Spoiler free review of FFXVI. Clips from the game in the review are almost entirely from the demo, leaving out the ending of the demo and some of the twists. Any scenes shown after the demo are just scenery for the graphics sequence, some misc gameplay examples, a couple tiny post demo scenes for story discussion, and training mode. Although, if your spoiler definition is anything in the game being shown then this isn't the review for you. Fortunately, that's almost always not the case. I intend to try to make a full spoiler review of stories & fights if I have time enough before FF7 Rebirth is out, so I can deep dive better. But this should cover my overall thoughts of the game. I scripted and voiced this before the first DLC came out. After playing the DLC, it did improve a couple things exclusive to the DLC area, but this review still ages fine at the moment until possibly the final DLC comes out, since main game is pretty much unchanged by DLC1. 0:00 Intro 0:46 Intro: My History with Final Fantasy 3:35 Intro: Development 5:10 Graphics 7:55 Performance 11:07 Story 12:14 Story - Overview 13:11 Story - Characters 16:20 Story - Comprehension 18:02 Story - How the Story Stacks 19:22 Story - Pacing 20:16 Story - Game of Thrones the Game? 21:21 Story - Adult Themes 22:09 Story - Kingdom Hearts??? 22:55 Story - Villains 23:26 Story - Summary 23:44 Gameplay - Exploration 29:06 Gameplay - Combat 44:54 Gameplay - Misc - Object Interaction 45:49 Gameplay - Misc - World Map 46:10 Gameplay - Misc - Equipment/Upgrades 47:38 Gameplay - Misc - Sidequests 48:43 Music 51:35 Sounds 52:32 Music & Sound - Summary 52:55 Conclusion Twitch: www.twitch.tv/bizkit047 Twitter: twitter.com/bizkit047
I'm only about 15 minutes into this video and I'm really wanting the spoiler review so I can dump my thoughts because I'm agreeing with so much of what you're saying and wanting to add on what I think. I do want to say before finishing the video that your choice to open by giving your history with the franchise is such an incredibly smart idea because I swear 99% of the hate for this game is coming from people who have only played a small handful (and in unfortunately many cases, a single) of the games and are upset that this isn't like *their* favorite Final Fantasy game. The truest joke I saw pre release was that the fact people are saying this isn't a real Final Fantasy game is the surest fucking sign it's a Final Fantasy game
It's quite nutty, I definitely see that as well based on others where it's either "best FF ever" or "one of the worst." No nuance outside of that for some reason.
For me This game..... it kinda "is", a mediocre fun game but I can see why both factions support their thesis. The problem is that in 2 years top this game will fade into oblivion
@@sinuosalice-1434i think you hit the nail on the head ironically enough. a group identity based around a brand like FF cant really interpret a “meh” game like this
FF12 had a similar reception. Over time most people came to realize that 12 was in fact a good game, but also not a lot of people will say it was the peak of the series. 16 might be similar in the end, unless FF7R part 2 ends up blowing it out of the water.
Honestly really wanted to like this game, as a huge fan of FF and especially FFXIV, and the DMC series, I was expecting it to be really good. The combat is fine but gets old pretty quick due to low enemy variety and lacking combat options, and the story leaves a lot to be desired for me. My biggest issue honestly just that the story they set up in the intro and demo is not really the story we actually got. It had such a strong beginning that I just don't think the game ever manages to cash in on. I also wish the other characters got to do anything because they had great potential but unfortunately the game just has to be The Clive Show.
Not sure if I would say it's THAT divisive given how other odd ducks in the series get debated hard like FF8 and FF13 but it's up there. I can see some of the issues but it's one of my favorites among the series. Very fun to play, great production value, and solid emotional impact that's helped by the strongest voice acting within this franchise. It's not among the GOATs such as 10 and 9 but it's entertaining enough for the first entry with an M rating. The first DLC released was a solid one too, esp. since I used my FF mode file to make it more exciting with its final boss fight.
Because it's a new FF it's very divisive if you seek out others opinions on social media or forums like GameFAQs where you can hop into the many bloodbath threads of peoples opinions of the game. Over time, may change though.
FF16 side quests were boring as hell. The reason being that 99% of them are either given by complete strangers or people you know pretty much nothing about, so I couldn't give a rat's ass about any of them. My biggest issue with the game is the lack of Playable Characters/Party Members. So cut the crap with "knowing more about the world". Also the lack of major cities and hometowns for the characters. All you have here are just some villages or towns that are lackluster. Golden Age games like FF6,7,8,9,10 had a huge roster of characters with each having a deep backstory and most if not all side quests were about them. So we had a reason to care. Here It's just one guy, Clive ! other characters barely contribute to the combat. Also, their stories are never really fleshed out. We know absolutely nothing about Jill, other than being a childhood friend. Literally everything else about her is told via superficial exposition, never showing anything. Same thing can be said about literally every character or villain in the game. All of them are bland and uninteresting. And many appear literally out of nowhere. Like Mid or Vivian or.......... Also, ever since (Game of Thrones) what is this odd trend with having a "Hodor" in a game or series !? I'm referring to the big guy Goetz.
I enjoyed the combat, it was fun, but what ruined it for me was the checkpoint system. Giving you your full health back and full potions per death takes away any challenge. So disappointing. My workaround was using autosaves to restart boss fights. I guess Ultimaniac mode helps this issue. Still wish hard mode by default didn’t have this checkpoint system.
Well, well, well, well... PC version just came out, and guess what. Performance is not so great either. Well, it does look, feel and play better than PS5 version, but only because FSR3.0 and FSR FrameGeneration exist. Another great feature that helps graphically is enabling the Sharpen effect on your GPUs driver, and toning it to your liking. PS5 version is very blurry, and PC version is too, although a little better. But the Sharpen effect offered by your GPUs driver should completely fix that. I'm on AMD, and that really did the trick for me. Cutscenes are locked to 30fps on PC, but a mod of a size of 600kbs can unlock it by just copying and pasting 4 files into the game's folder. And that mod came out before the official release of the game, as modders had already figured it out what the problem was when the demo came out, and they released the mod.
I didn't expect the Xenoblade comparisons but I agree with them lol. One thing I feel with modern FF games (15, 16, and 7 Remake) is that movement is sluggish unless you have a chocobo. Now Xenoblade movement isn't anything amazing, except Xenoblade X, but it feels more freeing than the stiffness modern FF has. I wish the games felt better to just walk around.
30:25 Fun fact: FF4 almost used Secret of Mana's combat system. They wanted to go with a more action-based system, but didn't like how it played for the story they were telling. So they came up with ATB as a more "action-like" version of turn-based combat, as a half-step.
While I do like the game, I fundamentally disagree with cooldowns being the right choice for this combat system, to me in any real time action oriented game they feel like a bandaid solution that substitutes the need to actually balance the various moves properly, and I think it's also weird they're even present since other ARPGs released by Square in the previous years had no cooldowns at all (FF7R, SoP, hell, even the Crisis Core Remaster). I might be very biased, but to me cooldowns kill combo experimentation, imagine if Nero's Devil Breakers in DMC5 had a cooldown instead of just, being another tool in your arsenal, nonetheless the combat system IS fun, I just think it could've been leagues better.
I don't believe the cooldowns were a bandaid to balancing. It feels the overall strongest & most useful abilities have longer cooldowns, so as to not be able to spam them. As someone who played 7R, SoP and also CC, I can say that it's fine not to copy those for this. This game wanted you to be able to have instant access to 6 abilities + 3 Eikon feats at all times (before using them of course.) 7R, for example, requires ATB bars to use abilities, which given 7R's low amount of ATB would be a bit restricting for what they wanted to do for FFXVI. For SoP, you can get more ATB so that's more practical if they wanted to copy that system. I'm not 100% it would translate correctly to FFXVI without heavy changes, but I could vouch for SoP doing abilities well in general. CC is bad, though. That's a spammy mess of a game. Either way, CDs would be probably much better for this game if they implemented more fun combos to pull off when you're on CD for most/all abilities.
I wish instead of CDs they just had moves that used meter. CC is fine, if you want to dissuade infinite cc implement a combo limit or cause there to be diminishing returns on meter gain.
That's the exact issue I was talking about, it doesn't work well without a cooldown. For example, in some other FFs your Black Mage is probably going to want to spam magic like Flare/Meteor/Ultima endgame instead of others like Thundaga that are no longer viable. If translated to FFXVI, it would be bad if you just spammed what's strongest. A specific example I could think of is if something like Wicked Wheel, which shreds Will, costed low, which it probably would based on its cooldown & early acquiring, then you could spam that to nearly instant stagger an enemy. There would be no reason to do anything else in a case like that until stagger state. With the way it is, you're encouraged to use all 6 abilities alongside Eikon feats due to their Cooldowns, which promotes creativity to the combat. Essentially, MP system doesn't work without massive changes, and a way to balance them.
