Active time lore is a great feature and should be implemented in all story heavy games. I think the yakuza series would greatly profit from it as i always struggles to keep up with the names and allineces and clans in the series
It took me a few days to get around to it, but I've finally watched this full video. Honestly, I haven't been able to keep up with video-games as a whole for a year or two because of, well, life, I guess. And even then I can't say I was really interested in FFXVI, personally. Still, I *have* been very curious to know what this game's all about. You did a really good job at painting a clear picture of that. I felt all the highs and the lows as you went through them and I came away understanding why the reception to this game was such a wild mix of fans and detractors. Thanks for all the time you poured into this video, and I'm sorry this entry askewed the timer you've been maintaining for REFFOID. I think it's okay, though. I know it's still a very, very close calculation, and if there's nothing that can be done about it, that's good enough for me. I'm sure the rest of the people who enjoy REFFOID will feel similarly. I hope you're able to truly solidify your opinion of this game whenever you go back to try out New Game+, and I hope you enjoy yourself doing so. In any case, this was another fantastic installment in REFFOID, (I also just noticed I've been a member for 10 months as of today, and it's nuts to me that its already been that long,) and I'm excited to hear you talk about Ever Crisis next time! I mean... most specifically First Soldier, to be honest, but still! Ever Crisis as an idea, packaging all of the FFVII compilation together in one place sounds awesome to me! I just... really hope the *type* of game it is doesn't hold it back too much from that. I guess I'll hear your opinion on it soon! Thanks again for all you do!
For me as a FFXIV players XVI felt like a 2nd home. But I have to admit as much as I loved the idea of "magic users are special and precious!", which was the normal tone in all previous FFs turned upside down, I didn't like the brutally dark outcome 😅 I don't like not being able to save my favorites (right, 14? You spoiled us rotten 😂) so I sometimes got frustrated seeing characters die and I wished for more happily ever after feeling I'm used to from 14. Especially Dion killed me slowly 😔 so I ended the game on a pretty bitter note but I still love the entire game as such ❤
I'm still not a big fan of the ending, the main villain, how some characters were handled, the lack of rewarding exploration and rpg mechanics, the MMO style fetch quests that added very little beside stopping the pacing to a halt, Clive's standard sword moveset being so limited, Ifrits moveset being even more limited, and the use of a mechanic as unengaging as cooldowns in a fast paced hack n slash game. Most people say i dislike the combat because it is an action game, but rather its the opposite, i dislike it because it's not action enough . No amounts of skilled play will get the cooldowns back any faster, getting rewarded for waiting just isn't very exciting, the moveset being limited to only 6 abilities at a time doesn't help either. But i agree with you that that combo potential is still very large, i myself did have the most fun styling on enemies and swapping between builds despite my gripes with the limitations. And i can admit it is a well made game that succeeded at a lot of things it tried to do, even if i wasn't particularly a fan of them. I liked most of the characters and the boss fights were some of the most hype thing ever, some real Asura's Wrath energy there. I’d say better than XIII and XV as in its a complete game , but the complete game itself it’s aggressively middle of the road both as an action game and an rpg. Making you pay $25 DLC for a $70 game also rubbed me off the wrong way, just because it is normalized in modern gaming didn't make it any better, especially since it added such little content compared to some of the other games from Square Enix themselves, i expected them to be better than this. My first two playtrough were the most fun, unlocking more abilities and experimenting with all kinds of different combos, its only on the third playtrough i started noticing all the flaws. Despite all that i do believe this is a very high quality game that a lot of people would enjoy.
Thank you for this excellent analysis! One thing that really stuck with me about what you said was when you pointed out that this game feels lonely, and this is so much of why the vestiges of FFXIV really don't work here. I played 16 when it released, and went from adoring my first ten or so hours to really starting to begrudge it in the back half or even 2/3. The funny thing is, when I finished 16 I wound up getting to Heavensward... I went from feeling the Realm Reborn slog to actually really liking Heavensward and the Dragonsong War quite a bit more than FF16. Maybe it was the fact that Estinien and Alphinaud felt like my buiddies, but I think it was also helped by the multiplayer nature of the game. I just felt so much more connected to other fans and to the NPCs there than I ever did when playing 16. Since that point, I've caught up on FF14 and landed on the realization that, while I was underwhelmed by 16 in spite of its strengths, 14 and 15 rank as two of my favorite FF titles of all time. I've realized that the feeling of camaraderie, whether with other players or with party members, is crucial to my personal enjoyment of a game. I 100% agree with your last point about 16 being an objectively better-designed game, but I'm one of those people who just likes 15 (and 14, especially with the Scions' development as of Shadowbringers) better.
