Spoiler Mode - Final Fantasy XVI

Brad and Damiani sit down and go in-depth with the gameplay and story of Final Fantasy XVI.
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[@bandi138138]

1:31:10 Lore drops from Harpocrates already confirmed that there were originally 8 mother crystals: the 5 we see in the game, plus 3 that are lost. The first lost crystal was destroyed at Dzemekys, the second was spent in the southern area of Ash (which is why it’s all blighted), and the 3rd was also spent in the northern territories (Where Jill is from)

[@lukelmaooooo]

ultima was NOT a member of the Fallen race. The Fallen were human and the reason they fell is because they discovered Ultima's secrets. The Fallen did not invent Magitek they stole it from Ultima and copied it, and then used it against Ultima to try and take Dzemekys which ultimately led to Ultima destroying Dzemekys themself and laying waste to the Fallen.

[@maubpp]

Dion quickly became one of, if not, my favorite character in the game. Leading up to the game's release we would only get so much footage of him and I figured he would be the typical pompous rich daddy's boy. Instead, we got one of the most genuine people in the entire cast with honorable motivations. I was very pleasantly surprised by his character and instantly fell in love once the layers began to peel off

[@YetiCoolBrother]

Ultima was never just the one being, Ultima is a race of beings with the ability to combine into one. 8 of them became the Mother Crystals, the other 8 went to sleep in Origin. That's how Joshua was able to trap one inside of him but it ultimately not matter, there was always more than one. As of the start of the game there were 3 "out in the wild" because the Dzemekys Crystal, the Northern Territory Crystal, & the Southeastern Ash Crystal were already destroyed. Edit: The one thing I dont think is explained explicitly is where the forms of the Dominants came from, but we can piece together that they took those forms from the minds/imaginations/beliefs of Humans because the Oriflamme Crystal was able to turn into a flower based on Dion's emotions/reading his mind (it was in the ATL).

[@LightyGab]

Where did you learn Ultima are 8 beings?

[@YetiCoolBrother]

@@LightyGab 16. It tells you about the Mothercrystal Cores being Ultima & the other 8 in Origin during the final mission. Also that's how it keeps powering up during the fight, by combing with the other Ultima. The part about Joshua is explained explicitly if you check his ATL tab during the cutscene just before the final fight.

[@stealth0n]

​@@YetiCoolBrotherweren't there only 9 Ultimas? The one slept in Origin, the others were inside Mothercrystals, and by cracking the crystals Clive & co freed them, so in the end they join the main Ultima to become one being

[@greenchlorine]

@@stealth0n no, the ATL explicitly states there were 16 who managed to escape their own homeworld on the spaceship Origin, 8 of which became hearts for the Mothercrystals

[@LightyGab]

@@YetiCoolBrother shit I never thought to check the ATL at those moments, I was focused on paying attention and thought I would have a chance to read Tomes after somehow. Now I feel like I missed a ton but I don't know where to start, don't really wanna do the final mission again even though I'm already doing NG+ so I will get there again eventually.

[@Arsio12]

1:05:50 Ultima isn't the Fallen. The Fallen were a race of humans that copied Ultima's civilisation and were destroyed for it. Similar to the Tower of Babil story

[@LightyGab]

Where did you learn that about the fallen not being the same species as Ultima?

[@stealth0n]

​@@LightyGabwhen you reach the max level of Harpocratus tomes, you learn that Ultima is from the so-called Ultima Tribe. Fallen were the humans created by Ultima, at one point they've tried to seize the control of the Dzemekys crystal by using all of their fleet and Ultima nuked them out of existence. Some Ultima worshippers survived and moved to Ash after that

[@LightyGab]

@@stealth0n Wow but how did you get max level? I made sure to always read everything new he had and even before going to Origin I checked plus I did everything in the game too.

[@stealth0n]

@@LightyGab max level is 8. I've just completed every side quest before going to the next story mission, but actually it feels like most of the progress comes from story missions anyway, which made me think that it is impossible not to max it out at the end

[@LightyGab]

@@stealth0n Yeah I did that a few mins ago. I had to talk to a few NPC's at the hideaway to complete the bar since I've also done everything until that point.

[@Arsio12]

A correction is that you guys think Ultima's spell is Ultima. But if you read Harpocrates' entries it reveals that the spell Ultima wishes to cast is Raise. To play off the FFXIV jokes. The main villain's plan is the world's longest hardcast of Raise

[@JJMomoida]

Honestly I loved that. As a XIV player, the idea of the ultimate god boss needing to craft a centuries-old scheme to cast what amounts to a spell you get when you hit level 12 on CNJ in XIV is... hilarious. Two different worlds, obviously, but still.... hahaha

[@imtired927]

Raise is why I think Clive and Dion are dead but Joshua survived

[@zOMGGaiaOnline]

@@JJMomoidayou even get an XIV canon tri-disaster, amounting to nothin

[@MenrvaS]

‘Raise’ is a term in the Savior Myth meaning ‘ascension to heaven’. The ‘raise’ will annihilate humanity. Ultima cast Primogenesis aka a spell that can rebuild the world.

