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[Zuzu]

I'd love to see a sequel to FF16. I think there's huge potential for an incredible sequel that builds upon and expands the foundation of this game and fixes the flaws in it. It'd be a shame to disband this development team or move them onto something else. I'd like to see them have a go at a sequel with all the experience and learning they've acquired from making this game.

 

[peish]

I briefly played FFXII this weekend, its absolutely the best.

And FFXVI looks like it in terms of level and world map design, ofcourse the medieval setting too. The areas are about the same, its semi open fields to traverse. But if i am correct FFXII was actually connected, like how you transition from Balfonheim to Cerobi. FFXVI takes you back to the world map each time you exit an area.

The story kind of takes the same nosedive by being political but then falling into cookie cutter anime. And in both games you are on the sidelines of the war, the skirmishes ensue as you are elsewhere.

FFXII is more challenging, has more cities, an active party, job builds etc. FFXVI won't beat this game for me.

ff12 has a more diverse characters, not THAT kind of diversity, but simply a more imaginative world. the english script is much better with Alexander smith translation, ff16 english felt a bit forced.

ff12 has better story pacing, until their chief producer guy left from the stress, i think we see the quality drops after the raithwell tomb, new producer guy just repeated the raithwall tomb x2 with sword and suncryst then quickly ending with broly vayne.

to think ff12 runs on ps2! ff16 should be ashamed on its feather light gameplay loop. making it realtime dmc is a mistake now i admit

 

[March Climber]

ff12 has a more diverse characters, not THAT kind of diversity, but simply a more imaginative world.

The fact that you even had to specify that version of diversity is sad yet hilarious lol, because it shows the state of this forum even though we all knew what you meant.

FF12 will hopefully, eventually, get some sort of remake as some of it’s story needs a do-over of some sort.

 

[SkylineRKR]

As much as they claimed FF would only be possible on PS5, I feel FFXVI could be done even on PS3. The areas aren't much bigger than that of FFXII or Xillia, and they are cut off. The game feels very last gen actually, except for visuals and effects ofcourse. I think for example cross-gen Arise was bigger in scope, with the same kind of fields but actual towns, verticality in dugeon design and a full party.

 

[sigmaZ]

I've decided to start playing the Xenoblade series instead of buying this. Time will tell if that was a good decision or not.

Unfortunately the Xenoblade series is guilty of many of the same sins as FF16 as it is heavily MMO inspired as well. Fortunately it's easier to skip through cut scenes and in the later games some quests you don't have to go back to the quest maker every time, but there's a lot of being herded like sheep (Go to point X, Y, and Z) with little gameplay variant or meaningful rewards.

 

[Gandih42]

Finished the game a few nights ago and I absolutely loved it. Thoroughly satisfying conclusion to Clive and Co.'s journey. I don't need the next Final Fantasy to be this (though, who knows in how long we'll get it) but I certainly hope we see Square Enix capitalising on everything the game succeeds at. There is so much room for improvement on top of some already excellent systems.

I also feel that the games scope and ambition when it comes to the highlights (boss fights, cinematics, combat mechanics) are also what held it back in other respects (side quest cutscenes, level design, RPG systems). I feel like it'd be a better game overall if they'd reallocate some of that budget for a more rounded experience, but at the same time its rare to see anyone take singular game elements to these heights. So I'm thoroughly satisfied with what I got.

Finished doing hunts and challenges yesterday, so now I'll be chipping away at NG+ with the Final Fantasy difficulty. Can't wait to blast through all the main levels and boss fights again.

 

[Windle Poons]

Love the game but getting a bit tired of

'Get em' boy' and 'sick em' Torgal' tbh...

 

[Kumomeme]

Love the game but getting a bit tired of

'Get em' boy' and 'sick em' Torgal' tbh...

 

[CrustyBritches]

Love the game but getting a bit tired of

'Get em' boy' and 'sick em' Torgal' tbh...

That’s due to the Ring of Timely Assistance. Switch it out and he’ll rarely say anything(I think only when Torgal heals him occasionally),

 

[Zuzu]

Love the game but getting a bit tired of

'Get em' boy' and 'sick em' Torgal' tbh...

I went for long periods of time without even using Torgal honestly. He does so little damage.

 

[Gandih42]

I went for long periods of time without even using Torgal honestly. He does so little damage.

Yeah, it'd be cool if he had more of a DPS option. He's really useful for initiating air combos though.

Something like
4x combo + burst + precision sic
or
ravage + charged shot + shift + burning blade

Normal enemies tend to group up below you when doing air combos, so finishing it off with an Upheaval usually decimates packs of regular enemies. You can even use Wicked Wheel for even higher altitude to be 110% sure Upheaval is charged when it lands. Finish of with a Pile Drive to blow enemies knocked airborne by Upheaval to hell. Probably one of my favorite combos to execute.

 

[Minsc]

I briefly played FFXII this weekend, its absolutely the best.

And FFXVI looks like it in terms of level and world map design, ofcourse the medieval setting too. The areas are about the same, its semi open fields to traverse. But if i am correct FFXII was actually connected, like how you transition from Balfonheim to Cerobi. FFXVI takes you back to the world map each time you exit an area.

The story kind of takes the same nosedive by being political but then falling into cookie cutter anime. And in both games you are on the sidelines of the war, the skirmishes ensue as you are elsewhere.

FFXII is more challenging, has more cities, an active party, job builds etc. FFXVI won't beat this game for me.

