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[SkylineRKR]

It started out awesome. The graphics are amazing.
The content, as it goes, is absolutely bottom-barrel trash shit. I use the word content, because it is not crafted story and gameplay, it's just filler content shit.
The gameplay is fun, but your build tops out like halfway through, and the mobs and monsters are all the same. It's like 40 hours of the worst garbage fetch quests and interminable dialog intermixed with the same boring mobs, and then a big set piece.

IMO I think it's a beautiful, bad game. Again, the absolute worst set of quests in any game I've played in memory.

It falls inbetween and thats the biggest issue I have with it. It doesn't go all character action, but it doesn't go RPG either. So its coming short on both sides. On top of that, for an action game its way, way too long and there is far too much busywork for literally nothing (no meaningful rewards whatsoever). For an RPG its too shallow, and there is an obvious lack of weaknesses/elements forcing you to change sets according to encounter etc. I think it even was intended to be there at some point as the game does notify you of elements once you get a new power. Your party member basically does nothing. Even Forspoken DLC did this better by giving her finishers once a bar was filled up.

I don't see the appeal of Eidolon battles either. You hit buttons until you hit a treshold and then you do a QTE, what year is this? QTE cutscenes were removed from RE4R for a reason. There is nothing epic about it when the game plays for you.

 

[Minsc]

Same. Judged far too harshly but from plenty with an agenda against it for having action combat and also darker tones. Also got review bombed by a few outlets for not having any diversity and yet still held a metascore of 87, this speaks volumes.

It's a 50-70 hour game with some excellent production values and amazing spectacle. Well done characters and lively world which makes FFXV look like a bit of a joke in comparison. No buckling to the woke mob whilst you have other studios churning out much smaller/shorter games that cater to demands of the mob these days. Yoshida and his team deserve more credit as its a very solid first attempt singleplayer FF and an achievement for such a large scale production. The game lacks some RPG systems and isn't perfect, but I can feel the developers gave it their all and respect that.

No, the game lacks almost ALL RPG systems. There's no elemental damage, no different physical types of damage, there's no difference between magic and physical except for like 1 or two encounters the whole game.

There's no other party members to control or swap in or out in any meaningful manner, this is absolutely ridiculous. Has there ever been a FF game where you only control a single character? I'm not sure, but I don't think so.

There's no crafting/shop system, it's all superficial BS. Here have 100,000,000,000,000,000 lizard eyeballs and goblin cocks and chcocobo heads. And enjoy your unmissable linear upgrade that uses 5 of the eyeballs you have a billion of.

There's no fun areas to explore for secrets, unless you just want more eyeballs and cocks that do nothing.

There's barely any party banter when doing quests and exploring.

There's no jobs/classes/strategies to find and use.

There's no mini games.

There's no chocobo theme song for fuck's sake.

Edit: Oh and it's a $70 game that has some of the worst performance and motion blur I've seen ever.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Has there ever been a FF game where you only control a single character? I'm not sure, but I don't think so.

15? (I know with the Royal Edition they added the ability to unlock control of the Bros, but the original version you only controlled Noctis the entire game)

 

[Minsc]

15? (I know with the Royal Edition they added the ability to unlock control of the Bros, but the original version you only controlled Noctis the entire game)

Ah, I played the Royal Edition so I remember controlling all of them, but that sucks - granted 15 has a pretty poor rep, and is probably my second least favorite Final Fantasy (not counting archaic ones like I/II/etc). I did like it more than XVI.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Man, now that the dust has settled and I have a chance to look back, it seems more apparent than ever that this was supposed to be a much shorter + more focused DMC-style spinoff game that later got reworked into a mainline game. That’s the only explanation I can think of.

Everything but the linear action stages, boss battles, and cutscenes feels like an afterthought that was added just so they could justify calling it Final Fantasy XVI.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

The game was absurdly Game of Thrones.

