What a phenomenal game. I went into this one thinking it was going to be kind of middle of the road, seeing as I haven't heard much about this one, but I was very very impressed.

The graphics, story, locations, and characters have all been levelled up since the last one, I was staring in awe at many of the incredible locations in this game. The fucking overgrown mansion in the beginning, the ship during the storm, riding on horseback through the desert, holy hell this shit was awesome.

I really enjoyed the locations in this one more than the last two, since both of those kind of took place in more or less similar locations, this one being mostly in the desert (with some parts in the forest and at sea,) I really enjoyed the variety.

The story was also VASTLY improved over the last one, I really care more about the characters in this more than ever, and I think they started really writing a story that makes me want to keep playing, that isn't just "we need to go here to stop the bad guys blah blah blah."
I loved Sully and Nate's relationship development in this one, I love these characters and I think they did a really good job of straining their relationship and strengthening it. When I thought Sully died I was so pissed, and so relieved when he was alright. It was great to see their backstory, and it is just great to see how good of friends they are.

The villain in this was pretty much just as generic as the other ones, I don't think I cared for her in the slightest, but I hated that slimy fucking henchman MF.

I feel like the difficulty was spiked in this one compared to the other ones, a lot of times I thought I made a direct headshot didn't land on the enemies, and I was dying wayyyy more to the gunfire than in the other ones.

Overall I had a blast, and I am happy my expectations were exceeded!! I am very excited to play the final game in the series, I've only heard good things!!

Final Fantasy XVI definitely exceeded my expectations and I couldn't be happier about it. I like how the game falsely leads you to believe it's going to be yet another revenge narrative but it swerves into oppression and revolution after they solve that issue. Some people might be disappointed if they go in expecting a complex political thriller, but what we get instead is a compelling narrative revolving around destroying a divine foundation and return mankind its freedom.

I also really like what they did with Clive. He is actually not half as edgy or bloodthirsty as I expected him to be. He never dives into blind murder territory, so excellent choice. Sadly, the same cannot be said about Jill. Don't get me wrong, I like her and was really hype for her after her arc, because I feel we learn why she was so muted before and placed priority on Clive's emotional needs over her own. But after her revenge they slipped her back into the role of Clive's love interest and echo of kindness. I hoped to see her be more of her own character than Clive's emotional crutch, so I'm bummed they didn't deliver on Jill's potential. Seeing strong female characters reduced to that is just a waste and a huge pet peeve of mine.

But overall, I'm glad I got to experience a highly immersive, mature and dark Final Fantasy game filled with phenomenal visuals, stunning cinematics, an immaculate soundtrack and a simplified but fun DMC like action gameplay featuring epic Eikon fights. You could tell the developers really cared about making this game great, which they did.

On a sidenote, it's interesting to see people try to define what a "true Final Fantasy" game is, because I feel like it's a franchise that has recreated itself on multiple occasions. There are some common threads of course, but gameplay style, plot style, etc. seem to always have morphed.

I value what media makes me feel over anything else, and god does this game make me feel
There's stuff you could criticize about it but I really just don't care, I adore it
Such a heartfelt and heavy hitting story, I feel genuinely content with the closure they gave
Very good, very happy with it
Glad I tried my hardest to stay as blind as possible until I could play it for myself

War has changed.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is an achievement in fiction not just as a game or "movie" as some would describe it, but as a work of transformative art made only possible by a man as intricate and fascinating as Hideo Kojima. What Guns of the Patriots is able to do is close a chapter on the world of a franchise born in the eighties, with poignant and predictive storytelling truly ahead of its time. There is nothing like Metal Gear Solid in media today, there was nothing like it before, and there may be nothing like it after. The way MGS and Kojima were able to weave meta commentary on politics, war, and sociocultural impact is nothing short of miraculous. Touching on this story without devolving into spoilers is rather difficult, but I will say to anyone willing to embark on this incredible journey, it is worth it. This is the first time in a long time that I am truly speechless and having a tough time writing my post gameplay review. They almost always flow naturally from my fingertips, written as if they were a stream of consciousness... but alas Kojima has checkmated anything I could put to proverbial paper.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is a conjunction of MGS2/3's sneaking playstyle and the storytelling of a feature film. There's countless moments where you as the player are invited to put down your controller and watch a narrative maestro at work, carefully weaving together histories and plotlines that developed fifty years before this game takes place. In a way Chekov's gun reigns true, as KojiPro was able to close almost every conceivable plotline and moment from the series in this title alone in the way of convenient plot elements and character monologues/soliloquy. The story that began with the hero known as Snake aka Big Boss, Zero, Ocelot, and Eva all comes to a halt as does the hatred that drove them and the world all apart. The control of information and the puppetering of the war economy become a driving force for the antagonists as they steer humanity into a dark age of conformance. Can Solid Snake, Otacon, and their crew of problematic miscreants save the world in a myserious war against their psyches? The answer is provided in Guns of the Patriots, and it will take you and your creative whimsy into a previously untapped locale of media.

With the recent news of the revival of MGS for modern platforms, I am cautiously optimistic for a new generation of gamers to encounter (heh) the incredible world that Metal Gear truly is. I hope they are able to dissect the commentary that is written in about our future and our past from the game they are playing. I hope they can laugh in one moment to ponder the existence of memetics as a cultural driving force in the next.

Shine on Big Boss, Solid Snake, Otacon, and Hideo Kojima.

War has changed.

I consider myself a big fan of the Final Fantasy series. It has certainly had its ups and downs throughout the years. From decent beginning on the NES, hitting its stride in the SNES and Playstation era, and through the growing pains of recent years, I have always found myself enjoying the series throughout the years. I personally loved XV, despite some obvious flaws, so I felt that FF was starting to head back into the right direction. This was exemplified more with the levels of hype I had going into FF XVI. As you can tell from my rating, I was not disappointed.

I think what XVI nails more than anything is its presentation. The game looks absolutely gorgeous. Sure, sometimes the framerate struggles, but god damn I can see why. The visuals here are absolutely breathtaking. Whether its the somber atmosphere of your hideaway, to the big bombastic boss battles full of action and magic, the game is always gorgeous to feast your eyes on.

The story is also a major highlight for me. I have seen some complain here and there about certain pacing issues, but I honestly don't see what the detractors are talking about. In terms of the main story, XVI knocks it out of the park. It oozes FF charm and feels like so much passion was put into it. You can see this with the characters as well. Clive is obviously the main highlight with a great leading performance from Ben Starr, but the supporting cast is also all fantastic (yes, Jill included). Ralph Ineson as Cid is also a major highlight for me as well. His performance is, well, brief, but so memorable.

The combat may not be as deep as DMC, which it is clearly based on, but damn is it so much fun. Using the different Eikons to string together combos and unload some serious damage to enemies is so satisfying. You'll naturally be curious to see what Eikon abilities you prefer and how to best utilize them. The combat against regular enemies can sometimes be rather simplistic and easy, but against enemies with stagger bars, the combat becomes even more engaging and hectic. Not to mention the boss battles, which are honestly some of the best boss battles I think I've ever played. It reminded me a lot of another game I really love, Asura's Wrath, in terms of the spectacle of it all. Except this time, we have way better combat and gameplay than in Asura's Wrath (not knocking that game tho, its a masterpiece too). Certain boss battles literally made my jaw drop from the spectacle. There are bosses here that I will remember for the rest of my life, they're THAT good.

The music is also 10/10. I can't wait for them to release the full soundtrack, which I'm honestly surprised they haven't done yet as of the writing of this review. So many tracks stick in my mind, from reworks of classic FF music, to so many of the new tracks, both epic headbangers and calm atmospheric bops.

The only thing that I think this game does wrong are the side quests. Hunts and combat challenges are great here, but some of the side missions felt a little boring or too simple. For those who have played FF XIV, the side quests may feel familiar to you, and that's because a lot of them are treated as though they're MMO side quests. There are a fair amount of just fetching things, or just talking to several people, broken up with a combat encounter or two. They aren't bad, but the game certainly likes to throw a bunch at you at once. There are a few absolute knockouts though that either provide a great optional boss or two, or even cause the waterworks to get started. At times I was wondering why the hell certain moments were left out of the main game and were left to side quests that a lot of people may not do.

Regardless of this complaint though, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Final Fantasy XVI. Its without a doubt one of the best games released this year. While I would like to see the series go a back to more RPG elements juuuuuuust a little bit, I felt that this game worked spectacularly as a main entry in the franchise. Great story, well written characters, a visual marvel, and masterclass music make this game one of the absolute best that I've played this year, and honestly, a Top 5 FF game for me.