@@Bizkit047 completely agree with you on everything you said. i was just thinking in the possibility of if the abilities used MP, they could balance damage, stagger and overall usability in comparison to the other stronger abilites to make it so that it’s not completely unviable and useless to use a 4 MP ability vs a 16 MP one (this might work better on more a more difficult setting?) for the using of wicked wheel on will, why not balance and turn down the stagger on that while increasing damage and stagger on other abilities in this case and others? what about there being a mixture of both MP and a cooldown system?
Probably the best review out there right now for this game. Also pretty much agree with everything here. Pacing was probably the biggest issue for me in this game. Coming back from space fighting bahamut and then doing basically mandatory fetch quests for Mid or whoever else is just such a weird decision to me. So yeah lowest lows but also some of the highest highs in this game for me. Nice work biz
I loved this game but it definitely doesn’t live up to the incredible setup. It seems like it’s going to be a complex plot with intersecting character conflicts with a more nuanced take on morals - kinda like FF Tactics. But it just ends up being a friendship is power thing with a generic bad guy villain by the end. Overall I thought FF14 Shadowbringers just did this kind of story much much better - that game’s story was phenomenally executed, and I was expecting the same level of writing, considering it’s the same dev team, but it didn’t follow up.
Thanks for your review Biz! Definitely agree on a lot of your points, especially with music. One of my larger gripes with FF16 is the lack of things you can do outside of combat. You touched on exploration and equipment/upgrades, and while sidequests definitely help with world building and character development, they all ultimately boil down to doing a mix of the same things: walking, talking, some fighting, and having Clive interact with some object. It feels like all the people in this world do in their pastime is talk, drink, hunt, read, and/or observe nature. I know it's not a big issue, but having some minigames like fishing, chocobo racing, or even just meaningful interaction with objects (like puzzles) would go a long way to adding immersion.
A lot of FF mini-games suck, but if they put in something similar to the good ones, like Triple Triad or Chocobo Hot-Cold, yea it could have helped. Fishing I suppose is good too, but that's done sooo much now in way too much RPGs lmao
That the biggest issue with the game imo. Lack of variety not just outside of combat but also inside of combat. Most enemies are boring and samey, there's no varied battle objectives or interesting battle encounter design, no level design, no worthwhile exploration, and more. The game is just bland battle after bland battle after bland battle. And if its not that, its "talk to npc, then to this one, then to this one." Take a look at another combat focused game: KH2. and see how that game has so many different combat objectives and scenarios it throws you in throughout the game. In one battle you're defending an npc, gate, or object. In another, the objectives is to interact with objects in-battle multiple times to gain the advantage or complete the fight. there's a whole lot more i can't think of off the top of my head. This is all without even mentioning in the minigames present in the game. FF16 does very little of the sort and its just "defeat this generic set of enemies" for a 30-50 hour game. Sure there are the eikon battles that are indeed unique but they're very few and far between. It's unbelievable. It feels to me that the devs just gave Clive a decent moveset then called it a day on combat design. I did enjoy some of the humanoid boss fights like primed benedikta, kupka, etc. but eventually the game just felt so stale that i did the bare minimum to win every fight.
I'm glad that you actually said the side quests were decent because too many times I see people openly recommend to ignore every side quest that doesn't have the green plus that indicates you unlock something. I have seen far more offensive side quests in games before and these ones are actually pretty decent. It's also especially frustrating to see people complain about certain things in the lore not getting explained and things not making sense when the very thing they're bitching about gets explained in a cutscene that was in a side quest that they refused to do. It's super disingenuous to complain about the writing when you actively are avoiding the parts of a RPG that usually contain the background lore!
24:25 I don't understand what you mean when you say ffxv wasn't open world. It had an open world full of different towns and side quests up until you travel on boat to the gondola city which is basically 70 percent of the game.
I absolutely love this game. And wasn't really bothered by the lack of usual ff party/rpg systems, because the trailer showed what it was without any issue of misrepresentation. So I had alotta fun with it.
I think a divisive aspect of the game is the structure on how they handled the narrative. Many would describe it as a roller-coaster but not in a great way, as you have segments of a lot of talking and dialogue, to then awesome fights and cinematic sequences, to...more talking and dialogue. You would think this is standard for any rpg, but this game in particular struggles with pacing in my opinion due to the structure. The talking and dialogue are sometimes interesting and offers world building and development, but often plenty of the segments are just reinforcing the themes of "slavery bad" over and over. I wanted to care for the npcs I interacted with through my adventure, and I did for a while. But towards the end it just got too...cluttered. Like oh look, yet another town where I gotta speak to npcs and exhaust the dialogue so I can get to the fun stuff again. I just feel the structure and pacing could've been handled better
This is the most fair review ive watched on this game. I loved it honestly, solid 8/10 for me and all your cons of the game are things I didnt even think of but are still valid.
Biz dropping a vid on my Bday is definitely welcomed! Agreed with most of the review. Like many others have said that i will parity, this game has the Highest of Highs and lowest of lows. The eikon battles while admittedly easy was amazing to finally experince kaiju like battles that we could play out and the sheer epicness and over the top nature of them definitely was hype non stop through. The music i can agree is actually pretty tame, coming from FFXIV this felt more like Sokken light barring a couple of songs (Titan). The games sidequest leave a lot to be desired and i wish maybe some of the sidequest content went and focused more on the party members. Combat has a simple but satisfying loop and again just way to easy on normal mode and FF mode. I lean towards this being an overall solid entry which is fine, i think some people get wrapped up in it must be the absolute worst or best thing instead of just taking it for what it is. I definitely recommend you play through FFXIV if you ever have time for it, hands down has some of the series best writing and imo the best modern FF atm!
39:04 the problem I have with the cooldown/stagger system is you've just described the only optimal strategy. There's no interesting choices to make: dodge and parry while using high-will-gauge abilities, then stand still and empty out your high-hp abilities when they stagger. If you accidentally get out of the flow state, there's nothing new there - you just have to wait longer for cooldowns. FF7R spaces out ability usage with ATB so each choice of ability matters, especially considering elemental weaknesses. KH makes abilities so common with the combo system that you end up relying on specific abilities in your combo e.g. jumping on purpose to Arial Dive and close distance, or equipping flash step on specific fights because it counters a boss attack (I think this applies to KH3 data larxene/data ansem?) I would argue FFXVI has almost no interesting decision making in boss battles, which really hampered my enjoyment. The ability cooldown system is more fun in mob fights where you can let loose - notably, stagger doesn't matter in these cases. Maybe getting rid of stagger and replacing it with a RV system would help - then you'd need to sneak in abilities between enemy attacks.
This sounds like a skill issue imo. You can definitely optimise way more than just "save high damage for stagger". Maximising DPS uptime with creative use of defensive options and JCs to attack during enemy attacks are what makes it fun.
I played demo on ps5 and couldn’t stand 30fps. Dynamic resolution on perf mode was really distracting and unstable. Playing pc demo now solves that problem it has others but looking forward to play this finally on pc.
It’s a game that has really high highs and really low lows. I think the Titan boss fight is one of the best in all of gaming and then you have the entire story writing + pacing after the Bahamut fight which is just horrible. Idk I’m so mixed on this game now
I wish Clive's core toolset was more involved outside of CDs. It is definitely way too limited. Implementing pause combos or directional inputs would have gone a long way to reduce tedium, especially in a game as long as FF16. You seemed to not mind the CDs, but by the end I absolutely hated them. It became too easy to just run a one size fits all CD rotation on staggers. Many mob fights also felt pointless since you can just blow them up with zero effort. I will give props to some of the spectacle. This game pulls God of War off better than either 2018 or Ragnarok.
You don't get to truly blow up mobs until FF mode or endgame of first playthrough, which I find fine because mobs tend to be pretty boring most of the time in these kind of games. I'm pretty certain Zantetsuken was designed for FF mode mobs so you can just rush to bosses/mini-bosses. I did point out in the video it's easy to fall into flowchart ability layouts for stagger, though. Although, I'll say that there are many times playing on bosses I wouldn't have all the abilities I'd want to use during a stagger off of CD, so I'd still have to improvise.