The good parts. I kept thinking seasons 1-4 of GoT

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Man, now that the dust has settled and I have a chance to look back, it seems more apparent than ever that this was supposed to be a much shorter + more focused DMC-style spinoff game that later got reworked into a mainline game. That’s the only explanation I can think of.

Everything but the linear action stages, boss battles, and cutscenes feels like an afterthought that was added just so they could justify calling it Final Fantasy XVI.

I feel like it would have suffered being too short. I really felt the journey in a great way like when your old guardsman says at the end that he remembers hunting goblins with you and I'm like "Holy shit they developed this world and its relationships" as I remember how shifting and strong the journey has been with each character

 

[Schmendrick]

The game had a few somewhat memorable setpieces, especially what they did with the titan fights was pretty fun at times, buuuuuuut.....
3/4ths of the game`s content was pointless padding in the form of the most boring and basic fetch quests imaginable. This game would have been good, maybe even great if it had been just a linear 10-15 hour campaign, instead it turned out to be bloated mediocrity.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Any game is good in relative to FF15.

Finally Action 52. Your time has come.

 

[Neo_GAF]

played through this game and in the end i found it mediocre.
ff15 had the better story, characters and the GOAT OST.

combat was shit in ff15 and ff16, but the sheer emptiness of attacks in ff16 was baffling.

in the end, i find that ff16 becomes something similar to dragonquest: you see the formular being slightly changed to adjust to new fans but mostly cater to older fans. everything felt dated in this game.

-why the fuck were there QTE?
-villages and towns were quite empty
-nothing to explore
-chocobos were almost absent in ff15, and now in ff16 it was impossible to travel without them
-the hype about the ship-building and then... NOTHING what the fuck, i was so hyped to finally traverse via ship and they didnt fucking include it.
-you couldnt pet jill
-jill and joshua being generic names, in general the english names of everything in the game felt stupid
-i finished all side missions and finished the game within 50hours. i dont remember finishing ff15 alone within 50h.

i think the only thing which stays vividly in my mind were the fantastic domini fights. bravo and kudos to those absolute graphical master pieces.

 

[RobRSG]

I just beat final fantasy xvi last night, and it made me realize a lot of posts on here (including my own in the past) claim it’s a bad game.

Let’s get it right out of the way — the game has issues, but some of these complaints are within other games this year that are getting far more praise. Oddly enough I think those complaints are blown way out of proportion but in context this is a game of its parts and not the overall package that shines.

Issues consist of:
- Awful Side quests. Only a few have some great writing and add to the overall story package. Too many are generic mmo filler. The complaint added to this issue is you often go to point X and stand as two characters just talk to each other…. You mean like in BG3 and Starfield? Difference here is it isn’t a giga close up in first person of awkward facial expressions.

- The game has poor pacing. After playing through all of it , no, it doesn’t. It DOES if you do all the side quests definitely because the game is back loaded. Final two chapters will dump 20+ on you when earlier game would maybe have 3 at most. They needed to be spread out more. The actual story is very well paced and knows how to keep a good roller coaster effect of highs and then chill a little to build back up.

- The game has piss easy combat. Yep. There’s no doubt the combat is flashy and to me was fun, especially once you get more eikon powers to tinker with, but at no point is anything remotely challenging. Even on final fantasy mode in NG+ it is all a joke. Not everything needs to be dark souls difficulty but I would’ve liked a couple bosses or hunts to give me some game over screens.

- The game has no real progression. It’s all on rails progression, and with how easy it is none of the upgrades you get actually matter.

- There is no reason to explore. Chests off the beaten path give you 10 scales for crafting. It’s a lot of empty vistas with a few enemies sprinkled throughout.

- The game could use visual changes to gear equipped not just your swords. Different armors, gauntlets , etc to change up Clive’s look.

- Square needs to stop putting 60% of the lore into books and notes you can read in these games.

