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[Lokaum D+]

Think I will put on the dog ring. He does nothing and all I do is get damage or waste my potions because using this guy on dpad is nonsense.

U need to use dogo at the end of ur combo, so ■,◇,■,◇,■,◇,■,◇, up or ●,■,■,■,■,◇, up and at the start ●,■, down, ●,■,■,■,■,◇, up for an opening ( ◇ is triangle ), dont use ur dogo mid combo or u ll get lost thats how i got used to dogo

 

[Whitecrow]

HDR users, just use HGIG or no tonemapping.

The game is dark, if you use DTM to compensate, thats gonna ruin a lot of other scenes.

Deal with the darkness. You would do a disservice to yourself the other way.

 

[fart town usa]

Think I will put on the dog ring. He does nothing and all I do is get damage or waste my potions because using this guy on dpad is nonsense.

Managing items on the fly in Souls games prepared me for Torgal. You gotta do the claw technique to hit the up/right/down d-pad. That's my advice. Of course you don't need to hold the claw position ad nauseam, just when you want to control Torgal. For me, the healing is about useless at this point in the game. i mostly use him for wasp enemies, the bottom button causes him to leap in the air and knock them down for you.

 

[Schmendrick]

The longer I play this the less I get the hyperbole surrounding this as well as the 9-10 scores.

The structure is stuck in the 90s ....
Cutscene -> run through tiny static dead level -> find random generic enemies in tiny static level -> kill them in a flashy way -> Cutscene.
The combat is braindead, even with all rings off...but at least it looks good.
All sidequests combined and a good chunk of the main quest could have been a singular boring email.
Exploration? None.
Visual quality? Highly uneven. From drop dead gorgeous to "this looks like they ran out of bduget half way through" everything is in there.
Story pacing...what pacing...but it`s cheesy FF so I expected that and could live with that if it wasn`t for all the other nonsense....
By far the best (tiny) parts are the eikon fights, those are spectacular. If I could skip everything else and just have the eikon fights lined up as some kind of Boss Rush mode I´d absolutely do that at this point....if it wasn`t for those I´d have already dropped the game.
6-7 / 10 for me.

 

[Perfo]

HDR users, just use HGIG or no tonemapping.

The game is dark, if you use DTM to compensate, thats gonna ruin a lot of other scenes.

Deal with the darkness. You would do a disservice to yourself the other way.

That's exactly what I want. But brightness 5 still too strong but less is too dark lol. Whatever I'm done with this I'll stick with current settings and forget forever or I'll never enjoy this game.

In other news… the forest is so pretty

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

5 hours in and holy shit, this is the best and most epic dark fantasy game since The Witcher 3. Combat, cutscenes, music, art… It just works. Im having that absolutely forgotten feeling of a coherent Final Fantasy with a sense of purpose and that is not a remake.

Also really digging the English VO direction without random ohs and ahs, and purposefully antiquated speech. Plus the casting itself is just amazing, especially Syd.

I fully expect that some people will hate the unconventional elements like combat or a ability tree that you can comprehend without reading a manual, but so far it's the most fun time that I had with an original title of series since VIII.

 

[fart town usa]

The longer I play this the less I get the hyperbole surrounding this as well as the 9-10 scores.

The structure is stuck in the 90s ....
Cutscene -> run through tiny static dead level -> find random generic enemies in tiny static level -> kill them in a flashy way -> Cutscene.
The combat is braindead, even with all rings off...but at least it looks good.
All sidequests combined and a good chunk of the main quest could have been a singular boring email.
Exploration? None.
Visual quality? Highly uneven. From drop dead gorgeous to "this looks like they ran out of bduget half way through" everything is in there.
Story pacing...what pacing...but it`s cheesy FF so I expected that and could live with that if it wasn`t for all the other nonsense....
By far the best (tiny) parts are the eikon fights, those are spectacular. If I could skip everything else and just have the eikon fights lined up as some kind of Boss Rush mode I´d absolutely do that at this point....if it wasn`t for those I´d have already dropped the game.
6-7 / 10 for me.

Agree completely. Not even a hater, I haven't been engaged with the FF series for ages so it's not like I'm big mad that it's a full on action game.