"We've had times over the years when our chances were all-but zero. But we're here now, aren't we? We defied the odds and came through every time. Because we weren't alone. Because we chose to support one another. That strength is why we can always persevere. And humanity will continue to bolster that strength for generations to come"

I would like to preface this review by saying I first got into the Trails series back in 2020 and binged through every game from Sky FC to Cold Steel IV in the span of about 6 months. The series has been my fave video game series ever since and even 3 years later that love has yet to fade in the slightest. Trails Into Reverie is a bit of a special game for me being the first Trails game I actually had to wait for to be localized and released and I'll just say that 3 year wait was more than worth it because Reverie truly reminded me why I love this series enough to call it my favorite in the first place and after putting 100+ hours into it and finishing both the main story and all the side content I'm pretty content on calling Reverie both my fave Trails game and possibly just my fave game in general.

Trails Into Reverie is many things. It's both Trails of Cold Steel V and also Trails to Azure II and even on top of that it is its own new story which introduces many new characters and exciting concepts to the world of Zemuria, but most importantly Trails Into Reverie is the culmination of nearly 15 years worth of storytelling, a stunning love letter to the Trails series up to this point and an incredible finale for the Western Zemurian Arc as a whole while setting up the beginning of the Eastern Zemurian Arc starting with the Calvard Republic. There's simply nothing else in the medium of video games like the payoff that Reverie gives you after experiencing all 9 other games before it. Truly made the hundreds of hours I spent on the series worth it.

Trails as a series has always been one of the most ambitious across the entire medium of video games, most known for holding the record for telling the longest running interconnected story across 12 separate games and the span of (so far) 7 in-game years (And almost 20 real world years) and the series world renown masterclass, novel-esque world-building focusing on the sociopolitical issues of the massive continent of Zemuria which has multiple fleshed out countries featuring their own unique governments, militaries and political relationships and struggles. Zemuria has an impressively detailed history, including its own version of the real world industrial revolution, modern technological advances, its own religion and a version of the Vatican and so much more. Alongside all this there's a more mysterious, darker and occultic side of Zemurian history few are aware of involving secret societies, magical artifacts and ancient civilizations.

So when I say that Trails Into Reverie might very well be the most ambitious Trails game to date, you know how bold of a claim that is for a series as ambitious as this, but I promise you it is true. Trails Into Reverie is the first game in the series to tell not one, but three narratives across three individual story routes with each focusing on a different protagonist and featuring their own unique casts of characters, boss fights, locations and even music, but if that wasn't ambitious enough already after the prologue Reverie let's the player experience these three routes in any way of their choosing (Aside from certain points in the story that lock you into a specific route) this is all made possible by the cleverly titled "Trails to Walk" menu system that lets you instantaneously swap between all three routes at any given time.

All three narratives are quite diverse from one another in tone and themes and being able to swap between them at will really helps keep Reverie constantly fresh and very well paced (And Trails games are notorious for being quite slow burns) making this arguably the best paced and most exciting game in the whole series and a big part of that is thanks to it being the one with the most mystery right from the very first act all the way to the end. Who's this mysterious masked man C? What's up with this lifelike doll and why does she have amnesia? What is the "Reborn Imperial Liberation Front? What's going on with Rean and why does he still have inner turmoil? What does fate have in-store for Crossbell and the SSS? These and so many more questions will be running through your mind and the answers will most likely not be as simple as you think they are because all the twists and turns in the plot are easily the best the series has to offer as far as I'm concerned and even the finale is the best in the series as well. It's rare a game tries to pull something so grandiose off and actually manages to accomplish it without feeling rushed, but once again Reverie shows why its the best in the series hands down.

The routes by themselves are all fantastic. C's route and its themes of existentialism and learning to find a purpose in life was the biggest standout for me (Crazy how this game has over 50 characters and the new ones still manage to steal the show), but both Rean and Lloyd's routes truly help give satisfying conclusions to their character arcs as well. However what impresses me more is how all these individual complex narrative threads flawlessly weave and intersect with one another slowly becoming entangled at the core and what was once three separate narratives eventually becomes one singular narrative that comes full circle. It's like hyperlink cinema, but in game format and it's just as impressive.

Despite having three separate story paths Trails Into Reverie is a surprisingly linear game especially after coming off of the almost semi-open world Trails of Cold Steel IV, but I think it was for the best and only helps tighten the pacing. There's surprisingly very few side quests, but the game more than makes up for that with the True Reverie Corridor and all the side content it holds. The True Reverie Corridor is a sort of special mystical dimensional space where all our heroes can go and train by tackling a procedural generated dungeon to earn Phantasmal Shards which allow for the purchase of many special upgrades which can be transferred to their combat prowess in Zemuria. It is separated by Stratums and only the first 2 are mandatory to complete for the main narrative, everything else is side content that you could very well ignore (However I wouldn't recommend it though because of how much you'd miss out on)

In this dimensional space you can also participate in unique combat trials, unlock captivating side stories (If you've played Sky the 3rd, think of the Star/Moon Doors in Phantasma) which much like the Doors in Phantasma help to build the world even further with stories that complete certain character's arcs, show untold pasts, fill in the blanks to things that happened in between or before the main narrative of Reverie and some that might give hints to come about the future alongside some more fun filler slice-of-life events. Besides the side stories the TRC also lets us partake in plenty of mini-games from fishing to the CS card game Vantage Masters, the Puyo-Puyo like Pom-Party or a new Magical Girl themed Bullet Hell game, but that's not all because in the TRC you can also recruit special characters that don't appear in the main story just to use while dungeon crawling in the TRC by the means of a gacha system. By the end of the game you'll have over 50 characters to choose from and experiment making your dream parties, it is easy to spend hours upon hours in the TRC alone because there's such a wealth of optional content available, it's staggering honestly.

If you've played a Trails game you already know what to expect in the gameplay department, the combat is fundamentally the same from Cold Steel IV with a couple new mechanics and additions such as United Fronts which are basically upgraded Burst attacks that let your entire party even the reserve characters off screen do a group attack on an enemy, the Dis-Orders which were introduced in CS IV are back and more prominently used as well. Aside from that it's more of the same tactical/turn-based hybrid gameplay we know and love where we can move and position our characters on a grid, attack with special skills known as Crafts, use magic known as Arts, link up with team-mates for co-op attacks, boost our abilities with Orders and find the right combination of Quartz and Master Quartz to set in our Orbments and make the most game breaking, broken build possible. Simply put, Reverie is Trails' combat style perfected including every single miniscule detail that makes the combat in this series so enjoyable and introducing a spin or two of its own on the combat. Reverie having the largest cast of playable characters in the series (And possibly in all of J-RPGs as well) to date (Over 50 btw) gives so much room for diverse parties and builds to experiment with if that's your thing as well.

I'll also mention that despite Trails being a low budget series and Falcom in general being such a low budget company, Reverie is without a doubt their best looking game to date (Keep in mind, I haven't played Kuro yet) and there is one particular scene that was a sort of "test" for the new engine that Kuro apparently runs on and both the graphical and animation qualities have such a vast improvement over anything else Falcom have done to this point that it is crazy. However even the base game looks very impressive for such a low budget company and the animation quality has seen great improvements making the action scenes better than they've ever been, it definitely makes me excited for Kuro to experience the full power of the new engine though.

Another important thing I have to mention is the OST. What would a Trails game...No, scratch that, what would a Falcom game in general be without their music? A company that has always given music such an important role in their games that they have their own touring band that does live shows. Whenever a new Falcom game comes out it also comes with one hell of an album attached to it and I can promise you that Trails Into Reverie is no different. From its anime-esque opening theme "No End No World" which blends J-Pop, prog rock and jazz all together flawlessly all the way to the final boss theme "The Perfect Steel of Zero" and its powerful, bombastic and grandiose orchestral arrangements and choir vocals and that's just two out of eighty one tracks featured in this masterpiece of an album (Err I mean game, who am I kidding? I mean both) not even mentioning neoclassical guitar shredding furious boss battle themes like "Heavy Violent Match" or "Sword of Sword" and if that isn't enough for you, there's somber and melancholic piano pieces like "Lapis" or atmospheric violin laden tracks like "Hide and Seek with Myself" I could honestly write a review about how great the soundtrack itself is alone so I'll just cut it off here saying not only is the OST incredibly diverse and musically impressive, but every single track only helps to enhance the scene it is played in, every boss battle is more intense and exciting, every mystery feels more mysterious, every emotional moment more heart-wrenching. The OST itself is so intrinsicly linked to the game that I simply couldn't picture any other music alongside these scenes because it is the perfect companion.

