I BEAT Final Fantasy 16...and we NEED to TALK! (PS5) - HONEST Review

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#FF16 #FinalFantasyXVI #PS5
Final Fantasy XVI is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The sixteenth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, it is scheduled for release on June 22, 2023 for the PlayStation 5 as a timed exclusive. The game will feature segmented open environments and an action-based combat system involving both melee and magic-based attacks. There are also recurring series features including Chocobos, and summoned monsters called Eikons, which are both fought as bosses and used through channelling their power in combat.
Final Fantasy XVI is set in the fictional world of Valisthea, a world divided between six nations who hold power through access to magical Crystals and Dominants, humans who act as hosts for each nation's Eikon. Tensions between the nations escalate as a malady dubbed the Blight begins consuming the land. Clive Rosfield, guardian to his younger brother Joshua, witnesses his kingdom destroyed and goes on a revenge quest in pursuit of the dark Eikon Ifrit.
Beginning concept development in 2015, the staff included Naoki Yoshida as producer, Hiroshi Takai as main director, artists Hiroshi Minagawa and Kazuya Takahashi, Kazutoyo Maehiro as creative director and lead writer, Masayoshi Soken as composer, and Capcom veteran Ryota Suzuki as battle designer. Yoshida's aim was for a dark fantasy storyline that would have broad appeal and reinvigorate the series. The game has been well received by journalists. Praise was given to its story, characters, music ad combat system. Criticism focused on its lack of deeper RPG elements, framerate issues, and by some for a lack of ethnic and gender representation despite its Medieval European setting and the largely anticipated decision of the creators to make the game as more historically accurate as possible to the demographic and the standards and customs of the time.
Well, I can’t say I’m shocked that after a blockbuster demo everyone loved, it turns out that Final Fantasy XVI itself is good as well. The embargo has lifted, and reviews are coming in for the game which releases tomorrow, June 22. No, the late embargo was not in any way indicative of anything being hidden. I don’t know why they did it, but whatever, reviews are great.
As it stands, Final Fantasy XVI has a 90 on Opencritic in an age when anything over a 90 is at the very least a GOTY contender, and right now its an 88 on Metacritic, but that keeps jumping around.

[@DreamcastGuy]

Yes I know this video is a week after launch but I wanted to play EVERYTHING to give my full thoughts on such a great game! Thanks for watching!!

[@dannypistilli4864]

Im approx 10 hrs in and Im absolutely taken over by it! Its what Ive always wanted from a FF gane. I also am more of a soulsbourne player than a turn base fan. Couldn't be happier, and I started the franchise back on the NES

[@cynicald380]

I respect you doing a review after you finished it mate. Would rather a more full review than a race to do a basic review

[@cynicald380]

3:00 well said!

[@DWS2020]

I think he did two reviews, but I don't remember how much he played when he did the first. I enjoy the whole Spawncast. So more videos the better in my opinion.

[@justifiedfun9811]

Final Fantasy has always tried to evolve the combat in every game

[@JoeTheGetItGuy]

The only issue or question I have with this game is: how can they manage achieve the best and the worst in the same time in one game. FF 16 may be the best cinematic game you can play in a long time, and the combat could also be top tier; but those soulless side quests, almost-doesn’t-exist equipment system…man I just want know why…

[@komakuga4731]

the yoshi p effect

[@ko7gaming470]

Maybe you just have to many wants bro.

[@Astreon123]

​@@ko7gaming470not for a final fantasy game

[@Davidsworldtravels]

Exactly. A friend came over and saw me fighting some sort of fire creature. And he said oh you should use a different element like ice to hit his weakness. Or a weapon designed for that type. And I was like nope dude you can literally kill him with a fire attack and it makes absolutely no sense. For how much elements would heal or hurt enemies throughout all of FF, it’s bizarre that the weapons are so forgettable and elements don’t matter.

[@Aetumn12]

Combat is also super mediocre....theres no strategy needed in every combat encounter.Just spam abilities and win.Also no enemy weakness and elemental damage dont matter.This is y'all's final fantasy?

[@lurkingsoldi2107]

I honestly loved every second of it. I just wish final fantasy mode was unlocked from the start because it’s a little too easy.

[@JH-ok5lx]

I agree the evasion ring pretty much makes u untouchable

[@lockekappa500]

I agree, but Im actually happy to play it again, and Im glad that Action mode being easier let me push through the story at a better pace.

[@mbs395]

Just unequip automatic everything and keep the stat boosts and it makes it harder

[@drunkhusband6257]

You have mental issues then because the game is utter trash

[@rashid2898]

@@JH-ok5lx why would u even use that to begin with?

[@rafi_sensei5421]

I finally finished the game. It has flaws, but damn it, I absolutely love the game. Love the story of Clive, the combat is awesome, I really enjoyed switching between eikon abilities, sort of reminds me of Ghost of Tsushima switching between stances mid battle. Cut scenes do drag at times. But the boss battles, and the cinematic pieces were f*cking awesome. I feel like a game like this would have probably have set my old ps4 on fire.

[@DeadBatteryRed]

For whatever reason when I first finished this game I absolutely hated it. But coming back to it eight months later and replaying it I absolutely love it.

[@villaniousmustache4898]

16 sucked man. People can come at me all they want but this direction hurt them so much more than it did any good. I wouldn't be shocked whatsoever if ff14 suffers backlash since the game has been losing subscribers who all have the same reason: weird ass community and lack of end game content with a mmo sense. Square enix may not be around in the next decade

[@JerichoTheCity]

I went into this game blind only becoming interested in final fantasy this year after playing through the main ff7 stories (og, remake, crisis core), so I can't really speak to how it compares to other games in the franchise but man this game has been so much fun.

[@vexcarius7100]

Welcome aboard 🙌🙌🙌

[@kamii_999]

💯 Game of the Year

[@BasedRoots]

Try Final Fantasy 10. and 5 and 6. 9 is pretty ok. 8 is difficult to play fun wise but its good. Everything after 10 is absolute garbage. the ff7 remake was ok, i guess.

[@blugrave4345]

Welcome to the family.

[@grizzly_magnum9579]

Completely agree. This was my first FF game after being intrigued by the reactions to FF7 Remake. All I can say is, wow, what a game. I finally understand why this is such a revered series, the story and characters and the sense of scale and epicness is such a treat.

[@VandalHeart383]

I haven't beaten it yet, but the 2 things I don't like about the game: 1: You get party members you can never play with. 2: Elements are pointless. You have all these elements, yet no enemies are weak to anything. Use fire to kill a fire monster, wind to kill a wind, ect. I do love the more adult theme, but that alone isn't enough to make this game of the year.

[@Vortexnicholas]

The boss fights is what carried it for me. However They needed to just make it a linear game and take out the questing , and open world there’s absolutely nothing to do in the open world .

[@LARSTAKA-666]

This is my complaint as well. There are some main missions that could have been side missions. They needed to make it linear, but if you wanted more of the story, you do those side quest

[@Mirage4492]

bro FF16 is not open world and they didnt even say its open world

[@Mirage4492]

They didn't design this game for you to be able to experiment as much as you want in an open world like GTA or AC Games. They want players to focus on the main story and side stories provided by such quests because the story is one of their main selling points for the game. That's why the only meaningful use of the mobs in the game is for quests or hunt boards which explains why its not even open world in the first place

[@Vortexnicholas]

@@Mirage4492 🤣🤣🤣well why did almost all the pregame reveal gameplay months back make it seem like its open world ??smh. Bottom line is the exploration is absolutely pointless.they should’ve removed the exploration element entirely .

