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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2024
For me, Final Fantasy XVI is a kind of return to form for Square Enix and the main numbered FF games. While SE has had some great games come out in remakes and sequels like FFVII Remake and XIII-2 and XIII LR, the main numbered games have kind of…sucked since X was released…on the PS2. Final Fantasy really saw its best games in X, IX, VII, and VI and really have not returned to form since these games. For me, while not perfect XVI is really the first game that made me excited and wanting to play the game rather than just get through it since X. As always, my reviews are divided into 3 categories; Story, characters, and gameplay with story getting the most weight. Spoiler free for the most part
Story: 9.5/10
Is this the best story I’ve ever played? No. But it was a great story. You start off as Clive who is a shield/protector of his young brother who will inherit the throne of his kingdom. However, the story quickly turns into a revenge story as Clive is an outlaw and is striving to make the world a better place, while discovering a vast conspiracy that could doom the entire world. I feel like the first half of the game seems to drive a bit more and is a bit more engaging but the beginning of the story does a great job of building a fantastic interesting world that keeps you invested through the entirety of the game. The story is a MUCH more mature take of a typical FF story and I appreciate that. Darker in tone, graphic in delivery, I was in this story from the beginning and the game did not let me go. This is not the BEST FF story, but it’s the best in 20 years.
Characters: 9/10
While the story was great, the characters were almost equally as good. For the first time in two decades, the FF team made a main line FF that actually had an interesting main character who I actually wanted to play as. XII had no main character (I pretend it’s Balthier as he was the only interesting one), XIII’s was boring, and XV was just an emo sad boy. XVI finally saw Clive who had character development, a growth arch, and someone you actually had empathy for and interest in. XVI was a bit different in that you didn’t have a huge cast of side characters to who shared in the focus. This story is told through Clive’s eyes and from Clive’s perspective. Nonetheless, the side characters were, were really good with some outstanding ones that surprised me. Cid’s character was nothing short of amazing. He is an instant crowd pleaser who is extremely relatable and interesting. Even some of the smaller characters who had little screentime, were extremely well done. Gav was hilarious and I enjoyed his story. We were able to watch him grow throughout the story and see Clive and his relationship really blossom. Otto was very relatable and you felt his emotions. Even characters like Blackthorne and Mid were ones that I enjoyed seeing and hearing about. The various villains even had great stories. Kupka was a fantastic villain. Well written and well developed. Clive’s mother was also a villain that you loved to hate. The only let down for me (and it’s slight) was Jill. She had a great backstory. But she felt kind of…bland to me? I think more could have been done with her to be honest. Still, the characters of this game were some of the best I’ve seen from a FF game in quite some time. They don’t hold up to the casts that we had in VII and X but a good cast nonetheless. The character exploration of Otto I thought was a really nice touch for a small character in the grand scheme of things. Oh..and did I mention you have a pet dog? And he’s awesome? Yeah…can’t go wrong with a pet dog.
Gameplay: 8.5/10
This is where the game falls off the most. So I’m going to rant here but first the positives. I love action games. While FFX is my favorite game of all time, the God of War series (especially the Norse games) and Arkham games are way up there too. So I appreciate some of the changes FFXVI took with this. FF never sits on it’s laurels and is always looking for ways to change things up. I’ve never been a huge fan of the whole stagger system that they’ve employed but I feel this is the best version I’ve seen of it. Being able to have so many different abilities is fun. I love the whole hideaway base of operations they’ve created. This game also employs one of the better hunt systems in any of the recent games. And all in all, regardless of the next paragraph, the fight system was interesting enough for me to not lose interest and kept me wanting to play.