You talking about what actually makes an open world game is something I've actually been saying for a while. Octopath traveler 2 is probably one of the best open world games I've ever played and that usually gets me a lot of strange looks because there's not some giant empty sandbox for you to run around in so people don't consider it one. This game is probably one of the most open games I've ever played and it will let you do just about anything with very little if anything at all stopping the player
@@Bizkit047 my best guess as to why that is is people take the open world part quite literally and assume that it needs to be a giant map like in Skyrim where they can go wherever without seeing loading screens every few minutes
I have played every Final Fantasy except rebirth thus far and this story is by far my favorite. I guess everyone has a different experience and interest in what constitutes a "Final Fantasy" game. I loved the maturity and delving deep into more bloody, vulgar, but yet realistic meaningful content while also retaining the Final Fantasy trademarks. I guess the mechanics aren't what I was focused on. I enjoyed the characters, the polished voice acting was excellent, but I respect everyone's opinion because we all have different things we enjoy in an experience. For me, I loved it. It's hard to put into words exactly, but it worked for me and if it didn't work for other people I understand that maybe it was the gameplay that brought it down for them. I personally thought it was a great blend of both, but I am a dad that only has a couple hours a week to play so when I play, I enjoy the spectacle of XVI. But that's just me. Best to all and everyone's opinions.
31:36 what you mean, Team Asano is still making games. We still got turn based FF Edit: Huh, should have let you finish your sentence before typing that.
20 minutes in you claim "FFXVI doesn't try to be Game of Thrones." That is literally not true, when Yoshida Naoki literally had the entire CBUIII watch the show as research/inspiration. The GoT influence is all over the place, from tone/frequent use of gore and swearing, to outright supporting character archetypes like Goetz/Hodor, main characters as well like Clives mom being the same as the matriarch from GoT. You can downplay the influence of that HBO production all you want, it doesn't mean it isn't there.
There's a gigantic difference between researching it for inspiration and intentionally designing it like that. I explain the video how that doesn't really line up well. Goetz is not like Hodor in the least bit, aside from...being a big guy. Gore from people being stabbed is not GOT exclusive or FF exclusive either, nor is plain violence. The game is M rated, so yes, there will be more gore and swearing. Unless you believe Strangers of Paradise is also GOT inspired because Jack swears a lot. People just seem to forgot how older FFs used to be. So as said, no it's not trying to be GOT.
I think the main reason for the jump button in this game is for combat since therrs some aerial attacks. Though yes accidentally jumping a million times when you want to interact with something is a real problem. Would probably bave been a good idea to maybe nust disable it outside combat
That doesn't sound too bad at first thought. It sounds similar to Phoenix's Heat Wave on projectiles. Unsure in practice how well that would pan out though.
Excellent review. Probably the best I've watched. Well worded & rational. Praised what deserved to praised & critiqued what needed to be critiqued. Hard, hard disagree on your (valid) music take though :)
I am essentially of the same mind as you are when it comes to the game, except for the music, I really enjoyed the music, with some like Find the Flame and Away being some of my favorite pieces of video game music ever.
With all of the baseless critiques about this game on the internet, your level headed and nuisance critique of this game is very refreshing. I agree that they could've added a bit more RPG elements like debuffs without taking player expression away, and the difficulty could've been improved upon as well. But the hate for this game from people makes it seem like this is FF2 in terms of quality. Great review!
Fairest review I’ve seen of this game so far tbh, great work. I disagree with a couple of points, like I’m very against cooldowns in action oriented games. I understand what they were going for and at the very least you get 6 CD abilities when most games with that system lock you to like 2-3 but it just doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe something like combo score giving you CDR or maybe doing something like how XC2’s art recharge worked off the number of auto attacks landed would’ve felt more engaging. I think overall I’d place this game in my personal mid-high mid of the franchise, although Clive is batting for my favorite MC atm. If this game’s DLC is half as good as the 7R Yuffie DLC or KH3’s god tier limit cut it’ll probably go higher.
I tried my best to word it in a fairly easy way to understand, but a better way to explain it is that in 7R you still don't fully control all characters equally at all times like in most other FFs. It does a great job of masking this though due to being able to funnel commands to other party members at any time, though. But while you're not controlling them, you can't tell them to do anything other than abilities. Due to way 7R works, you also don't NEED to keep your party aggressive, only the one you're controlling. The other party members will always at least do basic attacks and dodge on their own.
@@Bizkit047 ok.. so you mean like full control you get In the ATB/Turn-based older games? That's just not something possible in real time games... FFVIIR got as close as possible to it, by switching to tactical mode.
the game is solid with good story - great VA - Epic soundtracks - a lot of sex scenes..., so a very good game overall for me... base on reviews from critics and reviews from consumers on Amazon, around 80% love the game and only 10% hate it... so only small minortiy saying the game is bad, but it's very loud minortiy, FF7 and FF10 hardcore fans that hate FF16...
I was debating bringing up no elemental damage mattering as another RPG element missing, but I'm pretty sure the way it is it would be awful to use that. For example, if you like using Phoenix a lot, good luck fighting Bombs, etc. They could have made it work with probably multiple preset ability layouts though.
Well done review. I enjoyed this game alot & would say it's perfect but not that perfect. Every good game will have a flaw but a small flaw doesnt kill the game when there is so much good that outweighs bad. Anyway, XVI to me did what KH3 in my opinion was lacking & that was a fun combat system, great boss fights & I am mainly talking about in the base game before the post-game content, & my favorite that was missing in that game was the parry mechanic. I wanted to see some of that in KH3 but it felt like they took that away & made it more about flashy combat instead of using skill which took away the fun in restrictive playthroughs like how we could in KH2FM. I don't go in with high expectations but when I see a game take away something that made the game what it was ruined the fun of the game. What I really like was the sound work in this game especially when clive parries with the titan raging fit is my favorite. It has such a strong & powerful sound that keeps me using that Eikon & the benefit that come with it is pretty awesome. To end this I would love to see a harder difficulty in this game with more rule that come with it to make it a more & fun challenging playthrough & harder bosses. The DLC did have one that was tough but I want one that so hard that it will make me cry like what was said back before Re: Mind was released lol. Anyway enjoyed the video.
This might be a potential spoiler but there are multiple sidequests with actual boss fights or that change the state of an area, or some that even kill off characters from the main story so so many people saying they are just "irrelevant fetchquests" was kindof annoying. A lot og them are continuations of stories started in the main story that the main story then kinda just abandons
I liked this game and 7 Remake a lot and I can't wait for Rebirth which seems to address the issues people had with both games. Both solid entries despite the issues and flaws though.
This game proves that FF games should try to embrace being less than a 30-60 hour experience sometimes. I don’t know why Square thinks these games HAVE to be long, if this game was shorter it wouldn’t feel like it overstayed its welcome. If this game were a 15-20 hour game, it’d be regarded as a very very good game I feel.
To be fair, if you skip all sidequests, the game is significantly shorter. To fix the bad pacing they just had to come up with something a tad more interesting in the downtime. I don't believe massively shorter game time should be the answer going forward, I rather not have shorter RPGs. 40 hours is a good standard, 60-80 with all content as well.
@@Bizkit047 I get what you’re saying but for a game that is BARELY even an RPG and mainly focuses on its action gameplay, I feel as though a shorter runtime is better. Maybe if it really was a true rpg (in my eyes) I’d want it to be longer but I just can’t see it that way
@@conflictiontalks5188 I highly disagree with "barely an RPG." It definitely focuses incredibly hard on its cutscenes as well. The only thing it lacks vs most other average RPGs is having less RPG battle mechanics. But regardless, as people are slowly realizing, genres are evolving and it's becoming increasing silly to slap very specific genres to a game when they will continue to be hyrbrids.