[@Vortexnicholas]

@@LARSTAKA-666 I was doing some of the npc stuff and was so bored. I’m like okay can we move on I put the controller down for 40 minutes the system goes into rest mode . Non stop go here speak to this person , rinse and repeat. I’m like okay I’m gonna go play max Payne 3 , returnal or Spider-Man now. Enough of this .

[@dlvarcade9729]

You make a great point about applying your own imagination to the older titles. I think back on the older games and contemplated on what I truly enjoyed about FF and I think it boils down to the epic or riveting moments things like when Rydia returns to the party in FF4 and comes in with the clutch save against Golbez. Objectively, looking at it now, it looks okay, nothing amazing, but what really made that moment was the moments leading up to that and the stakes involved. The actual turn-based combat brought nothing to that moment. I don't remember what skills or attacks I made, I just remember being on the brink of death and Rydia returning to us. Now, take that same scenario and apply it with modern graphics and modern systems and you are closer to the vision that the creators probably had in mind. Take something like the Titan Eikon fight in FF16 and imagine what that would look like in a turn-based system? Like, absolutely no way. Like you, FF has been a part of my life since the NES days and I appreciate the evolutionary steps, but really this is just the way of the future. The moments created in FF16 for me, have been absolutely amazing and some of the best I've ever experienced in gaming. It's a shame some people will deny themselves of it for the sake of holding on to nostalgia.

[@Force-Multiplier]

No matter what anyone says IV will forever be the best NES FF for me VI had a few things going for it ... but after IV nothing that came before VII comes even close to IV for me to the point that FFIV is still one of my top 3 favorite FFs

[@Penelope9441]

The moment that will always stick with me is not catching enough fish in ff6 and celes throwing herself off a cliff when her caretaker dies. Her theme song still makes me tear up to this day. I've never wasted time on that fish mission since.

[@emmanuelhernandez3200]

When bad breath didn’t fuck me over will all status effect know to the franchise I knew something was off.

[@onikagebr]

This action game can have the FF name and iconic themes, but it is a completely different product from what FF was (excluding MMOs and FF15 which started this nonsense). Too much was striped out of the original formula. Imagine if Diablo 5 becomes a FPS, or if Dark Souls became a turn based RPG… we can pretend it’s the same product forever, just because of its name or skin, but it’s a completely different product. Skillup was spot on. (And yes, the characters are far from iconic. They all feel like characters created using a fancy FF14 character creator tool. Good for an MMO but very low standard when compared to any FF)

[@El.esposo]

Thank you!!!!

[@JTSuter]

I have given it 12 hours so far, and I have to say that this is probably the worst mainline FF game ever made, if you can even call this a FF game. The characters are boring, generic, and forgettable. There's just nothing relatable about it. I'll continue to give it more of my time, and I hope things turn around.

[@alex.starostin]

Yeah.. I don't get all the hype and high ratings around this entry. Even XV was far more enjoyable, at least it was a lot more gameplay oriented while in XVI 1/3 of the whole game story mode are cutscenes

[@S.O.G13]

I think the side quests add to the story. It gives depth to the world. It tells us what the normal every day person is going through as the story progresses. I get some aren’t super exciting but they definitely get better as the game progresses. Always look out for the quests with the plus signs, they are more entertaining and have better rewards.

[@Bahamut998]

I find them to be good actually, everyone is clearly there to give more lore and context to the complex society of the world. For example the side quests in the imperial meadows show you how the bearers are treated in the empire, and really make you want to destroy the empire.

[@S.O.G13]

@@Bahamut998 exactly, it really shows the struggle the people are facing as we race to save the world. It is only fitting that we do all we can to ease that suffering along the way and get to learn more about what is going on. I especially found the quests about the fallen to be quite interesting. Great game I tell you

[@KahlevN]

Almost universally the people that hate on the side quests just gave up on them, and I get it, the early ones are pretty boring in terms of what you're asked to do. But they are all setting up characters, stories, locations etc. And they pay off HUGE imo with the later side-quests as all those stories come together and resolve. I think they could have improved what you actually do on the quests, as they pale in comparison to the main quest, but I think that's intention to give you some down time and to not overshadow the main story moments. Either way, curious if he has gone back and done them, but honestly doing them when you're at that point of the story is so much more impactful narratively and emotionally, some of them made me tear up. Always feel bad for people that didn't do all of them and quit before they paid off.

[@steelyeyes9190]

Wrong

[@ashokrohan7232]

They reek of MMORPG quest design

[@mariorivera6292]

Dungeons??? Bro, there’s no fucking dungeons in this game man. 😂

[@dabblerblue]

This game has some of the funniest dialogue I've seen in an FF. Usually they don't pull it off, but they do it well here.

[@タイラー-p9x]

"You cock" made me giggle for like 5 minutes 😭

[@dante19890]

FF7 remake kinda nailed the action, turnbased party hybrid combat formula. FF16 is basically an 1 character action game with a final fantasy story

[@hotcoldman77]

FF16 SUCKED

[@dante19890]

@sheriffyusuf3732 it's average I would say. But clearly way overhyped. Rebirth vastly overshadows it in every regard.

[@waywardsoul4918]

@@dante19890rebirth put me to sleep 😴 spamming attack butting while waiting for ATB to use abilities? Really? In 2024? Really ?

[@dante19890]

@waywardsoul4918 cuz you don't engage with the mechanics. It's a indepth combat system.

[@prod.b4bnik]

@@dante19890rebirths combat is aight, the world and story (a worse story than ff16 and OG ff7) carry the game

[@TheJtothemuah]

This dude is such a stan. He really gave this game almost a perfect score despite it being the most non final fantasy game in mainline series

[@idowhatiwant3557]

As someone that has seen the evolution of the FF series as well, this just seems like another step in the wrong direction with the franchise.

[@ZippyNarwhal]

One of my only complaints is the over reliance on quick time events in boss battles. I understand it’s for the spectacle of it but still.

[@yoloparrot42]

I loved it at first but it gets old after a while. I did find myself getting annoyed as I would be enjoying the action and then another QTE

[@damascus6480]

They are insanely easy too, I’m surprised it’s not pretty quick like most games with QTEs. It takes its time so you can make sure to hit the button.

[@mikeg5039]

Thats not even close to the worst part lol theyre neat little segments

[@P8nplays]

The titans fight was annoying with how long the are of you dodging tentacles was. I understand they tried to use it as a suedo cutscene so I got why they did it that way. But it should have been cut in half time wise

[@lionzcrown1702]

funny. feels like they barely happen. you get plenty of actual combat per boss fight

[@jakthebomb]

I am 36+ hours in, I think the game has glaring issues that many reviews ignore. At its core it is an oversimplification of past entries. The side missions are cookie cutter and in many cases duplicates with minor differences. They are almost always, kill this small group of monsters or people, go talk to these 3 people and come back. It is an artificial padding with hardly any benefits. Only Side Quests worth completing are the ones with + in them. The + means upon completion you get a gameplay affecting perk. From holding more potions, unlocking more weapons or boosting the effectiveness of potions. The main story is excellent and has me wanting to finish the game, but after completing a few main quests, dozens of side quest pop up. I am trying to be a completionist, but it is at a point where I am skipping dialogue for Side Missions. There seems to be Plot Armor thrown around with some folks not dying over and over again. I find the Titan Battles to be mixed. The Titan battle was SOOOO SLOOOOOW and I kept thinking "Are we done Yet?". I plan on finishing the game, but don't think it is close to a 10/10 that it received. I would venture it is closer to a 7/10 due to these glaring issues.