It doesn't really matter what you compare FFXVI to, it totally has nothing and falls apart. Every system of FFXVI is so underdeveloped it's hard to even describe. Everything about FFXVI is as bare bones as you can get. There's no substance or depth to anything in this game, and it's incredibly apparent when you follow it up with any other FF game.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Torgal seems useless to me. I find it harder to juggle after his ravage. I sometimes forget to use him at all. I rather launch with a jumping charged strike. The eikon battles are pretty good, Ifrit controls well, but they're easy. So far God of War 3 already did boss battles better many years ago.

This game would've benefited from an optional Ninja Gaiden/DMC like difficulty right off the bat because in itself the combat system is okay (though it lacks some delay combos to mix it up).

It doesn't really matter what you compare FFXVI to, it totally has nothing and falls apart. Every system of FFXVI is so underdeveloped it's hard to even describe. Everything about FFXVI is as bare bones as you can get. There's no substance or depth to anything in this game, and it's incredibly apparent when you follow it up with any other FF game.

I don't disagree. I was thinking about FFXIII, which is the most bland and linear FF ever. And while I think XVI is better, XIII actually has some secrets, and even -some- level design was half decent like the Tower on Gran Pulse and some locations like the Lake Bresha at least looked interesting. It seems in FFXVI every single dungeon looks the same and its a straight line with battle rooms that connect to an empty hallway and you have to open doors with R2. There is zero exploration, zero puzzles, zero secrets. It has the worst dungeons I have ever seen in any FF probably. I try to rush through them ASAP by spamming limit and Flame of Rebirth etc.

Even the open fields contain zero reason to explore, no hidden chests or anything.

On top of that a terrible equipment system, crafting system, useless economy. This game is either undercooked or they dialed back on anything that might be confusing to some players.

 

[peish]

i only use torgal for the free healing

 

[gaming_again]

Torgal seems useless to me. I find it harder to juggle after his ravage. I sometimes forget to use him at all. I rather launch with a jumping charged strike. The eikon battles are pretty good, Ifrit controls well, but they're easy. So far God of War 3 already did boss battles better many years ago.

This game would've benefited from an optional Ninja Gaiden/DMC like difficulty right off the bat because in itself the combat system is okay (though it lacks some delay combos to mix it up).



I don't disagree. I was thinking about FFXIII, which is the most bland and linear FF ever. And while I think XVI is better, XIII actually has some secrets, and even -some- level design was half decent like the Tower on Gran Pulse and some locations like the Lake Bresha at least looked interesting. It seems in FFXVI every single dungeon looks the same and its a straight line with battle rooms that connect to an empty hallway and you have to open doors with R2. There is zero exploration, zero puzzles, zero secrets. It has the worst dungeons I have ever seen in any FF probably. I try to rush through them ASAP by spamming limit and Flame of Rebirth etc.

Even the open fields contain zero reason to explore, no hidden chests or anything.

On top of that a terrible equipment system, crafting system, useless economy. This game is either undercooked or they dialed back on anything that might be confusing to some players.

They really seem to have been afraid to have included anything a player risked missing.

 

[drganon]

ff12 has a more diverse characters, not THAT kind of diversity, but simply a more imaginative world. the english script is much better with Alexander smith translation, ff16 english felt a bit forced.

ff12 has better story pacing, until their chief producer guy left from the stress, i think we see the quality drops after the raithwell tomb, new producer guy just repeated the raithwall tomb x2 with sword and suncryst then quickly ending with broly vayne.

to think ff12 runs on ps2! ff16 should be ashamed on its feather light gameplay loop. making it realtime dmc is a mistake now i admit

I'll have to disagree there. Ff12 had a horrible protagonist, the story itself just ripped off star wars, and neither the gambit or license board systems were all that fun to deal with, imo. Plus I'd rather have straight up action combat vs the weird mmo combat 12 had.

 

[Gandih42]

Torgal seems useless to me. I find it harder to juggle after his ravage. I sometimes forget to use him at all. I rather launch with a jumping charged strike. The eikon battles are pretty good, Ifrit controls well, but they're easy. So far God of War 3 already did boss battles better many years ago.

This game would've benefited from an optional Ninja Gaiden/DMC like difficulty right off the bat because in itself the combat system is okay (though it lacks some delay combos to mix it up).



I don't disagree. I was thinking about FFXIII, which is the most bland and linear FF ever. And while I think XVI is better, XIII actually has some secrets, and even -some- level design was half decent like the Tower on Gran Pulse and some locations like the Lake Bresha at least looked interesting. It seems in FFXVI every single dungeon looks the same and its a straight line with battle rooms that connect to an empty hallway and you have to open doors with R2. There is zero exploration, zero puzzles, zero secrets. It has the worst dungeons I have ever seen in any FF probably. I try to rush through them ASAP by spamming limit and Flame of Rebirth etc.

Even the open fields contain zero reason to explore, no hidden chests or anything.

On top of that a terrible equipment system, crafting system, useless economy. This game is either undercooked or they dialed back on anything that might be confusing to some players.

There are actually a few hidden chests throughout the game in the open field sections. And a few of those actually contain 'meaningful' items for instance,

Spoiler: minor spoiler

you can find Masamune at the start of Ash

There's also a 'treasure hunt' item. Although it is still quite minor (and not enough to really warrant exploration).

The itemisation as a whole is a massive missed opportunity though. I think a Kingdom Hearts 1/2 approach to items could've been a good approach, where items can have a mix of minor and significant effects on your abilites. Combo extensions, weapon reach, significant differences in physical and magical damage etc. But it feels like they tried to stick more traditional Final Fantasy style items onto an action game that does not fit them at all, and were quite limited by having to balance the complex combinations of abilities the game allows.

Now I'm just armchair-directing, but I'd say there's a big opportunity to improve the level design with Metroidvania-esque elements. You accumulate a massive set of abilities throughout the story, each of which could easily facilitate new traversal possibilities.

