I’ve been playing Final Fantasy 16 for the last couple of weeks and feel really let down by the hype and reviews of this game.
While I enjoy the deviation of the combat the rest of the game feels very incomplete. The vocal animations are frequently off. The travel from area to area is just an overworld map to select travel from one small area to another. There are like 2 or 3 side quests at a time and a whole vendor that will send you to side quests in different areas, but his menu is always empty.
In general, the graphics are roughly the same as FFXIV. The animations and music seem ripped right out of 14 as well. And the combat and akin to the main series Kingdom Hearts games.
Overall I’m enjoying it, but these 7-9 out of 10 reviews that are calling it some massive achievement seem really undeserved.
I disagree. This is the first game I’m rating over 9/10 since divinity original sin 2.
I specifically like the map style over contemporary, pseudo big(copy pasted), generic open world.
The story is the best I can think of in epic RPGS, maybe throne of Baal or kotor were similarly interesting for me but they are very old so there’s some nostalgia.
Only 2 complaints I have are difficulty, there’s no reason to hide the hard mode, action is too easy. And side quest design, almost all involving combat.
I’ve been really enjoying it so far, but there are certain aspects that could use more polish. Like some textures in scenes that could use more love, or when the end of a quest boots you to the overworld map but you only have one location you can choose. In that instance it should just load you into the next area rather than put you on a map with a bunch of crossed out areas. That being said, I don’t mind the overworld map as a mechanic at all.
Past that, the combat is fun and the world feels very “Final Fantasy” which I haven’t felt in a while (other than FFXIV). I’ve never played Kingdom Hearts but I’ve played most of the FF games and I don’t mind that they chose to go full action in this one. It feels like it fits the game well, at least in my opinion. There are definitely periods with less/no side quests but in those instances, just play through the story. It’s not going to compare to the amount of quests FFXIV had, and that’s okay.
The graphics are certainly similar to FFXIV, but for the most part I think they look better. Same with the music, I haven’t examined each track and compared it to FFXIV but while playing it felt familiar but new. I didn’t notice any similarities with animations, but that could just be me.
I have not finished the game yet, but am looking forward to playing through it. Furthermore, I plan to play through New Game + as well, which is rare for me personally.
When the first trailer for this game came out I basically went media blackout on it until the game demo was released. I find I’ve been doing this more and more with games and movies lately, it makes the whole experience better. No overhype, no pre-orders, no spoilers, less disappointment.
It may not be 10/10 but in my opinion it’s damn close.
Welcome to AAA game reviews. Where every major studios games must receive a high score, or they won’t get review copies for the next game from that studio. With rare exceptions.
Exactly. I consider it basically payola these days. Every big-name review is gushing, falling over itself to expound on the innumerable virtues of every AAA release, and then once normal folks have played for a few weeks, the real story comes out. My partner played the demo and was shocked to be playing the same game as the one that was reviewed. Unless I’m so excited to play a game that I don’t care if it’s mediocre, I wait to buy until actual the real user reviews trickle out post-release.
Wait till Starfield comes out. I guarantee it’ll get 9 and 10s no matter what. Six months later will come the actual reviews.
Sometimes I look specifically for the 5-7 review scored games. That’s were the fun games hide.
This. The reviews never seem to add up for the FF series. I thought the same thing about 15. Not sure who all these mega fans are nowadays, but it’s not those of us were playing FF2 on snes back in the day and whatnot. I’ve wondered about review manipulation on Square Enix’s part though I could just be majorly out of touch. It is possible that people genuinely are seeing something there that I’m not.
I don’t know if I count as a mega fan, but I’ve been playing the FF series since FF1 on the NES. I loved FF1-FF9, but then I sort of lost interest in the series. I kept trying each new game, but they never really clicked for me.
Then I tried FFXV when it came out, and while it was a big departure from what the series was before, I loved it. It wasn’t perfect, but it finally clicked again for me. Same with FF7 Remake. I haven’t played FF16 yet, and I won’t until it comes out on PC, but I have a feeling I’ll like it.
I guess my point is, there are plenty of long time fans that are into the new games. And plenty that aren’t! I think the new direction is pretty polarizing.
It’s kind of a long standing quality of the series, since they are always trying new stuff that will resonate with different people. Outside of like actual FF2 (I assume you are talking about IV since you mention the SNES) I think I have heard people make a case for every FF being their favourite. Which is great, I am glad they try to shake it up every time.
Both of the projects Yoshida has been involved with I have been pretty lukewarm on though, so I am just a bit concerned if he is going to be the proverbial face of the series moving forward.
The thing with Yoshida is interesting because I feel exactly the same way, but I also changed opinion on his works over time.
I don’t know what changed, but Heavensward era FFXIV was pretty cool in both gameplay and story, and Stormblood too has some great moments (primarily in the 4.X patch quests) while being even better, gameplay wise.
Since then the gameplay has been going in a direction I really don’t care for, and the same goes for story (though Shadowbringers had some great moments). I couldn’t make myself finish Endwalker.
I’m curious if you experienced this shift as well or you just didn’t care for FFXIV from the outset.
I wasn’t a massive XIV fan at the outset, but there has definitely been a trend in the game design I didn’t like as it moved towards later expansions. They continually moved away from any kind of player agency/customization, so everything is super homogenized now (or at least when I last played). I stopped around the end of Shadowbringers, never actually got into Endwalker content.
They used to have cross-class skills and things like that, so it really felt like a FF job system where you would play different classes to unlock skills for your main. I think any FF player should be pretty comfortable with that. They have since simplified that, which I am sure is great for newer players but I don’t really like it. Now, if I am a level 80 warrior I am exactly the same as every other level 80 warrior, except for the number next to my item level. That kind of customization is a big part of both MMOs and FFs for me, usually.
Killer soundtrack though, Soken does good work.
They have definitely gone further down the path of homogenisation and simplification. I don’t actually mind customisation being sacrificed for better encounter balance, but many classes started to lose their identities as features and mechanics got scaled back, Dark Knight and Astrologian being two examples. And of course what they did to healers in general. Personally the removal of Hissatsu: Kaiten from Samurai was the last straw.
Killer soundtrack though, Soken does good work.
He does produce some bangers, but I’m such an unabashed Uematsu fanboy. I actually felt Soken did some of his best work remixing, building on and riffing off of Uematu’s themes and melodies, which is another reason I enjoyed the earlier expansions.
