A Serious Exploration of Final Fantasy 16's Performance
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- Опубліковано 24 лис 2024
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Final Fantasy XVI released almost three months ago, but during that time there have been many, many conversations around its performance. This discussion relates to its critical and commercial performance and it has become quite heated in some communities.
Throughout this video, we hope to provide a more balanced view.
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![Final Fantasy XVI Is EXCEPTIONAL [Extensive Review]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3SffSOArTJI/mqdefault.jpg)
Take the FINAL FANTASY XVI community survey ► tinyurl.com/ffxvisurvey
I feel like a lot of the form questions are missing a "Don't know/No opinion" option. I feel like I'm forced to say yes or no to some questions and it's giving an unfair representation of my opinion.
Just did the survey.
One critique I have for question: What gameplay system would you like Final Fantasy XVII to have?
Is that it's missing "Traditional Turn-based system" (e.g. FFX, Dragon Quest etc)
Not all of us like active RPGs. (Coming from FFX, Dragon Quest; FFX-2 and FF12 were a bit of a cold shower when it came to my perception of RPGs and one I didn't like)
I love the OST that’s my favorite part
The first half of FF16’s story, music and characters was phenomenal, the second half suffered from a severe change in pace and tone, which really brought down the game entirely. There weren’t any provisions within your survey for this, so here it is.
None of the reasons you gave are why I decided to play the game. I decided to play it to find out if it was a good game or not. All of your answers imply that I was excited to play this game, but I was not excited, I was curious. There's a difference, and if you're truthful about collecting accurate data you need to at least place an "Other" option in these multiple choice answers. You also need "no opinion" as an option. As it stands the survey is biased and I won't be completing it or sharing it, which is a shame because I would like Square to know that I was generally unhappy with this offering
I have never seen a game so passionately defended in the first two weeks of existence and so barely conversed about just 3 months down the road.
I think there's been plenty of discussion. But also it's a ridiculously story heavy game. It's hard to talk about until everyone is done with it as the talking about the slightest thing will spoil it for anyone who's not got that far yet. Makes it's very difficult to discuss. But I think most people are just quietly enjoying this game.
I know I loved playing it.
You haven't seen the defence squad for Starfield or any chosen Nintendo game then?
I think it's denial through fanboyism. I adore this series, ever since 3 (6) on the SNES. I have supported the series and loved most all of them except for the more modern ones, but still could find enjoyment in them.
This game was incredible all the way through the Benedikta's arc. After that it nose dives hard and was so boring that I began skipping entire amounts of dialogue to get to the end. I've never done that with a game before. This game was incredibly boring except for the 5 or so major boss battles. I couldn't believe it and replaying it for Final Fantasy mode exemplified the flaws for me and it was a struggle for me to get through, but I wanted the platinum.
I immediately went to the Pixel Remaster games and 9 and 10 HD Remaster and it reminded me of why I loved this series in the first place. I hope to god this isn't the direction this series goes and instead adopt what the FF7 Remake team has done if you absolutely can't go back to the modern entries.
I don't think this necessarily has to do with people's interest in FF16. There were a number of really big games released this summer. People's interest probably just shifted to other games.
Fe Engage comes to my mind for a game that fell of the radar very quickly
Excellent assessment. I can’t imagine thinking FF16 is a failure. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a phenomenal game that has sold well so far and strongly upholds the final fantasy brand
you have to member the time we live in where everything has to be beyond woke or there's something wrong with it.
It’s an OK game, but what makes it phenomenal? Very basic combat system no customization, horrible side, quest and bland graphics For the most part. I’m not trolling I just can’t see why people think this game is anything above average
So good Square lost 2 billion in value. What an achievement /S
if FF16 is a phenomenal game then what is FF7?
@@cidfacetious3722 I adored the story. Like, really adored the story. Additionally, the combat was fun, and the choosing of eikonic abilities made for a lot of fun customization options. I didn’t see it as limited, but as focused. I do have critiques, but they are things I don’t think the game tried to do. But based on their vision for what they wanted to create, they did it very well. And it largely worked for me. But what I love best- story and vibe- it was phenomenal.
For me personally, what stands out about Final Fantasy is the magic it brings with each new development/iteration of a game. The feeling of awe, inspiration, love, sadness, loss etc thats all part of each game truly makes this franchise magical for me. FFXVI achieves this 100% for me. So to me, a huge success. Probably my favourite FF :)
Same here dude! Well Said! 😄😁👍👌
One of mine too and I’m about to finish it
Yes!! All that magic and still flopped. Abracadabra fool
I might even agree with the favorite FF part! I just went back and played the Pixel Remasters of 4 and 6. 4 was my first FF back in 94. If I take off my nostalgia glasses (which is admittedly very difficult) I have to admit the plots of 4 and 6 aren’t nearly as tight as I remember. And my god FF 16 nailed it in plot and presentation.
@@humzamarsh7950 no magic poor and dated game design from the early 2000s incredibly bland combat and graphic set honestly are not impressive minus the cut scenes
I really loved FFXVI! one thing im glad for is the fact that they had a vision and fully commited to it even if it was a risk and I think overall from the story, gameplay, tone, it all payed off for me. Yeah, its disappointing that there isnt any of the fun mini games and there isnt a lot of light hearted jokes in the game but they had a vision on what their world and tone was going to be and I appreciate that a lot.
Same here dude! *Final Fantasy 16/XVI* is definitely and totally one of THE Best Brand Newest FF Games of this year in 2023 I can definitely get used to! I even love the 16th Brand Newest FF Protagonistic Hero and the Antagonistic FF Villain of this game: Clive Rosfield and Barnabas Tharmr!
Hot take: FF15 was more fun than FF16
@@StardustCrusader18 How come?
@@zakirstocks9514 mini games,more exploration,more dungeons,more customization. Anything else?
@@buttertoast1146 Oh. I see now. Still, *Final Fantasy 16/XVI* is a Pretty Epic Fun game to play. I even love the Brand Newest Protagonistic FF Hero and the Antagonistic FF Villain of this year in 2023: Clive Rosfield and Barnabas Tharmr.
Your FFXVI survey is the best that I have come across in a long time. The heart and soul you guys poured into making each and every video is evident and commendable. Thank you for your contribution to the Final Fantasy community.
I haven’t finished it yet, but I am really enjoying it so far! The voice acting is really amazing and I’m loving the story
Explain the factions. It's just a bunch of nonsense.
@@bobdylan1968can you not read? The active time lore is there for a reason lmfao.
@@bobdylan1968you’ve got that “you like this band? Name 5 songs” energy.
@@yannicinco no??? If you can't even explain what the fuck is happening in the story, how the hell can you claim its good?
Ya, so good where he forgot the bare bones basics of the world.
The game is horrible at telling it's lore. That's why the pause screen exists. It's a joke.
Even lord of the rings doesn't ask me to stop and read his middle earth encyclopedia to understand what the fuck is happening.
@@bobdylan1968bro really went how dare you enjoy something
The secondary missions were definitely a chore in this game, most of them end up being either a fetch quest, defeating some enemies or defeating a reskinned boss. IMO the good still outweights the bad, but it's kinda sad to think that this game could have been so much better if it didn't try so hard to be so serious and incorporated some distractions along the way. No minigames, no secret bosses, no classic goofy final fantasy stuff.
Nevertheless the story, the characters, the gameplay and the sheer spectacle of the fights and the music still makes this a strong 8/10 game for me, and I believe that's what most people think too.
The treasure was non existent. Playing FF7 Remake I can almost predict where to look. In 16 it’s nowhere and what you can get is always junk.
The pay-off for the side quests was in world-building and story. Especially the later ones.
@radicalbyte That's one thing that kind of bothered me about the side missions. It would've been nice making the rewards more eye catching like giving weapons or special accessories instead of adding more to the world. Also some of the side quests should've just been added to the main quests.
@@radicalbyte Yeah, but it still sucks that these story/character bits are locked behind very tedious and repetitive quests, should have been part of the main story or simply obtained by interacting with the characters more IMO
@radicalbyte That's all well and good, but that doesn't make them less of a chore to do and the rewarding factor is so barebones.
I think FF16 is excellent in terms of the characters. Every single one of the Dominants were incredible and some side characters like Gav and Byron were great as well. Ultima was also a true villain which is a breath of fresh air nowadays since all villains get sympathetic origins and all that, Ultima was just good ol' pure evil.