It seriously plays like a PS3/360 game, that in itself isn't a bad thing whatsoever but the combat truly is mindless compared to other action games. Exploration too, even the areas that are "open" are tiny and there's nothing to do, just an occasional item or wooden box to open. The story is edgelord grim dark stuff and the side missions are just goofy and don't match the grim dark vibe at all.

Last night I realized that it's just a purely cinematic action game, nothing wrong with that but not exactly the type of game I seek out. I truly don't understand the 10/10 or GOTY talk, it's not even game of the week for me, lol.

I will say though, the best thing about FFXVI for me is that the demo got me thinking about FFXIII so I booted up an old save and made it to Gran Pulse Wednesday night. I actually wish I was playing FFXIII but I'm so intrigued by FFXVI due to the praise it's getting, I'm curious if the game becomes anything more than what it is. I don't think it's going to change much, it is what it is.

Again, I don't think the game is awful but it's just kinda big, loud and dumb. Square went all out for the mass appeal aspect. I'm glad it's so easy so far because there really isn't much that would keep me engaged if the combat was super brutal. I imagine this is what binging a TV show must feel like.

 

[saintjules]

The longer I play this the less I get the hyperbole surrounding this as well as the 9-10 scores.

The structure is stuck in the 90s ....
Cutscene -> run through tiny static dead level -> find random generic enemies in tiny static level -> kill them in a flashy way -> Cutscene.
The combat is braindead, even with all rings off...but at least it looks good.
All sidequests combined and a good chunk of the main quest could have been a singular boring email.
Exploration? None.
Visual quality? Highly uneven. From drop dead gorgeous to "this looks like they ran out of bduget half way through" everything is in there.
Story pacing...what pacing...but it`s cheesy FF so I expected that and could live with that if it wasn`t for all the other nonsense....
By far the best (tiny) parts are the eikon fights, those are spectacular. If I could skip everything else and just have the eikon fights lined up as some kind of Boss Rush mode I´d absolutely do that at this point....if it wasn`t for those I´d have already dropped the game.
6-7 / 10 for me.

You can only ever entertain the scores/reviewers for so long. I usually look at pros and cons now of a game.

I'm only a few hours in. I haven't felt anything that was "mind blowing" to me yet. I believe those pieces are there though overall, just have to get to them.

The combat is fun and should be the highlight of the experience...but fighting in those tight spaces, it feels a bit unnatural at times. That's my only gripe for now.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Ppl complaining about the lack of exploration and quoting XIII at the same time.... WTF is going on ?

 

[Interfectum]

The structure is stuck in the 90s ....
Cutscene -> run through tiny static dead level -> find random generic enemies in tiny static level -> kill them in a flashy way -> Cutscene.

This is modern AAA. God of War: Ragnarok, Star Wars Jedi, etc all suffer from this. Even open world games like Horizon have this but it's masked with a massive open world time waster for you to explore for side quests.

 

[fart town usa]

Ppl complaining about the lack of exploration and quoting XIII at the same time.... WTF is going on ?

It's because people are describing this game in a way that doesn't match up to what the game actually is.

The game is fine and the environments, lighting, and shadows are stunning but the gameplay itself seems like an after thought.

FFXIII has a really fun battle system and will stomp your ass if you don't figure out the best paradigm for each encounter. It's also much more challenging than anything XVI has tossed at me.

 

[Perfo]

Ppl complaining about the lack of exploration and quoting XIII at the same time.... WTF is going on ?

There are a lot of open areas actually I'm not sure what FF people played before except well XV? 16 is already more open than FF7 R.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

The game is fine and the environments, lighting, and shadows are stunning but the gameplay itself seems like an after thought.

It's the most demanding and engaging slasher combat since DMC 5 with tons of depth and builds. But yes, it's not atb or any other RPGsque thing with invisible dices.

I can understand different strokes for different folks, but to call FFXVI combat an afterthought is just a plain lie.

 

[Flabagast]

I have massive issues with the camera which is drifting all over the place as soon as I touch it and gives a very laggy feel as a result.

Anyone else is encoutering this problem ?

 

[fart town usa]

It's the most demanding and engaging slasher combat since DMC 5 with tons of depth and builds. But yes, it's not atb or any other RPGsque thing with invisible dices.

I can understand different strokes for different folks, but to call FFXVI combat an afterthought is just a plain lie.

