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Final Fantasy XVI is a Good Game

Madflavor

Member
FF16 is a good game despite so many cons.

But the "fanbase" loving bashing the game because "iS nOt a jRpG"...
The same fanbase waiting FF7 Rebirth, after whinning all days for 10 years on forums for wanting this fking remake after PS3 tech Demo.

Now Square Division 1 working for 15 years on FF7 Remake instead of a new entry, new universe etc.
And after the succes, This will reinforce Square Enix to do FF8, FF9 and FF10 remake.

Congrat "Final Fantasy Fans"...

Let me counter by saying FFVII: Remake was the most Final Fantasy game we've gotten since FFX. It's also got the best evolution of the ATB system mixed with Action we've seen yet. You look at Rebirth's trailer and what does it have?
  • Big Open Areas to explore
  • Vehicles and Flying Chocobos
  • Party Members that you can control
  • Mini-games
  • Colorful and diverse environments
  • A mix of seriousness and light heartedness
And basing what we know of Remake, we know the RPG mechanics are going to carry over. So all of these points are things that FFXVI either lacked, or were completely absent.

So yeah, of course people are looking forward to Rebirth.
 
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Kakax11

Banned
It's amazing if you mean specifically the main missions

the side quests, 1 outta 50 is interesting, like good luck finding an interesting side quest they all suck and just boring long runs to almost an 10 seconds battle

The performance issues is all SE in-house crap of an engine so hopefully by Q4 2024 they can get it running smooth 30fps on PC then spend another 6 months to add PC features like ultra-wide unlocked fps
 

Boy bawang

Member
The problem is that FF used to be fabulous, and Square has failed to recapture that quality for decade(s?). Being "good" ain't enough, and as such, it'll be perceived as a disappointment by many.

It's a general issues with big games though. In the past few years, I'd argue that none of the big games really delivered on their promise to be generation defining, besides Elden Ring and Zelda TOTK.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
This game is 100%
jzVTg23.jpg
Game is legit. Lots of sexy ladies

OpgUtMZ.jpg
qOlOOE6.jpg

UF8o3yf.jpg

GrB6KaQ.jpg

vUhoj3y.jpg
 

Madflavor

Member
Game is legit. Lots of sexy ladies

OpgUtMZ.jpg
qOlOOE6.jpg

UF8o3yf.jpg

GrB6KaQ.jpg

vUhoj3y.jpg

Indeed. FFXVI had some terrific cutscenes with the facial acting, body movements, and creative usage of camera angles. It's a shame these good moments were so few and far between.

The end of Benedikta's Arc was pretty much the point where the game starts to dip in quality. It's where the MMO approach to main quest design really started to rear it's ugly head. I mean we got a taste of it earlier, but after Benedikta is where it became a lot more frequent, and stretch on for hours.

XVI is a pendulum that constantly swings back and forth between a 5/10 game and a 10/10 game. Only there seems to be a delay whenever it's on the 5/10 side and tends to stay there longer.
 

squidilix

Member
Let me counter by saying FFVII: Remake was the most Final Fantasy game we've gotten since FFX

Top kek, FF7 Remake is more FF13 than FF10. At least, FF10 story don't need 3 episodes to achieves.

Big Open Areas to explore
FF7 R

show


vs

FF16

final-fantasy-16-xvi-dhalmekia-map.jpg


Colorful and diverse environments

final-fantasy-vii-remake-intergrade-ps5-5cb54d1f.jpg

Final-Fantasy-7-Remake-l%C3%A9viathan-3.jpg

B9723230259Z.1_20200416145105_000%2BGF6FSSSCB.1-0.jpg

5286C4C0-5540-4854-9AC4-BEF6EFDA9CB5-scaled-1.jpg


So colorful man...

bleu-turquoise-75ml.jpg




Otherwise, you're talking about a game that hasn't even been released yet and of which it ALREADY benefited from an episode and whose UNIVERSE was already written (story, music, characters) 26 fucking years ago

Blame FF16 for being “less good than FF7”, because it tries to do something entirely new and compare it to an episode which has benefited from dozens of spin-offs, novels, OAVs, mobile games. This is really bad faith...
 