 

[SkylineRKR]

There are actually a few hidden chests throughout the game in the open field sections. And a few of those actually contain 'meaningful' items for instance,

Spoiler: minor spoiler

you can find Masamune at the start of Ash

There's also a 'treasure hunt' item. Although it is still quite minor (and not enough to really warrant exploration).

The itemisation as a whole is a massive missed opportunity though. I think a Kingdom Hearts 1/2 approach to items could've been a good approach, where items can have a mix of minor and significant effects on your abilites. Combo extensions, weapon reach, significant differences in physical and magical damage etc. But it feels like they tried to stick more traditional Final Fantasy style items onto an action game that does not fit them at all, and were quite limited by having to balance the complex combinations of abilities the game allows.

Now I'm just armchair-directing, but I'd say there's a big opportunity to improve the level design with Metroidvania-esque elements. You accumulate a massive set of abilities throughout the story, each of which could easily facilitate new traversal possibilities.

Even Forspoken did this. You would get the lasso from the first Tanta, which would enable you to reach new heights and you needed it to progress.

FFXVI has the mechanics, like the Garuda arm. But the game does nothing with them outside of battle. Even DMC did.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Torgal seems useless to me. I find it harder to juggle after his ravage. I sometimes forget to use him at all. I rather launch with a jumping charged strike. The eikon battles are pretty good, Ifrit controls well, but they're easy. So far God of War 3 already did boss battles better many years ago.

This game would've benefited from an optional Ninja Gaiden/DMC like difficulty right off the bat because in itself the combat system is okay (though it lacks some delay combos to mix it up).



I don't disagree. I was thinking about FFXIII, which is the most bland and linear FF ever. And while I think XVI is better, XIII actually has some secrets, and even -some- level design was half decent like the Tower on Gran Pulse and some locations like the Lake Bresha at least looked interesting. It seems in FFXVI every single dungeon looks the same and its a straight line with battle rooms that connect to an empty hallway and you have to open doors with R2. There is zero exploration, zero puzzles, zero secrets. It has the worst dungeons I have ever seen in any FF probably. I try to rush through them ASAP by spamming limit and Flame of Rebirth etc.

Even the open fields contain zero reason to explore, no hidden chests or anything.

On top of that a terrible equipment system, crafting system, useless economy. This game is either undercooked or they dialed back on anything that might be confusing to some players.

My pet theory is this game was conceived as a short, linear DMC-style action game. Everything but the cutscenes, linear story levels (which exist in their own bubble and can’t even be reached from the exploration zones), and boss/Eikon fights were developed later.

It feels like everything else was added just to justify calling it Final Fantasy XVI. Like “well it’s an RPG so it better have towns and a map to explore”. “Ok we got towns and maps, now we better add mission objectives and some side quests so you have something to do in them” “all those quests and treasure chests need to reward you with something, how about let’s add a crafting system and have them reward you with materials” “can’t be a JRPG without weapons and armor but we don’t want to unbalance the gameplay so let’s make every equipment give you a tiny stat boost over the previous one and have no other effect…”

Like you can so clearly tell which parts of this game they were passionate about and which parts are just there to check off boxes.

 

[SlimySnake]

Finished the game and I am thoroughly disappointed by how the story turned into classic JRPG FATE crap instead of the fantastic Game of Thrones inspired first act of the game about politics, betrayal and character driven drama. It is shocking how the prologue feels nothing like the final act of the game. I feel cheated tbh. They released that prologue as a demo knowing full well people will be tricked into thinking thats the entire game.

I will echo the criticisms about the open world being boring and needless. The side quests were completely trash until maybe the very end when everyone gets a nice send off/resolution. Even then, i basically skipped every line of dialogue starting from maybe half way through the game. If its not a properly directed cutscene with animations then its probably trash.

Dont know why its so hard for devs to copy Mass Effect's loyalty quests. If you are making a roleplaying game, make me role play the fucking game. This game has no role playing like most JPRGs but it definitely loves to have character on character dilogue scenes for what feels like a 100 hours. i skipped half the game and it still took me 57 hours.

Speaking of how long the game is, i spent a month and a week playing this game for 57 hours. Before that i had put in 145 hours into Zelda in exactly a month and ten days. I honestly didnt want to play this game and forced myself to play it. It has shockingly poor pacing and honestly it does nothing with its open world.

The game is fantastic when its just you in a linear story mission. I went abck and replayed some levels in arcade mode and had a blast. Shame that they inserted so much yapping between missions.

I will still give it a 7/10 because the combat was fun, the characters were very likeable, and the eikon fights were awe-inspiring, but when 47 of the 57 hours are boring mindless trash then I feel the game doesnt respect my time. I am definitely not going to be buying a game from this studio again.

 

[Minsc]

My pet theory is this game was conceived as a short, linear DMC-style action game. Everything but the cutscenes, linear story levels (which exist in their own bubble and can’t even be reached from the exploration zones), and boss/Eikon fights were developed later.

It feels like everything else was added just to justify calling it Final Fantasy XVI. Like “well it’s an RPG so it better have towns and a map to explore”. “Ok we got towns and maps, now we better add mission objectives and some side quests so you have something to do in them” “all those quests and treasure chests need to reward you with something, how about let’s add a crafting system and have them reward you with materials” “can’t be a JRPG without weapons and armor but we don’t want to unbalance the gameplay so let’s make every equipment give you a tiny stat boost over the previous one and have no other effect…”

Like you can so clearly tell which parts of this game they were passionate about and which parts are just there to check off boxes.

