The Mother Crystals, catalysts of the world of Valisthea, source of wealth and magic. The blessing of the ether is in turn its curse, as the Stygian lands consume this indispensable resource for life quickly and inexorably. The different nations of the world move on tiptoe in a delicate balance, a weak truce about to break. Final Fantasy XVI, the long-awaited new installment of the saga, captures this bloody reality in a dark fantasy video game that promises to become one of the best titles of the year. FreeGameTips have had the opportunity to try it out for several hours and immerse themselves in its history and its gameplay. Will it live up to expectations?
The plot of the new Square Enix epic does not disappoint. We won’t give details about the plot to avoid unnecessary spoiling, but his story has left us broken and breathless. It is reminiscent of Game of Thrones in its aesthetics and history, an influence that the developers have not hidden, although they have given it their own touch. Kazutoyo Maehiro has made a script that moves away from the clichés of the genrefrom the classic story of adolescent heroes against a bad bad guy with bombastic verse, cocky swagger and histrionic laughter.
A mature and raw Final Fantasy
In contrast to other games in the saga, the sixteenth installment poses a delicate political plot, with palace intrigues and diplomatic conflicts that become an unprecedented war. The parallels with Final Fantasy XII are no coincidence, as Maehiro also wrote the script for the PlayStation 2 title.
Final Fantasy XVI does not avoid violence, it even recreates itself in some impact sequence. They are not scenes of gratuitous violence, as they contribute to reinforce the message and the context in which the story takes place.
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Clive Rosfield, eldest son of the Archduke of Rosaria, was destined to house the power of the Phoenix, the eikon of fire. Rather, it was his brother Joshua who flourished as dominant, despite being a character much more given to letters than to the sword. The role of the dominants is interesting because their social acceptance depends on the territory. They are respected and revered in Rosaria, but in other nations they are treated almost like slaves, the scum of the nation.
Nothing more Game of Thrones than the sequences in which the different rulers exchange cynical comments. There, In the halls of the palace, words of treason coil like snakes and they pass from one ear to the other, sibylline.
The focus on action does not subtract one iota from its narrative component. At the plot level, the video game directed by Hiroshi Takai is very clear that the gameplay revolves around the plot. In the same way that the classic turns did not interfere with the script, the battle system of this chapter does not break with the RPG structure. What’s more, sometimes it overlaps with the narration itself, in which the player participates interactively, such as in the battles between two eikons.
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design the titan fights between eikons It has been complicated, not only because of the scale, but also because the developers introduce different mechanics, such as dodging enemy attacks, firing Pyro as if it were a shooter or pressing QTE at the right moment. Naoki Yoshida has assured in an interview with FreeGameTips that there are several battles of this type throughout the game and that other mechanics are added later.
Final Fantasy XVI is structured around three different timelines, all of them centered on Clive, the character that we handle during the game in various periods of his life: a teenage version, in his twenties and in his thirties. The prologue serves to show the beginnings of the character as a swordsman. Since he has not been touched by the power of the Phoenix, his destiny is to serve as protector of his brother Joshua.
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No half measures: pure and hard action
It’s not that the developers have hidden it, they have always gone up front and defended the reasons for their decision to abandon classic turns altogether. It is not a hybrid system like in other Final Fantasy installments, but a radical turn to the action. The basics of combat are simplebut the options are expanded as the adventure progresses and the character progresses.
One of the most controversial decisions has been the fact that You can only control one character. The rest of the companions fight on their own. All in all, the playable design of this Final Fantasy is totally action-oriented, with all that that entails. Despite the antics here and there, the combat resembles that of a hack’n slack. Our colleague Francisco Serrano rightly compared it to that of Dragon’s Dogma.
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In the previous preview we already described how the fights work, which combines magic and physical attacks, the possibility of dodging, fixing the target or parrying. In an impressive battle against a Molbol, a classic enemy of the saga, we have one of the first contacts with a big boss. As we attack him, the impact bar goes down until it becomes vulnerable, moment in which we hit with everything we have within our reach. Being a very powerful enemy, his health drops very slowly, but Square Enix has introduced the accurate attack and defense, which the player can execute at specific moments of the battle and inflicts severe damage.
The progression system is based on leveling up, but attributes are automatically reinforced. This means that the player cannot decide if he allocates the points to defense, attack or life, since all the sections improve when the required experience is obtained.
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Special skills depend on each Eikon and can be acquired and upgraded, as long as you have the necessary skill points. Clive’s attunement with the Eikon has a plot explanation that we will not reveal, but the fact is that during the combat we alternate between one and the other, depending on the strategy. For example, a fire Eikon like Phoenix allows us to use this class of abilities while others provide us with other elemental powers. The use of combos and powers is intuitive and fast, adapting perfectly to the rhythm of the battle.
There is the possibility of going back and unlearn a skill to recount the points.
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Make no mistake, it’s not an open world
They have said it actively and passively. Final Fantasy XVI is not an open world game nor does it pretend to be. According to those responsible, this decision is due to the fact that the plot did not fit with that playable conception, so they preferred to focus it in another direction. In the interview we have been reminded that a title is not better or worse for being open world, since it is an option like many others.
Even so, the fact that this installment has not been designed as an open world does not imply that all sections are closed. Not surprisingly, we had the opportunity to enjoy a much more open section, in which we carry out some secondary mission, we fight and explore the scenarios. As you might expect, the world is full of secrets and treasures. It’s still too early to assess the depth of the side tasks, as we were only able to complete a couple of them. On the other hand, the hunts, very similar to those of the twelfth installment, promise great challenges.
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In the classic Final Fantasy, the characters moved around a world map in real time. From that chapter, the main games have opted for different solutions: some more open; others more closed. This video game unfold the world map without the protagonist moving freely from one side to the other. We select among the available destinations to make a quick trip. Thanks to the PS5 SSD, loading times are very short.
A wonderful audiovisual, artistic and musical presentation
The soundtrack by Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV) It is spectacular. The choruses resonate and give the game the epic that the story needs. On the other hand, the music manages to accompany the most dramatic moments with sensitivity. The musical identity of the saga is maintained through remixes of classic songs by Nobuo Uematsu, which remind us that we are first and foremost facing a main Final Fantasy. And yes, the fanfare of victory is not lacking.
On a technical level, the game is solid, both in performance mode and in graphics mode. It shows that the title has gone through the testing process conscientiously and review, despite the fact that its launch is still months away. During the game we have not experienced any bugs or crashes, which suggests that the work will be -except for surprise- very polished for the launch.
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The design of the characters and the world of Valisthea is a faithful representation of the tonal tone that Creative Business Unit III has wanted to capture in the work. Medieval kingdoms of a realistic nature (as far as it is a fantasy) that fight with blood and fire to fulfill the wishes of their rulers. As Yoshida told us, the team has used its own graphics engine that still doesn’t have a name. They left out the Luminous Engine—the engine from Final Fantasy XV and Forspoken—because they hadn’t learned how to use it yet, but they also didn’t go with the Unreal Engine.
Final Fantasy XVI is a temporary PS5 exclusive. It will be available in stores from June 22.
