Final Fantasy XVI
When I saw the initial reveal trailer for this, it certainly looked impressive, but I worried that the obvious Game of Thrones influence would come at the price of it not feeling like Final Fantasy. Having just finished it with almost 60 hours on the clock, this is absolutely still Final Fantasy.
Square were doing political drama and dark fantasy back in the 90s with the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, and FFXVI feels very much in that vein. Both elements are pushed to greater extremes here though. The political landscape of Valisthea is so complex and mutable that the game eventually gives you both a political advisor and a loremaster to help keep track of everything. It's a lot more violent than previous Final Fantasy games too, with throats being slit and blood gushing on a regular basis, plus there's a lot of swearing. It's also the first Squenix games since Xenogears to acknowledge that sex is a thing that exists. Predictably it's more prudish here than with the violence, but there's a fair bit of nudity of the Austin Powers variety (ie. where there's always something blocking our view of the good stuff).
It's a very good story, and surprisingly well paced considering its length. It spreads out its mysteries, reveals, twists and developments so that it never gets stagnant. Thankfully the mistakes of FFXV haven't been repeated; this is a complete, self-contained story that doesn't require a movie, ONA series, or a bunch of DLC chapters to tell everything. Characters are generally good, though some of those from the nobility come across as a bit stiff at times due to the faux Shakespearean style of their dialogue. FFXVI's Cid might be my new favourite character to bear that name in the series though (
I'm referring to this game's Cid I, not Cid II here).
Character designs generally feel more restrained than is typical for the series. There are a few distinctive costumes here and there, but it's generally a bit too medieval fantasy here for it to capture the flashy, memorable looks that are usual a hallmark of Final Fantasy. Locations, too, are generally in the medieveal fantasy vein, aside from some ancient ruins. There's no lack of quality design in the locations though, with towns and cities being especially detailed and multi-layered affairs.
Once combat starts, any worries that the game might have been put in shackles of realism are thankfully detonated with high-yield explosives. It's fast, fluid, and gets increasingly flashy as the game progresses. I was concerned when I heard that there was only one playable character, and even more so that he only has one weapon type, but again those fears were unfounded. The combat has excellent fundamentals and evolves throughout the course of the game, adding new abilities at regular intervals, some of which can radically alter how you approach battles. It encourages customisation and experimentation with your character build by allowing you to respec your abilities any number of times without penalty (something a lot of games with extensive ability trees could learn from). While I never got bored of the combat, I do think that the varied play styles of the different characters in FFVII Remake give it a bit of an edge over XVI, but it's closer than I expected.
The headline boss battles between the series's trademark summon monsters are completely bonkers. Some of them are like interactive Godzilla movies, or maybe something even more over the top like Ultraman, considering the technicolour insanity of some of the later ones, and that I'm pretty sure I saw Ifrit pull a
Rider Kick at one point.
And the music? I haven't played FFXIV, so this is my first encounter with composer Masayoshi Soken, but I can see why people gush about him. There's about 8 hours of music in the game, and I don't think a single track is a dud. Location music and character themes are great, the main theme is a banger, and I cranked up the volume every time one of the boss battle themes kicked in.
Overall, it's a solid entry in a series that includes some of the best JRPGs of all time. It doesn't quite stand toe-to-toe with the best of the series, since it's a bit lacking in some of the charm and personality that made the golden era of FFVI-X sing, but it's still a great game on its own sweary, blood-soaked terms, and tells a story that has a lot more heart than I expected.
but hopefully I'll have better luck next weekend!