Trails Into Reverie is Trails at its absolute best featuring all the strengths of the series and none of its weaknesses, providing not only the best writing (And best pacing) the series has to offer and an incredibly satisfying conclusion to a story that has been ongoing for the past 15 years, but also one of Falcom's best OSTs, some of the best turn-based gameplay of the past decade, Falcom's most impressive game from a technical perspective and over 100 hours of content including a lengthy main story and nearly just as much optional side content. Trails Into Reverie is simply put, no less than a true masterwork of an RPG and storytelling in general and one hell of a sendoff for some of my favorite characters of all time. If there was ever an "Endgame" of video games, Trails Into Reverie would be it, but as far as I'm concerned, Reverie is even better. However this isn't the end for Trails, but merely the beginning because as they say, where one trail ends another begins so onward to Calvard!

“I am Joshua’s Shield. I’m sworn to protect him… He takes too many risks. I only wish I could save him from himself.”

“Clive, you... Well, if you’re not going to pray to Metia for your safe return, I shall just have to do it for you.”

These lines are spoken in the very first hour, and detail three crucial details. His duty as Joshua’s Shield. How much he cares for his brother, and how Jill prays for his safe return. It’s simple, to the dot, and captures the player’s attention immediately. Statements are said with conviction, will, and resolve. Told during the halcyon days of their youth. Ahhh. But terrible storms gather nearby. For Clive, Jill, and Joshua their fates will change forevermore…

Final Fantasy(FF) is no stranger to taking risks. And each iteration boldly goes where the previous ones have not walked. And FFXVI is no different. We follow Clive Rosfield’s journey as a young lad into something more. For better or worse, he and others are embroiled in a political drama within Valisthea. A large continent with six nations all with their factions, agendas, and notorious individuals with nefarious goals. And Rosfield is the poor sod who has to survive, kill and go past his limits. Make no mistake, out of all the FF games I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. Sixteen consumed my waking thoughts, and remained a constant as I went through the daily motions and as the days passed into weeks. I am astonished by how much there is to do, uncover and learn. I have gone the distance to see as much as I possibly can within two playthroughs. And here I am staring at my google docs page after an exhaustive duel, spending countless hours figuring out if it deserves to reach my top 5 FFs. And it does. I don’t say that statement lightly, since I love the series since starting with thirteen and have enjoyed over twenty-two entries. So you could say I am very familiar. Now then it is time to review the latest entry to one of Square Enix’s(SE) long-running IPs.

Combat is addicting. I couldn’t get enough of it. Experimenting with new skills and outfitting my kit. Or rushing to face numerous bosses that are both fair and hit the right spots. Tweaking the difficulty at your leisure from story or action focused. The former grants free rings at the start to aid you. The latter, you don’t acquire automatically. But you can freely switch difficulties at any time, so you won’t miss out. Equip accessible rings to make combat easier for ya. Auto dodge, auto combo, auto potion, and more are available. A nice way to make fights easier or harder depending on your preference. With the help of Kingdom Hearts developers and PlatinumGames. And signing up Ryota Suzuki. A Capcom veteran and one who has worked on the Devil May Cry franchise. A triple alliance emerges between these forces and at the helm is Creative Business Unit III(CBU3) joining to make an impressive quad squad. The titular and amazing Naoki Yoshida(Nicknamed Yoshi-P) is the producer. A man who has worked tirelessly to reform the original FFXIV launch into one of the most successful MMORPGs today. So you could say these guys are in very safe hands. Unafraid of taking risks, each FF entry strives to make combat innovative, but also familiar to entertain both veterans and sprouts(newbies). Traditional turn-based gameplay has radically shifted since its foundation, shifting into real-time action. And as someone who favors the turn-based approach, I don’t mind the change to real-time. I appreciate it. There is a fluid momentum persisting as you dodge, parry, and execute Eikon's abilities. Goblins? Move over Goblin Slayer, Dude will incinerate them to kingdom come. Phoenix shifting, with relentless fury as if the wind has blessed him with deadly claws. I didn’t find clunky movements wherever I treaded, making battles go smoothly. Transitions into these skirmishes are near instant. So don’t be afraid of a lengthy wait. Quick and nimble is the key here. And I had no problem acquiring different abilities to experiment and juggle my enemies. Didn’t find an issue with the experience. The gain was fair. Both in leveling up and upgrading my skills. I was satisfied to a degree of wanting more and the developers gave me that and extra.

The soundtrack is subtle, but full of magic. Composed by Masayoshi Soken Who has worked just as tirelessly as Yoshi-P in composing FFXIV melodies. Sixteen’s composition is distinct from the compositions of Nobuo Uematsu(FF1->10), Masashi Hamauzu(FF13 trilogy), Yoko Shimomura(FF15), and other composers. More in line with Hitoshi Sakimoto's works. Of FF Tactics and Vagrant Story fame. Subtle, in a good way. I think most if not all tracks work in favor of providing a layer I don’t find as bombastic, full of vocals, or orchestral. Going more tranquil, peaceful, and in some cases filled with tension creates a tightrope to induce fear and bravery. There is meaning and weight to these songs. Triumphant lyrics are largely missing in favor of the solemn and at times contemplative ambient sounds gracing our ears. Pleasant, soothing, and incredibly transformative. Didn’t hear the same old repetitive track again and again. Always something unfamiliar to hear, and listen to when I travel new places around the block. I could say more, but for the life of me, I cannot describe it justice enough. Just know when the epic tunes hit they hit bloody hard. There is a payoff in going subtle here. And if Uematsu could hear this, I think he would clap in joy for Soken’s work.

Gratifying gameplay loop that is cyclical, interconnected and works in tandem with the other systems in place. Get too tired with combat? That's fine. Take a breather with some side quests(SQ) that are almost perfect. Hitting the near-zenith of Witcher 3 SQ quality combined with consistently powerful worldbuilding I haven’t seen since I last played through The Legend of Heroes IP. Specifically, the Sky trilogy, Crossbell duology, and Cold Steel tetralogy. There is so much depth, I am left in wonder and awe to study more about the history of Valisthea and its denizens. More often than not you will encounter chunks of lore. To varying degrees. Religion and societal customs included. Unexpected discoveries in interpersonal relationships with folks I didn’t expect. Helping people in need at the main hub to assist strangers out in the wild. And these are not pointless to do, since the rewards can range from increasing your potions limit to rewarding items, weapons, equipment, materials, and key items. Worth it, both in the physical and knowledge aspects. Easily, the strongest SQs are the ones related to the main character(MC), his party members, and by extension those who are allied with him. Granting a decent to lengthy quest chains to learn more. Bond further and even partner up! Worthwhile to do and I encourage everyone to complete as many as they possibly can. Some of these connect with quests benefiting players and heck if you’re bored you can even undertake a hunt mission. Which are like bounties to defeat unique monsters out in the wild. Fun to do and a worthwhile conflict awaits. A solid way, building up renown to earn supplementary rewards. It's gotten to the point I couldn’t wait to finish the main story quests(MSQ) so I can complete new SQs/hunts popping up on my radar.

And Clive. Bless his soul. Doesn’t mind at all aiding those in need. Especially to offer a guiding hand to Bearers. People who are essentially slaves and can use magic. Commonfolk can’t use magic innately. Used by slave masters, nobility as a means of cheap labor. Bearers are human tools. Do you want your garden trimmed? Let the boy use wind magic to trim the bushes into a presentable state. No need to work yourself and use bladed shears. Need clothes to dry quickly rather than letting the sun do the work? Let the Bearer use wind magic again to blow air on your wet clothes becoming a human dryer. Oh, need consistent fire for your blacksmithing duties? Grab one of those filthy Bearers and order them to use their magic to cast fira. Heating the stones instead of using natural fire. I kid you not these instances I saw plenty throughout and equally jaw-dropping tales inside. In some cases, my emotional state stewed in conniptions. I was immensely saddened to see a mirror image of our world’s history of slavery. And the developers(devs) have managed to capture these horrific moments in ways I was reeling. I won’t go into the exact details, but my heart bled for each one. And I quickly without hesitation became the shield for these unfortunate souls who were suffering without end.

Worldbuilding is quality across the board. I usually have problems with worldbuilding in other Japanese Role-Playing Games(JRPGs). Some go too far. Gorging the player on unnecessary details. Others have too little and need more of the former. It’s been a long time since I was so engrossed in the lore and history. Sixteen manages to do it in such a way I am left hungry for more. Complementing this is a handy codex in the form of Active Time Lore(ATL for short). Where you can see relevant information during any part of the story. Yes, this includes cutscenes. Incredibly well-thought-out and as a lore nut. The feature is very satisfying to use when I need a refresher on what this legend is supposed to be. Why do we keep calling places ‘Storm’ and ‘Twins?’ What are Bearers? The plot, quests, and your companions will continually talk about these elements in rich detail. I could gush more but I think you see the picture. Wish other JRPGs and Non-RPGs learn from this.

