FINAL FANTASY XVI

👍This is a different entry in the Final Fantasy series; it's not the usual teeny bopper cast exploring the power of friendship. The themes are dark and grizzled, and I felt it was a refreshing departure from the norm. The story is tight and focused, and there were no irrelevant bits to it, and the people matter, and as a consequence the themes of loss are all the more meaningful for it. I sat up and took notice at one point when, as part of a quest, the MC promised to revisit someone later, and he did. Overall he was quite respectful to everyone he met and (as far as fictional characters go anyway) genuinely valued them and their purposes. 👍For the first time, I actually found the English voice acting to be much better than the Japanese voice acting, I thoroughly recommend the English voiceovers, and it suits the characters really well, who are a memorable bunch. 👎The game itself is... not exactly a buggy mess, but not exactly optimized either. The game would crash completely randomly, with no error logs and no clues whatsoever and no reproducability. I even went as far as to reformat my PC. Unfortunately although there were similar threads online, none of the solutions work and there was no official guidance at all to help aside from the standard useless ones by people who haven't experienced the crashing. The most annoying part was that the demo was perfectly smooth and optimized where none of the problems manifested. 👍The combat is fun. It starts out simply, and it builds the mechanics as the story progresses, so you never feel overwhelmed. It encourages you to mix and match the different 'powers' learned to settle on something you're comfortable with. I really appreciated that. I also liked that the combat wasn't too difficult but wasn't too easy either, it was just in the middle. 👍Another mechanic I liked was that the game knows how to deal with potion hoarders like me: there's a fixed number of potions you're allowed to carry, and after that any potions picked up get used immediately. The game has quite a few side quests, which can get tedious, so I recommend only doing the ones that have a ➕plus symbol (which gives an upgrade) or a 🧰 chest symbol, which is a bit more to the story around various characters. The soundtrack is serviceable, but nothing memorable stood out to me. The environments are quite detailed at times, with excellent artwork, in a dark palette which goes well with the game's themes. 👍Overall, a fun game, and I recommend it as long as you know what to expect going in. I enjoyed my time here and I don't think it overstayed its welcome.

Was soll ich sagen..... Das ist kein Final Fantasy mehr. Der Start ist unglaublich zäh, auf ein paar Minuten Gameplay kommen mindestens das doppelte an Zwischensequenzen. Im Versteck angekommen sind die ersten beiden Nebenaufgaben, Holzbretter tragen und Getränke ausschenken. Echt jetzt? Solche Aufgaben gehören in ein MMO und nicht in ein Singleplayerspiel. Die Kämpfe sind ein Spektakel aber das Kampfsystem selbst ist langweilig, ich persönlich finde es außerdem nicht gut das man nur eine Figur Steuern kann. Eigentlich dachte ich das es nach FF15 nicht schlimmer werden kann. Es ist merkwürdig das auf der Karte alles nach Wüstenlandschaft aussieht und man nach dem Ladebildschirm mitten in einem Wald steht. Die Musik ist eine Schande, nichts bleibt hängen. Die Kampfmusik ganz besonders...... Ich kann definitiv nur abraten dieses Spiel zu kaufen, das ist definitiv mein letztes neues Final Fantasy. Die Reihe hat sich in eine Richtung entwickelt, die nichts mehr mit FF zutun hat und Dinge aus Spielen übernommen und schlechter gemacht. Dafür brauche ich kein Final Fantasy spielen.

This game fulfills the concepts of fantasy and tragedy. I don't want to sound cliche, but the ideas the game explores - the nature of humanity and its existential threats, the concept of fate, the love and tragedies of following religion, and [spoiler]the struggles and inevitable endings of our heroes[/spoiler] - are things we have seen in stories many times. Yet, there is a reason why these ideas are constantly revisited. The creators of this game focus on how to retell them in their own fashion. I believe this game borrows concepts that shows and games like Game of Thrones and The Witcher presented to us. It examines similar principles - political conflicts, the unexpected downfall of a mighty kingdom, and an early ignored true enemy - but, dare I say, tells them in a fresh and special way. It is special perhaps because it is a game, but also because realizing these ideas never gets old. For someone who likes to dissect the philosophical meanings of God, choice, the unnecessary internal conflicts that distract us from the true problems, and the importance of human connections, the game managed to deliver these thoughts through heartfelt emotion and meaningful storytelling. Regarding side content, the sidequests were hit or miss. Most of them felt bland at the start, but progressing further, they definitely got better, though also predictable. A lot of quests were typical: a character has an internal problem, they can't face it alone or are afraid/conflicted, the main character comes in to help, you help them, then they realize their problem and change their perception. On paper, it doesn't sound bad, as it is the fundamental nature of humans and many characters in storytelling, but having so many of these quests makes it a bit repetitive. As for the combat, I believe it is somewhat peculiar. I honestly really enjoyed it, especially with the different types of abilities you can use to construct various builds. Yet, I found a huge problem with balancing, as some abilities are "broken," making other abilities obsolete and decreasing the variety of worthwhile builds you can create. But ignoring the builds and abilities, I can't deny how majestic the fights felt under specific circumstances. I have never felt shivers like this while playing a game; the battles are simply majestic, bundled together with the soundtrack and visuals. Speaking of the soundtrack, I can't emphasize enough how great it is. The tracks feel well crafted in regards to what the world and the game are. For me, it is definitely the highlight of the game and one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard. One thing I hope, if someone reads this review, is that they do not make the same mistake I did - having an incorrect perception of what the Final Fantasy series is, as this game is so different and unique from all the other entries. Simply put it, fights are beautiful, story is epic yet at moments makes you want to cry, soundtrack is amazing.

一堆时间在跑图通马桶，后期主线不知所云，dlc2明明前面都不错，最后一个召唤兽大战突然难得要死。问题太多了

途中までプレイしました(おそらく6割ぐらい) 良い点はグラフィックと音楽はクオリティ高いです。ストーリーは結構ダークで好みが分かれそうですが刺さる人には刺さると思います。 悪い点は装備品がかなり少ないです。仲間の装備は変更できないため、主人公のみになります。装備を更新していき強くなった感覚があまり得られません。 また、宝箱の中身は殆ど装備品を強化する素材です。ですが装備品自体少ないのですぐ必要なくなり9割ぐらいゴミになります。 サブクエもありますが、こちらはガチのお使いになっています。(あれ受け取ってこい、様子見てこい等) しかもストーリー中盤までクリアする恩恵がほぼないです。 オープンワールドでもないため、寄り道してダンジョンを見つけるといった楽しみもありません。 DMCっぽいことが出来たり、緊張感を持たせるためフロムゲーのように回復アイテム所持に制限がありますが、最初からDMCかフロムゲーやった方がいいと思います。

Too many cinematics. I didn't die once in 25 hours of gameplay. All the enemies are the same. Stupid secondary missions. I forgot, more and more cinematics. All the fights are just button spams. It feels like it was intended to be an MMO. I ain't gone lie. It has really highs. The designs and world building is good. The Eikon fights are a visual spectacle. There are some boss fights that are really cool. I don't tend to drop games midway. But this made me do it, I had to uninstall

This was the most adult and gritty version of Final Fantasy yet. Loved every second of the dark and dim world and exploring all of the mysteries within it.