Active Time Lore Is The Best Part Of Final Fantasy 16

I’ve been excited to play Final Fantasy XVI for ages, however after listening to about Game of Thrones‘ affect on the sport, I used to be afraid I’d be overwhelmed by dense fantasy lore. While worldbuilding will be so simple as creating fictional characters and cities, some creators dive in deeply, crafting pantheons of gods, a whole bunch of years of wars and battle, and even complete languages. While it makes the world extra plausible, it may be extremely disorienting for an viewers to be thrust headfirst right into a sea of unfamiliar correct nouns, particularly earlier than they’ve an opportunity to get to know the world’s characters. Lucky for me, the builders behind Final Fantasy XVI fully anticipated this and launched an answer: the Active Time Lore mechanic.

During any cutscene in FFXVI, you may maintain the touchpad on the DualSense controller to conjure up a glossary of definitions and character bios related to that second within the story. It’s good for while you neglect a personality’s title or wish to refresh your reminiscence of which nation is which. And as a result of it solely discusses phrases related to that second within the cutscene, it is approachable and digestible, limiting itself to a handful of definitions at any given time.

When activated exterior of a cutscene, energetic time lore will inform you related particulars about your location and place within the story.

Active time lore has additionally allowed me to recollect sure particulars about FFXVI’s world of Valisthea by associating them with photographs. Even although I’ve no listening to points, I all the time have subtitles on as a result of I can course of names and locations way more simply if I can inform how they’re spelled. Active Time Lore takes this one step additional by letting you check out the fantasy time period in query.

For instance, nation names are offered with a picture of their flag, so I’ve been capable of shortly make the affiliation between a number of nations and their respective flags’ major colours, although I’m only some hours in. And characters are all the time offered with a picture of their face, so folks unhealthy at associating names with faces might need a better time remembering who’s who.

The Active Time Lore mechanic would even be helpful if you happen to took an prolonged break from the sport. Whether you bounced off or simply acquired busy with different issues in your life, everytime you come again, you may refresh your reminiscence on essential characters and occasions way more shortly than earlier Final Fantasy titles.

To go much more in-depth and study story parts you might need missed throughout a cutscene, you may go to Harpocrates and his Thousand Tomes in Cid’s Hideaway, a hub discovered early within the recreation. As you go to him all through your journey, you may inform Harpocrates concerning the belongings you’ve seen and the folks you’ve got encountered, and he’ll replace his archives accordingly. Not solely does the Thousand Tomes will let you assessment any Active Time Lore entry, however it additionally gives fast strategies for different entries you would possibly wish to brush up on. For instance, the entry for “Eikon” would possibly hyperlink you to “Dominant,” “Magic,” and “Crystal.”

In principle, you may simply Google all of the fantasy nouns you want a refresher on, however I’m glad to keep away from that. For one, that is simply far more handy. Even if it will solely take a number of seconds to whip out my cellphone, I’d a lot fairly have it on the faucet of a button, particularly when I haven’t got to guess the best way to spell made-up phrases. The web can also be rife with spoilers. Even one thing as innocuous as typing a personality’s title right into a search engine will usually instantly fill in strategies spoiling dying scenes or plot twists. Active Time Lore updates entries as you progress by way of the story, generally even creating entries for characters you do not know the title of but.

This Active Time Lore system can also be, crucially, a very non-obligatory mechanic. If you get pleasure from being dunked headfirst into Valisthea’s pool of nations and characters, extra energy to you! You by no means want to make use of Active Time Lore, however it’s all the time an choice simply in case you neglect which nation is a Duchy, which is a Republic, and which is a Kingdom. And whereas the story is absolutely understandable in any other case, this offers the writing staff just a little extra room to inform the story with out large dumps of exposition.

While it won’t be an enormous deal for some, Active Time Lore is considered one of my favourite issues about Final Fantasy 16 and an excellent instance of why I like experiencing tales by way of video video games. It takes benefit of the interactive nature of the medium to deepen my understanding of the story; it isn’t only a story I get pleasure from that additionally takes place in a online game, however a narrative I get pleasure from as a result of it takes place in a online game. Make no mistake – I’ve loved Final Fantasy 16 much more particularly due to this mechanic. Knowing each character’s title and their allegiances actually helps me skip previous the lore barrier I used to be afraid of and correctly get invested within the plot.