My brother who worked at Square Enix stated in his death bed that Square Enix will have the dragons unlocked via NFTs.

Also that 7R Part II will have sex between…

And then he died. R.I.P. Joshee Joe.

Final Fantasy XVI é a maior falha e o Magnum Opus da série ao mesmo tempo, como isso é possível? Bom, eu vou tentar explicar nessa análise.

(Obs: Sim, eu tive a oportunidade de jogar o jogo antes do lançamento, e zerei ele, fazendo praticamente 100%)

O conceito de "maior falha" e de Magnus Opus são completamente contraditórios, já que o termo Magnus Opus normalmente é utilizado para se referir a maior e melhor obra de um autor, criador, diretor e etc. Quando uma série em específica passa na mão de muitos diretores, esse conceito acaba por ser mais subjetivo, indo de fã para fã. O que é o caso de Final Fantasy, muitos preverem o XII, e o tem como favorito, outros o VII, e aí vai, eu particularmente tenho o X como Favorito.

Já o conceito de "maior falha" está literalmente do outro lado da pirâmide, e eu não tenho a necessidade de, de fato, explica-lô aqui.

Então como exatamente, um jogo pode estar em ambos os lados ao mesmo tempo? Lembro agora que não sou dono de nenhuma verdade, e essa é apenas minha opinião. Bom isso para mim ocorre por alguns fatores que esse jogo acabou por escolher se firmar, já que ele falha em realmente ser um Rpg, e ser um bom Hack'n Slash, afirmações essas que irei abrir, explicar e detalhar nos pontos negativos, mas ao mesmo tempo que carrega, uma história de peso, muito, mais muito bem escrita e cativante, e uma campanha que é gostosa do começo ao vim.

Para tentar detalhar o que escrevi acima, e buscar algumas reflexões, eu vou novamente separar a Review em pontos negativos e positivos. Começando pelos negativos, passando pelos positivos e terminado com uma reflexão que tive sobre os Rpgs que o lado azul da força tem no momento, e no futuro, enquanto jogava esse jogo. Dito isso, vamos lá:

Pontos Negativos:
Eu vou direto na jugular nos pontos negativos para tentar deixar claro o por que de tal afirmação feita por mim no início da análise.

Final Fantasy XVI falhou em tentar ser um RPG de fato. Seus sistemas são simples de mais ao ponto de que ele mais parece um jogo de ação e aventura com elementos de RPG, como Ac Origins é por exemplo, do que o jogo do gênero realmente. Existe uma linha bem tênue na indústria hoje sobre o gênero, já que diversos jogos tentam ser mais acabam de tornando jogos, como disse antes, de ação e aventura, existem bons exemplo de jogos que estão próximos dessa linha que de fato fazem parte do gênero, e outros que não fazem. Dois jogos que me vem a cabeça agora que estão quase que colados em tal linha, mas que estão do lado dos jogos role-play.

The Witcher 3 e Fallout 4 estão quase na mesma posição em relação a isso, mais por motivos diferentes, no caso do jogo da Bethesda ocorreu que a empresa tentou simplificar de mais os sistemas do jogo, o que na época deixou até os fãs chateados. Mas ainda assim ainda é possível, mesmo que na medida do possível, interpretar o personagem e buscar múltiplos finais. No caso do The Witcher 3 sua problemática principal vem do fato de que é praticamente impossível se projetar e interpretar o personagem principal, já que Gerald já tem classe, história e personalidade definida logo de começo, mas mesmo assim o jogo te dá possibilidade de escolher pra onde ir com a história, com quem se apaixonar, quem matar, e etc.

Já no Final Fantasy XVI a gente tem um caso complicado, pois mesmo que na série, no geral, você não possa interpretar os personagens, na maioria das vezes os sistemas dos jogos anteriores eram profundos, e bem feitos ao ponto de te dar a possibilidade de se aprofundar de fato em seus sistemas de combate e exploração, ou apenas permitir que você vá até o fim do jogo numa jogatina mais casual e sem aperfeiçoamento. Existia tal possibilidade.

Já aqui em FF XVI... Bom, todos os seus sistemas são extremamente simples, simplificados ao extremo, ao ponto de serem as vezes mais simplórios que os de Ac Origins, que eu sitei anteriormente, quem nem é considerado um RPG de fato, já que a a trilogia nova de Ac, os jogs abraçam o gênero realmente a partir de Odyssey. Infelizmente o novo jogo da franquia FF, é o primeiro da série principal que está mais para ação e aventura do que qualquer outra coisa.

Hack'n Slash foi o estilo de combate que os desenvolvedores escolheram para esse jogo. E sinceramente eu compreendo a proposta por que, no geral, torna o jogo mais acessível. Mas pra ser sincero, eu não gostei muito da aplicação, não me leve a mal nessa parte, o combate é sim divertido, e até épico por várias vezes, coisa que eu vou falar nos pontos positivos. Mas ao mesmo tempo ele é extremamente, extremamente simples, mesmo nas dificuldades mais altas, eu não tive dificuldade pra enfrentar os chefes do jogo, jogando com uma únics mão apenas batendo, esquivando, e apertando o botão de dash para cima do inimigo.

Diferente de jogos como, DmC 5, a franquia no geral, e até o recente Hi-Fi Rush, aqui é praticamente impossível se aprofundar no combate, já que ele tem a profundidade de uma gota d'água. Pra jogar em modos como Dante Must Die, ou até o Mestre do Ritmo, do jogo da Tango, é necessário se aprofundar nas mecânicas e aprender como cada parte funciona, ficando melhor e melhor a cada a passo, pra jogar na maior dificuldade de FF XVI... Bom... Ataca... Esquiva... Dash Pra Frente.

E mesmo falhando em duas de suas propostas o jogo ainda tem outros problemas, dentre eles o fato de que grande parte das quests secundárias do jogo não são boas e extremamente simplórias, o que me deixou meio triste. O jogo, no lançamento, tem problemas sérios no seu modo performance, com a taxa de Fps caindo muito e alguns momentos e na maioria deles não atingindo os 60 Fps propostos pelo modo. Por isso inclusive eu aconselho a jogar no modo qualidade nesse momento, vale mais a pena.

E outro problema a se destacar, é em relação a falta de detalhes nas áreas do jogo em um geral. Gráficamente falando o jogo se propõem a ser próximo, na medida do possível, ao foto realismo, e mesmo que faça isso bem, nas cutcenes, é nas batalhas apoteóticas, coisa que eu vou falar nos pontos positivos. Na maioria das vezes, é possível ver uma falta de detalhes nos cenários, as vezes as texturas ficam ruins, as árvores e pedras ficam um pouco poligonais, o que pode ser sentido até no modo qualidade, e as vezes você sente que faltou um pouco de polimento nessa parte. Mas chuto que isso possa ser resolvido posteriormente, diferente de seus sistemas e quests.

Diante disso, eu digo com todas as palavras que Final Fantasy XVI falhou em ser um bom RPG, e um bom Hack'n Slash, ficando nisso abaixo de qualquer outra obra da série apresentada até então. O que obviamente me deixa bem triste, pois ao olhar Final Fantasy, eu gostaria de ver o RPG de qualidade, e não o que foi me apresentado.