It's been awhile since I played it but how was ultima evil. Their creations turned against them then genocides them
Ultima is literally the worst villain in mainline final fantasy cloud of darkness was better and all it wanted was to return the world to a viid
@@cameronstrife1659it was the other way around
@@taitloyek7980 Nah the worst villains in FF will be everything in the XIII trilogy because the good guys and bad guys sucked in those games. lol
@@taitloyek7980Ardyn was wayy more evil than Ultima.
16 was a solid game. My biggest gripes are about the RPG elements, everything else was top notch. I did like 7R more in the end, mostly due to the combat and Hard Mode in 7R being a lot more tactical than 16.
I really liked 16, but I'm now looking forward to Rebirth.
I actually wasnt surprised to much about the RPG elements part as FF XIV sadly suffers from this also, at least currently and it could do better about it.
Was it really a solid game? It's a game built like an RPG yet wants to be an DMC like action game. The pacing was all over the place. The highs were really high and the lows were extremely low. If it was designed in a mission based style like DMC or Bayonetta and if it removed all the extra unnecessary fluff of run and talk to this npc or collect sand from a beach and then go talk to that npc in that extremely annoying corner of the hideout. It was really tedious and it's that weird type of quests that works fine in FFXIV but is extremely tedious in a single player action games. The game keeps teasing you with this could've been an rpg but it's not, the weapons, the non active party members the open linear world. But then keeps harshly reminding you it's not.
Top notch my ass
I enjoyed 16 alot but Im also aware of its issues but those issues come late in the game. However 16 does something that I havent seen done in a FF since 10. It gives you a focused and complete vision of what the developers wanted to do. The Story they wanted to tell.Those were my main issues with 12, 13 and 15. Incomplete visiones trying to pad everything with DLC, extra games or extra versions. You could tell what was missing and what didnt make sense right off the bat. Ive always felt story trumps everthing in FF because its the main draw. Second being music. Not battle systems, not controllable party members and certainly not extra content added later. In terms of story telling I feel 16 brings us back to true FF. And after witnessing what they are attempting to do with FF7 Rebirth i feel like the technology just wasnt there to help the grand scope of 12,13 and 15 as well as all their development issues. I feel like 16 is a good renaissance for FF and it has me more looking toward the future. It shows what a focused vision can accomplish. I also cant fault the devs because I can honestly see what they were thinking when they implemented certain things. I still give 16 a 9/10 and enjoyed everything about it. Also it gave us Torgal
We cant excpect less from Team Business Unit 3, i mean, look at FF14 story, its a masterpiece and the devs give all the love
Can you explain a little more what you didn't like about 12's story? 12 doesn't exaclty have DLC, extra games, or extra versions. Unless you count Revanent Wings. And no one counts Revenant Wings.
16 is getting DLC
@@zacatkinson3926yes, but it was not planned as they initially thought the game didn't need it. My thought was that it'd probably just be two prequel DLCs. Hopefully one on Cid and the other on the Lost Eikons like Leviathan.
Focused is not the word id use for this game. its all over the place with its pacing.
Hey FF Union! Thank you for this video. I don't think I've commented on your videos but I've been subscribed for years. As someone trying to start doing more frequent uploads I did want to say thank you for your high quality content. I've also just completed the survey. I love this channel and am definitely rooting for your success. I'm glad someone took the time to review the sales of this remarkable game. Long live Final Fantasy!
Brilliant work as always. Very kind of you to include me as an Onion Knight Patron. I miss y'all!
I love Final Fantasy because every title feels unique and special while remaining true to the universe as a whole (Crystals, Chocobos, Summons, Magic etc.) It's not for a small group of people but for everyone. Some people have their favourite titles, some people only love VI, some people love VII to X and some people love the series as a whole.
Basically there is no such thing as "FFVII is better than FFX" or "how can people like FFXV?" We all have our individual feelings and memories about the games and, as stated above, that's why I love Final Fantasy so much.
Regarding FFXVI - I LOVE this game and I was absolutely blown away by everything the game had to offer. Although I would have liked some more RPG elements, more secrets and/or exploration, I think it's an outstanding game!
I always love when people like you NEED to mention the "guys, every game is unique" argument solely to then gush and worship whichever game you specifically like.
@@AzureRoxe "People like me" just love the franchise. If you like the Hello Kitty franchise - well yeah, why not? If Final Fantasy isn't for you that's completely fine. To each their own buddy.
@@AzureRoxe Sir, this is not the CANCER triger/pedophile ball z circle-jerk
no matter it's performance FF16 manages to be a unique, gorgeous, stand out title among all the other mainline titles
I loved the game despite its flaws the same way I loved 15. My only gripe is that I felt they missed their chance with the Cactuars in the Dhalmekia.
Very valid 🌵
XV was amazing
The problem is, while 16 is a good decent game, everybody want it being extra ordinary/ super special, which not the case
@@hafirenggayuda I’ve played through three times and can say its exceptional. Story has a lot of talking, but man is it deep
@@coen226 I mean like "very" exceptional, genre-breaking, a miracle game. Lots of people expect too much on 16.
I loved ff16, and am waiting to play expansions until I buy it again on PC. Hopefully that'll be enough time to give it some level of uniqueness again, especially considering the better performance possible. Can't wait to crank 4k, hdr, and ray tracing to the max and bask in the beauty of this game again!
My overall enjoyment of XVI goes away in the third act. The main antagonist is pretty lackluster in my opinion and that just made me not really care about the what was going on. The ambiguous ending was also a huge letdown.
Thats your problem. The act 3 was good. You don't like an alien prometeus? Your problem
@@bauloprete3905Sephiroth's mom is an alien. So was 8's ultimecia. 9s bad guy from another planet too.
@@bauloprete3905 It's an opinion
I haven't completed ff16 yet but i am absolutely in love with it! The characters, combat, world building, voice acting, music; Its all excellent. Its fast becoming one of my favourites from the series!
I feel like the story was top notch. Sidequests were tedious and end game content (or lack thereof) left a lot to be desired. I see FF and I want hidden bosses, ultimate weapons and armor (that you don't have to play the game twice to get). But again, the story was great.
Agreed. Even FFXV had Pitioss dungeon. 16 (and 13) needed something cool to discover like a hidden dungeon.
Its such a small example, but remember in FFX when you could discover hidden locations with the airship, including Omega Ruins? And go back and fight Geogaeno and explore Baaj Temple?
13 actually had more hidden hunts and quests than XVI just were boring lol@@goodmanwiseman303
Endgame is an issue when you want to keep playing, which is my feeling. I want more, but the game just ends.
I personally enjoyed it. The story, characters and music were fantastic. It was nice having a Final Fantasy game with an older and more mature cast. Were there things I didn't like about it? Absolutely. I felt that while the combat system was fun, the options for dialing in stats of any kind were lacking and the game just gave you what it gave you and there really wasn't a chance to boost certain stats beyond one or two items (like the rings cutting cool down or increasing the damage of one ability and one ability alone). Same with the gear. I felt the crafting was almost pointless because by the time you got the necessary item to craft the weapon or armor, the game either gave you a new weapon/armor or let you purchase a better one. So while there were things that I think could be improved on, I still enjoyed the game and just accepted that stuff like the stats and gear are what they are. Sure its a little disappointing but I didn't want to let that disappointment ruin the entire experience for me.
My jaw still dropped at some of the fight scenes and paired with the music felt like the grand and epic battle that really immersed you and that's what I enjoyed about the game. The Titan and Bahamut fight did not feel NEARLY as long as it did because the fight was so engaging. I think back to something like FF10 (which I love and is still one of my favorite FF games) and the Lady Yunalesca fight. You felt EVERY minute of that fight and its phases. And it was painful when you died and had to start over. I appreciate that FF16 doesn't punish you in that regard and respects the players time to a degree. I'm not 10 years old anymore and have all summer to replay a 30 minute fight only to lose with 5 minutes left and have to start over. I liked the ability to have a save check and sure I will go back and play the harder mode to challenge myself, but now that I have completed the story I can at least take my time and not get frustrated getting stuck behind a fight.
My harshest criticisms of 16 and SE:
1) SE is so focused on trying to figure out what we want but seem to fight against games that made the franchise what it is. They want it to be so graphically powerful and so dramatic... but we fans often like the goofy and light fantasy too. We don't need FF to be Game of Thrones.