@@Bizkit047 what you’re saying is valid. I just think that when it comes to FF16 being a hybrid of an rpg and an action game, I feel like it focuses on its action way more, even weighing down the complexity of normally complex rpg systems of FF games in order to focus on its action gameplay. With that focus on action, I feel like it’d be totally fine if they cut out all the “Mid” quests and made the game a lot shorter
This whole thing would’ve been a better movie than a game. The world was drab and void of exploration. The sidequests were 99 percent fetch quests. The rpg was nowhere to be seen. The combat was good and that’s about it. A better example of a game designed the same way is devil may cry 5 but that was wayyyyyyyy better. Shouldn’t have been a mainline title tbh
Nice review. For me I love this game even with its flaws because theres's just too much to like. But the biggest problem for me is that at the 2/3rds mark the story gets very messy IMO. I think if the game focused more on what people consider "GOT-like" instead and incorporated it more into its overall final 3rd act, the story would've stuck its landing. I felt they wasted certain themes and put them in the background when they shouldn't have. Because looking at the lore and going through those Vivian rundowns was interesting to me. It is like they built up all these interesting factions and then didn't focus on them or even at times decide to not make them relevant unfortunately. But even with that said what they went with was still entertaining and epic and very effective in its emotional beats. I ended up really loving most of the characters, villains included, because just like you said that presentation was just off the charts. I have to strongly disagree with the music just being "okay" even though there are some duds in the ost. Because despite there being like 2 or 3 tracks that sound generic, there's so many bangers and tracks that were even just fun to blast on the orchestrion and serve those emotional beats. The music absolutely brought so much emotional weight to those story moments, much beyond boss battle music. Heck the game was also fun to platinum. So I wasn't left disappointed or that the game wasn't worth playing. I enjoyed combat system and absolutely will defend its depth, but it could've had just a little more with the base combat abilities. Although chaining Downthrusts, lunges, magicbursts, aerial burning strikes along with Eikon abilities like Deadly Embrace were very fun to play around with, if there were like just 2 more base combat ability attacks it would have even been more enjoyable. But even what is here is a lot more depth than people give it credit for. For me I enjoyed FF mode, but I think they should've had something between FF mode and Ultimaniac for a playthrough. Ultimaniac is where the true difficulty is but it is limited to the stage replays in the arete stone. Ultimaniac is nearly impossible to do without a Will-o-Wisp build and would make much more sense to have a playthrough-Ultimaniac mode locked off for a second playthrough because of it basically requiring you have all your abilities. It will be interesting to hear your opinion on the mode if you've played it. Because that definitely isn't easy. (Sorry if I missed you discussing it.) But anyway over all I think the experience is a solid 8/10. I got too much fun and time out of it to not admit it at least an 8.
I've never liked the kneejerk reaction of "graphics don't matter in video games"-it's a _visual_ medium, of _course_ they matter. The final result is obviously going to depend on the chosen art style and technical restrictions (self-imposed or otherwise), but within those limitations I think you should optimise them as much as reasonably possible.
Tell that to the Pokemon Scarlet/Violet community that praises how fun the game is, despite dogshit graphics/performance. If your game is fun enough for the target audience, it can be looked past, even if it still brings down the game quality. So graphics shouldn't be the #1 priority of course, but yes they should at least optimize it a bit better.
It’s insane to me how “love it or hate it” this game is. For me, I had no interest in it initially, and walked away with it passing kh2fm and Nier for my favorite game of all time. The depth of characters story and lore made it an experience unlike any other. It truly felt like a GOT epic mixed with FF in the best way.
i was so excited for this game and then halfway thru im like one chapter from the ending i just got bored. i hate the combat i should love it cuz i love action but its just a beat em up tbh the elemental damage means nothing. the story is mid at best with some incredible moments like clive and his brothers relationship. idk i didnt get the game and thrones vibe they wanted to give it just moved fast but also too slow. its sad cuz it has potential. also clive is hot but kinda boring tbh. too many good games for me to go back and finish it oh well
i gave this game a real fair shake, but its easily my least favorite one in the series. the ending was so generic it hurt. something had to go wrong in development with how it just kind drops off at the end, nothing close to the clear effort that went into titan and even bahamut somewhat
The game is very divisive for multiple reasons. One of which is it is an action game at the end of the day, which will absolutely guarantee many final fantasy fans not even try it out. We can judge or blame, but that is facts. Add to this even for action fans, many anticipated an action rpg similar to ff7 remake, but...they stripped a lot of the rpg mechanics away. No status ailments, no elemental synergies, hell the crafting system is a joke, etc. The structure of the narrative as well involves a lot of talking and fetching, which is akin to ff14 style of gaming. People will either love it or hate it. Again, more division. But, if you don't mind these aspects, you will probably adore this game. Great music, great narrative, amazing cinematic experiences, etc. But end of the day it is a divisive final fantasy game. It isnt like say ffx where vast majority agree its a solid ff. But yeah, just how I see it. I had fun, but it is what it is
Its one of the most disappointing i`ve ever played. If Jill was not treated like shit, i could have looked past the terrible game design and all the other problems, but putting all together is too much
If all final fantasy games were the same, they’d get boring fast. I’m happy that we have different flavors to enjoy or dislike. I for one loved this but couldn’t stand 7r.
I’m sorry, but if you think this is the “best” Final Fantasy, your standards must be pretty low lol. It’s probably one of the worst, the only reason it’s not the worst is because FFXV exists. It’s not even an RPG, there’s no party system, it’s laughably easy with a mediocre story that falls a part after one of the “main characters” die, the world is bland, and of what you can explore of it is pretty lackluster, pacing is a huge issue, where you’ll probably spend more time watching the game than actual playing it. The only thing the game has going for it are the boss battles , and yet most of them are nothing but cinematic QTE’s.
"It's not even an RPG." Yes, it is. You don't get to make up what an RPG is and speak for everyone. Also, I can tell you didn't watch the video, because I addressed your headass thoughts throughout. And on a personal note, I think it's insane to prefer FF2 & FF3 to this game, but I'm sure those people are out there, so I can't pretend it doesn't exist, but definitely odd. I'm not sure why you commented this without watching the video and failing to engage properly though, seems dumb.
I honestly didn't find the combat very engaging or fun for the majority of the time. Maybe for a certain time where you get enough abilities to feel like you're not doing paper cut damage, but at most just a few hours. Some of the defensive mechanics like block and parry felt incredibly inconsistent, it was just difficult to find the timings for them or which attacks even work. Especially parry, by far the worst of them all. And it just boiling down to using these few skills to cause stagger then using these others for damage, really made the actual gameplay incredibly same-y. Basically the exact same complain I have with current FFXIV, where your own skills are 99% set in stone for every fight, then all you do is react to mechanics while trying to do the same things. I had no interest in going for the harder bosses as the combat had already bored me to death and I just wanted to complete it. The side quests started off waaaay too slow for me to give an ounce of care towards them. I really dislike games needing to ease you into the concept of side quests, it's so stupidly unnecessary that a game needs to tell me that I can do quests that aren't main story relevant. I would much rather prefer to start out with something that shows the potential quality in side quests, rather than having you run from point A to point B, and back to point A again. And the game is so much on rails that there's barely anything you can do other than switch out abilities. And don't get me started on exploration. I absolutely love exploration in games like Starfield, but this game is so insanely unrewarding that I didn't want to even waste my time even thinking about it. Even most of the accessories you find are worthless, just the off chance you find just one which can be useful for that one skill you use. Every single piece of material you'll ever need to upgrade your gear is gained from defeating main story bosses or + icon side quests, or you literally just buy them for gil at the store. I essentially only ever did main story and the side quests that give you upgrades or features, and I never had any issues with lack of gil or crafting items to get the best weapon or accessories. The RPG elements in this game were so lacking that it actually became an issue. Honestly, this game was an overall disappointment for gameplay. Though I think it's still worth it primarily for the story, as the spectacle it shows are some of the best moments I've ever witnessed in a FF game.
Block/dodge timings are fine and consistent, the window with Titan's block is pretty forgiving. Parry is a lot harder to learn timings, but from my testing it feels easier with flame charged sword. Not usually worth the risk for only a small stagger though.
A mediocre action game, and an abysmal FF. Awful story, 2d characters, decent music. Sacrifices good storytelling for the shock value of an M rating. Overall, I resent this game for existing and consider it a blight on the FF name.
Square Enix will keep moving incrementally away from their successful formula and some people will continue to use the argument that "there is no rule that a FF game must have...". Eventually, SE will be dumping platformers and dating sims into mainline FF and those who miss the types of experiences they used to deliver will be labelled as deplorable purists. What a shame.
A game that didn't reach the high expectations for Square Enix and sells drops 79% or 78% while in Japan it drop 90%. Sounds like no one wanted this game. Doesn't matter if you like it or not. For Square Enix it was a fail.
Read: ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/final-fantasy-16-sales-numbers-160000713.html This is also not mentioning the PC release coming, which will be available to a much wider audience. I still fully expect FF7 Rebirth to outdo this game in sales, and not only just because of also going to PC right away. Either way, despite the sales dip, it appears Square does not agree, and does sound like still a fair amount of people "wanted this game." Unless they stated otherwise since the article. Releasing a PS5 exclusive isn't a great play if the intention is to hit 1+ mil sales or it's a failure.
at that point it wouldn't really be final fantasy. They already sorta slapped the summons into the game or whatever but even then. I don't really associate that as is. I just feel that there really are no mechanics outside of parries and dodges in your base moveset. Wouldn't have been call to have classes changes for your base moveset. and another gauge or form select to control ifrit in normal fights and boss fights.
