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Final Fantasy XVI | Review Thread

What scores do you think Final Fantasy XVI will get?

  • 0 -10%

    Votes: 6 1.2%
  • 10-20%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 20-30%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 30-40%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 40-50%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 50-60%

    Votes: 1 0.2%
  • 60-70%

    Votes: 5 1.0%
  • 70-80%

    Votes: 20 3.9%
  • 80-90%

    Votes: 188 36.7%
  • 90-95%

    Votes: 243 47.5%
  • 95-100%

    Votes: 49 9.6%

  • Total voters
    512
  • Poll closed .

GymWolf

Gold Member
The game *is* open. It just isn't a generic open world. It uses linear and open zones in tandem with each other to great effect.
Without spoiler, how far it is the first really open zone?

I'm about to fight
benedikta in the church of the fort to reach the fire dominant
 
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Little Mac

Member
Now that the game has been out a few days, how are people liking it? As a game? As a final fantasy RPG? Is the game a system seller?
 

Madflavor

Member
I still see plenty of people giving valid criticism to the game, and among the positive ones many are 9/10 or 8/10 (and we all know what these scores mean as per this image).

My take on the game so far (haven’t reached Clive’s 30s quite yet) is that it has its high highs and some low lows. But its highs are some of the best in the entire series.

The lows on the other hand are certainly a detriment to the game, but nowhere near as bad as some of the lesser entries in the series.

Also from what I’ve seen from people who are in the second half of the game, things like combat, side quests, and gear continue to get better further into the game. XVI might just be a game that takes time to digest for some.
 
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Raven117

Member
Yep. Straight from Kitase himself, director of VI, VII, VIII, and X:


FF can be whatever. Even Sakagichi once suggested something similar, that its still FF as long as the menus are blue lol (CoD campaigns are awesome btw)
Hell yeah! And really think how different ffvi and are (really).
 
Come on dude. FFXVI looks like a CG cutscene half the time
What is with FFXVI and people LYING about it?


No it does not.

FFXVI never looks like a CG cutscene. Ever. The only time it “looks like one” is when the scene is mixed with a bunch of CGI effects, or when the entire shot is CGI aside from the character model(s).

The character models are nothing special at all and people really need to stop pretending.
 
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sigmaZ

Member
What is with FFXVI and people LYING about it?


No it does not.

FFXVI never looks like a CG cutscene. Ever. The only time it “looks like one” is when the scene is mixed with a bunch of CGI effects, or when the entire shot is CGI aside from the character model(s).

The character models are nothing special at all and people really need to stop pretending.
If anyone is praising the character models they are seriously delusional or haven't played any other modern games. The NPCs especially look quite lame.
 

Guilty_AI

Gold Member
so only 88 in metacritic. Is it a disappointment? I am thinking holding out for the PC version.
Based on some (serious) reviews, if you want a character action game with politics/war plot and focus on protagonist, you'll like it.
If you expect any sort of RPG or even just JRPG depth, you'll be disappointed.
 
If anyone is praising the character models they are seriously delusional or haven't played any other modern games. The NPCs especially look quite lame.
I see it frequently from people on gaming forums and on Twitter and I’m just left flabbergasted. I feel like it’s people trying to actively convince themselves that the character models are “amazing.” I’ve seen a tweet of someone seriously trying to say that the character models look better than FFXIII’s CG cutscenes. The delusion is real.

A02IS13.gif
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
6/10 or 7/10 for me so far. Too easy and shallow mechanically as an action game, RPG elements are a joke, generic self-serious writing and very dull characters (with one exception), overlong tedious repetitive conversational cutscenes where morose characters talk about how serious they are to pad the runtime. Some of the worst side quests of the past 30 years. Nice graphics and soundtrack, cool boss fights, bad everything else.
 