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SkylineRKR

Member
Sometimes in these write-up I think it should be required reading that one compares FFXVI's gameplay to DMC 5. I keep hearing FFXVI is go great from people and I wonder if they've seen something that many say does what this game set out to do but better in every way and without overstaying its welcome.

I've yet to play DMC 5 myself, but I found the action elements of FFXVI to be very shallow and I imagine next to DMC 5 that would stand out even more. But yes, I do think there's a reason the two games keep getting compared against each other, and I've yet to see a single person say they prefer how FFXVI does it over DMC 5.

DMCV is 100 times better. Okay, the gameplay from the character V is different, but Nero and Dante is god tier. You can change up combos with delayed strikes, which give you different enders with different properties. You get more weapons over the course of the game (with Dante). You get more devil trigger (similar to limit break) power as you advance.

And once you try Legendary Dark Knight mode with Vergil, you'll forget FFXVI exists.

 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
Top kek, FF7 Remake is more FF13 than FF10. At least, FF10 story don't need 3 episodes to achieves.


FF7 R

show


vs

FF16

final-fantasy-16-xvi-dhalmekia-map.jpg




final-fantasy-vii-remake-intergrade-ps5-5cb54d1f.jpg

Final-Fantasy-7-Remake-l%C3%A9viathan-3.jpg

B9723230259Z.1_20200416145105_000%2BGF6FSSSCB.1-0.jpg

5286C4C0-5540-4854-9AC4-BEF6EFDA9CB5-scaled-1.jpg


So colorful man...

bleu-turquoise-75ml.jpg




Otherwise, you're talking about a game that hasn't even been released yet and of which it ALREADY benefited from an episode and whose UNIVERSE was already written (story, music, characters) 26 fucking years ago

Blame FF16 for being “less good than FF7”, because it tries to do something entirely new and compare it to an episode which has benefited from dozens of spin-offs, novels, OAVs, mobile games. This is really bad faith...
Map might look more complicated in 16 but it's just as linear. When You play the story, it's just a corridor too.
I liked both games but I felt 16 had more bloat and worse pacing.
And 7 got better babes. Tifa and Jessie ftw
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
Its like the game was trying to bore me

When it comes to FF I hated 8 and 12

This game wasn't interesting enough to hate at its best its serviceable at its worst completely forgettable

Tales of Arise which I thought was pretty dull and uninspired is a blockbuster summer hit compared to FF16
 
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Fbh

Gold Member
I didnt go in with super unrealistic expectations, since the pre release info on the game by the devs made a pretty good picture of what the game is gonna be and I think they delivered on that.
It was a really cool roller coaster fantasy adventure with action combat. And I like that.

I don't think expecting what's being presented as a $70 AAA RPG that has supposedly spent the last year being polished to have decent sidequests, actual stuff to find in the environments, a decent gear/weapon system, a decent economy with stores that actually have stuff worth buying, dungeons that consist of more than walking from one combat encounter to the next, etc.

None of these are crazy expectations.

FF16 is a good game despite so many cons.
But the "fanbase" loving bashing the game because "iS nOt a jRpG"...

But that's the problem, instead of just confidently saying it's an action game and focusing on making it the best one possible they still wanted it to be an RPG. So they mixed a decent action game with a trash tier RPG and created a game that's average at best.

If you want to make an action game instead of RPG then sure, go ahead:
But then give me a deeper combo system.
Give me multiple weapon types instead of a single one.
Give me multiple difficulties instead of forcing me to play on very easy the first time
Don't put boring JRPG padding in between the main story events
 

Raven117

Member
I thought it was pretty good, but there was a hard bait and switch. It started out like game of thrones and that is the game I thought I was getting. Then kinda devolved back into “through the power of friendship/kill a god” boring stuff. It’s like two different teams worked it. (Themes were also all over the place and not consistent).

