Final Fantasy 16 is probably the most mixed I've ever felt about a video game. It has some of the coolest moments I've seen in a game, some amazing music and world that is interesting to learn about. However, for every moment I felt like I was playing an amazing game I was hit by some of the most mundane, frustrating and badly paced stuff I've ever done in a video game. I'm not even mad that I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to but I'm more so disappointed at what it could've been. I did every quest, every hunt, every trial hoping my mind would change by the end I was more convinced that everything this game tries to do has been done better in many of the things it takes inspiration from.

At it's best FF16 works extremely well when it is a linear game going from stage to stage. Going from stage to stage, watching the story unfold and hitting set piece after set piece is what keeps games with character action styled gameplay the most fun. I loved the first 10 hours of this game having Clive and Cid banter with each other throughout the stages. The eikon battles felt like I was peering into a universe where Asura's Wrath had a sequel. Like seriously the Bahamut fight is probably the greatest sense of spectacle I've ever felt in a video game.

It's when you shift to it's more open ended nature I feel is where the problems lie. Fundamentally, I thought having this big open ended areas to explore would give a chance to really dive into the world and lore that Valisthea. But there is very little things that would entice you to give it meaningful exploration outside of quests and hunts. Getting 10 magicked ash from a chest that blends in with every building in the current town really does fuck all with the Bare bones crafting system. It really does not make me want to explore since all meaningful weapon upgrades are pretty much given to you after every major story event.

The quests don't help this at all being some of the most monotonous, repetitive and boring I've ever had to do in a video game. Not everything needed to be voiced here as receiving a quests can take up to 4 mins having the characters talk slowly back and forth to each other with the most boring back and forth presentation. It's not like "go kill 3 enemies" is a uncommon quest in RPGs but the length it takes to do that really kills the pacing. Clive doesn't run in towns, he takes a while to sprint in the field and for the most part, you always have to return back to where you received the quest for it to end. In addition since there is really no incentive to explore the different areas you just kind go from point A to point B without every curious. Like if resources mattered or Hunts rewarded you with new skills and modifiers for Clive, I would've felt better about running around.

This leads me to the the games combat. Within the first maybe 4 hours you will have every part of Clive's base moveset. He does not get an extra sword hit to extend his combo, no further mobility etc. The game relies on the eikon abilities to further Clive's movesets with powerful specials and moves that allow you juggle, change how much stun or deal out massive aoe damage. I personally enjoyed this part of the game a lot since it does feel good to just delete enemies or extend a juggle with Torgal. The problem lies with the basic mooks that kinda just wait to get killed. You will never be challenged by anything that isn't a non-boss enemy. The most complex it will get with them is that a mage will cast a spell to cause you to focus them first. You can kill them and bully them almost instantly with most of the AOE specials in the game. But then once you're on cooldown you only have Clive's base kit to carry which remains as boring as it is from hour 5. Imagine if Sora never expanded his moveset from a 3 hit combo, or if Dante had one weapon the entire game. This is what it felt like playing Clive 20 hours in. I really wish new eikons changed the properties of how clive attacked (which funnily enough the last one does at the very end of the game). Or if new weapon upgrades expanded how many hits Clive can do in a standing combo.

The real challenge of the enemies come from the mid boss which are really fun. Precision dodging into an attack always feels good and using counter abilities on them lets you play risky for increased stagger or damage done. They remind me of dark souls bosses in a way of pattern memorization and knowing when to weave in and out. I only with eikon abilities played more with how you affect these fights. The only one that does anything of note is garuda's when you break them at halfway through their stagger meter so it feels like you should always have that eikon equipped since the rest. And once staggered It really just feels like you blow all your cooldowns and then are back to using the same 4 hit combo waiting for something to become available again. I think the combat works fine as it'd own thing but for a game of this length I feel it starts to wear thin when that's all there is to do here. The only time the combat got interesting was towards the end game is when you unlock the trials, which limit you causing you to engage differently with enemies in order to reach the end.