I feel like even the box breaking mini game from FFVIIR has more depth than the combat in this game. Just to put a few key points out - you could only bring one weapon to the mini-game and all Cloud's weapons were somewhat unique (where in this game everything is the same) - the spiked bat has a shorter range than the swords, different attack animations, timing etc. Then you were restricted to each weapon's unique power - you couldn't use the others you mastered like the regular game. On top of that, there's stuff like going after certain boxes provides different benefits (point value and also fill the AP faster for you to use abilities). And then there's a timer so you need to strategically approach the game - when it's worth continuing on a stack of boxes and when to move onwards leaving the stragglers behind.

Plus there's physics, so the angle you attack from matters, in both the directions the unbroken boxes will fly and the direction of your follow up swings. Plus there's certain boxes usually further away to extend the timer. Actually FFVII is full of non-black and white decisions which is great IMO. Every upgrade isn't linear - some small incremental boost. Some sacrifice M Def for P Def, and vice-versa. Some sacrifice both for extra materia slots, etc. I dunno, even the way the game organizes the mission screens seems so much nicer to me. Plus the differences in how each party member controls and fights is so much more different than what you get from controlling only Clive imo.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

I don't know why this just popped in my head because I meant to ask it back when I was still playing the game, but is there any explanation why the left part of the map here fairly clearly depicts a massive monster that was impaled by the crystal? When I saw this in the demo I was really expecting some interesting lore around this and then... it is just never even brought up? Sorry for the bad image this is the best I could find searching, but go to the map and look at the outline the water makes over there around the crystal.

 

[SkylineRKR]

I feel like even the box breaking mini game from FFVIIR has more depth than the combat in this game. Just to put a few key points out - you could only bring one weapon to the mini-game and all Cloud's weapons were somewhat unique (where in this game everything is the same) - the spiked bat has a shorter range than the swords, different attack animations, timing etc. Then you were restricted to each weapon's unique power - you couldn't use the others you mastered like the regular game. On top of that, there's stuff like going after certain boxes provides different benefits (point value and also fill the AP faster for you to use abilities). And then there's a timer so you need to strategically approach the game - when it's worth continuing on a stack of boxes and when to move onwards leaving the stragglers behind.

Plus there's physics, so the angle you attack from matters, in both the directions the unbroken boxes will fly and the direction of your follow up swings. Plus there's certain boxes usually further away to extend the timer. Actually FFVII is full of non-black and white decisions which is great IMO. Every upgrade isn't linear - some small incremental boost. Some sacrifice M Def for P Def, and vice-versa. Some sacrifice both for extra materia slots, etc. I dunno, even the way the game organizes the mission screens seems so much nicer to me. Plus the differences in how each party member controls and fights is so much more different than what you get from controlling only Clive imo.

FFVIIR's combat and RPG mechanics are superior. You can equip things like the Ziedrich with no slots but you can tank hits. You can protect against sleep, confuse etc with accessories, or go with VIT bonus etc. Builds do matter, as do equipped materia and especially some links.

Its just insulting how FFXVI deals with elements, they hand out fire, lightning, wind etc but for what? You can just throw fire at Bombs with no penalty. This feels wrong to me. Garuda attacks should be more powerful against Titan so at some point you would be forced to switch Eikons or respec for a battle. In the end you are just button bashing whatever you have. Even with Stagger there aren't unique finishers or launchers you can use on bosses. I felt the game dicked me many times with a pop up; this enemy casts barrier, use charged magic to deplete it. This enemy casts Bravery and this other one will cast Cure. I guess you have items lol.

 

[Hestar69]

this game is SO BORING AND AWFUL!

NEVER let the people who worked on this game ever make a single player game again..

ps5 says im 67% into this trash game and i have to force myself to play it just to clear up 90 gigs of my hdd...

the WORST FF game and the only one i haven't enjoyed really besides FF2...

 

[Minsc]

FFVIIR's combat and RPG mechanics are superior. You can equip things like the Ziedrich with no slots but you can tank hits. You can protect against sleep, confuse etc with accessories, or go with VIT bonus etc. Builds do matter, as do equipped materia and especially some links.

Its just insulting how FFXVI deals with elements, they hand out fire, lightning, wind etc but for what? You can just throw fire at Bombs with no penalty. This feels wrong to me. Garuda attacks should be more powerful against Titan so at some point you would be forced to switch Eikons or respec for a battle. In the end you are just button bashing whatever you have. Even with Stagger there aren't unique finishers or launchers you can use on bosses. I felt the game dicked me many times with a pop up; this enemy casts barrier, use charged magic to deplete it. This enemy casts Bravery and this other one will cast Cure. I guess you have items lol.

Status ailments are a pretty big/integral part to RPGs IMO. Sleep, charm, mute, paralysis, zombie, berserk, etc etc, the list goes on and on. All/many of these are frequently found in FF games. This one? Nothing. Like you said you can fucking cast fire at bombs or Ifrit and kill them with it. Normal RPG games have elemental affinities.

DQ11 would also be a way less complex game with no status effects either, many of the hardest bosses could just stun-lock your party to death. Hell, the pepped feature gives a nice little extra to the game imagine if DQ11 was as bare bones as this game haha. 1 party member, no status effects, no treasure worth finding, none of the dozens of costumes to unlock, no chests to find in towns, no flying around the overworld map, the variety takes a huge hit, and a super linear main quest. DQ11 definitely feels like a real RPG where this absolutely does not.

 

[ChiefDada]

Hey guys, Square-Enix released a white paper discussing FF16 shadow rendering which to me is by far the best visual feature in the game. If you're technical and interested link to thread below.