Mas eu também falei que ao mesmo tempo, ele era o Magnus Opus da franquia, correto? Então vamos aos motivos para tal.

Pontos Positivos:
Eu pretendo colocar o melhor ponto positivo do jogo logo de cara. A história de Final Fantasy XVI é simplesmente ESPETACULAR, não apenas é a melhor história, e a mais madura, de toda a franquia, ao menos ao olhar os jogos mais aclamados. Como também pode ser descrito como: "Uma das melhores histórias de fantasia já escritas por um ser humano" e eu não estou brincando.

Se a história de FF XVI fosse novelizada, tornada assim em um livro, da nova era dos livros de fantasia; Mistborn, Crônicas de Fogo e Gelo, e etc. Ela estaria dentre os melhores. Não só os personagens são extremamente bem escritos, tendo muita profundidade, e sendo aprofundados ao longo do tempo, como também demonstram pontos de interesse em suas crenças, que tornam a história ainda mais interessante.

Eu não vou mentir, o Clive é um baita protagonista, mesmo de fato errando, cometendo erros, ele busca se reerguer, e enfrentar aquilo que tem que enfrentar. Os vilões da história também são interessantíssimos, exatamente por que tem mais camadas do que apenas ser "vilão por vilão." Alguns deles até compreendem seus pontos como negativos, ao mesmo tempo que também sabem que não podem parar ali.

Por consequência de uma história tão bem escrita, a campanha do jogo, mesmo com todos os problemas que descrevi, tem um ótimo pacing e é divertida de se jogar, ela cansa muito pouco, e te cativa cada vez mais em quanto passa.

E nos momentos de maior pico, as partes épicas de Final Fantasy XVI brilham de forma apoteótica, é impressionante o quanto suspiros de surpresa as grandes batalhas conseguem tirar do jogador, de tão explendorosas que são. É aqui inclusive que os gráficos do jogo se tornam bonitos de se ver, pois nas grandes batalhas os detalhes e os efeitos são muito bem feitos, e mais detalhados do que no restante do jogo, e isso inclui a maioria das cutcenes também.

No fim das contas, FF XVI é muito divertido de jogar, mesmo com as frustrações e problemas que eu citei nos pontos negativos, tendo uma história e uma campanha sendo uma das melhores senão a melhor da série, tornando ele um Magnus Opus, mesmo falhando em ser um bom RPG, um bom Final Fantasy.

Observações:
E nesse momento que eu queria trazer uma certa reflexão sobre o gênero de RPG que podem ser apresentados daqui pra frente. É muito nítido que a equipe que desenvolveu esse jogo colocou bastante amor no projeto e em seu desenvolvimento, e mesmo com críticas duras, eu tenho que dizer que isso é algo que tenho extremo respeito, a Creative Business Unit III, se esforçou para entregar um jogo que seja bom e divertido para aqueles que jogam, e a realidade é que eles conseguiram de fato, quem quer apenas jogar por jogar, e se divertir terá uma ótima experiência, eu tenho certeza, porém eu tenho medo do que esse jogo possa acarretar para o futuro dos Rpgs do PlayStation.

Digo isso pois de dentro do estúdio que está desenvolvendo o Kotor Remake, também chamado Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic Remake, saiu uma notícia de que o jogo foi reiniciado por ordens da próprias Sony, o motivo, o jogo não estava "cinematográfico" o suficiente. Tal motivo que também afetou em partes o desenvolvedores de FF XVI, que também teve que ser mais "cinematográfico."

A problemática disso tudo é que um jogo de RPG de fato, não necessita, e nem é julgado, por ser cinematográfico, na verdade em muitos momentos isso é deixado de lado para que o fator role play, ou seja jogar e criar a sua própria história, seja colocado em primeiro lugar. A ideia de tornar Rpgs mais próximos de filmes é complicada pois coloca em muitos momentos, o fator assistir a experiência em primeiro, e não vivenciar e construir aquilo que você quer de fato. E é um pouco nisso que esse jogo, FF XVI, acaba por cair, ele se assemelha mais a um ação e aventura, do que RPG de fato, e tenho medo de que isso ocorra também com Kotor Remake.

Conclusão:
No fim das contas, Final Fantasy XVI é sim um jogo muito bom, ele sim falha em ser aquilo que sua franquia era no passado, mas ao mesmo tempo trás para a mesa uma experiência que eu sei que muita gente vai amar, com uma história de tirar o chapéu e orgulhar os mestres da escrita fantástica. Ele é sim um dos melhores jogos do ano, se acho que ele é o melhor, não, definitivamente, mas tem seus méritos e deve ser reconhecido por isso. 9/10 ou 4.5/10

TL:DR; It's a game of extreme highs and lows. The 1st half is one of the best games ever made, but the second half throws it away and makes KH2 seem well written.

Gameplay 4.5/5: It starts off strong, though there are issues. First of all, the game is very easy.
Basic enemies barely attack, so really only enemies with a stagger gauge pose a threat (minibosses/bosses). The issue is that these enemies cannot get launched or juggled, so you're not doing fancy combos on them. You're waiting to dodge/block and then hitting them for a 3 seconds until their gauge breaks and then you dump your abilities. Bosses don't have hitstun; so your hits don't feel impactful.
Clive also is in desperate need to have a more varied moveset with either additional normal moves or different weapons. As it is, his basic toolset is the same across 30 hours of playtime all that changes is your eikon abilities (which are great). Outside of eikons Clive just plays like an extremely gutted Nero from DMC V.
Still though combat is fun, it just sucks that you aren't able to use most of what Clive can do (which is still not a lot for a action game) in actual boss fights.

Music 6/5: This is Soken. He's among the best, and that's still the case here. FF16 has a really, really good soundtrack.

Side content 2/5: Easily the worst part of the game. There are a handful of good side quests but most are generic fetch quests. The rewards for these suck (a handful of xp, and very minimal gil) though FF16's gameplay system doesn't really allow for good rewards.
While I didn't 100% the game, I didn't notice anything like Superbosses or Secret dungeons either. Even FF15 had those.
This is underwhelming because we're hitting a time in RPGs where the side content can actually be solid. Yakuza 7, Octopath 2, Xenoblade 3 are all examples of games that have very rewarding side stuff.

Exploration/Map-Design 2.5/5: Very pretty areas, but even the "open areas" are REALLY empty.

Story 3.5/5: Lets just say FF16 joins the modern halls of Tales of Arise and Xenoblade 3 in "you can tell certain aspects of the story got screwed by COVID". Shame too because the 1st half is one of the strongest. Also much like those games the villains are really lame for the most part.
I still enjoyed it, but I can turn off my brain. The story just becomes a vehicle for the fights.

Spectacle 10/5: It's like FF had a kid with KH2, Dragon Ball Z, Naruto Shippuden, Asura's Wrath, and Bleach.

(REVIEW IN PROGRESS. Playtime: 5ish hours)
This Review will be put into chronological order when finished. Until then, you can enjoy it like it's some dogshit postmodern novel.

