FF16’s overall story takes a more mature turn in comparison to the other mainline Final Fantasy games. Clive, the main protagonist, is born of royalty but is shunned by his mother for not being a Dominant–a person who inherits an immense amount of magical powers, enough to turn into fairytale like creatures, such as, Dragons or Giant beasts Clive is referred to as a bearer–someone who can use magic Since Bearers aren’t gifted like Dominants, they are essentially seen as less. Many times in the stories bearers are used as “fuel” until they meet their demise due to constant hard labor. Overusing magic can make the user very sick, which can often lead to their demise if they work without resting. Reoccuring themes are guiltiness, revenge, love, and war. While the cut scenes, plot, and story overall is great, something feels off about how the story is told. Many times there will be an epic fight, followed by a beautifully crafted cutscene only for it to stop, with dull drawn out dialogue and fetch quests. While the sidequests can be ignored, it doesn’t help that the story paddens out with dialogue that overstays its welcome. I find myself wanting to put the game down when there aren’t any cinematics or boss fights

I’ve seen many complaints about Clive not having a party. While I can understand the frustration of not being able to customize party members, or control them fully, FF16 does have a party system. I admit the party system is more barebones than ever, but Clive does have people who he fights with. In fact most of Clive’s battles include at least one party member or more. Most of the time Torgal is the party member, but depending on where you are in the story there is typically another companion, such as: Jill and Cid. Torgal has commands while the other party members move on their own. This party system sucks but at least Clive isn’t all alone. I was really hoping that it would be similar to FF15’s party system and customization, but oh well.

Lastly the Eikon fights are peak. I don’t have to say much, please play the game! The cut scenes, story, and characters are incredible! I highly recommend playing if story driven games are your cup of tea! This game won’t disappoint as long as you keep an open mind, and take small breaks!