Final Fantasy XVI Goes Full-On Action Game Spectacle, And It Rules

For greater than a decade, Final Fantasy has been step by step shedding components of its turn-based RPG roots and embracing a extra action-oriented course. It was solely a matter of time earlier than that target motion took priority over the role-playing components, and it seems that Final Fantasy XVI is lastly the second the ratio has flipped. As a longtime fan of the standard Final Fantasy video games, I wasn’t fairly certain what to consider this improvement. The turn-based classics are nonetheless a few of my favourite gaming experiences of all time. But after an intensive hands-on with the sport, I’ve come round on this course for the sequence, or no less than this entry in it. If Final Fantasy is an motion franchise now, no less than it is shaping as much as be a rattling good one.

This is not to say that the sport lacks fantastical components like legendary beasts and magic spells, however these are used to enrich the story and motion, reasonably than as a layer of menu abstraction. In the fictional, high-fantasy world of Valisthea, an especially small variety of mortals are innately gifted as Dominants–hosts for supernatural Eikons, which longtime Final Fantasy followers will acknowledge as summoned creatures like Ifrit and Ramuh. Eikons are primarily weapons of mass destruction, and the assorted nation-states use their Eikons as symbols of their energy and tradition. The Dominants are revered, feared, and generally even exploited by their respective nations because the implied risk of the Eikons retains different nations in test. The protagonist Clive’s brother, Joshua, was given a spot of honor because the Dominant of Phoenix, the side of fireplace. Clive’s journey is one in all revenge, as an assault from an invading military and a mysterious, beforehand unseen Eikon left his youthful brother lifeless.

My play session befell when Clive was in his 20s, obsessive about vengeance, and throwing his lot in with revolutionaries who need to overthrow the social order. This phase of the story tightly centered on simply three main characters, which helped illustrate how the political and magical machinations play out amid interpersonal relationships. Clive was accompanying Cidolfus Telamon–this recreation’s Cid, one other Final Fantasy mainstay–who is each a freedom fighter for magical refugees and the Dominant of Ramuh, the side of lightning. Their mission introduced them to a fortress guarded by Benedikta Harman, the Dominant of Garuda, side of wind–and apparently, Cid’s outdated flame. Clive was additionally accompanied by his loyal and very-good-boy canine Torgul, who acts as a continuing companion character in battle.

If it looks like I’m focusing closely on the story, it is as a result of I discovered that side fascinating proper from the beginning. The finest fantasy tales use fantastical components to say one thing concerning the human situation, and nation-states having entered an uneasy chilly warfare as every of them harbor their very own private dwelling, respiratory WMDs is an enchanting hook that feels relatable to real-life conflicts. The indisputable fact that some nations worship their Dominants and others imprison them as dwelling weapons speaks to the breadth of how we deal with issues we do not perceive. On prime of all that, these superpowered beings have their very own human lives and relationships, which provides one more wrinkle to each interplay. It’s the interaction of all these disparate components that stands out probably the most, and made me care concerning the characters as I explored.

An partaking story would not quantity to a lot with out a sturdy battle system to again it up, and on that entrance, I used to be extra skeptical. In Final Fantasy XVI you management one character, Clive Rosfield, and your complete story revolves round his perspective as he matures over the course of a long time. The singular concentrate on Clive as the only real protagonist–sometimes however not at all times flanked by AI-controlled companion characters–seemed to point a de-emphasis on juggling instructions from celebration members with disparate ability units, which is a part of the enjoyment of a standard Final Fantasy recreation. FFXVI replaces this degree of strategic depth with a battle system that feels naturally action-focused, however with the underpinnings of selection.

As Clive proceeds by the story, he picks up talents from the totally different Eikons he encounters. This does not make him their Dominant, however it does imply that his combating type can be imbued by magical thrives that embody their distinctive traits. For the demo, he had the blessings of Phoenix (fireplace), Garuda (wind), and Titan (earth). You can swap between these on the fly, and use their distinctive spell talents to enrich your array of melee assaults. Phoenix, for instance, is especially agile and capable of shut gaps, whereas Gerudo is healthier for air-juggles and reaching out with its harpy-like claws to seize enemies from afar. Titan feels very totally different from each of those, with heavy assaults that usually require a short cost to ship their full affect.

The fight system not solely permits however calls for that you simply swap between these talents, since every of them has its personal cooldown that can be in numerous states of recharging whilst you swap to a different. But the cooldowns had been beneficiant. You’re clearly supposed to make use of the complete suite of strikes shortly, and to swap between them continually. At first, I discovered swapping between these disorienting–especially after I would faucet a Titan capability, having forgotten that it requires a charged button-hold as an alternative. But after solely a few hours it felt far more pure, and I might see room for a large amount of flexibility to the system.