SantaC

Member
6/10 or 7/10 for me so far. Too easy and shallow mechanically as an action game, RPG elements are a joke, generic self-serious writing and very dull characters (with one exception), overlong tedious repetitive conversational cutscenes where morose characters talk about how serious they are to pad the runtime. Some of the worst side quests of the past 30 years. Nice graphics and soundtrack, cool boss fights, bad everything else.
Ouch...and I was buying a PS5 for this game. Sounds like I am holding out for PC version.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Ouch...and I was buying a PS5 for this game. Sounds like I am holding out for PC version.
Some people here seem to really like it, but as someone who likes both RPGs and action games, this is not doing it for me in either direction. I'm also generally a fan of political intrigue, historical drama epic fantasy, ASOIAF/GoT, etc., yet the execution here is very dull. This isn't like a Matsuno game where a narrative is being supported by complex worldbuilding. You might get that impression from the prologue/demo, which emphasizes the GoT influence and shows off a lot of political machination, but the rest of the game paints with broad, juvenile strokes: empires bad, freedom good, punch big magical things, bad things happen to the smallfolk and we raise our arms in the air in despair and swear justice, over and over again. Sure, lots of FF games could be described as juvenile, but they tend to have fun characters and plotting so crazy it's charming. XVI insists on dispensing with that in favor of beating you over the head with how bad slavery is and showing you smallfolk being murdered over and over again so that we can have yet another scene of the protagonists reacting melodramatically. One empire invaded another. Okay. There's very little setting any of the states apart since the worldbuilding hasn't been developed enough.

YMMV! But I expect the honeymoon period will wear off quickly for a lot of folks enamored with the graphics and overall presentation.
 
Now that the game has been out a few days, how are people liking it? As a game? As a final fantasy RPG? Is the game a system seller?
It's a cinematic action game. It's fun for what it is but there's no meat to it and the quality/tone is all over the place. Gorgeous environments, NPCs are laughably bad looking and stiff, the voice acting is questionable for all the non-main characters. Melodramatic, low difficulty. It's like a 360/PS3 title when it comes to level design and interaction, being that there's nothing to interact with and not much to do besides run from point A to point B.

Some people love it but the hype does not match up to what the game actually is. It's all spectacle. If that's for you, you'll love it. If you were expecting something else, you'll probably have fun but be like, "wtf am I playing??"
 
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I see it frequently from people on gaming forums and on Twitter and I’m just left flabbergasted. I feel like it’s people trying to actively convince themselves that the character models are “amazing.” I’ve seen a tweet of someone seriously trying to say that the character models look better than FFXIII’s CG cutscenes. The delusion is real.

A02IS13.gif
FFXIII still looks stunning. Booted it up last week and dumped like 15 hours into it. I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing considering the game released in 2009. I'd even say that XIII mouth movements match up better than in XVI. When all is said and done I plan on making a comparison video of XVI, XIII and FF7R. Cause playing all three within a short time period, I'm really curious to see how they would look side to side.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
YMMV! But I expect the honeymoon period will wear off quickly for a lot of folks enamored with the graphics and overall presentation.
People told me same thing with Xenoblade 3 and Bayonetta 3 I still love those games and my feeling haven’t changed in the slightest. I either liked the game or I don’t, I don’t have “honeymoon” phase.
 
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Fake

Member
6/10 or 7/10 for me so far. Too easy and shallow mechanically as an action game, RPG elements are a joke, generic self-serious writing and very dull characters (with one exception), overlong tedious repetitive conversational cutscenes where morose characters talk about how serious they are to pad the runtime. Some of the worst side quests of the past 30 years. Nice graphics and soundtrack, cool boss fights, bad everything else.

I guess make more 'accessible' and target 'modern gamers' wasn't a good ideia after all. I was expecting a good challenge as previous FF I played, but I guess gonna skip this one.
 

SantaC

Member
Some people here seem to really like it, but as someone who likes both RPGs and action games, this is not doing it for me in either direction. I'm also generally a fan of political intrigue, historical drama epic fantasy, ASOIAF/GoT, etc., yet the execution here is very dull. This isn't like a Matsuno game where a narrative is being supported by complex worldbuilding. You might get that impression from the prologue/demo, which emphasizes the GoT influence and shows off a lot of political machination, but the rest of the game paints with broad, juvenile strokes: empires bad, freedom good, punch big magical things, bad things happen to the smallfolk and we raise our arms in the air in despair and swear justice, over and over again. Sure, lots of FF games could be described as juvenile, but they tend to have fun characters and plotting so crazy it's charming. XVI insists on dispensing with that in favor of beating you over the head with how bad slavery is and showing you smallfolk being murdered over and over again so that we can have yet another scene of the protagonists reacting melodramatically. One empire invaded another. Okay. There's very little setting any of the states apart since the worldbuilding hasn't been developed enough.