[@Umega101]

@@legacyreaper1834 What type of character development though...? He (Ultima) has existed for however long he has, with abilities and powers that are 'godlike'. My point on that is ... I feel like any living being can only hone their personality and self to a certain point. Then they will become rigid and set. Especially with that much power, alone and isolated. The hubris that comes from such. I'd find it more off-character and bad storytelling if he was going through a bunch of personal changes, shifts in views/ideology/etc, and 'character development' for a character like that in short time span (relative to him). As far as knowing little about him... as it should be, imo. They repeatedly stated in the story that little is known about him. Only the very little they gleaned, and what he himself told. Being left in the dark about certain matters is more organic than a giant exposition-dump that too many RPGs tend to like to do.

[@bandi138138]

They’ve definitely dropped breadcrumbs about Ultima if you pay attention throughout the play through, Harpocrates and Vivian’s lessons, and the lore unlocks each time you go back to Harpocrates. The moment it all clicked for me was when we find out that Dzemeckys was the site of another mother crystal: That was the first crystal that was destroyed as the Fallen tried to mine it during the War of the Magi, awakening the 1st Ultima from their slumber, who destroyed them as a punishment, and becoming free to pull the strings from the shadows ever since.

[@pogoacct8611]

Why did he let 2 more get destroyed?

[@bandi138138]

@@pogoacct8611 If you’re asking about the ones in the northern territories and southern Ash, they were not destroyed, but the blight caught up to them. They’re still there where they were left, just dormant without any aether, as evidenced by Vivian’s map

[@D4L41L4M4]

@@bandi138138 Furthermore I believe you can actually see one of them out in a distance, looking from the coast of Royal Meadows in Sanbreque. At least, there's some crystalline structure out there.

[@MuMasoo]

There are many hints that Clive possibly survived at the end. Joshua has said many times that Phoenix cannot bring anyone back from death, Clive just healed the wound cause he didnt want to see his brother that way. Jill said she knew when dawn came, this meant Clive has returned to her. Clive has said that after all is done, he would like to write about this story and put down his sword. I believe he took on Joshs name so his brother would live on in history(like he did with Cid). Not to mention Clive is the only one that would know the 'Final Fantasy' reference.

[@pooty195]

Those are pretty weak hints compared to the mountain of evidence that he's dead as hell

[@Myoldusernamewasgood]

Damiani the Witcher sidequests are simple in terms of method, yes. The wide amount of different ways they unfold that you are able to experience specifically because you're a Witcher. It could involve horse racing, lying, laying, drinking, forensics, hunting... gameplay is just press the buttons but what the Witcher needs to do is pretty allover the place.

[@SaberRexZealot]

Yeah Witcher 3 sidequests are still the gold standard for me. Probably because they actually involve choices and mix the gameplay up beyond simple fetch questing. FF16’s sidequests really reveal the developer’s MMO roots and not in a good way. The irony is that it didn’t bug me in FF14.

[@franjaff6919]

The Witcher's side quests are leagues ahead of this game

[@fstorm2]

Also someone correct me if I’m wrong but the best part about some of the side quest in the Witcher was you could go to an area earlier kill a monster or find and item and then realize it was for side quest later on.

[@AndJusticeforAll567]

I think it does a disservice to compare the two. FF is a linear action game and W3 is open world. They are fundamentally built different…Witcher puts its effort in the quests/world, and the game itself is built to have tons of variance. People should think of this as more of a DMC with side quests. Everything is built to be an excuse for more fighting.

[@franjaff6919]

@AndJusticeforAll567 I feel like comparing it to DMC also does it a disservice, because it's stripped down DMC mechanically with A LOT of cutscenes and dialogue getting in the way of the action

[@arllyfat_cat9678]

Even with it's flaws in regards to pacing, performance and the abnormal overheating for PS5s, the game is amazing. The vision was clear and I think the developers achieved their vision. A heavy action based yet story focused title with light RPG elements. And I think personally it's my GOTY. Even with it's flaws.

[@RicochetForce]

Yeah, a few stumbles don't distract from an absolutely fantastic landing.

[@babybulllets]

Hey curious to know what issues you had regarding performance. Just finished the game yesterday and was pretty impressed on my end in terms of performance. Game did not crash once for me and I never had an overheating problem. Only game I played this year that overheated my console was dead space surprisingly.

[@jengorman2246]

@@babybulllets I only had one game fail the whole time, but when I'd go to plug in my usb for my headphones at night, you could just FEEL the heat pouring off the system. Didn't end up being a problem for my game play but that can't be a healthy amount of heat

[@oOPrettywinxOo]

I hadn't realized how hot my ps5 was getting until I finished it yesterday, went to put my controller back on the charging station (which is next to the tv) and realized it felt like I was approaching a heater.....😅

[@FredMaverik]

whats up with that overheating that i never got even close

[@party_boy69]

This game was top shelf. Doing all the Jill related side quests did go a good way to really set their relationship in stone, but I will agree that after the Drake's Breath crystal was destroyed her personal character development took a back seat to continuing with the main story. Which was a missed opportunity maybe, but I still felt so crushed at the end when Metia faded and Jill broke down. Tears flowed on and off for that whole Origins sequence...incredible VA work by all involved!

[@winstonxarilo_]

Man, the flashbacks when Joshua goes down hit me SO hard. So well done. I'm glad someone else brought that up.