I do want a Clive-Witcher game though. He was great.
 

Arsic

Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Sometimes in these write-up I think it should be required reading that one compares FFXVI's gameplay to DMC 5. I keep hearing FFXVI is go great from people and I wonder if they've seen something that many say does what this game set out to do but better in every way and without overstaying its welcome.

I've yet to play DMC 5 myself, but I found the action elements of FFXVI to be very shallow and I imagine next to DMC 5 that would stand out even more. But yes, I do think there's a reason the two games keep getting compared against each other, and I've yet to see a single person say they prefer how FFXVI does it over DMC 5.

DMC5 has some issues itself. Dante and Nero are fleshed out and the focus in those games is essentially combos to keep juggles going. The combat IS the game, and draws parallels with fighting games to create long combos that don’t repeat themselves.

V in DMC5 is much more shallow to pilot than Clive, but Clive doesn’t come “online” until he has 3 eikon powers to command.

Magic with triangle button is the worst part of ff16 combat. It’s 100% pointless.

People can shit on Babylons fall all they want but it’s the peak action combat I’ve played commanding 4 weapons at once. Platinum needs to bring that back in a future game so people can experience it.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Let me counter by saying FFVII: Remake was the most Final Fantasy game we've gotten since FFX. It's also got the best evolution of the ATB system mixed with Action we've seen yet. You look at Rebirth's trailer and what does it have?
  • Big Open Areas to explore
  • Vehicles and Flying Chocobos
  • Party Members that you can control
  • Mini-games
  • Colorful and diverse environments
  • A mix of seriousness and light heartedness
And basing what we know of Remake, we know the RPG mechanics are going to carry over. So all of these points are things that FFXVI either lacked, or were completely absent.

So yeah, of course people are looking forward to Rebirth.
As much as I love 16, I do think all future numbered FFs should incorporate these elements as an absolute baseline to give the game design some continuity. It may help resolve the fanbase being so split.

I've hardly seen any negativity against Rebirth since the new trailer probably because it's ticking so many boxes for fans.
 
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I actually like 15 more than 16. And I didn't like Final Fantasy 13 as much as the games that came before it, when it released, but I recently replayed it and enjoyed a lot. It's more Final Fantasy than 16 can ever be. I did replay Final Fantasy 13 recently and I don't know if it's because I'm older, but I actually enjoyed it more than I did when it released. I did like 13-2 a lot. Lightning Returns was just shit.
FFXIII is much better than people give it credit for. I can understand the complaints and many are valid but it's still a really solid game at its core due to the paradigm system and the story does pay off but the character arcs take a while and yea, if you leave early all the characters come off as one note and annoying.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Dunno why people crying about FF7R linearity when Midgar is a closed metropolis and the linearity shows that. Just like it was in FF7 Disc 1.

This is beating a dead horse but XVI is a good action game but it's a terrible FF game. You have a newfound appreciation for Stranger of Paradise afterward.

Once Rebirth comes out I imagine FFXVI will be one of the most forgettable Final Fantasies. People might even remember FF2 over FF16. No one even thinks about FF2.
 

Chukhopops

Member
FF16 is a good game despite so many cons.

But the "fanbase" loving bashing the game because "iS nOt a jRpG"...
The same fanbase waiting FF7 Rebirth, after whinning all days for 10 years on forums for wanting this fking remake after PS3 tech Demo.

Now Square Division 1 working for 15 years on FF7 Remake instead of a new entry, new universe etc.
And after the succes, This will reinforce Square Enix to do FF8, FF9 and FF10 remake.

Congrat "Final Fantasy Fans"...
To be fair I don’t find 7R to be a particularly good JRPG either, but at least it has playable party members, MP, elemental weaknesses, etc. And it’s also kinda carried by the characters and story of the original game.

I agree with you that SE relies a lot on their old games and doesn’t really manage to build any strong new IPs or sub-IPs.
 