[@Tsukaani]

A lot of people seem to think that the side quests are terrible, but several of the later ones are story focused with good payoff. They provide some needed character development and insight into the world and major characters, especially Jill. On my playthrough I completed every side quest and notorious mark as soon as they became available and finished the game at 50 hours. Two of the later side quests add Jill and Gav as permanent party members until you depart for origin. The major characters were never side lined, it's just up to the player to reach out to them.

[@dannypistilli4864]

Agreed..they work well into the world building and lore. But you kind of need to put it together

[@kurtisschwartz9870]

One of them even scores you a mount 🤘

[@Nobodysurvivesevenonebit]

Side quests are fun. Some of it are emotional.

[@aphillyate1]

I call it "Final Fantasy for Dummies." Everything related to RPG is severely dumbed down and the "action" is amped up. This game insists upon itself.

[@Soravia]

I'm glad to hear they brought back gritty plots. They could have used FF Tactics style side quests. They have interesting backgrounds and stories inside the quests, including summon of Cloud, artifacts with stories, etc.

[@bloodruststaples]

I stated skipping the cutscenes after leaving the first area. I get that FF is about storytelling, but GODDAMMIT JUST LET ME PLAY THE FUCKING GAME. Can't even walk into a different area without a long ass cutscene playing.

[@djstuntfox]

One small complaint I have are some of the boss battles last a bit too long. I will not spoil anything, but I remember one particular main story boss fight that lasted roughly 45 minutes. It was late and I was getting tired, but I was at a pivotal moment of the game, so I powered through it. The next time I looked at the clock I was like WHAT??? Just like all the boss fights, it was a spectacular fight. It was big, colorful, epic, etc, BUT I was so exhausted. Lol I still LOVE THIS GAME!!

[@mikeholt2852]

half of that are either cutscenes or cinematic gameplay

[@imag-nonespaghet9337]

​@@mikeholt2852oh my God can you shut up about that.

[@Mochi-qm1dk]

That particular boss fight was longer than the final boss lmao

[@coolguy48457]

For me personally, when I say "this isnt Final Fantasy" its not because its a bad game...or because I hate it. The Franchise no longer scratches the itch it once did. Most gamers have moods...I want to play a FPS, I want to play a Chaotic action game etc. Final Fantasy no longer appeals to the JRPG mood for me. Its an odd feeling to be in the mood to play Assassins Creed Valhalla and Final Fantasy 16 be in consideration to scratch that itch...and im not sure its a good thing.. We have no shortage of quality action RPG games, we have an extreme shortage of quality JRPGs of the caliber final fantasy once supplied. Looking back on the things I've played to scratch my JRPG itch says alot....Atelier Ryza, Tales of Arise, Ni No Kuni, Ys, Legend of Heroes, these are great games, but nothing even close to the AAA quality of a Final Fantasy. Its not action vs turn based, Its the lack of itemization RPG elements, the lack of meaningful world exploration, the lack of casual interaction with the world and its people, this game fancies itself so serious that we couldnt have casual world interactions meanwhile they drop about 15 non serious side quest on you during a very pivotal story moment where you should not be wasting a single second in pursuit of the main story....

[@johnnymike8971]

The strangest thing that I don't hear many people complaining about is the brightness level in this game. I had to turn the game's brightness level all the way up AND turn my screen's brightness up too, just to be able to see what I was doing.

[@funkrobot9762]

DO THE SIDEQUESTS. The ending is much better if you do.

[@djstuntfox]

Update: Now that I have beaten it 100% I HAVE to be honest. After it was over, I felt a little underwhelmed. Like something was missing. The game is at it's best with presentation and the fight mechanics, but I was missing story, which is odd. I was missing the emotional journey. I normally would cry at some point in a FF game. Not this time. As a LONG time fan, I saw this ending coming a mile away and I wasn't shocked. Maybe it was also the lack of memorable characters. Other than Clive, my only standouts were Hugo and Cid. Their personalities were very present, but I felt everyone else were just there. I didn't care about them, other than Torgal. I love that loyal dog. I give this game a 7 out of 10. I saw this game has a lot of fluff, but no substance. Now, don't take my opinion as absolutes or anything. It's just my opinion, but I hope you all love it!! I will admit it was quite a thrill ride. Just not an emotional one.

[@Fluffymagicalbunny]

What??? I cried like 10 times while playing and sobbed for 2 hours at the end. 😭😭😭😭

[@TEFFTPATTERN]

dont ever tell anyone you sobbed 2 HOURS at anything again

[@TEFFTPATTERN]

Sobbing for 2 hours give me a break

[@bungifish2227]

I agree. The story and characters were the main issue. This has the most basic RPG story you could ask for (no twist, not as dark as the demo section, not complex, very predictable) honestly one of the worst FF story imo. Characters were boring, Clive especially felt very 1 dimensional (younger Clive was way better and had personality). Still really like the game, but boss battles and combat carried. Music was also okay, most were reused music like every boss has same music which was disappointing.

[@dragoonzen]

Agree, I like the fact they return to a more mature setting but some of the characters are easily forgettable and the music was not memorable at all. The story really needs more intense situations to make it memorable.

[@Fliptechmed]

I truly wanted to enjoy this game, it's beautiful well crafted, but I just found it so boring and empty that I could not go on. I would find myself dozing offs way too often. Just wasn't interesting but that's just me.

[@kevinkraftable]

duuuuuuude yes! they are striving to be dense and full of...something. but its so empty! im trying really hard to beat it but im bored. and if i hear another F bomb that doesnt fit the narrative im gonna lose my mind. the upgrading gear mechanic is pointless. and the items from fights is for upgrading items so they are usless too LOL. why does the game feel so lazy and rushed? not to mention when you think about the story they literally stole from attack on titan and game of thrones...just straight up fused the two together lol. WHYYYYYYY

[@ken5040]

They tried to make FF into a DMC spin off like game but the combat is so bad the fact you have to beat the game just to unlock a mode that’s not just mashing attack is terrible. It’s a slog to play, combat is weak, story is decent but there is too much padding that it’s hard to even enjoy that

[@kevinkraftable]

@@ken5040 agreed! I found the story was a weird mash up of attack on titan meets game of thrones. When Titan got his hands chopped off and then had fake metal hands I laughed so hard. Jamie Lannister wanna be lol. So to me the story wasn’t even original.

[@gregmcclung7497]

Wow I'm impressed I only made it bout 11 hours and it was not fun at all

[@KeyoXKeyo]

Yeah the game is ass

[@SkinCareLuver]

The characters are what you call not memorable at all! Everytime a character pops up that's supposedly from the past, I don't even know who the hell they are. It's weird! I hope square fixes this. If Dragon Quest can keep it's JRPG elements why can't FF? Anyways, I'm upset they killed off Cid. Was a sad moment because he was cool as hell and lovable!

