RPG Jamboree: Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)
In the land of Valisthea, magic is both a blessing and a curse. Towering Mothercrystals serve as the foundation for empires as shards of them are broken off so their power can be harnessed, crystals able to keep wells filled with water and forges burning hot with ease. You would think in a land where magic is so valued and integrated into regular life that those who can cast it without a crystal would be treasured, but instead, those known as Bearers are subjugated, made into a slave caste where their magic-casting gifts are used for labor until the caster’s body is worn out. Final Fantasy XVI’s much darker and bloodier approach to medieval fantasy than its predecessors focuses in on the plight of the Bearers and its world’s unhealthy relationship with magic, its heroes seeing no remedy for it beyond bringing it all crashing down.
Clive Rosfield sits at the heart of this action role-playing game, his quest for revenge spurring a battle for change across the years. Son of a noble house, Clive is sworn to protect his younger brother, a Dominant named Joshua who can channel the power of the Phoenix. In Valisthea, certain individuals are born with a truly incredible power, these Dominants able to manifest as towering magical monstrosities known as Eikons that can easily wipe out swathes of soldiers with a single stroke, leading to them being treated often as weapons of war where peace is sometimes bought or lost based on the state of a Dominant. As part of a shift in political power, the Grand Duchy of Rosaria that Clive and Joshua serve is attacked and bloodily dismantled, Clive left alive but branded as a soldier in the conquering empire. Carrying a fraction of his brother’s power, Clive is all but treated like a Bearer, and while his single-minded quest for vengeance initially makes him distant, he soon begins to see the broader problems with the world when a chance encounter with a man named Cid forces him to look outside himself.
Cid is perhaps the most fascinating character you’ll encounter in your journeys as Clive, with a curious charisma that makes you not just interested in what he’ll say, but how he’ll say it. World-weary from a world often cruel but still able to have fun with sarcastic quips, Cid shows an impressive ability to say a lot with a carefully selected set of words that still comes off effortlessly. Those drawn in by Cid’s aura gather together at a Hideaway as they work together to improve life for Bearers across the realm, Clive starting to come out of his shell as he interacts with a small but endearing cast of like-minded people. Final Fantasy XVI makes sure you get time to become attached to the people of the Hideaway as well, its story structure often designed with moments of strong focused action that are followed with a cool down where you help with smaller matters around the Hideaway and periods where you actually get to spend time learning about the community and people of the next area you head to.
Much work is put into establishing a complex setting, the game unafraid to show that sometimes your actions for the greater good also have grave consequences on the path to broader betterment. Political machinations, societal unrest, and microcosms of prejudice are given a focus both as part of the main adventure and as a focus for much of the game’s side quests. Many new areas will dump a quick set of side missions on you once you’ve got the lay of the land, some of these unfortunately weak in gameplay substance but often working to do other things like better depict some of the broader subjects or themes or to set up some of the optional side stories that are worth experiencing. While some side quests certainly could have been pruned, there are many that build up characters that wouldn’t get a proper spotlight otherwise and work to build up the sense of community Clive and his allies form across the realm as part of their efforts to improve it.
The core story is aware that sometimes the shifting allegiances of empires and the wide range of characters could potentially be overwhelming should you put down the game for any period and an interesting approach was taken to allow the player to quickly catch up. “Active Time Lore” can be brought up during almost any scene and will have quick and up to date encyclopedic entries about relevant characters and concepts at play. It is by no means necessary for understanding events, the lore usually only containing important information after it has been organically introduced in the story, but it can sometimes get a bit more granular if you want specific details that do help the world feel bigger than just the moments in history you’re witnessing.
The range of allies who accompany Clive during his journeys shift over the course of the adventure with some regularity, and while it is clearly meant to be his story most of all, that does lead to a sacrifice or two. Jill, Clive’s childhood friend and love interest, has a portion that feels like it should be focused in more on her dealing with her history and trauma, but with the player only controlling Clive in combat, some allowances were taken that somewhat rob her of her importance in affairs. Quite often she feels sidelined in situations where she could contribute at least a thought but seems a passive observer, it oddly feeling like side characters sometimes get more reasonably fleshed out than a core character like Jill because at least when you engage with the supporting cast it’s to direct a spotlight on them whereas the main story can’t always shift its lens away from its largest players like Clive and Cid. This doesn’t mean the plot is lacking in strong or emotional moments and it will even take some time to cut away to the actions of other empires or future adversaries well before Clive encounters them, but more time and care for some of the underserved characters could have really lent greater substance to the game’s most pivotal moments.
The battles in Final Fantasy XVI are energetic movement-focused conflicts where you have sole control over Clive save for his ability to call on his loyal hound Torgal to contribute with small attacks or a minuscule heal. Whether you’re battling soldiers, mages, feral animals, or fearsome monsters like the tentacled maw known as a Morbol or the classical mythical beasts like griffins, your ability to dodge well will likely determine your success. A heavy focus is put on identifying the wind-ups for attacks or regions where magic is about to be cast and dodging away, well-timed dodges even slowing time briefly to open the foe up for a quick sword combo. Healing items are limited so you can have only so many on hand in battle, the player needing to ration their potion use in more trying fights while working to learn enemy patterns to successfully avoid injury and create openings. This does bake in a sort of inherent engagement in every battle, the player needing to watch foes closely to find the moments of safety and danger, and new foes and bosses will have an interesting learning period where you’re uncovering the patterns to watch for and when it’s best to strike. A stagger system exists as well, the player’s attacks gradually wearing down a meter that will both cancel a foe’s attacks when it’s halfway depleted or leave them open to increased damage when it’s fully depleted, and that’s where more advanced abilities can contribute to the battle system.