[@AyazU2589]

The spell Ultima was trying to cast was "Raise" not "Ultima" as per harpocrates notes.

[@thunderzap00]

I completely agree that I wish Jill would’ve been incorporated more into the finale. She deserved to be there at the final battle.

[@hododod246]

Yes. I was really annoyed that they tossed her aside when Joshua joined to the party. They could still focus on Joshua but Jill still could be in the party at least. They grew up together.

[@KahlevN]

She was ignored almost the entire game. She talked to almost nobody but Clive. She was literally just there for his benefit to have a love interest, and the only two things we know about here is that she had a bad time in the Iron Kingdom, and she loves Clive. So much potential in that character and it was just completely wasted.

[@thunderzap00]

@@KahlevN yeah she definitely could’ve used more story to her. It would’ve been interesting to learn a bit more about her background in the northern territories and her father being the silver mane

[@Highwind452]

I think Jill could've used a ton more screen time and character development. I would've like her to be there with Clive, Joshua and Dion as a throwback to the 4 Heroes od Light.

[@GuitarJester89]

​@@KahlevN, Definitely not true. Lol.

[@AstreaGT]

10/10 for me but one thing bothered me to no end... Theres not a single bow or arrow in this world. In one side quest someone says "archers to the wall!" Then i lost it. I figured, hey maybe they never discovered archery but no. Now they mentioned it but didnt show. A silly thing to be stuck on but it still stuck lol

[@rleeton1]

Well I'm never unseeing that now, cheers lol, guess I'll just share the pain 😂

[@LynxRecover]

RE: No kissing in FF - Snow and Serah kiss in FFXIII - Noctis and Lunafreya kiss in the post-credits of FFXV - Tidus and Yuna kiss in FFX - There's a kiss at Ashe's wedding in the opening cutscene of FFXII - Jessie kisses Cloud on the cheek in FFVIIR if you have 80% health after the motorbike sequence (not to mention her inviting Cloud to her house when her roommates are out) There could well be others, but these are ones I remember from the top of my head - kissing isn't new to Final Fantasy XVI

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

Squall and rinoa kiss in the credits of ff8 too. Cloud and tifa also spend the night together camping out under the highwind on the night before the final assault on northern crater. It's not shown on screen at all, but it's heavily implied that they have sex. It's kind of the same scene as is in ff16. But it's still great to see a more modern interpretation and the context is still different even if the scene is similar and Clive and Jill are two very different characters too.

[@The_Claymores]

I liked how Ultima said the word consciousness

[@RicochetForce]

No joke, I'd love to roll up to a drive through and order a meal with that voice and cadence.

[@pogoacct8611]

Me too

[@pogoacct8611]

Another favourite line for me from Ultima is during the fight when he says "You Know nothing of Magic"

[@francisco24slb1]

I just finished the story last night ... awesome game !!!

[@TheMrGiannisgr]

Finished the game after 110+ hours. It was massive.

[@FredMaverik]

...It really isn't that massive. Maybe with two full playthroughs?

[@olfchan]

Love how much FF14 imagery was in the eikon fights. I knew it was Tri-Disaster long before the attack name appeared because of how similar it looked to the attack in 14.

[@sabelaine6044]

I loved the cast so much! Especially Dion for his short amount of screen time and limited interaction with the main cast. No body no kill! 😂

[@Thundercidder]

For me ,The story did change the style after cid's death but ended reasonable.And yes,there are lots of amzing characters in this game,but clive and cid definitely the best two,they killed off cid so early in the game,but we still got the best cid in FF series and the game made clive be the "cid" as protagonist for the first time in someway is insanely good.

[@Sweetzluf]

Cid, Clive and Gav are my favorites. I liked Jill and the romance was awesome, but they sidelined her hard, especially after her revenge. Torgals sidequest was just chefs kiss too. (As was all the ”main”-people sidequests imo.

[@USDS_TikTok_Mike]

I see a lot of people talking about the side quests being basic fetch quests and stuff but I had a very different experience with it. Like, yeah the tasks themselves were pretty basic. However, the story and characters in this game are so well crafted that I never really cared about the task itself as in what I was doing... I did become absolutely captivated by WHY I was doing it and who I was doing it for. Like "yeah go get me this medicine for removing brands" seems boring right? But when you find out why they needed the medicine and just like, how doing such a small task for them and talking to them about it helped them gain confidence in what they're doing. It gave even the smallest side characters SO much more depth for me personally. The game has this way of making you care about all the characters so much that with even the most mundane tasks I genuinely WANTED to do them for these people. Like I was looking at everything through Clive's eyes.. to the point that I care about all these people and how far we've come working together... building a home together... fighting together, trying to build a new world together. It was such an immersive experience for me to the point like, every bearer I helped free by going out and finding a cursebreaker that "should've been back by now" felt so rewarding. I was giving these people a chance for a new life. Idk this was just my personal experience. It never bothered me that the tasks were simple fetch quests or "go here and kill these" because I genuinely cared about the people I was doing them for.

[@VectoredPromise]

FF5 also had the cost of using magic. People used the element crystals too much, causing them to shatter and that element no longer worked on the planet resulting in a dying world. I agree that Dion should have joined the party and spoken when Clive used Bahamut's power when fighting Ultima, it felt so awkward when Byron spoke instead.

