ファイナルファンタジーXVI

Having been a loyal fan of the "Final Fantasy" series for decades, I've witnessed and appreciated the various shifts and transformations that Square has undergone to evolve its franchise. While some of their experiments have borne fruit and others have stumbled, they've always exhibited a willingness to innovate and understand the market. However, "Final Fantasy XVI" stands out negatively not because of its shift towards action-oriented gameplay, but due to its failure to understand and meet contemporary industry benchmarks under all aspects except graphics.

First and foremost, it's difficult to categorize this as an action RPG, for it seems to lack any RPG element whatsoever. The main inspiration for the gameplay seems to be the last couple of “God of War” chapters, and I know it sounds like a joke to say that even those two games have more prominent RPG elements than “Final Fantasy XVI”. Not only there is no party other than a dog sidekick you can’t even customize or upgrade, but the skill tree is also ridiculous, and there are not even statuses or elemental strengths and weaknesses to add depth and strategy to the combat. Combat mostly boils down to button mashing and nervous dodging. There are macro-areas, but they are all empty with nothing to motivate the player to explore and collect loot. Sometimes you cross empty valleys and deserts to pick up 3 gils or a potion. The equipment, crafting, and shop system are barebone, further undermining the drive for loot or pre-battle strategizing. On top of that, there are no puzzles nor side activities other than hunting.

Alternatively, if we regarded it as a pure action game, the combat system is astonishingly rudimentary, failing to hold its own against titles like "Devil May Cry." There are no combos, no attack synergy, no variables.

The game does, however, excel in lore and world-building, though it's essential to note that major cities on the map remain inaccessible, experienced merely through battle sequences and cutscenes. A substantial portion of the map is also off-limits, owing to an in-game plague that destroyed most areas. The plot has been mentioned as one of the redeeming factors, but while I have to say it’s not bad, it doesn’t stand out enough to make the game worth playing. The writers' clear infatuation with "Game of Thrones" is evident in world-building and character design, yet the comparison paints "Final Fantasy XVI" as a simplified and juvenile rendition of Martin's world. Characters are largely one-dimensional, often presented in blocks before meeting their end as bosses in an arcade-like progression. Their interactions barely influence or alter the plot, which typically follows a pattern of introducing and defeating the villain of the week. Though the initial hours are tainted by predictable plot twists and stereotypical fantasy tropes, the overarching narrative gets dangerously close to the plot of "Tales of Arise" in its latter stages. The quality of cutscenes is laudable, especially during intense combat phases. The Eikon battles are sparse but reach a level of visual impact only comparable to the Greek gods battles in “God of War III”.

People have been bashing Final Fantasy XIII mostly for its linear nature, but now it seems that it’s not a big deal as far as it’s directed by Yoshida? At least Final Fantasy XIII was shorter and, most of all, more layered with its combat dynamics and RPG elements. “Final Fantasy XVI” might have been just as satisfactory if the good bits were condensed into a 10/15 hour experience. Alas, players are confronted with a 40+ hour ordeal, with at least three-quarters comprising verbose cutscenes that elucidate the obvious and drudging fetch quests.


I'll abstain from overly critiquing the sidequests, as they often hobble similar titles. Yet, it's ridiculous that completing the main plot necessitates engaging in quests like "talk to A, then relay A's message to B, report back to C, then return to A to report what you've heard from B and C. But don’t forget to get back to where B was to give him back this thing." Some quests even seem to challenge players' intelligence, like the one where you're tasked with investigating the disappearance of a girl working at a brothel. The mistress of the brothel gives you the quest, and she has two other employees. Speaking with one of them, right in front of you, yields all the answers required. Definitely a job we only could do, isn’t it? Another instance involves searching for a man who has gone missing in the forest, and, conveniently, he's to be found a few meters away from the entrance. There’s also a weird main quest where you must choose a partner to go and pick up sand at the beach or go shopping, which resolves in merely getting there and picking up the things, with no battle or revelatory dialogue whatsoever. What was the point of even choosing a partner?? Maybe these are things that may work when you fool around with friends in an MMO, but definitely not in a single-player experience already burdened with tedious tasks.


Pacing is further brought down by the purely Japanese custom of sandwiching dialogues, particularly quest-related conversations, between unskippable camera movements, fade-ins, fade-outs, accept buttons, congratulatory graphics, reward screens, little jingles, etc. This indicates a glaring lack of understanding of quality of life in a video game.


While "Final Fantasy XV" succumbed to its ambitions, the polar opposite dilemma plagues "Final Fantasy XVI." Understandably, Square had to play it extremely safe as the saga is in a precarious position, yet in a market inundated with "passive" generic experiences, it's doubtful that this entry will endure in memory after a couple of years.