They really got my number with this one.

I found the world, story, and characters of FF16 very compelling, and for me it all came together pretty well. The combat was equally as fun, so I never minded that many of the quests were "go over here and fight this thing."

I played every side quest and read every lore entry, and credit those two things with my appreciation of the overall story. Yes, one could easily argue that some of the information you get from random side quests or reading lore entries should've been woven into the main narrative, and you'd be fair to do so. It's all there, though, should you desire to find it.

There is plenty to critique in FF16's narrative, as well as its mechanics — it doesn't really do justice to the slavery story, and some of its systems (like crafting, and loot) feel under-considered, to name two big things — I nonetheless loved both the game's lore and its moment-to-moment action.

Imperfect though it may be, I enjoyed the heck out of it.