Virex

Banned
FFXIII is much better than people give it credit for. I can understand the complaints and many are valid but it's still a really solid game at its core due to the paradigm system and the story does pay off but the character arcs take a while and yea, if you leave early all the characters come off as one note and annoying.
Final Fantasy XIII and Resonance of Fate came out roughly the same time. And after I finished XIII I started Resonance Of Fate. And I remember enjoying it more than XIII. Resonance of Fate on it's own is one of the best and most unique jrpgs(Remaster is even better). So recently I decided to play through Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2 and LR. And I was shocked with how much I enjoyed XIII the 2nd time I played it(many many years apart.). Even got the platinum this time around. And I enjoyed it a lot and maybe because I'm older I enjoyed it a lot more. Dare I say that XIII is actually fantastic.

XIII-2 I loved when it released and love it still. Lightning Return not so much. But it's still decent, but I think Lightning overstayed her welcome a bit. But after finishing XIII, I can happily say I have the platinums for all XIII trilogy games.

P.S. If you never played Resonance Of Fate, you should really play it. One of my all time favourite games. I wish Sega would give Tri-Ace some money to make a sequel. I am yet to play Star Ocean - Divine Force, but I plan to later this year.

But to end my short story(lol). Final Fantasy XIII is great, I enjoyed it a lot more than XVI. I liked XV more than XVI as well. For all of XV's faults, there is still something about it that made it feel uniquely Final Fantasy. Something I didn't experience with XVI. Both XV and XVI had shit endings though, dare I say, almost the same endings
 
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Virex

Banned
Dunno why people crying about FF7R linearity when Midgar is a closed metropolis and the linearity shows that. Just like it was in FF7 Disc 1.

This is beating a dead horse but XVI is a good action game but it's a terrible FF game. You have a newfound appreciation for Stranger of Paradise afterward.

Once Rebirth comes out I imagine FFXVI will be one of the most forgettable Final Fantasies. People might even remember FF2 over FF16. No one even thinks about FF2.
Loved every second of it.
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
SE needs to play their old games and see what gamers actually want. Rebirth seems like the right direction so far. SE needs to start working on AA projects and revive some old franchises and maybe experiment with new IPs.

But they kinda just success coast on Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest.

Ironically I think the best game they published recently(kind of a stretch) wasn't even made by them and that was NieR Automata by Platinum Games and Yoko Taro.

But I think after the Enix merger they lost a lot of talent.

-------------------

I also think carbon copying the FFXIV design philosophy was a huge mistake. But that's Yoshida for you. He's a one trick pony.
 
Final Fantasy XIII and Resonance of Fate came out roughly the same time. And after I finished XIII I started Resonance Of Fate. And I remember enjoying it more than XIII. Resonance of Fate on it's own is one of the best and most unique jrpgs(Remaster is even better). So recently I decided to play through Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2 and LR. And I was shocked with how much I enjoyed XIII the 2nd time I played it(many many years apart.). Even got the platinum this time around. And I enjoyed it a lot and maybe because I'm older I enjoyed it a lot more. Dare I say that XIII is actually fantastic.

XIII-2 I loved when it released and love it still. Lightning Return not so much. But it's still decent, but I think Lightning overstayed her welcome a bit. But after finishing XIII, I can happily say I have the platinums for all XIII trilogy games.

P.S. If you never played Resonance Of Fate, you should really play it. One of my all time favourite games. I wish Sega would give Tri-Ace some money to make a sequel. I am yet to play Star Ocean - Divine Force, but I plan to later this year.

But to end my short story(lol). Final Fantasy XIII is great, I enjoyed it a lot more than XVI. I liked XV more than XVI as well. For all of XV's faults, there is still something about it that made it feel uniquely Final Fantasy. Something I didn't experience with XVI. Both XV and XVI had shit endings though, dare I say, almost the same endings
I love ROF but I could never wrap my head around the combat system. One of those games that kind of haunts me because of how much it appealed to me but I'd always hit a wall relatively early on and couldn't progress further.
 