Square Enix: Shadow Techniques from Final Fantasy XVI - Tech Paper

http://www.jp.square-enix.com/tech/library/pdf/2023_FFXVIShadowTechPaper.pdf Square Enix recently released a white paper detailing their shadow rendering techniques used in FF16. I don't have the technical knowledge needed to understand what's being communicated but maybe others here will find...

www.neogaf.com

 

[Heaven Angel]

I feel FFXVI could be done even on PS3.

What..

 

[Barrico82]

I finished it, the 2nd worst FF game I’ve played, i can’t believe that the devs didnt think that the pacing of the game is bad actually so baaad that it can break your experience, the way they structure the game from the story to the side quests to the boss fights.

What amaze me the side quests before the final mission were actually good and have real weight to the characters and the world but what before those quests is some of the worst laziest quests that are coming from PS3 era !

Finally i hope wish pray that those devs never touch a single player final fantasy again !

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Man this game just sucks. I might be done with it. I’m so damn bored, the only reason I’ve forced myself to keep going is because I don’t want this to be the one Final Fantasy game I didn’t finish.

Every FF game has its flaws but I’ve never felt this bored with a FF game before. Even in other FF games where I wasn’t crazy about them, there was at least SOMETHING keeping me going. Maybe the gameplay is so-so but I love the story/characters. Maybe the environments are visually interesting and the soundtrack slaps. Maybe there is lots of crazy gear to acquire or some interesting ways to build my party.

In this game the only good stuff is the Eikon battles and the main story cutscenes and it’s not worth the dozens of hours of garbage you have to endure to get to it.

I think FF XVI has replaced Spore as my biggest gaming letdown.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Man this game just sucks. I might be done with it. I’m so damn bored, the only reason I’ve forced myself to keep going is because I don’t want this to be the one Final Fantasy game I didn’t finish.

Every FF game has its flaws but I’ve never felt this bored with a FF game before. Even in other FF games where I wasn’t crazy about them, there was at least SOMETHING keeping me going. Maybe the gameplay is so-so but I love the story/characters. Maybe the environments are visually interesting and the soundtrack slaps. Maybe there is lots of crazy gear to acquire or some interesting ways to build my party.

In this game the only good stuff is the Eikon battles and the main story cutscenes and it’s not worth the dozens of hours of garbage you have to endure to get to it.

I think FF XVI has replaced Spore as my biggest gaming letdown.

Man I’m right there with you…I keep feeling like I need to finish it out of some sense of…obligation? But more and more it just feels like a boring waste of time.

I really can’t describe the sense of whiplash going from the absolutely fantastic demo to what the main game is

 

[EviLore]

Man this game just sucks. I might be done with it. I’m so damn bored, the only reason I’ve forced myself to keep going is because I don’t want this to be the one Final Fantasy game I didn’t finish.

Every FF game has its flaws but I’ve never felt this bored with a FF game before. Even in other FF games where I wasn’t crazy about them, there was at least SOMETHING keeping me going. Maybe the gameplay is so-so but I love the story/characters. Maybe the environments are visually interesting and the soundtrack slaps. Maybe there is lots of crazy gear to acquire or some interesting ways to build my party.

In this game the only good stuff is the Eikon battles and the main story cutscenes and it’s not worth the dozens of hours of garbage you have to endure to get to it.

I think FF XVI has replaced Spore as my biggest gaming letdown.

Cut it down to around 20-30 hours, throw elemental effects in there, make regular enemies fight back, tighten up the empty spaces and focus on a few hubs instead of a large number of mundane villages, keep the story centered around the initial political intrigue, make weapons and items fully differentiated with unique abilities/attributes, rework currency and itemization to be scarce and hunts provide useful resources like in FFXII. Cut all the filler. Would require no more work than what they ended up with and it'd be an easy layup.

 

[sigmaZ]

Man I’m right there with you…I keep feeling like I need to finish it out of some sense of…obligation? But more and more it just feels like a boring waste of time.

I really can’t describe the sense of whiplash going from the absolutely fantastic demo to what the main game is

You got bamboozled by Daddy P

 

[peish]

they should also allow us to mix and match all eikons abilities. for some reasons, you can only mix a few abilities, i have not check what's the criteria to mix

 

[SkylineRKR]

The cutscenes and Eikon battles are my fave part too and even they aren't incredibly well executed. In Eikon battles there are a lot of cinematic interruptions, and very weak QTE (press Square or O, or mash Square). The gameplay is about a combo you can do, the charge attack, and a few special attacks on cooldown. Its a more stripped down version of the regular gameplay where you can launch enemies, parry, and switch powers. Its all about Eye candy and sometimes these battles lasts for 30 minutes or more.

The cutscenes are good, but the story falls apart the further you go and the characters develop into very standard villains. And I feel they are underused, and then offed rather quickly.

What..

Perhaps read. Square said this was possible on PS5 only, lol.

But in terms of design. The relatively small fields with invisible barriers, with every piece broken up by a static world map you exit out to if you cross a line. Dungeon design offers nothing we haven't seen in the last decades too, in fact its less complex and entirely linear. Eikon battles we've seen in classic God of War and Asura's Wrath and the gameplay here is very limited too. Ancient QTEs. And enemy variation isn't there at all. There are no buffs or weaknesses, no builds, there is barely anything. Gameplay doesn't evolve over the course of the game.

Graphics aside I don't see why not. The game feels incredibly archaic in execution to me. It does nothing to elevate the genre.

 

[CrustyBritches]

Just finished the game.

Spoiler: Some thoughts...

