Final Fantasy XVI

If am gonna rate this game only for its combat & the epic fights & boss battles, it will probably get a 10/10. But there’s just some things that i was a little bit let down, I just felt the levels and the world were a little bit restricted and not enough creativity & freedom although the graphics were really pretty and very nice environments. Also not enough verity of things to do other than combat, no puzzles no platforming, or anything interesting 🤨. Enjoyed the story & cutscenes. The side quests were okay the good thing about them it gives you more context & lore and some pretty rewards. Great music & voice acting. And something about the game that makes it feel very luxurious and top quality. So overall mixing the good with the bad i feel this is a solid 8.5 ✨

What a roller-coaster ride all the way through. This easily in my top 3 FF games of all time. The story is hands down my favourite of the series, as well as the best cast of characters in the series. Like 7 Remake, this is one of the few games in the franchise that is actually well written and easy to follow. It helps that they geniusly added the Active Time Lore system where you can pause the game at any point and familiarise yourself with story points you may have missed. Clive is the most relatable and best written protag and my favourite thus far. The game manages to flesh out the world and feel like a grand adventure where you grow and travel and learn with Clive and all his companions on the way, something that FF15 tried to do with it's open world and bromance but ultimately failed due to it's lack of vision. FF16 clearly had a vision all the way through it's development and executed it perfectly. While the combat is so well executed and fun for an action game, where it feels like it rivals the likes of DMC and Bayonetta, there are barley any RPG elements to the system besides levelling up and equipping gear. This is the biggest flaw that made me want to pull this down from a 10 to a 9. The game presents you with the power of 8 Eikons (summons) each representing a different element, however there is no reason to choose one element over another in battles as THERE ARE NO ELEMENTAL WEAKNESSES, something that has been a core part of the battle system of Final Fantasy since the first game and is main driver of strategy for battles. As a result of this, every single battle from the first enemy all the way until the final boss require the same strategy; dodge any attacks and hit them until they are staggered, once staggered use all your strongest attacks for maximum damage. This is the best most efficient way to battle for any enemy or boss. Fortunately the action is so fun that it doesn't feel repetitive considering each enemy has a diverse moveset you'll need to learn to dodge, however I always end up missing the element of strategy during every battle. Even FF15 with it's shallow combat had both elemental weakness as well as weapon type weakness which added at least (some) element of strategy. FF7 Remake had a great mix of real time action gameplay and strategy, and my perfect battle system would be a mix of FF16 with the ATB system of 7 remake. Here's hoping future games do this. On top of the combat, FF16 has some of the best boss fights I've ever experienced in video games ever. I won't go further into detail just take my word for it. Music is some of the best in the series, but of course that is the case as the composer is the legendary Soken who composed F14 which probably has my favourite soundtrack of the franchise. The game took me about 70 hours to complete with all side quests. Most side quests were great and fleshed out the characters and world, but there were still some of the typical pointless side quests you've seen in a lot of games. The best way to describe FF16 is that it has the artstyle of FF12 (my favourite one), the music and world of FF14, the characters of FF5, the storytelling of FF Tactics, and the combat system of Devil May Cry. This turned out to be a great recipe for the next iteration. As a fan of the FF franchise, I highly recommend this to both old school fans and newcomers alike.

Final Fantasy 16 is a cinematic-playable experience (which is a complement of course... well mostly.) However, it has suffered from Square Enix's common mistakes as in poor investment in RPG elements and Open-world building, as well as pretty meh side quests.. still this is a solid 9.

A solid and fun game. I really enjoyed my time with this one. An intoxicating mix of Final Fantasy, DMC, God of War and Sony first party magic.

A long, but worthwhile story. It gets a ten because of the final battle and ending. It's worth staying the course. That was awesome.

I know the game isn't a 10/10 but it just feels like it

"These...these are our terms."

it's more like 7.5/10

Amazing storyline, characters , soundtrack and battle system 🫶🏻♥️

Being my second Final Fantasy game this one blew me away. While I was let down over the simplification of the RPG mechanics it made up for it with incredibly fun action. The star of the show here is definitely it's incredible boss fights, characters, and intricately crafted world.

Really good game overall but with a few big problems, bad pacing on some story missions after the first few hours which slows the game down , and a lot of the sidequests are boring and pointless to do The combat is great but it does get repetitive at the end while fighting smaller enemies because thier health is large.