Now to the bad. While I appreciate that they tried something different with the gameplay, I don’t like what it ultimately ended up being. They tried to make it into an action game (not even sure it’s an RPG at this point) but it falls short of all of the other action games that have come out recently. Games like God of War and Spiderman just blow this thing out of the water when it comes to gameplay. At the same time, I found myself missing some of the staples of FF. Casting Firaga on a group of enemies and leveling up one of party members to be a healer is just completely lost here. You play as one guy with a few rotating side characters that never seem to die in combat. They are invincible it seems and only serve to make the combat even easier. The combat is just too….easy. I know you can beat the game and play it on a harder mode, but I’m not the type of person that wants to play a game, beat it, and then turn around and play it again. So playing it on the hardest mode I had the option to play was still just a breeze. If the story and characters had not been so good, there just isn’t enough on the gameplay to keep me playing. There was also no character customization. No “hey I really want my character to be a super strong swordsman so I’m going to up my damage/ability points here”. No you just get general stat increases as you level up. The only thing you can customize is your special abilities and only a little. Clive cannot be a healer. Clive cannot be a mage. Clive can only be what SE wants him to be. The recent FF’s have all suffered from boring, uninspired sidequests..and unfortunately FFXVI is no exception. While I will say they are better than FFVII remake, the sidequests are little more than fetch quests or kill quests. The loot is meaningless for the most part, save a few. You don’t need extra experience or ability points because the game is already a bit too easy. And the vast majority of them don’t really do much for the story. I do kind of feel the graphics were a bit of a step backwards for this game. The characters seemed stiff and the expressions were minimal. At times the environments could look muddy and bland. There were certain points that this game was honestly comparable to FFXII when it comes to graphics.
*Echoes of the Fallen*
I really enjoyed this DLC. It’s short. Not sure it’s worth the 10 bucks but I enjoyed it. I wish the main game had side quests like this. Big, multi-hour quests that you could really sink your teeth into. It is kind of disappointing you had to pay 10 bucks to get something like this BUT I did think it was a good addition and gave you a lot of insight into the fallen.
*Rising Tides*
I liked this DLC. New area. Beautiful visuals. Access to new eikons. A couple of really nice boss fights. For $20 bucks I think it's probably a little steep for what you are getting here. I would have liked more lore, and maybe more exploration of Jill. I think there was an opportunity here to really expand on the story but it didn't happen. Nonetheless, probably the best sidequest in the game.
Overall 9.25/10
Overall this is a great game. The gameplay is really where the game struggles. It’s too easy. It doesn’t have a clear identity. There is no character customization. Clive is Clive and you will play as the Clive that SE wants you to play as. But my gripes about gameplay are not enough for me to rate this game too poorly because everything else is fantastic. The story is really good. Maybe it’s because the story of the last several main entry games has been so bad? But I feel like XVI got the story right. While the cast of characters don’t play as big of a role as some of the other FF’s like VII, IX, X and this is more of a one man show, Clive is finally the main character we’ve been waiting for. You feel his anger. You empathize with him. You understand him. The side characters are all very well done and at times just as interesting as Clive. Overall this game is excellent. Is it the best ever? No. It has it’s faults but it has a great story and a cast of characters you are invested in.
Story: 9.5/10
Is this the best story I’ve ever played? No. But it was a great story. You start off as Clive who is a shield/protector of his young brother who will inherit the throne of his kingdom. However, the story quickly turns into a revenge story as Clive is an outlaw and is striving to make the world a better place, while discovering a vast conspiracy that could doom the entire world. I feel like the first half of the game seems to drive a bit more and is a bit more engaging but the beginning of the story does a great job of building a fantastic interesting world that keeps you invested through the entirety of the game. The story is a MUCH more mature take of a typical FF story and I appreciate that. Darker in tone, graphic in delivery, I was in this story from the beginning and the game did not let me go. This is not the BEST FF story, but it’s the best in 20 years.
Characters: 9/10
While the story was great, the characters were almost equally as good. For the first time in two decades, the FF team made a main line FF that actually had an interesting main character who I actually wanted to play as. XII had no main character (I pretend it’s Balthier as he was the only interesting one), XIII’s was boring, and XV was just an emo sad boy. XVI finally saw Clive who had character development, a growth arch, and someone you actually had empathy for and interest in. XVI was a bit different in that you didn’t have a huge cast of side characters to who shared in the focus. This story is told through Clive’s eyes and from Clive’s perspective. Nonetheless, the side characters were, were really good with some outstanding ones that surprised me. Cid’s character was nothing short of amazing. He is an instant crowd pleaser who is extremely relatable and interesting. Even some of the smaller characters who had little screentime, were extremely well done. Gav was hilarious and I enjoyed his story. We were able to watch him grow throughout the story and see Clive and his relationship really blossom. Otto was very relatable and you felt his emotions. Even characters like Blackthorne and Mid were ones that I enjoyed seeing and hearing about. The various villains even had great stories. Kupka was a fantastic villain. Well written and well developed. Clive’s mother was also a villain that you loved to hate. The only let down for me (and it’s slight) was Jill. She had a great backstory. But she felt kind of…bland to me? I think more could have been done with her to be honest. Still, the characters of this game were some of the best I’ve seen from a FF game in quite some time. They don’t hold up to the casts that we had in VII and X but a good cast nonetheless. The character exploration of Otto I thought was a really nice touch for a small character in the grand scheme of things. Oh..and did I mention you have a pet dog? And he’s awesome? Yeah…can’t go wrong with a pet dog.
