Final Fantasy XVI review | More action, less RPG

Final Fantasy XVI is a bold evolution the RPG series, with its most confident stab at real-time action yet. But does it land a perfect strike or does Square Enix still have some sharpening to do? Find out in our review!

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#finalfantasy #ff16 #ffxvi #gamer #gaming #gamereview #digitaltrends #tech #technology #playstation #ps5 #squareenix

[BraianSilveira]

I miss the truly FF, but I’ll try this Hack’n slash!

[marioprime]

Hey everyone! Just coming in to say that I really appreciate the kind words here. Clearly a game people are very passionate about, so I always am happy when folks are open and welcoming to some of the nitty gritty critiques we try to dig into with reviews. We always strive to get a little more nuanced with reviews instead of relying on the surface level. I know that no one is ever going to agree with 100% of my opinions and I always welcome and encourage all takes. I think a lot of people will adore this game and clearly you can see that in other reviews out there! Hopefully this gives you a better idea of what to expect from the structure of it though so you're not surprised by anything when you start it. Thanks everyone!

[pastrana]

I will say that i have been a huge FF fan since I was a kid and have played many FF games. That being said, whilst I like ff16 a lot, and love the fighting action they implmeneted....I feel they missed the mark hugely on the RPG aspect of the game as follows:

1. Lack of story telling with companions and that leads into not being able to control anyone in your party.
2. They have no real old school genre aspects of FF like a minin game, treasure hunts, being able to forge new weapons/items that you have to find the plans for and even just dungeons to farm or find better weapons. It is so linear you potentially can just wait till the blacksmith has a new plan for you to upgrade which I feel takes out a huge bit of what FF games are about. There is just no customisation aspect really with the gear slots as they only give you 3 accessory slots which certain accessories are mandatory and just a belt, sword and wrist slot
3. Just a lack of cusotmisation in terms of what FF games/RPG's are about.

[MrSiloterio]

This is the only review I've seen that provides actual evidence to their arguments. And this is the only review I've seen that clearly presents the flaws in its game design which is surprisingly dated .

[salexa]

Enjoying the game so far, but am I missing something? I feel Final Fantasy 15 was very similar in terms of the action. This is Just far more polished.

[Orgi]

So basically devil may cry in ff setting. I don't get the crafting it feels mostly damage or armor upgrade. No elementals or magic based

[LaidbackYT]

This guy has some big balls to have an opinion of his own and going against the tide criticizing big AAA releases..Been following his reviews since Ragnarok…He will surely become a legend in the industry..He speaks the truth👍🏻

[reiroy]

Great review. Felt odd that the RPG element was lacking compared to even SF6 World Tour which you mentioned rofl. This is in heart an action game with light RPG elements at most.

[codean]

While not the same person who reviewed both games… never forget that Digital Trends gave Forspoken 3.5/5 stars (70%) and FF16 3/5 stars (60%).

[ctguitarguy]

This review is one of the most honest I have seen. Especially compared to the others. This is an action game, not an RPG, and definitely not a traditional men, party, and turn based driven JRPG. Frankly it's a slap to the face of series fans, and I fear that the positive sales on this game will reinforce square to make crap like this going forward, completely abandoning the RPG genre for mainline FF games, for character actions games like god of war and devil may cry.

"Large parts of Final Fantasy XVI feel like they were designed more out of obligation than anything. It’s as if the developers wanted to make a pure character action game, but feared that it would be a drastic change that longtime fans couldn’t accept. "

"The more I played, the more I began to question why so little was engaging me outside of Eikon battles. Not too long into my journey, I’d find that a lot of my problems came back to one thing: shallow RPG hooks. Though Final Fantasy XVI is being positioned as an action-RPG, the latter half of that genre hybrid is severely overstated. There’s leveling up, stats, and a few equipment slots, but a lot of its systems are a placebo hiding an entirely restrictive approach to power. For instance, Clive has six stats, but look closely and you’ll realize that three of those aren’t really stats at all. Strength, for instance, is actually just Clive’s attack stat combined with an extra buff he’s getting from equipped gear. It’s smoke and mirrors that hides the fact that Clive’s power progression is fairly static from start to finish."

[stephenearly]

Think I’ll mostly love it but will definitely feel like I’m missing the rpg in this rpg

[MrQQJojo]

Totally agree on the flaws, good job on the review

[Bahnzii]

Definitely one of the better reviews I've seen for FF XVI. Your passion and depth for the series/genre comes across in spades, oh and I found your use of the word "tension" creative/interesting. Keep up the game reviews!!

[MovedbyTruth]

This is the only honest review for this game I've seen. After playing over 20 hours of the game I'd personally give it a 7/10. I consider it about as good as 15 but worse than the majority of FF games.

I have no idea how this game got a metacritic score in the upper 80's. There's definitely some shenanigans going on with the review scores.

[AKABoondock]

AND THATS WHY IT SUCKS. WHY HIJACK A LONG BELOVED RPG SERIES TO TURN IT INTO GOD OF WAR!?!?!?!

[MWM]

Looks really good but just not for me. Old school final fantasy is more my style.

[Verlorod]

Pretty good and honest review not everyone is pointing out this aspect of the game.

[graysonpeddie]

I'm goiing to hold off on buying Final Fantasy XVI until the game is available early next year. I don't want to buy a PS5 just so I can play an exclusive game. I know I should not have clicked in the video in the first place, but all I can say is I need to avoid any kind of spoilers until I can get my hands on the game next year. Fact is, I dislike anything that is exclusive to any game consoles.

[fractalelf]

Sad end to a great franchise, trading the good RPG game for flash trash.

[meatbunftw]

My 1st Final Fantasy was IV (or II, as it was on the SNES) and since then I've been in love with the series. I played every mainline game after that (except the MMORPGs, they don't count) and enjoyed everyone of them a great deal, with the exception of the 13 series. I've since gone back to play the Pixel Remasters of 1-6 and loved every bit of them, too.

While XVI is not a "Traditional" Final Fantasy, from what I've played on the Demo, it's probably gonna be my Game of the Year.