Final Fantasy XVI

[Moonface]

Developer: Square Enix
Platforms: PlayStation 5
Release Date: June 22, 2023

The sun is setting upon the land of Valisthea.

For centuries, people have flocked to her Mothercrystals to partake of their blessing—the abundant aether that fuels the magicks they rely upon in their everyday lives. As the aether begins to fade and the lifeless deadlands spread ever further, so too does the struggle for possession of the final flickers of the Mothers' light grow ever more fierce.

Yet amidst the gathering storm, there are those who believe that the legacy of the crystals has shaped mankind's destiny for long enough.

⟢ CHARACTERS ⟣

• Clive Rosfield
  The firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria. Though all expected him to inherit the Phoenix's flames and awaken as its Dominant, destiny instead chose his younger brother Joshua to bear this burden. In search of a role of his own, Clive dedicated himself to mastering the blade. His practice pays off when, at just fifteen years of age, he wins the ducal tournament and is dubbed the First Shield of Rosaria—tasked to guard the Phoenix and blessed with the ability to wield a part of his fire. Alas, Clive's promising career is to end in tragedy at the hands of a mysterious dark Eikon, Ifrit, setting him on a dangerous road to revenge.
  

• Joshua Rosfield
  The second son of the Archduke of Rosaria and Clive's younger brother by five years. Joshua awoke as the Dominant of the Phoenix soon after his birth. Despite his noble upbringing, Joshua treats all his father's subjects with warmth and affection—none more so than Clive, whom he deeply admires. Joshua often laments that it was he, the frail and bookish younger son, who was granted command of the firebird's flames, and not his stronger, braver brother. While Clive will gladly throw himself into any danger, Joshua quails at the sight of a carrot on his dinner plate. But carrots become the least of his concern when he, too, is swept up into the tragic events that change Clive's life forever.
  

• Jill Warrick
  Born in the fallen Northern Territories, Jill was taken from her homeland at a tender age to become a ward of Rosaria. The Archduke insisted that she be raised alongside his sons, and she became as much a part of the Rosfield household as Clive and Joshua. Alas, fate was not finished with her yet—it saw the three torn apart, and the bone-chilling power of the Eikon Shiva awaken within her.
  

• The full cast of confirmed characters, along with their biographies, can be found here: Characters | Final Fantasy XVI
  

⟢ WORLD ⟣

• Valisthea | A Land Blessed in the Light of the Mothercrystals
  The land of Valisthea is studded with Mothercrystals—glittering mountains of crystal that tower over the realms around them, blessing them with aether. For generations, people have flocked to these beacons to take advantage of their blessing, using the aether to conjure magicks that let them live lives of comfort and plenty. Great powers have grown up around each Mothercrystal, and an uneasy peace has long reigned between them. Yet now the peace falters as the spread of the Blight threatens to destroy their dominions.
  

• Eikons and Their Dominants
  The Eikons are the most powerful and deadly creatures in Valisthea. Each resides within a Dominant—a single man or woman who is blessed with the ability to call upon their dread power. In some nations these Dominants are treated as royalty in admiration of this strength—in others they are bound in fear of it, and forced to serve as weapons of war. Those who are born as Dominants cannot escape their fate, however cruel it may be.
  

• Magic Without Crystals: A Bearer's Burden
  Most men and women in Valisthea rely on the Mothercrystals to conjure their magicks. However, a small number are born with the ability to cast magicks at will. A Bearer's lot in life differs dramatically depending on the realm in which they are born.
  

• More details about the world, such as the different realms of Valisthea, can be found here: World & Story | Final Fantasy XVI
  

⟢ BATTLE ⟣

• From Strength to Strength
  A plethora of powerful swordplay techniques and Eikonic abilities lie within Clive's remit—and it is up to you to decide which ones you wish to learn or upgrade. If you're having trouble choosing, upgrades can be unlocked automatically.
  

• A Hero's Best Friend
  Clive's faithful hound Torgal is never far from his side—and when enemies approach, he does not quail. Not only can Torgal attack enemies, but he can also mend Clive's wounds—and if Clive times his orders right, the two can prove a devastating duo.
  