2) we also don't mind turn base. Atlus and their games prove this. You don't have to abandon turn base or menu action. Though I don't mind action games, but not everyone wants to play DMC in a mainline FF.
3) SE keeps saying they want the franchise to change. But their scripts are often filled with the same melodramatic gibberish of people arguing ideals and politics... but the humanity gets lost.
4) SE also can't get away from Euro-Centric settings. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 14, 16, Tactics, and others are all heavily based on medieval or Renaissance European like settings. 6 was euro steampunk, 7 euro dieselpunk, 8 was art nouveau, 13 was euro future. Type 0 was a mixture of Euro past and future. Main characters are all in anime outfits. They all look like blonde or brunette European people, or Asian people in white face, with random euro inspired names and English dictionary inspired word names. X was one of the only ones to go in a very different direction with the setting... it would be nice to see FF try a different thing in that way instead of better graphics. Even DnD, which FF was heavily inspired by, has given us many settings, classes and races over the years. It'd be nice to see more brown people, or Asian people who aren't in Euro face. And when fans asked about that with 16, the director scoffed and said this fantasy world with giant monsters and magic has to match Europe as much as possible even though the only real life thing the game does is... have certain regions match real world regional UK accents.
5) they don't listen to fans. They keep trying to anticipate what fans want. They keep trying to remake old games. But they don't learn how to create new games that reflect the identity of what we loved in older FF games. It's like they're trying to make a fake version of their old success.
I agree with your 4th point. Although it hasn't taken away my enjoyment of those games, I would love it if they changed it up a bit and had a world that was inspired by a different real world culture for once. I'm really hoping that FF17 (if it even happens) is set in an East or Southeast Asian inspired world.
I will say though, at least in 7 you have Wutai which is heavily inspired by China and Japan as well as characters that are East Asian coded (Yuffie, Tseng, and Hojo come to mind). And of course, Barrett who is Black.
And in the XIII trilogy, there's Sazh who is Black, Fang who is Indian-inspired, and Caius who is Native American-inspired.
So, I think there's hope that future mainline FFs might be set in more unique worlds inspired by other cultures.
It's crazy that the only game, besides X, that has the more carribbean/tropical feel......is the next expansion for FFXIV, Dawntrail. They have never used this otherwise, for some ungodly reason.
FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE POINTING OUT THAT DISCUSTING RESPONSE TO FF FANS PLEA FOR ACTUAL DIVERSITY!! 16 cookie cutter version of fantasy is so over done it bored me half to death.
@BrianDPrice81 I won't bother explaining the importance of woke games with a cishet white man who is so insecure with himself that the sheer existence of people who look and live differently than himself makes him uncomfortable. Instead, I'll ask you a question: do you find ffvii and 7r too woke? Do you find ffx too woke? What about 14? 6 maybe?
@@BrianDPrice81 Ok, but let's be honest, the medieval Europe setting is overdone. Not just in Final Fantasy, but in the RPG genre as a whole. It's getting a bit boring now. It's getting to the point where I can't tell some games apart because the worlds and environments look the damn same.
It is easily one of the best games i ever played. Characters, story. Loved every minute of the 75 hours
You haven't played a lot of games then.
Plot holes.
Repetitive combat
No crafting system.
No items to buy or sell.
Nothing to explore.
Linear boring poorly rewarding quests.
No elemental advantages or weaknesses despite being advertised(bombs don't absorb fire for example)
No equipment to get.
No UI for the dog on top of being uncontrollable.
You finished your game with over 500 of every "crafting item" with nothing to do with it.
No status changes(poison, confusion, berserk, blind etc etc)
All the final quests are placed immediately before the final boss so at that point there is no point in doing them. Those are just a few among all the other pretty shitty aspects of the game.
@chuchialfaro2966 I've played games since I was a kid. Just because you are miserable and hate the game don't bring your misery here. Go play call of duty.
@chuchialfaro2966 so basically you want every rpg to be the same? With all things you've mentioned is a generic recipe for almost every rpg on the market. The one thing that makes them different are the characters and story. Go play assassin's creed it has all the bs you just mentioned or another Bethesda game than never evolves.. I can go on and on.
Glad you liked it so much. I’ve been playing since NES, and while I enjoyed it very much, it wasn’t what I wanted for a PS5 FF. I was hoping for something more. Again, though, I’m glad there are those that enjoyed it so much. It means we will get a 17, lol. Fingers crossed for FFT Remake!
@@chuchialfaro2966where as I agree with all your criticisms of this game, you don’t have to diminish the OP to make that point.
I especially found all the useless item’s frustrating. All this stuff and nothing to do with it. You could feel FF14 all over it.
I loved XVI but I think VII Rebirth will make a much bigger splash. Both critically and amongst word of mouth.
@BrianDPrice81 What you mean? FF7R?
@@BrianDPrice81 "clunky menu clicker anime cringe snoozefest", very strange way of spelling crono triger but oh well...
@@BrianDPrice81Typical dbztard still bitching how "g0kU cAn r4Ep eBeRy1zzz" when cornered...
@@JuanLeon-oe6xecrono trigger? Is that another game Square botched? I've only played Chrono Trigger, and I dread the day Square attempts a "remake"..
@@trufreedom No, I mean the reason FF "fans" are incapable of critiquing anything tangentially involving a toriyama, in fear of poor snowflake akira getting his pride hurt.
And as a result, to divert the attention from the moron of his son, the demonstrably retarded "linearity" excuse was bashed over and over for well over a decade....
Netting us Fallout 76, Cyberpunk 2077, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet... and that's leaving out No Man's Sky and Halo: Infinite's releases.
"dread the day Square attempts a "remake" "
*Bitch motherfucking please!*, that *CANCER* is already shit enough Square could not make it shittier even if they tried. Hell, they _tried_ with crono cross, but because it's not activelly sacrificing children to ""gOkU", of course you didn't care for it...
FF16 is objectively my game of the year and it fight for the spot of favorite game against ff12 and knights journey of dreams
I just finished it last night and it's now in my top 3 of Final Fantasies. I'm glad that today Square's president stated in a Results Briefing Q&A that the game performed as expected, so all haters can start to see the objective data and stop trying to drive the game to the ground.
Means it didn't do what he thought
I think you should give more time before assuming it'll be your best when you JUST finished it. If you think more on it, imo, it has some glaring flaws. Imo, I hate the side quests. They destroy the pacing of the story. It would have been better to have 0 side quests in NG (move the rewards from side quests into story areas of NG and give better rewards from side stories/quests in NG+) and put em in NG+. That gives NG+ even more value to do, but also means if someone doesn't like the game as much or wants to just have a good complete story before getting to side stuff, they can do so.
I also wish the RPG elements were better. For a company that made KH that did action RPG better imo, I'm a bit sad FFXVI's action RPG is shallower. Not bad, still good and fun, but not as good imo.
I hope FFXVI will sell upward with the release of the PC version just like how FFXV eventually sold 10 million copies across three platforms away from its launch.
I love FFXVI, and has one of my favorite combat and compelling story ever, along with out of the world cinematic bossfights in a all of gaming🔥💯
Every man has his duty.
Ben Starr’s was to be in every UA-cam thumbnail during June - July 2023.
Top effort.
I actually initially wasn't going to get 16. I felt it was too similar to 15, but a different time period. I unfortunately wasn't exactly wrong (the religious alligories of Noctis and Ardyn are repeated again with Clive, Joshua and Dion) but when getting into the nitty gritty, that's when I saw the differences and really began to love the game. I began to enjoy the story the most, though it being very history-centric also nearly put me off from it. Once we got both Harpocrates' and Vivian's "active time lore" encyclopedias, it was eaiser to keep up with everything and thus enjoy the story. So, unlike, say, FF XV or Rebirth, I wasn't emotionally invested right from the start. I even almost returned the game! But I'm very happy I stuck with it. I also don't play a lot of video games as I'm very comfortable with just replaying games for years. I played XV almost exclusively from early 2017 until Remake came out in March 2020. I then played Remake almost exclusively until November 2023, when I got XVI (I did get Neir: Automata around May of 2023, but it's not held my interest that much and I've stopped playing it at the moment). So, trying new things is not in my wheelhouse, but it's clear that modern Square Enix is my overall comfort zone.
It's a success as far as I'm concerned. I'm a longtime FF veteran, starting with the original on the NES, and was very sceptical of the DMC inspired action focus.