That's a big negative. I had to play on super easy in DMC5 with auto-combos because that's how much I suck at DMC games. I couldn't even get past some kind of statue combo test in DMC4 so I couldn't progress in the game and had to walk away from it.

I haven't died once in XVI and no I'm not just spamming Square. I'm aware of the swapping Eikon abilities, etc. The game is easy and mindless. That's fine, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that but the hyperbole is parody at this point with what people are saying. That's only why I'm sharing my opinion.

I'd straight up argue that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has a more involved combat system than XVI.

 

[Lokaum D+]

It's because people are describing this game in a way that doesn't match up to what the game actually is.

The game is fine and the environments, lighting, and shadows are stunning but the gameplay itself seems like an after thought.

FFXIII has a really fun battle system and will stomp your ass if you don't figure out the best paradigm for each encounter. It's also much more challenging than anything XVI has tossed at me.

I have to desagree but it ok

 

[Lokaum D+]

There are a lot of open areas actually I'm not sure what FF people played before except well XV? 16 is already more open than FF7 R.

And imo the open areas in 16 sometimes feels more open then FFXV "open world"

 

[ManaByte]

And imo the open areas in 16 sometimes feels more open then FFXV "open world"

They're really just smaller versions of FFXIV's zones.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

They're really just smaller versions of FFXIV's zones.

And that's actually a great way. Really liked the "no big no small" areas in DA: Inquisition. Helps you to actually comprehend the game if you are 34yo with a pre-school son.

For that reason I really think that every big plot-driven RPG should steal Active Lore feature too.

 

[Comandr]

Enjoying the game so far. Two things that really catch me are the exp rate and button mashing. 4 hornets? 12 exp. 5 minute boss fight? 30 exp. Wat?

Replay the area in arcade mode. 2 exp for mini boss. Like- okay fine it tells you that exp is reduced for arcade mode but Jesus what's even the point if there aren't any items or exp worth getting? It feels like this is just actively intentionally wasting the players time.

Arcade mode should be going the opposite direction. Give me harder enemies and better rewards for completing optional content.

The decision to do it this way is fucking baffling.

Also my hand cramps up from just brainlessly mashing the square button. Because ofc I have the combo ring on.

Ring on: play like gigachad Dante.
Ring off: play like me playing DMC.

It's really a no brainer. And before all of you zealots come out of the wood work- they wouldn't have given you the rings if they didn't intend for you to use them. If they intend for me to use them, I'm entitled to complain about their design. Right now, if you aren't skilled enough to play a fast paced action game or have some sort of disability preventing you from manipulating complicated controls, you are being physically punished for it.

Repetitive button presses should have a hold accessibility option. I can't believe this game offers like almost no accessibility options whatsoever.

 

[ebevan91]

Anyone else playing in graphics mode? I started out in performance mode but the frame rate still drops so I just put the game in graphics mode so at least it's somewhat stable and it looks pretty. I'm used to it now after playing for a few hours. I just wish I could turn motion blur off.

 

[fart town usa]

Anyone else playing in graphics mode? I started out in performance mode but the frame rate still drops so I just put the game in graphics mode so at least it's somewhat stable and it looks pretty. I'm used to it now after playing for a few hours. I just wish I could turn motion blur off.

Yea, quality mode for me. I have to agree with DF that quality mode is the way to go.

 

[Lokaum D+]

They're really just smaller versions of FFXIV's zones.

Yeah i know that why i said "feel" cause of the scale

 

[adamsapple]

Am I the only one whose getting a lot of Dragon's Dogma vibes with the NPC art, dialog and world style?

 

[Hypereides]

It's because people are describing this game in a way that doesn't match up to what the game actually is.

The game is fine and the environments, lighting, and shadows are stunning but the gameplay itself seems like an after thought.

FFXIII has a really fun battle system and will stomp your ass if you don't figure out the best paradigm for each encounter. It's also much more challenging than anything XVI has tossed at me.

Having watched FFXVI's story and combat from start to finish has me wanting to check out XIII. Some developer choices in this game just kind of baffle me.

XIII is probably the last "traditional" FF we'll ever get from SE.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

That's a big negative. I had to play on super easy in DMC5 with auto-combos because that's how much I suck at DMC games. I couldn't even get past some kind of statue combo test in DMC4 so I couldn't progress in the game and had to walk away from it.