————-

That’s the negatives. On paper it seems bad right ? But for me the good outweighs it by a metric mile. You have a game that has a wonderful story, cast of characters that shine, terrific voice acting and music(holy shit that soundtrack slaps) , fun combat to the credits, and some of the highest highs I’ve experienced in a game with boss fights. The sheer scope dwarfs prior attempts like God of War games.

I’ll also add the visuals are top notch, and as someone who loathes 30fps I promise you the quality mode with VRR forced is the ONLY game I’ve ever played where 30fps was buttery smooth. I wish more devs if they do 30fps modes would steal this voo doo magic and used it so it isn’t choppy and weird.

I prefer this game over 15&13, but I don’t think it trumps anything FF12 and prior. It DOES have my favorite protagonist with Clive, and I don’t think any FF game has presented a story better, but other FF have overall better packages. Like mentioned, it’s a sum of its parts.

There’s plenty to improve on here and all reasonable to do that FF17 could be a no brainer GOTY contender when it hits.

What did GAF think ? I dropped the game at the second time skip, but when I came back to it I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. Kupka onwards took the game to 11/10 status, but ultimately the game is a 9/10 for me in a year filled with superb titles like Zelda, BG3, etc.

I encourage anyone who dropped it to come back and finish it when the mood strikes. It’s worth the story payout and to experience the epic boss fights first hand.

Reads like Copium 1000mg.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Reads like Copium 1000mg.

Or a Yoshi P Apologist. Ironically the more I play FFXI the more I dislike current FF with the exception of FFVIIR and SoP.

 

[Minsc]

Also another real red flag for me is on top of 0 exploration there is 0 puzzles or branching maps.

It's literally brainless. Move forward. Fight a mob. Move forward fight another mob. Move forward fight another mob with a mini boss. Move forward fight a mob. Move forward fight a mob. Move forward, fight/watch the cinematic boss.

Every single dungeon is that. There is no variance, or any thinking involved in any of the dungeons, not that you can really even call them that. There's just absolutely nothing to discover on your own.

 

[Mattdaddy]

I liked the game a lot but the criticism was completely valid.

Ultimately for me, all the negatives came across more as just annoyances and ended up being outweighed by the fun I had.

I really liked the world, the story and the lore a lot, the art and environments were really cool. I also really liked most of the characters although I admit Jill was pretty bland. And I actually really liked the combat even though it wasn't difficult. But it was fun and cool, I just enjoyed fighting things.

The boss fights were hands down some of the most epic fights I've ever been in. Like jaw dropping. That final battle.... my god. When that "Hymn of the Penitent" starts playing I was like holy shit lol.

Overall the whole game felt epic, which is what I like in my RPGs. Travelled all over the world doing epic shit getting in epic fights, thats what got my blood pumping. I guess in contrast thats probably why the sidequests were so obnoxious they were so mundane in comparison.

My primary bitching points were the side quests and technical performance. Those side quests were brutal, just a total wet blanket compared to what was going on with the main story. Some of the the most boring, un-inspired, bland time sinks ever.. Backtracking all across the world to collect beans for someones soup in the middle of a global apocalyptic showdown. Take a fuckin hike. If my OCD about being a side quest completionist wasnt stuck in overdrive I would have just skipped them.

And then Im mainly a PC gamer so being forced into 30fps or that dogshit performance mode was an affront to my humanity.

However, that being said... at the end of the day when the overall sum of the game is weighed... I found it way more fun than not despite the above. Id actually like to run through it again but definitely waiting on PC release so I can get them sweet max frames and mod Jill some monster cleavage.

But yeah, if someone ultimately was more bothered by the negatives and didn't enjoy it, I'd understand.

 

[Rickyiez]

Finally Action 52. Your time has come.

I would rather play Action 52 , at least its not offensively bad to me like FF15

 

[DryvBy]

I'm playing through it now. I never pay attention to people's whining on the internet, even my own.

 

[kevm3]

FF 16 is a great game. Possibly my favorite FF ever, if not side by side with 6.