PART II

Isn't This Where...We Came In?
Anime bars are actually cooler than I thought. Less 'creepy guys ogling Idlemaster characters' and more 'regular people singing their hearts out to early 2000s anime OPs.' A bartender came up to me at one point with a plush of Papyrus from Undertale and told me it was her 'favorite character in anything ever.' I mentioned I vaguely knew (read: shared the same forum with) Toby Fox back when he went by Radiation on starmen.net (half-jokingly slaving away on a fan project called Underground), and she proceeded to lose her goddamn mind. Good times.

Less good was what awaited me back at my lab today. My aforementioned lab-mate decided to purchase XVI in both physical and digital formats.

Why? I've got no damn clue.

He then decided to wipe the physical copy of the game in favor of the digital version.

Why? I've got no damn clue.

Having pieced all this absurdity together, I proceed to discover that my disc save is incompatible with the digital version?

Why? I've got no damn clue.

I've certainly got a bone to pick with my lab-mate, but he at least lets me play XVI for free. Why the hell can't Square Enix let me transfer saves between game versions? Who am I kidding. This is the same company that still shills Web3 horseshit (regretfully still very popular amongst clueless businessmen in Japan) and tries to hock godawful AI projects so bad that even a clueless dunce like me could do better. You know the why just as well as I do.

And so--with a grimace on my face--I was forced to replay the exact same chunk of XVI I wrote on last time. And yes…I've somehow dug up more to say. So let's begin, shall we?

The Way Back
Let's really think hard about XVI's opening for a minute.

Any artist that's worth their salt will work their ass off to produce a striking opening and ending to their art piece--something I alluded to previously. Sometimes their attempts backfire and come off as incredibly hokey (Isn't this where…we came in?). But if it works, you'll be itching to rewind the tape just as its finishing. Be it music, movies, novels, etc…you know which ones get you going.

XVI certainly tries to open with bombast, but within seconds you can see most of the game's misgivings. We opt for a highly cinematic, 'epic' fight between two giant monsters. The music is massive, the direction frenetic, and the visual are chock-full of massive explosions and wreckage being strewn about every which way. And yet…there's something off about the whole thing.

The problem? The gameplay. That's right: you're not just watching a cutscene play out…you're "a part of the action." The UI prompts you to press buttons to shoot projectiles or dodge. Auto lock-on means you'll only have to worry about these two things. To make it even simpler, the enemy doesn't like to hit often--and moves very slowly when he does--meaning you'll spend 95% of the fight mindlessly spamming triangle (or holding it, as I realized this time around) and watching…well you're not actually watching anything happen. The fireballs you shoot careen towards the other monster, sure, but they don't actually seem to do anything. Neither do the monster's attacks if they actually manage to hit you.

Not only is this presentation very hackneyed (I feel like a child being forced to participate in an episode of Dora the Explorer), it's not very well presented either. Obviously you can't make this opening hard. If you could die, then you'd probably get pissed and immediately lose all interest in the game--I get that. But you also just can't make it as boring and banal as XVI does. You're essentially just forced to sit there and mash a button for a minute while you have no actual agency over the events on screen.

That disconnect--the lack of meaningful agency--is a textbook example of why increased interaction is not always the answer. If you can't think of anything genuinely interesting to do, then it sometimes is just better to roll the cutscene instead of forcing a disengaging interactive chore upon the user. By making it gameplay, you lose affordances that regular cutscenes offer: better pacing, more daring camerawork, unpredictable moments, etc.

And don't get me wrong, I don't think that every opener like this is doomed to fail. As much as I fucking hate Nier: Automata, I have to admit it nails its opening perfectly. It's very interactive, narrative-heavy, bombastic, and just genuinely fun to experience. I'd say its easily the best part of the game (Yoko Taro needs time to ruin things). You can do it right…this just ain't the way.

But I'll stop my bitching here. We're quickly, whisked in medias res to another moment in time anyways.

Where Am I?
Unfortunately though, my pain didn't stop with the opener. Despite the many skippable cutscenes (thank Christ), you'll still be treated to a litany of unskippable 'prestige tours' (a term coined by Tim Rogers when describing the drawn out, narrative/atmosphere focused walking segments of The Last of Us) and sluggish tutorials.

The prestige tour is something I've never really understood. I think it's made some good sense in a few places--early innovators like Half Life/Half Life 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2007, I fucking hate that I have to specify this) have some very memorable moments wrapped up in unskippable, in-game narrative/exploratory segments. But they're undeniably a very fickle beast. If you don't have anything meaningful or interesting to say (or show), then there's very little reason to waste time by forcing me to interact with the plot. Many people even complain about the classics these days--and I don't think that's unfair. When I Half Life in 2023, I wanna bunnyhop like a madman and shoot aliens--not wait (read: bunnyhop) around a tram for ten minutes.

And yet, it feels like every triple-A game following The Last of Us is contractually obligated to be stuffed with these wasteful little moments. Certainly some of the blame goes to the last console generation's obsession with 'seamless' loading. Which meant our asses would move awkwardly through tiny little crevices very, very, slowly while characters desperately tried to entertain us with shallow 'quippy' banter. XVI even manages to pull this one, much to my chagrin. You could argue this is in the service of immersion, but I disagree. I alluded to it earlier, but I feel like I need to etch it in stone:

Giving the player control does not guarantee an immersive experience.

Immersion is achieved by consistently keeping a player engaged with what's on screen--cutscenes included. I mean, you've been immersed by a good movie before, right? You've certainly been immersed into games that weren't 100% interactive too, yeah? Good pacing, atmosphere, narrative progression, game mechanics, and direction are what immerse us--not the physical act of holding the controller. If you're a designer, you're gonna have to actually work for that immersion.

I feel like it's necessary to etch in some corollaries in next to this fact too:

The greatest threat to immersion is forcing a question into the player's mind: Why am I doing this?
A well-designed cutscene immerses a player better than a middling interactive segment.

The best prestige tours are the ones I'm not actively thinking about--Modern Warfare's iconic Shock and Awe, Uncharted 2's peaceful Where Am I?, and Half Life 2's unforgettable Point Insertion stand as some of the greatest examples of how to actually do a prestige tour. Hell, even the opening to The Last of Us stands as a good example (and I fucking hate that game). I'm sure you could think of some more yourself.

Unfortunate for XVI (and to be fair, most of modern triple-A gaming), we're stuck with some banal walking and talking while very little of interest happens. The designers even included item drops every few feet along our path--adding further insult to injury and reminding me of our status as Skinnerian rats in a cage. A few rocks fall and endanger our characters…but we've known these guys and the world they occupy for literal seconds, we have no reason to care about their wellbeing or anything else happening on screen. Their dry dialogue certainly ain't helping my attachment neither.

The Bog
But once again, we're quickly whisked even further back in time--to our protagonist's childhood. And here, we perhaps make the most fatal "how not to open a game" mistake in history: prolonged and ill-fitting tutorials.

Games have struggled with tutorials since their inception. Early games either forwent tutorials entirely or crammed them on the margins of the arcade machine. Gaming's ancestors might have had simple enough gameplay to mask their lack of instruction, but things were already starting to look rough by the Famicom era. It may have taken some time, but by the turn of the century it was clear: games had become complex enough to demand detailed and explicit instruction.