[@RicochetForce]

It seemed to be about the closest bonds he had, and he certainly is tied to Byron more than Dion. Same with Midadol and Titan. Also, I've noticed that the Mothercrystals here basically operate in a very similar way to the reactors in FFVII. They drain the life from the planet, are heavily relied on by the population and seen as a net-good. Those who attack and destroy them are treated as outlaws.

[@D4L41L4M4]

@@RicochetForce Loved the game and its story overall. But that's possibly my biggest issue with the narrative of this game - how some of the plot points are a rehash from previous entries in the series. As you've mentioned, there are clear similarities between FFVII reactors and Crystals in FFXVI. Furthermore, the whole Ultima's ordeal and their homeworld is really similar to Garland/Terra from FFIX. Both worlds had highly advanced civilizations, both worlds are dead/dying, both Ultima's and Garland's goals are to restore their people by consuming another planet. And technically, both created current life on the planets they plan to consume. It's a bit more convoluted in FFIX's case, but that's essentially the gist.

[@RicochetForce]

@@D4L41L4M4 Jesus Christ, I didn't realize just how close the parallels between FFIX's Garland and FFXVI's Ultima actually were until you laid it out like that. I really wish the writers were allowed to touch on other themes because they seem to be revisiting the same one every other game at this point. Much like how the Tales games can't seem to get away from "Humans vs Not-Humans Racism is BAD" plots.

[@Drexxyl]

I knew Easy Allies would be the one place that would understand all the ambiguity on the ending. Literally every other major gaming website has got it wrong.

[@Ludwigaccursed260]

Time stamps

[@sagemodeq544]

Loved it. Definitely Top 3 for my goty right now

[@PizzaFriend]

Same. What are your other two?

[@cmadeam]

Great breakdown guys loved hearing you nerd out about it. Recently just beat the game so I’ve been itching to hear other’s opinions. I loved it

[@monstercloset2416]

I admit I had my reservations when I first saw the announcement trailer and gameplay trailers. Yes, it has the most real-time action next to FF7R (and a few other real-time combat FFs) but after having beat it, it's very much a Final Fantasy game.

[@TheJCghost]

You forgot to mention the ending with Metia and Jill crying, like the star granted her wish

[@andrewolivetreemixing]

Those arete stones where they give you the timed challenge with only one eikon is what really opened me up to trying new abilities and eikons. I thought those were really cool

[@jerm5466]

The more I play this game the more I love it. A JRPG with DMC combat is just chefs kiss. Almost done my ng+ run then on to arcade mode.

[@fattmusiek5452]

@49:50 this is the joy of FINAL FANTASY fam. When he mentions “[Name]…bested.” Look at the joy in this man’s face. That’s why I love FF…those moments, our reactions, and how we have to…get to…share our reactions and relate over them. ❤ Really fun episode so far, thanks! I’m always down for all things FF

[@asimb0mb]

Great timing boys, I just finished the story last night 👌

[@pseudocide.]

Bruuuh love the feeling of the ending. I personally believe in the evidence from the side quests and such that Clive is alive but we probably will never get a definitive answer. Damn it Yoshi P! Haha The fact that Clive starts the game off with the narration, and ends it, and the Tomes final side quest has the line where Clive said he would trade in the sword for a pen… Clive being the author is too good, only wrench is that josh’s name appears on the book. Also I read the red star of metia disappearing was actually Jill’s wish/prayer being answered, that clive would return, every dawn and sunrise too. Those last side quests were amazing

[@MuMasoo]

This, and the fact that Clive is the only one that would know the reference to 'Final Fantasy'.

[@RorekSkyfall]

Still very early in but to elaborate on the Witcher section, the sidequests are varied and there's a discussion to be had there in terms of gameplay. However, what was striking to me about each of the quests is how rich they were in terms of narrative and worldbuilding. There was much more depth there aside from just the choices. Some of those stories could even be focuses on their own. In comparison to XVI (I enjoyed the later sidequests) and FFVIIR, the sidequests in these games feel much more hollow in terms of story quality. Some function and do the same but not to the same level of how enrichening the Witcher was. I will admit, I do believe that's possibly a subjective take and not everyone will feel the same way. I would easily prefer XVI to cutdown on the quantity of sidequests for more quality rich ones that started to become more frequent in later sections.

[@Mrstupes]

I didnt love Ultima. But i wish you heard more about ultimas story throughout the journey. You only get the real story until the Last boss. Also no proper Eikon battle with Odin was a bummer, but Titan and Bahumat were incredible

[@RicochetForce]

I see why they didn't do a proper Eikon battle against Odin. They blew the fucking DOORS off with Titan and Bahamut. There was no way they were topping that, so they opted to do a more distinct mechanics heavy regular battle. I do understand the disappointment because goddamn those Odin feats are NUTS.

[@Sincleaver]

It was more a man vs man battle, a clash of wills, so I understand why they focused on their human forms more.