An evolving world is persistent here. Each time a major or minor event has been resolved whether by SQ’s or MSQ. The state of NPC's is adjusted to reflect that. And the very essence of Valisthea wherever you travel to also shares the same evolution. Oh, a major event took place at [redacted]? Time to head back to and check for differences in the citizenry. This is just one example of how places may vary over time. Very reminiscent of my time with the Trails franchise. I eagerly looked forward to returning to the main hub and conversing with my comrades on the latest gossip, new information about the state of the realm, or the odd tip here and there you may not see coming. I cherished these NPCs and I would go so far as to call some, my dear friends. They all play a big role in shaping not just MC’s story, but their tales and stories are interwoven with his. Leaving me with an everlasting impression. The gentle giant Goetz, Sharp eyes Gav, the gentle but stern Tarja, the wise Harpocrates, and of course we can't forget the wise, venerable and slick leader. These individuals have their struggles, and quests from which we witness. Cooperate and in doing, so we are treated to a fantastic cast willing to shoulder our burdens. To care for our wounds. To sustain us with supplies and support us through thick and thin. Against all odds. We stand together.

There are however mixed feelings I have with this entry. Won’t say names. Since this is a non-spoiler review and certainly not a positive or a negative. But for the sake of transparency, I'm noting down here. One character in particular needed more fleshing out, some villains and to a lesser degree other persons. I felt I didn't grasp their entire being more than others. Which is funny because I adore my party. Sadly, I’ve already devoured the game as much as I possibly could in search of critical and related information I may have missed the first time around with no success. And I doubt a third go around would change my thoughts. Anyway, I think further context on the background and subsequent encounter with the MC needed more ‘meat’ so to speak for lack of better words to create a dynamic that would immerse me further. Extra side quests regarding ‘x’ nation concerning their status, additional scenes, and heavier amounts of banter, especially during battles to alleviate some silence. There is some banter, though I think the devs could’ve added a healthy amount to spare. Tease me with interconnected lore concerning their powers I wouldn’t expect. Past entries in the series had parties where I can comfortably say I know their personality, likes, dislikes, habits, quirks, relationships with others, etc. And while this one individual didn’t have to that extent. I enjoyed their presence, actions, and the precious moments they had in the story. Granted, including my suggestions would inflate the base content more in hours, but I think it's a small price to pay to receive more fleshed-out people. I’m not asking for five hours extra. Although I wouldn’t mind it. Just an hour or two. Be that as it may, it doesn't diminish the game all that much.

Wish we could control other party members and while this doesn’t make a lot of sense due to spoilers in the story. Conceptually I think it could’ve worked to give further spice to the combat capabilities. Adding a greater emphasis to my earlier point of fleshing out the characters. Since some member’s ability kit is not as varied as the MC’s which would perhaps make the players feel more lacking in the combat. However, internally I’m torn with the idea since I think this would’ve created somewhat a lesser emphasis on his story. And at its core, there is an extremely high plateau of which we the audience bear witness to his struggles, failures, and triumphs through his eyes. If we take out our(his) eyesight and perspective, then these incredible experiences we see perhaps may not have had a greater impact. Balance is key here and while I could sprout more suggestions I could see why the developer chose not to do so. It’s a troublesome matter. I've long since debated whether more or less should be added for games.

Style over substance is here. Should be noted, I don’t perceive this notion in a negative light. I can see the merits, demerits with shades in the middle. For Style It is simply amazing to behold the Eikon fights. But it becomes rinse and repeat as we continue to reuse a repetitive formula. Spamming our attacks amid downtimes of our cooldown abilities, interspersed with quick time events(QTE) to add a flourish making battles memorable. Sure there are moments when this evolves to keep the combat fresh amidst these epic David Vs. Goliath clashes. Tynan Sylvester goes deep into the subject of this in his article on "Style and Substance in Game Design" Here he posits:

“The designs all become too similar to each other because they're all simulations of the same things. The style is decided upon and a simulation is built before the substance gets tweaked. This means that the fundamentals of the games are all the same; they are just variations on one another.”

We see this clearly with the Eikon fights and perhaps in some respects with the combat system in the non-Eikon battles. Nevertheless, it is fitting in a narrative sense due to how the plot and sequences are constructed. I think I would’ve preferred a more tactical aspect here. Instead of having mandatory engagements like these. Include more natural surprises to the player. Raising their eyebrows. Make us fight using different aspects of an Eikon. Outwitting my opponents using subterfuge, and backstabbing, Let us use the environment to our advantage, add in human enemies to avoid clashes, and instill a sense of unpredictability by introducing our loveable party members into the equation. Give us choices or perhaps go bolder where it's not even a fight, but merely a duel of words. I could say more, but I’ll withhold myself. I can’t help but begrudgingly praise how well these Eikonic clashes were done in a cinematic sense, but also what they accomplish in the story. The substance is here too. Good lord, there are simply too many to my utter joy and I’ve already said earlier regarding the worldbuilding, sidequests, and how that wonderfully ties together into not just Clive’s struggles, but the cast alongside him. Man has conflict everywhere.

FF16 RPG elements are barely within and while I think the commentary article does have some truth. I believe for the narrative this was sacrificed necessarily to focus entirely on his journey. I am not defending Sixteen by saying this, merely trying to infer based on what I've seen. There is a clear vision from which the devs have led from beginning, middle, and end for the player to see. And I for one applaud the move to risk in their grand vision, by sacrificing some RPG elements. As a result, I am given less time managing and micromanaging my units stats and equipment, in favor of returning to action. Is this a conscious effort by the team to do so? Perhaps. Should Final Fantasy have the bare minimum of RPG elements like tweaking stats, combat, and more to make it as JRPG as other entries in the past have done? I don’t know. I for one am no developer nor am I an expert in determining the correct answer to such a question. I don’t think there is even a perfect one out there from which we can all unanimously agree. maybe Chrono Trigger? Without a pedantic fella hollering “Well actually…” Comparisons will be made of course. And in tradition, we see these constant debates online. In my opinion, as long as the elements are satisfying to the player, then I think that system serves its purpose. I don’t play FF solely for the role-playing experience. Although I don’t mind if it's in-depth like say Bravely Default or other Square Enix IPs For me, I play FF to become engrossed in the story, characters, music, themes, settings, gameplay etc. And to this end, CBU3 delivers in chests full of Mythril.

The dungeons(these are places from which we fight.) Could be improved level-wise. To allow more freedom to explore. Why can’t I search for a castle more thoroughly? Why am I stuck in yet another forced battle to clear out a room of enemies and goodness by the almighty grace of Greagor please not another forced skirmish? As a consequence, a formulaic method rises as we go through the corridor and room to fight familiar enemies before we can progress. I don’t think this is a bad design. I simply believe other avenues were available. Don’t make some fights mandatory. Allow us to free-roam, and inject some npc’s to raise an eyebrow. Drop some lore papers around ruins so I have something else to do beyond fighting enemy mobs who think they have a chance of opposing me. Be bolder and go the distance by granting loads of enemies to clash with, akin to Dynasty Warriors. Scores of deadly mobs push me to the limit. To play devil's advocate, I can see why the devs didn’t do so, since sixteen is already ambitious. And the pace of how the story beats are granted is logical to me. Overall I think aesthetically they’re great, and the mini-boss/regular boss fights are a thrill to test my mettle. The dev’s don’t miss on constructing these encounters. Using their mmo skills to bring in their expertise to a single player game is a 200 IQ move.

Final Fantasy Mode seems to be the intended difficulty. Unlocked after beating the story. Featuring better tweaks by removing button prompts during QTE's and relying on visual cues to press. Adding exclusive content(in the form of upgraded weapons and accessories), increasing enemy strength, and more enemies in areas you wouldn't expect in a 1st playthrough. I feel this mode ought to be available from the start. Granting a balanced challenge to players looking for a bitter bout. But I think I understand why the developers didn’t unlock it in the beginning. Some areas felt like padding by adding a miniboss in areas when the base game didn’t have one. Which is an interesting choice. Alternatives I was thinking to alleviate this were adding 10-25% more enemy variety and injecting these instead of more mandatory fights. Nevertheless, I am a bit eh on the FF mode. Although, It is a delightful affair for those who seek it.