Spoiler to FF16 During my whole playthrough (and even before launch) the game reminded me a lot of Tales of Berseria, also an action RPG with a revenge story featuring a protagonist who goes through a lot of shit, lost her younger brother because of a relative, and is hated by the population except those following her, heck both Velvet (the protag) & Clive looks pretty similar. Obviously there are differences both in game design & story between both games, Tales of Berseria is more linear world design wise, it’s much less of a lonely experience since you got party members, the combat is a bit experimental from your typical action RPG, and it’s visually completely different. And while at the end of the day I do enjoy FF16 and think there are areas where it’s better, I still think Berseria is a better game as well as a better execution of what 16 tried to do. Berseria’s story knows what it wants to tell, it’s a philosophical fight between emotion & reason all the way through the end, it’s a story of a group of missfits who are far from perfect, but bonds together in front of a world who is destroying itself. 16’s narrative is rather lost in what it wants to tell in comparison, it starts off as a story of revenge & slavery but those aspects are either dropped or looses in importance respectively, the cast doesn’t get to shine as much as they should and the final boss doesn’t have a lot of connection with the themes of the game. Even other games that features a similar final boss trope like Xenoblade still have said final boss tied with the themes of the story. The cast in Berseria is varied and not very typical from your average RPG, they interact between each others a lot thanks to the skits that can be activated while exploring, they will talk about what’s going on in the story, be fun to watch, it really sold you on how much each of them are part of a group, and they each are important, not everything turns around Velvet. For 16 I already mentioned the issues of how the cast isn’t as used as they should, and yeah Jill being done the way she was really pales in comparison to Berseria’s fantastic females characters. The vilains is the area where Berseria cleans FF16 the most imo, just the main vilains in both games makes the comparison unfair because Berseria’s main vilain is much better, Artorious is given lots of depth and is the other main player in the conflict between emotion & reason, his « why is it that birds fly ? » is the important question that the game ask and lingers thourough the whole game and is only given a true answer at the end. He’s both an internal & external conflict for Velvet whereas 16’s main vilain is only an external conflict to Clive, he’s not that interesting of a vilain, he feels more like a concept than an actual character. Clive’s mom should have been the main vilain honestly, sure it wouldn’t help the comparison with Berseria but at least she’s an internal & external conflict to Clive. I know Tales of Berseria isn’t a perfect game and I know FF16 surpass it in some areas, but I really think it succeed in the areas that matters the most compared to FF16, story, themes, characters, side quests, the stuff that sticks with players the most and what made this series beloved by many in the first place. FF16 isn’t a bad game nor a bad RPG or even a bad Final Fantasy, I just think what it tries to do was done much better by other games that have significantly less budget & time behind them. Mainline Final Fantasy games nowadays takes a long time to be made, 16 alone took like 7 years from conceptualization to release, that’s a long time, those games have extra pressure to be the best ever because of how long they take to make, so when they do finally release and you realize that other games released during those 7 years did better than 16 in many ways… well it sucks, and you’re not certain if the next game will do better and you’ll wait almost a decade again to see the result. At least this isn’t the only Final Fantasy around, and I’m curious to see your thoughts on FF7 Rebirth when you do a video on it eventually.
Yeah, the industry has ballooned so much and yet we keep racing for more fidelity. They know they won’t make as much money as they want at the end of these development cycles, but they can’t tone anything down or else the average consumer will scoff at it (even though most long time fans will probably love it). The nice thing about the VIIR trilogy is they can get Rebirth & hopefully the next one out around 4 years apart by reusing stuff. Also yes Clive’s mom would’ve made a great main antagonist
I'm actually playing it right now, I have not played a lot of Final Fantasy game, I watched my dad play 6, watched my brother played 8, and I've played 7 remake and 15, with 15 being one of my favorite experiences of all time. I am loving this as a DMC player as well lol, but aside from the SSStylish combat, the story, the characters, music, world building, it's just so good, I will go back to this review once I'm 100% done with it. I liked the intro to your video though sub :D
I have trouble listening to someone say that there’s not much connective tissue between final fantasy games. That may be true after 10, but the main bulk of the series (1-10) are all *so* much more cohesive than modern square fans want to give them credit for. Structure, pacing, music, mechanics, they are just as similar as they are different to each other, that’s what made them special. *Now* they’re square’s call of duty if cod took 7-10 years to make. Their only goal is to appeal to the broadest audience possible.
Can’t tell if you’re agreeing with my points or if I’m the “someone”, but I spend a lot of time in these videos talking about all of this so you’re preaching to the choir. Although calling it “square’s call of duty” is crazy. They still have heart and passion behind them, they do go for broad appeal but they tend to succeed. Plus, that desire started with VII at the latest.
The same way FF15 was originally Versus13 then got upgraded to mainline to try to make back more money than a side game would've made, I feel like FF16 was originally a 14 expansion that they upgraded to mainline game cuz it wouldn't have made the money as an MMO expansion that they'd already sunk into its development.
@@TomLazan FF16 Story would have worked way better as a 14 expansion. That said they probably made a mistake making it its own game. After playing Dawntrail i would have prefered 16 Story to what we got xD
For me is the lack of a party during combat is what I dont like , and a couple of bad main missions (the passport part was lame as heck) is what brings this game a bit down. If they had Torgal I can still process why not let you have more party members' I wished I could use Jill powers , or Uncle Byron. Although personally I wish they went back to ATB or at the very least use FFVII R style... I dont really like the lets be honest Devel May Crytification.
Controlling 3 other party members on top of Clive and at the same level of Clive would be naseuating. I think if they added link strikes and expanded the banter it would have fixed the issue.
For me, FFXVI although has some great lore, falls short in presentation. Things like the Blight where I never got the reason of existence or how it appeared, Ultima that tries to be the super villian on drugs, the hype that there is a SECOND eikon of fire but no lore givenas to why, or Cid's daughter who sents you to fetch things to a NO end (we use the ship twice but we never actually experience how it feels to use it), they all feel...small. Highlights of the game are Eikon fights, graphics and the actor voicing. Nothing else....and what about DLC items you PAY but there is a high possibility that you miss them if you do not torture yourself with side quests? Overall though, being a huge FF fan, I can say I enjoyed it, no regrets.