But when we tackle tutorials we have to return to our previous problem: immersion. After all, I'm playing a game, not reading a textbook. Most players don't want to learn shit--they just wanna have fun. So there's bonus points to be had if we can get educated without even realizing it. It's a gaming concept so good that we're trying to incorporate it into actual education too.

The loadstar is without a doubt Super Mario Bros.'s World 1-1, although it certainly wouldn't be the first or last game to nail the seamless tutorial. I can once again give Nier: Automata credit for smoothly transitioning from its shump controls into traditional hack-and-slash combat without breaking a sweat. That's right: even some modern games get away with telling you jack shit. Controllers only have a few buttons anyway, right? If you press every one, you'll probably figure it out eventually. Even well tutorialized games have tons of hidden mechanics, so it's not like explicit tutorials are always necessary at the end of the day.

You don't even need tutorials to be seamless either. Some games manage explicit tutorials while charming and entertaining the player. Hi-Fi Rush serves as the most recent example. The humorous intercuts to Chai's egotistical 'rockstar' visions build a great sense of character and world. But there are also plenty of others you can probably think of too. Like I said, immersion isn't just about 'seamless' control of the character. Sometimes creating a cohesive sense of mood or tone--even if you have to do cutaways--is a more effective idea.

And while I do think we can strike a fair balance between 'seamless' and 'cryptic,' XVI strikes that balance very poorly. Not only are we subjected to a litany of tutorials that hard stop the game--forcing you to read paragraphs of text before you continue--it often does this several times in a row. If this didn't kill the pace enough, the general presentation of these tutorials are also very eye-rolling. We're back in Clive's childhood--forced into training against his mentor who's…teaching him how to swing a sword…even though he's the sworn protector of the most important person in the dutchy. It definitely suffers from that awkward 'this is a video game' cheese--after all Clive is supposedly a talented youth, yet he's being told how to dodge an attack for the first time in his life. But it also manages to be presented in the most generic fashion humanly possible. This is, without a doubt, the most painful and boring way to tutorialize your game--design autopilot, if you will--so points off for that.

I don't think the developers needed to drag players through ten tutorials on just how to hit and roll in battle--a simple 'sandbox' fight, where players are allowed to 'press buttons and see what happens' would have sufficed. Not only that, why not have Clive start by going out on a small scale quest to stop some local baddies instead of boring us with no-stakes training? To make it worse, we decide to double-dip on that idea anyways--forcing players on the aforementioned low-stakes tutorial quest ten minutes later. It's not enough to kill the game, obviously--we're going to be here for like forty hours, so what's twenty minutes of tutorials? But still, it's a worrying design trend--one that I expect to see dominate the later portions of this game. After all, the first hour is the most important part of a long format game. Should we have to spend it fighting our way through paragraph after paragraph of intrusive text? A designer worth their salt would have done better.

Stagger Me Deaf
But now that we've worked our way through some combat (again), I want to bring attention to something that's been really nagging me the second time around--the stagger system.

I've alluded to my issues with the combat already--primarily its simplistic execution--but it's not just the trivial qualities that have me upset. I've realized, now having to play the same sections again, that the actual mechanics of the stagger system just aren't working here.

If you know me, then you'll know how I feel about Final Fantasy XIII. And if you don't know me…then you can probably guess how I feel about it. But despite all my hatred for it, I have to give it something: it handles its stagger mechanics far better than XVI (and Remake) manage to.

It might take you awhile to actually build a proper stagger in XIII--but at least the command of multiple party members (or, being specific, the paradigms of multiple party members) allowed for some variety in how you tackled building stagger and accomplishing other objectives. Moreover, XIII's stagger meter--once filled--felt far more substantial than XVI's. You have giant numbers on screen telling you how high your damage bonus is--getting as high as 999% if you're lucky enough. And I'll admit, you do actually feel that sense of massive damage once the meter builds up. I can see the appeal for certain players. It does give you a genuine sense of 'power,' if only for a few seconds.

XVI by comparison minifies almost every aspect of the stagger system--likely in the name of extending the playtime of battles. It usually takes less time to actually enter a stagger state, but once you do, it barely feels like you're doing any extra damage at all. Don't get me wrong, I know I am--I can see that x1.10 modifier telling me that I'm technically doing slightly more damage. But my eyes gaze up at the enemy's actual health bar and I see each swing taking off the smallest sliver of their red bar. I don’t feel that sense of power at all.

Moreover, XIII's proper RPG elements (Jesus Christ I can't believe I'm saying this) mean that you still have some decision making power when enemies are staggered--even if it is rudimentary. Which spells are you going to cast? Which paradigms are you going to use to be most effective? How and when should you switch between them to maximize damage and other benefits (Launch combos, etc.)? Should you use the stagger duration to cover the team's healing or buffs instead? Etc. Etc. It's not much, but there is some logic there.

But XVI's practically non-existent RPG mechanics mean we've been stripped of nearly every choice. Potions are instant, and we're only controlling one proper human (sorry, doggy). So staggers--especially during boss fights--boil down to pressing square like a fucking madman until the enemy gets back into proper form. It's aggressively anti-fun and frankly, boring.

In games like Dark Souls, bosses might be massive, but you do get the feeling that every hit counts--both towards you and them. Unless you're horribly underleveled, every swing brings off a decent chunk of their health bar--and bosses are usually only a few swings away from being meaningfully staggered. The damage balance of these games means a player actually gets the chance to feel powerful, not just through visuals--animations and the like--but also through the game's actual mechanics. XVI (and Remake), by comparison, totally fall on their face here.

Staggers are, in a word (and forgive me for the pun-like quality here): stagnant. I don't feel the rush and excitement in staggers here that even XIII had me feeling. Instead, I'm just getting ready to hit the square button until the enemy's no longer staggered--doing an insanely minimal amount of (free and undynamic) damage the whole time. It's an even simpler minigame than XIII's that manages to do nothing beyond give the player some cheap visual thrills (the guy fell down!!!!!!) and pad the game's runtime with fights that far overstay their welcome.

And don't get me wrong, I think XIII's stagger system is still absolutely flawed at its core. But man, do I find it far more appropriate in Final Fantasy XIII than Devil May Cry.

CINEMATIC ACTION!

So, we have "cinematic prestige" presentation mixed with rudimentary combat that values visual flair and Skinner rewards over solid mechanics. The combo of these two core principles creates real awkward results.

The QTEs, for one, are rather surprising in 2023. Players had been voicing their dissatisfaction with QTEs for years…or so I thought. I figured that decades of rehashing Shenmue's bag of tricks would have worn people down by now. But to be fair, you could say most of triple-A gaming is still just following in Shenmue's footsteps--but we'll save that discussion for a different review…

Either way, QTEs don't really make boss fights more engaging on a mechanical level. In fact, it only emphasize just how worthless staggering is. Nine times out of ten you'll end up doing more damage with a random QTE (if you're lucky enough to get one). And that…that is very strange to me.

Not every action demands a proportional amount of reward, but I think these QTEs are the worst way to go about empowering the player. It takes genuine time (and yes, some effort) to stagger a boss. Not to mention how much strain you're gonna put on your fingers spamming attacks while they're down. So why the hell does all that time (and effort) get trounced by a single PRESS SQUARE event with an ultra-generous time window?