Gameplay: 8.5/10
This is where the game falls off the most. So I’m going to rant here but first the positives. I love action games. While FFX is my favorite game of all time, the God of War series (especially the Norse games) and Arkham games are way up there too. So I appreciate some of the changes FFXVI took with this. FF never sits on it’s laurels and is always looking for ways to change things up. I’ve never been a huge fan of the whole stagger system that they’ve employed but I feel this is the best version I’ve seen of it. Being able to have so many different abilities is fun. I love the whole hideaway base of operations they’ve created. This game also employs one of the better hunt systems in any of the recent games. And all in all, regardless of the next paragraph, the fight system was interesting enough for me to not lose interest and kept me wanting to play.
Now to the bad. While I appreciate that they tried something different with the gameplay, I don’t like what it ultimately ended up being. They tried to make it into an action game (not even sure it’s an RPG at this point) but it falls short of all of the other action games that have come out recently. Games like God of War and Spiderman just blow this thing out of the water when it comes to gameplay. At the same time, I found myself missing some of the staples of FF. Casting Firaga on a group of enemies and leveling up one of party members to be a healer is just completely lost here. You play as one guy with a few rotating side characters that never seem to die in combat. They are invincible it seems and only serve to make the combat even easier. The combat is just too….easy. I know you can beat the game and play it on a harder mode, but I’m not the type of person that wants to play a game, beat it, and then turn around and play it again. So playing it on the hardest mode I had the option to play was still just a breeze. If the story and characters had not been so good, there just isn’t enough on the gameplay to keep me playing. There was also no character customization. No “hey I really want my character to be a super strong swordsman so I’m going to up my damage/ability points here”. No you just get general stat increases as you level up. The only thing you can customize is your special abilities and only a little. Clive cannot be a healer. Clive cannot be a mage. Clive can only be what SE wants him to be. The recent FF’s have all suffered from boring, uninspired sidequests..and unfortunately FFXVI is no exception. While I will say they are better than FFVII remake, the sidequests are little more than fetch quests or kill quests. The loot is meaningless for the most part, save a few. You don’t need extra experience or ability points because the game is already a bit too easy. And the vast majority of them don’t really do much for the story. I do kind of feel the graphics were a bit of a step backwards for this game. The characters seemed stiff and the expressions were minimal. At times the environments could look muddy and bland. There were certain points that this game was honestly comparable to FFXII when it comes to graphics.
*Echoes of the Fallen*
I really enjoyed this DLC. It’s short. Not sure it’s worth the 10 bucks but I enjoyed it. I wish the main game had side quests like this. Big, multi-hour quests that you could really sink your teeth into. It is kind of disappointing you had to pay 10 bucks to get something like this BUT I did think it was a good addition and gave you a lot of insight into the fallen.
*Rising Tides*
I liked this DLC. New area. Beautiful visuals. Access to new eikons. A couple of really nice boss fights. For $20 bucks I think it's probably a little steep for what you are getting here. I would have liked more lore, and maybe more exploration of Jill. I think there was an opportunity here to really expand on the story but it didn't happen. Nonetheless, probably the best sidequest in the game.
Overall 9.25/10
Overall this is a great game. The gameplay is really where the game struggles. It’s too easy. It doesn’t have a clear identity. There is no character customization. Clive is Clive and you will play as the Clive that SE wants you to play as. But my gripes about gameplay are not enough for me to rate this game too poorly because everything else is fantastic. The story is really good. Maybe it’s because the story of the last several main entry games has been so bad? But I feel like XVI got the story right. While the cast of characters don’t play as big of a role as some of the other FF’s like VII, IX, X and this is more of a one man show, Clive is finally the main character we’ve been waiting for. You feel his anger. You empathize with him. You understand him. The side characters are all very well done and at times just as interesting as Clive. Overall this game is excellent. Is it the best ever? No. It has it’s faults but it has a great story and a cast of characters you are invested in.