Virex

Banned
I love ROF but I could never wrap my head around the combat system. One of those games that kind of haunts me because of how much it appealed to me but I'd always hit a wall relatively early on and couldn't progress further.
Just keep playing and spend some time in the arena. Eventually it starts making sense, and when it does. It's a shit ton of fun. I love the game so much
 

NewYork214

Member
I'd put my list like this. Leaving out few games cause barely remember them LIKE FF13 and FF8. Never finished 15. Nostalgia will always keep FF9 on top

FF9
FF7
FF16
FF10
FF12

15s combat was extremely fun for me. Once you master the skills and can mix them, I came up with so many awesome combos.
 
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FFXVI is a good game, but not a good Final Fantasy game.

I hope Square Enix continues developing future FF titles in the action-heavy style of Final Fantasy XVI.

But I'm also thinking that maybe they move forward with the ATB mechanics from FF7 Remake in the next mainline entry.
 

ungalo

Member
It's probably the closest thing to a DMC game we'll get for the next 5 years or so. I would have already played it if it wasn't PS5 exclusive.

At least they didn't go for a shitty Souls-like or something like that. I mean, this kind of action game is already so rare, and when i see the reactions i guess it's basically dead now, what a shame.
 
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Astral Dog

Member
It's probably the closest thing to a DMC game we'll get for the next 5 years or so. I would have already played it if it wasn't PS5 exclusive.

At least they didn't go for a shitty Souls-like or something like that. I mean, this kind of action game is already so rare, and when i see the reactions i guess it's basically dead now, what a shame.
Actually there has been a kind of small rebirth, things certainly aren't as dire as they were during the late PS3/360 years and start of 8th gen at the very least the genre has been adapting into action RPGs like FFXVI, FFVIIR,Kingdom Hearts,Nier Automata Dragon's Dogma and the traditional character action sagas Devil May Cry and Bayonetta , plus Astral Chain wich was a rad new type of Action game.if we can get Team Ninja to make a decent Ninja Gaiden reboot things will be fine

Its just that making this type of Action game requires a lot of talent and not many developers know to craft it, but definetly some companies are still interested in following the stylish Action direction no matter what certain fanboys say 👍
 
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Roxkis_ii

Member
Man, I finished the Bahamut Fight, and it had my jaw on the floor, but I dropped the game after that. For as cool as that fight was, the side quest are incredibly boring. Maybe my problem was trying to do them all, because man, they really burned me out.
 

Madflavor

Member
Top kek, FF7 Remake is more FF13 than FF10. At least, FF10 story don't need 3 episodes to achieves.


FF7 R

show


vs

FF16

final-fantasy-16-xvi-dhalmekia-map.jpg




final-fantasy-vii-remake-intergrade-ps5-5cb54d1f.jpg

Final-Fantasy-7-Remake-l%C3%A9viathan-3.jpg

B9723230259Z.1_20200416145105_000%2BGF6FSSSCB.1-0.jpg

5286C4C0-5540-4854-9AC4-BEF6EFDA9CB5-scaled-1.jpg


So colorful man...

bleu-turquoise-75ml.jpg




Otherwise, you're talking about a game that hasn't even been released yet and of which it ALREADY benefited from an episode and whose UNIVERSE was already written (story, music, characters) 26 fucking years ago

Blame FF16 for being “less good than FF7”, because it tries to do something entirely new and compare it to an episode which has benefited from dozens of spin-offs, novels, OAVs, mobile games. This is really bad faith...

I was talking about what we saw in Rebirth’s trailer, and you posted a bunch of “gotcha!” images from Remake. How does this disprove what I said?

Those are some pretty pictures you posted, but all that effort for nothing. Damn.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
As much as I love 16, I do think all future numbered FFs should incorporate these elements as an absolute baseline to give the game design some continuity. It may help resolve the fanbase being so split.

I've hardly seen any negativity against Rebirth since the new trailer probably because it's ticking so many boxes for fans.

Rebirth will probably have its issues but so far it does look very good.