Could it be more 'rpgish' and have better exploration and nuances to combat? Sure, but then again I don't mind all of that fluff being cut out. The highs in FF16 are higher than most games I've played. The 'lows', which is rather mundane towns and landscapes kind of sucks, but it's workable.

 

[Danjin44]

To this this day I still fucking loved FFXVI, if ACVI didn't came out it would have been my GOTY.

 

[Dazraell]

I liked it for what it was, but I think the game peaked after the Titan fight. The entire segment at Waloed that happened in the final stretch was one of my least favourite parts of the game

Boss fights were really exciting, combat was fun, I also enjoyed Clive's journey and GoT-like atmosphere, but as other have said, limited exploration, lack of any puzzles and generic side quests definitely could have use some improvements

 

[GeeseGoose]

I enjoyed the game on my first playthrough. I didn't mind the action combat, but it was not viable for a 60+ hour game. My second playthrough on FF difficulty completely killed any good will I had for the game.

It was missing all but the most superficial RPG elements, the MSQ was ~70% filler, the side quests were ~98% a waste of time. The stagger system is the worst thing to be introduced to any game.

Overall, it needed a competent quest designer and a story editor. I also think that they needed to reflect on whether action combat was appropriate for the length of the game.

 

[Perfo]

Up until the Garuda fight it was peak FF. After that it never recovers. So much potential wasted. I still hope they get another chance at a main entry of sequel to this one so they can properly develop the good stuff and discard what didn’t work.

 

[cireza]

15? (I know with the Royal Edition they added the ability to unlock control of the Bros, but the original version you only controlled Noctis the entire game)

In 15 you are still going around with a full team.

Lightning Returns has only one character, and the game is simply excellent. It can be a great game to compare to XVI and show where the later fails.

 

[Neo_GAF]

Up until the Garuda fight it was peak FF. After that it never recovers. So much potential wasted. I still hope they get another chance at a main entry of sequel to this one so they can properly develop the good stuff and discard what didn’t work.

yeah, i had the same feeling. after garuda, i thought hugo will obliterate me but instead we got delayed shit with nonsense exploration which wasnt even some.

 

[Kaachan]

It's not bad but it's not great. It boils down to being a very meh Final Fantasy game with high highs and low lows and way too many lows

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I think this is honestly my least favorite of the post-NES mainline games.

They all have their pluses and minuses but no other FF made me feel so bored most of the time. The battle system is shallow and easy, the character progression is boring, the loot/crafting might as well not be there at all, sidequests are MMO shit, there’s jack shit to find when you go exploring, most of the dialog is boring and long winded… I literally fell asleep on 4-5 occasions while playing.

Unless the expansions include some substantial enhancements then this will be the first mainline FF game I don’t finish. Not gonna play a bad 70 hour game just so I can experience a few hours of really awesome eye candy + GoT style drama.

 

[Faust]

I have completed the game four times over now. I absolutely adore the game, but it isn’t without its flaws. Despite that, I still will continue to return to it unlike certain other games in the franchise (XIII, II).

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

I have completed the game four times over now. I absolutely adore the game, but it isn’t without its flaws. Despite that, I still will continue to return to it unlike certain other games in the franchise (XIII, II).

X-2, XIII series, XV I have no desire to return to, IV-X, XII, VIIR and XVI I do.

 

[Faust]

X-2, XIII series, XV I have no desire to return to, IV-X, XII, VIIR and XVI I do.

I will Return to any of the games, except for II and XIII unless I am in the mood for feeling pain. I even return to XIII-2 and LR as I enjoyed those two titles.

XVI isn‘t an JRPG, hell it isn’t even an RPG - but it is a damn fun adventure for me with engrossing narrative and characters. Its Side Quests, in terms of gameplay, absolutely suck. However the narrative beats and character moments within are poignant and keep me engaged to finish them. Combat is fun, but only becomes actually engaging once you beat the game once and unlock a mode that wasn’t made for gaming Journalists.