Does it have a Hard mode difficulty selection like Strangers in Paradise does? I been on the fence about getting this entry cuz I've heard it's pretty easy 🫤
Spoiler free review of FFXVI. Clips from the game in the review are almost entirely from the demo, leaving out the ending of the demo and some of the twists. Any scenes shown after the demo are just scenery for the graphics sequence, some misc gameplay examples, a couple tiny post demo scenes for story discussion, and training mode. Although, if your spoiler definition is anything in the game being shown then this isn't the review for you. Fortunately, that's almost always not the case.
I intend to try to make a full spoiler review of stories & fights if I have time enough before FF7 Rebirth is out, so I can deep dive better. But this should cover my overall thoughts of the game. I scripted and voiced this before the first DLC came out. After playing the DLC, it did improve a couple things exclusive to the DLC area, but this review still ages fine at the moment until possibly the final DLC comes out, since main game is pretty much unchanged by DLC1.
0:00 Intro
0:46 Intro: My History with Final Fantasy
3:35 Intro: Development
5:10 Graphics
7:55 Performance
11:07 Story
12:14 Story - Overview
13:11 Story - Characters
16:20 Story - Comprehension
18:02 Story - How the Story Stacks
19:22 Story - Pacing
20:16 Story - Game of Thrones the Game?
21:21 Story - Adult Themes
22:09 Story - Kingdom Hearts???
22:55 Story - Villains
23:26 Story - Summary
23:44 Gameplay - Exploration
29:06 Gameplay - Combat
44:54 Gameplay - Misc - Object Interaction
45:49 Gameplay - Misc - World Map
46:10 Gameplay - Misc - Equipment/Upgrades
47:38 Gameplay - Misc - Sidequests
48:43 Music
51:35 Sounds
52:32 Music & Sound - Summary
52:55 Conclusion
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/bizkit047
Twitter: twitter.com/bizkit047
I'm only about 15 minutes into this video and I'm really wanting the spoiler review so I can dump my thoughts because I'm agreeing with so much of what you're saying and wanting to add on what I think.
I do want to say before finishing the video that your choice to open by giving your history with the franchise is such an incredibly smart idea because I swear 99% of the hate for this game is coming from people who have only played a small handful (and in unfortunately many cases, a single) of the games and are upset that this isn't like *their* favorite Final Fantasy game. The truest joke I saw pre release was that the fact people are saying this isn't a real Final Fantasy game is the surest fucking sign it's a Final Fantasy game
This is the biggest divide I've seen between the fanbase's history. Half love it. Half hate it.
It's quite nutty, I definitely see that as well based on others where it's either "best FF ever" or "one of the worst." No nuance outside of that for some reason.
For me This game..... it kinda "is", a mediocre fun game but I can see why both factions support their thesis. The problem is that in 2 years top this game will fade into oblivion
@@sinuosalice-1434i think you hit the nail on the head ironically enough. a group identity based around a brand like FF cant really interpret a “meh” game like this
You must be new
FF12 had a similar reception. Over time most people came to realize that 12 was in fact a good game, but also not a lot of people will say it was the peak of the series. 16 might be similar in the end, unless FF7R part 2 ends up blowing it out of the water.
Honestly really wanted to like this game, as a huge fan of FF and especially FFXIV, and the DMC series, I was expecting it to be really good. The combat is fine but gets old pretty quick due to low enemy variety and lacking combat options, and the story leaves a lot to be desired for me.
My biggest issue honestly just that the story they set up in the intro and demo is not really the story we actually got. It had such a strong beginning that I just don't think the game ever manages to cash in on. I also wish the other characters got to do anything because they had great potential but unfortunately the game just has to be The Clive Show.
Not sure if I would say it's THAT divisive given how other odd ducks in the series get debated hard like FF8 and FF13 but it's up there. I can see some of the issues but it's one of my favorites among the series. Very fun to play, great production value, and solid emotional impact that's helped by the strongest voice acting within this franchise. It's not among the GOATs such as 10 and 9 but it's entertaining enough for the first entry with an M rating. The first DLC released was a solid one too, esp. since I used my FF mode file to make it more exciting with its final boss fight.
Because it's a new FF it's very divisive if you seek out others opinions on social media or forums like GameFAQs where you can hop into the many bloodbath threads of peoples opinions of the game. Over time, may change though.
FF16 side quests were boring as hell. The reason being that 99% of them are either given by complete strangers or people you know pretty much nothing about, so I couldn't give a rat's ass about any of them.
My biggest issue with the game is the lack of Playable Characters/Party Members. So cut the crap with "knowing more about the world". Also the lack of major cities and hometowns for the characters. All you have here are just some villages or towns that are lackluster.
Golden Age games like FF6,7,8,9,10 had a huge roster of characters with each having a deep backstory and most if not all side quests were about them. So we had a reason to care.
Here It's just one guy, Clive ! other characters barely contribute to the combat. Also, their stories are never really fleshed out. We know absolutely nothing about Jill, other than being a childhood friend. Literally everything else about her is told via superficial exposition, never showing anything.
Same thing can be said about literally every character or villain in the game. All of them are bland and uninteresting. And many appear literally out of nowhere. Like Mid or Vivian or..........
Also, ever since (Game of Thrones) what is this odd trend with having a "Hodor" in a game or series !? I'm referring to the big guy Goetz.
I enjoyed the combat, it was fun, but what ruined it for me was the checkpoint system. Giving you your full health back and full potions per death takes away any challenge. So disappointing. My workaround was using autosaves to restart boss fights.
I guess Ultimaniac mode helps this issue. Still wish hard mode by default didn’t have this checkpoint system.
Well, well, well, well...
PC version just came out, and guess what. Performance is not so great either.
Well, it does look, feel and play better than PS5 version, but only because FSR3.0 and FSR FrameGeneration exist. Another great feature that helps graphically is enabling the Sharpen effect on your GPUs driver, and toning it to your liking.
PS5 version is very blurry, and PC version is too, although a little better. But the Sharpen effect offered by your GPUs driver should completely fix that. I'm on AMD, and that really did the trick for me.
Cutscenes are locked to 30fps on PC, but a mod of a size of 600kbs can unlock it by just copying and pasting 4 files into the game's folder. And that mod came out before the official release of the game, as modders had already figured it out what the problem was when the demo came out, and they released the mod.
I didn't expect the Xenoblade comparisons but I agree with them lol. One thing I feel with modern FF games (15, 16, and 7 Remake) is that movement is sluggish unless you have a chocobo. Now Xenoblade movement isn't anything amazing, except Xenoblade X, but it feels more freeing than the stiffness modern FF has. I wish the games felt better to just walk around.
30:25 Fun fact: FF4 almost used Secret of Mana's combat system. They wanted to go with a more action-based system, but didn't like how it played for the story they were telling. So they came up with ATB as a more "action-like" version of turn-based combat, as a half-step.
While I do like the game, I fundamentally disagree with cooldowns being the right choice for this combat system, to me in any real time action oriented game they feel like a bandaid solution that substitutes the need to actually balance the various moves properly, and I think it's also weird they're even present since other ARPGs released by Square in the previous years had no cooldowns at all (FF7R, SoP, hell, even the Crisis Core Remaster).
I might be very biased, but to me cooldowns kill combo experimentation, imagine if Nero's Devil Breakers in DMC5 had a cooldown instead of just, being another tool in your arsenal, nonetheless the combat system IS fun, I just think it could've been leagues better.
I don't believe the cooldowns were a bandaid to balancing. It feels the overall strongest & most useful abilities have longer cooldowns, so as to not be able to spam them. As someone who played 7R, SoP and also CC, I can say that it's fine not to copy those for this. This game wanted you to be able to have instant access to 6 abilities + 3 Eikon feats at all times (before using them of course.) 7R, for example, requires ATB bars to use abilities, which given 7R's low amount of ATB would be a bit restricting for what they wanted to do for FFXVI. For SoP, you can get more ATB so that's more practical if they wanted to copy that system. I'm not 100% it would translate correctly to FFXVI without heavy changes, but I could vouch for SoP doing abilities well in general. CC is bad, though. That's a spammy mess of a game. Either way, CDs would be probably much better for this game if they implemented more fun combos to pull off when you're on CD for most/all abilities.
I wish instead of CDs they just had moves that used meter. CC is fine, if you want to dissuade infinite cc implement a combo limit or cause there to be diminishing returns on meter gain.