• The More The Merrier
  At certain points in his adventure, Clive will be joined by certain stalwart allies who will fight alongside him—the composition of his party changing as the story develops. Unlike Torgal, these party members do not take orders directly from the player, but fight as they see fit.
  

⟢ MEDIA ⟣

• State of Play Presentation | April 13, 2023
  
• "Revenge" Trailer | December 9, 2022
  
• "Ambition" Trailer | October 20, 2022
  
• "Dominance" Trailer | June 2, 2022
  

---

With the games release not far off and today's State of Play presentation, I figured I'd put together a thread for everyone interested in this game to talk about it. I haven't looked into the game much myself since I've barely touched the Final Fantasy series but I'm debating whether I should look into this game some more and see if it's something I'd enjoy or not.
Also, gathering up the trailers for the game I appreciate that SE seemingly held off on announcing this game too many years in advance like they've had a trend of doing with their titles. Assuming "Awakening" is the first time we heard of the game, September 2020 to June 2023 isn't too bad, especially since development was pushed back by up to half a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[Moonface]

Final Fantasy XVI - 'Salvation' Launch Trailer
A new trailer for the upcoming launch of Final Fantasy XVI was shown during today's PlayStation Showcase:

[Dragon Lord]

Demo drops tomorrow (the 12th) for us superior PS5 owners!

Definitely looking forward to trying it out. Save data also transfers to the main game, so definitely worth checking out for anyone who thinks they'll be buying the game upon release~

[Moonface]

Was about to come in here to post about the demo news since somehow I only just found out about it. I'll give it a go since I'm curious if the game will be up my alley or not given my lack of experience with Final Fantasy games or even just JRPG's in general. Plus I finished the Lies of P demo today so I need something else now.

[Dragon Lord]

FFXVI will probably have a higher chance of being something you enjoy since it's going to be purely an action RPG now and not their hybrid action with a poorly implemented ATB system. People keep trying to knock it for "just being a DMC clone", but I'm like... DMC is highly praised for its action combat, so if FFXVI is like that, then... that's only going to be a good thing for it?

I'm excited to try it. Having Yoshida in charge of it gives me a lot more hope for a good game than having garbage Nomura doing it.

[Moonface]

So I haven't gotten around to playing the demo yet but I have a stream on of the game that I'm like barely paying attention to and what little catches my eye (they were doing all the demo content right until this moment I'm writing this) intrigues me enough I'm going to make a point of getting the demo tonight I think (wanna wait for @ShiraNoMai to get home so she can watch).

[queenzelda]

I've played the demo and have been watching TagBackTV stream it. So far, this game is a no for me personally. My problem is I never liked the DMC franchuse, if I wanted a DMC game I'd have bought it. But I've been playing FF titles since FF3 aka FF6 since I has a snes, so I miss the party mangement. Yes the combat maybe great but it lacks the heart of a true Final Fantasy game, impo.

I will though get it on sale, but I don't see paying full price for a dmc battle simulator with a decent story but zero heart of the og franchise. *le sigh*

[Moonface]

So I finished the demo on the same night I downloaded it which was when I made my last post in here, and overall I liked the opening a lot but I wanna play that extra bit they give after beating it to see how the gameplay is with more stuff unlocked. I'd say the thing I was happiest about is this game isn't open world because I'm honestly tired of that format of game.

Not sure if I'm in any rush to buy the game yet though. I can probably wait a bit for a price drop by which time I'll have less of a backlog on my plate maybe.

[Dragon Lord]

The extra mode they provide for expanded combat is pretty nice. You get to play around with some really fun abilities.

I'll be starting this game tonight finally (took an extra day to finish Trinity Trigger than I had planned). Very excited to dive more into the game, glad that demo progress carries over so I don't have to re-play the opening. After years and years of stinkers (X-2, XII, XIII trilogy, XV, FFVIIR), it's so nice to finally have a FF game that feels like it's actually going to provide an experience that's worth the money.

Now they just need to confirm FFIX Remake.

[Moonface]

I got a QR code to enter a giveaway for a copy of this game from the DoorDash booth at the con I went to today, so I'm gonna see if I can get lucky with that.