FFVII R was already good on the gameplay side, in my opinion, I absolutely loved the combat and party control. And its materia system. FFVII R however was stuck in midgar which felt extremely padded out if you played the original game. Rebirth shows scenes of everything up to Nibelheim so there should be more variety at least and ofcourse much more party members so also freedom there. OG FFVII had fixed parties for the Midgar portion too.
 

Doom85

Gold Member
I was talking about what we saw in Rebirth’s trailer, and you posted a bunch of “gotcha!” images from Remake. How does this disprove what I said?

Those are some pretty pictures you posted, but all that effort for nothing. Damn.

Not to mention, I got halfway through XVI. The section of VII Remake where Cloud, Barret, and Tifa have to navigate upward to reach their target for the second bombing mission offered more exploration and puzzle solving than any of the sections in XVI. XVI’s exploration amounts to ”run to a corner of the map and find a few more of the crafting material you already have way too much of!”

Also, at least you got to go the areas highlighted in VII Remake.

XVI, on the other hand:

Me: Ooh, that city with the giant crystal next to it, can’t wait to go to it!
XVI:

Not Happening Ufc 211 GIF by UFC


Me: Well, that sucks. Oh hey, a desert city, and the cutscenes have my characters in it. Okay, now surely this place I’ll get to-
XVI:

go away gtfo GIF
 

Azelover

Titanic was called the Ship of Dreams, and it was. It really was.
It's not a bad game, but it's also not great. Bring Sakaguchi back SE. End of your problems.
 
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K' Dash

Member
The fact that you need to say it screams “validate my opinion!”. But no, the game is at its best moments, mediocre.
 
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After just completing this the other night - my thoughts in no particular order:

Positives
  • Characters/Voice Acting
  • Story
  • Music
  • Art - Areas/Characters/Enemy/Eikon/Boss Design
  • Ability to respec/redistribute ability points as needed

Negatives
  • Pacing is super linear and no incentive to explore
  • Repeated predictable combat situations
  • Side quests are mostly pointless and rewards, save for a few are useless, boring back and forth dialogue
  • Party members are pointless, no ability to gear them or adjust skills

I really wanted to love this game, but it's so polarizing if I'm honest. It has some amazing visuals and set pieces, especially the Boss and Eikon fights, but it's dragged back down into mediocrity thanks to the list of negatives.
Most all sidequests were done, and I clocked just over 30 hours - but it felt like 60. I was more forcing myself to finish the game rather than looking forward to playing it.
There were multiple times I literally drifted off to sleep playing this game and I found myself always advancing the dialogue just to speed things up.
Doubt I'll ever replay unless they have some decent DLC that expands on the story where the ending left off with some mystique.
 
The problem is that FF used to be fabulous, and Square has failed to recapture that quality for decade(s?). Being "good" ain't enough, and as such, it'll be perceived as a disappointment by many.

It's a general issues with big games though. In the past few years, I'd argue that none of the big games really delivered on their promise to be generation defining, besides Elden Ring and Zelda TOTK.
I would argue the last "fabulous" FF title was X. So it's been more than 20 years since then. FF is greatly diminished from it's glory days, and in that environment, FFXVI is one of the best titles of the post-X era.
 

shamo42

Member
It was a 5/10. So, Redfall level.

Same here.

  • "Battle system" never gets more complex than in the demo
  • Most boring dialog in a long time. Even some of the main missions feel like low effort side quests
  • Absolutely stupid level design when it comes to navigating from one place to another
  • Didn't die once. Not even at the final boss. All helps disabled. WTF! I'm not even good at games like DMC.

This was all "easy mode" style over substance with a boring AF story BS.
 

Beechos

Member
I'm currently in a part where I'm taken hostage by kupka not sure how far into the game. It's been a slog ever since it went open world at this point I'm trying to force myself to finish it. The intro part of the game hit hard and had me hyped for the rest of the game with it's games of thrones story but it kinda fell apart. Best way i can describe it is to compare it to the badass mgs v intro, after escaping the hospital the game falls off a similar cliff only saved by its God tier gameplay which ff16 doesn't have.
 
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