“This looks really bland.”
Those were the words I said out loud a couple weeks ago after watching “The World of Valisthea” trailer for Final Fantasy 16. It had been many months since I’d last seen anything from the game, as I usually prefer to stay in the dark for titles that I’m eagerly awaiting to play. I couldn’t help myself this time, however. I needed to see how this world was going to look. And what I ended up seeing didn’t impress me in the slightest. The world looked dull, drab, almost lifeless. Each cut to a different location felt unfinished, and reminded me of the environments of FF15. Soft textures, copy and paste art assets, muted colours, and just an overall lack of…something. It was disheartening, to say the least. As a longtime fan of the series who has—begrudgingly—accepted that its best years were behind it, I was excited at the possibility of Final Fantasy 16 being a proper return to form, especially with how wonderful Final Fantasy 7 Remake turned out to be. This trailer did little to fuel that excitement.
So when it was announced that Sony were going to do a twenty minute State of Play focusing only on FF16, my expectations were very tempered. That lasted only a moment. Because what would transpire in the next twenty or so minutes would have me staring at my television screen, slack-jaw and giddy, and rushing to Jeff Bezos’ site to see if I could snag a PlayStation 5–a console I’d held off purchasing until now due to its lack of ‘must buy’ exclusives (I know there’s Ragnarok, but that’s on PS4 as well). It’s safe to say that I’m back on the hype train for this game, so let’s take a look into why and what was shown at yesterday’s State of Play.
A True Action RPG
Though one might label FF15 and FF7R as action role-playing games (I certainly did), the fact that they both have mechanics wherein the screen freezes or slows down during certain item/ability selections negates them from being ‘true’ action RPGs. Game producer Naoki Yoshida, who walks us through this State of Play, mentions that this will be the first time a Final Fantasy game has completely real-time combat encounters. This might take a slight adjusting to for anyone like myself who enjoys the extra breath to plan out attacks and strategies. Yet, it also seems like an inevitable evolution to the franchise’s combat system that has been tinkering with real-time encounters ever since Final Fantasy 13.
The encounters in FF16 look phenomenal. To take a crude phrase from popular YouTube channel Girlfriend Reviews, the combat looks like ‘diarrhea Christmas lights.’ There really couldn’t be a more apt description for what I witnessed from the gameplay. I say this as a genuine positive, because combat looks to be fast, frenetic, and have a ton of flair with a flashiness akin to Devil May Cry. There seem to be an abundance of abilities that all stem from the different Eikons, which are the classic and familiar godlike entities of the Final Fantasy universe. Eikons have their own skill trees where you can mix and match abilities to unleash a bevy of combinations, and each one of these special abilities just look incredibly… well, cool. Speaking of Eikons, this will be the first time where players can actually play as these colossal beings. In the midst of combat, and I’m assuming when certain criteria are met, players can call upon their Eikons to fight enemies. The segment shows the player take control of Ifrit and go up against Bahamut in what can only be described as an epic battle between Gods. Yoshida also explains how these battles won’t just be locked to standard combat, but also different types of set-pieces that switch up the gameplay. This entire segment was just a wonderful spectacle to witness, and a dream for longtime fans. (Also, there’s a doggo companion named Torgal whom you can command in-game, which by itself makes this game a GOTY contender).
Clive Rosfield
Narrative has always been a key pillar in every Final Fantasy game. From quirky and interesting characters, to a vast world with a rich history. Unfortunately, these elements haven’t been able to come together in the past couple instalments of the series. FF15 has such memorable and well defined main characters, though within a lacklustre world and botched plot. FF13, meanwhile, has the opposite problem. The narrative simply hasn’t fully clicked for the series of late—FF7R aside, though even that had some questionable choices. In FF16, players will control Clive Rosfield, following his journey from his teenage years all the way through his thirties, with flashback sequences of his childhood sprinkled in. Not much more was said about the actual plot or systems of the world Clive exists in, which I’m glad for. The world itself looks like a good mix of classic Final Fantasy with a healthy dose of modern dark fantasy. I’m still not entirely sure how ‘lived in’ these locations will be, but it made a far better impression than the last trailer. On the technical side, I’ll say that the facial animations aren’t exactly what I’d call ‘next gen.’ The lip syncs are fine enough, but there’s an overall stiffness in the expressions of characters. Frankly, the facial animations looked like a step down from even FF7R, but I’m hoping this isn’t the case upon release.
This is a series I’ve loved for many years, and though I still have my reservations, I’m allowing myself to be excited again and jump back on the hype train for Final Fantasy 16.