That said, I just got the platinum trophy last night. I absolutely love this game and the world it's set in. I'll definitely rank it amongst my favorite FF games. Maybe #3 after 9 and 12.
Very good assessment and one can see you’re a mature person by your choice of ff9 and 12 rather than ff7, whose fan base are insufferable adult children.
Agreed
I thoroughly love 12 although 9 really puts me to sleep. I love 7 Remake but find the original childish and overrated. 8, 6 and 14 are some of my other favorites.
@@ShellsGhost1 I never particularly liked ff7 (I preferred the more mature ff8 like you), but I find your comparison with the remakes to be a weird take. I feel that ff7 was great precisely as the original when it came out in the 90s. It started the PlayStation era in polygon graphics. The problem was that because it was the first final fantasy that Americans got hyped about, it started a demand for more ff7 content which imo led to square making the mistakes which are the spin-off titles, movies, and now remakes. In other words they’re milking the cow for the American b crowd. Whilst the original imo was perfect for the 90s and had a interesting story for the ps1 era…it’s a game that largely overstayed its welcome after 2000. The remakes imo are the greatest travesty in the history of square enix. They take a basic 90s game and turn it into three games to milk the franchise further. Of course this requires adding tons of filler to make it work. But the fact the fans think this is the best thing since the invention of sliced bread, it just speaks to the low iq of the ff7 crowd. When much of that funding should have gone and didn’t go to the mainline titles like 16, which clearly received less funding than rebirth. In other words….square Enix current strategy is focused on everything besides innovation and their mainline titles. That’s a mistake and very sad. Because the true discerning fans want final fantasy 17.
@@ShellsGhost1to be fair I think a lot of that is the translation. Wish they would do a new one for the original.
Man I love y’all’s research based approach. It always gives things such an indisputable take.
“The Final Fantasy I remember was constantly seeking new challenges and never sitting comfortably in any given place” -Mr. Sakaguchi
Even as a hardcore FF10 fan, I think it’s unfair to compare FF10 to FF16 and with all the other FF games, I always view them separately and appreciate how different they are. I’m not done with FF16 yet as I’m balancing my time with my jobs and playing SF6 but from my current time with the game, I love the story and personally for me the story and characters is what truly matters with this series more than “what combat system the game has”. Each game is meant to be a unique experience and very few videogame franchises deliver a different experience with each new game
15 story was a mess that you have to go look everywhere else (Anime, Movie, Mobile Game??? and Book) just to understand the lore and what's even going on.
I get the Gameplay is important but I think Final Fantasy should stay as an RPG as it is because that is its whole thing. Having a unique combat is also fine but maybe it's time they closed the book for FF and make a new franchise with a new combat altogether if they just gonna keep changing how Final Fantasy works?
@slickdrick why are you on a final fantasy channel? Final fantasy has always pushed story above all else. 🤡🤡🤡
@NickReilly-iv6jg How when he's right?
@@buhtsecks1303This is a super dumb take. some of the best FF games have dogshit stories. FF3, 5, 12. You want to know why theyre so revered and iterated upon? because they were fun. NOT because of their stories. in all honesty, the only FF games that have decent stories are 7, 10, and 14.
@@Eversoul12 I mean they didn't mean to write bad stories for those games at all, but go off. I don't like V that much because Exdeath is a shit villain and Bartz & Co. are extremely forgettable characters, barring Galuf. Saying that FF was objectively always about the gameplay is ironically a hot take and a half.
The ending of FF16 felt like a really bad day at work.
I did the best I could to fill out the survey but some questions left me wishing for other options. For example, I though Jill was a great character, but I think the way the narrative handles her are a massive failure. This is largely due to the lack of a meaningful party though... this game would instantly go up a point or two in my view if you actually had a party of characters to work with (a la FFVIIR, Star Ocean, Tales, etc. etc. etc.). The fact Jill and Joshua aren't party members and are just companions who come and go and have no impact on gameplay severely hurts the game. So I chose that as the main thing the game is missing and I would fix, but there are two other items that severely hurt the game. First is the lack of side activities equally damages the game. I played FFVIII, VIIR, and Sword and Fairy 7 after XVI, and all of them were more enjoyable games in large part because they had other things to do aside from fight, whereas XVI has no other content at all. Second is my one major issue with combat - the lack of elemental damage and status effects. It made combat against anything monotonous because you never had to consider what skills you were taking into battle.
Overall, FFXVI is a very good action game with a worth FF story, but it is a very mediocre RPG.
P.S. Also, map design I rated lowly because the maps were mirages. They looked great, but there was nothing to in them (ie. exploration was pointless, they might have well have been hallways).
I thought Jill had a lot they could work with, but ended up being completely empty for me as a character. Usually characters would be made interesting by the lulls in the story, with characters given a moment to have deeper conversations about how they currently feel about everything, and what they want. But any conversation like that in FF16 between Jill and Clive was just "Bearer discrimination is bad. We need to build a new world" "Yes, I agree. Let's do it." "Alright cool." Aside from Jill taking revenge on the king that enslaved her -- which was something, but still didn't make me feel much since I never actually saw anything that she went through -- Jill just had the same motivations as Clive most of the game, and had nothing of her own to add. All in all, none of the characters really made me think too much or feel for them.
For me FF16 was a fine but overall way too easy action game that didn't make me think enough. I would not call it an RPG, even a little bit.
And I totally agree about map design. Just big empty plains with some monsters scattered around and a chest behind some of them. It feels like a waste of time to run through them. I'm actually totally fine with the linearity of the big story segments. It really feels like I'm fighting through a gauntlet to get what I want and it works for me, it never feels like I might be wasting my time. To be clear this is my first Final Fantasy (aside from the FF7R demo). Maybe I'd like FF13 ,': j
16 surpassed all my expectations and is my all time favorite FF game. Rebirth is great so far (demo) but still feels like a step back after playing ff16
One of my biggest gripes with FF16 was the characters didnt really get a chance to breath, to interact with each other. Once the story stepped on the gas it didnt stop...that and how the side quests were handled, I loved quite a few of them but the way they were dealt out was rough and a little to MMO like for my liking.
I did 3 or 4 side quests and then quickly decided to ignore any green mark on my map. They felt like such a waste of time as the MMO "go interact with 3 glowing spots then come back to talk to me" or "go to area and fight a few ordinary monsters, then come talk to me" is not what I wanted.
I wonder though if there are any side quests I really should have played though. I actually finished the entire game before finding where to get a chocobo because I assumed I'd just get it in the main quest at some point. Halfway through the game I forgot I had even seen a chocobo in the promotional material. It was only after beating the game and looking up what I might need before starting New Game + that I heard of the chocobo side quest and did it. 🙃
16 is a phenomenal game. I loved every bit of the game. Easily fits in my top 5. Were there problems? Of course. Every game has it. But this game gave me the same feeling all my other favorites gave me. The story gripped me instantly, and I was lost in it. I was especially happy about a single player game being released in its entirety. Yoshida only announcing DLC recently because the fan base begged for it, rather than needing it to complete a story.
U set the bar quite low lol 😂
Long time fan of the series, I was excited for this one and open to the changes. That being said, I was disappointed. Beautiful graphics and exciting battles but outside of that, it was a hollow experience where you couldn’t interact with the hallway environment, you couldn’t customize anything and the quests were “follow this icon, kill that thing, go back to that icon”, you were basically doing a pretty “paint by numbers”
I did not like that the survey did not have a clear "I was run ragged by the overabundance of boring meaningless sidequests" option as the reason I dropped it for now.
Personally I'm not sure people should be lauding FFXVI as such an amazing game; it started out as an enjoyable experience with promising combat and story setup, that ultimately grinded to a halt and went nowhere. You spend the majority of the game after the 20 hour mark slowly navigating the hideaway, talking to the same six people over and over and doing inane fetch quests. I was left feeling absolutely starved of a deep, thoughtful game system and supporting cast.
The last half of the game devolves into Clive and Barnabus monologuing meaninglessly at each other. Rather than a JRPG, I have a had time classing FFXVI as anything other than a shallow action game; you gain exp almost as a formality for the genre, and because it unfortunately goes well over the 40 hour mark, the core combat design (four-hit combo, evade, counter etc) that has remained the same since a few hours in stands out like a sore thumb.