[@sirwalkboy]

what i find great about final fantasy is that every mainline/numbered game is its own experience in both setting AND gameplay. sure, by history the franchise has been primarily turnbased but there was never anything CONFINING it to just turn based.

[@David-gj6dc]

If we want to get super technical the only true turn based games are 1, 2, 3 and 10. 4-9 used the ATB system where there were real time pressures to input commands quickly. You can even switch who's"turn" it is if multiple party members have their ATB filled at once. Everything after 10 has been more experimental for the franchise.

[@sirwalkboy]

@@David-gj6dc precisely. but even with the signature atb system gone in 16 its still a final fantasy game, because there was never anything confining the series to features like that either. theoretically you can take any genre of game, setting, etc. apply recurring themes or character names, sprinkle in some rpg elements and you get a final fantasy game.

[@TheOneGreat]

​@@sirwalkboySounds terrible. Not a fan. Combat is great, fights are spectacular, rest is token and as shallow as a puddle. Good character action game, terrible FF.

[@iainengland8058]

The people that complain about them changing up the gameplay are the same people that complain about every far cry since 3 being the same.

[@Youkesama]

honestly FF16 is just *great* nothing more nothing less I expected more and I was disappointed.. so the game is aight 7/10 at best

[@pippofranco879]

7/10 is great? your score and your adjective are mismatched

[@tendibrooh8132]

The very basic of final fantasy game is, theres a Real Party, theres a Mp, theres class/job system and not a single nfsw scene😂😂😂

[@Nion8six]

I feel like the game has some kind of hold over the audience 😂 I was enjoying it, but the dated quest design of “travel here, let this person talk for 10 mins, travel over there, talk for another 10 mins and then investigate the area noted by both those people - now fight a damage sponge baby frog for 20 mins” Over and over again😂 I don’t think the game is bad, at all! I mean I was LOVING the story.. But I definitely have lost interest in it for now! Maybe I’ll revisit later on down the line.

[@warrenthompson7803]

They honestly could have done a better job with the story line so I give it an 8 out of 10. Lack of depth when it comes to the last main boss on how Ultima wanted clive to destroy the mother crystals . After the whole realms basically fell it to absolute disarray and chaos after destroying them . All the other final fantasies saving the crystals was the life force and point in the final fantasy series .

[@genki23]

A final fantasy game to me was always about the story and the characters. I absolutely loved 16's combat, characters and story. By the end, FF16 made me tear up 5 times and I was rooting for the characters. We didn't get the happiest of endings, but it was bitter sweet and I'm really hoping we're getting dlc with Clive and Leviathan's dominant as they hinted at.

[@kadosho02]

Sigh another entry with an unresolved conclusion. They need to change that, and give the player base an actual conclusion before the credits roll. Or it was built that way on purpose.

[@Baardnick]

Only that? For me ff was always much more, but including story, characters etc, but imo its nothing Without good gamedesign, rpg mechanics, exploration etc

[@Nobodysurvivesevenonebit]

Story is unique. I loved it.

[@kadosho02]

@@SavinSnails I'm good, I have no plans to buy XVI any time soon. But good to know its story does wrap. If dlc is possible, I believe it.

[@gamerforlife3946]

@@NobodysurvivesevenonebitThis is unique LOL

[@dismissedrealist6059]

It's funny how he says the combat is deep and complex that gets even more complicated as you progress, but barely even adjusted the fundamentals. The combo potential is absolutely infinite. It's only limited by the player's skill, creativity and willingness to learn. Most KZbin critics, journalists and streamers have zero knowledge of how these combat systems are intended to be played. IMO... people that display repetitive and obvious abuse to the square button is detrimental to the game's reputation, gamers impressions and ultimately sales. Their gameplay wholly misrepresents the game by failing to adapt to the most basic mechanics. This game should of never been tailored for anyone other than the hardcore crowd. The accessibility options were a major mistake as you can see they're being used against it by detractors. Character action games are far too deep and technical with mechanics that takes persistent practice to master. Skill Up, Dreamcastguy and every other critic I've seen are the reason these games are categorized as "button mashers, and it's just not good for the developers or the genre from a holistic perspective.

[@Bahamut_Mega]

I'm starting to think I'm the only one happy with the side quests. The main story goes so hard that having light hearted side content between the main dungeons gives me time to relax and just enjoy the world and the people in it.

[@Bahamut_Mega]

@bigshoes806 So I'm almost at the end of the game. And all I will say is the side quests get way better and deeper in the last 3rd of the game.

[@flamehiro]

It was balanced before time skip. Then waaaaaaaaay too heavy on them after they got annoying

[@VF5]

Biggest miss opportunity is that Square decided not to make the other supporting characters playable. Cid, Jill and Dion are well designed but forgettable characters. The party system is one of the quintessential elements in FF games, and FF 16 completely eliminated that feature. When compare to FF 15 and 7 Remake, the monster design is very underwhelming. I do like everything else the game has to offer, but the criticisms are valid.

[@CurtTheHero]

I agree that this game is a Final Fantasy game at heart. The first impression was that it wasn't but when it opens up and you explore it totally feels like retro FF. Going town to town, solving people's problems on a semi linear path with a little deviation here and there. It has dungeons based around the crystal with a new fun twist too. It really feels mostly inspired by that era of FF for me and it totally work. I do understand why some people don't like the new combat and watered down RPG mechanics and I do think FF7 remake nailed what FF vbat should be but it is a fun game

[@drunkhusband6257]

You enjoy your shallow linear action game, the rest of us with a brain will go play decent rpgs

[@CurtTheHero]

@@drunkhusband6257 tbh FF has never been the best in terms of it's RPG elements. This one is definitely a step down in that regard but it's still a fun game with a pretty good story, albeit too easy. There's no need to be upset

[@lunatic447]

@@drunkhusband6257 then you might enjoy pathfinder wrath of the righteous. Btw how do you define shallowness in games? Is it the lack of challenge? The lack of customisation? Do you think the core system is flawed?

[@carnivalcadaver69]

My dude, there's nothing to gucking explore stop fooling yourself

[@CurtTheHero]

@@carnivalcadaver69 yeah, there isn't much expiration tbh. Could definitely be better. I guess retro FF didn't have greta exploration either. Kinda just go off the beaten path to get some chests. Very similar in that way

[@paulkeane7838]

For me the issues aren’t with the story or the gameplay. It’s the constant useless cut scenes. At a certain point in the game it goes cutscene, walk, cutscene, fight, cutscene, walk 50m into another cutscene. Just let me play the damn game. I’d say if the 20+ hours half have been cutscenes. The side quests are boring and do nothing to improve the story or the game.

[@lelela2211]

i think the strongest part of the game are the characters and the story.... Clive was such a great Maincharacter. Realy loved him.

[@RageInVR]

The dynamic with his mother alone can resinante with so many people. When ifrit risen came I was like let's fucking gooooo!!!

[@gamerforlife3946]

@@RageInVRWell that makes sense why minority like this kind of story lol

[@callsignfatbeard2637]

@@gamerforlife3946what?

