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.
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.