I would love for XVI to get a “royal” edition style release that gives a stronger difficulty from the outset, adds in a few elemental damage buffs/debuffs, and nerfs Odin a bit.

 

[SkylineRKR]

In 15 you are still going around with a full team.

Lightning Returns has only one character, and the game is simply excellent. It can be a great game to compare to XVI and show where the later fails.

LR is great. I did a write up of it some time ago. I never played it before. it has an excellent combat system that takes some skill too. Rather tough game on Normal mode as well. And you can actually make monsters go extinct by beating x amount of them, which in turn makes you encounter an elite and give you a high tier drop.

The systems in this game were actually rather well thought out. Its the best of the XIII trilogy, and also better than XV and XVI. Its a good game, albeit low budget.

 

[cireza]

LR is great. I did a write up of it some time ago. I never played it before. it has an excellent combat system that takes some skill too. Rather tough game on Normal mode as well. And you can actually make monsters go extinct by beating x amount of them, which in turn makes you encounter an elite and give you a high tier drop.

The systems in this game were actually rather well thought out. Its the best of the XIII trilogy, and also better than XV and XVI. Its a good game, albeit low budget.

Fully agree with everything you said. And it is also open and gives you lot of liberty. It is demanding but rewarding, unlike all of these super passive and linear JRPGs we get. I think this my favorite modern JRPG.

It offered meaningful choices like we had in very old games, like Phantasy Star I & II. Where do I go next ? I do I plan for my journey there ? Which outfits and items do I buy (there are a ton and they are expensive) etc... Back to the basics of choices and this was great.

 

[Tell’em Keb]

I aggressively liked it.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I couldn't find the OT for this one. I'm going to pick this up since it's on sale and I was wondering if Quality mode is still the way to go? I remember reading upon launch that performance mode wasn't up to par and it was best played on quality. I'm normally a 60 fps guy but if it's crap I'll do quality. Did they ever patch the performance mode up?

 

[adamsapple]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I couldn't find the OT for this one. I'm going to pick this up since it's on sale and I was wondering if Quality mode is still the way to go? I remember reading upon launch that performance mode wasn't up to par and it was best played on quality. I'm normally a 60 fps guy but if it's crap I'll do quality. Did they ever patch the performance mode up?

Yes, quality mode is still the way to go. Performance has too many drops and it locks to 720p in fights, the visual trade off is too high, IMO.

 

[Arsic]

Sorry to bump an old thread but I couldn't find the OT for this one. I'm going to pick this up since it's on sale and I was wondering if Quality mode is still the way to go? I remember reading upon launch that performance mode wasn't up to par and it was best played on quality. I'm normally a 60 fps guy but if it's crap I'll do quality. Did they ever patch the performance mode up?

Quality yes. If your TV has good VRR the quality will feel silky smooth.

 

[Chukhopops]

Quality yes. If your TV has good VRR the quality will feel silky smooth.

VRR doesn’t do anything at 30 fps though.

Quality is still the better option since Performance mode isn’t locked to 60 fps either on top of looking considerably worse.

 

[Crayon]

Haven't played it. I want to but it's easily crowded out.

But a gree with the broader idea that what's good about game should be weighed more heavily than what's bad about it.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

It's an improvement over XIII and XV but it's still not a very good game overall. The first act was spectacular but the story falls apart very rapidly afterwards and there isn't enough content to justify the combat system (no hidden endgame dungeons or bosses, very limited loot). They tried to reorient the series towards mature fantasy, what it could have been if Square hadn't kicked Matsuno off XII, but they were afraid to commit fully.

 

[NightmareFarm]

Good.... but not great. Yoshi P should stick to MMOs.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Perhaps but it doesn't feel like a final fantasy game.

 

[Valedix]

Being my first FF game from start to finish I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it. I hope for FF17 they keep the amazing music and battle cut-scenes but improve on the side quests and pacing.