[@SenaMeushi]

God the comments here are just full of the same kind of people who simp for XIV's story. "It gets good eventually" isn't as good an argument as you think it is, if I have to slog through HOURS of poorly paced bullshit that means the story overall is bad, just like XIV's story. Yes it has it's high points but it's not worth the agony of suffering through all the bloat and filler. I'd rather go read a book, something I'm sure most of you have never touched with how much you revere Final Fantasy storytelling.

[@bradford433]

To this day I cannot fathom how XIV's fans could slog through the Seventh Astral Era quests and still say that game has great storytelling. That was some of the most boring, mind-numbing shit I've ever experienced and it killed any interest I had in continuing that game. Seriously, just thinking about it now gives me PTSD flashbacks, it was that god awful. And if you ever bring it up to that community, it's like you're talking to a wall. Total blind worship.

[@brandonbuckles826]

I genuinely love this game. People need to play longer. The story, abilities, world and characters all get bigger and better the deeper into it you play.

[@bobross8585]

"It gets good after 30 Hours" HAHAHAHA Literally Jim Sterling just made a video about your exact mindset hahaha, so pathetic

[@aleksanderjasinski6859]

I've passed 30% and feel like I'm playing a painfully linear MMO with AI companions. Zero relationship building, zero choices, long ass annoying cutscenes. All I see so far are plastic characters with superpowers waving a sword. Am i missing something?

[@prince_warhero]

"Play longer" ? You mean watch longer? So far 75% is just watching cutscenes I can only play if the game allows me to

[@imag-nonespaghet9337]

​​@@prince_warherot's always been about the story in FF. Stop bitching and enjoy the game you spoiled brat.also there is plenty of freedom and hours of open areas gameplay.

[@imag-nonespaghet9337]

​@@aleksanderjasinski6859hmm people complained about the same as God of War for being to linear as it always has been. People complained about FF 15 being to open. You just won't enjoy whatever you play. Actually why did you pay 70 dollars just to complain.

[@lurkingsoldi2107]

Graphics mode looks way better and is stable 30fps. The side missions weren’t as good but they immerse you in the characters and the world.

[@dante19890]

yeah. Its way more consistent that way. Its a stable 30fps with very few drops. The performance mode is howering between 60 fps dropping all the way down to the 30s, its extremely inconsistent.

[@bombyo3634]

Graphics suck looks like 720p i hate them.

[@DennGreenIII]

The side quests are WAY too numerous, and included at the absolute worst times, completely destroying the pacing. They should have cut out like 70% of them (all the "go here, kill this thing, collect this" quests) and kept all the more major side quests (the ones that have actual story behind them). The biggest grievance against this game for me though is the story. This game has possibly THE best opening of any game. The first 2 hours are a masterpiece. Basically, the demo. Unfortunately, after that, the game really starts to fizzle out hard and fast. The plot starts out very clear and strong, and then by the end of the game, the plot is lightyears away from where it started. If this game stuck with the revenge plot, and focused the game around the political conflict like it was advertised, it probably would have been 11/10 and no one would have any complaints. The politics happen so far in the background that it becomes irrelevant. The dominants felt so un-fleshed out and rushed through that is hard to even care about them. It feels like they crafted the story but it wasn't good though to hook people, so they decided to craft an amazing demo that doesn't even really line up with the rest of the game just to get people intrigued. I found myself not really caring about the plot after just a few hours, and to make matters worse, you'd have a big story beat, and then they said "here's 12 side quests that will take you 30 minutes each to complete, and almost none of them have any meaningful content". So you spend 4 hours doing them just to slightly progress the plot more, and then they do it all again.

[@tomsimmons7673]

I played the demo, picked up my Collector's edition, and went back to Tears of the Kingdom. No QTEs.

[@alrightsquinky7798]

For me, FF completely lost its unique charm somewhere around FF XII releasing and feeling like a very interesting but bizarre experiment, and then the FF XIII games getting cranked out one after another. None of the games since X (and maybe X-2, but I wasn’t a big fan) have felt like real FF titles. Those history buffs out there will recognize this point as when longtime creative director Hironobu Sakaguchi retired from Square, and I don’t think this is a coincidence. The games that came out after X just felt like weird experiments without much attention paid to what made the series so unique, shameless cash grabs, or pure fan service. None of those things interest me. For me, the things that made the old FF games fun wasn’t huge, epic battles and plots with serious political intrigue. It was a sense of whimsical adventure coupled with beautiful worlds that felt authentic. I don’t know if many people don’t want to admit this because they’re afraid it’ll cheapen the franchise, but FF has never done serious plots very well. The best plots are high-stakes, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. Look at the old FF VII. The world is at stake, the bad guys are very evil, and truly awful things are done, but the characters never get overly dour, and the plot always stays somewhat light. The story of VII never gets too emo or nihilistic. All these new titles want to be taken seriously So. Badly. They want to be Game of Thrones, or whatever the latest western TV hit may be. I can’t stand that obsession. FF loses its charm the moment it tries to imitate what the rest of the world is doing.

[@aerbx5014]

I really enjoyed the entirety of this title. It was beautifully done, outside of the norm. Stand-alone-game, worth the experience.

[@AscendantStoic]

So I suppose if we put some moogles and chocobos in FIFA or Need for Speed they automatically become mainline Final Fantasy games, yeah ...suuure 😑

[@SSJ2Phenom]

This game is absolutely amazing. I started with FF4 and this is a Final Fantasy game through and through. Turned based or party combat isn't what made FF what it was. It was the characters, stories, and settings, and this has it all. Including involved and fulfilling combat. To you naysayers (and Xbots), you have a right to your opinion but quit trying to ruin other people's enjoyment with your own bitterness and ridiculousness. I'm not going to tell you your opinion is wrong so don't tell me my opinion is wrong. I've played it and as a fan who started with the series on SNES, I absolutely loved it. ✌🏾✌🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[@Twilight17Petkoton]

Yeah, I got FF6 on my Nintendo Switch.

[@raskolnikov6443]

But unfortunately you are a console fanboy (judging by your other comments). Sad.

[@J0derVIVIVI]

"Turned based or party combat isn't what made FF what it was" Yes your opinion is WRONG, 95% wrong.

[@SSJ2Phenom]

@@raskolnikov6443 I'm not a console fanboy. I own them all. The irony here though, is I can say the exact same thing about you. Judging from your other comments, of course. Sad. I let experience and facts inform my opinions and actions. So when I to another commenter, who themselves were a console fanboy for Xbox, after they brought up Spider-Man 2 graphics, responded saying Sony is about the only console company that's earned the benefit of the doubt for their exclusives, tell me how that's wrong or makes me a fanboy?

[@SSJ2Phenom]

@@J0derVIVIVI No, my opinion is not wrong in the slightest. If you however, believe that older FF games are 95% defined by one feature, then you were never a fan at all, sadly. Imagine that.

[@albaniampureana8602]

Forspoken has better graphics, performance, open world. This has the story and thats it.

[@bigbosss7911]

😂

[@jesseross639]

It’s not even an rpg though, in the least bit. FF is an rpg when it all comes down to it.

[@mulasdd]

ive 100% this game and it is very much an rpg. More so than 13. i’ve beat 4, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 7R and 16 is my second favourite by far. don’t understand how it’s not an RPG

[@Godeias]

It sucked, getting tired of everyone putting blinders on all the flaws in this game. Let's see what you've gotta say...