1:13:49 The game explains that reason Jill stays with the Iron Kingdom is because if she disobeys them, they will continue to murder and rape the women and children. We see this before she fights Clive, when that one soldier put her sword against that girl's neck and ordered her to fight. She wouldn't bear feeling responsible for what could happen to them. Not to mention summoning Shiva always felt like a curse and was taxing on her body
So very true I don’t know why I didn’t get game of the year. I loved it. I’m loving the fact that they’ve added two DLC’s. I just haven’t finished them yet. I’m still working on Leviathan. And this is the first Final Fantasy game that I have actually platinum and I’ve got one through 14 pretty much all Final Fantasy games. I’m just pissed off that the PS5 doesn’t play PS2 games I want to be able to play Cerberus😢😢😢 and you know that that’s one thing that they could later update they could fix that stuff. That’s why I love the fact that they added two DLC‘s to it.
Story-wise, this was one of my favorite Final Fantasies. But it was way too easy to beat, and there wasn't a point in experimenting with different builds.
Happen to chance upon your video in my recommendation. Great reviews and thoughts on the game, going to check out your other videos too. Can't wait to hear about your reviews for Rebirth once you're done with it. Here's a sub!
I still haven’t played 16 or Rebirth, I’m excited for both just don’t have the hardware. That being said, if the games are as good as people say, I’m happy to hear Square is still doing the thing they’ve always done with the franchise. Try shit out. I always love playing an FF game where they put their hearts and minds into making something different. If you’re a VII player, a X player or a XII, the point of FF as it matures is that it pushes the envelope. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong. That’s the fun and excitement of the next FF
I loved it, loved the characters, loved the story, loved to know more, agree it could be more challenging in normal but enjoyed it as a cinematic masterpiece
Honestly if you had to ask me what does Final Fantasy 16 does that no other game in the franchise has done it's actually making it into a full fledge hack and slash/ character action game with really deep combat that If you actually take the time to explore youll do some incredible things. The problem however is that it sacrifices a lot of traditional RPG elements that's come to be expected in a Final Fantasy game I still love the game however It's actually my favorite Final Fantasy game Because it caters to me as a hack and slash fan So I can't wait for the PC edition to add to my Final Fantasy collection but I recognize it is a departure for what Final Fantasy fans want but to say that it's not a Final Fantasy game is a bald face lie. P.S. The music is a banger I'm so happy It won best soundtrack in 2023 Game of awards show
@@metastase895 Oh you're totally right while I didn't care for the story or gameplay of type 0 I will admit it feels more in line of what I think people expect a Final Fantasy game to be. FF16 feels like the team was hugely inspired by Asura wrath and devil May Cry But forgot to include RPG elements that fans would have really like.
Oh man, I didn't mention that and the "Boss slain" screen was annoying after every major fight it stops all action mid-sword swing. Sometimes it was kinda cool but most of the time I wish it wasn't interrupting me.
@@TomLazan Yeah it's not something I remember about it, just something I noticed because I was currently playing it, and having something dramatic happen and then you get QUEST COMPLETE with the music was just kinda jarring.
great video as always , i love this game v much , i also felt like the game felt action/fast paced (combat) however still felt slow ? it’s hard to explain but i think u also felt that ? but i could be wrong don’t wanna put word in ur mouth. i also agree that 16 didn’t do to stand on its own in a lot of ways but i loved the story of 16 , i loved how it was more pushing boundaries in storytelling in ways that u mentioned (character spoilers, themes)
also sidenote ; i like how in the mature final fantasy game reviews u swear idk it’s like having watched ur videos for 2? years (idk it’s been awhile) and never hearing u swear then when swore in strangers of paradise it was like a shock but in a good way !
i thought that was the case with the mature games , when i first played SoP it was at launch i go into all FF and KH games blind (i’m a huge fan of KH too) anyway, i didn’t know jack was going to say the f bomb, i brought the game for my friend so that we could play thru it together and thru the game the whole time we was saying he looks like he is about to drop the hardest fuck you to every character in the game but the he eventually did that we was screaming it was so badass (sorry for the tangent i wanted to comment this on the SoP video but idk was nervous ? )
One more ff14 and 16 exclusive feature: the heads and tails of cutscenes as well as pacing between dialogue and physical action in them are always a second or two too long. Drives me crazy and kills pacing for me.
This is not a FF game. Also, for your pasta analogy it could be more correct to say that this rice is not pasta enough. Breath of Fire 6 also had that franchise's name on its title so please enlighten me and find ONE human that considers that abomination a Breath of Fire game. As a stand alone game, it is a lower common denominator, generic action game. I think most people would rather play the real deal then, like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. That, and the "exploration" is pathetic. Personally, I consider FF 16 as the second worst mainline FF game ever made (if you count the 13 trilogy as one).
I can only speak for myself but what turned me away is reading interviews, usually interviews get excited for a game but every interview I read made me feel like the game wasn't made for me and I ultimately decided "I'll just catch it on a sale this doesn't seem like $70 to me"
@@TomLazan stories can be told in different ways. And imo one way is not better or worse than the other. Like I love the Souls / Elden Ring style of story telling. While others will hate it
@@yunuss58 ok but the environmental story telling of Souls games is not what they do in Horizon. You seriously sit there and listen to an audio clip that spouts exposition at you. I do think it's a bad way to tell a story.
