There’s a second inside the first quarter of Remaining Fantasy XVI through which Clive, the protagonist, faces an enemy that has withstood his strongest assaults. Overwhelmed and worn out, the sport prompts Clive to “settle for the reality.” As he does, two limit-break bars (ones that Remaining Fantasy XIV gamers will acknowledge) seem. However they don’t simply pop in as if the sport was merely updating its UI to introduce a brand new function — they burn on as if they’ve been branded onto the display screen with a scorching poker. It seems like the sport needs you, too, to really feel the flames that burn inside Clive as you press within the thumbsticks to make him go Remaining Fantasy Tremendous Saiyan.
I virtually destroyed my TV, shedding my grip on my controller as I pumped my fist into the air with an excited, “Oh f– yeah,” battle cry. That battle cry occurred rather a lot.
In my first interview discussing Remaining Fantasy XVI, the sport’s producer, Naoki Yoshida, informed me that he wished the sport to really feel like “a rollercoaster.”
“We envision Remaining Fantasy XVI as like a large, high-speed rollercoaster that can take gamers on an exciting journey each story- and gameplay-wise.”
He wasn’t exaggerating. Remaining Fantasy XVI is a rollercoaster that takes an unforgivably very long time to climb the primary hill however is effectively value it for the drops, loops, spins, and “f– yeah” moments thereafter.
Remaining Fantasy XVI’s builders have additionally likened it to Recreation of Thrones. This, too, is correct… painfully so.
Throughout the recreation’s first handful of minutes, a number of f-bombs have been dropped, with a “cock” thrown in for good measure. There have been many cases of nudity or over-the-top vulgarity for titillation’s sake, in addition to scenes that evoked the notion of “sexposition,” even when there was no precise intercourse occurring on-screen.
Count on numerous uncharacteristic quantity of blood, nudity, and swearing in Remaining Fantasy XVI. Picture: Sq. Enix
The builders wished Remaining Fantasy XVI to ape the darkish and gritty themes of Recreation of Thrones or God of Struggle as a solution to broaden its enchantment in hopes of creating the sport as wildly profitable as its inspirations. There’s nothing flawed with a sequence altering up its tone, particularly one which likes to iterate and play with tone, themes, and settings the best way Remaining Fantasy has over its 35-year historical past. However XVI’s Recreation of Thrones-esque tone is clumsily executed, with moments which are pointless at greatest and laughably dangerous at worst.
Remaining Fantasy XVI’s builders have additionally likened it to Recreation of Thrones. This, too, is correct… painfully so
Late within the recreation, there’s even a little bit of implied incest — considered one of Recreation of Thrones’ most prevalent and defining themes — when a personality, who’s bare, embraces a facsimile of his mom — additionally bare — sighing with contentment because the scene fades to black. However not like how the revelation and growth of Jamie and Cersei’s incestuous relationship outlined their characters and drove vital plot factors, I discovered nothing from this. I gained no additional perception into the mother-fucker’s motivations, and it’s by no means introduced up or hinted at once more. I groaned aloud in frustration as a result of the characters on this recreation are its second-best function that deserve greater than one-off lurid moments that exist just for shock worth.
I like my Remaining Fantasy plots political, which is why Remaining Fantasy XII is my favourite of the sequence. However although XVI’s story may be very political, with a plot that weaves a sophisticated net of alliances, betrayals, succession schemes, and extra, it’s the weakest factor concerning the recreation.
Clive Rosfield is the eldest prince of Rosaria — a duchy within the land of Valisthea. He’s a knight sworn to guard his youthful brother Joshua, the controller, or “dominant,” of the Phoenix eikon — a creature of immense energy. On the eve of warfare, Rosaria is betrayed. Joshua is overcome by the Phoenix’s energy, sending him right into a rampage and awakening an analogous energy inside Clive, forcing the 2 brothers to struggle with devastating penalties. After a 13-year time leap, we rejoin Clive, who has change into a slave soldier due to Valisthea’s contempt for however dependence on folks referred to as Bearers who can wield magic. Clive is rescued and embarks on a quest to free different Bearers and alter the world in order that magic customers can reside freely.
Remaining Fantasy XVI’s story is aggressively high quality with twists and developments that ought to assuage anybody involved with whether or not or not the sport is a “actual” Remaining Fantasy — an already foolish concern as a result of no two Remaining Fantasy video games have ever been alike in its 35-year historical past. XVI’s rightful place inside the sequence is assured as its bog-standard “struggle the ability, free the folks” narrative all of a sudden morphs into “assault and dethrone god from the again of a chocobo.” The one actual distinction is that as a substitute of doing it with youngsters, you’re doing it with grown males who desperately want remedy.