[@dfhstjghjdfgdjfghjd]

Been waiting on this review. Loving the game so far.

[@MrNictaxlord]

“Blistering combat”??? Eh, not really. At least not in the demo and Eikon Challenge. I can’t understand you actually saying the combat here is a 10/10 and something “casuals” would get scared of. It’s stupid easy…dodge is extremely OP

[@brandonscott3423]

9.5/10 even though 80% of the game is a non interactive movie? I want actual gameplay in my games and yes I’ve played other final fantasy games that also have lots of cutscenes but the gameplay is an equal amount if not more

[@delbomb3131]

Could be like 8 where they trick you into believing most of your time is spent with gameplay but it's mostly just watching oden screw around for 3 minutes until you summon him again

[@whatname6076]

Dude says requires like he’s hocking a loogie

[@vulcanh254]

It's a god awful game with mediocre gameplay, cringe eikon battles and atrocious pacing. The QTEs are so laughable they make games like Until Dawn look difficult. 😂 I feel sorry for little kids who think this is a good FF game. 4, 6, 7, 9, X remain untouchable, everything after X has been a disaster aside from FF7R. And I don't count 11 and 14 because they're MMOs.

[@Iychoenk]

FF XII?

[@CaptainAugust]

This feels like the antithesis of FF to me. It makes sense that i dont like it considering i dont like other bombastic over the top action games like DMC, god of war and bayonetta. I feel like they almost should have called everything after X some other name, a new modern series of games, and continued making turn based rpgs as well. I dont like Clive, hes just your typical edgy serious sad boy protag. I dobt like the action combat, i dont like how its not an rpg, i dont like how there isnt a party system, i dont like the story, and the performance is bad. If it wasnt called FF i would probably like it more, although i wouldnt buy it so yea lol, but its just not what i want from FF.

[@zerofox3075]

My biggest knock is lack of custom parties and equipment changes But this is definitely a final fantasy game Love the side quests and lore I wish the dragoons were featured more

[@OAnIncurableHumanist]

In a way, choosing which eikons to equip is this game's version of customizing your party. In older games you chose which characters you wanted in your party based on their different abilities. You still do that in this game, but instead of the abilities being tied to the other characters, they are all inside of Clive. The purpose is functionally the same though.

[@whenallelsfails21]

​@@OAnIncurableHumanistnot really considering the eikons all act the same in every situation. Sure some make dodging/counterattacks more viable, but none do anything the other can't do. My point is I can go through the game on its hardest "difficulty?" without changing my eikons once and beat the game rather easily. They could have easily fixed this by adding status/elemental properties to your eikon abilities. I would have thought much more carefully about which eikons I used if I knew it affected the enemies I was fighting in a significant way.

[@coolguy48457]

@@OAnIncurableHumanist Eikons would matter more if we had elemental or status considerations for combat, FF16 is shallow, there are only 3 considerations damage output, stagger building and animation locks...Horizon and God of War both had stronger itemization RPG elements. The combat feels fun, and is very smooth, but the gear offers zero in the way of player excitement...nothing but basic stat gains and minor cooldown reduction, the berserker ring slightly changes how you play in exchange for a mini cutscene every dodge...thats about it.

[@ironbran12]

Cry about it

[@CHRISTisKing197]

I'm at the halfway point and i feel like all the magic is gone. LITERALLY no cura no silence no firaga etc. Many other disappointing aspects as well as it's not a real RPG

[@codbdup88]

The frame rate is completely locked at 60 while in battle. And I was able to easily look past minor stutters during exploration to have a stable 60 in combat.

[@supersaiyanbro]

Yea the fact that battles were locked at 60 is what made me forgive the 45fps during everything else

[@supersaiyanbro]

@jeffsroyalbodyguard7642 it definitely has to be a bug or something because yeah crazy battles with fire, ice and lightning strikes running smooth with giants fighting yet walking in a house makes it studder

[@RaiGamingz]

@jeffsroyalbodyguard7642 My theory is that it relates to overworking the ps5... also some people report that dusty ps5 overheats on some fights. Kinda like the game overclocks/100% on the use of the ps5 resources and while not on combat, it's designed in such a way it gives the ps5 breathing space

[@charlesbronson1959]

@jeffsroyalbodyguard7642 Because it drops in resolution in the battle to keep a constant 60

[@MarcusSanchez2525]

I felt like the resolution dropped for a number of side quests after a certain point in the story that changes the map. I had it on performance mode for the whole time up until that point because I felt like it was blurry and I couldn’t focus to the point it was hurting my eyes. I changed it to quality mode and it helped plus I noticed on a side mission with the blacksmith I saw the resolution quality of his forehead become blurry for a few seconds so that confirmed it was the game not my eyes.

[@wafflemon1858]

Na, this isn't a final fantasy game. It's a good action RPG but don't call it final fantasy. The side quests really do suck. It lacks items, equipment, party members, the job system, the victory music, moogles and so much more that makes a game a finally fantasy game.

[@danielmolina2293]

I agree that the pacing is off with FF16 but the side quests actually pays off nearing the end of the game. You get meaningful equipment and it helps to add greater context to the story and characters. It’s a hard sell for someone casual to do side quests. In my opinion, sticking to the main quests and casually purchasing (or finding better) equipment and adding the accessories to best fit your play style is the way I would recommend casuals play.

[@seanothepop4638]

What % of side quests are fetch though?

[@Kinyson]

People aren’t off put by the combat lol it’s literally button mashing and easy. I have had way harder fights in many turn based games. Not only was this game not challenging it literally breaks the lore that previous final fantasy games established. Because when you actually think about this game against the rest of the franchise more than puddle deep you realize it throws a huge middle finger at the series in general and the people who supported it along the way. It’s always the shallow thinking masses that ruin everything, and get mad at the people who have always cared and supported these endeavors for generations. As a person who generally has more fun with turn based combat I was bored 10 hours in. action games have never been challenging ever, except maybe sekiro. I don’t play sekiro when I want to play, and rpg and then claim this game sucks because it’s not an rpg lmao By the time I got to Odin I had animosity. If you even pay attention to the story of FF 6, or tactics, and many others even shallowly. These stories are literally a contradiction lmao but hey, cognitive dissonance is one hell of a drug lol

[@Panthorius]

HUNTs on the Hunt board is not too bad compared to the other side quests… for ones I really didn’t care for, I hit the SKIP button per the cut scenes cause I easily knew what to do for the quests without much thought… The HUNTS are fun especially going for the S tier ones that are higher than your level for more challenge… I had to go all out for those..

[@Foogi9000]

S-rank hunts are great, I'd say that BK was the hardest.

[@Panthorius]

@@Foogi9000 has Ff always had hunts or is this something new?

[@Foogi9000]

@Panthorius Hunts aren't anything new. They been in plenty of Final Fantasy games before, each one has their own differences though. FFXIV Hunts for example can often be pretty big world events. Hunt trains are massive groups of often more than 30 people hunting a specific one for materials or rare items. I know there's one in Shadowbringers that drops a specific horn material that you can exchange for a funny Frog head helmet and suit.

[@kevinkraftable]

hunts were the highlight of the game.

