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[Myths]

I thought the performances were one of the few strong points. This is one of the few modern JRPG's that I enjoyed playing in English because the acting was pretty good and the writing, while far from perfect, wasn't pure anime cringe.
It's a shame the story goes to shit towards the end though, if it had remained as consistently good as during the first third of the game it would have done a lot of heavy lifting in making me appreciate the game more

But yeah it's a dull game.
Dead and empty world with empty levels that have nothing to do or find in them and feel incredibly dated in their design (legit Ps3 era stuff)
The action part of the game is passable but needed more weapon types, deeper combos, better bosses and not forcing you to play on super easy on your first playthrough to actually be good (I mean Stranger of Paradise blows it out of the water in this regard)
The RPG part of the experience is literally a 4/10, I actually can't think of modern AAA game that presents itself as an RPG and has worse RPG mechanics than this.
The story starts of strong and gets progressively worse as it goes on.



??
XIII and XV are still shit though.
I guess XIII has better combat and music than XVI but the rest of the experience is even duller so I'd probably still take XVI over it.

XIII I enjoyed but that is mostly in division and not as a composition. Thank goodness they created Lightning before modern times otherwise she would’ve been written off as “pandering” yet again. Can’t imagine how much the gaming base would’ve been in shambles over Lightning plus the dynamic between Vanille and Fang. The amount of bawling would’ve been hilarious to see today.

Anyway, depending on where you look on the net, there seems to be this newfound appreciation of older entries once newer entries drop.

 

[Thebonehead]

-story was kind of eh, Clive’s character arc was just an inferior ripoff of Velvet’s character arc from Tales of Berseria (they even copied a massive twist but managed to completely fumble the execution), Cid was the only character who was that interesting (and…..well, that was disappointing), and the worldbuilding was awful

-RPG elements…what RPG elements? Leveling barely made a difference, only one weapon type, stat upgrades made minimal difference, no party member stats or such, and despite having elemental attacks there’s still no elemental weaknesses or resistances, for fucks’ sake does this team know what series this game is in?!

-exploration is a joke in the game, hope you enjoy getting two gil or a few crafting materials you already have way too much of than you need

-disagree about the acting, it’s pretty good but not amazing (save for Cid’s voice who slaps)

-music is solid, that’s the one true strength the game has (though not best of the year)

Hopefully a few of the development team being there when Baldur’s Gate 3 won GOTY (and assuming they heard Elden Ring won last year) serves as a reminder to them: people want their RPG series to keep the things that made it a RPG. But nah, Final Fantasy XVI wanted to be the Paper Mario: Sticker Star of the series

This summed it up perfectly for me. I'm glad you took the time as I suffered extreme apathy playing this, and couldn't be bothered to explain how shit this game is.

I had to check I wasn't playing in story mode several times as there's zero substance in it

more unjust hate for ff16 just stop

 

[hyperbertha]

There a reason it went out of the general consciousness faster than even gow:r and Spiderman 2. Nobody talks about it after the initial 2 weeks, in stark contrast to games like bloodborne or gow 2018. Game is just bad. But nobody openly acknowledges it. Sony is kinda degenerating.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Yeah kinda shitty what SE pulled with the demo and its clear this will be what other developers will do in the future. The DEMO is literally the only adult/mature thing about the entire game and then it just spirals down to absolute garbage with the exception of boss fights which were cool, but this aint a boss rush game and those alone cant make up for the rest.

Everyone is praising the demo, but I played it for 45 minutes in agony, skipping the cutscenes, and decided not to buy the game.

 

[ahtlas7]

The PS5 demo shattered my hype. I’ll pick it up for PC on the cheap but only if they actually optimize it.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Play Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth instead.

Best JRPG I’ve ever played, nothing comes close

 

[gaming_again]

the lack of exploration is a complete scam. The more I look back on the game, the angrier I get about the excellent demo.

 

[March Climber]

Worst game in the series.

…But FF13?

 

[EviLore]

…But FF13?

Haven’t played 10-2, 11, 13, or 13-2.

 

[March Climber]

Haven’t played 10-2, 11, 13, or 13-2.

Whenever the day comes when you finally experience the 13 games, just be prepared for a whiplash of quality entry to entry, from horrible to great to ‘what?’

 

[cireza]

…But FF13?

FF XIII trilogy is fantastic overall.

 

[March Climber]

FF XIII trilogy is fantastic overall.

People will aknowledge that the FF13 trilogy is in fact excellent to really good games that just came at the wrong time.

After the shit show that is FFXVI after 10 hours, people will really enjoy FFXIII for what it is :

A first episode which is a true FF at heart meaning nearly no open world shit but corridors that serves to present a really decent story.
A second episode that treats with what if scenarios, matured themes and a new dynamic battle system.
A last episode that wraps it all, redeeming certain characters or adding soul to them in a light Majora's Mask touch.