38:17 what if each ability was tied to a specific number of mp? the strongest abilities have more cost than the weaker ones?
That's the exact issue I was talking about, it doesn't work well without a cooldown. For example, in some other FFs your Black Mage is probably going to want to spam magic like Flare/Meteor/Ultima endgame instead of others like Thundaga that are no longer viable. If translated to FFXVI, it would be bad if you just spammed what's strongest. A specific example I could think of is if something like Wicked Wheel, which shreds Will, costed low, which it probably would based on its cooldown & early acquiring, then you could spam that to nearly instant stagger an enemy. There would be no reason to do anything else in a case like that until stagger state. With the way it is, you're encouraged to use all 6 abilities alongside Eikon feats due to their Cooldowns, which promotes creativity to the combat. Essentially, MP system doesn't work without massive changes, and a way to balance them.
@@Bizkit047 completely agree with you on everything you said. i was just thinking in the possibility of if the abilities used MP, they could balance damage, stagger and overall usability in comparison to the other stronger abilites to make it so that it’s not completely unviable and useless to use a 4 MP ability vs a 16 MP one (this might work better on more a more difficult setting?) for the using of wicked wheel on will, why not balance and turn down the stagger on that while increasing damage and stagger on other abilities in this case and others?
what about there being a mixture of both MP and a cooldown system?
Probably the best review out there right now for this game. Also pretty much agree with everything here. Pacing was probably the biggest issue for me in this game. Coming back from space fighting bahamut and then doing basically mandatory fetch quests for Mid or whoever else is just such a weird decision to me. So yeah lowest lows but also some of the highest highs in this game for me. Nice work biz
Such a good review.
Well done!
I loved this game but it definitely doesn’t live up to the incredible setup. It seems like it’s going to be a complex plot with intersecting character conflicts with a more nuanced take on morals - kinda like FF Tactics. But it just ends up being a friendship is power thing with a generic bad guy villain by the end. Overall I thought FF14 Shadowbringers just did this kind of story much much better - that game’s story was phenomenally executed, and I was expecting the same level of writing, considering it’s the same dev team, but it didn’t follow up.
Thanks for your review Biz! Definitely agree on a lot of your points, especially with music.
One of my larger gripes with FF16 is the lack of things you can do outside of combat. You touched on exploration and equipment/upgrades, and while sidequests definitely help with world building and character development, they all ultimately boil down to doing a mix of the same things: walking, talking, some fighting, and having Clive interact with some object. It feels like all the people in this world do in their pastime is talk, drink, hunt, read, and/or observe nature.
I know it's not a big issue, but having some minigames like fishing, chocobo racing, or even just meaningful interaction with objects (like puzzles) would go a long way to adding immersion.
A lot of FF mini-games suck, but if they put in something similar to the good ones, like Triple Triad or Chocobo Hot-Cold, yea it could have helped. Fishing I suppose is good too, but that's done sooo much now in way too much RPGs lmao
I respect your opinion but saying chocobo hot-cold is a good mini game is a bit too far dont you think 😅 @@Bizkit047
That the biggest issue with the game imo. Lack of variety not just outside of combat but also inside of combat. Most enemies are boring and samey, there's no varied battle objectives or interesting battle encounter design, no level design, no worthwhile exploration, and more. The game is just bland battle after bland battle after bland battle. And if its not that, its "talk to npc, then to this one, then to this one."
Take a look at another combat focused game: KH2. and see how that game has so many different combat objectives and scenarios it throws you in throughout the game. In one battle you're defending an npc, gate, or object. In another, the objectives is to interact with objects in-battle multiple times to gain the advantage or complete the fight. there's a whole lot more i can't think of off the top of my head. This is all without even mentioning in the minigames present in the game.
FF16 does very little of the sort and its just "defeat this generic set of enemies" for a 30-50 hour game. Sure there are the eikon battles that are indeed unique but they're very few and far between. It's unbelievable. It feels to me that the devs just gave Clive a decent moveset then called it a day on combat design. I did enjoy some of the humanoid boss fights like primed benedikta, kupka, etc. but eventually the game just felt so stale that i did the bare minimum to win every fight.
I'm glad that you actually said the side quests were decent because too many times I see people openly recommend to ignore every side quest that doesn't have the green plus that indicates you unlock something.
I have seen far more offensive side quests in games before and these ones are actually pretty decent. It's also especially frustrating to see people complain about certain things in the lore not getting explained and things not making sense when the very thing they're bitching about gets explained in a cutscene that was in a side quest that they refused to do. It's super disingenuous to complain about the writing when you actively are avoiding the parts of a RPG that usually contain the background lore!
24:25 I don't understand what you mean when you say ffxv wasn't open world. It had an open world full of different towns and side quests up until you travel on boat to the gondola city which is basically 70 percent of the game.
It's partial open world, and was marketed that way by Tabata. Even if it's 70%, locking 30% to on-rails progression makes it not full open world.
I absolutely love this game. And wasn't really bothered by the lack of usual ff party/rpg systems, because the trailer showed what it was without any issue of misrepresentation.
So I had alotta fun with it.
I think a divisive aspect of the game is the structure on how they handled the narrative. Many would describe it as a roller-coaster but not in a great way, as you have segments of a lot of talking and dialogue, to then awesome fights and cinematic sequences, to...more talking and dialogue. You would think this is standard for any rpg, but this game in particular struggles with pacing in my opinion due to the structure.
The talking and dialogue are sometimes interesting and offers world building and development, but often plenty of the segments are just reinforcing the themes of "slavery bad" over and over. I wanted to care for the npcs I interacted with through my adventure, and I did for a while. But towards the end it just got too...cluttered. Like oh look, yet another town where I gotta speak to npcs and exhaust the dialogue so I can get to the fun stuff again. I just feel the structure and pacing could've been handled better
This is the most fair review ive watched on this game. I loved it honestly, solid 8/10 for me and all your cons of the game are things I didnt even think of but are still valid.
Biz dropping a vid on my Bday is definitely welcomed! Agreed with most of the review. Like many others have said that i will parity, this game has the Highest of Highs and lowest of lows. The eikon battles while admittedly easy was amazing to finally experince kaiju like battles that we could play out and the sheer epicness and over the top nature of them definitely was hype non stop through. The music i can agree is actually pretty tame, coming from FFXIV this felt more like Sokken light barring a couple of songs (Titan). The games sidequest leave a lot to be desired and i wish maybe some of the sidequest content went and focused more on the party members. Combat has a simple but satisfying loop and again just way to easy on normal mode and FF mode. I lean towards this being an overall solid entry which is fine, i think some people get wrapped up in it must be the absolute worst or best thing instead of just taking it for what it is. I definitely recommend you play through FFXIV if you ever have time for it, hands down has some of the series best writing and imo the best modern FF atm!
You can issue controls to all party members simultaneously in ff7 remake and rebirth
39:04 the problem I have with the cooldown/stagger system is you've just described the only optimal strategy. There's no interesting choices to make: dodge and parry while using high-will-gauge abilities, then stand still and empty out your high-hp abilities when they stagger. If you accidentally get out of the flow state, there's nothing new there - you just have to wait longer for cooldowns.
FF7R spaces out ability usage with ATB so each choice of ability matters, especially considering elemental weaknesses. KH makes abilities so common with the combo system that you end up relying on specific abilities in your combo e.g. jumping on purpose to Arial Dive and close distance, or equipping flash step on specific fights because it counters a boss attack (I think this applies to KH3 data larxene/data ansem?)
I would argue FFXVI has almost no interesting decision making in boss battles, which really hampered my enjoyment. The ability cooldown system is more fun in mob fights where you can let loose - notably, stagger doesn't matter in these cases. Maybe getting rid of stagger and replacing it with a RV system would help - then you'd need to sneak in abilities between enemy attacks.
This sounds like a skill issue imo. You can definitely optimise way more than just "save high damage for stagger". Maximising DPS uptime with creative use of defensive options and JCs to attack during enemy attacks are what makes it fun.
I played demo on ps5 and couldn’t stand 30fps. Dynamic resolution on perf mode was really distracting and unstable. Playing pc demo now solves that problem it has others but looking forward to play this finally on pc.
It’s a game that has really high highs and really low lows. I think the Titan boss fight is one of the best in all of gaming and then you have the entire story writing + pacing after the Bahamut fight which is just horrible. Idk I’m so mixed on this game now
I wish Clive's core toolset was more involved outside of CDs. It is definitely way too limited. Implementing pause combos or directional inputs would have gone a long way to reduce tedium, especially in a game as long as FF16. You seemed to not mind the CDs, but by the end I absolutely hated them. It became too easy to just run a one size fits all CD rotation on staggers. Many mob fights also felt pointless since you can just blow them up with zero effort. I will give props to some of the spectacle. This game pulls God of War off better than either 2018 or Ragnarok.