The final battle was definitely visually striking, but I didn't enjoy it as much as some of the previous boss battles. I think my top 3 were: 1. Bahamut 2. Odin 3. Typhon. Honorable mention for Svarog, he was a beast. The post-battle ending was sentimental and had a good tone to it. It was a bummer that Clive died to save Joshua and the world.

I really loved the characters in this game. My favorites were Cid, Clive, Lord Byron, and Gav. Music was great with the Hideaway, Stillwind Marsh, and Bahamut battle themes being really memorable. Combat was great, but I feel like they missed an opportunity by locking the harder difficulty behind New Game+. It's this game's greatest sin: it's too easy. Having elemental affinities that require you to mix up your eikon abilities should have been a no-brainer, too.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the game, but if there were 3 things I could change it would be:
1. All difficulties available from the start. Would force you to push your combat skills
2. Branching dialog. This would keep the general interactions and side quests more engaging. It would let you define your version of Clive.
3. Romance options and sex scenes with full-on titties. This really made Mass Effect and The Witcher 3 full, well-rounded games.

 

[Heaven Angel]

The cutscenes and Eikon battles are my fave part too and even they aren't incredibly well executed. In Eikon battles there are a lot of cinematic interruptions, and very weak QTE (press Square or O, or mash Square). The gameplay is about a combo you can do, the charge attack, and a few special attacks on cooldown. Its a more stripped down version of the regular gameplay where you can launch enemies, parry, and switch powers. Its all about Eye candy and sometimes these battles lasts for 30 minutes or more.

The cutscenes are good, but the story falls apart the further you go and the characters develop into very standard villains. And I feel they are underused, and then offed rather quickly.



Perhaps read. Square said this was possible on PS5 only, lol.

But in terms of design. The relatively small fields with invisible barriers, with every piece broken up by a static world map you exit out to if you cross a line. Dungeon design offers nothing we haven't seen in the last decades too, in fact its less complex and entirely linear. Eikon battles we've seen in classic God of War and Asura's Wrath and the gameplay here is very limited too. Ancient QTEs. And enemy variation isn't there at all. There are no buffs or weaknesses, no builds, there is barely anything. Gameplay doesn't evolve over the course of the game.

Graphics aside I don't see why not. The game feels incredibly archaic in execution to me. It does nothing to elevate the genre.

I did, yes, it's your opinion and yours alone. According to you devs must be bunch of fools who made it for PS5 and not on PS3. Having elemental damage and complex RPG would've made it a genre defining game?!?!

Having a genre defining expectations for each and every game is quite unrealistic, this game serves it's purpose of being an action adventure almost perfectly. Taken a shift from being a childish to more serious storyline/characters and gameplay is as good. Not to mention the Eikon battles which was never experienced with this kind of fidelity in each aspects. Yet people choose to nitpick negatives tentatively.

 

[Punished Miku]

Man I’m right there with you…I keep feeling like I need to finish it out of some sense of…obligation? But more and more it just feels like a boring waste of time.

I really can’t describe the sense of whiplash going from the absolutely fantastic demo to what the main game is

I don't know what you guys saw in the demo. I felt that in the demo. Skipped it and watched the Eikon battles on youtube. The demo is exactly the same as the rest of the game. The phoenix / Ifrit falling fight from Two Towers is even largely reused when you fight Titan and go through that falling sequence.

I'll pick it up when it's on a deep sale. Maybe they'll improve it by then.

 

[Minsc]

I don't know what you guys saw in the demo. I felt that in the demo. Skipped it and watched the Eikon battles on youtube. The demo is exactly the same as the rest of the game. The phoenix / Ifrit falling fight from Two Towers is even largely reused when you fight Titan and go through that falling sequence.

I'll pick it up when it's on a deep sale. Maybe they'll improve it by then.

Game can't be changed like that post launch, it'll always be a shallow-ass shell of a QTE sequence here and there with 80% boring filler.

They're scripted movies, I don't even really think they're all that like everyone is making them out to be.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

I don't know what you guys saw in the demo. I felt that in the demo. Skipped it and watched the Eikon battles on youtube. The demo is exactly the same as the rest of the game. The phoenix / Ifrit falling fight from Two Towers is even largely reused when you fight Titan and go through that falling sequence.

I'll pick it up when it's on a deep sale. Maybe they'll improve it by then.

I thought the story beats and pacing were quite good and interesting. It was tight, had a great hook with Clive being the one who murders his brother without realizing it, and felt pretty edgy.

Of course the impact of that is dulled by Joshua still being alive (I called it!) and then they’re just like siblings again with hardly any weight given to that revelation. And the main game has just been a plodding bunch of boring repetitive quests with little sparks of excitement thrown in. And to be honest the Eikon battles themselves are just spongey and overstay their welcome because you hardly feel like you’re playing a game. They remind me of FMV games from the 90s

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I don't know what you guys saw in the demo. I felt that in the demo. Skipped it and watched the Eikon battles on youtube. The demo is exactly the same as the rest of the game. The phoenix / Ifrit falling fight from Two Towers is even largely reused when you fight Titan and go through that falling sequence.

I'll pick it up when it's on a deep sale. Maybe they'll improve it by then.

QTEs didn’t seem to bother you when you proclaimed a January title GOTY

 

[Punished Miku]

QTEs didn’t seem to bother you when you proclaimed a January title GOTY

You're bad at reading and comprehension.

 

[SkylineRKR]

FF used to be genre defining though. They always raised the bar, like the PSX FF's did in terms of FMV and cinematic approach in general etc. Other RPG were always a few steps behind. This trend stopped with FFXIII, though audiovisually it was still ahead of many other console games back then. Especially JRPG.