I wish there was a hide nudity option and then it will be perfect

My game of the year so far.

Even though it barely qualifies as a RPG, Final Fantasy XVI more than makes up for it with its excellent story, characters, gameplay, soundtrack and spectacle. Certainly an accomplishment that Yoshi P and his team can be proud of. The game set out to reinvent the wheel and redefine what a Final Fantasy title can be with its switch to a combat system resembling that of Devil May Cry. I am happy to report that it has partially accomplished its goal or atleast, where it matters the most. The combat system is one of the most satisfying ones I've ever experienced in a game. It depends less on weapon builds or stats, because you only have one weapon type (sword), but more on the Eikon skills you unlock after every major Eikon fight. These skills offer some of the best moves and attacks in the video game industry and it's quite easy to come up with some crazy builds and get the ball rolling. The game also features companions in the form of AI controlled NPCs that fight alongside you. (Torgal is best boy) Although, that is not to mean that they'll play the game for you, you'll still need to do most of the heavy lifting to win the fight. One of the biggest highlights of the game is its astounding soundtrack made by Masayoshi Soken. The quality of music he offers with his composition is a true work of art and unbeaten by any game released this year. From the instruments to the vocals, you can just feel the story hidden inside the tracks. The game also offers one of the best Final Fantasy stories to date, despite its dark and gritty tone. I would even dare to argue that this tone enhances the story and enables alternative, transparent ways to tell it. It's a story about the bonds of family and friendship, human nature and our will to endure every threat that stands in our way. Clive is also one of the best protagonists of the franchise, on the same pedestal as Cloud. The side characters are also a treat and handled like real people trying to survive in a world that wants to enslave and/or kill them. This however, does not mean that the characters act like angsty teenagers all the time. There is a very human and hopeful side to them that really shines through in the dialogue, cutscenes and gameplay. One of the best cast for a mainline Final Fantasy game in a long while. THE highlight of the game however, are the Eikon fights, where you turn into a Godzilla-sized Eikon called Ifrit and battle iconic summons such as Garuda, Titan, Bahamut and Odin. The sheer spectacle and outstanding choreography included in these fights is otherworldly. Adding to that, most of the spectacle happens in-game with the player controlling Ifrit rahter than through cutscenes. At this point of the game, it also becomes very apparent that they did not save any money. They had a huge budget and they used it. The only drawbacks to the game however are the insignificance of the RPG mechanics and the complete removal of the traditional turn-based combat. Crafting and equipping a sword with higher numbers is as RPG as it gets and that's about it, which wouldn't have been a problem if Square-Enix hadn't marketed the game as an Action-RPG. I also believe they could have struck a great balance between real-time and turn-based combat like the FFVII remake. All in all, Final Fantasy XVI is a game that I will remember for a very long time, due to its outstanding story, excellent characters, unforgettable soundtrack and satisfying gameplay.

Best game of the year

Final Fantasy So Far have been my favourite final fantasy game, it's an interesting story so far, with really amazing voice actors especially mc and well fleshed out characters, the combat has been satisfying well polished and not at all sluggish.

The first 10 hours are breathtaking, but the (really good) combat gets overshadowed by an overblown story filled with agonizingly long cutscenes (lots of exposition and cringy anime like dialouge)

The combat, especially the Eikon fights are a of fun. The Eikon abilities add a nice complexity to the fighting and allow the player to choose what type of fight they want to be. The story is good but I really do hope there is DLC because it ends on a huge cliffhanger. Maybe even a second game would be great.

Did all the side quests and all the hunts. Pros: +Great story +Great cutscenes +Great graphics +Awesome combat +Good voice acting Cons - Bad side quests. even some of the main quests were extremely boring. - Some people might find the cutscenes too long and too much. 9/10 from me.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with FFXVI, but it lacked any real depth that made it stand out. At its best, the story was so grounded and captivating with a beautiful world and fantastic graphics to supplement the great writing. At least this can be said of the first half of the game. As the game progresses, the story loses its cohesiveness, the regions begin to get repetitive, and the writing becomes dull. All the commentary about slavery and power politics gets lost to the traditional Final Fantasy tropes. And it wouldn't be so much a problem if the gameplay was engaging, but it unfortunately also lacked nuance. All the abilities feel same-y, with no real strategy involved outside of button timing. And while the gameplay was fun, it also begins to feel repetitive as time goes on. I don't regret playing this one, but might not give it a second visit.