YMMV! But I expect the honeymoon period will wear off quickly for a lot of folks enamored with the graphics and overall presentation.
How does it compare to FF15? Is it better than Tabatas shot at making a Final Fantasy atleast?
 

krumble

Member
I've only played about 5-6 hours so far but seriously this is the MOST linear experience since FFXIII's corridors I have experienced in a while, feels like a real step back as far as enjoying the environments etc..
didn't need to be openworld, but could have been linked areas rather than all these corridors dressed up as paths through the landscape, I'm liking the narrative so far and characters are growing on me, though after the snore fest that was GoW ragnarok when I got to the part where u take control of the little brother I became SERIOUSLY worried... and wasn't a fan of young Clive's character model and hair.. glad I got past that section.. I know was necessary for the story but was not a great start..
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
How does it compare to FF15? Is it better than Tabatas shot at making a Final Fantasy atleast?
I think XV was more interesting insofar as a lot of effort was put into constructing the world, even if subsequently a lot was edited out. Fantasy lives and dies by its worldbuilding, and XV had a world worth exploring and interacting with. The road trip premise was also different, and you get a chance to bond with the characters, who all had a lot of personality. Mechanically it was kind of broken but if you give it a chance and go in understanding that it was ripped out of development hell and patched together, you can come out enjoying it a lot for what it is. Except for chapter 12 or whatever it was.
 

SantaC

Member
I think XV was more interesting insofar as a lot of effort was put into constructing the world, even if subsequently a lot was edited out. Fantasy lives and dies by its worldbuilding, and XV had a world worth exploring and interacting with. The road trip premise was also different, and you get a chance to bond with the characters, who all had a lot of personality. Mechanically it was kind of broken but if you give it a chance and go in understanding that it was ripped out of development hell and patched together, you can come out enjoying it a lot for what it is. Except for chapter 12 or whatever it was.
Thats why i play Final Fantasy, because the games are usually weird and interesting. FF15 was alright but it is still bottom tier on my RPG list.
 

Ivory Samoan

Gold Member
How does it compare to FF15? Is it better than Tabatas shot at making a Final Fantasy atleast?
Jesus Christ in a handbasket, yes.

FFXV is a steaming pile of garbage that's incoherant unless you soak up all the associated fictional works around it, even then...it's still average at best (I went in super hyped for it too, probably didn't help lol).

This eats FFXV for breakfast, it's fun, combat is intense are empowering and the story is grimdark and very moving (and sad).

If you want an RPG though (and you don't want an action game) then this isn't for you: this is more of an action game than God of War now: but it's so well told and feels like sunshine to play: it's just great.
 
If anyone is praising the character models they are seriously delusional or haven't played any other modern games. The NPCs especially look quite lame.
The side characters (and quite a few of the main characters) look so bad that I’m half convinced that the people claiming that the characters in this game look like CGI are some kind of organised attempt at mass gaslighting to see who joins in.

Add in the fact that most of their voice acting is such a butchering of Northern English accents that it should qualify as a hate crime and I’m struggling to enjoy the side content.

I’m still having fun with the game but it’s definitely quite heavily flawed imo.
 

nowhat

Gold Member
Just lame when the game doesn't work for some. So frustrating to both not play a game you want to and also feel like you're missing out on $70
If you're really having some deep technical issues, contact Sony support. They may be helpful. At least in case of hardware, they really are - my first PS5 worked for like an hour before giving up, replacing it took a little over a week, but there was no added cost to me. When it comes to software though, you really have to make your case, there's no automated system for refunds.

Whatever you do, don't dispute a charge with a credit card or overdraft a debit card. This will get you shitlisted, probably for quite some time. Contact your local consumer protection agency instead.
 

Komatsu

Member
This isn't like a Matsuno game where a narrative is being supported by complex worldbuilding. You might get that impression from the prologue/demo, which emphasizes the GoT influence and shows off a lot of political machination, but the rest of the game paints with broad, juvenile strokes: empires bad, freedom good, punch big magical things, bad things happen to the smallfolk and we raise our arms in the air in despair and swear justice, over and over again.

Yoshida picked Minagawa (of Tactics Ogre and FFT fame) to do the character designs and Kazutoyo Maehiro, who was Matsuno's event/battle planner of choice, to write the scenario and I'm increasingly convinced that a huge opportunity to bring Matsuno back into the fold was wasted. FFXVI would have benefitted immensely from Matsuno's sensibilities and strengths as a writer.
 