Males will actually remodel into all highly effective flame-flecked beings as a substitute of go to remedy. Picture: Sq. Enix
It additionally takes a criminally very long time to get fascinating. To start with, there are such a lot of quick battles sprinkled with temporary moments of strolling interspersed between lengthy cutscenes that made the sport really feel like a rollercoaster with a defective chain raise. It doesn’t actually get going till perhaps 10–15 hours in, so lengthy {that a} informal participant could possibly be forgiven for abandoning it. Please, keep it up, however I perceive why you may not.
I want there was one thing I actually appreciated concerning the plot. It’s probably not intriguing the best way I felt XII’s political plot was. I noticed numerous the twists coming, and once they have been revealed, it didn’t really feel like a “Ha! I used to be proper!” a lot as a “Yup, I used to be proper.” Nevertheless, the sport’s characters and the efficiency of its voice actors bought the plot so effectively that I didn’t thoughts its mediocrity.
“It’s wonderful how a lot this recreation allowed me to course of that loss and channel that loss into one thing good and artistic.”
Ben Starr put his complete Remaining Fant-ussy into his efficiency as Clive Rosfield. He suffused a lot emotion into that gravelly voice that it was not possible to really feel that Clive’s grief or love or rage was something however actual, and in keeping with Starr, it was. In an interview on Kinda Humorous Video games’ Spare Bed room present, Starr shared that his father handed away whereas he was engaged on the sport.
“It’s wonderful how a lot this recreation allowed me to course of that loss and channel that loss into one thing good and artistic,” Starr mentioned. “If you’re listening to a few of that stuff, that’s kinda actual. Clive saved my life.”
Clive’s love for his brother and his grief over his loss is so palpable that, together with the PS5’s gorgeously detailed graphics, when Clive cried, I cried.
When Clive cried, I cried. Picture: Sq. Enix
Earlier than I had the prospect to expertise the sport, I used to be nervous that as a result of this Remaining Fantasy was aiming to be so totally different from its predecessors that it will lose a number of the spirit that makes Remaining Fantasy recreation. Probably the greatest issues about Remaining Fantasy XV, regardless of its combined reception, was the connection the sport solid between the participant and the principle forged. Remaining Fantasy XVI, although it takes an extended whereas to get there, manages to do the identical with its forged. Clive, Jill, Cid, Gav, Joshua, and Torgal grew to become simply as endeared to me because the choco-bros.
Clive will get by with somewhat assist from his buddies. Picture: Sq. Enix
Even the facet characters are effectively achieved with the sport that includes one of the best instance of the sequence’ restricted variety of feminine villains and a personality I do know a really giant and really vocal neighborhood of Remaining Fantasy followers are gonna go ape shit over.
However, if we lengthen the rollercoaster metaphor, Remaining Fantasy XVI’s character and story are just like the distant screams of riders — simply sufficient to entice you to attend in line. However what you’re actually there for is the joys of the journey itself: fight.
I haven’t actually loved the sequence’ pivot from turn-based to motion gameplay. From FFXIII on, together with the VII Remake, it’s felt each senseless and complex. In XV, fight was a way to an finish — an occasion to mash by means of as rapidly as potential with little type or flourish because it was too burdensome to determine precisely the best way to incorporate mentioned type or flourish. Within the VII Remake, you needed to handle fussy fight stances, and in case you, like me, couldn’t actually make sense of that mechanic, fights just like the Home or the Scorpion Sentinel have been all however not possible.
In XVI, fight begins merely and is centered on the powers of the assorted Eikons Clive can soak up and wield. To start with of the sport, Clive can solely use the ability of the Phoenix, however over time, as he absorbs extra Eikons, his talents develop. With these talents and a handful of generic sword assaults, you may execute technically easy, visually spectacular, and mechanically highly effective combos that make even probably the most action-game agnostic gamers (i.e., me) really feel like gods.
I had no drawback stringing collectively complicated and devastating combos. As soon as I bought the dangle of it, I may reply to virtually any fight state of affairs — one thing that actually by no means occurred in all my years of enjoying Bayonetta or Kingdom Hearts or any of the opposite action-based Remaining Fantasy video games.