That’s it for my mixed feelings. Despite the unholy amount I spouted, I don’t believe they bring the entire product down a great deal. Think of these ultimately as food for thought. The rest are minor nitpicks not worth mentioning. Two last notes before I head out and I am so sorry for writing more than I thought possible. But in the writing here. I savor every word. Very mature and filled with layers deep with rich dialogue. Considering it was spearheaded from creative director/lead writer by Kazutoyo Maehiro Who was mentored by Yasumi Matsuno(He directed FFT, Vagrant Story, FFXII among others). Therefore, the writing is beautifully well crafted. Not to the extent of flowery as the Shakespearan translation of FF Tactics: War of the Lions. But a cross between Vagrant Story & FFXIV dialogue in a modern take. Resulting in naturally organic voiced scenes. I frequently traveled back to cities, towns, and my main hub and listened to unique dialog every time. No need to hit a button to converse. Simply walk by and you can hear their chatter. The MSQ cutscenes between every important individual on-screen are handled with care and delicateness. Villains too. This attention to detail is given the same treatment as we go through the SQs and man it is so worth it. Clear amounts of nuance here where you will see neither side winning or losing. But full of shades of gray in the dialogue, and how some quests are resolved in unexpected, yet realistic outcomes.

Clive’s story from start to finish is such a breathtaking journey every FF fan needs to experience. Wonderful development, in my honest opinion. I was deeply moved by how raw Ben Starr voices the MC and how these give so much intensity to candid and countless natural conversations. Hell, even the voice actors aside from Ben deserve praise. A solid crew who tests, questions, and guides. Their counterparts, the villains, provide a powerful incentive to beat. Make no mistake. His story is not for the faint of heart. But, as much as there is darkness here, so too is light and it is without a doubt impeccably strong to behold. Cuteness and priceless moments are here to counter the stormy Valisthea political climate.

Final Fantasy has always been near and dear to my heart. I have witnessed innumerable stories that resonated so powerfully. Likable to loveable casts I reminiscence from time to time. Soundtracks never failing to capture the spirit of fantasy. Gameplay that can be a hit, miss or somewhere in between. And while some entries stagger and sputter without gas. Each one has a special place in my heart. From the foundation in one to three. Ascending to greater heights than before from four to six and taking a more bold and experimental graphical change from seven to nine. Transitioning into an advanced engine from ten to thirteen. And while I haven’t played FFXII yet. By the Founder, trust me, I’ll get there. FFXIV & FFXV still kept my faith. And now for FFXVI to grace our presence I am left in awe at the immense weight of it all. The sheer depth at stake here, when analyzed under a fine magnifying glass is a bloody tour de force. I applaud Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III. Rarely do I become so absorbed in such a captivating narrative of Clive’s story. Seeing his growth from his younger days as he ages is such a vital aspect to soak in. For those who still doubts the series, this is a title that is simply a must-play and CANNOT be missed. For any newcomer to JRPGs, I envy you greatly if you start with one of the finest Final Fantasy games I’ve had the pleasure of playing.

Bravo Yoshi-P, Hiroshi Takai, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, Masayoshi Soken, Kazutoyo Maehiro, Mitsutoshi Gondai, Ryota Suzuki, Yusuke Hashimoto, Hiroshi Minagawa, Kazuya Takahashi, and so many more who helped develop this raw title. And most of all thank you to anyone who read this long review. You guys are the best.

9/10

Note: If any links are not working please let me know and I'll update them accordingly. Worried about some FFXVI OST YT videos getting removed.

I had been meaning to review this when I platinumed it but once I did I just sort of went to bed and never got around to it. I think the fact that my gf still hasn't played beyond the prologue has me hesitant to say much about it, but I also feel icky having not said anything at all about what is almost certainly going to be my GOTY.

Yep, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, I loved it. I remember way back when the first trailers for this dropped and I really wasn't sure how I felt about it; the English VAs and the very Game of Thrones-esque setup and focus on politics, I was cautiously optimistic at best and maybe even slightly disappointed that it wasn't more familiar at worst. More fool me honestly, the "this isn't Final Fantasy" argument is so old by now it's as much a staple of the franchise as the deities. I don't care if this doesn't look, sound or play like 4, 7 or 10, it absolutely bangs.

I agree with a lot of the criticism I've seen around the combat, more specifically that the basic attack button is limited to essentially a single 4-hit combo, but what I don't agree with is that this makes the combat boring or plain. I've preached to everyone that will listen by now to play this game with controller mapped to scheme C so that magic is on L1 and I stand by this making the combat 10x more fun and fluid. Being able to chain together attacks, follow-ups, combos and specials in a variety of ways is so satisfying, and the "one combo" point is completely lost behind the ways you can use the skills together to slap around your enemies and look great doing it.

Furthermore, the story feels pretty damn "Final Fantasy" to me, the core plot is even built around giant crystals smh. I won't go into spoilers, but following a single character through multiple stages of their life ends up working really nicely I think. The timeskips aren't just noticeable but they're meaningful, you can physically see the changes to people and places based on the events of the previous arc. They could've done more with it I'm sure, but I think it's neat.

To that point, this means our boy Clive carries this game on his shoulders start to finish, and I'm not the first to say that Ben Starr totally nailed this performance. The cast across the board were superb - special shoutout to Charon for sounding exactly like every woman in the town I grew up in - but Square have shown once again that casting actors that don't have massive VA backgrounds can pay off really nicely. I love all the regular names as much as anyone else, but seeing Ben come in out of nowhere and leap to the top of my 'best performance' vote list somehow makes me appreciate the game even more than if it had been aced by somebody that I would expect to nail it.

In classic fashion I've said very little about the game itself, but hopefully this little gush was at least somewhat interesting to read. It can now serve as evidence that this franchise truly does have me by the balls. They aint perfect, but these games deliver for me personally on so many levels.

Quick shoutout as well to the lore catalogues in this game, Harpocrates' tomes and Vivian's map are two of the coolest and most dense lore-libraries I've seen in a game, maybe ever. Also the map actually wrinkles under her finger in cutscenes which is hot. And speaking of hot all the characters are super pretty again, especially Jill😌
I'm looking forward to Rebirth being my 2024 GOTY as well, (Sorry Persona 3 Reload 😔)

Thanks for reading all, hope you're enjoying your summers and whatnot! Not sure what my next review will be but I'm surprised to be really enjoying Sword and Fairy 7 right now so there's a good chance it'll be that!

"We fight. We survive. We endure. We don't need a reason. We are imperfect creatures. When we stumble, we reach for a shoulder to lean on. When we fall, we stand back up. We see the horizon ever out of reach and still we march on...certain the answers lie just beyond it. Because that is our way."

Final Fantasy XVI is one of the most divisive games in the franchise to date, but is also one of the absolute best as well. A game that on the surface looks like it has almost nothing in common with Final Fantasy of old due to its "M" rating, graphic violence, Game of Thrones influenced dark fantasy setting and Devil May Cry styled action combat, but as you advance deeper into the game, peeling these layers away, you reach the heart of Final Fantasy XVI which is one of the purest Final Fantasy experiences in over 2 decades that in many ways captures the soul of the SNES era of Final Fantasy (Especially IV and VI) and feels like a massive love letter to the series roots while adding its own modern and mature flair to it as well.

Let's start with the narrative and while I can't go too in-depth because of spoilers, I'll just say there's a LOT here. FF XVI is arguably the most narrative driven and cinematic FF title yet (featuring over 20 hours of cut-scenes) and that says a lot when considering that narrative has been this series biggest strength for decades. XVI tells an epic, dark, mature and emotional tale of brotherhood and family bonds, of living up to and fulfilling a legacy, of betrayal and revenge, of love and loss and most importantly of the power of freewill and the insurmountable spirit of humanity and it's all drenched in philosophical, religious and sociopolitical commentary as well. One of the most thought-provoking games I've played in a good while and though many will consider the 3rd act lackluster, I personally love it because I'm the type who is just as big a fan of shounen anime as I am Game of Thrones styled dark fantasy. So I'll happily consider XVI's among one of the best narratives I've ever experienced while playing a video game.

The quality and scale of world-building in XVI is also not to be understated because it is insanely impressive. The world of Valisthea is so dense featuring two massive continents, one known as Ash to the east and one called Storm to the west. Valisthea has many nations and kingdoms with their own various cultures, histories, religious beliefs and governments and that isn't even mentioning all the fantastical elements of the world like the complex lore behind magick or the godlike beasts known as Eikons and the special people known as Dominants which are born with the power to host said Eikons or the ancient civilization known as the Fallen or the many secrets and mysteries this world has to uncover. One of the most detailed and immersive worlds I've experienced in years. Valisthea has so much more that there's even a loremaster character who's entire purpose is to keep track of all the lore of the world (which you can read key notes of at anytime). Hell, I would compare it to that of my fave video game series the Legend of Heroes: Trails series world of Zemuria and it's especially impressive FF XVI was able to achieve such a level of world-building with merely one game compared to Trails' 12 games.