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EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Yoshida picked Minagawa to do the character designers and Kazutoyo Maehiro, who was Matsuno's event/battle planner of choice, to write the scenario and I'm increasingly convinced that a huge opportunity was wasted to bring Matsuno back into the fold. FFXVI would have benefitted immensely from Matsuno's sensibilities and strengths as a writer.
Definitely.
 
Yoshida picked Minagawa (of Tactics Ogre and FFT fame) to do the character designs and Kazutoyo Maehiro, who was Matsuno's event/battle planner of choice, to write the scenario and I'm increasingly convinced that a huge opportunity to bring Matsuno back into the fold was wasted. FFXVI would have benefitted immensely from Matsuno's sensibilities and strengths as a writer.
No because then the game would have occurred in Ivalice and most of the stuff that happens in this game wouldn't be possible in that established world.

I like Matsuno quite a bit but his writing style and tone would have been all wrong for this story and setting.
 
If you're really having some deep technical issues, contact Sony support. They may be helpful. At least in case of hardware, they really are - my first PS5 worked for like an hour before giving up, replacing it took a little over a week, but there was no added cost to me. When it comes to software though, you really have to make your case, there's no automated system for refunds.

Whatever you do, don't dispute a charge with a credit card or overdraft a debit card. This will get you shitlisted, probably for quite some time. Contact your local consumer protection agency instead.
Hm I didn't consider the console replacement. I've already talked to them and they made me do this trial and error thing to see if the game worked or not. I'll see what they say after their review
 
😮‍💨...I saw a tweet from a reviewer that i think makes good reviews (didn't saw it tho).

As I have mentioned before, this franchise holds great significance to me....and it has disappointed me several times before.

I was not interested or hyped about it unless scored 90+ on MC and the buzz was "the best FF since Square Soft" and stuff like that.

....i saw like an hour of the game....holy fucking shit....what a disappointment!!
 

Days like these...

Have a Blessed Day
😮‍💨...I saw a tweet from a reviewer that i think makes good reviews (didn't saw it tho).

As I have mentioned before, this franchise holds great significance to me....and it has disappointed me several times before.

I was not interested or hyped about it unless scored 90+ on MC and the buzz was "the best FF since Square Soft" and stuff like that.

....i saw like an hour of the game....holy fucking shit....what a disappointment!!
Who didn't see that coming from a mile away?
 
About 8 hours in or so and can’t believe how restrictive the game feels, like I’m waiting for big FF banner to coming streaming across signifying the game now really begins. This is level design from the 90s with no interactivity, exploration, or interesting vistas. Throw the layer of terrible technical performance and i swear if I didn’t love FF, this is a straight 6.5 of a game. And if I have to fight the auto adjusting camera one more time while running and invoking motion blur….I really want to love this game, and hope it opens up, but fuck, this is not great. Those cinematic set pieces are fantastic, but I’d rather just watch a movie than have to sit back and mash “square”. Tell me it gets better
 
About 8 hours in or so and can’t believe how restrictive the game feels, like I’m waiting for big FF banner to coming streaming across signifying the game now really begins. This is level design from the 90s with no interactivity, exploration, or interesting vistas. Throw the layer of terrible technical performance and i swear if I didn’t love FF, this is a straight 6.5 of a game. And if I have to fight the auto adjusting camera one more time while running and invoking motion blur….I really want to love this game, and hope it opens up, but fuck, this is not great. Those cinematic set pieces are fantastic, but I’d rather just watch a movie than have to sit back and mash “square”. Tell me it gets better
😬.
and i will argue and defend that the FFs for PSX (My FFs) feel more ambitious
 

sigmaZ

Member
About 8 hours in or so and can’t believe how restrictive the game feels, like I’m waiting for big FF banner to coming streaming across signifying the game now really begins. This is level design from the 90s with no interactivity, exploration, or interesting vistas. Throw the layer of terrible technical performance and i swear if I didn’t love FF, this is a straight 6.5 of a game. And if I have to fight the auto adjusting camera one more time while running and invoking motion blur….I really want to love this game, and hope it opens up, but fuck, this is not great. Those cinematic set pieces are fantastic, but I’d rather just watch a movie than have to sit back and mash “square”. Tell me it gets better
Yeah, it's got a very Uncharted without the verticality feel to it. It might be more engaging if the world didn't look so dead and bland. It doesn't look much different from FF15 in that sense. I just finished Horizon FW and while I prefer the story in this, there is a huge disparity when it comes to the environments and character models. lol
 
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