I have heard for a long time that western gaming news websites have a negativity bias towards japanese gaming companies that are not Nintendo, and until now I have always just dismissed that notion outrght. However I cannot deny that the coverage for FFXVI since its launch has been weird and it has led me to reconsider whether or not there is some kernel of truth to it. It doesn't have to be malicious: maybe they are more excited to talk about games from companies they have followed for a long time, from people they feel closer and can relate more to, and so they are more skeptical when they are forced to review a game developed by a japanese team. I know I am the opposite, skeptical of western developers until proven wrong. But whereas they intend to or not their background interest in the franchise is going to affect how they talk about the game and how much.
It sucks that negativity is being spotlighted while the positivity is being well ignored. But I want to say thank you for this wonderful performance analysis on this game. I honestly enjoyed the game. The combat, the story, the boss fights, and the journey itself. It was just a very fun game that no one can take that away.
Negativity isn’t being “spotlighted.” It’s just being talked about by people who aren’t dck riders like you.
This was the most overhyped garbage the last couple of months. The opposite is true. It was actually the positive that was being highlighted and anything negative said about the game was met with insults and attacks from you cultists. People see what they want to see I guess.
@@Alvun416 I’m loving these comments. It’s at least some minor consolation for the death of my favorite franchise. Obviously I’d much rather have these games be good, but really ff died when sakaguchi left and we’ve just been gathering around its husk every 5 or so years lopping something off for a new “entry”.
Can’t wait for square to botch up 7r so bad that people turn on them for that too. We already know it’s going to happen with this multiverse nonsense, but I don’t think people are ready for how bad it can get.
@@maninblack3410 Sadly, our favorite franchise is dead my friend. FF7R is the only one that at least still feels like an FF game. I have no hope left for numbered titles.
If anything it's felt like the opposite. Glaring praise and inflated reviews by outlets, when in reality the game is littered with flaws. Twitch streamers only give their honest thoughts on the game weeks after they've finished because they're more likely to get subs/donations from positive reviews on a hype train. The same thing happened with D4 this year. Released to 10s and 9s, only to be evaluated as a 6 or 7 tops by actual players (even this is probably kind). The fact is that FF still has a lot of clout and the fans are just waiting for them to finally release one since FFX. What we've gotten since then has been a disaster.
I'm still playing it, not even close to being done, taking my time to enjoy the world, story, music and all that lore!!
We want more freedom with the use of summons, the ability to drop fire and upgrade it to Firaga, Cid, and moments by the seaside or on a motel rooftop where your characters try to break the tension with what explaining why they're going through.
7.5/10 for me personally. It's the best story telling "ff" game imo (37 years old playing all ff including 11/14). I like the more adult/darker tone and the game is beautiful. It certainly drew me in real good until Bahamut where my attention started to drop significantly. Not because the story was bad but because the character progression felt super linear. The hunt, the gear, weapon, skills, the build, everything were just so flat I lost interest out of no where. To me this is it's biggest flaw. I then just rushed to the end without even wanting to explore much because there's not much to explore anyway. Still love the game because it's ff.
Though there isn't any story, it's just a lot of words strung together to sound like they mean things in a very attractive way. In the end it's hollow, but fronting like it's epic and means something. A little bit like the series "Lost".
The game is insanely good. People just have always online depression syndrome. Where they get caught up in hype. Then when its over they come back down from the high of playing the game and start hating on the game, regardless of how good it was, because of their extreme mood swings.
People struggle to enjoy things while they last and simply be content with that.
The game was fantastic i loved every second of playing it.doesnt matter that its over now. It was a memorable experience. I loved and got attached to the characters and the story was engaging and spectacular.
You fanboys legit make THE most insanely idiotic excuses possible.
"Online depression syndrome"? People hating on the game because "they got caught in the hype"? Really?
@NickReilly-iv6jg two word sentences. Dumber than rocks. I use three.
@NickReilly-iv6jg enjoyed ur depression. 😅
Where are you seeing the FF XVI awakening trailer getting 11 million views?? I looked it up on UA-cam and the one that comes up at the top of search results by Sony shows 4.5 million and the same trailer put out by the official FF channel shows 1.1 million views…
maybe he was counting on several videos
As a Final Fantasy fan and having played all entries ON actual launch, I loved FFXVI. Combat was a breath of fresh air and the dominant/free will plot was amazing. And god, it was really beautiful, the most beautilful. Challenging on highest difficulty (ultimania) and also accessible on normal.
Soundtrack was top notch (Soken is genius).
Did it lack RPG elements? Yes, it did.
Could it be different with turn based and/or parties? Probably, but this game worked so well, both on gameplay and storytelling, with a single protagonist and action based. If it was turn based like BG3, main story would need 600h to beat.
Also, agree with your vid. Final Fantasy is divisive by default, due to how they scrap almos everything from one entry to another. Gosh, I know how I hated VI's fans hating VII, even if it was a superior game on almost every level. Oh, don't even start with IX's fans. I love em all (even XIII). All have it's strenghts (and negatives, obviously).
---------
My theory is: most of the hate on FF XVI comes from "console wars BS". If it ever releases on PC and Xbox (or switch 2), it will suddenly be a masterpiece! I assure you that. For some strange reason, people seem to believe Final Fantasy always been multiplatform. Actually, its been mostly exclusive.
I hear that in regards to the console exclusivity. Like, I largely stuck with PlayStation over the years BECAUSE Final Fantasy was on that over any other home console (Nintendo got the handheld side bc Pokémon tho lmao). It’s baffling to see people so upset that it’s an exclusive. I got it at first given how hard it was to get PS5s when it was announced but that’s changed nowadays, ya know?
Your theory is EXTREMELY moronic, don't blame the idiotic "console wars" for a game's failures.
BOOM. EXACTLY
Breath of fresh air for the combat. No way just say you like DMC
@@brentgreen1379 I enjoy any dense and complex gameplay, be it DMC, FF XVI or FF Tactics
While I don't regret buying FF16 I wasn't the biggest fan of it tbh
The story and characters didn't do it for me and I feel like the game overall was just way too long.
Also the technical state was extremely disappointing considering all the talk about saying the game was pretty much done one year prior to release!
I felt the game was a complete success! The story draws you in and keeps you wanting more. Did it have its flaws, yes, but every game does. Solid 9/10 for me. Storywise up there with the likes of 6, 9 and 10.
Actually it was a flop my guy
@@humzamarsh7950It wasn't really a flop, I wouldn't take THAT far.
But the dude saying the story was "up there with 6, 9, and 10." Is completely wrong and baffling to me. 😆
It easily entered my top 5 ff for sure!
@@humzamarsh7950according to you?
Just finished the survey, 1st one i ever did. Its quite well thought out and had me really think what i liked and didnt like from 16.
I still rate it a solid 8 overall. Music and characters were on point, rest could've have more tuning (combat wise i feel the 7 remake and soon rebirth may have the best idea fusing the action and atb system to something that more involved).
Hi, where can I take the survey?
@@richy_310 check the video description, link to it is in there.
You have a good taste my friend. I am prefer FF7 Remake machine than FF16 too
A score in the mid 80's is about right for the game. People act like that's a total failure for some reason that I'll never understand . . . maybe it is the weight of expectation? In that case people need to stop acting like a video game is ever gonna be tantamount to the second coming. Like any game it'll resonate with some and not with others depending on what they are looking for, that's all there really is to it.
Absolutely love this video and the research-based approach, fantastic job, you have gained a new subscriber. With regards to the game, at the beginning i struggled to get into it, as the beginning i thought was dragged and slow, arguably so that players not ao used with the mechanichs of an RPG. As the game moved on i found myself completely pulled and fascinated with the story, characters and their development. I have just finished the game, and it has become my favourite final fantasy game.