Each of the Eikon talents, together with Clive’s normal melee assaults, has its personal improve tree. I explored the tree and upgraded just a few strikes, unlocking new fight talents and enhancing the power of a few of my favourite strikes. Choosing which Eikons to equip and how you can improve them seems as if it would present ample strategic decision-making within the moments between battles. If something I used to be spoiled for selection, because the improve choices regarded like equally thrilling and enjoyable methods to combine up my arsenal of strikes. Those decisions then repay with white-knuckled fight whenever you’re within the thick of the struggle.

Square Enix boasted that it introduced on Devil May Cry veteran Ryota Suzuki as its battle designer, and the moment-to-moment melee fight blended with magical ranged talents definitely felt paying homage to Dante and Nero. The recreation that the majority got here to thoughts after I performed, although, was one other motion franchise, God of War. That’s as a result of the melee battles are punctuated by Eikon battles–uniquely constructed motion set-pieces that really feel markedly totally different than the usual battles, and are notably thrilling.

While traversing the fortress, I got here face-to-face with Benedikta, an enjoyably scenery-chewing antagonist with dramatic aptitude. Benedikta first referred to as on the side of Garuda to a restricted diploma, turning right into a superpowered demi-human model of herself with wings. Cid met her in variety, half-transforming into Ramuh, leading to a conflict of superpowered beings that also regarded roughly like their human characters, and nonetheless appearing with their very own human motivations.

The ensuing battle concerned combating two different harpy-like creatures that she summoned and later known as her sisters, after which progressed to combating her in half-Eikon kind on a tower rooftop. It was a check of ability for all I had realized as much as that time, whereas additionally tossing in cinematic story components. One second, when Torgul leaped to my protection, clenched his jaw round Benedikta’s neck, and spun round twice, was an actual fist-pumping second for me, which is not a sense I typically affiliate with this franchise. Her injuring after which tossing my canine pal apart whereas spitting a curse (“f***ing dog!”) made me that rather more decided to destroy her.

Of course, this all led to the true set-piece second, an Eikon-on-Eikon battle between Ifrit and Garuda. Like all Eikon battles, this was crafted to be its personal distinct encounter, pitting Ifrit’s agility and brute power towards Garuda’s capability to manage the battlefield with the wind. And it was an absolute blast, a kaiju battle come to life, with all of the dramatic underpinnings of the human story that had knowledgeable it. The uniqueness of the encounter meant that I used to be largely studying its mechanics on the fly, however this did not really feel prefer it was meant to be difficult like the standard melee fight. Instead, it was made to be a spectacle, and one thing to reward all of the efforts main as much as that time.

To the extent that this new, extra action-heavy focus would possibly delay longtime followers of the sequence, Square Enix has provide you with a fairly ingenious variable problem system. Final Fantasy XVI has a Story Mode, however not like many video games that use that title for a better problem degree, it as an alternative merely activates a few useful assists. Those assists can be found whether or not you selected Story Mode or not, so turning that mode on merely makes them the default. But it is precisely how these assists are carried out that makes the system so sensible.

Instead of menu choices, the assists are offered as a sequence of 5 particular rings that grant various kinds of help. One of them simplifies fight in order that merely urgent one button robotically controls your combos, for instance, whereas one other extends the window for a profitable dodge. You can equip these rings in your three accent slots, however meaning you may at all times have extra rings than you have got area to place them in. You’ll have to decide on which, if any, to make use of to make fight simpler on you. This additionally presents a chance price, as every slot taken up by one of many help rings is one fewer accent you need to use to customise Clive’s different talents. The entire system appears considerate and chic, letting you continue to really feel the joys of fight whereas gently nudging you towards eradicating the coaching wheels as you get extra comfy.

This new concentrate on motion fight does come at a value, although. Square Enix has already acknowledged that Final Fantasy XVI does not use an open-world construction, which can take away a number of the expansive scope and awe of a standard Final Fantasy recreation. My play session consisted of a reasonably easy degree design with solely temporary side-paths to find some treasures after which proceed alongside the principle path. The producers famous that the complete recreation has wider areas, which ought to present a way of exploration, however I did not expertise them for myself.

A narrower degree construction may be the character of this style shift. As Final Fantasy XVI crosses the edge into full-fledged motion spectacle, some elements are certain to really feel totally different than RPG followers have grown accustomed to. For this RPG fan, although, the change of tempo is welcome. Who is aware of what the long run holds for Final Fantasy, however I’m satisfied that that is the fitting course for this entry within the franchise. I went in as a doubter, and I got here out as a real believer, desperate to expertise the journey.

(This is a particular model made for media to expertise, and contents could differ from the ultimate model.)