[@OfficialCrowMauler]

Maybe Barnabas was so upset that you kept killing Sleipnir that he was in two minds as to prime or not. You killed his faithful steed plentifully that he just couldn’t take it anymore. I guess the irony is that man was also plagued by his consciousness :(

[@holy9781]

I personally think the battles went on way too long.i found them to be extremely repetitive because they went on too long

[@slugshotgun]

Joshua's death made sense, considering how sick he was the entire playthrough and it would've made for a satisfying bittersweet ending with it also fitting right in with the game's theme of acceptance. Clive's death however, felt like it was just thrown right in there to force a sad and tragic ending, disregarding a major part of his character development throughout the game. But then again, we still don't know for sure who actually died. The devs clearly put that book scene right at the very end to throw people off and spark countless debates.

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

Joshua lived though. Clive used raise on him as one of his final acts before destroying the mother crystal. You see it in the after credits sequence that after the fall of the crystal Joshua used the rest of his life to chronicle all the events that happened. But I also found it pretty fitting that even Clive was susceptable to the bearers curse. He had been through so much but at the end of the day he is only mortal and the same as the other bearers who exhausted their aether by over use of magic. And i think it really brings it home what he was fighting for. To treat all people as equal and at the end of the day he was a bearer the same as all the others. Which is something you don't really think about that much n til he meets the same fate the whole game has been teaching you about through all of the side quests. But also it was Clive's story. We see his whole life from a teenager to his grave. Seems fitting as the first final fantasy to be solely focused around one character.

[@andrewmonaghan4290]

I really feel like this conversation should have been 3 hrs. I loved the analysis!

[@lukelmaooooo]

the thing about ff mode is that you actually need to level grind a bit to do normal damage. just put on an exp charm and fight everything u run across in the overworld

[@emil4445]

I’d like to think that Clive actually survives, travels the world with Jill, and then writes the Final Fantasy book with Joshua as a pen name.

[@MuMasoo]

There are many hints that Clive might be alive, and he would be the only one to understand the 'Final Fantasy' reference as the title of the book.

[@rleeton1]

So one thing that struck me about the ending is Clive seems to have been transported somewhere far away from where he was when casting the big one, as the sky looks very different and you couldn't see Metia in the sky. Initially I thought he'd been blasted to another planet but the features on the moon look the same. I think potentially for a DLC or sequel they could have you play as Jill, fulfilling her wish to leave Valisthea by sailing off to the Continent following some clue that he might still be alive

[@smharyanto4660]

Dlc after the main story will be boring, because the magic is gone. So the gameplay will be without magic

[@holy9781]

​@@smharyanto4660dlc will be set before ending.clive will find some area of the fallen and we'll learn more about the past

[@mako3197]

Clive easily in my top 3 FF protagonists, other 2 are Terra and Cloud and I appreciate them for different reasons. In terms of depth and rawness of character I think Clive takes the cake.

[@juanvsreviews]

I love Cloud, Zidane, Tidus, Clive and Cecil. Terra, Squall and Noctis are the next batch.

[@cheesebearger4187]

Finally finished FF16 today. Glad I could get around to finally watching this episode. Loved the game and your Spoiler Mode. Keep it Up~

[@tuckr123]

Favorite boss fight had to be Odin, Barnabas was just bad ass as hell I think he’s underrated among this game’s villains. His theme and how it amps up during the fight was unbelievable

[@brickflair8926]

I loved the Hugo kupka fight personally coz I feel that’s when the game reallyyyyyy hit its stride or had hit its stride leading up to that moment and beyond was so epic! Odin kicked ass as well!

[@akinigiri]

Correction, the fallen were humans that Ultima made that collapsed when they fought back like Clive. Ultima(s) are a different race like thing.

[@xyzzyx4142]

Conversation about story starts at 50:00 minutes

[@aytony4090]

Bless your soul

[@danghootenanny]

Finally rolled credits yesterday afternoon and overall I think this game is fantastic. For completion sake I’m kind of pissed that there are missable quests once you get to a certain point in the story and I was doing every side quest as they came up, yet still missed one or more somewhere without realizing it. And quest completion doesn’t carry over to NG+ so I can just hit the ones that I needed. I appreciate the backstories and everything but overall I was bored with the quests and wanted to finish the main story which again before the final mission - comes to a halt with 10 something side quests to do.

[@MiniatureMorpheus]

Odin carried me through NG+.

[@Itzmebryy]

Need a prequel with The Fallen story line

[@jengorman2246]

Very solid breakdown - great call on their underuse of Jill by the end. I can get behind most everything of what you saw and observed. Appreciate the acknowledgement of the ambiguous ending - very tired of people claiming they know what's going on.

[@sutekidane94]

I’m interested what the DLC may entail, Leviathan the Lost was mentioned, but never shown. Maybe the DLC takes place immediately after the end, or during the game, the same way XV’s DLC is sprinkled through the game.

[@tomb2077]

Leviathan was called "Leviathan the lost" which I'm speculating is the 8th Eikon since there can only be one fire. Cid explains that there is eight Eikons, one warden of each element and that he doesn't understand how there can be two fire Eikons.