The answer is pretty simple: it makes for a sick visual. You get to watch some rippin' cutscenes of Clive doing rad backflips and stabbing dudes. And--don't get me wrong--that could work in the right circumstances. But I feel like the execution here is misguided at best. The visuals are sometimes cool, but they muddy up the immersion and general gameplay experience.

I think that this conflict--cinematic immersion vs interactive immersion--is ultimately XVI's greatest struggle so far. The coda of Joshua's fight with the "mysterious" fire guy is a great example too.

Just as the fight itself repeats with some minor developments, its design blunders do as well. You now have to actually aim when attacking the enemy, and there are now health bars on screen to let you know the actual "stakes" of the fight. But, despite all that, the presentation is more focused on being a cinematic 'moment' than it is on being a genuinely fun piece of game. Your attacks don't really do anything, save for knocking one pixel's worth of bar off. Meanwhile, the fight carries on for so long that your simple toolkit of 'hit and dodge' becomes insanely tedious. The awkward (and repeated) delivery of Joshua's voice lines during this segment certainly doesn't help either.

Overall, it's a really jarring experience when you sit there and think about it for a minute. And when I say "think about it," I mean…think about it like this:

You're the guy who made this. You're gonna have to show it to all the world--and your name's gonna be all over it. You're trying to craft an exciting and emotional moment; Joshua's life (as well as the entire dutchy he represents) is on the line here, and we need to convey all that excitement and pressure through a massive and epic fight between two incomprehensively large and powerful behemoths. There are pros and cons no matter how we approach this: a cutscene would allow us superior control over the visuals and pacing, but it would lower the player's sense of immersion unless we execute it perfectly. A genuine fight could increase the player's attachment to the experience, but might not sell the size and scale of the moment like we'd like to. Not even mentioning all the other issues wrapped up in interactive fights (what if the player dies and has to restart?). So, which route will you take?

Well how about we fucking blow it and take the middle path--pleasing no one and betraying both philosophies at the same time? The real centrist move.

The fight's gameplay is simple--but the fact that it is a gameplay moment requires it to be lengthy in order to have any meaning at all. So, we end up extending the duration of the fight until it wears out its 'wow' factor. We want the fight to be cinematic, so the player isn't going to have any meaningful control over the fight--the pacing is static, the camera angles are predetermined, and the structure of the scene is barely related to the player's control of it. It might as well be a CGI cutscene with some fireballs photoshopped in whenever you press a button.

AND YET, we're unable to reap any potential benefits from being a true cutscene because we're too constrained by the lousy gameplay elements. The editing and direction can't be too interesting--we still need clear shots so we can actually shoot the enemy! We also need insanely stupid looking Tekken health bars at the top of the screen (that ultimately mean nothing) and distracting UI elements that constantly remind us how to dodge and attack.

The best realization of this fatal paradox is the fight's climax. Joshua--in a very heated moment--divebombs directly into his enemy (which had just nearly killed him). He makes a massive impact, taking his foe with him. Mid way through this scene, however, the game fucking pauses to play a canned ENEMY BOSS GUY DEFEATED!!! UI animation and show you how much experience and gold you gained for "defeating" this guy.

Seriously.

It happens mid-fucking blow. It's patently absurd. The sort of "what the fuck were you thinking?" moment that I could only expect from the fine folks over at Square Enix.

This moment--hell, this entire fight could have actually worked if the director (and crew involved) put some genuine thought into maximizing the impact of the scene. Instead, they followed too many popular design trends and failed to make an impact with their noncommittal and contradictory presentation.

Blood On My Hands
But there's something even more unfortunate happening here. Even though the game sabotages gameplay moments in the name of cinematic presentation…the narrative totally fails to match its cinematic ambition.

I was replaying yet another prestige tour--the one where Joshua wakes up during an ambush--and I realized something. Joshua's like…twelve years old, right? He's young, innocent, and very conflicted about his situation. Or, at least the writers would like us to believe he's very conflicted. But in this moment, I do something that genuinely shocked me. It shocked me so much that I can't believe I missed it the first time around.

While walking through the burning keep I encounter an enemy, I press triangle and…I instantly vaporize the motherfucker. He's dead. Gone. And, oddly enough, our Joshua--our sweet little innocent Joshua--doesn't seem to give two shits. He mutters some canned line about 'stopping the bad guys' and then proceeds to go on with his day--allowing me to vaporize more baddies a few seconds later.

This is weird, right? Like…I don't want to sound like that guy from Edge who reviewed Doom and complained that you couldn't 'befriend the demons…' But…don't you think we should spend more time on this moment? Joshua, a child, just fuckin' killed a guy. Not only that, he made the dude erupt into motherfucking flames. And yet, he's not bothered. So we're not going to even give it a second of thought. Obviously not every game (or even most games) require this level of treatment. But XVI feels like it's begging for moments like these to happen. So why isn't it taking advantage of it?

There are so many missed opportunities like this staring the writers right in the face. And, believe me, I'm a fucking terrible writer. The story is (so far) filled with so many flat moments that it boggles me. Every single one of them could have been slightly altered to add depth, consequence, emotion, or really just about fucking anything to them.

But this moment--where a young Joshua (presumably) takes his first life--is the total embodiment of this problem. We set up all of the drama--with our world, presentation, and prestige tours--and yet we reap none of the rewards. It's a massive fuckup.

Beneath the Veil

But there are other contrasts and contradictions that drive even more flaws.

If there's one thing I could give the game credit for, it's for its incredible graphical fidelity. Well, I could have given the game credit, until we finally arrive at Cid's hideout. Then it quickly becomes clear that we really have two Final Fantasy XVI's lurking within this disc. There's the high-budget, graphically impressive, and 'epic' Final Fantasy XVI…and then there's the cheap, shoddy looking, and boorish Final Fantasy XVI. And yes: I'm talking about the side quests.

Obviously nearly every game has a 'problem' with side quests. They're almost always chores or filler content meant to pad a game's length to appease ravenous players. If you're lucky, your efforts might be rewarded with a good character moment or a genuine mechanical reward…but I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Yakuza, and some Witcher titles have set pretty high bars for quest design in recent years. But I'm afraid to say that most games haven't even started to play catch-up. Designing truly meaningful side quests--the ones with genuine mechanical intrigue and good rewards--is damn hard. One of Final Fantasy XII's greatest accomplishments is how it managed to pull this off with grace--namely through its incredible hunts. XVI seems to be following in XII's footsteps here (read: copying it wholesale), but I'm hesitant to be excited.

XII's hunts worked because the game's mechanics were so complex that you could design a ton of unique boss fights around them. The player had so many ways to fight that the designer also got a genuine sandbox of design possibilities--allowing them to cook up challenging enemies to counteract players. Numerous hunts in XII even have AI scripts more complicated than the super-bosses in every other Final Fantasy game. Considering XVI's shallow mechanical offerings so far, I can't imagine how its hunts could retain a fraction of XII's quality--unless gameplay developments start happening ASAP.

So, if gameplay focused side quests are out of the question, then we'll be left with narrative ones. But even then, there's a commonality between Yakuza and The Witcher that I don't see here:

Their side quests are genuinely funny and often very weird.

