic.
The voice acting is phenomenal, and the game's original localisation is actually English, translations were made into Japanese. If you have played FFXIV, you are familiar with Michael-Christopher Koji Fox's pop-culture references in quest names. Well in FF16 you get even more of those.
Turn-based or not, as someone who usually plays summoner whenever is possible, this battle style with the various Eikonic abilities was a dream for me. Can I have some of these skills for my summoner in FFXIV... please Yoshi-P.... at least let me turn into Bahamut...?
Okay, I'll stop before anyone regrets saying Final Fantasy in my presence ever again...
Are you ready to accept the truth that FINAL FANTASY XVI is the GOTY?