@@TomLazan I will agree to disagree. Horizon has environmental storytelling too. By the same token we will have to criticise reading item descriptions, in game books, cutscenes. Is it overused in Horizon? Probably. But I don't see it as a big issue or a big detriment to the storytelling. But I understand this is a matter of taste.
FF15 was made as "A Final Fantasy for both fans and first timers" FF16, whether it was intentional or not, feels too self-agrandizing. I ain't got no time to sit through 3 hours of cutscenes but only play for 20 minutes within that time.
I just had this conversation with someone else. It's like comparing apples to oranges. They are both fruits, but they are fundamentally different and up to taste.
Yes this once I started FF 16 I finished the game in a week ,while I am still siting on Rebirth the game just gets worse by every new area and story is is so bad. I cant belive how someone can fumble a story so much ,while you literaly got the whole script already written and approved by the audience that its great ,why would anyone think we need Multiple time lines and some hooded man and "timeline spirits"
To be real, the biggest turn off for me was not enough twinks. It's that shallow. I know a lot of bi's claim FF16 as "their game," but not me. 😂😅 There's a certain aesthetic that I came to Final Fantasy for, FF16 wasn't it. FF16 is very dark medieval fantasy, nothing against it but not my thing. I loved FF14, because all the costumes in that game looked real, I can see the details placed into them and how someone can slap on that outfit. I grew up with modern Final Fantasy, FF10 onwards, I like the emphasis on pretty boys and fashionable looks that character designs had from then onwards. FF15 is my favorite entry, and inspirational to me. Then add up the mid leveling system and combat system, I had no reason to stay invested in 16. I could have forgiven the flaws with the combat, but nothing else was catching my attention. I played it once, I can't see myself doing another playthrough. It's going to sit on my shelf, I'm glad to own it but I'm really hoping that they don't make another Final Fantasy like FF16.
I feel like they will give 17 to Yoshi-P again and I don’t know what that will mean for the gameplay, I hope he can evolve this farther. But he did say he got his fill with dark/mature stories and would make it light hearted. I’d be down for that but I want a more interesting world than medieval again
@@TomLazan I'm down for Yoshi-P working on 17, CBU3 can do a variety of styles. FF14 is a big mishmash of everything Final Fantasy. Whatever 17 is, I'll be excited as long as it's a different tone than FF16. But gameplay might be a different story... They like sticking to their systems, a lot of things in FF16 function the same as in FF14.
Well, ff16 and ff7 rebirth are two different games. To compare the two is to compare apples to oranges. Yeah, they are both fruits, but it's a matter of tastes. though I prefer many parts of ff7 rebirths combat. I do like that 16 was trying to be something more. I do think that ff16 being a ff game did hurt it alot in the eyes of vets, but it put a lot of eyes on the series to new people who will go back and maybe give other games a try like 6 or 10. As vets, we can be critical without being reductive. I love 7 rebirth as much as the next guy, but originality and taking risks is what got the series so big. Not nostalgia baiting.
@@Blackfire_2022 They are both Final Fantasy games, and, though times and technology changes, there are other key characteristics that the fandom has come to expect out of the franchise. Rebirth offers more memorable moments than 16. Whereas Rebirth moves the general plot but also takes time to deepen the connection between the characters, 16 mostly just focuses on the main plot. I wish Clide would have spent more time socializing with the main party of Joshua, Cid, and Jill. The fact that only Clide is playable also alientates the rest of the party. There is a distinct lack of humor and happiness in 16. Previous games could be bleak but also offer some great comedy. 16's battle system was too simple. I found myself doing the same moves over and over again with little variety. I'm a fan of 16, just as I enjoyed Strangers of Paradise, but to say that these are better than Rebirth is baffling.
@hotdogs8170 they are two different games with very different focus. You van forcus on the characters more for the 7R trilogy cause it is an expansion of something familiar. And though i wish 16 had payable party members and more character focus, that's not the game they wanted to make. I would've loved to see more of valestsa but more money (and time) is going into the ff7r trilogy cause it's 3 games with over 100 hours of story based on a game universe that already exists. While ff16 is a brand new world wirh new content and a story lasting about 40 hours. As I said Apples to oranges.
@hotdogs8170 With thar in mind, I do understand where you come from in your statement, fam. And you are right to feel how you feel about the two. From a mechanical pov, I prefer ff7 rebirth. But from a story on pov I prefer 16.
Active time lore is a great feature and should be implemented in all story heavy games. I think the yakuza series would greatly profit from it as i always struggles to keep up with the names and allineces and clans in the series
It took me a few days to get around to it, but I've finally watched this full video. Honestly, I haven't been able to keep up with video-games as a whole for a year or two because of, well, life, I guess. And even then I can't say I was really interested in FFXVI, personally. Still, I *have* been very curious to know what this game's all about. You did a really good job at painting a clear picture of that. I felt all the highs and the lows as you went through them and I came away understanding why the reception to this game was such a wild mix of fans and detractors.
Thanks for all the time you poured into this video, and I'm sorry this entry askewed the timer you've been maintaining for REFFOID. I think it's okay, though. I know it's still a very, very close calculation, and if there's nothing that can be done about it, that's good enough for me. I'm sure the rest of the people who enjoy REFFOID will feel similarly. I hope you're able to truly solidify your opinion of this game whenever you go back to try out New Game+, and I hope you enjoy yourself doing so.