And what would a compelling narrative and world be without equally compelling characters? Well, luckily XVI has one of the strongest casts in the series entire history from our protagonist Clive Rosfield who we watch slowly and subtly change, grow and develop as he goes on a life-changing journey that spans decades of his life. However Clive is far from the only incredible character because there's also the likes of the charming, roguish outlaw leader Cid to the leaders of various nations like prince Dion Lesage of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque or Barnabas Tharmr the king of Waloed. Even Clive's trusty wolf companion Torgal has amazing characterization. However I'd say the one character that felt much less developed was Clive's childhood friend Jill Warrick mostly due to her character arc ending much earlier in the game than everyone else's and her character stagnating a bit because of it. However even if Jill by herself is a bit lackluster, I adore every single interaction with Clive and Jill together.

I also have to mention another reason the cast of characters is so strong in my opinion is thanks to the incredible voice acting from both the main and supporting characters alike which all have such strong performances and truly breathe even more life into them. English was surprisingly the original language for the game and the one that the game was lip synced to as well and it shows because I think this game has some of the best voice acting performances both of legitimately any game I've ever played. Clive, Cid and Barnabas were the ones that stole every single scene they were in, but there wasn't a single week or lackluster voice to be found.

That's just some of the main cast too which isn't even mentioning the supporting cast like Byron, Mid, Gav or even the blacksmith Blackthorne, the shop keeper Charon, the physician Tarja and the tactician Vivian have so much realistic depth to the characters thanks to both interactions with them in the main story and completely optional side quests that help flesh their characters out even more.

Speaking of side quests XVI is the type of game that reminds why I am such a strong advocate for doing every single piece of side content and side quest that a game offers because the side quests in XVI add so much depth to both the world as a whole, but both the main and supporting characters revealing many details about their personalities, backstories and struggles which you would never learn otherwise. On top of that you can get valuable crafting materials to make better equipment and items to increase the capacity or potency of your potions. Even unlocking the ability to ride a Chocobo is tied to a side quest so while most side quests are typical "go here and fight x thing" or "go here and collect x item", the stories they tell and the rewards they offer are more than worth it.

So for the past 1000 words of this review I've just been going on about the story elements of this game and while I could easily do so for another 1000 words if I wanted to I figured it is time to talk about the gameplay now.

Combat of XVI can effectively be described as Devil May Cry V-lite which isn't a bad thing because even a more simplified version of the DMC V combat is still leagues beyond most action combat systems, but I would still call it the weakest part of the game. It's flashy, it's fast, it's fluid and most importantly it is fun and never gets boring. While Clive's basic sword combat is very limited with only a couple combos you can do the variation and diversity in the combat comes from all the different Eikon powers you slowly unlock (Nearly 40) and there's all kinds of combinations you can try with them since the game allows you the ability to refund any skill you purchase at any given time and you can have a total of 3 Eikons with 2 powers each equipped, even being able to master said powers and equip them to other Eikons besides the main Eikon they are originally attached to adding even more versatility and variety to the combat. The combat might not have the depth of DMC V, but it still kept me fully entertained for over 70 hours.

However as fun as the base combat system of XVI is, where the combat truly shines is in the Eikon fights. These fights have so much build-up behind them and there's only a handful of them across the whole game, but when they happen they're heavens shattering battles between two godlike titans and they're some of the most grandiose spectacles I've seen in any game ever basically being the equivalent to if something like Asura's Wrath or God of War III came out nowadays. These Eikon fights are more than just cut-scenes and QTEs as well. There is always a legitimate boss fight alongside the over-the-top cinematics and it's all so perfectly executed and somehow every single one of these fights and their set-pieces just manage to get even more insane being more grandiose and bigger spectacles than the last even when you think there's no way that could possibly happen, it somehow does. I would happily consider at least 3 of these fights among some of my all time favorite boss fights now.

As a matter of fact all the production values of FF XVI are just phenomenal from the crisp, beautiful graphics to the remarkable sound design just adds so much more to the sheer godlike scale of the game making all the environments that much more vibrant and detailed and the battles even more intense and epic. Speaking of the environments it's so nice to have legitimate towns with NPCs and shops back in Final Fantasy again.

Finally what would a Final Fantasy title be without its music? I've never played FF XIV so I had no real opinion on Masayoshi Soken until playing this game, but after experiencing his musical talents in XVI I'll say this man is a genius. XVI's music has so much variety to it which really enhances every single scene just as much as the visuals and voice acting does. Each individual Eikon fight has their own unique theme from bombastic choral music or heroic swashbuckling adventurous themes to industrial electronic music, there's plenty of calming ambient music as you're exploring the forests and caves of Valisathea alongside some more folky music in towns and somber piano music during more emotional scenes, among many other musical styles as well and plenty of nods to classic Final Fantasy music pieces including a bombastic chanting version of the iconic FF Fanfare when beating a tough battle which is perfectly composed to fit the setting. With the score of FF XVI Soken proved to me that he deserves to be heralded right up there with the greats of J-RPG composers like Uematsu, Sakuraba and Falcom Sound Team JDK.

I essentially just typed up an essay on why this game is a masterpiece however I won't pretend like it is flawless because I do have some (minor) problems with it, granted they're all very minor nitpicks that don't detract from the overall experience, but they do still exist and maybe they'll bother other people more than they bother me personally.

First and foremost the game is kind of a technical mess right now having trouble keeping stable frame rates and resolutions on PS5 even on performance mode. I'm far from a framerate guy and that usually doesn't bother me, but even I noticed it in certain areas. Thankfully it is mostly stable during combat though. The game is also apparently making PS5s overheat and shutdown especially during the Eikon boss fights, but I personally never had that experience (Remember to clean your PS5 regularly and you too won't have this problem)

Now maybe I'm just too old fashioned, but the itemization in XVI is just very limited. I miss when it was common in J-RPGs for you to find new equipment like weapons or armor in chests in dungeons and on the over-world because in Final Fantasy XVI (and many other modern games as well) you can only obtain new gear by crafting and 99% of the chests you find in the world just contain crafting materials. So the loop is basically "do main story mission, go back to hub area, unlock new crafting recipe and make new sword and armor, use said equipment for a few hours. Rinse and repeat" and there's really no other way to obtain new gear aside from a couple special side quests.

When all is said and done Final Fantasy XVI is truly an epic journey from start to finish in every sense of the word, excelling in every single possible element the game has to offer providing one of the best narratives I've ever experienced in a video game with an incredibly detailed and immersive world to learn about starring a rich cast of well written and realistic characters in no small part thanks to its incredible side quests and masterclass voice acting performances. All topped off with an enjoyable combat system and mind-blowing boss fights which is all only enhanced thanks to the truly next-gen visuals, sound and production values overall alongside a masterfully composed OST too. Some people say XVI isn't a true Final Fantasy and to that I will just say that Final Fantasy XVI reminded me what a mainline Final Fantasy at its best has always been about. A mind-blowing, generation defining experience that will stick with you for life.

Final Fantasy XVI: Once More Into the Peak

When words came around that Square Enix had intended to release a sixteenth main title in what is probably the most acclaimed and storied JRPG franchise of all time, the gaming world was put on notice. Outside of FFXIV the series had been in creative freefall for the better part of two decades, with the last unanimously "good" title (FFXII) coming out in 2006. Mishap after mishap, poor writing decisions combined with development issues meant that the legendary series was spiraling towards creative mediocrity. What began in the late 1980's as a dream to keep a fledgling gaming company alive had morphed into a worldwide phenomenon quicker than one could anticipate. Some of the greatest moments, songs, and stories were born by Squaresoft in the 90's and early 2000's. Final Fantasy VI through XII are universally individually respected as some of the greatest titles of all time across any genre. With XVI there were questions, how would the series evolve past XV? XV has its fanbase and their opinions are to be respected, but largely it was panned and unappreciated as it fell victim to a nightmare development cycle and DLC was required to fulfill the true ambitions of the story.

Here comes Final Fantasy XVI, I remember hearing the initial rumors revolving around it and I almost couldn't believe it. I don't remember the exact verbage as some serious time has passed, but the word on the street was that its production was to be helmed by none other than Naoki Yoshida of Square Enix' Creative Business Unit III, and combat was to be done by the man in charge of Devil May Cry 5's action, the most silky smooth the character action genre had ever seen. As a longtime fan and subscriber of the MMO Final Fantasy XIV I was almost in shock, how would Yoshi-P have time to develop an acclaimed and incredible adventure in XIV and then have the time and energy to resurrect the mainline series from its effective grave? I purchased a Playstation 5 in anticipation of this, after the initial trailer rollout and website were released for the game, because I knew of all people that I could trust Yoshida in making a lasting memory out of the FF series. He is a man, with the rest of CBU3 (Koji-Fox and Soken included,) who I trusted more than anything to create a well rounded Final Fantasy experience.

