Review - Final Fantasy XVI
“Come to Me, Ifrit!”
Publisher - Square Enix
Developer - Creative Business Unit III
Directors - Hiroshi Takai & Kazutoyo Maehiro
Producer - Naoki Yoshida
Writer - Kazutoyo Maehiro
Composer - Masayoshi Soken
Genre - Action RPG
Platform - PlayStation 5
When you boot up the sixteenth main entry in the long-running Final Fantasy series, you are immediately thrust into an epic battle between a Phoenix and long-time series summon Ifrit. Loud and high-energy orchestral music plays as you take control of the Phoenix in the action. This sets the tone that you are about to experience an epic adventure, story, soundtrack, and some of the best bosses I've played in my almost 30+ years of gaming.
The game feels like a love letter to the series. The plot revolves around Clive Rosfield, who protects his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of fire (the Phoenix). The dominants are this game’s version of the long-time series summons, but they are part of the main cast of characters. I liked this because it turned the summons into characters to understand. The first act of the game has some major twists, and a time jump happens that will set Clive on a long adventure that sees him become part of something bigger around these dominants and the people of the kingdom.
The characters surrounding Clive, from friends to foes, are some of the more memorable the series has had in a while. The past two HD era Final Fantasy titles were 13 and 15 (14 is an MMORPG). Both are polarizing, with me not liking 13 and liking 15. However, outside of Lightning from 13, there hasn’t been really memorable characters and villains to the level of the golden age I of the series in the PS1 and PS2 days. I think this game ends that streak. Clive is a likable main protagonist, and you’ll immediately want to see his growth and success once the story begins. His friends run from Cid to Gav, who are well written and have their own moments to shine. Jill, a friend that becomes his romance as the plot plays with a will they or won’t they scenario that delivers the best Final Fantasy romance since Tidus and Yuna in FF10. And then there are the villains.
The game's main villain, for me, was a little basic, with the predictable wants to destroy the world motive and not much else. The side villains along the way are the, stars. In a Game of Thrones type of fashion, they are written to have motives and even make you care about them. The big standouts are people like Hugo Kupka, who is the dominant Titan and Barnabas, who is the dominant Odin. Hugo becomes an arch nemesis to Clive and is the big fight at the halfway point. Barnabas enters late, but leaves an impression that makes him feel like the real true overall villain of the game. However, it was Anabella Rosfield, Clive’s mother, who stole the show for me. She doesn’t have a lot of scenes and she’s a normal human so there is no boss fight with her, but she is in the running for one of the best female video game villains. She feels like an even more evil version of Game of Thrones Cersei Lannister - and that’s saying something.
The plot can be really heavy at times. If you choose to do the side missions, you’ll get the typical average and at times boring fetch quests that many side quests tend to be, but the reward is that these small characters that you do the quests for open up and expand the story as you see what they have to deal with. This leads to some heavy moments dealing with problems that sex workers go through, slavery, bigotry, and the effects of hate. I was surprised how deep it goes with its messaging and plot. Even the main story has characters like Dion, who start small but expand and becomes very important towards the end.
The gameplay feels more Devil May Cry than Final Fantasy. You’ll also be interupted many times by cutscenes that at times feel like you’re playing Metal Gear. This aspect of the new gameplay changes have proven to be divisive. I’ve even seen a pretty major reviewer complain about the game lacking traditional turn based gameplay. But for me, I dug it. Each fight didn’t feel stale and the combat is so fast paced that I felt like i was Clive being a badass. You’ll be joined by your pet wolf Torbal and other characters that help you in the fights. The best aspect of the gameplay is without a doubt the boss battles, specifically the fights with the dominants. These fights play out like Kaiju fights and while there is alot of quick action events and just pressing the button they tell you, you’ll also get some of the best cinematic gaming moments. The boss battle with Hugo’s Titan in particular is still on my mind and is probably going to be in my top ten personal boss fights of all time.
While the side quests are tedious and repetitive, the hunts that the Moogle Nektar assigns you make up for it. You have to read the requests to figure out where the monsters are then when you do find them, prepare for what is basically a boss battle. Plus, you can chat with Nektar, who proves to be a bit of comic relife and its always great to hear the word Kupo.
The technical aspects deliver too. The soundtrack is only best described as epic. A great use of classic series score mixed with heavy and loud (in a good way) orchestral and operatic music. There’s even one moment with a rock song! The visuals are gorgeous and you’ll stop to look into the distance and take in the photographic view. This is the first game of the new generation that to me feels can only be done on the new consoles. Last but not least, is a surprising feature I loved, the haptic feedback on the PS5’s Dualsense controller. I’m a big fan of the haptic feed back the Switch and PS5 deliver, but not enough games really take advantage of it. However, this one does and you’ll even feel footsteps and sometimes grunts from the characters in your hand.
At the end of the day, Final Fantasy XVI is the best entry in the series since going all the way back to the PS2 era. While I’m a defender of FFXV, I acknowledge alot of the events and characters didn’t leave a big impression and the game’s legacy will most likely be seen as mid-tier for the series. FFXVI however is going to be right there with major entires such as 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 12. This is the Final Fantasy the HD era has been waiting for. A protagonist at the level of a Cloud, villians that leave a mark, and one of the better romances in a video game plot. This is a MUST PLAY game. A roller coaster of a game filled with epic kaiju battles, deep and immersive storylines, memorable characters, well written villains, and music that should be listened to on headphones.
Pros
The best cast of characters and villains the series has produced for a long time
Fast paced and incredible kaiju like battles that produce cinematic moments
A deep story with side characters that have their own plotlines
The best romance we’ve had in the series in a while
Visually stunning and performances well, even during the boss fights
One hell of a good soundtrack and score
Feels like a love letter to the series
Cons
Side quests and even some main quests feel repetitive and tedious
If you don’t keep up with the moving parts to the story, you can quickly become confused
What I Most Loved
The boss fights, among the most epic boss battles I have ever played
Verdict - MUST PLAY 🤩
This is a video game that you must try to play at least once in your life. A true master class.