Lastly, I'll touch upon the story since I was conflicted with this as well. I think the game starts off pretty strong but it could've benefited from having a stronger core cast. I know the devs made it very clear this story IS about Clive but I felt a lot of time spent on characters and lore is left to the side content. Some of the lore and extra moments spent on characters in the side content is great but it's all stuck between the actual doing of the uninteresting side quests that I don't feel like I cared as much. It's morals are kinda shoved in your face to the point it bothered me. One of my favorite games from the past year is Xenoblade 3 does the same thing but it didn't bother me as much as it did here.

The main issue with 16's story in my opinion however is it's pacing. Anytime the plot gets any sort of momentum its grinded to a halt or you have to do a mandatory story quest that is structured like the side quests in the game. I don't mind the slow moments but when one of the main story quests has you just talk to everyone about the big thing you just did, I question why it couldn't have just been a cutscene. This is why I think as a stage to stage game, 16 would work better cause these down time moments can take form 30 mins to a few hours depending on if you are doing the side content which is also insanely slow.

In term's of the main cast I felt it was a little weak. There's some great moments but a lot of it I felt could've benefited from spending more time with Clive when he was a teenager and during the second timeskip. The only really main cast member I found myself loving was Cid and I found the supporting cast to be much interesting through dialouge found in the side content. Overall, I think Clive and Jill were undercooked for most of the game. Jill especially as her motivations never stray too far from just being a ride or die for Clive expect for one moment she has where it's introduced and disposed of within the same hour. In addition, the villains are boring or underused which is a shame cause I felt some of them should've been very interesting.

So how does a 16 sequel or successor improve on this? I feel condensing everything and focusing more on a replayability aspect would be nice personally. This game feels like its trying to focus on being a character action game, while also being a game with RPG elements and trying stretching that to and RPGS length. (about 30 - 60 hours depending on how much you do.) Character actions games work because they're short spectacle trips but the real magic is from a replay or going back to fight your favorite boss and so on. I feel that's where 16's strength lies and with maybe smaller and more focused areas it can achieve this marriage of genres I feel it's going for. But as it stands I was watching the credits completely underwhelmed and wanted way more.

TL:DR : I just don't get it...Why did they make it shitty!

I've started playing through this game every year around the winter and I'm just convinced it's one of all time favorites. Such a simple game but I'm a sucker for the aesthetics and gameplay. Love doing loops and seeing how high of a score I can get and Nights is such a cool character design. Music is probably one of my favorite gaming soundtracks also. Simply no other game that fits it's vibe.

I've played through the pc port a number of times but if you're interested there is a 60fps mod and an input improvement mod for the steam version that fixes the deadzones that make it more in line with the Saturn version. It made my recent playthrough more enjoyable this year. Really a game changer.

Mileage will vary per person. Feel cobbled together at times, pop in feels worse. Some challenges require a lot from players comparatively to what was done in the base game. New characters implementation can go from feeling good to clunky at different points. Awkwardness with controls and camera at times...etc...etc.

So naturally, I liked it a whole lot but you might not. Score is reflective of janky nature of it really but I had a lot of fun here since I kept up with the updates and changes to the physics. I do think the challenge offered here can be alienating and very unforgiving for people who simply weren't playing frontiers for the content presented here. A lot of tough "you mess up and have to try again from the beginning" moments here that feel extremely jarring when the base game was a lot more forgiving all around. If you aren't prepared for that and haven't been playing frontiers consistently (and actually play other games like most people) the update can be a major turn off and actively hurt a lot of the worthwhile and fun ideas that are in the update. There's a surprising amount here for it being free but I feel like if they charged money opinion would be a lot more harsh. A lot of good ideas such as the new cyberspace levels and platforming challenges with different characters. But there is also a lot of stuff most people wouldn't want to play in order to get to the good stuff such as the tower climbs and trials.

That said, very excited for the next mainline game. This game always felt like a testing grounds and I think there's a lot done well here for a truly great follow-up. Fingers crossed they deliver. There's always a lot of talk of sonic fans not having high standards for stuff but Frontiers now is a completely different game than how it was when it launched and it was due to active feedback and revision from the dev team. It always felt like a testing ground for a smaller and more solid game. I think a smaller scope with more focus on fun platforming that leads to meaningful new areas and rewards instead of puzzles and upgrade collectables would do a lot if they continue with this sandbox gameplay style. Also more varied set pieces please and thank you.