Not to say that XVI is going to be devoid of humor. I'd say that Cid's given me a minor chuckle or two so far. But I can't imagine it living up to the level of quality I've grown to expect from gaming's best-in-class.

Instead, I've seen some early indications that side quests were made very quickly and on the cheap. And when I say cheap, I mean cheap. Within moments of talking to your first NPC for a side quest--keep in mind: a side quest required by the narrative since it's your first one--the budget for the game seemed to plummet instantly. It devolves so quickly it almost feels like a comedy bit. Like something Arcane Kids would have pulled if they had Unreal 5 ten years ago. Everything suddenly looks really shitty--the characters, the lighting, the framing, the animation, the design of the quests themselves--everything.

A don't get me wrong, it's not like side quests in Yakuza are particularly high budget, but I think there's a distinction there. Anyone with eyes could tell you that Yakuza games aren't exactly made with the highest budgets…so they look pretty 'cheap' throughout. This isn't a problem: it gives the more devs time to experiment on novel or meaningful gameplay concepts while allowing them to get more games out the door instead of just polishing one idea for five years. The low budget means that the side quests aren't jarring because they feel like the same Yakuza game visually.

I mean, sure, the plot beats in Yakuza side quests are way wackier than the main story…but the writers intentionally use this to their advantage--creating some insanely funny and memorable moments. Its why we all love Yakuza in the first place. The narrative disconnect is intelligently used as a strength, not a weakness.

Meanwhile, side questing in XVI seems to send a clear message to the player: we put one-tenth the thought, effort, and polish into this part of the game. You can see it visually, and you can certainly see it mechanically too. I haven't gotten to play around with many quests yet--so I'm only speaking on the first few introductory ones--but its looking fucking dire already.

How dire? MMO dire.

Unless you are the strongest (and most exploited) of FFXIV or WoW whales, you should be terrified. I've basically done nothing but walk between NPCs, hand out/receive fetch quest items, and receive empty dialogue for my troubles. I haven't gotten there yet, but I expect that some KILL TWENTY GUYS!! and FIND MY SHIBBLEDIBBLE quests will be coming up any time now.

It's seriously insane. Why can't these developers hire a team of writers/designers that purely focus on side quests? Why can't these quests have some genuinely fun characters and memorable story beats? Why can't we have interesting minigame diversions or novel fight ideas? I know…they probably do have a side quest design team already--I'm no rube. But believe me--and I can say this about most triple-A games--those people ought to be fired and replaced until someone does good by us.

But we'll have to crack into those issues as we get there. Let's just say I'm sorely disappointed for now. From the get-go, I had my reservations about letting a MMO-focused team manage a conventional single player game. It sadly looks like my fears are being realized.

MMO quests may often suck, but there's at least genuine pros to be had in the genre. The real sense of evolving worlds, the epic raids, the ultra-longform narratives, the hot, hot ERP, homeownership, stock market manipulation, etc. etc. If anything, you put up with the bad quests in an MMO so you can enjoy the uniquely good parts of the genre. However, I think it's very clear that XVI has none of those good parts. Hell, it's even managed to excise what was regular for a fucking Final Fantasy game up to this now: an open world.

A Whole Wide World Ahead

Fellow partner-in-crime Final Fantasy XIII and its abusive parent Final Fantasy X also toyed around with a linear gameplay experience. But at least in X you could technically walk back and forth throughout the entire world in one seamless experience. So it was sort of an open world game--just one that existed on a one-dimensional line. XVI has excised this entirely--opting for a bland overworld map that allows you to 'fast travel' between several stages. That's right: even in the modern triple-A space…with all the budget, and with several years of active development time…we can't get a goddamn open world in Square Enix's flagship title. From a gameplay perspective, we have devolved below even the original Final Fantasy.

This isn't to say that open worlds are necessary or even a good thing--I usually fucking hate them. But the total removal of it from Final Fantasy is almost as jarring as removing it from The Elder Scrolls. But once again, we have to swallow the big pill: Final Fantasy is no longer an RPG series--it's a Devil May Cry knock-off.

But considering how awfully bloated open world games have become, I guess my thumbs can thank Square that they excised it entirely. Just imagining all the pointless 'outposts' and 'encampments' that I would have to suffer through is really making me shudder.

Still, it once again removes options and possibilities from XVI's toolbelt. If we're not going to get a real sense of adventure from an open world, we need the narrative and its set pieces to really carry us. It's too early to make any calls now, but so far I'd say it's failed to impress.

Our first outing with Cid is already making me wonder how the next twenty or so hours are going to go. The formula of 'walk five feet forward' and 'hit guys' was already starting to wear a bit thin before our inaugural quest had even ended. These maps are seriously giving beat-em-ups a run for their money in terms of linearity. The pacing was so 'start/stop' with the cutscenes that I even grew a little frustrated with the entire affair. Either let me hit guys for more than two minutes or give me a proper cutscene that allows me to put down my controller for a bit--don't oscillate between the two every five damn seconds. I'm getting Metal Gear Solid 4 flashbacks here. And dear God, I don't want to go back there.

It sounds a bit pedantic, sure, but I do think that the hack-and-slash's best offerings manage to sidestep these problems gracefully. This year's Hi-Fi Rush managed to fit in a slew of optional paths (with rewards!) platforming challenges, and charming minigames to constantly keep things fresh. Not to even mention all the content you can't even unlock until you've beaten the game! Other heavyweights in the genre also find ways to spice things up--be it through more dynamic combat encounters or other interesting diversions.

It was honestly kind of surreal--the incredibly cinematic and gorgeous qualities of the environment (in this case, a jungle) were unfortunately undercut by the revelation I was standing around mere eye candy instead of something I'd actually be playing around in. And that's even when compared to similarly gorgeous and cinematic games like The Last of Us--where item scavenging, stealth segments, and shootouts give some distinctive gameplay qualities to its environment (and remember: I fucking hate The Last of Us). XVI is really just presenting hollow hallways to walk down--admittedly very pretty ones. But I said the same thing about XIII--and you know how that went.

Patches of Light

Despite all this, I think it's about time I gave XVI some praise. After all, I don't hate the game--at least I don't hate it yet.

As I've mentioned throughout this review, the graphics--at least during mainline moments--are first-class. The environments have generally been visually interesting and our principle cast has looked fantastic. I can't say the same about the game's cinematography--but I'd levy that problem towards the industry at large too.

Beyond that, I've been very impressed with the game's localization. It's clear that the team valued the English dub over the Japanese (considering the lack of lip-sync for the JP version), and they've certainly proven their dedication to the choice. I haven't been particularly floored or impressed with XVI's characters, but I have generally enjoyed Cid and a few side characters that are peppered throughout his hideout zone. I don't think the story is incredible either, but I do think the localizers and actors have done a great job adding some life to an otherwise basic script. It's certainly a massive step up from Remake's incredibly awkward anime gasps and half-assed English dialogue. So there's some points gained here.

And finally, the game undeniably has the polish I'd expect out of a triple-A title. The UI is clean and well-designed, the game runs well and is bug-free (so far!), and the gameplay experience is smooth. Remember: most of my issues are with the game's design, so I think the hard work of everyone who slaved to implement that design is worth celebrating--even if the designers themselves aren't.