I haven't died once in XVI and no I'm not just spamming Square. I'm aware of the swapping Eikon abilities, etc. The game is easy and mindless. That's fine, I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with that but the hyperbole is parody at this point with what people are saying. That's only why I'm sharing my opinion.

I'd straight up argue that Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has a more involved combat system than XVI.

I find the combat empowering and fantastic - you 100% have to use your head to survive, it's just that it makes using your head so damn instinctive, that it feels easier IMO.

 

[ManaByte]

I'm convinced Clive is based on young Stallone.

 

[Salz01]

The amount of cut scenes is starting to wear on me, and I'm more and more tempted to skip them….

 

[Interfectum]

The amount of cut scenes is starting to wear on me, and I'm more and more tempted to skip them….

Considering this game is all about the cutscenes, skipping them would basically be skipping the game.

 

[fart town usa]

Having watched FFXVI's story and combat from start to finish has me wanting to check out XIII. Some developer choices in this game just kind of baffle me.

XIII is probably the last "traditional" FF we'll ever get from SE.

XIII is great. The bulk of the complaints lobbed at it are valid; takes too long for the battle system to truly open up, dialogue is cringe, story is convoluted and if you don't read the datalog it's hard to make sense of what's going on. However, the graphics are still stunning, the paradigm shift battle mechanics are rewarding as hell cause the game will seriously mop the floor with you if you aren't going about it correctly, it really forces you to plan ahead and analyze how effective you're being in combat. The OST is also top 3 in the series. The music in XVI is fine so far but has nothing on XIII. The sum of it's parts make XIII a great game IMO.

 

[fart town usa]

I find the combat empowering and fantastic - you 100% have to use your head to survive, it's just that it makes using your head so damn instinctive, that it feels easier IMO.

It's just easy. There's nothing wrong with that though. I'm not trying to dump on the game, the hyperbole is just so over the top that anything contradictory is being read as a negative against the game when that's not the case at all, at least for me it isn't.

It's just a user friendly cinematic action game, nothing inherently wrong with that.

 

[fart town usa]

The amount of cut scenes is starting to wear on me, and I'm more and more tempted to skip them….

I realized earlier that you can hit X and speed through dialogue. I started doing that for NPC quest conversations.

 

[Macaron]

I find the combat empowering and fantastic - you 100% have to use your head to survive, it's just that it makes using your head so damn instinctive, that it feels easier IMO.

Na. The combat is fun, and would be more fun if a higher difficulty was available from the jump, but you don't have to use your head at all. Its very, very easy. Have not died once on Action mode, and I imagine most can say the same.

 

[GHG]

All I'm getting is that people came into this not expecting a final fantasy game for some reason.

Imagine complaining about cutscenes in a final fantasy game.

 

[Roxkis_ii]

Bro, the music in the Greatwood is soo good!
That piano just hits different!

 

[ManaByte]

All I'm getting is that people came into this not expecting a final fantasy game for some reason.

Imagine complaining about cutscenes in a final fantasy game.

I'm sure the same people didn't mind 20 minutes of slow walking and talking in Ragnarok with 2 minutes of actual gameplay here and there.

 

[Sleepwalker]

I for one im glad there's no "open world" I often find traversal through huge maps the worst part of modern gaming. With a few exceptions of course but as a rule of thumb I find myself fast travelling all the time whenever the option is presented.


The little I played of XV was horrible in this regard, go out into the desert kill some mobs walk back to gas station, that shit was straight up horrible.

 

[GHG]

I'm sure the same people didn't mind 20 minutes of slow walking and talking in Ragnarok with 2 minutes of actual gameplay here and there.

Honestly I don't know what people want/expect anymore.

Sometimes it simply boils down to buy/play other games. Why buy a game that doesn't hide the fact that it is very much a story/narrative driven experience if that's not the type of game you want to play? These games aren't hiding what they are, you can even tell from the trailers.

 

[fart town usa]

Honestly I don't know what people want/expect anymore.

Sometimes it simply boils down to buy/play other games. Why buy a game that doesn't hide the fact that it is very much a story/narrative driven experience if that's not the type of game you want to play? These games aren't hiding what they are, you can even tell from the trailers.

I completely agree and that's why I find the praise for this game to be so bizarre.