Clive exhibits a curious ability to absorb part of an Eikon’s power, meaning over the course of the adventure as he encounters more of them on both sides of the conflict, he will earn powers of a wide stripe. The harpy Garuda’s claws can be used to pull in foes from afar or whip up a tornado, Titan’s arms of solid stone can punch right through incoming attacks, and the wizard Ramuh’s lightning bolts can cover a large stretch of the battlefield. Some attacks are defensive or counters, others target the stagger bar more than health, and some can be incredibly useful against a crowd or only really hone in on one foe. You are able to customize and upgrade these abilities with points earned through battle, Clive already growing in power from leveling up regularly or acquiring and forging gear but abilities definitely shake up the battles most of all. Up to six of these special powers can be set and each Eikon also has a standard battle ability to help like Phoenix letting you dash in quickly to an enemy to easily close distance. Feeling out and customizing your ability spread helps to shift how you approach combat, your sword combos gaining a few extra helpful abilities like a lunge or aerial slam but these Eikon powers are more impactful when used and have a recharge timer so smart use is vital. A Limit Break that changes up your attacks and heals you as well as the ability to launch different magical attacks from afar give you wider battle options as well, your sword attacks more the reliable baseline while other options keep you active no matter what the state of the fight might be. Eventually Final Fantasy XVI does start to slow on rolling out new enemy types meaning a fair chunk of the game makes learning how to dodge less crucial, but stronger foes and more packed battles mean there is still thought because you have these magical attacks that still ask you to make some choices during a conflict.
Boss battles are going to be the shining moment where the game presses you hardest to dodge, mix in abilities, and manage potions unsurprisingly, but there is a greater escalation that leads to a complete shift in how you battle. As you go up against Dominants and Eikons are manifested, you will be asked at times to play as an Eikon yourself. Already early in the game effective work is put into emphasizing the scope of their power, the player having to run through areas dodging not the Eikons themselves, but the collateral damage of their actions as they can easily accidentally kill humans below with how easily they reshape the earth and splinter stone. Appropriately, when it is time for you to play as an Eikon and face another in battle, the skirmishes are gloriously over the top and focused heavily on spectacle. Already Final Fantasy XVI has an excellent soundtrack for both moments of calm rest and common conflict, but the Eikon themes are especially explosive to match the sight of hands as big as buildings and magic that digs canyons through the ground is thrown around, and while there are definitely moments where you just need to press a button to watch a cutscene continue during them, they do gradually include some more demanding action. Dodging and picking your moment to strike come into effect here, and while losing doesn’t feel likely, you do need to work to win these battles, Eikon fights often a glorious capstone on a specific chapter of the plot that can thrive on the excitement of the moment rather than its difficulty.
THE VERDICT: Final Fantasy XVI does excellent work crafting a complicated setting where it can focus in on the unhealthy relationship with magic on both a political and personal level. Close personal tales lay the seeds for the game’s emotional highs and most compelling side quests, and while the game does stumble a few times in structuring its slower moments, it more than makes up for it with bombastic battles between towering giants and a consistently vivacious combat system. The range of Eikon abilities add appreciated depth to how you battle as Clive even when the enemy variety starts to thin, this well-built fantasy world as interesting to fight in as it is to learn about.
And so, I give Final Fantasy XVI for PlayStation 5…
A GREAT rating. Some of the game’s lineage from the MMO Final Fantasy XIV shows in how some side quests are just about moving between places to talk to people and it almost discourages engaging with some of the game’s most excellent story moments for it, but despite that stumble in design, Final Fantasy XVI rarely falters when it comes to adding meaning to your activities or life to its active combat. Cid is certainly the standout personality in the game, but there are plenty of people and communities you can grow to understand and love. The world of Final Fantasy XVI is definitely dark at times but never crass or indulgent, grim realities imposed on this war against a way of living entrenched in people’s lives and that balance of moments of personal victories with harsh setbacks keeps the balance between broad plot advancements and small quiet growth effective. While small elements could use some more love or evolution like Jill’s arc or the range of enemies you face, they all fit snugly into the wider structure. The narrative knows how to balance its key topics, when to pull back to the bigger picture or condense the goal to only a handful of characters, and while some cutscenes are certainly dryer than others, Final Fantasy XVI also pulls out all the stops for its magnificently indulgent Eikon battles. Eikon fights do sometimes have to throw in basic “press this button to succeed” moments to avoid stretches without interactivity, but they do still include proper fights that build off the regular action but on a grander scale. The movement focus of the standard combat definitely helps, the player needing to stay involved and reactive whether they’re facing a plain goblin or some large mechanical warrior powered by magic. The soundtrack definitely backs up the energy the fights exhibit, but along with some gorgeous environmental design Valisthea also becomes a world that pulls you in even when you can tell only certain large areas are fit for broad exploration while others are focused on pure forward progression.
The Final Fantasy series doesn’t often tread in M-rated territory, so some adjustment to hearing the beloved golden bird mounts known as Chocobos have their brains used in recipes or see raunchy puns a few seconds before a fluffy adorable Moogle speaks to you can take some adjustment. Final Fantasy has constantly shifted and explored new ideas across its long history though, and generally while its mature tale took some clear inspiration from the dark fantasy of Game of Thrones, it also exhibits a strong sense of direction and purpose. It knows what it wants out of its world and how the broader themes at play will shape it, borrowing things from the franchise’s history with purpose and forging a new path where it feels it would help the experience as a whole. Rich in world-building with music and visuals crafted beautifully, this fantasy epic is a worthy addition to a storied history of role-playing adventures.