 

[Arsic]

Good.... but not great. Yoshi P should stick to MMOs.

I’ll take this over his mmo any day . FF14 is the most boring game I’ve ever subjected myself to.

 

[Kumomeme]

LR is great. I did a write up of it some time ago. I never played it before. it has an excellent combat system that takes some skill too. Rather tough game on Normal mode as well. And you can actually make monsters go extinct by beating x amount of them, which in turn makes you encounter an elite and give you a high tier drop.

The systems in this game were actually rather well thought out. Its the best of the XIII trilogy, and also better than XV and XVI. Its a good game, albeit low budget.

LR is underrated. when it come out people already tired of FF13 and the series already has bad reputation due to its first game so the sequel FF13-2 and LR13 get unfair treatment due to bias of the first game. i loathe the first game even today. that thing is shit trash. but the sequel 13-2 and LR13 is awesome which is surpised me considered it is developed by the same devs. this stark contrast here obviously already mean something.

FF13 and XV is good example of game where devs struggled with development aspect that it affected the main game output. FF13's for example struggled with Crystal Tools issue during development and FFXV also has similliar situation where devs co-develop another new engine alongside it(but it is well controlled than Crystal Tools fiasco thanks to former technical director Julien Mceron that mandated the engine is developed alongside only one game) but that game clearly would benefit for longer time in development as clearly the devs need more time to implement more content properly than what we got today which is release first, patch hole later through patch, DLC and additional media content. that time the company also has severe obsession toward visual which is i can see become priority over anything else during development. to be fair in that time period lot of AAA company out there also was critisized to be overly focused on visual that it cost fundamental creative aspect like gameplay.

but with 13-2 and LR13, we can see what the devs can actually do when they are 'free' from immense technical struggle and shifted their focus priority on most important aspect which is gameplay.

the reuse of asset and reduce game visual also helped the devs to not only speed up their development(just around 1 and half year compared to 5 of first game) but also allowed them add lot of gameplay content properly. for example 13-2 and LR13 finally has proper towns with npcs in it with proper complete story and content package overall. the engine also basically already complete and improved on certain aspect like handling open area unlike the first game where devs probably too occupied with development technical issue that it taken away other most important aspect like implementing fundamental creative element in game design.

this is what actually similliarly happened with FFVII Remake right now as some of same developers are currently working on it. they would reuse some of existing asset available from first game and thanks to UE4/5, they no need to spend lot of time creating own tech and end up struggle due to technical hurdle. they can focused their main priority in development period to the most important aspect like gameplay and writing. their development also quite fast that first and second game took only around 3 years to develop and for Rebirth they even implemented large open area map( i still doubt it is an open world). something that they failed to do properly since 2009.

to summary, backthen lot of people said Square Enix's 'lose its touch' but 13-2 and LR13 proved that they still can do it but as long without unnecessary development struggle to held them back.

 

[SaniOYOYOY]

Its better than 13 objectively, cant even be debated.

I prefer 15 still

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

True

But Akane is best girl

Akane from Ramna is God tier.

 

[Maddoxswe]

Yes it is, easily top 3 game 2023 for me.

 

[Whitecrow]

You have a great action game along with top tier extended-edition CGI FF movie, with top-tier music.

Yes, some dialogue and side-quests can drag the game a bit, but I'd say the package have a lot more higher highs than low lows.

 

[Kikorin]

I finished it last week, did main story and all side quests too. It was my first FF since FFVII and FFVIII (never finished) on PS1.

I liked the graphics that sometimes looks amazing and the characters (Clive and Jill are a good couple, Ultima is awesome), all the main cast was pretty good and I also liked how they somehow tried to give some interesting backstory at the side characters thanks to the subquests. Obviously the OST is absolutely amazing, one of the best I've heard in recent times.

Told that, I think there are some big problems. First, the story is so bland and except for the first and last hours, all the central part is uninteresting. If you compare the plot and writing to something "similar" like Triangle Strategy is not even a contest, a good written and deep story would have made the game much more engaging.