It's barely an RPG and shouldn't be described as such, the combat seriously feels like baby's first action game, it's linear as hell. None of these things are bad but when you have people acting like it's this ground breaking piece of gaming and the most FF game in years. It's just bizarre as hell, it's doing less than what the PS2/PS3 generation gave us. This game seems 100% designed for the Sony style cinematic action game crowd.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Imagine playing a Final Fantasy game (or ANY RPG for that matter) and wanting to skip the cutscenes. You never fail to amuse GAF

I've been exploring and doing sidequests in a big area for the past 3 hours now, the structure of the game is perfect. I've said before that FF fandom can be absolutely terrible because you've got people who have their one or two faves and shit on all the rest. Guess what? I love *all* of them, yes XIII, yes XV, yes X-2. Switching things up has *always* been a part of this series yet whatever the game they all remain distinctly Final Fantasy, it's no different here.

While I'd mostly agree with the GoT comparisons (and this is a *good* thing, both the books and series are fantastic) let's not forget FF already did this way back in '97 with a little game called FF Tactics. The warring factions, political intrigue, triple crosses, plot twists galore, it did it brilliantly and on a much deeper level. I love what's here though, my criticisms overall are minor when weighed against the glory of the total package. Will reserve my final verdict for when I've actually finished it but loving every second this far.

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

This is fair. I guess the interval for cutscenes has shortened (from what I've played so far, but I'm early), even if the overall structure has remained the same.

This still very much feels like a FF game to me, the only way it differs so far is the new combat system.

They haven't shortened, just that before it was text you had to push through, now instead all of these interactions are cutscenes but I guess it's too hard for people to understand

Final fantasy always was heavy on text interactions, it's nothing new.

 

[GHG]

This game seems 100% designed for the Sony style cinematic action game crowd.

You guys are broken. The fact that you're somehow attributing this to Sony tells me there's more than meets the eye with these comments.

It's a final fantasy game through and through, and is very much in keeping with the structure of classic FF games that so many people grew up with and loved. This is the JRPG formula minus the turn based combat. What do you think in particular FF VII through to X stood for (also FF XIII, and the final fantasy in all but name called Lost Odyssey)? They were cutscene heavy, set piece heavy, graphics heavy (as in "good graphics" for the time) games that quite simply you could kick back with and enjoy the journey. The game dictates pretty much everything and you're just along for the ride. Either you're going to enjoy the experience or you're not.

These games have never been about agency. They've never been about "muh gameplay" (the older ones are all simplistic turn based games for goodness sake). The praise isn't bizarre, the praise is because if you want this style of game with a modern coating there's not much else better out there. Now if you came in expecting a different style of game (e.g. not a final fantasy) then I understand the disappointment, but they never said this was going to be anything other than a final fantasy game.

 

[Freeman76]

The longer I play this the less I get the hyperbole surrounding this as well as the 9-10 scores.

The structure is stuck in the 90s ....
Cutscene -> run through tiny static dead level -> find random generic enemies in tiny static level -> kill them in a flashy way -> Cutscene.
The combat is braindead, even with all rings off...but at least it looks good.
All sidequests combined and a good chunk of the main quest could have been a singular boring email.
Exploration? None.
Visual quality? Highly uneven. From drop dead gorgeous to "this looks like they ran out of bduget half way through" everything is in there.
Story pacing...what pacing...but it`s cheesy FF so I expected that and could live with that if it wasn`t for all the other nonsense....
By far the best (tiny) parts are the eikon fights, those are spectacular. If I could skip everything else and just have the eikon fights lined up as some kind of Boss Rush mode I´d absolutely do that at this point....if it wasn`t for those I´d have already dropped the game.
6-7 / 10 for me.

Its a final fantasy game, people will love ot regardless if its good or not. 13 got slated due to its linear nature, but at least that eventually had a nice overworld to explore. This is even more linear than that yet everyone calls it GOTY (after playing it for 10 minutes). Gaming has changed so much in the last few years. I am so surprised that a FF comes out with minimal rpg elements, its hardly an RPG at all and more of a DMC with FF artwork, yet its ranked by many as their favourite in the series.

Makes no difference to me, people enjoy what they enjoy, but I remember the shitstorm around 13 (which I really liked) and this has even less freedom and seeing the reception to this one is baffling. Its almost like this should have been a standalone side project instead of a mainline entry.