In any case, this was another fantastic installment in REFFOID, (I also just noticed I've been a member for 10 months as of today, and it's nuts to me that its already been that long,) and I'm excited to hear you talk about Ever Crisis next time! I mean... most specifically First Soldier, to be honest, but still! Ever Crisis as an idea, packaging all of the FFVII compilation together in one place sounds awesome to me! I just... really hope the *type* of game it is doesn't hold it back too much from that. I guess I'll hear your opinion on it soon! Thanks again for all you do!
For me as a FFXIV players XVI felt like a 2nd home. But I have to admit as much as I loved the idea of "magic users are special and precious!", which was the normal tone in all previous FFs turned upside down, I didn't like the brutally dark outcome 😅 I don't like not being able to save my favorites (right, 14? You spoiled us rotten 😂) so I sometimes got frustrated seeing characters die and I wished for more happily ever after feeling I'm used to from 14. Especially Dion killed me slowly 😔 so I ended the game on a pretty bitter note but I still love the entire game as such ❤
I'm still not a big fan of the ending, the main villain, how some characters were handled, the lack of rewarding exploration and rpg mechanics, the MMO style fetch quests that added very little beside stopping the pacing to a halt, Clive's standard sword moveset being so limited, Ifrits moveset being even more limited, and the use of a mechanic as unengaging as cooldowns in a fast paced hack n slash game.
Most people say i dislike the combat because it is an action game, but rather its the opposite, i dislike it because it's not action enough . No amounts of skilled play will get the cooldowns back any faster, getting rewarded for waiting just isn't very exciting, the moveset being limited to only 6 abilities at a time doesn't help either. But i agree with you that that combo potential is still very large, i myself did have the most fun styling on enemies and swapping between builds despite my gripes with the limitations.
And i can admit it is a well made game that succeeded at a lot of things it tried to do, even if i wasn't particularly a fan of them. I liked most of the characters and the boss fights were some of the most hype thing ever, some real Asura's Wrath energy there. I’d say better than XIII and XV as in its a complete game , but the complete game itself it’s aggressively middle of the road both as an action game and an rpg. Making you pay $25 DLC for a $70 game also rubbed me off the wrong way, just because it is normalized in modern gaming didn't make it any better, especially since it added such little content compared to some of the other games from Square Enix themselves, i expected them to be better than this. My first two playtrough were the most fun, unlocking more abilities and experimenting with all kinds of different combos, its only on the third playtrough i started noticing all the flaws. Despite all that i do believe this is a very high quality game that a lot of people would enjoy.
All very valid! Although being skilled actually CAN get your cooldowns back faster by perfect parrying, it’s not a huge difference but it’s there
Thank you for this excellent analysis! One thing that really stuck with me about what you said was when you pointed out that this game feels lonely, and this is so much of why the vestiges of FFXIV really don't work here. I played 16 when it released, and went from adoring my first ten or so hours to really starting to begrudge it in the back half or even 2/3. The funny thing is, when I finished 16 I wound up getting to Heavensward... I went from feeling the Realm Reborn slog to actually really liking Heavensward and the Dragonsong War quite a bit more than FF16. Maybe it was the fact that Estinien and Alphinaud felt like my buiddies, but I think it was also helped by the multiplayer nature of the game. I just felt so much more connected to other fans and to the NPCs there than I ever did when playing 16. Since that point, I've caught up on FF14 and landed on the realization that, while I was underwhelmed by 16 in spite of its strengths, 14 and 15 rank as two of my favorite FF titles of all time. I've realized that the feeling of camaraderie, whether with other players or with party members, is crucial to my personal enjoyment of a game. I 100% agree with your last point about 16 being an objectively better-designed game, but I'm one of those people who just likes 15 (and 14, especially with the Scions' development as of Shadowbringers) better.
Same, I just wanna be with a fun squad of pals!
Spoiler to FF16
During my whole playthrough (and even before launch) the game reminded me a lot of Tales of Berseria, also an action RPG with a revenge story featuring a protagonist who goes through a lot of shit, lost her younger brother because of a relative, and is hated by the population except those following her, heck both Velvet (the protag) & Clive looks pretty similar.
Obviously there are differences both in game design & story between both games, Tales of Berseria is more linear world design wise, it’s much less of a lonely experience since you got party members, the combat is a bit experimental from your typical action RPG, and it’s visually completely different.
And while at the end of the day I do enjoy FF16 and think there are areas where it’s better, I still think Berseria is a better game as well as a better execution of what 16 tried to do.
Berseria’s story knows what it wants to tell, it’s a philosophical fight between emotion & reason all the way through the end, it’s a story of a group of missfits who are far from perfect, but bonds together in front of a world who is destroying itself. 16’s narrative is rather lost in what it wants to tell in comparison, it starts off as a story of revenge & slavery but those aspects are either dropped or looses in importance respectively, the cast doesn’t get to shine as much as they should and the final boss doesn’t have a lot of connection with the themes of the game. Even other games that features a similar final boss trope like Xenoblade still have said final boss tied with the themes of the story.
The cast in Berseria is varied and not very typical from your average RPG, they interact between each others a lot thanks to the skits that can be activated while exploring, they will talk about what’s going on in the story, be fun to watch, it really sold you on how much each of them are part of a group, and they each are important, not everything turns around Velvet. For 16 I already mentioned the issues of how the cast isn’t as used as they should, and yeah Jill being done the way she was really pales in comparison to Berseria’s fantastic females characters.