I haven't grown to hate my time with XVI yet. I'm still hoping it'll find ways to develop its core ideas and improve in the coming hours--both narratively and mechanically--but I'm not holding my breath either. Regardless of its future quality, it's already blown enough crucial things to deserve significant demerits. I'm just hoping I like the game enough to finish it without suffering…but we'll see how that goes…

A former professor of mine is on vacation in Japan, coming to visit me tomorrow. I've become a part-time tour guide of Fukuoka in all but paygrade, so I'm excited to have him--but there's a catch. He's a big fan of Remake and no doubt expects that I'm playing XVI right now. So he'll definitely be asking for my thoughts throughout the whole day…something I'm not looking forward to explaining. Considering I feel strong enough about XVI to write an entire damn manifesto (and I haven't even put ten hours in yet!), I think I'd be more comfortable talking politics with strangers back in Oklahoma. Still, maybe it'll fortify my thoughts. I hope I make it at least another ten hours before I come back with another wall of text--but only time will tell. Until then.

PART I

(REVIEW IN PROGRESS. Playtime: 2.5ish hours)
The 'King of Cool' vs The Child of Fire

I caught a 'long' movie in theaters today: The Great Escape. It was a great time; you wouldn't even feel the length, despite the intermission that bisects the movie. But if I'm being honest, Steve McQueen is so damn cool I'd watch him do just about anything for three hours.

I also played Final Fantasy XVI for the same amount of time today. Unfortunately, I did feel that length.

The game ended up at my lab by surprise--a labmate had rushed out and purchased it day one, costing him a cool ten thousand yen. My Great Escape exploit, meanwhile, cost me five hundred yen--not even enough to cover a combo meal at your favorite fast food restaurant. I think I know which of us got the better deal.

But anyways, I had a few hours to kill before my next meeting (the one I'm sitting in [and ignoring] right now as I type this), so I figured: why the hell not?

Well…two hours and some change later, and I'm very underwhelmed.

I know…I know: I'm not supposed to judge a game based on such a short playtime! After all, diehard fans of producer Yoshi P's Final Fantasy XIV will tell you that the game is a slog for the first forty or so hours before the game really starts to heat up. So what's three hours?

Well, about the length of one The Great Escape… and that's a movie with a goddamn intermission! If a game is going to hook me, it ought to have something snagging me before I see the lads escaping from Nazi Germany. But--so far--there are no Steve McQueens, Richard Attenboroughs, or James Garners here. Instead, I'm stuck with an acceptable, but ultimately unintriguing narrative and mind-numbing gameplay.

Game of Throws
If there's one white elephant we need to STAGGER several times before we kill it and move on, it’s XVI's general presentation. Final Fantasy is no stranger to darker fantasy narratives. II's pastiche of Star Wars has a fantasy village getting mowed down Alderaan style, while Tactics is up to its waste in enough betrayals, abuses, and atrocities to make a Shakespearian tragedy blush. But despite that, XVI certainly feels--at least to many fans--like a 'return to basics' for the franchise.

I phrase in quotes because any true Final Fantasy player would know that the series has had more modern (or future) oddities than not throughout the years. Be it Final Fantasy's UFOs and giant mechs, II's beat-for-beat remake of Star Wars, III's Tower of Owen, IV's Clockwork Dragon, Final Fantasy V's inclusion of air vents, or the non-fantasy legacy that most of VI-XV would create (see the literal UFOs in IX or the NYC-esque futurecity of Archadia in XII)…it's clear that Sakaguchi, Kitase, and Nojima were far more interested in science fiction than proper fantasy.

So…at long last…we finally get true fantasy, without any compromises (presuming we don't see a space mech show up at the thirty hour mark). And it's…it's…shaping up to be a shittier Game Of Thrones.

I know the comparison sounds shallow, but it's very hard to ignore the relationship between Final Fantasy games and their contemporarily popular fiction. We've been stuck in the Lightning Era of Final Fantasy for so long now (lest you forget that XV was originally a XIII spinoff) that an entire wave of genre-defining 'prestige TV' has come and gone. And in the aftermath lies Final Fantasy XVI.

It's darker, edgier, sexier, and filled-to-the-brim with characters that it's not afraid to kill off (thank you very much). All of this amounts to a presentation that…would have been pushing its expiry date in 2017. I mean, think about it… When did you last care about The Walking Dead? Impulsive sex, wonton violence, and contrived narratives aren't really doing it for me in 2023 like it was in 2013. What about you?

I think the real issue is XVI lack of a real hook. Famous entries like IV, VI, VII, and IX open with very distinct and exciting moments. Kain and Cecil's razing of Rydia's home village, the Magitek massacre of Narshe, the bombing mission, the theater performance, etc. Within an hour, I already want to know more about the game's world, our characters, and just what the hell is going on. XVI instead begins with characters watching an uninteresting battle, a slowly metered out flashback (filled with enough tutorials to make you cry), and a simple return to step one. I certainly know who Clive and Joshua are (side note: fucking awful names when you're trying to sell me on a sense of fantasy. Joshua? The bible character?) But they're not really interesting people--they serve a basic narrative function. No one is really interesting. Even our first encounter with Cid makes him out to be more of a discount Balthier than anything else.

So, up to this point, we've got a plodding narrative with no real interest…characters without any distinct traits (beyond saying 'FUCK,' dying, and havin' sex)…and a world that feels like its desperately copying XII notes (Rossaria? Dhalmekia?). Sure, the worldbuilding might get more into clerical details--we're the 'Grand Duchy' of Rosaria instead of the more generic Rozarrian Empire--but that's a smoke-and-mirrors way of selling depth.

Even the Final Fantasy games I hate (X, XIII, etc.) have more memorable openings. Perhaps because of how unintentionally hilarious they are (I'll never forget that sick nu-metal track during Blitzball), but they're memorable nonetheless. I'd much rather hang around Waka and Sazh over Cylde and his crew any day of the week.

In short: XVI's narrative is mediocre but competent so far. It might be drenched with enough generic 'prestige' tv tropes to make a man reconsider his HBO subscription, but I haven't felt secondhand embarrassment for whoever wrote this game…so there's that.

Devil May Care
It's weird to say it, but Final Fantasy is no longer an RPG series. Hell, Yakuza and Final Fantasy have apparently switched places. Strange times we live in eh?

I mean, sure, it has the most barebones 'customization' and 'stats' systems in it--but so does every other game now. At this point, Final Fantasy is as customizable as Sekiro is--and I'm sure you'll agree that's not quite the spitting image of the RPG genre. You get a few simple 'skills' you can level, and some generic 'level up!''s that'll drip feed you that Skinnerian reward for the +1 STR that you oh-so-crave. But…that's about it.

To be fair, this (d)evolution began far earlier than XVI. Type-0 carved out the format that would be improved on by hit games like FFVII: Remake. But even Remake let you control several party members with unique skills. The (minified) Materia system built a sense of (shallow) RPG immersion as well. Meanwhile XVI has left me with one guy and three boring buttons: 'hit,' 'magic,' and 'dodge.' Magic is basically there to keep stagger (read: combo) meter building while you're not directly hitting an enemy. The projectiles have no other interesting traits (so far). There's no real juggling or actual combo qualities to speak of.

