Final Fantasy XVI

At its best, Final Fantasy 16 is a jaw-dropping epic of rarely seen proportions. It's pretty much the pinnacle of cinematic spectacle in modern games, and its often gripping, emotional story is only matched by its fantastic combat system. While its overall quality does dip outside of the main plot, this is still a must-play action RPG, and the best single-player Final Fantasy in over a decade.

When I look back at my time with Clive, his friends, his enemies, and Valisthea, it's those highs that I vividly remember. FFXVI is very different from its predecessors, but in many ways, very familiar; And it's still a Final Fantasy, through and through, reminding me why I love this series so much.

Final Fantasy XVI is a confident game with amazing combat, an earnest narrative, and unbridled spectacle. Faults in pacing, RPG depth, quest design, and all those other nagging criticisms be damned - this game is special.

Regardless if FFXVI is your first Final Fantasy game or you're returning to the series, Square Enix's latest game in the franchise lives up to the hype. Forget about JRPG's or how action-RPGs nowadays need an open world, side quests that last for ages, co-op or whatever gimmick. FFXVI just throws all that out of the table and proves a tightly woven narrative-driven game –when built right — can make up for all those.

The minor issues the game has doesn't detract from the incredible experience Clive & Co. bring to the table. Players will be treated to a compelling tale, stunning visual spectacles, and a fluid and fun combat system. What's even more impressive is, Square Enix manages to make the franchise "grow up" alongside the players who grew up playing the series. FFXVI deals with more mature themes and manages to make it matter without being overly preachy about it.

Those looking for the series' return to glory, rejoice! Final Fantasy XVI is that game, and this is one fantasy you'll want to make sure you're a part of.

Final Fantasy XVI melds the best of the series' themes with a modern, malleable take on combat—creating a heartrending, generation-defining tale of revenge, fate, and freedom.

After the credits rolled, after I spent so much time in Valisthea, I thought about all of the inspirations and references, and the rich history of Final Fantasy. Interestingly, I think Final Fantasy XVI reminds me most of Final Fantasy VII. Obviously, it's not because of the story or the characters or the combat. Instead, similarly to VII, XVI is the new benchmark which future Final Fantasy games, and the rest of the genre for that matter, will be measured against. Old folks like me remember how staggering VII's cutscenes, story, and characters felt back in 1997, and how invested we were in the twists and turns and emotion of the narrative. VII built upon the foundations of what came before it to create an epic adventure. Final Fantasy XVI does the same, but it pulls from so many more sources, and like VII, it understands how to mix the intimate with the epic.

Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.

It's the kind of gamble that Final Fantasy has happily made in the past so that the series may reinvent itself to execute the type of story its creatives want to tell. Time will tell if Final Fantasy 16 pays off, but history certainly supports it.

FFXVI is a bold shift in both gameplay and narrative, yet captures the Final Fantasy magic in stunning fashion, earning a place within the pantheon of incredible entries in the beloved franchise.

FF16 is on some level a playable deconstruction of the traditional hero yarn - its plot painstakingly explores how the urge to fight everyone's battles for them may disintegrate into egotism and even callousness, bred of thinking the world is yours to save. But the game's insistence on playing out the hero fable regardless is having your cake and eating it - certainly, it doesn't take 50 hours to grasp this morale. And while Final Fantasy 16 is perhaps the state of the art for real-time Final Fantasy combat, its dreary sidequests and slight excess of worldbuilding leave me reluctant to fire up New Game+. All told, I still prefer the older Final Fantasies, which also trade in stories of heroes averting the apocalypse, but always place those heroes second to the party.

As the credits rolled, I threw my hands up in the air, totally unmoved by a resolution I didn't feel like Final Fantasy 16 had earned. Then, after a few minutes and some hand stretches, I restarted with new game plus. I selected the highest difficulty. I skipped every single cutscene, diving into the action instead, using my very specifically designed set of Eikonic powers to murderize mobs and bosses alike, and thought to myself, Why had this game felt like such a chore just a minute ago? Then I let a cutscene play out, felt my eyelids grow heavier, my exhaustion finally mounting, until I nodded off on the couch.

For all it invests in big-scale brawls between Dominants, the game also leans into quieter human connections. Many of the side quests are almost too simple: Go to this place marked on the map, listen to somebody talk, kill some bandits, get a bunch of bloody hides as a reward. But there are so many exceptional vocal performances and well-written arcs that you can't help but come to love this world as much as Clive does. Show up for the kaiju fights, but stay for the tender series of quests exploring the complicated and noble backstory of your hideout's resident blacksmith.

Final Fantasy XVI is an action JRPG polished to an iridescent sheen. Its well-designed combat system and enemies, outstanding character writing and worldbuilding, and consistently stellar side content make it a standout entry in this legendary franchise. Even when accounting for the weak villains and a lukewarm conclusion, this was a journey that truly gripped me from beginning to end. This is a must-play game of the year and a Final Fantasy adventure you won't forget.

But it's not that simple. It never is. In FF16, Clive, Cid, and the others ultimately derive their power from the same mysterious origins as the crystals themselves. To complete their objective, they need the very thing they seek to destroy. And so too does FF16 need that history, those traditions, leveraging some even as it drives a dagger through others. That is the duality of the game. A dichotomy at the heart of its structure, its triumphs, and its failures alike. It's a fascinating piece of work, a wholly imperfect but nevertheless enthralling experience.

Final Fantasy XVI is an outstanding achievement. Every part of it, from its characters to its combat, was put there with a purpose. Not only does it deliver satisfyingly slick action RPG combat in between masterfully directed cutscenes, but also a story with real heart. Most importantly, it's incredibly clear that a team of creative individuals was behind every decision. There's a human element that permeates every aspect of Final Fantasy XVI, and it'll end up becoming a lot of people's favorite Final Fantasy because of that.

Final Fantasy XVI heralds in a new standard for Japanese role-playing games and while the RPG components themselves are limited by Square-Enix standards, it's the narrative and gameplay that exceed all expectations. What begins with kingdom-wide subterfuge and destruction ends with a world forever changed and the player, as Clive Rosfield and Ifrit together, are the driving force to see it all through until the end.

Final Fantasy XVI is everything I could have hoped for and more. Combat is fast paced and rewarding as you master combos and abilities. Eikon fights, while not as interesting to play, are gorgeous to witness. All of this is wrapped up into a deep story and fully fleshed out world that you'll want to be protecting.

It's far too early to determine where Final Fantasy XVI sits in the ranks of Square Enix's venerable series. However, this is an engrossing, entertaining and, most importantly, fiercely intelligent game. The developers have taken the AAA-blockbuster budget they had to work with, and used it to craft an experience with a strong, provocative and timely message, and then backed it up with some of the most entertaining action combat we've ever seen. Not a second of the game's runtime is wasted, there's not a single dud character, moment, or scene, and the plot is a riveting epic "page-turner." If only more blockbuster games were like this, game development would be a far more mature art form.

If you're a fan of strong narrative experiences, Final Fantasy lore, breath-taking graphics and a particularly sassy Moogle, and you don't mind a sprinkling of The Witcher, The Handmaids Tale and the many accents of Old Blighty, then Final Fantasy XVI is the game for you. Heck, it might just be the best Final Fantasy yet!

Final Fantasy XVI is not perfect, and later, we're gonna have a conversation about the game's approach to diversity. But I can feel it rewiring the rat's nest of cables in my brain the way VIII did. I am just as enamored of its systems and characters as I was VIII's. And instead of Uematsu's "Liberi Fatali" that sends me careening down a coaster's biggest and best drop, it's Soken's "Find the Flame."