If an enemy popped up into the air, I didn’t have to attend for it to fall right down to proceed its ass-beating. I may change from Phoenix to Garuda’s Eikon powers to drag it again down along with her depraved claws. Or I may use Garuda’s powers to pop into the air myself earlier than switching again to Phoenix to ship the monsters flaming to Earth. And once they have been lastly again on the bottom, I may rapidly change to Titan’s earth powers and pummel them additional into the mud.
This all sounds sophisticated and messy, however the inputs have been so easy and so effectively tuned to fight’s fast-paced circulation that every one this motion occurs in seconds with barely any thought past, “How cool do I wanna make this look?”
Very, very friggin’ cool.
This man exhibiting up mid-fight along with his personal “dynamic entry” second was aggressively cool. Picture: Sq. Enix
I really like Bayonetta (with exceptions), however one factor that all the time bothered me about these video games was how divorced I used to be, as a participant, from the motion occurring on display screen. Within the intro to Bayonetta 2, there’s an amazing cutscene through which she confronts a gaggle of enemies whereas using on a fighter jet. There’s a complete minute-long sequence the place she’s taking pictures and preventing and doing every kind of superior stuff that I solely get to spectate.
In Remaining Fantasy XVI, you’re an lively participant within the cool shit. All through the sport’s extra cinematic boss fights, there will likely be moments when Clive performs probably the most ridiculous strikes this facet of a shonen anime, and sometimes, you’ll be accountable for making certain he doesn’t eat shit whereas doing it. No, your degree of involvement doesn’t actually transcend a single button press fast time occasion, however the recreation greater than makes up for that with the sheer variety of “holy shit, I can’t imagine I’m doing this!” fight moments through which you’re in full management.
I gained’t go into element as a result of I don’t need to spoil these moments, however the Bahamut struggle, particularly, was wonderful and as appropriately epic as preventing one of many sequence’ most iconic monsters ought to be.
And all that is enhanced to godly ranges by composer Masayoshi Soken’s music.
Within the struggle that launched restrict breaks, the music at that time was an thrilling orchestral association. However as Clive exploded into flames, a refrain kicked in, singing in what was in all probability Latin, letting me know — simply in case I wasn’t already certain — that every thing earlier than this was baby’s play and that now, shit is about to get actual. In one other huge, climactic struggle, the music modified from orchestral to rock, telling me this boss was achieved messing round and was able to get right down to actual, well being bar-busting enterprise. Soken and the builders used wonderful musical cues to sign a shift in each narrative and gameplay mechanics that made me really feel like I used to be… effectively… on a rollercoaster. The fight’s the journey, however the music made my abdomen friggn’ drop.
I vividly keep in mind my first encounter with a Remaining Fantasy. I used to be 12, alone in my father’s comfy however spooky-to-a-12-year-old-who-just-saw-Scream-for-the-first-time basement. My older brother had a PSX and demo disk. Out of boredom, I popped within the disk, chosen a random demo, and hit play.
Bah. Ba-ba-ba-ba. Baaah. Bah. Bah. Bah.
I really feel my coronary heart charge begin to decide up with the music, anxious to seek out out, “What kinda recreation is that this?”
Up till that time in my life, video video games had been pleasurable trifles — issues with which I whiled away the hours that have been solely memorable not for what they have been however due to the beloved firm I used to be in once I performed them.
Ba-ba-ba-ba. Baaah. Bah. Bah.
However the opening seconds of the Remaining Fantasy VIII demo hooked me the best way no different recreation had earlier than. The rising tone of the music, Nobuo Uematsu’s “Overture,” made me really feel like I used to be being pulled up and up and up as vignettes of those cool-looking characters with whips, weapons, and too many belts flashed throughout the display screen. I grew to become invested in studying who they have been.
Then, in any case that build-up, a brand new track began, and it felt like the ground dropped out from underneath me.
Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec
There’s a preferred meme format on social media through which folks describe issues that “rewired their brains” as a solution to clarify how particular and formative a chunk of media is.
Remaining Fantasy XVI will not be excellent, and later, we’re gonna have a dialog concerning the recreation’s method to range. However I can really feel it rewiring the rat’s nest of cables in my mind the best way VIII did. I’m simply as enamored of its techniques and characters as I used to be VIII’s. And as a substitute of Uematsu’s “Liberi Fatali” that sends me careening down a coaster’s largest and greatest drop, it’s Soken’s “Discover the Flame.”