Still, most people are enjoying it which tells me i'm a minority with how I see it lol

 

[b0uncyfr0]

Hmm, skillup did not like it

 

[fart town usa]

You guys are broken. The fact that you're somehow attributing this to Sony tells me there's more than meets the eye with these comments.

It's a final fantasy game through and through, and is very much in keeping with the structure of classic FF games that so many people grew up with and loved. This is the JRPG formula minus the turn based combat. What do you think in particular FF VII through to X stood for (also FF XIII, and the final fantasy in all but name called Lost Odyssey)? They were cutscene heavy, set piece heavy, graphics heavy (as in "good graphics" for the time) games that quite simply you could kick back with and enjoy the journey. The game dictates pretty much everything and you're just along for the ride. Either you're going to enjoy the experience or you're not.

These games have never been about agency. They've never been about "muh gameplay" (the older ones are all simplistic turn based games for goodness sake). The praise isn't bizarre, the praise is because if you want this style of game with a modern coating there's not much else better out there. Now if you came in expecting a different style of game (e.g. not a final fantasy) then I understand the disappointment, but they never said this was going to be anything other than a final fantasy game.

I'm not sure what you're implying with the top sentence.

It's an action game with a skill tree. Nothing wrong with that. If eased up action mechanics and spectacle constitute a mind blowing experience in 2023. Have at it, this is the game for you. I think the game is fun and the environments are stunning but I still say that the hyperbole is approaching parody at this point. It's a PS3 style game with better graphics.

 

[Zheph]

Let's not pretend Final Fantasy is Baldurs Gates either please, the RPG part has always been quite simple.

What's baffling is some of you not accepting people having a blast

 

[EviLore]

Agree completely. Not even a hater, I haven't been engaged with the FF series for ages so it's not like I'm big mad that it's a full on action game.

It seriously plays like a PS3/360 game, that in itself isn't a bad thing whatsoever but the combat truly is mindless compared to other action games. Exploration too, even the areas that are "open" are tiny and there's nothing to do, just an occasional item or wooden box to open. The story is edgelord grim dark stuff and the side missions are just goofy and don't match the grim dark vibe at all.

Last night I realized that it's just a purely cinematic action game, nothing wrong with that but not exactly the type of game I seek out. I truly don't understand the 10/10 or GOTY talk, it's not even game of the week for me, lol.

I will say though, the best thing about FFXVI for me is that the demo got me thinking about FFXIII so I booted up an old save and made it to Gran Pulse Wednesday night. I actually wish I was playing FFXIII but I'm so intrigued by FFXVI due to the praise it's getting, I'm curious if the game becomes anything more than what it is. I don't think it's going to change much, it is what it is.

Again, I don't think the game is awful but it's just kinda big loud and dumb. Square when all out for the mass appeal aspect. I'm glad it's so easy so far because there really isn't much that would keep me engaged if the combat was super brutal. I imagine this is what binging a TV show must feel like.

The mechanics are lacking. Stranger of Paradise is the better game, tbh.

Not even any resource management. If you die you come back with full potions and high potions either at the start of a normal fight or at a recent checkpoint of a boss fight. So just use them and ignore incoming damage, then if you die just respawn back at full resources. Ridiculous.

 

[Freeman76]

Let's not pretend Final Fantasy is Baldurs Gates either please, the RPG part has always been quite simple.

What's baffling is some of you not accepting people having a blast

Typical defense force bullshit

The rpg aspects havent always been 'quite simple'. Try playing them first maybe?

Also, I dont see anyone not 'accepting people having a blast'

For fans of the older FF games this game marks the death as we know it of a series we loved. Not everyone wants toned down linear action games.

 

[Auto_aim1]

I don't feel powerful. I feel exhausted after battles.

 

[fart town usa]

The mechanics are lacking. Stranger of Paradise is the better game, tbh.

Not even any resource management. If you die you come back with full potions and high potions either at the start of a normal fight or at a recent checkpoint of a boss fight. So just use them and ignore incoming damage, then if you die just respawn back at full resources. Ridiculous.

Playing XVI actually has me really interested in SOP.

I saw some other comment saying that SOP has more thoughtful combat and better dungeons. I plan on checking it out at some point.