The vilains is the area where Berseria cleans FF16 the most imo, just the main vilains in both games makes the comparison unfair because Berseria’s main vilain is much better, Artorious is given lots of depth and is the other main player in the conflict between emotion & reason, his « why is it that birds fly ? » is the important question that the game ask and lingers thourough the whole game and is only given a true answer at the end. He’s both an internal & external conflict for Velvet whereas 16’s main vilain is only an external conflict to Clive, he’s not that interesting of a vilain, he feels more like a concept than an actual character. Clive’s mom should have been the main vilain honestly, sure it wouldn’t help the comparison with Berseria but at least she’s an internal & external conflict to Clive.
I know Tales of Berseria isn’t a perfect game and I know FF16 surpass it in some areas, but I really think it succeed in the areas that matters the most compared to FF16, story, themes, characters, side quests, the stuff that sticks with players the most and what made this series beloved by many in the first place.
FF16 isn’t a bad game nor a bad RPG or even a bad Final Fantasy, I just think what it tries to do was done much better by other games that have significantly less budget & time behind them. Mainline Final Fantasy games nowadays takes a long time to be made, 16 alone took like 7 years from conceptualization to release, that’s a long time, those games have extra pressure to be the best ever because of how long they take to make, so when they do finally release and you realize that other games released during those 7 years did better than 16 in many ways… well it sucks, and you’re not certain if the next game will do better and you’ll wait almost a decade again to see the result.
At least this isn’t the only Final Fantasy around, and I’m curious to see your thoughts on FF7 Rebirth when you do a video on it eventually.
Yeah, the industry has ballooned so much and yet we keep racing for more fidelity. They know they won’t make as much money as they want at the end of these development cycles, but they can’t tone anything down or else the average consumer will scoff at it (even though most long time fans will probably love it). The nice thing about the VIIR trilogy is they can get Rebirth & hopefully the next one out around 4 years apart by reusing stuff. Also yes Clive’s mom would’ve made a great main antagonist
I'm actually playing it right now, I have not played a lot of Final Fantasy game, I watched my dad play 6, watched my brother played 8, and I've played 7 remake and 15, with 15 being one of my favorite experiences of all time. I am loving this as a DMC player as well lol, but aside from the SSStylish combat, the story, the characters, music, world building, it's just so good, I will go back to this review once I'm 100% done with it. I liked the intro to your video though sub :D
I don't think we will ever see Summons/EIKONS like this ever. They were done justice, it was literally gow level boss battles.❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
I have trouble listening to someone say that there’s not much connective tissue between final fantasy games. That may be true after 10, but the main bulk of the series (1-10) are all *so* much more cohesive than modern square fans want to give them credit for. Structure, pacing, music, mechanics, they are just as similar as they are different to each other, that’s what made them special.
*Now* they’re square’s call of duty if cod took 7-10 years to make. Their only goal is to appeal to the broadest audience possible.
Can’t tell if you’re agreeing with my points or if I’m the “someone”, but I spend a lot of time in these videos talking about all of this so you’re preaching to the choir. Although calling it “square’s call of duty” is crazy. They still have heart and passion behind them, they do go for broad appeal but they tend to succeed. Plus, that desire started with VII at the latest.
Tom has literally played every FF game lmao
The same way FF15 was originally Versus13 then got upgraded to mainline to try to make back more money than a side game would've made, I feel like FF16 was originally a 14 expansion that they upgraded to mainline game cuz it wouldn't have made the money as an MMO expansion that they'd already sunk into its development.
An FF14 expansion probably makes them more money than FF16 did
Weiiiird
@@TomLazan FF16 Story would have worked way better as a 14 expansion. That said they probably made a mistake making it its own game. After playing Dawntrail i would have prefered 16 Story to what we got xD
For me is the lack of a party during combat is what I dont like , and a couple of bad main missions (the passport part was lame as heck) is what brings this game a bit down. If they had Torgal I can still process why not let you have more party members' I wished I could use Jill powers , or Uncle Byron. Although personally I wish they went back to ATB or at the very least use FFVII R style... I dont really like the lets be honest Devel May Crytification.
Controlling 3 other party members on top of Clive and at the same level of Clive would be naseuating.
I think if they added link strikes and expanded the banter it would have fixed the issue.
For me, FFXVI although has some great lore, falls short in presentation. Things like the Blight where I never got the reason of existence or how it appeared, Ultima that tries to be the super villian on drugs, the hype that there is a SECOND eikon of fire but no lore givenas to why, or Cid's daughter who sents you to fetch things to a NO end (we use the ship twice but we never actually experience how it feels to use it), they all feel...small. Highlights of the game are Eikon fights, graphics and the actor voicing. Nothing else....and what about DLC items you PAY but there is a high possibility that you miss them if you do not torture yourself with side quests? Overall though, being a huge FF fan, I can say I enjoyed it, no regrets.