Currently playing through it. Loving every minute. My only gripe is I wish I had more control over party members and more customizations in terms of builds, commands, behavior, and equipment. But if you play the game it's understandable, most party members are there for a section of the game. It's not like you recruit them and they are with you for the whole game. The game focuses on delivering a Narrative and cinematic experience. Hence the choice in the battle system. They really wanted you to play a game but with the visual standards of an anime or a movie. And it works, but it meant taking a new direction in terms of game design to fit that vision. Having characters waiting around to be issued commands would not allow this. Like I get what they were going for. Also, the battles are so epic, they made it so that you can revisit and do them again. It would be pointless to create such epic battles only to fight them once and never again. The game is accessible, and very easy to pick up, play and replay. Because it makes a great effort in keeping track of everything you do. It has a new game plus mode that switches enemies and boss attacks up. The production value of this game is some of the highest I've ever seen. And Im pretty sure they wanted as many people to play it as possible. This game was aiming to bring both old gamers and new gamers. The production value of this game is so high, its not something you make for a niche audience. Im pretty sure alot of the gameplay and game design choices came from making it more accessible, seeing as to how not many people finished FF15. No corners were cut. I'm pretty sure they didn't want you to go through the game just once and be done. So they made it so you can revisit battles, review cut scenes and as you play you have access to an entire library of creatures characters, and lore so you don't get lost in the narrative. The game certainly is different, but what it does, it does extremely well and I'm loving it. And Jill is my favorite FF waifu! Cid has also become one of my favorite Final Fantasy characters of all time. The dude who does his voice is awesome, definitely worth playing in English.
my biggest gripe with FF at the moment is, that they go too far away from core ideas of the series, with the new action focused streamlined direction.
One of the major things in final fantasy was always a group of people saving the world. Cliche, but it was the base many things, most importantly characters you care about. Characters who are there in the story and on the field and have an effect that you can feel.
I didn't feel Joshua or Jill really on the field. Sure, i saw them take out some smaller mobs, but there was no interaction. Same for Torgal, who did basicly no damage.
Which is weird, since FF15 and it's updates made these actually kinda feel meaningful and FF7R had you able to swap and have them contribute (with limits)
FF7R is definitely just going to stay the better games this generation in FF.
Definitely one of the best FF I’ve played and I’ve been playing this series since I was a kid. It’s amazing how it captures the essence and magic of the early games.
It's really nothing like the earlier games. They were jrpgs and this is more cinematic action game
Thank you so much for the survey, and the chance to provide feedback t❤🎉
I really enjoyed playing through 16 and took my time with it. Character portrayals were great, but I wish more of them like Barnabas got more screen time to fully develop them. Combat was really fun to play around with but it definitely needed a couple permanent party members so it didn't rely solely on Clive so much. The story was great but did feel too open-ended with questions about what happened; I know SE likes to do this now, but sometimes I'd like a clearer ending. Music was amazing as usual. Side quests were the main drawback as they really slowed down the game for me, and even if they had some good stories attached, I just kept thinking "when will this be over so I can get back to the main story?" Overall probably an 8/10 or 9/10
Many of the games are open ended. 7 has humanity going extinct for example. This one you clearly win but as far as the ramifications the timeframe may be unclear but you most certainly accomplish what everyone set out to do.
This is a great video, people forget that this game came out for the Ps5 which has a way smaller player base than the Ps4/Xbox, and yet still managed to sell so well.
Ff16 was my first final fantasy and I loved this game. For me it’s game of the year. The story, characters, the relationship and gameplay. I loved all of it. I played this game cause the combat designer of dmc was leading it. I don’t understand the hate for this game.
The only thing I disliked about the game was the side quests. It was really boring except the end game quests.
Why the hate, it's very easy to understand, most FF fans wanted a turn based game, with real RPG elements, with multiple playable characters, like in FF7 for example, that has a very nice bland of old style RPG with modern elements( but even that is not what most RPG fans want ), what people got is an Action game , that is story driven with almost no RPG elements whatsoever, and then Baldurs Gate happened, and FF16 just got deleted from existence for every RPG fan out there. They got a new fan base, and lost another one, and the new one loves the game, mostly those who love these big Cinematic games, and they lost most of the old style RPG fans, and because Baldurs Gate released at almost the same time, i'm not even surprised this didn't sell how they expected. It is a bad game, no it is not, but it is a game that was made for an entire different fan base and not for the existing ones, because they thought no one wants to play turn based games anymore. It is like EA when they said no one wants Single Player games anymore. So it's not the game that is bad, is the target audience is way different from what it used to be... and now you have this love and hate situation.
Personally, I had too many issues with FF16. For me, I was disappointed at the lack of RPG elements and even though the story was great and it had me gripped, the lack of peaks and troughs made it quite difficult to play for long periods of time. I would personally give it a 7/10, however I do believe it was a massive success when you look at the wider picture. Great video as always!
7 is a kind score
I enjoyed it for what it was, but it certainly isn't in my top FF games ever. The soundtrack is one of the best in the series though.
I think FF7R has by far, the more interesting and stylish battle system. The lack of rpg elements also didn't help this game.
FF7 Rebirth I think will be the game that will be more universally loved, and help do some damage control from the string of recent failures Square has had.
for sure im really looking forward to it the trailer was so hype
I'm surprised you didn't mention the content rating difference between FF16 and the rest.
I personally dislike the new real time era the series is going in. Even though every final fantasy is different there was usually a couple of big things that always stuck. For me, I enjoy gameplay that involves doing a lot of thinking and controlling multiple interesting party members. I was stoked to see the first trailer because it was going back to a more fantasy setting. But once I saw the gameplay and more story, I was almost immediately turned off. ALOT of cutscenes, kaiju fights with 2 buttons, quick time events in 2023, a story, world and style that doesn't stick out (for me at least). Even 15 and 13 did some of these elements well and those are definitely not the best games.
I also always enjoyed how different final fantasy was in every entry. The reason why this game in particular doesn't interest me though is the gameplay seems to be more focused on fast, combo focused hackn slash combat. There are already so many games with these elements that I can play. Not asking for them to be on FF12 levels of different again but this not the type of gameplay I go to Final Fantasy for. And the lack of control and presence of your party (something FF7R and FF15 had in their own interesting ways) just makes it feel even less like a Final Fantasy to me. I'm sure it's a good game in its own way. All of the games are. Just feels like it has too many unoriginal elements and strives farther away from being final fantasy than others have for me personally.
Not a game that would sell a 500$ console and be worth the 70$ price jump for me. Music's great though.
(Update: I know the gameplay gets deeper like the summon battles but first impressions mean alot. Still not what I'm looking for in Final Fantasy either way.)
I agree with everything you said. Its like a perfect game for non critical thinking players who enjoy playing as one character for 40+ hours. The game sold because it bears the great name of Final Fantasy only. And its like people are in a massive cult or something for accepting this B.S. and singing its praises. So now I honestly only enjoy looking at negative reviews for game, and clearly this video is not one. Look at a review by DSP lol
@@Spitta504TV"I like reviews that only enforce my opinion"
@@boshwa20 I kinda like em too
As a Final Fantasy fan since late 80s beginning, Final Fantasy XVI is one of the best Final Fantasy games I've experienced after X, VII and Remake.
Success in my books for sure. Likely my favourite game of all time at the moment. Unparalleled combat, visuals and story.
close to 4 millions in a month on a console of 40 millions user and people call it a fail when the same group consider FFVIIR a success when the game sold 7 millions unit when the PS4 had more than 100 million user, was release on PS5 and on PC in 3 years. it get tiresome but its nothing new as an old school fan I saw the same backlash at every release since 6.
I Absolutely Agree! This is a Pure Absolute Success! 😄😁👍👌
Unparalleled? Not with those cooldowns buddy
@@kermitwithamustache3885I haven't played a ton of fantasy combat games in recent years but from the last ones I DO remember if there weren't cooldowns there were significant resource costs or they left you open for counterattack forcing you to wait which effectively limit your use of powerful abilities too so I don't see how cooldowns detract from the combat.
@@SventFulgur no amounts of skills in combat will get your moves back any quicker, getting rewarded with power for waiting isn't very exiting as a fan of fast paced action game
Then again the game is so easy it didnt even get in the way too much
I’d rather have an MP meter that lets you use the same skill you like 2-3 times at once than a cooldown system
Keeps the game from getting unbalanced and it doesn’t restrict you with the combos you want to do
The weird thing about FF16 is that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of playing it (including the side quests!), but for various reasons the game didn't leave much of an impact afterwards. My best guess about why this is is that the plot basically wrote a bunch of checks it couldn't cash. I spent a lot of the game enthusiastic to learn more about the setting and its history, but the actual answers to my questions just left me thinking "oh, okay I guess?" There wasn't anything there to "chew on" after finishing. Another element is that I think FF16 lacked the interesting characters and big emotional throughlines that characterize the other great FF games. The only thing in FF16 close to this is the relationship between Clive and Joshua, but the individual characters themselves are a bit boring.
