FINAL FANTASY XVI

I tried I really tried. Cinematic storytelling is one thing. The game breaking pace by inserting unecessary cuscenes, for what feels every few steps, gets tedious fast. I'm supposed to be past the point of the introduction where the game supposedly picks up (5-6 hours in) but it's just not happening. Suposedly the game picks up alot later on but how to even get there with the tedium. Yes, I can skip the cutscenes but then it's also alot of story you miss, and the gameplay is not exactly esciting. Other than that, the game is full on rails. You have a world mape to teleport around with and that's it. The stages feel like the same thing just in a different setting. Then you have the optimization. I have a fairly decent build. Every other game I've run can do well beyond 60 FPS at Medium or High settings at 1080p. This game fluctuates incredibly no matter what the setting. FF7 Remake and Rebirth, which both look better, ran infinitely better than this. One thing I can say it looks pretty good enviromentally. The characters however are all very stiff and the facial expressions are not well made. Comparing with the FF7 remake games character animations, this is pretty bad. I'm truly flabergasted as to how many points a game can fail at. This being a Final Fantasy, one of my most beloved game series ever, makes it even worse...

Resolvi esperar uma promoção para comprar esse game. Sou muito fã da série desde os primeiros jogos, mas, infelizmente, preciso dizer que fiquei decepcionado. O desempenho no PC é horrível. Minha máquina não é topo de linha, mas roda tranquilamente jogos pesados como *Cyberpunk 2077*, *Stellar Blade* e *God of War Ragnarök* com um bom desempenho. Já em *Final Fantasy XVI*, tive que colocar tudo no mínimo e desabilitar praticamente todos os recursos gráficos para conseguir terminar o jogo. Mesmo assim, a taxa de quadros oscila absurdamente, indo de 80 para 20 FPS o tempo todo, o que torna a experiência bem frustrante. Inclusive, precisei instalar um mod apenas para fazer as cutscenes rodarem acima de 30 FPS e conseguir aproveitar a história, que, felizmente, é muito boa. Para mim, a jogabilidade é o ponto mais fraco. As batalhas são extremamente fáceis, com inimigos que muitas vezes ficam apenas rodeando o personagem em vez de atacar. Alguns chefes oferecem um pouco mais de desafio, mas, no geral, o jogo nunca passa a sensação de exigir estratégia ou habilidade. As recompensas das batalhas também são decepcionantes. Você recebe materiais para fabricar armas e armaduras, mas, como o jogo é tão fácil, praticamente não existe necessidade de se preocupar com isso. A exploração também deixa a desejar: os itens espalhados pelo mapa, como poções, ficam tão visíveis que não há qualquer sensação de descoberta ou recompensa por explorar. As sidequests foram outra grande decepção. São missões muito simples, sem profundidade, repetitivas e que pouco agregam à experiência ou ao desenvolvimento dos personagens e do mundo. O grande destaque de *Final Fantasy XVI* é, sem dúvida, a história. Os personagens são muito bem construídos e têm bastante profundidade. Em alguns momentos a narrativa pode parecer um pouco confusa, mas, conforme o jogo avança, tudo vai se encaixando de forma satisfatória, com boas reviravoltas e momentos marcantes. No fim das contas, eu recomendaria esse jogo apenas para quem é realmente fã da franquia *Final Fantasy* e conseguir comprá-lo em uma boa promoção. Espero sinceramente que os próximos títulos consigam recuperar a confiança dos fãs e tragam de volta o equilíbrio entre uma boa história, jogabilidade desafiadora e uma exploração mais recompensadora. Vale mencionar que, depois de terminar o jogo, é liberado um modo de dificuldade maior. Porém, sinceramente, depois de uma campanha tão maçante, não acredito que muita gente vá se animar a jogar tudo novamente apenas para ter algum desafio. Na minha opinião, o ideal seria que essa opção estivesse disponível desde a primeira partida, permitindo que cada jogador escolhesse a experiência que prefere desde o início.

Worst Final Fantasy in the main franchise. The game is repetitive in every point possible. Story is too simple, characters too bland, too many cinematics and most don't really seem interesting or important. You spend half the game apologizing I just stopped caring at some point. Deep and complex stories were always the big strength of the Final Fantasy series, so this is the most downside for this edition. There's also very little gear to collect. Although a crafting system exist, I didn't craft anything after the tutorial since I had so many of everything for doing the minimum required battles, which made me ignore items on the ground and not wanting to explore the environment. That's made worse with fast travels everywhere. Combat gets a little better after some time but it's not as good as FFXV. Strengths for this one are the soundtrack, graphics, and voice acting.