You don't get to truly blow up mobs until FF mode or endgame of first playthrough, which I find fine because mobs tend to be pretty boring most of the time in these kind of games. I'm pretty certain Zantetsuken was designed for FF mode mobs so you can just rush to bosses/mini-bosses. I did point out in the video it's easy to fall into flowchart ability layouts for stagger, though. Although, I'll say that there are many times playing on bosses I wouldn't have all the abilities I'd want to use during a stagger off of CD, so I'd still have to improvise.
You talking about what actually makes an open world game is something I've actually been saying for a while. Octopath traveler 2 is probably one of the best open world games I've ever played and that usually gets me a lot of strange looks because there's not some giant empty sandbox for you to run around in so people don't consider it one. This game is probably one of the most open games I've ever played and it will let you do just about anything with very little if anything at all stopping the player
People get confused on the differences of Open World Vs Sanbox games a lot, so I'm not surprised at that.
@@Bizkit047 my best guess as to why that is is people take the open world part quite literally and assume that it needs to be a giant map like in Skyrim where they can go wherever without seeing loading screens every few minutes
The review I didn't think I needed from the Reviewer I never would have expected
I have played every Final Fantasy except rebirth thus far and this story is by far my favorite. I guess everyone has a different experience and interest in what constitutes a "Final Fantasy" game. I loved the maturity and delving deep into more bloody, vulgar, but yet realistic meaningful content while also retaining the Final Fantasy trademarks. I guess the mechanics aren't what I was focused on. I enjoyed the characters, the polished voice acting was excellent, but I respect everyone's opinion because we all have different things we enjoy in an experience. For me, I loved it. It's hard to put into words exactly, but it worked for me and if it didn't work for other people I understand that maybe it was the gameplay that brought it down for them. I personally thought it was a great blend of both, but I am a dad that only has a couple hours a week to play so when I play, I enjoy the spectacle of XVI. But that's just me. Best to all and everyone's opinions.
Please review vagrant story
31:36 what you mean, Team Asano is still making games. We still got turn based FF
Edit: Huh, should have let you finish your sentence before typing that.
20 minutes in you claim "FFXVI doesn't try to be Game of Thrones." That is literally not true, when Yoshida Naoki literally had the entire CBUIII watch the show as research/inspiration. The GoT influence is all over the place, from tone/frequent use of gore and swearing, to outright supporting character archetypes like Goetz/Hodor, main characters as well like Clives mom being the same as the matriarch from GoT. You can downplay the influence of that HBO production all you want, it doesn't mean it isn't there.
There's a gigantic difference between researching it for inspiration and intentionally designing it like that. I explain the video how that doesn't really line up well. Goetz is not like Hodor in the least bit, aside from...being a big guy. Gore from people being stabbed is not GOT exclusive or FF exclusive either, nor is plain violence. The game is M rated, so yes, there will be more gore and swearing. Unless you believe Strangers of Paradise is also GOT inspired because Jack swears a lot. People just seem to forgot how older FFs used to be. So as said, no it's not trying to be GOT.
I think the main reason for the jump button in this game is for combat since therrs some aerial attacks. Though yes accidentally jumping a million times when you want to interact with something is a real problem. Would probably bave been a good idea to maybe nust disable it outside combat
Biz what tldo you think of the idea of cooldowns being shortened gradually depending on your combo score
That doesn't sound too bad at first thought. It sounds similar to Phoenix's Heat Wave on projectiles. Unsure in practice how well that would pan out though.
You should do a tier list of all the FF games.
I'll be uploading that somewhat soonish.
@@Bizkit047 But like is it just the numbered entries? Cause I want to know what you think of games like Tactics and Origin too.
Excellent review. Probably the best I've watched. Well worded & rational. Praised what deserved to praised & critiqued what needed to be critiqued. Hard, hard disagree on your (valid) music take though :)
I am essentially of the same mind as you are when it comes to the game, except for the music, I really enjoyed the music, with some like Find the Flame and Away being some of my favorite pieces of video game music ever.
With all of the baseless critiques about this game on the internet, your level headed and nuisance critique of this game is very refreshing. I agree that they could've added a bit more RPG elements like debuffs without taking player expression away, and the difficulty could've been improved upon as well. But the hate for this game from people makes it seem like this is FF2 in terms of quality. Great review!
Unfortunately, it can't be the worst, cause FFXV exists.
Fairest review I’ve seen of this game so far tbh, great work. I disagree with a couple of points, like I’m very against cooldowns in action oriented games. I understand what they were going for and at the very least you get 6 CD abilities when most games with that system lock you to like 2-3 but it just doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe something like combo score giving you CDR or maybe doing something like how XC2’s art recharge worked off the number of auto attacks landed would’ve felt more engaging.
I think overall I’d place this game in my personal mid-high mid of the franchise, although Clive is batting for my favorite MC atm. If this game’s DLC is half as good as the 7R Yuffie DLC or KH3’s god tier limit cut it’ll probably go higher.
How does ff7r not have full party control? Can literally switch and honestly need to to keep your party aggressive....like all ff?
I didn't understand this comment either?
I tried my best to word it in a fairly easy way to understand, but a better way to explain it is that in 7R you still don't fully control all characters equally at all times like in most other FFs. It does a great job of masking this though due to being able to funnel commands to other party members at any time, though. But while you're not controlling them, you can't tell them to do anything other than abilities. Due to way 7R works, you also don't NEED to keep your party aggressive, only the one you're controlling. The other party members will always at least do basic attacks and dodge on their own.
@@Bizkit047 ok.. so you mean like full control you get In the ATB/Turn-based older games? That's just not something possible in real time games... FFVIIR got as close as possible to it, by switching to tactical mode.
@@OldManSakaki Right, that's my point. It doesn't really impact as much as people think.
@@Bizkit047 what doesn't?
the game is solid with good story - great VA - Epic soundtracks - a lot of sex scenes..., so a very good game overall for me...
base on reviews from critics and reviews from consumers on Amazon, around 80% love the game and only 10% hate it...
so only small minortiy saying the game is bad, but it's very loud minortiy, FF7 and FF10 hardcore fans that hate FF16...
I enjoyed the game it's a 7/10. I'm really glad it didnt go the ff15 route casue boy that game was a mess. Didn't like how theres no elemental damage
I was debating bringing up no elemental damage mattering as another RPG element missing, but I'm pretty sure the way it is it would be awful to use that. For example, if you like using Phoenix a lot, good luck fighting Bombs, etc. They could have made it work with probably multiple preset ability layouts though.
Well done review. I enjoyed this game alot & would say it's perfect but not that perfect. Every good game will have a flaw but a small flaw doesnt kill the game when there is so much good that outweighs bad. Anyway, XVI to me did what KH3 in my opinion was lacking & that was a fun combat system, great boss fights & I am mainly talking about in the base game before the post-game content, & my favorite that was missing in that game was the parry mechanic. I wanted to see some of that in KH3 but it felt like they took that away & made it more about flashy combat instead of using skill which took away the fun in restrictive playthroughs like how we could in KH2FM. I don't go in with high expectations but when I see a game take away something that made the game what it was ruined the fun of the game. What I really like was the sound work in this game especially when clive parries with the titan raging fit is my favorite. It has such a strong & powerful sound that keeps me using that Eikon & the benefit that come with it is pretty awesome.
To end this I would love to see a harder difficulty in this game with more rule that come with it to make it a more & fun challenging playthrough & harder bosses. The DLC did have one that was tough but I want one that so hard that it will make me cry like what was said back before Re: Mind was released lol. Anyway enjoyed the video.
This might be a potential spoiler but there are multiple sidequests with actual boss fights or that change the state of an area, or some that even kill off characters from the main story so so many people saying they are just "irrelevant fetchquests" was kindof annoying. A lot og them are continuations of stories started in the main story that the main story then kinda just abandons
I liked this game and 7 Remake a lot and I can't wait for Rebirth which seems to address the issues people had with both games. Both solid entries despite the issues and flaws though.
This game proves that FF games should try to embrace being less than a 30-60 hour experience sometimes. I don’t know why Square thinks these games HAVE to be long, if this game was shorter it wouldn’t feel like it overstayed its welcome. If this game were a 15-20 hour game, it’d be regarded as a very very good game I feel.
