FINAL FANTASY XVI
Purists may cry as the RPG series embraces action
Developer/publisher Square Enix (Creative Business Unit III) Format PS5
Origin Japan
Release June 22
Sixteen instalments in, developers of any series would struggle to retain the element of surprise – bearing in mind that deviations from established formulae risk upsetting fans. On the surface, Final Fantasy XVI appears to be a rather conservative return to the series’ high-fantasy roots, in the same vein as the revered ninth entry. After the turbulent development of its predecessor, it’s also in the safest possible pair of hands. Producer Naoki Yoshida, still hailed as the man who turned FFXIV from catastrophe into the publisher’s most profitable title to date, heads up a core team of veterans including director Hiroshi Takai, whose history with the series stretches back to 1992’s Final Fantasy V. So it’s only once we’ve finished a demo created especially for media that it hits home: this is surely the most radical departure for this storied series since FFXII’s transformative battle system. It’s certainly the first to leave us breathless and sweaty palmed.
Although the realm of Valisthea is based on medieval Europe (expect knights, swords and castle keeps, albeit with chocobos rather than horses), FFXVI can still be viewed through a contemporary lens. Especially since the land’s glittering Mothercrystals are framed as a valuable but finite energy resource, over which wars are fought. Another series staple, summons – referred to here as Eikons – are powerful creatures that reside within select individuals called Dominants. These are treated like royalty in some nations, but considered terrifying abominations in others, analogous to weapons of mass destruction. The immediate contemporary comparison, however, is with fantasy titles from western studios, such as The Witcher 3 and God Of War: narratively rich and beautiful blockbusters that appeal to a mature audience and are driven by action-packed combat.
While past Final Fantasy games dabbled with a more action-oriented approach, they still clung to command menus and timed gauges as you micro-managed your party. FFXVI jettisons these remnants entirely. You control a single character, Clive Rosfield, who follows in the series tradition of brooding leading men such as FFVIII’s Squall – the difference being that instead of merely watching his bladework in prerendered cinematics, we’re actively making it happen in realtime. It’s here that the presence of combat director Ryota Suzuki (formerly of Capcom, with Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma to his name) is most keenly apparent.
The lightning pace of Rosfield’s sword swings as well as the need to time your attack to parry an opponent’s blows certainly has us thinking more of Dante than Jack’s stamina
limited attacks in Stranger Of Paradise. FFXVI’s stronger enemies do, however, borrow one element from Team Ninja’s take on the Soulslike: hacking down a bar representing the character’s will makes them stagger, giving us time to deal devastating damage uninterrupted. While Rosfield was not born a Dominant, he’s unique in being able to channel the powers of multiple Eikons in combat, such as casting spells or unleashing powerful cooldown-based abilities. Our demo unlocks three Eikons – the fire-based Phoenix, wind-based Garuda and rock-based Titan – and the possibilities are dizzying, aided by unique actions dubbed Eikonic Feats. Phoenix’s Feat, for instance, warps us close to an enemy, which we discover also takes us airborne when facing a winged mini-boss, before we pull back the left trigger to switch to Garuda and unleash an aerial attack. Titan’s huge rock fists, meanwhile, are able to block attacks, but with precise timing they can parry them – a move delightfully accentuated by a crash zoom – while special attacks are more powerful when charged and released in the sweet spot of a radial prompt.
Getting a taste of these toys at a much earlier point in the game than intended, we find they’re intimidating to grapple with – possibly more so for Final Fantasy veterans who may not necessarily be versed in the intricacies of character-action games. There’s no concession of a classic turn-based mode as in Final Fantasy VII Remake, but, mindful that this approach might prove divisive among series traditionalists, CBUIII has come up with an alternative. Here, we’re able to equip two (out of a possible five) accessories that help make the fast-paced combat more manageable. For instance, one accessory is similar to Street Fighter 6’s assisted combos, allowing Rosfield to deploy a succession of moves by repeatedly tapping Square, which is usually reserved for his standard sword attack.
Another slows down time during an incoming attack and transforms it into a QTE, giving us a split-second window to dodge before following up with a counter.
Even without the latter, scripted QTEs appear during boss encounters, punctuating these ferocious bouts with cinematic spectacle and emotionally charged character closeups. For a series with a history of memorable CG sequences, it’s all the more remarkable that everything we see, as encounters flow between action and cutscene, is rendered seamlessly in-engine – leaving the game’s initial announcement trailer (with that awkward disclaimer about being captured on PC to emulate the PS5 experience) a distant memory. There’s drama to spare in the battles against the Eikons – not least when we transform into some of them, temporarily turning the game into a kaiju scrap where we remain in control, rather than sitting back and watching events unfold as with the summons of old. But while the developers liken a bout between Ifrit and Garuda to that of a pro wrestling match, we’re also told this is just one kind of Eikon battle we’ll see in the game, with others taking various unique playstyles into account.
This attention to bespoke detail is also how the team is approaching the player’s journey through Valisthea. That includes the decision not to create an open world, but rather to adopt Naughty Dog’s ‘wide-linear’ approach of having the story take us to a variety of richly detailed locations that can also be freely explored, all while adhering to a narrative set across three points in Rosfield’s life. That FFXVI will primarily be centred on a single protagonist when the series has traditionally been an ensemble, each resonating with audiences for different reasons, will doubtless be a sticking point for detractors; the notable absence of non-white characters is certainly another. Nonetheless, we’re promised that there will still be companions that will accompany Rosfield during his journey, who all have their own unique arcs. This includes another Final Fantasy constant, a character named Cid – who here goes by Cidolphus, and whose deep Yorkshire burr we recognise as belonging to Ralph Ineson. Finchy in Final Fantasy? After more than 35 years, this series still has the ability to surprise us.
It’s all the more remarkable that everything we see is rendered seamlessly in-engine