[@bluegrave4376]

I feel like I'm in the minority, but I didn't really like Odin's moveset. Switching into gungir gives you no damage with the regular attacks so you have to rely on perfect dodges and parries. Also, there's not much synergy using odin with other abilities because it means it takes way longer to charge zantetsuken if you don't have 2 odin abilities in your load out. Rift slip is really neat tho. You can be so creative with it in a variety of situations

[@raven12333]

True but i saw that because each hit from Odin is actually 3-4 smaller hits stagger bar drops really quickly so my build for new game+ FF mode is Phoenix = Diamond Dust + Lightning Rod (Diamond dust can take between 50%-100% stagger bar depending on the enemy, and if staggered combo of Lightining Rod+Diamond dust instantly rises multiplier to x1.50) Titan = Gigaflare + Flames of Rebirth (DMG after stagger and Phoenix rotation, Titan because i like perfect block and 3 hit combo after it) Odin = Ignition + Dancing Blade (ignition for grouping and dmg and then Dancing blade for instant lvl 5 if some enemies are alive after ignition, if not lvl 5 just Unseathe and spam square+x for multihit rush and Zantetsuken lvl 5 should be ready) Usually after enemy is staggered Lighting rod + gigaflare+Flames should kill any miniboss sometimes you can throw Zantetsuken when needed

[@bluegrave4376]

I wanna say more good things about the game lol The eikon fights are sick. I think my favorite was against typhon. The setting, music, and choreography of the fight felt so sick. I really like the S rank hunts. The dragon S rank was my most memorable fight in all of the game because I purposely made it hard for myself by fighting him underleveled by 15 levels. Felt really satisfying to beat it. Some of the sidequests weren't that great, but the ones that really hit it out of the park were either really engaging or heartwarming. I don't think I've liked this many characters in a game before. Usually, I just like a handful

[@Bobapanda95]

Enjoyed the game! My fave fight is the Bahamut fight

[@EricShoe]

The amount of times you guys said “Doood!” 😂 I love it

[@rameenz1178]

It was an excellent game. The story, acting, spectacle, music!

[@thereptilescorpio]

Fantastic spoiler mode guys! I really loved the lore and worldbuilding the most. The concept of bearers depleting their lifeblood to go beyond the limits of their human bodies and consequences of it is something I don't really recall being explored much in other games.

[@mario_maniac9368]

Im pretty sure that the fallen were advanced humans that challenged ultima and his race. They say ultima destroyed the mother crystal in that area with the huge crater to discipline the humans that stood up against them

[@indzygamezy]

3:59 In this game, they are not summons. The Dominants transform(prime) into their Eikons. Think titan shifters from Attack on Titan. Very similar.

[@salmonsdontdie4952]

Rolled credits last night, HOLY HELL. One mighty experience. I'm gonna give it a break, but I'm totally looking forward to a replay NG+

[@FirebreatherDC]

Honestly I learned soooo much about how great the abilities were by doing the TRIALS.

[@lunarelevens3412]

That intro song is grand

[@knleonhart]

We had RE4 and 16 come out. I guess Max is only in on FF7 collabs. Although, the trailer did drop, and I was surprised we got no follow up.

[@AlexanderArts]

Witcher 3 side-quests are revered because they often have 2 or 3 drastically different outcomes depending on the decisions you make, and also feed into other side-quests or situations later on. One Witcher 2 sidequest left me with a neck tattoo that carried over into Witcher 3, so my Geralt had that distinguishing feature that most players didn't have.

[@disturbedrebirth]

FF7R's hard mode was amazing. It changes how you aproach combat completely.

[@demon4hire]

Personally I miss the exploration rewards like it used to be. For example, you notice an island on the edge of the map that you can only reach by breeding a specific type of chocobo. When you get there you happen to find the best power up in the game. I miss that in recent Final Fantasy games.

[@RedCloudIX]

I took the ending as that it was a story told to children in the modern(ish) day. Like a full on fantasy story. I can see all 3 being the actual meaning of the ending though

[@ImaFknLegend]

Loved it. The pacing after the Sea/Beach scene seemed off to me. I think trekking through Ash with Jill right after that scene would have worked better. Clive and Jills dynamic stands opposite of Barnabas. A Shiva, Ifrit, Torg/Fenrir prime vs Odin would have been epic. Keep everything after that. Just didn't make sense to me to leave, come back soon after with Joshua and Gav, go through mob after mob after mob etc. It just didn't crescendo as well as it could have. Other than that slight issue, amazing game.

[@rawrss]

Could she still go with Clive after the beach scene? Isn't that why they forced the party change on us? (I agree...just trying to make sense of it?)

[@ImaFknLegend]

I think she could have. There wasn't anything story related as to why she couldn't. She just asked Clive if they should pursue Barnabas and Clive said not now.

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

​@@ImaFknLegendI mean he took the power of her eikon. So she no longer had the power of shiva to the same extent after that scene so she couldn't fight on the front line anymore. That is why Joshua was so mad when he found out as he thought Clive took that choice away from her to bear the burden all by himself.

[@neoguardian3598]

51:13 shout out to Luke Fon Fabre! I love Tales of the Abyss! Everyone should play it!

[@aminnoor4938]

Do you need a chocobo because the map is big or is it because Clive runs so slow?

[@Highwind452]

You can sprint past enemies on chocobo, but while sprinting Clive will slow down and engage. Riding Chocobo is preferred for getting to hunts and side quests I think.

[@wizzenberry]

Man it really hit that spot, i have no idea how they got around the whole alpha transparency problem

[@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu]

I liked it alot. Its different. I think the biggest change is its a story resolving around 1 character. But it was done really well and i really liked the ending. But most final fantasys have a party where you overcome the final boss with your friends. I think this okay to not do this as a one off. But for ff17 i kind of hope it is more party focused.