Now for the game itself... though I had initial reservations about playing the demo because I wanted to avoid spoilers, I loaded in and embarked on the two or so hour adventure that serves as the beginning of the game. Initially weary about audio issues and performance on the PS5, my concerns were very quickly waned as I met Clive, Joshua, and Lord Rosfeld. The Game of Thrones influence clear very early on in FFXVI, not only just in the aesthetics and world that Valisthea exists in, but in the approach to quality of realizing a believable and livable low fantasy setting. WIth the demo completed, and my mind absolutely melted at the way it ended, I laid in anticipation of the full game arriving just a few days later... and arrived it did.

What I got in Final Fantasy XVI was genuienly the greatest meld of action, storytelling, music, environmental presentation, and character writing that I could have ever asked for. Beginning with the world, Valisthea is a masterfully constructed dual-continent with its histories carefully created to give each and every nation-state and their peoples their own culture and approach to political and social goings-ons. Reading the FFXVI website before the game actually had come out was a tremendous help to the rich lore within the title, as it lays out the political makeup of Rosaria, Waloed, The Republic of Dhalmekia, the Crystalline Dominion, and most importantly the Holy Republic. Each of these powers are wildly different in the way that they are run administratively, some as a Duchy, others as a loosely allied Republic, and another as a Holy Empire. While these countries are also vastly different in size and makeup, they are privy to a state of Mutually Assured Destruction as a result of beings called Dominants. These Dominants are individuals in the royal families who posses the ability to call upon Eikons, mythical figures of immense size and power who can effectively end conflict in a fell swoop. This is also the fire that begins the conflict of the game as our protagonist Clive Rosfeld does not possess the Dominant of Fire, the Phoenix as the eldest sibling in Rosaria is meant to do. Each of these Dominants are powerful in different ways that bring nuance to their interactions with other nations and combat maneuvers. Surely Titan is the largest and strongest eikon in the Twin Realms... but he is not mobile and deploying him requires a large amount of care. Surely Bahamut is immensely powerful, but can his destructive magicks match the agility of Ifrit? It's with these questions and interactions between the nations of Final Fantasy XVI that such an interesting world is created. These powers differ in how large they are, in how strong their ground millitaries are, but they are at a stand still in their perpetual conflicts because of the power at the fingertips of their royal families. This is what felt so Game of Thrones to me, each country so unique (and a lot of these mirror those in GoT,) but so fragile in the manner of which they combat and invade... I could go on and on about how good of a job CBU3 did in setting this world up, but its already so late and I have more to write about!

The world itself that Clive finds himself is a grim one, and it's here that I would call upon another title that gave me the stark depressing feeling that FFXVI did in its traversal: The Witcher. Now, much of what Clive is doing is trying to restore a hope to a people that are oppressed (more to come on that later,) but the impetus of much of the conflict of the game between the nation states is that a remarkable blight is moving upon their continents, killing their crops and the destroying the homes of those within the affected areas. Like the world that Geralt calls home, much of FFXVI is dark tonally, the medieval setting is already grim as slavery is abundant and there is a remarkably large amount of displaced peoples and families affected by the violence of the heads of state. You are a man who is not respected by much of the world you are interacting with, many of the ruling classes look upon Clive as an outlaw beneath the common man. As he grows and matures, he embarks on a quest with Cidolfus to free the bottom class from their chains of malice that have been placed upon them by the ruling classes. In the world of FFXVI, the oppressed lower class that you spend much of the game assisting and freeing are called bearers, as they naturally have the ability to cast magicks without using crystals for assistance. Its with this prejudice that they are abused, mistreated, tortured, and killed, as the bearers are viewed as freaks and not worthy of being considered as human. Clive, a bearer himself leads a ragtag group of ambitious rebels, along with his ally Cid, to create a world in with the bearers can live as people amongst those not blessed with magic. Thus the conflict within Final Fantasy XVI's story is born, Clive now abandoned from his former state and people by his wretched mother, must unite the world of the Twins under a common banner, as humans. His quest is simple, to remove all from the shackles of class and culture that bind them to hatred. A world in which the bearer is not subhuman.

The writing in FFXVI is careful and deliberate. I've already touched upon the way the world is set up, but the avenue that the story goes through it's extensive runtime is constructed such a way that few games of recent can hold a candle to. I don't like to divulge spoilers are per usual, but I everyday that I wrapped up playing the game I would message my friends who were of similar progress about the twists and turns that the narrative had left us with. This game will make you angry at its villains, tear up with its heroes, and feel general angst at the suffocating world at large. Game of Thrones did a superb job in creating despicable characters from the get go who were easy to hate, and FFXVI picks up on that to the T. You have a general disgust for Anabella, for Hugo, for Barnabas, their motives laid bare for the player to pick apart and challenge. Clive is an impressive protagonist, and a refreshing one in the realm of Final Fantasy as he's finally an adult character. Sure you spend the initial sequence as an adolescent, and it's hard to truly drive home, but it was SO refreshing to have a character this mature in a JRPG that is willling to express love and hate to such a degree. He's a grizzled himbo, a true boy-toy, but he's not willing to depart from nuanced discussions with his foes and turn them into bouts of true malice. There is an eloquence in writing protagonists to be more diplomatic in their dialogue with the antagonists (Cloud in FFVII for example,) but it was marvelous to hear Clive conscious of his guilt, of his actions of violence. In a world as dark as the one in Valisthea, it's not possible to take the road that appeases all. Clive is aware of the blood that was required to be spilled to realize his dream of uniting the land under a common social norm. It is here that my comparisons with the Witcher continue, in true Geraltian fashion Clive doesn't shy away from the tough decisions he has to make, there is no "happy ending" and he is aware of that. There are moments in which he bursts into a fit of rage (one early on in the demo for example,) and you as the player cannot help but empathize with the amount of anger you would likely have in that situation as well. This is unique in my now storied history with Final Fantasy as a franchise, this was the first time I could see a protagonist truly come to terms with the tragedies of the dark reality their world was now engrossed in. Clive does what he can to help those in need, but he's not afraid to combat those who are actively bringing the world down. He is compassionate and respected amongst his peers and friends like Jill, Gav, Cid, and Charon, but a nightmare in waiting to his enemies.

The cast outside of Clive were crafted into a resounding success, beginning with the Archduke of Rosaria, Elwin Rosfeld himself who is one of the first characters you meet, all the way to the minor characters you meet and leave right before the game ends. There are a plethora of NPC's both in the villages you pass through (Martha and Lu'bor for example) that will stick with you and interact with Clive multiple times throughout the story, as well as his own group of outlaws that journey with him and share the same hideout. These characters like Tarja, Midadol, Otto, Charon, Gav, Jill, and Harpocrates to name a few will stick with you throughout a treacherous and longform journey. These aren't just people that stick around you and interact with you for their various gimmicks (Charon is the shoplady, Harpocrates the loremaster etc,) but occasional party members and frequent requestors of Clive's aid. They don't all just have one sidequest either, often multiple through the long journey which helps make them feel a real member of the family. Much like Mass Effect and its loyalty mission in ME2, FFXVI has a questline for seemingly every NPC Ally that Clive has, which can seem like it simply just inflates the runtime, but rather produces a believable relationship between player character and his constituents. I felt an actual connection to everybody that calls the hub home and helps Clive along on his mission, and for a game this long and in the weeds, that is a huge +1 to its overall composition. Without going into it too much, it's revitalizing to have a character like Jill in a Final Fantasy game. Their "romance" is written so well, and in true Final Fantasy fashion she is FAR from a damsel in distress. She quickly became one of my favorite female characters in a video game that I've played, and the emotional maturity and power in her story had me clutching my tear strings at a few points.