That battle theme taking the...EUREKA ANEMOS theme of all things to remix always was neat
1:13:49
The game explains that reason Jill stays with the Iron Kingdom is because if she disobeys them, they will continue to murder and rape the women and children. We see this before she fights Clive, when that one soldier put her sword against that girl's neck and ordered her to fight. She wouldn't bear feeling responsible for what could happen to them. Not to mention summoning Shiva always felt like a curse and was taxing on her body
I knew there was a good reason in there
so she didint fight back beacsue she felt icky??? lmaoooo what a pathetic reason
So very true I don’t know why I didn’t get game of the year. I loved it. I’m loving the fact that they’ve added two DLC’s. I just haven’t finished them yet. I’m still working on Leviathan. And this is the first Final Fantasy game that I have actually platinum and I’ve got one through 14 pretty much all Final Fantasy games. I’m just pissed off that the PS5 doesn’t play PS2 games I want to be able to play Cerberus😢😢😢 and you know that that’s one thing that they could later update they could fix that stuff. That’s why I love the fact that they added two DLC‘s to it.
Story-wise, this was one of my favorite Final Fantasies. But it was way too easy to beat, and there wasn't a point in experimenting with different builds.
Happen to chance upon your video in my recommendation. Great reviews and thoughts on the game, going to check out your other videos too. Can't wait to hear about your reviews for Rebirth once you're done with it. Here's a sub!
I still haven’t played 16 or Rebirth, I’m excited for both just don’t have the hardware.
That being said, if the games are as good as people say, I’m happy to hear Square is still doing the thing they’ve always done with the franchise.
Try shit out. I always love playing an FF game where they put their hearts and minds into making something different.
If you’re a VII player, a X player or a XII, the point of FF as it matures is that it pushes the envelope. Sometimes right, sometimes wrong. That’s the fun and excitement of the next FF
You get it!
I loved it, loved the characters, loved the story, loved to know more, agree it could be more challenging in normal but enjoyed it as a cinematic masterpiece
Honestly if you had to ask me what does Final Fantasy 16 does that no other game in the franchise has done it's actually making it into a full fledge hack and slash/ character action game with really deep combat that If you actually take the time to explore youll do some incredible things.
The problem however is that it sacrifices a lot of traditional RPG elements that's come to be expected in a Final Fantasy game
I still love the game however It's actually my favorite Final Fantasy game Because it caters to me as a hack and slash fan So I can't wait for the PC edition to add to my Final Fantasy collection but I recognize it is a departure for what Final Fantasy fans want but to say that it's not a Final Fantasy game is a bald face lie.
P.S. The music is a banger I'm so happy It won best soundtrack in 2023 Game of awards show
Unlike F16, FF Type-0 released earlier and was way more competent at both the action AND the RPG parts.
@@metastase895 Oh you're totally right while I didn't care for the story or gameplay of type 0 I will admit it feels more in line of what I think people expect a Final Fantasy game to be.
FF16 feels like the team was hugely inspired by Asura wrath and devil May Cry But forgot to include RPG elements that fans would have really like.
My only real complaint is the quest complete screen really breaks immersion.
Oh man, I didn't mention that and the "Boss slain" screen was annoying after every major fight it stops all action mid-sword swing. Sometimes it was kinda cool but most of the time I wish it wasn't interrupting me.
@@TomLazan Yeah it's not something I remember about it, just something I noticed because I was currently playing it, and having something dramatic happen and then you get QUEST COMPLETE with the music was just kinda jarring.
11 and the 13 trilogy were also on 360.
Not same day
16 REVIEW IS FINALLY HEEEEEEERE :DDDDDDDDD
Active time spoiling is genius man, i feel heard, this video is amazing and was so worth the wait
I liked that crazy tornado. I loved it.
great video as always , i love this game v much , i also felt like the game felt action/fast paced (combat) however still felt slow ? it’s hard to explain but i think u also felt that ? but i could be wrong don’t wanna put word in ur mouth.
i also agree that 16 didn’t do to stand on its own in a lot of ways but i loved the story of 16 , i loved how it was more pushing boundaries in storytelling in ways that u mentioned (character spoilers, themes)
also sidenote ; i like how in the mature final fantasy game reviews u swear idk it’s like having watched ur videos for 2? years (idk it’s been awhile) and never hearing u swear then when swore in strangers of paradise it was like a shock but in a good way !
Yes haha I waited until we got to M rated stuff. Also I do agree there’s a slowness to the combat
i thought that was the case with the mature games , when i first played SoP it was at launch i go into all FF and KH games blind (i’m a huge fan of KH too) anyway, i didn’t know jack was going to say the f bomb, i brought the game for my friend so that we could play thru it together and thru the game the whole time we was saying he looks like he is about to drop the hardest fuck you to every character in the game but the he eventually did that we was screaming it was so badass (sorry for the tangent i wanted to comment this on the SoP video but idk was nervous ? )
@@lilyawnzincredible moment
One more ff14 and 16 exclusive feature: the heads and tails of cutscenes as well as pacing between dialogue and physical action in them are always a second or two too long. Drives me crazy and kills pacing for me.
This is not a FF game. Also, for your pasta analogy it could be more correct to say that this rice is not pasta enough. Breath of Fire 6 also had that franchise's name on its title so please enlighten me and find ONE human that considers that abomination a Breath of Fire game.
As a stand alone game, it is a lower common denominator, generic action game. I think most people would rather play the real deal then, like Devil May Cry and Bayonetta. That, and the "exploration" is pathetic.
Personally, I consider FF 16 as the second worst mainline FF game ever made (if you count the 13 trilogy as one).
it's a Final Fantasy game it's the sixteenth one
You should review Xenoblade series if you like Final Fantasy series.
I can only speak for myself but what turned me away is reading interviews, usually interviews get excited for a game but every interview I read made me feel like the game wasn't made for me and I ultimately decided "I'll just catch it on a sale this doesn't seem like $70 to me"
And did you? 😏
I greatly disagree on that editors note. Horizons story is far better than 16s, by leaps and bounds.