FFXV felt backwards since there were so many open world games that executed it better. FFXVI to me feels backwards too since there are much better RPG but also action games. The Eikon battles are nothing special to me, you use the same few combos for half an hour (damage doesn't matter much either since there are scripted tresholds), and inbetween you get a QTE that basically could've been omitted and nothing would change. These epic scale battles are shallow as fuck and clearly better done even on PS2 already with God of War. I fail to see how they are engaging. We've been there, everyone was kinda sick of QTE to the point you can flick them off in games but it seems its not possible to do so here.

For an action game, this is lacking. The combat on itself is fun, though limited (there are no combo variations with delayed strikes etc) but enemies are way too passive. If this is meant to be an action game, its a very mediocre one. Mechanics also don't really evolve and there is little incentive to mix it up. They also missed potential with party members, they could've implement some team attacks with Jill on cooldown, where she can cast Blizzaga to temporary freeze enemies for example. Actually Forspoken DLC implemented such things kind of decent with Cinta.

 

[March Climber]

Maximillian's thoughts(spoiler warning):

Timestamped 7:04:45 if the link doesn't work.



His final score is

Spoiler

8/10

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

FF used to be genre defining though. They always raised the bar, like the PSX FF's did in terms of FMV and cinematic approach in general etc. Other RPG were always a few steps behind. This trend stopped with FFXIII, though audiovisually it was still ahead of many other console games back then. Especially JRPG.

FFXV felt backwards since there were so many open world games that executed it better. FFXVI to me feels backwards too since there are much better RPG but also action games. The Eikon battles are nothing special to me, you use the same few combos for half an hour (damage doesn't matter much either since there are scripted tresholds), and inbetween you get a QTE that basically could've been omitted and nothing would change. These epic scale battles are shallow as fuck and clearly better done even on PS2 already with God of War. I fail to see how they are engaging. We've been there, everyone was kinda sick of QTE to the point you can flick them off in games but it seems its not possible to do so here.

For an action game, this is lacking. The combat on itself is fun, though limited (there are no combo variations with delayed strikes etc) but enemies are way too passive. If this is meant to be an action game, its a very mediocre one. Mechanics also don't really evolve and there is little incentive to mix it up. They also missed potential with party members, they could've implement some team attacks with Jill on cooldown, where she can cast Blizzaga to temporary freeze enemies for example. Actually Forspoken DLC implemented such things kind of decent with Cinta.

it barely even feels like a game. Enemies just stand there while you pummel away at them and chip away their health. There’s no ranking system to reward you for combos/speed/avoiding hits etc. (surprising considering that is pretty standard for character action games and even found in many RPGs) If they had that, at least there’d be something to aim for and master, even if there is no threat of losing.

Every level up gives you a tiny 2 point increase to your stats. Every piece of equipment is a tiny increase over the previous one with no unique effects or trade offs. There’s only one weapon type. Why even have weapons/armor/EXP to begin with?

Item creation is almost nonexistent. Every single chest/side quest/hunt rewards you with dozens of materials that you have ZERO use for. On the rare occasion a new craftable item is available, it usually requires some unique material dropped from a story boss and has fuck all to do with all the matierals the game has been “rewarding” you with.

There’s no interesting passive abilities aside from the handful you start out with + a very small # of accessories.

You have “party members” but no ability to customize their abilities or behavior.


I just don’t get it. How in the hell could they screw everything up this badly? There’s nothing about this game that justifies spending 50-60 hours with it.

 

[Zuzu]

Maximillian's thoughts(spoiler warning):

Timestamped 7:04:45 if the link doesn't work.



His final score is

Spoiler

8/10

I agree with a lot of what he says. And he’s right about Final Fantasy 15’s story. The last half of that story was better told and more enjoyable that FF16’s. At least in the Royal Edition.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

I've decided to start playing the Xenoblade series instead of buying this. Time will tell if that was a good decision or not.

They're longer but infinitely better games.

 

[009EspadaSageJay]

I decided to randomly pop in here since discussion about this game is pretty dead both reddit jrpg and final fantasy have taken down the impression thread like a few weeks ago and I haven't seen any video essays on YouTube critiquing the game in full. I watched a bit of Maximilian stream and he looked sad and bored during his last 7 hour run. So either everyone that bought the game either.
A. Liked it and don't want to talk about it
B. Hated it sold it and that was that
C. So bored that they just dropped
D. Played it past the 20 hour mark and despised it.

I already given my opinion on the game but I'll add more I'm shocked people actually went through all of this games side quest there no way I would go through any of them without compensation. The rewards you get are terrible and the "world building" is not worth it most of them have 0 pay offs as well. I never touched on the haptic feedback that this game uses WTF. This game has the worst impermanent of it ever its terrible the titan fist punch and counter move triggers nothing. But the stupid wood section and you riding the chocobo has feedback that is so strong that I thought it could literally break the r2 trigger. Your feedback shouldn't be to that extent to were it literally feels like you could just shatter the entire inside housing because the dev team is to stupid and just set resistance to max. Gt7 has cars that have extremely hard brakes and rough transmissions like there irl counter parts and at no moment does it feel like I'm going to break the controller and you are shifting and breaking all the time in gt7.

Also this game color pallet sucks it's to muted and washed out even with hdr I tweaked the settings in game "every other game has no issues" and the colors leave alot to be desired I assume it's a dev. The 2nd to last half of the game when the sky turns purple takes whatever nice lighting and variety the game had and threw it out the window. It sucks it looks like were back in the year 2005-2007 were movies had filters and tints to make things dark or super serious. It looks awful and makes every area blend together even more.