Now that I've covered the story, world, and characters, I would like to get into the fun parts! Oh my GOSH is this game beautiful. Unfortunately brought down a peg by its jail sentence on the PS5 30 FPS, this game in its entirety is eye candy... from the characters to the fights to the environment itself. Now with the investment that this game probably gets from Sony and Square Enix, a budget to make all this possible isn't too surprising, but this game contains a vast amount of cutscene time done in the legendary Square visual fidelity fashion. Characters are downright beautiful, portrayed in a way (much like FF7R) that they feel and look real. Anytiime I got a closeup of Jill, Clive, or Cid I held my hand on the screenshot button waiting to take a visual imprint of their beautiful faces. I don't know if this habit will ever die, but I'm still shocked by games nowadays and how far they've come in their portrayal of characters. Not only did they look good from a clarity standpoint, but the design choices in making each character stand out from one another was a resounding success. I loved Dr. Castlevania Clive, and the azure clothing that Jill wears. Cid dons a regal outfit befit of a Chad, Gav a orange/grey shirt that works great for a mysterious rogue, Dion a beautifully piece of armor and long robe to match his suave and regality. Outside of the characters, the fights were a thing of beauty. Multiple times during the eikon battles and Clive 1 on 1s I had to pause and let out an audible "Holy S***" at what I was looking at. Games have come so far, but Square realized this to the best extent in FFXVI. The world, grim as it may be, was visually striking as well. In the cities and the hub world, I found myself just simply strolling along with no end quite a few times to the world and beautiful Masayoshi Soken soundtrack. Be it Uematsu, Hamauzu, Shimomura, or Soken, this series has been blessed to have such a rich group of talented composers. Again as a fan of FFXIV, I knew Soken would do a good job scoring XVI, but I was blown out of the water by his soundtrack at multiple times... all the way to the end credits. This title is a home run and a half for so many reasons.

The day has finally come, from the evolutions begun in FFXII, into making Final Fantasy a series with a pure action game. From 2006's beloved entry on, Square has toyed and shifted more and more into making Final Fantasy no longer a turn based ATB action series, but one where the fighting got faster and faster with each title. FFXIII was a vast mis-step, effectively able to be played by only pressing the space bar, FFXV another step toward action with some unfortunate funk to it, and FF7R even more action intensive with a cool pause menu to select spells and items. All this considered, the series had never completely made the leap until it tapped DMCV combat director Ryota Suzuki to be in charge of crafting a captivating combat system for the sixteenth game in the Final Fantasy franchise... and lo and behold he did it to an absolute success. This game plays a lot like a DMC or Bayonetta, but with even more tools at your disposal that fit that of the FF Intellectual property. You need to make use of parries, perfect dodges, and quick attack windows to stagger your opponents and rack the damage up when you can. Clive not only has his sword and trusty pup Torgal in every encounter, but is able to utilize the power of the eikons he claims along his journey. Beginning with that of the Phoenix, Clive can use fire spells as part of his combos. This never gets old, even after playing north of seventy hours of the game. I loved mixind and matching the eikons I used, the spells that come with said eikons, and the combos you can craft by simply feeling out the game. I would love to go into greater detail about which eikons make for the best combat experience, but that would include spoiling the story content. I will say, in most titles that have them I don't find myself going outside of my general wheelhouse to fight super bosses or optionial hunt targets, however I managed to clear every single one in FFXVI. I didn't care if I was twelve levels down, I was having such a fun time with the combat system of this game that I wanted to play with it as much as I could. I would scream in joy after defeating the S Rank hunts with how far removed from the recommended level I was. This game just feels so smooth and the tough battles are beyond rewarding when you are done with them. Combat was so DMC down to the Devil Trigger button, that I could simply not give it up.

As a fan of Devil May Cry, as a Game of Thrones, as a fan of the Witcher, as a fan of Final Fantasy XIV, as a fan of Final Fantasy, and lastly as a fan of good video games... Final Fantasy XVI is one of the greatest video games I've ever played. A frontrunner for GOTY of 2023 quite easily for me, and an instant inclusion into my personal Top 10, I am still in disbelief that it is over. For anyone with a PS5, and anyone with a PC when it inevitably launches there, I strongly recommend Final Fantasy XVI.

PS: I apologize at the likely high amount of syntax and diction errors in writing this review. I almost always do my writeups immediately after completing the game and this one was long and it's very late at night here! This is probably one of my weaker writing jobs from a skill standpoint, but I have so much to talk about and so little patience to wait to do it!

SO IF YOU'RE NOT A FAN OF THE WORDS:

- PEAK FICTION
- GOAT
- RAW
- FIRE

THEN CLICK OFF THE REVIEW, BECAUSE THOSE ARE GONNA COME UP 50 TIMES IN HERE MAN

Now in all seriousness, Final Fantasy XVI was a game that I was both excited for, and apprehensive about. I loved FFXIV's Heavensward expansion and was excited to see what some of the staff from there was cooking up, but deciding to take the series into a full action game approach felt strange. However I chose to remain optimistic and the good news is, it's an incredible ride from start to finish.

From the gameplay side of things, everything felt really responsive and I loved how all of your abilities worked together. Anytime I would get a new ability and think "Yeah I don't see a use for that", I'd talk with someone and see how they incorporate it into their setup and find new use for it. There's a ton of synergy with all of your tools which gives you freedom to set up anyway you want. The last game I played with "active" combat was Tears of the Kingdom, so it was nice going into a game that actually felt responsive when you fight enemies.

I also loved all of the boss fights except for maybe one or two of the large monster types (dragons), which for an action game is amazingly consistent. The reason why I don't replay most action games is because I think of the set of bosses in them that are just no fun (for example almost any non human bosses in DMC5), but here I could see myself doing an eventual NG+ run. The large Eikon fights were great too and are some of the coolest and most insane sequences I've seen in a game. Each one felt intense in a different way.

I don't really agree with the takes that this should've been a straight action game or that the RPG elements are too thin, I think both the action and RPG parts of the game work well together. Like yeah equipment just feel like straight stat upgrades, but that's how most equipment upgrades in RPGs are. Leveling up feels substantial, but you can also get through enemies many levels above you if you're good enough. Most of the complaints I've seen levied against FFXVI explaining why it's not a "real RPG" are arbitrary rules that would straight up disqualify other RPG series like YS and Kingdom Hearts. FFXVI is an action RPG through and through, and some people need to accept that.

Also really liked the sidequests too, when I play a JRPG what I want from the sidequests are bits of lore, world building, and character moments and this has plenty of them. Don't really care if the objectives and rewards are simple, I get plenty of value out of them. I'm someone who does every sidequest in games like this and these are definitely on the better end, I'd say they're even better than like 80% of the sidequests in the Trails series.

This games music is incredible. Masayoshi Soken has become one of my favorite game composers in recent years and this is some of his best work. It fires on all cylinders when it needs to, and the more calm and somber tracks are incredibly pleasant. Was also glad that there was plenty of variety in the OST too, the boss tracks in this game go pretty crazy.

From a visual standpoint the game is gorgeous, this is the first time I'm truly glad I got an OLED TV because some of the sequences are jaw dropping. This truly feels like the first "true" next gen (or I guess current gen) game that I've played. Also I love things like the damage numbers (it's cool when they show up in cutscenes) and the QTEs, I feel like they add to the overall experience.

I also really liked the story, I can get why some people might not like the direction that it goes in but personally I love this shit a lot. This isn't some kind of "Kingdom Hearts nonsense" like you see people try to say online, it's some good ass Final Fantasy stuff. You can tell this is the Heavensward writer too, and I really think they did some of their best work here.

This games cast is fantastic too, even outside of the main party I loved all of the Hideaway NPCs. Probably has one of my favorite side casts in the series easily which surprised me since you don't have a traditional party in this game. Clive is a fantastic main character too, he's not someone who's constantly brooding but instead is incredibly compassionate and willing to help. He walks the line of being a badass fighter and a bit of a himbo, kinda reminded me of Kiryu from the Yakuza series. His arc in the game was easily my favorite.

While I try not to engage with weird, bad faith criticism online some of the stuff I've seen around this games story is weird. Yes it does go into darker topics like slavery, which is a big theme of the game, it's not something that's ever "dropped" like some people are saying. It's a theme that remains all the way to the end, especially in sidequests, and the game handles it in a respectful way. Active Time Lore is also something that I've seen criticism around for some reason. Games have had in game encyclopedias for decades and this just adds a context sensitive button. ATL is never used as a writing "crutch" and is something you can never engage with and understand the story just fine. I opened it in a cutscene once in the 70hrs that I played, and the rest of the time I'd check stuff with the NPC at the base.

Another complaint I don't really agree with a lot of the ones regarding Jill? I think she has a really great arc (although I will say it's resolved a bit too early and because of that gives her less to do) and she has some of the best scenes in the game. I really like how her and Clive play off each other when they work together. The rest of this games female cast is also pretty good, with plenty of great NPCs that are expanded through sidequests. Why is her name Mid when she's one of the best?

Overall the few complaints I have regarding the game really didn't hold back my time with it. Sure the game could use some more enemy variety, but it's not something I'm gonna cry over. Sure the dungeons/stages are hyper linear, but they're made to be replayed over and over so that's understandable. The sidequests have kinda simple objectives? Well I'm learning more about the world and the characters that inhabit it so I don't mind.

Square Enix, CBU3, and all of the development staff really made something special here, and I'm glad I had a chance to play it. Now time to listen to the song Kenshi Yonezu made for the game and cry myself to sleep.