I'm also going to go against popular opinion a bit in saying that I think Soken dropped the ball with a lot of the OST. The prologue had some amazing tracks, but the broader game only has a couple easily recognizable ones. This was surprising/disappointing to me mainly because FF14, with the same main composer, excels at this. To use FF7R as an example again, I'm sure most players can instantly remember at least 5 super memorable tracks that bring to mind various events from the story. For FF16, I can only think of a couple, and only one that I can link to a specific scene (the prologue's climax with Phoenix and Ifrit). I think this stuff really matters in terms of making a narrative-driven game stand out in players' memories and is far more important than all this bullshit about how many RPG mechanics it had, etc.
I think having a constant, well rounded part would have gone a long way to making the story more memorable, even if they were AI controlled. Even when you have "party members" it still feels like Clive is alone.
I loved each mainline final fantasy as they released.
Same here dude! 😄😁👍👌
1. Final Fantasy (1987, for the NES)
2. Final Fantasy 2/II (1988, for the NES)
3. Final Fantasy 3/III (1990, for the NES)
4. Final Fantasy 4/IV (1991, for the SNES and PlayStation Systems)
5. Final Fantasy 5/V (1992, for the SNES & PlayStation Systems, Virtual Console, iOS, Android and Windows)
6. Final Fantasy 6/VI (1994, the year where I was born in, for the SNES & PlayStation Systems, iOS, Android and Windows)
7. Final Fantasy 7/VII (1997, for the PlayStation Console and Windows)
8. Final Fantasy 8/VIII (1999, for the PlayStation Console and Windows)
9. Final Fantasy 9/IX (2000, for the PlayStation Console)
10. Final Fantasy 10/X (2001, for the PlayStation 2 System)
11. Final Fantasy 11/XI (2002, for the PlayStation 2 & Xbox 360 Consoles and Windows)
12. Final Fantasy 12/XII (2006, for the PlayStation 2 System)
13. Final Fantasy 13/XIII (2009, for the PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360 Consoles and Windows)
14. Final Fantasy 14/XIV (2010-2013, for the PlayStation 3, 4 & 5 Systems and Windows)
15. Final Fantasy 15/XV (2016, for the PlayStation 4 & Xbox One Consoles and Windows)
16. Final Fantasy 16/XVI (2023, this year, for the PlayStation 5 System)
I remember defending FFIX against my friends because the characters didn't look as 'cool' as Cloud and Squall. It ended up being my favorite! Can't wait to see the English version for the show?
@@trufreedom I thought FFIX was childish and cartoony at first because my first FF was FFVIII with the second being VII.
But NOOOOOO. I decided to give it a chance and it is still my #1 Final Fantasy to date.
People who dislike this game don’t have lives, small children running around demanding all your attention, and fun.
Alright I haven't really cared much about what Gene Park says, but hearing he got into a fist fight because he said 6 was better than 7 makes him my soulmate.
man im replaying 6 now and i have to say the beginning really sucks. Once you get Terra back and the airship it starts being how i remembered it. 7 on the other hand is a banger from front to back. Its just paced better imo. I dont care about story so much as if i am being engaged by the mechanics.
@@Eversoul12 I find like half of FF7 to be unbelievably tedious, on top of being poorly translated, which did its somewhat convoluted shit with Cloud no favors at all.
Also you named the fucking main character "Cloud Strife," a name so goddamn stupid that as an 11 year old, I insisted on pronouncing it as "Claude" because I figured there's no way he was actually named Cloud, but also Strife. Like a fucking fanfic character name.
Sorry I know that's unfair but goddamn that name has bugged me for ages. FF can have some stupid names, but nothing actually made me angry when I first played it like Cloud Strife.
you summed it up so well. Everyone DESPISES every new ff game and starts warming up to it and loving it several years later. It happened with 8, it happened with 9, it happened with 10, it happened with 12, it's starting to happen with 13 and there's some murmurs about it for 15. Don't worry - in about 10 years, people are going to call it a "gem" and "ahead of its time", lol. Hate and negativity is what gets views and engagements, and that's all people seem to care about these days.
Personally I hated the story (but it's really not 16's fault, I just hate game of thrones and medieval games) but the gameplay was fantastic.
For me FF16 is a great game, worthy of mainline FF.
The soundtrack praise is weird to me. I feel like it was weak. The boss music hits a peak and then quickly drops back into a muted pace. It would be like if Liberi Fatali started off and 3 seconds into the opening crash they just dropped the intensity.
Where I don't think that the FF franchise has hit the same highs as the likes of X isn't because of the gameplay loop of the stylistic choices or the new open-world form... I think it's simply the fact that Spira, & our experiences in it (not including sequels & extra content) felt complete... it felt like we had got to explore a fully realised fantasy world, learnt about the people & the cultures & the history behind it... & THAT in and by itself is enough to compel you to WANT to see and learn more of the world, & explore it even more... now the game is trying to be EVERYTHING & accomplishes little because of it - yeah there were things you wanted to do but couldn't in FFX but again, that's a product of the world being that compelling... did making Cup Noodles entice you further into 15? Or was it development time wasted on product placement whilst we the consumer paid full buck for an incomplete game? The approach just isn't the same anymore...
Last time I checked, 43% of players finished the game. That's the kind of number Sony 1st party games have. People really like the game for sure.
I think anyone who skipped the side quest missed out or is missing out on a HUGE part of the narrative. I truly have adored 16. Experiencing the changes that happen to the characters and their home towns over time was stellar.
@@Rinace13I could give two shits about those quests. They were full of pointless dialogue and had zero challenge. Not to mention the dumb rewards that add nothing to the arsenal except a few points in atk or dfc.
Huge parts of the narrative shouldn’t have been put somewhere where they could be missed. That’s bad design.
I have to disagree. The green exclamation icons were hard to miss. If someone chooses to not do them for whatever reason, that isn't the same as bad design. In reference to the sidequest, seeing how the story unfolded, it was the reward. Some towns disappeared, some characters died, etc.
As a lifelong RPG Fan, I prefer a quest that adds to the world-building vs. a side quest that is only present to give an item. I agree that the sidequest rewards could have been better from a loot reward perspective, however, from start to finish, you realize FF16 is about linear progression through a narrative, not an item or loot-based game. @@faerierose84
You were looking for loot, and I was more curious about what happened to the characters and locals I visited. My reward was the story, and you were disappointed with both the story and the subpar rewards from your perspective.
It isn't easy to make a game that pleases everyone. I respect your opinion, though. @@Gogmatic
Story wise, they were good, but in term of gameplay, they were atrocious, no new dungeons, no minigames, only fetch quest crap
I genuinely enjoyed FF16. 7 Rebirth will absolutely overshadow FF16 but this was an enjoyable game
After completing FFXVI, I give the game a solid 8/10. It’s not perfect, it definitely has its flaws, but nonetheless it was an overall enjoyable experience.
I hoping square enix deems it a success because selfishly I want more final fantasy games. I would absolutely love a decent version of Final Fantasy 5 and 6. I think the sells of PS5 has affected sells, the fact that some high anticipated games came out after and took a bit of FF16 thunder away. I loved the game, enjoyed the more mature tone and the story made sense.
I feel the same about selfishly wanting more FF games lol. I love the company, so I really want them to keep hanging on and grinding because despite some of the disappointments, they overall have some of my fave games of all times, even in the newer RPGs (like the XIII trilogy which I unironically love dearly). I would also love remakes of some of the older games. VI in particular because people kept saying it was so amazing, and so I played it and I was just not that into it. It was fun enough, and the story was solid, but it just barely held my attention. I think a modernized version would be good for people like me who just can't connect with the older stuff as strongly anymore. Even games I loved that I actually played in that era don't hold up for me anymore.
@@Lunarwingluna I found the difficulty curve on 6 a bit difficult to overcome. You have to grind to progress in the game. I think it will be a feat of genius for them to actually do a vi remake, I think best we will do for classic FF is the pixel collection (which on PlayStation is ridiculously overpriced)
@@jamiemittermuller6470 I actually didn't feel like I needed to grind too much in that game, but that's not to say I didn't grind at all. I'm sort of a grinder by nurture at this point, so I tend to automatically fight everything and then still grind a bit depending on the difficulty of an area. I tend to grind preemptively to avoid crushing defeats because I was 7 levels too low or something like that. I think if they ever do any serious remakes of the pre-3D games, VI will be the one they choose. It seems to have the most universal acclaim from that era. I hear more mixed reviews of all the previous ones more other than maybe IV, but that already got remade once.