It will not please everyone, but it's a really good time to revisit those games.

I’m sorry man, FF13 might be one of the worst written and badly acted video games of all time, including linear level design that was even more constrained than FF10.

As much as people praise it’s combat system and that single plains area, it’s not enough to save it from being a bad game.

I know nostalgia is starting to set in with the 360 generation since it’s almost 20 years old, but nostalgia isn’t even strong enough to save FF 13.

 

[Cakeboxer]

There a reason it went out of the general consciousness faster than even gow:r and Spiderman 2. Nobody talks about it after the initial 2 weeks, in stark contrast to games like bloodborne or gow 2018. Game is just bad. But nobody openly acknowledges it. Sony is kinda degenerating.

That's a normal thing when it comes to (console) exclusive games. If they are halfway decent they get hyped. When the honeymoon phase is over, people get more criticical and when the exclusivity ends they get even more critical.

 

[Madjaba]

And it gets WAY worse as you continue your journey...

The premices were really cool but it landed very poorly and was a very big disappointment to me.

Square released Octopath Traveler 2 a few month earlier and this game is infinitely better in nearly every aspect...

 

[Spyxos]

Man I want to like this game but I just can't. I bought it first on ps5 and gave up after 10 hours. At first I thought well maybe I am just going through a weird period in my life and maybe I can't enjoy this type of game now. I'll wait to play it

And with the release of the game on pc I bought it again to enjoy it with a high framerate and better visuals but I am again struggling to find any fun or enjoyment. There are some moments where the game seems to be really exciting but then, all of a sudden, the next part becomes a boring mess with atrocious mmo generic sidequests. It doesn't help either the pacing of the cutscenes, the performances are so lifeless and slow, sometimes, I want to slap the characters and scream "Wake up motherfucker!". The gameplay is so basic, there is no exploration or anything, it justs feels like I am watching cutscene after cutscene with a combat that has no challenge or variety.

I love Final Fantasy in general but this game is just doesn't feel like it belongs to the franchise, it doesn't the magic from the older games. I feel like it doesn't have a soul

Well I am glad I let it out, I think I'll stop playing this and accept that is not for me. Please tell me I am not crazy papitos

The only thing the game has to offer are the very well done boss fights. The rest is just filler in a boring world.

 

[Madjaba]

…But FF13?

People will aknowledge that the FF13 trilogy is in fact excellent to really good games that just came at the wrong time.

After the shit show that is FFXVI after 10 hours, people will really enjoy FFXIII for what it is :

A first episode which is a true FF at heart meaning nearly no open world shit but corridors that serves to present a really decent story.
A second episode that treats with what if scenarios, matured themes and a new dynamic battle system.
A last episode that wraps it all, redeeming certain characters or adding soul to them in a light Majora's Mask touch.

It will not please everyone, but it's a really good time to revisit those games.

 

[Ridicululzz]

I'm not a huge fan of 16 either. The beginning of the story was absolutely great and got me really invested, but I felt it started to drag after a certain point. Also, the gameplay felt lacking in terms of actual customization and RPG elements.

 

[elbourreau]

I enjoyed every second of FF16 !

E

Edit : just to explain, I never felt into the "what is a Final fantasy ?" bullshit. There are good game or bad game. And FF16 had a pretty solid story with pretty decent writting and dialogues , visuals are great and the combat system is superb.

 

[cireza]

I’m sorry man, FF13 might be one of the worst written and badly acted video games of all time, including linear level design that was even more constrained than FF10.

As much as people praise it’s combat system and that single plains area, it’s not enough to save it from being a bad game.

I know nostalgia is starting to set in with the 360 generation since it’s almost 20 years old, but nostalgia isn’t even strong enough to save FF 13.

I replayed the entire trilogy in 4K on my One X and FF XIII, although being the weakest entry in the trilogy, still felt like an amazing FF experience with an awesome universe, varied characters, excellent combat mechanics, godlike soundtrack etc... Every single essential aspect that defines a good FF game.

XIII-2 and Lightning Returns expanded on these fundamentals and opened up gameplay possibilities a ton, and were even better games for this. Lightning Returns has to this date the best real-time battle implementation any RPG I played had.

 

[hyperbertha]

The only thing the game has to offer are the very well done boss fights. The rest is just filler in a boring world.

The boss fights only work for people who still get vowed by spectacle. If you've seen one too many Marvel films, they are trash

 

[Bernardougf]

After the atrocious FFXV anyone still trying to find anything good in FF games should just have his head checked. FF is done.

FF now is a niche game aimed to their remaining loyal fanbase that will eat up everything and call goty.

 

[hyperbertha]

Game has plenty of issues, but "lifeless performances" aren't one of them. That's just a shit take. Clive, Cid, and Benedicta in particular were really good. Ben Starr probably delivered the best performance for a lead in a Final Fantasy game to date.