[@DragonOfDestiny1]

There's worldbuilding in those side quests...

[@mhiggs8001]

Well, honestly I’m pretty disappointed with the game and it sucks because I was fully onboard the hype train. There are Al kinds of gripes o have both major and minor, but I’ve already gone over those too many times, but I’ll mention a few anyway lol. I’m not entirely sure why, I have some ideas, but it just doesn’t feel like FF to me or I guess you could say that it’s just not giving me what I want out of a mainline FF title. It feels like a really polished side entry to me. If they’d added some more tweaks, fleshed out the actual rpg elements, and given us more USEFUL items instead of mostly useless crafting mats I’d have enjoyed this game a lot more. If they’d added more competitive weapon and accessories instead of just giving us the next best sword after every big set piece it would’ve been a lot more worthwhile for me. I know there are some found weapons that are good, but they are outpaced by msq gear so quickly it hardly matters of you find them or not. I like to explore every nook and cranny of a map for loot and with this game I quit after the first few hours of not finding anything it just finding more of the same crafting mats that you don’t really need because of the aforementioned story gear. I liked the story for the most part, I’m not quite done yet at around 86% though. There were some serious pacing issues that gave me whiplash. For example at one point you are sent to find star dust, but here’s the thing, I had just killed what basically amounts to a god, a demigod at the very least, and then I’m being sent to do the mundane task of looking for sand. Isn’t Clive too specialized and important to go look for fuckin sand? Can’t another person do it? Hell we bring along a companion, they should just do it because anyone is capable of it and I would think as a powerful character that Clive has better things to do. Talk about grinding the story to a halt. Every time it built up momentum and I would be getting into it, it would suddenly drop tempo and pull back. That’s what I mean by whiplash and I know it can’t be exciting all the time of course, but there are better ways to take things down a few notches than what we see in this game. Everything I hate about XIV, which I’ve played on and off since the very beginning, is present here, mainly in the quest structure. Walk to person, cutscene, accept quest, cutscene, walk 5 feet, cutscene, etc. it wouldn’t be such a big deal if all the cutscenes weren’t drawn out, boring, and long and it’s not just the side stuff either, like I mentioned earlier with the sand, the msq suffers from this as well. Overall the game isn’t bad, it’s just not giving me the usual feelings I have when I play an FF title especially this far into the game. I’d have enjoyed it a lot more if it didn’t have the FF title because I’ve come to expect certain things of a mainline entry and this game has just enough FF dna to never let me forget what franchise this is, but not enough to give me the feeling I want from an FF title. I guess more than anything the most frustrating and disheartening aspect comes from the fandom. That being that it’s nearly impossible to say anything remotely critical of this game without a bunch of rude, snarky, and condescending assholes popping up with some replies that make it seem like they took what was said personally as if I’d insulted them. Hell they try to gaslight people basically. I’ve consumed enough media, played enough games FF and others, that I know what I want from a game, especially an FF title, and my opinion is valid. Having people try to insult me, personally, and tell me my own opinion is wrong is baffling. You can’t be wrong or right if it’s an opinion about some being good or bad, as far as media goes anyway, because it’s how you received it. If you felt something was bad or good to you, then what you feel can’t be wrong, it’s a matter of taste and not a universal truth for fucks sake lol. Discourse is good and so are critiques, they make art better and I know what it is to be critiqued I went to art school. Critique was a weekly occurrence and while sometimes they were kinda painful I don’t think I ever had a critique that made my work worse. I especially feel like the pros and cons need to be discussed because I know Yoshida listens and responds well to fan feedback, it’s one of the reasons he is so well liked. To disallow or gate-keep others thoughts is like saying this game is perfect and it needs no changes at all. If that is the message square receives they aren’t going to be as inclined to continue innovating. If this is the future of the franchise, and I believe it is, then I can accept that, but I hope with the next one it doesn’t make its rpg elements feel so tacked on and shallow. I just think yoshida tried to appeal to everyone too much and some things fell through the cracks. I understand why he took this approach, the brand has been floundering for a while and he is basically single-handedly keeping square profitable but I wish he hadn’t stripped away so much rpg. Sorry for the rant, I meant to be brief but this happens every time lol. I’m happy others are enjoying the game, but it’s left me not so eager to rush out and get the next one day one.

[@akbarnaqvi4737]

I would highly recommend completing the side quests. They take a while to get good but they end up being some of the best story content in the game.

[@whenallelsfails21]

Do they though? I just 100% a first playthrough and honestly was just kinda dissapointed. The stories are... alright I guess, nothing to write home about but the design of the quests themselves never seemed to change from "talk to people, go somewhere to kill/collect something, go back and talk again". Even late into the game that's how all the side content played out. Felt pretty mid to me to be honest.

[@akbarnaqvi4737]

@@whenallelsfails21 I'll just agree to disagree here, the point of them is not to do anything special gameplay wise but to give more background to the characters and world.

[@whenallelsfails21]

@@akbarnaqvi4737 I really needed that gameplay to hit home man. Not that it wasn't good but if it's all we're going to be doing when we're actually PLAYING the game outside of the cutscenes, you need to spice it up a little more. I would forgive the most mid sidequests of all time if the gameplay was deep enough to keep me hooked through the mid-ness. The world and its characters are enjoyable on their own, no doubt, but the constant reminder that I was going to be doing the same thing over and over kind of killed the satisfaction for me. That's just my opinion though. If you enjoy this game, by all means do not let me and my goofy ass viewpoint to get in the way of that.

[@greendan01]

I'm probably not going to get this one. I don't mind the changing combat system. But the story seems very convoluted and frankly very depressing.

[@seanmf202]

Just finished the game and it was absolutely amazing. Great combat, story, characters, environment, and soundtrack. Worth my money.

[@thehater6189]

Ive never thoroughly played ff tactics but ff16 is not deep at all. Literally the plot of ff12 with less interesting characters

[@PetarBladeStrok]

There are some incredible side quests later though. Very relevant to main story!

[@Denu85]

people that skipped the side quests are missing so much. good rewards and the conclusions.

[@teky]

the music is what really did it for me for FF16. what a soundtrack…

[@diehardkermit485]

Should have done the side quests. Whilst some are just standard without much reward. There are many which add a real depth to the characters you meet and help along the way. They are very rewarding story-wise. Many of them also offer unlockable rewards.

[@ademirc5937]

There are a few side quests that offer unlockables but 95% of them were uninspired in their design.

[@flamehiro]

They sucked ass generally. 😂 they seemed better before the time skip then overloaded after

[@Ethan.]

This has been one of my favourite games I’ve ever played. I only ever really had minor issues and the writing is some of the best of any JRPG I’ve ever played

[@BizzyZ]

Do you think that this is better than final fantasy 15?

[@bsum7707]

I'm old school FF and I was skeptical of the change of combat but it really works. Clive at times feels so o.p. it's insane. I was having difficulty with the dodging so I equipped the timley evasion until I got used to dodging. So what the side quest are boring. The graphics, story and music are fantastic. The battles and abilities are amazing. Thank you to everyone envolved is making such a fantastic game. 9/10

[@rufflemutt6006]

...Why is this game painfully easy?

[@18T220]

Honest review? so are your other reviews not honest?