I can't get over how this game has no extra content,costumes or loot I remember how in the previews yoshi said there's more to show I assume it would be stuff like that. Obviously this game wants to be super super serious no fun allowed so ff14 style costumes are out the window but I'm surprised there is nothing at all. I also remember ryko mentioning something about a Dante must die type mode. I assumed it would be like pure platinum in bayo, hard in nier, very hard in Astral chain, any tales of game on hard or very hard. Were every encounter is ranked and tallied all the way up till you beat the game and then you get a rank like all MGS games nope its some hide away difficultly in arcade mode "". And has 0 baring on the main game 1. Why and 2. What a waste of a game mechanic this is one of the many things that just screams make the game as easy as possible for casuals.

 

[Sleepwalker]

I liked the game a lot, probably my goty so far but I've said what I wanted to say about it already in this thread, I'm not actively playing it anymore either so I don't really see the point discussing it here, most of the people that are left are people catching up or people who dropped it/disliked it, which is fair enough but I don't see the point in engaging in that conversation. Pretty much everyone made up their minds already wether good or bad.

I will be there if DLC drops for sure, but until then, theres not much else going on for me.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Maximillian's thoughts(spoiler warning):

Timestamped 7:04:45 if the link doesn't work.



His final score is

Spoiler

8/10

I disagree about FFXV, I think its trash. Far worse than this game. But I agree with his opinion on FFXVI, I think he explains it very well. FFXVI is failing to deliver as an RPG but also as an action game. It falls somewhere in the middle that benefits no one. It has no or way too limited RPG traits on one hand, and for an action game there is too much padding and fetching and the combat gameplay as well as encounters never change.

He prefers double down on action and trim the fat, a shorter but more focused experience that keeps you engaged. I can get behind but for a mainline FF I would like more of an RPG with meaningful build variety, party mechanics and a solid equipment and crafting system. Either way they should've made a choice, go full action? Then spice the combat up over the course of the game and expand the combo system and make enemies more diverse. Go RPG? Then come with more stats and buffs, and better loot. But the end result is just too little of both with the biggest sin being that its far too easy and repetitive.

Its funny but Stranger of Paradise actually has more RPG mechanics, a more robust equipment and job system, while it keeps being solely focused on the action. The game just looks awful and was obviously made on a budget.

 

[Minsc]

I decided to randomly pop in here since discussion about this game is pretty dead both reddit jrpg and final fantasy have taken down the impression thread like a few weeks ago and I haven't seen any video essays on YouTube critiquing the game in full. I watched a bit of Maximilian stream and he looked sad and bored during his last 7 hour run. So either everyone that bought the game either.
A. Liked it and don't want to talk about it
B. Hated it sold it and that was that
C. So bored that they just dropped
D. Played it past the 20 hour mark and despised it.

I already given my opinion on the game but I'll add more I'm shocked people actually went through all of this games side quest there no way I would go through any of them without compensation. The rewards you get are terrible and the "world building" is not worth it most of them have 0 pay offs as well. I never touched on the haptic feedback that this game uses WTF. This game has the worst impermanent of it ever its terrible the titan fist punch and counter move triggers nothing. Get the stupid wood section and you riding the chocobo is so strong that I thought it would literally break the r2 trigger. Your feedback shouldn't be to that extent to were it literally feels like you could just shatter the entire inside housing because the dev team is to stupid and just set resistance to max. Gt7 has cars that have extremely hard brakes and rough transmissions like there irl counter parts and at no moment does it feel like I'm going to break the controller and you are shifting and breaking all the time in gt7.

Also this game color pallet sucks it's to muted and washed out even with hdr I tweaked the settings in game "every other game has no issues" and the colors leave alot to be desired I assume it's a dev. The 2nd to last half of the game when the sky turns purple takes whatever nice lighting and variety the game had and threw it out the window. It sucks it looks like were back in the year 2005-2007 were movies had filters and tints to make things dark or super serious. It looks awful and makes every area blend together even more.

I can't get over how this game has no extra content,costumes or loot I remember how in the previews yoshi said there's more to show I assume it would be stuff like that. Obviously this game wants to be super super serious no fun allowed so ff14 style costumes are out the window but I'm surprised there is nothing at all. I also remember ryko mentioning something about a Dante must die type mode. I assumed it would be like pure platinum in bayo, hard in nier, very hard in Astral chain, any tales of game on hard or very hard. Were every encounter is ranked and tallied all the way up till you beat the game and then you get a rank like all MGS games nope its some hide away difficultly in arcade mode "". And has 0 baring on the main game 1. Why and 2. What a waste of a game mechanic this is one of the many things that just screams make the game as easy as possible for casuals.

I'm definitely D.

I think the beginning area was the strongest section of the game, when you didn't know how limited it was going to be 10, 20, 30, 40 hours in. I had hope then. It generally looks decent, but not as exciting as a game like DQ11 or World of Final Fantasy to me, I prefer those art styles, though I did also love the gothic RE Village a ton too. Something about this game's art style doesn't really interest me as well.

The HDR when it's throwing particles and summons is great for me, super bright and phoenix etc all look great. But that's like .01% of the game.

I've already said I feel like this is one of the most basic, bare bones games I've ever played. There's like literally 0 systems to explore in this game, and compared to any other FF this one is R-A-W. Especially FFVIIR. FFVIIR makes FFXVI feel like it's had about 1-2 months of production in it and they haven't implemented anything yet.

I'm currently doing every single sidequest and not skipping a single one. It is very fun seeing my despise for this game increase more and more as they continue to bore me further and further. There's almost no animation to the dialog and the VA is pretty horrible, and hardly anyone especially Clive has any personality in this game. It's just all around pretty bad, and very much perhaps the biggest departure from the traditional aspects of FF games ever.