As a big FF16 fan I’m so sad to see how this al played out. It’s genuinely a good game with an amazing story and seeing it suffer inspite of all that good terrifies me. Gaming is truly fucked when even good games still suffer.
Agreed. They gave the fans a game without DLC vending machine economics or gatcha scams, and the “fans” (they’re 80% gamma males) do nothing but complain.
My wife loved this game and she only started playing Final Fantasy with FF7 Remake.
@@goodmanwiseman303 complaints are valid not everyone likes every game im not huge into action games if i don't like the gameplay its my right to complain or not like it the trailers did not help the games case for me the characters looked bland if i want my action gameplay ill go play bayonetta or dmc
Also the fact ff15 was dissapointing made me cautious of buying ff titles
If you guys enjoy it good thats great but its not for everyone
It was okay. I didn't hate it by any means, but it's failure to actually be an RPG is the biggest problem that soured things for me. To be clear, I'm not referring to it being turn-based or not, action RPG is a genre, and XVI just isn't one. The equipment and related crafting systems are an afterthought (why do we bother with bosses dropping all the materials required for their themed weapon? Why not just drop the weapon?). You merely apply the newest stat stick, and they are passed out with really bizarre pacing. Some weapons you'll only use for minutes, while another will be the only option for ten hours.
Picking your preferred eikonic abilities is reasonably enjoyable, but as RPGs go, that's a pretty barebones approach to builds or abilties. And worst of all is the lack of playable party members, it was the thing I was most opposed to in the build-up to the game, and it remained its biggest weakness. It creates a distance to the other characters that other FFs don't contend with. And it's hilarious when they label a character as "Guest" as though they behave any differently then your supposedly full-fledged party members.
The lack of side activities, especially the postgame, and unsatisfying conclusion to the story, and a general lack of...I dunno, joy? are also shortcomings, as is the fact that that stupid Final Days sky hangs around for fully half the frickin game and doesn't even go away in the postgame. Completely hamstringing one of its biggest strengths - the graphics. But still, these are all smaller complaints next to it not being an RPG, for me.
Game was a 8.5/10 for me. Not perfect, but damn good enough.
7.5 in my book
I'll be in what seems to be the minority here. I didn't like it. I won't go into a lot of detail unless people want me to, but I didn't care for Clive's, Jill's, or Joshua's struggles--and I feel like none of them are strongly characterized. I feel like the main villain and secondary villains aren't very good either. I think the story was interesting in concept, but without characters I care about, I could only be so invested.
This game is a a pure masterpiece it’s was a roller coaster ride beautiful game on every aspect
I agree
@@TheRogBGah right , thanks for letting us know. Thought it was a masterpiece for a second
@@ryan_deakin poor dude doesn’t know dialogues music characters build ups and the meaning of brotherhood there’s hasn’t been a good FF since 10 and 12 also was a good game
@@TheRogBG 10/10 where you get that 6?? Apparently you haven’t been playing old FF games
@@luciosemirsahagun8376 13 is one of my favourite games of all time. goes to show, FF means something different to all fans
I loved FFXVI. It had the best mainline single player Final Fantasy story since X in my opinion (which crazily enough is only three games, but still). I'm a big fan of FFXIV, and that style worked for me. Not saying it's perfect. I wish we got some more time to explore places before the big set piece happens instead of just showing up there, but overall I thought the game was an achievement.
FF16 is a excellent game, I hope there's dlc that includes more Jote in the future.
It's a game that tries so hard to be "not like other jrpgs" then falls flat on the most tired of clichés of final fantasy. Many parts are just too much ff14-adjacent, it feels like ff14 for those who dont like to invest time on mmos
@@Franzollyyour opinion only but ok
@@Sasquatch_. sorry that you're wrong in your assumption but I'm a long time FF player and I still think FF16 is a excellent game.
I haven't played FFXVI yet. I'm waiting for the PC version.
7/10. High highs and low lows. What baffled me was its inability to establish a solid artistic identity, and I truly believe that hurt public perception.
If this nft-promoting waste of a company known as "Square-Enix" thought this would reach GTAV sales records then they are even more deranged than I thought they were.
I am someone who has 100 percent completed the entire game and got the platinum trophy, abd i absolutely loved it. I loved the dark fantasy setting and most of the characters, especially Clive and Jill who had amazing chemistry thanks to great writing and phenomenal voive performances.
I think Ben Starr kocked it out of the park and had clear passion for the project
This game is infinitely better than the disjointed mess tnat was Final Fantasy 15 which i also played years ago and felt incredibly disappointed by snd overall just disliked a lot.
The game is so great i barely noticed the performance. Best FF game i ever played IN MY OPINION.
Final Fantasy XVI is my favourite FF since FFX 👍🏽
I'm very conflicted with FF16-just finished the game (no spoilers). Completed all the side quests and hunts, got the best gear. The game looked great, music was good, voice acting was stellar, and I thought the writing quality was pretty damn high in terms of dialogue. The epic moments were crazy and some of the coolest I've seen in a game. As for the combat, I really enjoyed it, and the abilities were interesting and fun; I wish there was more of it.
I feel like the game tremendously dropped the ball in terms of itemization and rewards, and the crafting system was very underwhelming. The maps were mostly devoid of anything interesting, and exploration did not feel rewarding at all; items on the ground were of negligible value even late into the game, and treasure chests typically contained lackluster crafting materials.
Side quests...I see their effort in writing the dialogue and fleshing out the world. They felt mostly unrewarding (in terms of loot) and tedious to me (even considering renown). The way so many side quests popped up at the end before the final act was ridiculous.
Lastly, I can't say I was a fan of the back half of the story or how it all wrapped up. I'll leave that there. All in all, some great ingredients but a lot of elements were undercooked. I think the most egregious mistakes were having boring items (only the most basic stats), half-baked crafting and poorly paced recipe unlocks, and unexciting quest, combat, and exploration rewards.
You using My Star in the background is cruel. That melody has been permanently tied to my heart strings after that beautifully tragic ending
I’m insanely invested in XVI. Even after Platinum I want more. Played FF for 25 years and XVI is one of my all time favorite FF experiences. This is what FF is all about. Amazing story and characters with epic music.
While what you say is certainly true that FFXVI had to contend with other top tier games in 2023 and still achieved the sales it did, you should not differentiate that from FFVII Remake because you should check out the ridiculous list of successful top-tier and tripe A games that came out that year, plus the pandemic did not do it any favours, and yet FFVII Remake, despite its flaws, still did remarkably well.
I’m 36 and never played a single FF game… until FF16 demo came out and a friend talked about it, and some content creators talked about it…
Now I’ve already played FF16, FF7 Remake and thinking about playing the original FF7… so I think it worked out alright to me 😅
Ok but this is not the same thing. Comparing 2 unique combat mechanics that share similarities but are also new and creative answers to a question like “how do we make the combat more exciting while maintaining brand”. The answer “isn’t” let’s steal another franchises combat mechanics.
I love FF16 it’s a personal favorite video game for me.
This game had some amazing highs, which made the dreadful lows all the more noticeable imho. The economy, treasures and crafting systems felt so rushed I’m surprised they made it into the game at all, or didn’t get a fix at some point right after release. Still baffled by the fact that no weapon or armor piece we find have apparent “choice” in them such as low dmg, high stagger or elemental properties etc. And finding 6 Gil from a glimmer point 40 hours in just felt like an insult.
I heard people praising the side quests which became available around the end of the game, but by that point I honestly just wanted to get it over with, since the side quests so far had been in such painful contrast to the main story bits. Sure, I appreciated freeing villages and putting Branded to ease as the curse took them, but the game didn’t do a very good job of making me care about the characters who were affected by these events. I did t end up learning a lot more about my actual party members or their situation, rather it was all “here is a random character. Collect five bear bladders plus talk to a shopkeeper and the npc will feel less random afterwards. “ With little consequences beyond that.
Still, the GoT inspiration and DmC over-the-top QuickTime events were refreshing and made the main story something you wanted to see to the end.
New game plus? Zero interest. Revisiting the side quests I ended up skipping? Please no. Finding all marks and bosses? Combat system honestly wasn’t so awesome I miss it.
Voice actors? Great bunch. Cinematics team? Knocked it out of the park.