Did you start the game at all yet @Dragon Lord?

[queenzelda]

I also think another issues I have with this game is the same one Jim Stearling brought up during their review, in that everyone loathes the main character all because they're a branded. They are expected to act like a slave and are treated terribly, yet as the main character your supposed to take it. <_< So, if I could get the option to actually burn the world, then yea I would like that option 100%.

[Dragon Lord]

Did you start the game at all yet @Dragon Lord?

Yeah, I have. Pretty Poggers so far. I haven't gotten terribly far yet though, but plan to munch through a good amount the next couple of days. Plus next week I took three days off, so I'll have 7 days off in 9 days, so that'll give me plenty of time to get through the game.

My only real complaint about the game is that there's no sprint button. Traversing can feel a bit slow at times and being able to initiate a sprint would be nice (you do start sprinting after a bit automatically, which is why I don't think it's a HUGE issue, would just be nice to be able to start the sprint yourself).

Really liking the music and combat so far though. Like the dark medieval times setting of the game as well.

I love all of the little references and callbacks to previous FF games scattered all throughout 16 so far as well. It's been very enjoyable keeping my eyes peeled for the references. One of my favorites so far is the 2D sprites of the characters on the save files.

[ShiraNoMai]

I also think another issues I have with this game is the same one Jim Stearling brought up during their review, in that everyone loathes the main character all because they're a branded. They are expected to act like a slave and are treated terribly, yet as the main character your supposed to take it. <_< So, if I could get the option to actually burn the world, then yea I would like that option 100%.

That's what I love about Horizon: Zero Dawn. Aloy, when that similar scenario happens of "hey my abusive tribe, now that I've proven myself, suddenly wants my help?" she is very much in the camp of "Nah, byeeeee", and I love her for that.

Also I forgot Jim Sterling was a thing, she is great.

[Moonface]

I also think another issues I have with this game is the same one Jim Stearling brought up during their review, in that everyone loathes the main character all because they're a branded. They are expected to act like a slave and are treated terribly, yet as the main character your supposed to take it. <_< So, if I could get the option to actually burn the world, then yea I would like that option 100%.

Based on the little I saw of the main campaign, it seemed like the main character very quickly tells the people they work under to go pound sand the second they can go and pursue the goal they actually care about. I don't know how things pan out across the whole game since what I saw was also very early into the game after what happens in the demo ends, but it didn't seem like the main character was willing to take shit from people once it was no longer to their benefit.

Did you start the game at all yet @Dragon Lord?

Yeah, I have. Pretty Poggers so far. I haven't gotten terribly far yet though, but plan to munch through a good amount the next couple of days. Plus next week I took three days off, so I'll have 7 days off in 9 days, so that'll give me plenty of time to get through the game.

My only real complaint about the game is that there's no sprint button. Traversing can feel a bit slow at times and being able to initiate a sprint would be nice (you do start sprinting after a bit automatically, which is why I don't think it's a HUGE issue, would just be nice to be able to start the sprint yourself).

Assuming my head math of time is right, those days off should be coming up super soon right? Still planning to dive into this game heavily then or did plans change?

And yeah, the lack of sprint is something I was having a hard time with in the demo. I never got above the speed of that dainty sorta jog so I thought that was the fastest speed but you make it sound like there's a faster speed; it just requires running for long enough consistently for it to kick in. At least the items in the game are clearly marked from a distance so there's no need to check every corner that you can see for stuff which lets a lot of areas be run generally along the main pathways.

The only callback I know of is the classic FF jingle when a battle ends, but I don't know if the demo doesn't have many compared to the full game or if I'm just not really knowledgeable enough about FF as a whole to notice any other callbacks and references.

[Dragon Lord]

Yeah, I'm currently going on night #3 of my five nights off in a row... and I haven't touched FFXVI yet, haha...

I've been too busy doing events and such in Honkai Star Rail, Genshin, Azur Lane, Arknights and Aether Gazer to get around to doing any gaming on my PS5 or event Steam. I'm going to try to spend the final three nights really hitting up FFXVI though and try to make up for lost time and get through a good chunk of the game.