The entire story is delivered through audio log pickups
@@TomLazan stories can be told in different ways. And imo one way is not better or worse than the other.
Like I love the Souls / Elden Ring style of story telling. While others will hate it
@@yunuss58 ok but the environmental story telling of Souls games is not what they do in Horizon. You seriously sit there and listen to an audio clip that spouts exposition at you. I do think it's a bad way to tell a story.
@@TomLazan I will agree to disagree. Horizon has environmental storytelling too. By the same token we will have to criticise reading item descriptions, in game books, cutscenes.
Is it overused in Horizon? Probably. But I don't see it as a big issue or a big detriment to the storytelling.
But I understand this is a matter of taste.
can't wait to watch this in 4 years when FF16 comes out for PC.
Nah it's going to release pretty soon
It’s a spoiler-friendly video, unless you don’t want to hear anything at all. But that’s how I prefer to do it too
Find The Flame Is a real headbanger, but the music feels so much overused, most boss fights sound the same...
Yippie
FF15 was made as "A Final Fantasy for both fans and first timers"
FF16, whether it was intentional or not, feels too self-agrandizing.
I ain't got no time to sit through 3 hours of cutscenes but only play for 20 minutes within that time.
All I know is FF16>Rebirth.
🫢
I agree and disagree at the same time
Only graphically ff16 is better ff7rb is more like a ff game..
I just had this conversation with someone else. It's like comparing apples to oranges. They are both fruits, but they are fundamentally different and up to taste.
Yes this once I started FF 16 I finished the game in a week ,while I am still siting on Rebirth the game just gets worse by every new area and story is is so bad.
I cant belive how someone can fumble a story so much ,while you literaly got the whole script already written and approved by the audience that its great ,why would anyone think we need Multiple time lines and some hooded man and "timeline spirits"
To be real, the biggest turn off for me was not enough twinks. It's that shallow. I know a lot of bi's claim FF16 as "their game," but not me. 😂😅 There's a certain aesthetic that I came to Final Fantasy for, FF16 wasn't it. FF16 is very dark medieval fantasy, nothing against it but not my thing. I loved FF14, because all the costumes in that game looked real, I can see the details placed into them and how someone can slap on that outfit. I grew up with modern Final Fantasy, FF10 onwards, I like the emphasis on pretty boys and fashionable looks that character designs had from then onwards. FF15 is my favorite entry, and inspirational to me.
Then add up the mid leveling system and combat system, I had no reason to stay invested in 16. I could have forgiven the flaws with the combat, but nothing else was catching my attention. I played it once, I can't see myself doing another playthrough. It's going to sit on my shelf, I'm glad to own it but I'm really hoping that they don't make another Final Fantasy like FF16.
I feel like they will give 17 to Yoshi-P again and I don’t know what that will mean for the gameplay, I hope he can evolve this farther. But he did say he got his fill with dark/mature stories and would make it light hearted. I’d be down for that but I want a more interesting world than medieval again
@@TomLazan I'm down for Yoshi-P working on 17, CBU3 can do a variety of styles. FF14 is a big mishmash of everything Final Fantasy. Whatever 17 is, I'll be excited as long as it's a different tone than FF16.
But gameplay might be a different story... They like sticking to their systems, a lot of things in FF16 function the same as in FF14.
Rebirth >>>> FF 16
🫢
Well, ff16 and ff7 rebirth are two different games. To compare the two is to compare apples to oranges. Yeah, they are both fruits, but it's a matter of tastes. though I prefer many parts of ff7 rebirths combat. I do like that 16 was trying to be something more. I do think that ff16 being a ff game did hurt it alot in the eyes of vets, but it put a lot of eyes on the series to new people who will go back and maybe give other games a try like 6 or 10. As vets, we can be critical without being reductive. I love 7 rebirth as much as the next guy, but originality and taking risks is what got the series so big. Not nostalgia baiting.
@@Blackfire_2022 They are both Final Fantasy games, and, though times and technology changes, there are other key characteristics that the fandom has come to expect out of the franchise. Rebirth offers more memorable moments than 16. Whereas Rebirth moves the general plot but also takes time to deepen the connection between the characters, 16 mostly just focuses on the main plot. I wish Clide would have spent more time socializing with the main party of Joshua, Cid, and Jill. The fact that only Clide is playable also alientates the rest of the party. There is a distinct lack of humor and happiness in 16. Previous games could be bleak but also offer some great comedy. 16's battle system was too simple. I found myself doing the same moves over and over again with little variety. I'm a fan of 16, just as I enjoyed Strangers of Paradise, but to say that these are better than Rebirth is baffling.
@hotdogs8170 they are two different games with very different focus. You van forcus on the characters more for the 7R trilogy cause it is an expansion of something familiar. And though i wish 16 had payable party members and more character focus, that's not the game they wanted to make. I would've loved to see more of valestsa but more money (and time) is going into the ff7r trilogy cause it's 3 games with over 100 hours of story based on a game universe that already exists. While ff16 is a brand new world wirh new content and a story lasting about 40 hours. As I said Apples to oranges.
@hotdogs8170 With thar in mind, I do understand where you come from in your statement, fam. And you are right to feel how you feel about the two. From a mechanical pov, I prefer ff7 rebirth. But from a story on pov I prefer 16.