[@Dwish305]

Loved this spoiler mode. Thanks guys.

[@Plasmacat1]

Jill is awesome but underutilized, people are looking through rose colored glasses a lot of the old lady characters from the franchise. I saw someone say Rinoa is better and that's just...... OK bro, same with the ladies of 7. Overall I really liked what's presented and the story in general, I just wish it ended on a happier note or not ambiguous. Side quests or the credits song point he survives but it's ambiguous enough both can work. Square really needs to redesign their quest delivery philosophy and map design. We needed more side content that were dungeons or had levity like the baker one. We have a tower in the Dim and there's clearly an entrance and you can hear Clive mention it but it's never used for anything.

[@fredy2041]

She was no underutilized. Did you forgot the arc of the Irok kingdom? Jill was awesome.

[@Plasmacat1]

@@fredy2041 no? But that's only everyone mentions. She is sidelined by Joshua after Bahamut which I get but they clearly could have user her more.

[@fredy2041]

@@Plasmacat1 She isnt

[@jakejameslugo]

Final Fantasy XVI was super dope… so much fun to play through. Top game in 2023 for sure.

[@kaspauf06]

Just beating the game now and listening to this. I really did enjoy FF XVI, I wish they did make it a little harder from the start, not liking the trend of unlocking harder modes behind completion and miss elemental weakness/strengths. Besides that, this was a world I enjoyed going around Valisthea, much more than FF XV, this world felt more alive. I do wish dungeons had a few more paths to explore but between the amazing boss battles, character development (the hideout was awesome and some side quests really added to other characters), voice acting, music and some of the story was really good! Mixed on the ending but the final video after the credits roll make me feel better about the ending before the credits, it details what the new world will be. I also like Annabelle's death, she goes out a coward and by herself.

[@EricShoe]

I agree on everything except I really didn’t like the short scene after the credits. It made it feel like their whole journey and story to fix the ceaseless wars, environmental destruction, and slavery didn’t mean anything because at that point in the future their story had become a fairytale. Felt like all the progress was for not and at some point humankind would repeat the same errors of the past. Yes magic is gone, but who’s to say whether slavery and imperialism won’t come back and ever did disappear for that matter?

[@Dennizzzz89]

This is the first time I can watch a spoiler mode episode! I finished FF16 today. What a great game.

[@af4396]

I don't know why people are so confused about the ending, it seems like the simplest answer is probably true. It's obvious (to me at least) that Clive heals Joshua before he destroys the "Origin Crystal." It literally shows this scene. Josh also had a throwaway line somewhere about wanting to write about their adventure one day. Anyways, if Joshua was healed, he just had to survive the fall, and go on to write the book.

[@rinaldus4512]

Pretty disappointed with the size of the panel. Mainline singleplayer FFs come out once every 6-7 years at this point. Wish you would have waited until a few other people finished.

[@pogoacct8611]

Agreed

[@Slargando85]

Thanks to this video I understand why I kept seeing so many mentions about who's stronger... Dion or Donald Duck?

[@domingorubies656]

My Top 5 Boss Fights were Bahamut , Titan Lost , Ultima ( Final ) , Odin , Typhon

[@tinatinkvirkvelia1317]

Great discussion, guys, I found myself nodding and agreeing with you both, even when you had different opinions like with Jill lol. I loved the game A LOT, for me the story and characters are most important and this one fully delivered in that aspect. The only disappointing part was the ambiguity of the ending, which I thought was unfitting of such a character driven story and one that depended so much on spectacle and big cinematic pay-offs. However, I haven't played 14, so hearing Damiani now (who's a pro when it comes t it and its team lol) made me feel better and more hopeful, that maybe they're really preparing for additional explanatory DLCs and content, so here's to hoping for that! Another thing, I didn't know anyone ways saying that Clive and Jill have no relationship, I only saw praise for it everywhere and myself thought it was excellently done and my favorite after Cloud/Tifa. Every scene with them was filled with very obvious mutual affection and support, without them even declaring their feelings.

[@sunbaerox]

Loved the game, especially the world building. The story is only ok though, the game definitely peaked around the death of Cid. I think my biggest gripe with the game is that the "main cast" did not have any real/enough focus or spotlight, they just felt like shallow archetypes. You can definitely see the potential depth they could have taken with some characters, but you don't see enough of them.The "Side" characters felt like they had more of the limelight than the main cast. Wholly unreasonable to suggest the game should have been longer lol, but it felt like a movie that would have been better off as a tv series because of all the interesting characters that did not get enough screen time.

[@xVmbra]

The only thing I missed in FF XVI is actual difficulty, I agree the game is mostly VERY easy to an insulting degree sometimes. It was jarring to see the Titan fight be so incredibly Epic and see that massive thing doing next to zero damage and still having 6 potions, like... wtf. Incredible game still, but i NEEDED it to be much harder, issue could have been fixed easily though, cut sustain down to 1/3 and it would be ok

[@TruePeaceSeeker]

I know bro, we were basically playing at normal mode its so bad. I wanted to play on hard mode in first play

[@nisljdi98]

FF16 is the hypest shit since Asura's Wrath. Dont @ me.