[@monsieurlefortune5092]

You lost me at I dont care for the side quests and then the admission that you skipped most of them. For me personally that invalidated your opinion of the game, so I zoned out and didnt pay attention to the rest of your review. I however did let it continue playing so you could get that full watch time, cause normally I enjoy your content.

[@dragonite484]

The combat, extremely lengthy cutscenes, and the uninteresting side quest made this game just aight. the main problem to me is the combat tho. They should’ve used that energy to innovate on the command system, introducing newcomers into a different way to play games instead of the now extremely common 3rd person hack and slash gameplay.

[@blvckcasket]

This is by far the worst final fantasy

[@El.esposo]

True, this was like game of thrones last season

[@dragonite484]

@@blvckcasket I wouldn’t say the worst. If you get past the lengthy cutscenes, the story is actually really good. But aside from that….yea, it’s not amazing like people are hyping it to be. I honestly think 15 was the worst mainline tho.

[@LEE-337]

"This is going to be completely spoiler free...." *Immediately shows a video containing a character fighting along side who is thought to be dead but turned out to be still alive later in the game.*

[@FLAMEKING2341]

I gotta disagree with your take on the side quests it is all story related and adds to tge greater world and the writing uses the side quests to expand on the world

[@raskolnikov6443]

So many of them are really bad

[@robardian3697]

Yeah once he said he skipped a lot of them I was disappointed. The side quests have some of the best story and characters.

[@sebastien9830]

Wrong they were boring as all hell and way to easy this game fucking sucked. Really pretty and nice graphics and videos but all u do is walk 60 yards kill a job and to the next video

[@Liverpool-axeman]

Since when do cutscenes and side quests cost £70 😂

[@alchalant4663]

I got platinum trophy today and finished level 100 grind and all orchestrion rolls all lore entries and everything else besides arcade mode. No complaints from me only wishes . Wishing there were real optional super bosses (s rank hunts were more challenging on first play thru when I was under leveled-they don’t count). Wish at least one of the hunts was an optional ifrit eikon fight. Wish we could do eikon battle and other boss battle replay without using stage select and being forced to go thru the entire level first.Would be a masterpiece with these features.

[@miloslavovcacek7867]

Im missing super hidden hard bosses like Tiamat Ff12 or just hunts where u can discover boss only by specific cirmcumstances (day,night,rain,killing mini mina etc) , other then that insane game.

[@MukiMuki688]

Frontloading the good side quests would've been a good idea

[@bd_bandkanon]

I would absolutely play a 16 bit demake of ff16

[@Artimes.]

I guess seeing FF VII remake, one of the hugely different distictions between that game and FF XVI in terms of its writing and narative is that FF VII remake feels a bit shonen esque and cliche typical of alot of anime stories, where as FF XVI's story is far more maturely written and more like modern contempery fantasy. Which is crazy because most FF games have always sort of been more japanese with all there tropes but FF XVI is not like that Which is probably why it appeals to larger audiences, I guess.

[@bombyo3634]

It's great

[@stephendavis6267]

9.5/10 is exactly where I came down on it. I adore the world, the characters, the gameplay, and the scope and scale of everything. My criticisms are primarily that I feel like they didn't do nearly enough with the Hideaway to make it feel like I was building a society there; I would love recruitment missions and be able to really customize it, like a combination of "Fallout 4" and "Red Dead Redemption 2." I also felt like there was a lack of exploration on some of the key characters in the back half, but I also felt like that might've been deliberate to allow for future DLC.

[@DewaHuang]

In my opinion, the later half side quests have excellent stories, definitely do it if you love xvi side characters Yes its just go there and collect / kill something, but it has good stories with it

[@ivanleon6164]

those sidequest before the final mission are top notch, wish all had that quality, even if the number was half of those, those were amazing and add to the story.

[@truthseeker6532]

Just the cut scenes of Baldur's Gate 3 ALONE, is longer than playing the whole ff 16 game!!!!

[@thegamewin100]

😭😭😭 ok and it’s another boring game Diablo 4 is fun somewhat I doubt baldurs Gate 4 will be that good

[@truthseeker6532]

@@thegamewin100 You sound young. You need more time to mature and rack up experience as a gamer. I doubt you have 30 years of gaming under your belt yet.

[@leonjan326]

Side quests in this game have pretty simple gameplay, however, the plot of each side quest is freaking amazing due to fact, that we can discovery lore and world history via this small missions. I really enjoy each quest and character. Hope, that we’ll see more stories from the Valisthea

[@gamerforlife3946]

Yeah right. Go actually play a good game with good sidequests

[@leon6257]

I did everything in the game i got the plat, the game worth your money ,its AAA game as a AAA game can be. Side quests are not the strenght of the game for sure , but they are not that bad,especially if you do all of them,you bond with your friends and learn more about them. If they improve abit the performance ,its easy game of the year contenter.

[@kbutta01]

My biggest complaint is the core gameplay loop for a huge chunk of the beginning of the game. You walk in very short tight corridors fight a few enemies walk more corridors to an arena fight a boss cutscene rinse repeat. The over all amount of time you are in an new area is less then 20 minutes at a time you go through like 6-7 areas (new places) in less than 4 hours it’s very unusual. I’m not suggesting we have 40 hours of Midgar again like we had in FF7 remake but geez the areas are very small in scope. Short of boss fights there is very little gameplay. I don’t think we need massive empty area like 15 had either. Just saying it feels like Square-enix keep massively over correcting from previous mistakes.

[@David-gj6dc]

I'm not sure if you've ever played other action games like DmC or Bayonetta but this kind of corridor level design between enemy encounters is pretty common in the genre. The main gameplay draw of these games is supposed to be the combat, so the level design tries waste little time in getting you back into the action. Perhaps the game fails for what you want out of a final fantasy game, and that's totally fair. Maybe it fails as an action game too. I'm just trying to give some insight on why it might be the way it is.

[@hollie-fx9tp]

This is my first final fantasy game, and I have to say it’s probably now in my top 5 games of all time. I loved everything about it, so it’s confusing to see some of the hate around it. Definitely going back and playing the others

[@tdslywka]

The hate is justified in a sense. FF is usually turn based. I'd say next play ff7 remake and that adds a little bit of the turn based on small level. But if you wanna play the older ones? They are still amazing games but if you aren't a fan of taking turns during a fight then they might not work for you. I loved this game and I've played ff7 to this one

[@LoveTheGiantDos]

Check out ff7 remake next.

[@edgarwhite9439]

I completely understand the sentiment this is not my final fantasy. For instance with final fantasy 7 remake if they had kept the combat turn band literally just updated the graphics kept the story and fully voice activate added in some new surprises like they did it would have been the perfect game in my opinion. The original final fantasy 7 did so amazing why did they feel they had to change the combat system? They could have made the turn based combat system more Interactive like dragons of lagoon and it would've been a huge success. So to sum up I still think turnbase combat works all you have to do is make it more interactive. Pushing the attack button at the right time or the Dodge button at the right time. As well as during special moves have a button combination you have to hit in order to engage the full power of that move. There are obvious ways to improve upon turn based combut I don't think you should throw the baby out with the Bath water.

[@andreaqui1653]

I'm not interested in playing it. Wish they would have kept the gameplay story based on a party with turn-based and not a single character. I'm out....seems more like devil may cry than final fantasy.