I've ranted about the game plenty, but to sum it up, it's a 15-20 hour game stretched out to a 50 hour one. I mean you can point out to every single individual problem with the game, but most of those problems stem from FFXVI trying to be a Character Action game, but also a 50+ JRPG. The lack of RPG elements, mini games, exploration, party members, would've not been an issue if it were just a linear 15+ hour action game taking you from one story and set piece moment after another. Because at least then you know what the game is trying to be, and it keeps the story and the gameplay moving along. As much as I love FFXIV, FFXVI proved to me that CBU3 should never touch another mainline FF game again, or any Single Player game for that matter. What's confusing to me is that I know that many of them, especially Yoshi-P, do play other video games. So they should know what makes a Single Player game good. Having long 4-5 hours stretches of MMO style quests, slow dialogue, and static conversations with barely any action, inbetween the actual story and set pieces, was one of the most baffling decision choices I've ever seen in a game.

FFXVI had every reason to be good. It was Game of Thrones with Kaijus, with a revenge quest as it's center piece. But they completely fucked it up with a couple of really retarded design choices with it's gameplay loop.

Those high budget cutscenes are few and far between. The majority of the time you'll be looking at the second rate cutscenes where people stand around like mannequins. This is most of the game. Lifeless is entirely justified.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

So the rest of the game really isn't like the demo? That demo was amazing and had me wanting to play more then I saw the reviews and was happy I didn't end up buying it.

This demo is the biggest gaming bait and switch I have ever experienced.

 

[Madflavor]

Those high budget cutscenes are few and far between. The majority of the time you'll be looking at the second rate cutscenes where people stand around like mannequins. This is most of the game. Lifeless is entirely justified.

Almost all of the prologue is played out with good direction, animations, and dynamic camerawork. It definitely paints a false picture on what the overall rest of the game was going to be like. Those 4-5 hours you spend in between set piece moments, are just Clive going from NPC to NPC to NPC. And it’s all played out the same way. Clive stiffly stands in front of the NPC, same camera angle, with the NPC stiffly standing in front of Clive, same camera angle. And they’re all like that.

As I said earlier, XVI could’ve been great if they condensed it down to a 15-20 hour game. This was clearly a character action game, posing as a JRPG. I actually wanted to like the game, but it’s pacing did everything in its power to prevent that.

 

[Physiognomonics]

I mean DQ9 on DS was more interesting to play.

Luckily we got this banger from it

Music it the best thing from FFVI

 

[Kumomeme]

FF XIII trilogy is fantastic overall.

the sequels is underrated. awesome game. it is proof what the devs could do without technical issue. it opened pathway toward FFVII Remake and Rebirth.

but 13...urgh. sorry, terrible game. this come from a former 13 defender. used to replay that game atleast 3 times before.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

The story takes a fucking huge nose dive straight after the demo and has a couple of highs here and there. It's also full of the most boring padding I've seen in a game in the longest time, the only game that comes close to that much pointless content is FFVII Remake.

To each their own of course, but these games just aren't for me. They are needlessly long too, the game is stretched out over 20+ hours when I imagine if they just focused on the actual story in a more linear fashion, the whole experience would be more interesting.

 

[Elios83]

The game is just the definition of mixed bag.

It has many high points (story, graphics, music, combat system, boss battles with eikons) which are neutered by other elements (absolutely boring and dull NPCs and side missions completely ruining the pace of the game is some sections, no fully explorable towns, pointless world exploration, difficulty is so easy that it ruins the great work on the combat system).

Unfortunately it is not what it could have been, same thing that happened with XIII and XV.
Just play FF7 Rebirth, that is how AAA FF should be done, it just sucks it took a decade of attempts to get there.

 

[DenchDeckard]

OP is correct but I wouldn't have bought it on pc to give it another go.

Game is really poor. I really don't understand the reviews.

 

[DeceptiveAlarm]

This game is too serious business, you don't have neither a minigame nor a chocobo racing and where is the card game? You don't even have elemental magic in it.

8 years making a barebones game that is more like a dmc clone.

When I read the first paragraph I thought you were listing why the games so good.

 

[cireza]

the sequels is underrated. awesome game. it is proof what the devs could do without technical issue. it opened pathway toward FFVII Remake and Rebirth.

but 13...urgh. sorry, terrible game. this come from a former 13 defender. used to replay that game atleast 3 times before.

Don't be sorry, nothing is at stake here. You don't like the game and that's fine.

 

[AeonGaidenRaiden]

He bought it twice

I read a negative review on Steam how the guy doesnt like Persona 5 Royal and the characters, yet somehow managed to clock ih 286 hours on the game. If true, some people love mental torture.

