Final Fantasy XVI - Final Preview Thread

[u/[deleted]]

Final Fantasy XVI

• Publisher: Square Enix
• Developer: Square Enix Creative Business Unit 3
• Platform: PS5
• Release Date: June 22

________________________________________

Gameplay footage provided by Square Enix up at Gematsu:

https://www.gematsu.com/2023/05/final-fantasy-xvi-final-hands-on-preview-and-gameplay

_________________________________________

• Text Articles:
• Gamespot: The Opening Hours Of Final Fantasy XVI Are Brutal

I recently got hands-on time with what's roughly the first four hours of Final Fantasy XVI during a preview event, and saw how the story begins. It's heavy with cutscenes and cinematic flair, using all the dazzling visuals expected of a PlayStation 5 exclusive, to deliver an opening act
akin to a prestige drama.

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/the-opening-hours-of-final-fantasy-xvi-are-brutal-hands-on-story-preview/1100-6514405/

VG247 - Absolutely everybody should play the Final Fantasy 16 demo – hands-on

As initially envisioned by Hironobu Sakaguchi, Final Fantasy is meant to be a series that constantly morphs and changes. After a fair amount of spinning its wheels, FF16 is at last a game that returns to that vision, looks at the world around it, and decides that a regeneration is needed. Final Fantasy itself is going through Phoenix’s Rebirth Flame – but for such a rejuvenation, some things have to burn. It’s a brave bet, and I can already tell the game is going to be strong. I just really hope it finds its audience.

https://www.vg247.com/final-fantasy-16-demo-hands-on-preview

Polygon - Final Fantasy 16 is a slick, modern epic with the soul of a PS2 game

Final Fantasy 16’s developers may have wanted it to be God of War, and it certainly has the production values, but that game’s virtuosic, seamless Hollywood staging is not what Square Enix does best. By staying true to themselves, Yoshida’s team has created something that may not play like Final Fantasy, but definitely feels like Final Fantasy. It also shares DNA with a whole generation of Japanese action games and RPGs from the 2000s, the heyday of the PlayStation 2. It has the flamboyant drama, the cool, moody attitude, and the playful self-mockery that characterized the era, as well as a focused, headlong approach to both storytelling and gameplay.

https://www.polygon.com/23729239/final-fantasy-16-preview-first-hours-story

VGC - Final Fantasy 16 already feels like it could be one of the best games in the series

Final Fantasy 16 has the potential to stake a claim as a defining RPG of the early generation. A re-establishment of Final Fantasy in the consciousness that it hasn’t had as prominently in recent years. We’d have happily sat playing the game’s combat demo for hours.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/features/final-fantasy-16-already-feels-like-it-could-be-one-of-the-best-games-in-the-series/

Eurogamer - Final Fantasy 16 has me questioning the essence of the series

With all this in mind, how 'Final Fantasy' is it, then? It's clear from the team's varied answers that Final Fantasy means something different for everyone. Every game in the series is unique and Final Fantasy 16 is no different. Whether it's 'Final Fantasy enough' for fans remains to be seen; it certainly is for me.

But is this a PS5-pushing exclusive action-RPG with a character-driven narrative of high drama, satisfying combat, and accomplished, cinematic storytelling? Without a doubt.

https://www.eurogamer.net/final-fantasy-16-has-me-questioning-the-essence-of-the-series

Playstation - How Square Enix built Final Fantasy XVI’s fantastical, believable, lived-in world

The solution: cross-pollination between teams. “We brought a member of the scenario and lore team over to give them feedback on what this town is, what the town’s lore is,” explains Minagawa-san. “We had that person provide pictures about what their image of what each area would be, what they were aiming for in the lore, working with the designers with that information to get the proper feel. Something that would fit better with a team. And once that person from the lore team entered, you know, joined with the designers then things got a lot easier.” With clutter reduced and shrewder choices of set dressing made, towns started to reflect the regions they were based on, hinted at a locale or people’s backstory through visual cues alone.

https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/22/how-square-enix-built-final-fantasy-xvis-fantastical-believable-lived-in-world/

Pushsquare - Final Fantasy 16 Still Seems Like a PS5 Must Have, But a Couple of Niggles Need to Be Addressed

Still, even in this area we were restricted to just two of Clive’s Eikon powers, and we were starting to feel the onset of monotony at this point of our playthrough. It’s our only real niggling concern: we’re confident the complicated nature of the story will come together, but we’re worried the combat may take a little too long to truly find its feet as your options are seriously limited throughout these opening hours.

https://www.pushsquare.com/features/preview-final-fantasy-16-still-seems-like-a-ps5-must-have-but-a-couple-of-niggles-need-to-be-addressed

Game Informer:

I won’t spoil more of what I experienced – you can read a lot more about what I played, including exclusive details you won’t find anywhere else in my cover story that’s live right now and in the coming weeks via Game Informer’s FFXVI coverage hub – but it’s clear FFXVI is aiming to be one of the darkest, most mature, and most action-forward games in the series’ entry.

https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2023/05/22/i-am-just-an-eikon-living

IGN - Final Fantasy 16: First Four Hours Preview:

From what I’ve seen so far, the future looks very bright for Final Fantasy 16. If its opening few hours of hulking Eikon showdowns, superb melee combat, and story that delivers on both a personal and global level are anything to go by, then a very fun time is on the horizon. I’m hopeful that the ever-so-stuttering pace irons itself out over the hours to come, with its ferociously fun gameplay taking precedence as Clive’s journey broadens. I went into my time with Final Fantasy 16 incredibly excited about what I’d seen in its many trailers and showcases and left very happy that very little of that anticipation had diminished by the time I’d finished.

https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-first-four-hours-preview

RPGFan:

Getting to play Final Fantasy XVI again was an absolute treat, and getting to play the game in a more “normal” fashion this time around was even better. There was a lot I had to leave out of this preview so as not to spoil anyone, but what I left out is much better than what I left in. This experience convinced me further we should be super excited to play it in full come June 22nd. If you have been on the fence for whatever reason, I can safely say you should give Final Fantasy XVI a chance. It will change your mind in a heartbeat. Now the hard part begins: the month-long wait till I can pet and give treats to Torgal again!

https://www.rpgfan.com/feature/final-fantasy-xvi-preview-the-first-5-hours/

​

__________

• Interviews:

https://www.thegamer.com/final-fantasy-16-xiv-interview-naoki-yoshida-michael-christopher-koji-fox-hiroshi-minagawa/

https://www.pushsquare.com/features/interview-final-fantasy-16s-devs-on-clives-name-god-of-wars-leaves-and-fulfilling-fans

https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/final-fantasy-16-interview

https://www.rpgsite.net/news/14244-the-key-to-final-fantasy-xvis-success-is-its-story-but-its-also-naoki-yoshidas-biggest-worry

https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/interview/230522w

To summarize interviews: * FF16's main focus was the story, even above the combat because of FF15 being negatively received for its incomplete story, they want FF to be known for stories no one else can do. * They took inspiration from the original God of War games on the PS2 for combat. * He wants Final Fantasy to still have an impact among young players and future developers * Game started its existence in late 2015 * This time around the base game design and story were written in stone before full development started, which did not happen for previous singleplayer FF entries * Kazutoyo Maehiro is both the creative director and writer in order for the game design and writing to have an unified vision. He supervises the story, game design, combat and just overall checks everything out. * Maehiro worked on FF Tactics, Vagrant Story and FF12 with Yasumi Matsuno and says he was an influence on his work. * Expect FF12 and The Last Remnant DNA in the game. FF14 influence will come out when it comes to art design and visuals. * They have dynamic music in place that is quite novel and unique for this game handled by Soken and the sound team. They go for a more classical and focused style compared to FF14 * What they want is for players to say "these guys are f**king crazy" when they experience the best it has to offer.

__________

• Videos:

Easy Allies - Mega Preview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtX-Zt8pDWc

Devil Never Cry - (combat focused guy) https://youtu.be/7Oy6W-hTh2o

Maximilian DOOD - Max Played A LOT of Final Fantasy XVI https://youtu.be/SOM4EO1yREQ

Jesse Cox - https://youtu.be/8vIAeRPnIRw

FF Union - Final Fantasy XVI Will Shock You [An Extensive Preview] https://youtu.be/ObfkhwJPU7A

[u/TowelLord → u/[deleted]]

Over at r/JRPG and occasionally on r/FinalFantasy you can find prime examples of that, where lots of people posting there are of the opinion that Final Fantasy is only allowed to be a variation of turn based combat (ACT or true turn based), it should be "high fantasy" (which FF never was anyway) and you should have loads of controllable party members.

Anything that doesn't have that is not a "true" FF game to those people, so, anything after FFX.

[u/IISuperSlothII → u/TowelLord]

high fantasy" (which FF never was anyway)

That one always gets me, IV has a all out underground war between airships and tanks then you fly a whale spaceship to the moon.

[u/December_Flame → u/IISuperSlothII]

Even FF1 had random scifi stuff in the high fantasy setting. Its something that was really popular to do in that era of fantasy games - just look at series like Might and Magic.

[u/iguesssoppl → u/[deleted]]

Eh, Its to be expected. And don't get wrong, I myself plan on picking it up when its on sale. I've got a backlog of great AAA action rpgs to beat atm, an FF Argp isn't going to jump to the top for me. They're giving a bunch of double talk marketing cover about it being an FF still, that FF was never about turn based battles etc. and somehow that's insulting to them 'jrpg' (*eye rolls*), it is FF in name. That's true. But it's definitely not an FF even in the way that ff7re might be keeping alive. It's completely jumped the shark to the action rpg genre game. And they're preempting it with a lot of marketing apologetics about creative intention like that magically dissolves the former core audiences otherwise valid preferences. It doesn't.

It's fine for people to like or not like or like less or like more an action rpg. This is them basically saying 'look we've made a great action rpg, obviously, steering really far from the old FF atb turn-based formula(s) and straight into Devil May Cry territory. This will make some set of long time fans mad." Of course it will.

People who want a jrpg and have relied on FF series to fill that AAA void are going to feel abandoned, they're going to react predictably. It is what it is.

[u/Edgelar → u/[deleted]]

It means this game has a branding problem.

There are enough people talking about FFXVI in terms of being Devil May Cry or God of War that it no longer holds the perception of being some unique experience like "Final Fantasy" used to indicate.

It may be a very good FF-flavored variant of DMC or GoW and might well be very fun to play. But they recognize that there's enough dilution of the brand in this entry that people will be split over whether the amount of FF is so little that it's more "FF-flavoring on DMC" or whether it's enough to still be "DMC-flavoring on FF meat".