セールで買ったけど、正直誰かのプレイ動画見るので十分だと思った。 アクションは楽しいが強制雑魚戦の連続みたいなシーンが多くてつまらない。 装備やアビリティの自由度も少ない。 ストーリーもあんまり気持ちいいものではない。 主人公の行動が確信をもって正しいように見えないから思考がテロリストで怖い。

Final Fantasy XVI долгое время оставалась эксклюзивом PS5, но спустя время добралась и до ПК. Давно хотелось попробовать эту игру, однако знакомство постоянно откладывалось. И что хочется сказать... Это было действительно интересно. Игра определённо не без минусов, но после прохождения оставляет приятные впечатления. Её главное достоинство — зрелищность. Это игра, которую действительно приятно смотреть. Кат-сцены поставлены на очень высоком уровне, но настоящий пик приходит во время битв между айконами. По масштабу и постановке они напоминают лучшие моменты оригинальных God of War. Музыка хорошая. Местами она даже имеет неожиданный стиль для такого сеттинга, но всё же подходит под происходящие события. Отдельные темы не запоминаются, но свою задачу звуковое сопровождение выполняет. Сюжет на протяжении большей части игры удерживает интерес. Мир, явно вдохновлён «Игрой престолов»: около средние века с политическими конфликтами и постоянными интригами. Из приятного хочется отметить внутриигровую систему, которая позволяет изучать лор, отслеживать отношения персонажей и состояние мира по мере развития истории. Это заметно усиливает погружение. Графика приятная, хотя наследие PS5-эксклюзива ощущается: местами картинка заметно «мылит». Также пришлось ставить фанатский патч, чтобы убрать ограничение в 30 FPS в кат-сценах и исправить несколько технических проблем. Геймплей получился вполне сносным. Вместо классической партийной jRPG был сделан окончательный выбор в сторону action-RPG. Способности выглядят эффектно и поначалу их интересно комбинировать, но со временем, скорее всего, найдется определенный набор умений, который и будет использоваться до конца. Из-за этого боевая система постепенно становится довольно однообразной. Главный минус игры для меня — второстепенные задания. Они не плохие: написаны достаточно качественно и органично вписываются в мир. Но проблема в другом: их игровой процесс слишком однотипный. Пока вас ведёт основной сюжет, это почти не ощущается, однако при попытке закрыть весь дополнительный контент быстро приходит усталость. Слишком большой разрыв между постановкой в основном сюжете и сайд-квестами. В итоге данную финалку можно смело рекомендовать тем, кто ищет красивую сюжетную игру с масштабной постановкой. А вот проходить её на 100% стоит только в том случае, если у вас действительно есть желание и достаточно свободного времени, иначе дополнительный контент может быстро утомить.

よりによってバハムートのドミナントを同性愛者にする必要、ありました？ストーリーにまったく関係ないし、ただの作為にしか見えません。誰得なんですか、この設定。

(画面のライティングが)暗く(テーマだけは)重い怪獣映画＋アクションゲーム テーマだけは重いが、そのテーマが重くなる要素を全部スキップして安易な解決に直行するのはある意味大人向け。 最初の10時間ほどは取れるアクションの択がなくたたかう連打ゲーになりがち＆ムービー過剰でほぼ操作できないため、そこを耐えると「とりあえず遊べるアクションゲーム」が始まる。序盤で投げるのはもったいないが、耐えるだけの価値があるかというと微妙なところ。