 

[Lng0004]

I feel the same. I actually gave up half way through the game (right before the big mission). It's just so dull and boring, and the characters are too bland. Even the predictable plot twists are meh.

 

[recursive]

Yeah I’m convinced this game started as some DMC-style FF spinoff then got reworked into a full mainline game. Everything besides the linear action stages + boss battles is just the most soulless, boring, tedious FF XIV A Realm Reborn filler shit. I fell asleep multiple times while playing this game, finally just gave up around the 70% mark.

The hour long boss battles wore me down. Pretty sure I got to the last area to go after the final boss but I lost all interest.

 

[Outlier]

Man I want to like this game but I just can't. I bought it first on ps5 and gave up after 10 hours.

There are some moments where the game seems to be really exciting but then, all of a sudden, the next part becomes a boring mess with atrocious mmo generic sidequests.

This was my exact experience.

I haven't made progress in the game, since LAST YEAR.
The side quests are SO BAD, I wish the game was strictly linear, so they could put all the effort, into the main story.

What a dumb decision they made.

 

[MasterDerico]

playstation = overrated cinematic experience trash

Fixed

 

[Putyouinmyoven]

In fairness, it’s pretty damn good up to Garuda. After that it tanks off a cliff except for the boss encounters

 

[Outlier]

Despite some pacing issues, it’s fantastic. Bunch of grumps in these forums who don’t like video games it seems like.

I like video games!

Just not when they waste my time with crap!

 

[diffusionx]

I’m sorry man, FF13 might be one of the worst written and badly acted video games of all time, including linear level design that was even more constrained than FF10.

As much as people praise it’s combat system and that single plains area, it’s not enough to save it from being a bad game.

I know nostalgia is starting to set in with the 360 generation since it’s almost 20 years old, but nostalgia isn’t even strong enough to save FF 13.

FFXIII's combat system is almost good enough to overcome the blaring, obvious issues with the rest of the game. And Vanille is CUTE.

I wouldn't recommend the game to anyone, but if you put that combat system in FF15 or 16 you would have had something really good.

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Unfortunately, like 15 it only gets worse the further you get into the game. Huge let down for me, I really put my faith in the team behind 14 because of the tremendous turnaround they managed for that game. But this ended up being very underwhelming. The world feels really small, the combat is very basic with no nuance. The pacing ended up being terrible with how they jump to different times and under developed characters.

I still like it much better than 15, that was just a Frankenstein of a game since it started development as a different game entirely (FF Versus).

 

[Paulistano]

When I read the first paragraph I thought you were listing why the games so good.

You must love fetch quests, now you can go to point A to point B and then you can go back to point A.

 

[Andrew Evenstar]

first FF game in my life history i have not bought right at launch. i was out of the country yes, but i still have not bought it. i went straight to FF7 R and Elden Ring DLC. One day i'll play it .. I used to buy FF games in Japanese and play them before they launched in the USA. It's sad to be honest.

 

[peronmls]

Cutscenes were so boring and drawn out. FF13 has better cutscenes.

 

[Kumomeme]

Don't be sorry, nothing is at stake here. You don't like the game and that's fine.

im agree that everyone has their individual preferences. but 13 is some of example where it is not simply due to subjective preferences but lot of actual legit objectively reasoning are in play.

well if you still like it then its fine. some people prefer their subjective preferences over objective one.

to be fair 13 has good quality of presentation as a saving grace. good visual and awesome music.

 

[cireza]

some people prefer their subjective preferences over objective one.

That's the case of everyone, including you.

Unless you like playing games that are "objectively good" but you personally find awful.

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

Good game. Poor Final Fantasy.

 

[Hrk69]

This was my exact experience.

I haven't made progress in the game, since LAST YEAR.
The side quests are SO BAD, I wish the game was strictly linear, so they could put all the effort, into the main story.

What a dumb decision they made.

Even skipping the cutscenes for sidequests was done badly

- talk to NPC
- press pause
- hold skip cutscene button
- choose to accept or don't accept sidequest
- press pause
- hold skip cutscene button

And there are side quests with multiple 'cutscenes'

These static characters talking to each other is so fucking boring. They made it with zero effort.

 

[Rea]

Worst Final Fantasy ever. The gameplay suck balls.

 

[xVodevil]

It's my first FF game, I understand this is very different with being the way it is going for pure action, and I really do like it mostly, but god damn could this game be any more tedious and slower?
I guess I am really not used to seeing summary windows and quest complete and so every few minutes when it happens to be some gameplay between the endless cutscenes.
Anyway it's really nice, and story's weird enough to enjoy it (love how they throw around the f word casually which was very unexpected), at least many hours in it's getting somewhat better even.

 

[Kumomeme]

That's the case of everyone, including you.

Unless you like playing games that are "objectively good" but you personally find awful.

both need to be balanced. thats all. but some game are unbalance.