We analyze Final Fantasy XVI, the latest installment within the main line of the most popular and famous saga of Square Enix.
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The Final Fantasy saga is one of the most successful in the world, and I have to admit that it passed me by during its best moment, as I only played VII on the original PlayStation and didn’t get back into it until the release of XIII, which turned me into a strong defender of the series. After the disappointment that was XV for me, this latest installment generated a lot of excitement to play it from the first glance. And things didn’t get any worse with the controversy surrounding the secondary missions, now that it has finally arrived on Xbox Series X/S, I’ve had the pleasure of analyzing it, and here are my mostly positive impressions.
As always, we start by talking about the plot, and as is typical in this franchise, we have a fantasy world, although this time it’s set in a medieval setting, moving away from what we saw in Final Fantasy XV and its futuristic modern world. Here, we play as Clive, the eldest son of the Archduke of Rosaria, one of the many factions fighting for territory and for the Mother Crystals, enormous mountains that flood the world with magical power, and after some traumatic events with his younger brother, he will discover the secrets behind conspiracies that threaten to condemn all human beings on the planet.
Technical Section
As always, we start by talking about the technical aspect, one that has both good and bad things, at least when it comes to Xbox consoles. Since we have a good visual section with stunning cinematics and in general, we are facing one of the most graphically impressive games, but on Microsoft consoles, we’ve had to play it at a lower resolution than on PS5, and at the time of my analysis, it’s quite noticeable, although this can be improved with future patches. The good part is that all this works with two types of performance modes on Xbox Series X, so I’ve opted to play at 60 FPS, and at least I haven’t noticed any drops in fluidity, so at least it can be played in a good way if you choose this configuration.
It also seems important to me to highlight the fact that the screen on which you play matters, and although I’ve mostly played on a Full HD TV, I’ve also had the chance to enjoy the game at 4K and see that at least at that resolution, the port’s shortcomings are somewhat disguised.
In the sound section, we have very good music, something that no Final Fantasy game fails to deliver, and Final Fantasy XVI is no exception, with truly epic themes, especially in battles and fights against imposing bosses that are accompanied in a masterful way.
Gameplay
In terms of gameplay, it’s where we need to expand the most, something that’s a habit in the games I analyze, although in Final Fantasy XVI, it’s a never-ending story, as we advance, new tutorials keep popping up to allow us to perform some new mechanic or way of fighting in the different battles. However, to synthesize, we are facing a highly dynamic combat system that gives us the possibility of fighting hand-to-hand and with magical abilities of various types and profiles. We have the ability to customize our armor, ring, and pendant equipment with special abilities that enhance our skills and healing items to assist us in case the battle becomes more complicated.
We will also have companions by our side that we can give a bit of focus to help us in battles, and they are in the same controls as the potions, and we can switch between both menus quickly using just one button.
Similarly, we can modify the type of magic we want to use. As we advance in the story, we will gain control over more elements, starting with fire. With just one button, we can select the profile of various skills with instant modification. In this way, combat never stops, with frantic moments and few moments of respite.
As we continue to advance and level up, we will get skill points, which will allow us to acquire new skills or improve the ones we already have, and as we continue to unlock new elements, new skill trees will be added with their respective improvements.
Something else to consider are the large-scale battles with the Eikons or elemental gods, which give us a somewhat different perspective, with new types of powers, which will be added as the story progresses and our character acquires new skills.
Duration
Final Fantasy XVI is a truly extensive game, as if we only focus on the main missions, we will need at least 30 hours to complete the game’s story. However, if we aspire to complete the title and achieve all the achievements, it’s likely that the counter will exceed 70 hours, which represents a absolute madness that only the most enthusiastic players will dare to undertake.
All of the above is just from the main campaign, as today we have DLC content that further expands the story that was missing from the base game when it was released on PS5, so we are facing one of the longest installments in the saga to date.
Conclusion
Final Fantasy XVI is a truly worthy installment of Square Enix’s most successful franchise, with a main story that has hooked me from the start. It has characters that manage to make you care and with good development, and it’s technically good despite the problems on Xbox Series X/S, this surpasses Final Fantasy XV and its technical issues in every way, so if you’ve been a fan of the saga, we’re facing one of the best installments in recent years.
We thank Bandai Namco for the material provided for this analysis.
Spartan and computer technician who lives to the rhythm of metal. A great lover of videogames and beer. Specially covers Halo and Xbox Game Studios news.
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