7.5/10 [h3] It's a shame that Final Fantasy XVI had the potential to be so much better. [/h3] To me, [b] FF16 suffers from three major flaws [/b]. First, there's a disconnect between its narrative premise and the way that narrative is actually presented. Second, the pacing is wildly uneven. Third, the story itself often feels surprisingly hollow—its characters rarely receive the depth they deserve, leaving the game's ambitious themes feeling superficial instead of impactful. That's what makes FF16 so frustrating. It had all the ingredients to become one of the series' stronger entries, yet because of these shortcomings, its breathtaking soundtrack and spectacular cinematic set pieces ultimately end up being the game's two greatest strengths—and, unfortunately, its most memorable ones. Producer Naoki Yoshida once described FF16 as one of the darkest and most realistic games in the franchise. In that regard, the game certainly delivers on its brutal, violent atmosphere. At its core, it's essentially [b] Final Fantasy's take on a Renaissance-era medieval fantasy [/b], centered on humanity breaking free from divine control and forging an era shaped by human will rather than the will of gods. It's a compelling premise, and from a world-building perspective, the setting is thoughtfully constructed and internally consistent. That deserves genuine credit. Stylistically, FF16 is also an interesting hybrid. It retains the DNA of a traditional JRPG while borrowing heavily from Western RPG presentation, and builds its gameplay around a character action combat system that feels genuinely enjoyable (unsurprising, considering the combat director also worked on the Devil May Cry series). Many of the game's design choices also show admirable restraint. Rather than repeating FF15's overly ambitious yet unfinished open world, the developers opted for a region-based structure that better matched their production scope. As a result, FF16 feels like a far more polished and complete experience overall. Unfortunately, Yoshida also falls into a trap that many Japanese developers struggle to avoid. A dark and mature story isn't created simply by filling it with blood, death, and violence, nor merely by establishing a bleak setting. True darkness has to come from the storytelling itself—from making players genuinely feel the weight of despair. And that's where FF16 stumbles. The first thing it needed to abandon was the overly dramatic, distinctly "anime-style" storytelling common in many Japanese games. There's nothing inherently wrong with that style, but it has to fit the work it's used in. When paired with a medieval fantasy that's striving for grounded brutality and political tragedy, the result feels jarringly inconsistent. One moment Clive is drowning in grief after a devastating tragedy. The next moment he's shouting inspirational battle speeches before transforming into an Eikon, leading to an explosive spectacle that feels more reminiscent of Naruto's giant-tailed-beast battles than the grounded tone the game initially promises. That tonal whiplash is, in my opinion, FF16's biggest weakness. These two storytelling styles are incredibly difficult to reconcile. Some Japanese games manage that balance well. FF16 isn't one of them. The clearest example is Clive's constant declaration that he wants to "[b] create a world where everyone can live with dignity. [/b]" By the latter half of the game, what should have been the emotional core of the story gradually devolves into an anime-style slogan—grand in scale, but emotionally empty. To be fair, the game does include several heartfelt moments about people supporting one another, and some side quests are genuinely well written. But the majority of both the side quests and even much of the main story remain surprisingly flat, shallow, and surface-level. As a result, the game's central message never truly lands. Instead of becoming an earned ideal, that line simply becomes a slogan repeated over and over. This ties directly into another major issue: the game's pacing. Because FF16 adopts an almost relentlessly restrained and serious emotional tone, much of the story ends up feeling oddly monotonous. It's never outright boring, but it's rarely exciting either. Ironically, the moments most players are likely to remember are the massive Eikon battles. The problem is what comes afterward. Once those spectacular fights are over, the game immediately returns to long stretches of forgettable main-story dialogue and filler-like side quests. That imbalance in pacing persists throughout nearly the entire game. Looking back after finishing it, it's surprisingly difficult to mentally reconstruct the story from beginning to end because there are so few memorable narrative milestones connecting everything together. For me, that's a clear sign that the storytelling simply isn't strong enough. One moment that particularly stood out occurs later in the game. Clive has just suffered serious injuries and hasn't even fully recovered. Naturally, you'd expect the story to maintain that urgency and push the main narrative forward. Instead, the game suddenly dumps several ordinary side quests onto the player all at once. It completely shattered my immersion. The protagonist is supposedly gravely injured, yet the story abruptly expects you to run errands that have little narrative importance. That awkward clash between gameplay structure and narrative momentum is something FF16 struggles with from beginning to end. Honestly, if you're looking for a JRPG that explores similar themes—people standing together, breaking free from divine control, and building an era defined by humanity itself—then [b] Xenoblade Chronicles [/b] remains, for me, the gold standard. It accomplished those ideas brilliantly [b] thirteen years before FF16 was even released [/b]. Ironically, despite having plenty of criticisms of FF15, if I had to choose between the two, I'd pick 15 without hesitation. Its portrayal of brotherhood is genuinely heartfelt. Exploring its open world is enjoyable. Many of its conversations and story moments are simply more fun. Its world also left a stronger impression on me. Overall, it's a game that's simply more enjoyable to play. That said, I still want to emphasize that [b] FF16 absolutely has its strengths [/b]. By the time I'm writing this review, I've already earned every achievement in the game, so I'm fully aware of the countless thoughtful details and impressive craftsmanship the development team put into it. But precisely because I experienced everything the game has to offer, I also became painfully aware of where it falls short. I can clearly see just how much greater this game could have been—and that's what disappoints me the most. Perhaps that's the truest definition of disappointment: Not that something was bad, but that it could have been so much better. Even so, I'd still recommend FF16 to JRPG fans. After all, whether we like it or not, every new Final Fantasy release is one fewer we'll ever get to experience. [hr][/hr] [i] [b] Achievement Hunter's Note [/b]: If you're aiming for 100% completion, prepare for one of the most tedious achievement grinds I've experienced. Three achievements require replaying the base game and both DLCs on [b] Final Fantasy Mode [/b] (hard mode). Unfortunately, FF16's slow pacing, lengthy cutscenes, and limited gameplay variety make a second run feel exhausting. Combat isn't much harder—enemies mostly just have far more health, turning battles into damage sponges. It doesn't add challenge, only time. Be prepared for a long, repetitive grind. [/i]