Also, the world is depressing. Ok, it can looks good, but it lack variety. I understand the more mature and dark tone, but I found it too samey.

Combat system is also a problem, since is too basic and half of the game time is spent pressing square button. This game can't decide if is an RPG or an action game and take the worst of both genres, mixing it together for a dull experience.

An interesting variation that could have been the parts where you use Ifrit is underutilized. I understand they probably had not time/budget to animate more of these combats, but still is disappointing is used so few.

It took me 55hrs to finish everything and I can't imagine to play another game in the series soon. Is FFVII remake different? I'd like to buy it in future, but I'm scared of potentially 100hrs of this.

 

[balls of snow]

Nearing the end and yeah its pretty good. I put it below Vii Remake because that combat system is omega good. But better than anything after X. You get some cool lore dumps in the sidequests and some are quite involved like the blacksmith quest chain and most of the alliance questlines.

I agree there is way too many of the busywork sidequests and they should have trim it down to about half as many but I guess the devs being mmo vets they lost sight of pacing in a singleplayer game.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

I finished it last week, did main story and all side quests too. It was my first FF since FFVII and FFVIII (never finished) on PS1.

I liked the graphics that sometimes looks amazing and the characters (Clive and Jill are a good couple, Ultima is awesome), all the main cast was pretty good and I also liked how they somehow tried to give some interesting backstory at the side characters thanks to the subquests. Obviously the OST is absolutely amazing, one of the best I've heard in recent times.

Told that, I think there are some big problems. First, the story is so bland and except for the first and last hours, all the central part is uninteresting. If you compare the plot and writing to something "similar" like Triangle Strategy is not even a contest, a good written and deep story would have made the game much more engaging.

Also, the world is depressing. Ok, it can looks good, but it lack variety. I understand the more mature and dark tone, but I found it too samey.

Combat system is also a problem, since is too basic and half of the game time is spent pressing square button. This game can't decide if is an RPG or an action game and take the worst of both genres, mixing it together for a dull experience.

An interesting variation that could have been the parts where you use Ifrit is underutilized. I understand they probably had not time/budget to animate more of these combats, but still is disappointing is used so few.

It took me 55hrs to finish everything and I can't imagine to play another game in the series soon. Is FFVII remake different? I'd like to buy it in future, but I'm scared of potentially 100hrs of this.

I love 16 a lot but personally put FF7R above it just because I feel the care and attention put into the big cast of characters in that world is top tier.

In terms of comparing the two vs your like/dislikes of 16.... (all my opinion)

-The character potrayal is more old school FF in 7R, similar to 7,8,9,10,13 etc... so I prefer it but I did like 16's as well.
-The OST is also one of the best in 7R like 16. 7R beats 16 for me.
-Part 1 of 7R story has lots of highs and also mundane/bland moments and really picks up towards the end setting anticipation for the next game (it's a warm up), but as the character development is better in my opinon the story overall had me hooked. A lot more hooked considering I'd played the original and it was quite unreal to see the world recreated how it has been
-Part 1 of 7R only takes place in one city, so it lacks variety, however part 2 (Rebirth) will be the complete opposite and looks way more varied compared to part 1 and 16. It looks incredible and is semi openworld and is firmly an RPG.
-For combat overall I much prefer 7R which has character switching and is more tactical. It also has moments of challenge. It's hybrid between action and command based. Best combat in a JRPG ever for me

Going by what you've said I'm not sure if you'd enjoy part 1 of 7R more or 16, but 7R is shorter and isn't confused as to what it is, so I think you should check it out, as I think Rebirth is what you're looking for in an FF (an RPG!). If you do try it just skip all the sidequests.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

This is my first Final Fantasy game and I fucking love it.

I hope they iterate on the foundation laid with this game in terms of gameplay. If we get another FF with this kind of combat system I'll play that one too.