[@RebirthCrusader90]

I understand discussing mechanics and gameplay is a part of any discussion of a game, but I didn't click on a spoiler mode for over 50 minutes discussing that. I'm here for the spoiler discussion.

[@Saogin]

I came into this knowing Damiani wouldn’t stop bringing up XIV every 10 seconds and I wasn’t disappointed

[@hands575]

Damn man I need to finish this game so I can watch this but it's too good so I'm taking my time

[@AB-cr1cu]

my interpretation of the ending : Clive survived then returned to Jill and had a baby... the 2 kids playing in the post credit looks like Clive and Joshua so i think they Clive's descendents but who wrote the book in the post credit ?, i guess Clive using Joshua name or it can be that Clive and Jill named their kid after Joshua and he who wrote the book about his father that explains the last name Rosfield... NOW WHY I THINK THAT : 1.the game theme and the song (jpn) at the end is about Jill wish for Clive to come back to her. 2. if you played the secondary quest (the flower scene) when Clive ask her where do you see us when all of this is over and later her LINE to Clive "no matter how dark the night dawn will always come and that you will always come for me, Clive...", the ending before the credit Jill crying all night thinking Clive is dead because of the red star but when sunrise she stop crying and smile then back screen and Clive say : "thus are journey ends", why the writers choose this scene to be the ending ?... 3. Clive confess to Jill near the end and promise he will come back in front of everybody. 4. Clive is the one who telling the story from beginning to end and only he know how is journey ends "SIMPLE LOGIC"... 5. i'm pretty sure that Joshua the brother is dead because Clive make the decision to end all magic after he try to heal Joshua and it does not work then his flashback memory "baby Joshua and the granted of the blessing of the phoenix" it's like coming to the term with Joshua death...BUT MOST IMPORTANT from the start of the game the writers are making sure that the player get the idea of the ending for Joshua in "Ifrit vs phoenix" it's like preapeaing for the true ending but without the emotional shock second time... 6.base on all the above if Joshua is dead the only logical explanation i can come with is that Clive survived... NOTE : if Jill the one who wrote the book and Clive is dead then why she using Joshua name for the book and not Clive ???

[@buzzybuzzbuzz760]

So who was Typhon?

[@mario_maniac9368]

I absolutely loved this game i dont think its top 5 FF for me at least yet but it was an amazing experience. I think the characters are top tier I dont think there is a character in this game or at least in the main circle and to be honest I feel like the love scene between clive and jill is better then any in FF. I know this game has flaws and even i complained at times but this game is easy goy for me if not tears of the kingdom. I'll admit i cried at the end with those brothers and how it ended and im in the camp of i think clive lived and wrote the book. I feel like the end side quest sets up the fact that he survived with jill and tomes last quest

[@disturbedrebirth]

Joshua forgets about Jote when he meets Mid. 😂

[@Balto678]

When you click on a spoiler mode for FF16 and it turns into a spoiler mode for FF14. Whoops! I think? I'm still in A Realm Reborn. It took you guys way too long to mention Torgal lol. A FINE hound!

[@297fihsy]

Incredible game. It’s got some pretty significant flaws (side quests and exploration left a bit to be desired) but it has some of the most insane highs in all of gaming. The Eikon fights are next level, ridiculously cool

[@GuitarJester89]

All theyd have to do to balance the difficulty to a degree is simply the dodge should have never been upgradeable. And the inventory for potions shouldn't have been increased.

[@metalmilitia89]

Agree with the potion inventory. A limited amount would have made normal mode a little bit difficult in itself.

[@anthonyzayler5449]

Great game, but if it had more friendly races besides human and (some) goblin, it would be a lot better to me. 😅

[@junglecack]

In regards to the question about weapons from the viewer, I think it's more of a disappointment that you get Excalibur but then don't even use it cause blackthorn already has an upgrade. Personally I didn't really care,but I know a bunch of people / streamers where they really hated it and affected the enjoyment

[@Answerofduty1]

I'm pretty sure I got Excalibur as soon as I was able and it was the best sword available for at least a mission or two.

[@Highwind452]

By the time I got Excalibur it was outclassed for sure, I remember being a bit disappointed.

[@Reaper616]

I honestly don't care for customisation in games. I want the game to be an amazing story that I am playing through. Let the developers spend more time on the story and not on stupid custom costumes and oooo the colour of my hat is different.

[@JoFlo93]

For me, I actually liked exploring XV’s world. It did not feel lived in though. There’s like no towns. XVI’s world feels lived in and the world evolves as you complete quests, even side quests change what you hear from the NPCs or change the music/mood and open up optional villages. I will say it’s not fun to explore in itself. We get so many crafting items but I don’t think the crafting system is that deep. I make one thing that lasts me 2 battle levels and then I make the next strong thing. I appreciate how in God of War, there is a huge choice in what you choose to craft because you’re max-min-ing your stats based on your play style.

[@JoFlo93]

In terms of crafting, maybe if we could have crafted accessories for the Eikonic abilities. That would have made it feel more deep or involved on the players part.

[@fredy2041]

@@JoFlo93 We had accesories for the eikon abailities, dude, did you playes the game?

[@rawrss]

Great game - personal favourite so far in 2023. I couldn't put it down whereas I find it hard to be excited to play TotK. Anyone else?