The same applies for basic attacks, which for the most part amount to pressing SQUARE SQUARE SQUARE SQUARE SQUARE until either an enemy dies or you have to dodge their next attack--only to repeat the same boring "combo" of pressing the same button five times in a row.

There might be a little more to the system at this point (I have upgraded some new skills that are all very situational and serve little practical use ), but I don't need to do anything else right now. The game hasn't incentivized me in the slightest. As always, never forget the golden rule of game design:

THE PATH OF LEAST RESITANCE MUST NOT BE BORING

Enemies are very predictable, slow, and boring. Moreover, there aren't really any systems in place to encourage interesting play--a la Devil May Cry's style meter system. We're basically left with a hollow gameplay loop that rivals mediocre PS2 games. It certainly doesn't help that Hi-Fi Rush came out earlier this year…

And don't get me wrong, I'm not some ultra-hardcore DMC/Platinum gamer either. I usually can't play those games on 'hard' difficulties nor can I easily SSS++++ fights. I'm maybe a little above average, but fairly middle-of-the-road. The lack of not only design variance, but even just basic challenge has been incredibly disappointing.

It certainly doesn't help that every enemy is a total damage sponge too--a worrying trait I noticed in the game's trailers. Think about it: how many enemies do you see the player take from full health to zero in those trailers? Beyond the most basic goblins, everything takes a comical amount of damage (and several staggers) to leave any real marks. But to be fair, that's just following in the footsteps of the equally spongy Remake--a game where Cloud and his mighty buster sword need fifteen hits just to take down random dogs. My poor thumbs and wrists have dreaded every single boss fight--which amounted to pressing square until I wanted to cry.

And sure, I get it, we're only three hours into the game…but why hasn't anything interesting happened yet? Remember: we're not playing a slow-paced RPG anymore. This is a character action game in all but name. If a game in any other genre failed to hook me by this point, I'd be done. I'm only sticking through for the hope that something interesting will develop by the ten hour mark. But if you actually need that much time--and that new development isn't the coolest shit on earth--then you've totally failed as a game.

Next week I'm going to see Lawrence of Arabia--a three-and-a-half hour long film--at the same theater. Considering the movie's pedigree, I'm certain that I'll get something totally unique and unforgettable out of those three-and-a-half hours. I really don't think I'll be able to say the same about Final Fantasy XVI, and that disappoints me.

Now if you excuse me, I've gotta go to an anime bar--yes those are actually a thing--with a friend. Don't judge me: at least I'm not home alone playing Final Fantasy XVI on a Saturday night.

While it sounds crazy enough to write a review about a game thats not even OUT LMAO. I why I can 100% confirm that this game will be my favourite game ever when it releases.

FFXVI from a series I'm genuinely not that familiar with. beside playing FFXIV recentlt. Having played a few hours of FF7 on the PS1 emulator and having watched like 7 episodes of FF9 lets plays and then dropping it out of boredom. You would genuinely be insane from a series where your intertest was never fully captured nor grasped to have the latest entry be your FAVOURITE GAME EVER?! Well here I will try to concretely enough explain my "My insanity" or for some of you guys "Stupidity" I'm assuming.

I found out about FFXVI pretty late actually the game was revealed the September State of Play 2020. I accidentally stumbled upon the game in October pure on whim. I was watching videos about JRPGs and I saw the games Trailer in my recommendations. I didn't even wanna click on the trailer nor did I want it to play YouTube Autoplayed it for me when I went to the toilet lol... but when I came back I was like "fuck it why not" and pressed replay and my mind was blown away... to most it's a standard trailer nothing outstanding or experimental enough for someone to lose their shit over it but man... I WAS IN. From the SFX of Clive's eikon attacks, silent build up and the narrator to the strong fantasy athmosphere but with a striking distinct visual style. It reminded so much of every favourite Fantasy series I love and it happens so rarely that I ever have such a strong sense of nostolgia from past of something in the present that I have no strong knowledge. But from the previously mentioned things and flashy gameplay and strong and striking character designs. I just knew it was the one. The Fantasy genre is a VERY important genre to me because it helped me allot as a person throughout my life and I honestly watched allot of fantasy media but super rarely has this same feeling been matched before. I literally searched up every information about the game since and don't think I've ever been as hype for something as this game. The latest Info dump just made me even more confident in my feelings. I rewatched each trailer over 10x and watched the gameplay showcases over 10x. Did as much research as I can on the people working on it. Theorize heavy about future characters , environments and potential story beats. I genuinely have 100% trust in this game and don't think I can get dissapointed really.

So it really a case of pure feelings of nostolgia , charm and trust that makes me so sure. I know this seems goofy asf to write this but I know myself the best so I know best what my true feelings on the game will be.

( P.S I've done this before and know how my expectations work so I really cannot be dissapointed. also I will do a follow up in Summer 2023 on this when I play it.

FF16 is a good game, but it is far away from being a masterpiece. Not only is the overall political drama just a simple background scenario, Clive's story is just a revenge campaign, with not much of interesting twists or deeper storytelling. The games combat brings some interesting core mechanics, but is just way to easy. Some hits and the enemy is done. No matter what you click, even on the hardest possible way. Its insane that you can just make FF16 easier and easier, but there is a big lack of challenge in it. So the game becomes some boring "clicking through hordes of enemies". The cutscenes are often too slow, too boring, too uninteresting in writing. On the other hand it can deliver some great scenes.The sound of the game is superb, the sidequest are too MMO-like, graphics vary from muddy to incredible. i really like the setting, but its not as good as GOT. George RR Martin has a better understanding of twists, deep characters and all of this combined with brutality, while FF16 just can deliver this in the first part (demo). Later it becomes a little bit random and generic.
Overall it is solid game, but very disappointing for me.

Just came here to say that the Titan Eikon battle is literally worth the £65 I spent on this game alone, I hope this game can stick the landing because its been nothing short of phenomenal so far, also Soken is a literal god. Review in progress 4.3/5.0

UPDATE REVIEW
So I beat the game and I can pretty confidently say that the only thing holding this game back from being nearly perfect is it's linear level design and lack of a hard mode for first the playthrough. Overall the game gets so many things so right that it easily overshadows any of the negatives would attribute to it, the story is epic and emotional with a big focus on world building and relationships between characters.
The gameplay is basically devil may cry mixed with FFXIV, it's extremely flashy and feels really satisfying to master, it's also a very versatile system that allows players to customise the way that they want to play and engage fights, with around 40+ different Eikonic abilities to pick from and 7 Eikonic feats which range from absolutely broken to pretty decent.

Enemy variety is a big positive in FFXVI the game has an absolute ton of mini boss enemies all with multiple variations each and lots of smaller enemies to style on to your hearts content, FFXVI may have the best suite of boss battles ever within a video game the sheer variety of fights here is astounding and every single one is masterfully scored by Masayoshi Soken.

Overall FFXVI is a true departure from the tried and true Final Fantasy formula but its one that absolutely payed off.
4.45/5.0