To be fair, if you skip all sidequests, the game is significantly shorter. To fix the bad pacing they just had to come up with something a tad more interesting in the downtime. I don't believe massively shorter game time should be the answer going forward, I rather not have shorter RPGs. 40 hours is a good standard, 60-80 with all content as well.
@@Bizkit047 I get what you’re saying but for a game that is BARELY even an RPG and mainly focuses on its action gameplay, I feel as though a shorter runtime is better. Maybe if it really was a true rpg (in my eyes) I’d want it to be longer but I just can’t see it that way
@@conflictiontalks5188 I highly disagree with "barely an RPG." It definitely focuses incredibly hard on its cutscenes as well. The only thing it lacks vs most other average RPGs is having less RPG battle mechanics. But regardless, as people are slowly realizing, genres are evolving and it's becoming increasing silly to slap very specific genres to a game when they will continue to be hyrbrids.
@@Bizkit047 what you’re saying is valid. I just think that when it comes to FF16 being a hybrid of an rpg and an action game, I feel like it focuses on its action way more, even weighing down the complexity of normally complex rpg systems of FF games in order to focus on its action gameplay. With that focus on action, I feel like it’d be totally fine if they cut out all the “Mid” quests and made the game a lot shorter
Ah yes, a classic biz video. I think my personally favorite will always be final fantasy 10
Long time no see ❤
Dion was the best character out of any medium from the last 5 years, this only is worth buying the game
This whole thing would’ve been a better movie than a game. The world was drab and void of exploration. The sidequests were 99 percent fetch quests. The rpg was nowhere to be seen. The combat was good and that’s about it. A better example of a game designed the same way is devil may cry 5 but that was wayyyyyyyy better. Shouldn’t have been a mainline title tbh
Pretty good review, I agree with everything you said.
Nice review. For me I love this game even with its flaws because theres's just too much to like. But the biggest problem for me is that at the 2/3rds mark the story gets very messy IMO. I think if the game focused more on what people consider "GOT-like" instead and incorporated it more into its overall final 3rd act, the story would've stuck its landing. I felt they wasted certain themes and put them in the background when they shouldn't have. Because looking at the lore and going through those Vivian rundowns was interesting to me. It is like they built up all these interesting factions and then didn't focus on them or even at times decide to not make them relevant unfortunately. But even with that said what they went with was still entertaining and epic and very effective in its emotional beats. I ended up really loving most of the characters, villains included, because just like you said that presentation was just off the charts. I have to strongly disagree with the music just being "okay" even though there are some duds in the ost. Because despite there being like 2 or 3 tracks that sound generic, there's so many bangers and tracks that were even just fun to blast on the orchestrion and serve those emotional beats. The music absolutely brought so much emotional weight to those story moments, much beyond boss battle music. Heck the game was also fun to platinum. So I wasn't left disappointed or that the game wasn't worth playing.
I enjoyed combat system and absolutely will defend its depth, but it could've had just a little more with the base combat abilities. Although chaining Downthrusts, lunges, magicbursts, aerial burning strikes along with Eikon abilities like Deadly Embrace were very fun to play around with, if there were like just 2 more base combat ability attacks it would have even been more enjoyable. But even what is here is a lot more depth than people give it credit for. For me I enjoyed FF mode, but I think they should've had something between FF mode and Ultimaniac for a playthrough. Ultimaniac is where the true difficulty is but it is limited to the stage replays in the arete stone. Ultimaniac is nearly impossible to do without a Will-o-Wisp build and would make much more sense to have a playthrough-Ultimaniac mode locked off for a second playthrough because of it basically requiring you have all your abilities. It will be interesting to hear your opinion on the mode if you've played it. Because that definitely isn't easy. (Sorry if I missed you discussing it.) But anyway over all I think the experience is a solid 8/10. I got too much fun and time out of it to not admit it at least an 8.
I've never liked the kneejerk reaction of "graphics don't matter in video games"-it's a _visual_ medium, of _course_ they matter. The final result is obviously going to depend on the chosen art style and technical restrictions (self-imposed or otherwise), but within those limitations I think you should optimise them as much as reasonably possible.
Tell that to the Pokemon Scarlet/Violet community that praises how fun the game is, despite dogshit graphics/performance. If your game is fun enough for the target audience, it can be looked past, even if it still brings down the game quality. So graphics shouldn't be the #1 priority of course, but yes they should at least optimize it a bit better.
How come Noctis, right... he can teleport.
So why is his name Noctis?
Wouldn't it be Hanzo, or Nocto, or Hiko?!
It’s insane to me how “love it or hate it” this game is. For me, I had no interest in it initially, and walked away with it passing kh2fm and Nier for my favorite game of all time. The depth of characters story and lore made it an experience unlike any other. It truly felt like a GOT epic mixed with FF in the best way.
i was so excited for this game and then halfway thru im like one chapter from the ending i just got bored. i hate the combat i should love it cuz i love action but its just a beat em up tbh the elemental damage means nothing. the story is mid at best with some incredible moments like clive and his brothers relationship. idk i didnt get the game and thrones vibe they wanted to give it just moved fast but also too slow. its sad cuz it has potential. also clive is hot but kinda boring tbh. too many good games for me to go back and finish it oh well
i gave this game a real fair shake, but its easily my least favorite one in the series. the ending was so generic it hurt. something had to go wrong in development with how it just kind drops off at the end, nothing close to the clear effort that went into titan and even bahamut somewhat
This was a 50/50 game? This felt incredibly gpod for all fans, and it felt so positive. What happened????
The game is very divisive for multiple reasons. One of which is it is an action game at the end of the day, which will absolutely guarantee many final fantasy fans not even try it out. We can judge or blame, but that is facts. Add to this even for action fans, many anticipated an action rpg similar to ff7 remake, but...they stripped a lot of the rpg mechanics away. No status ailments, no elemental synergies, hell the crafting system is a joke, etc.
The structure of the narrative as well involves a lot of talking and fetching, which is akin to ff14 style of gaming. People will either love it or hate it. Again, more division. But, if you don't mind these aspects, you will probably adore this game. Great music, great narrative, amazing cinematic experiences, etc. But end of the day it is a divisive final fantasy game. It isnt like say ffx where vast majority agree its a solid ff. But yeah, just how I see it. I had fun, but it is what it is
I love this game is it too easy yes but hopefully the dlc the enemies deal some damage 😂 and don’t give us anymore potion slots
And I’ve beaten it tons of times only way to make it truly hard of to limit yourself don’t do a magic only run please it’s not fun trust me
@@thegamewin100 Have you not played ultimaniac mode? There is nothing easy about ultimaniac.
Its one of the most disappointing i`ve ever played. If Jill was not treated like shit, i could have looked past the terrible game design and all the other problems, but putting all together is too much
If all final fantasy games were the same, they’d get boring fast. I’m happy that we have different flavors to enjoy or dislike. I for one loved this but couldn’t stand 7r.
Agreed, I don't want FF to turn into Pokemon series
I’m sorry, but if you think this is the “best” Final Fantasy, your standards must be pretty low lol. It’s probably one of the worst, the only reason it’s not the worst is because FFXV exists. It’s not even an RPG, there’s no party system, it’s laughably easy with a mediocre story that falls a part after one of the “main characters” die, the world is bland, and of what you can explore of it is pretty lackluster, pacing is a huge issue, where you’ll probably spend more time watching the game than actual playing it. The only thing the game has going for it are the boss battles , and yet most of them are nothing but cinematic QTE’s.
"It's not even an RPG." Yes, it is. You don't get to make up what an RPG is and speak for everyone. Also, I can tell you didn't watch the video, because I addressed your headass thoughts throughout. And on a personal note, I think it's insane to prefer FF2 & FF3 to this game, but I'm sure those people are out there, so I can't pretend it doesn't exist, but definitely odd. I'm not sure why you commented this without watching the video and failing to engage properly though, seems dumb.
My man's got mad he didn't watch the video lmao
Ah yes, the classic "I'm going to say stupid shit based off the thumbnail / title alone and completely ignore the video"
@@TimothyGodWhere’s the lie though lol?
@@DarkLink75Hey, if you’re gonna title it in a clickbait way, don’t get mad when people don’t watch the video, again where’s the lie?
F- the balance! After beating the game, give us Irregular Full Custom.
Freely equip and utilize EVERYTHING.
I honestly didn't find the combat very engaging or fun for the majority of the time. Maybe for a certain time where you get enough abilities to feel like you're not doing paper cut damage, but at most just a few hours. Some of the defensive mechanics like block and parry felt incredibly inconsistent, it was just difficult to find the timings for them or which attacks even work. Especially parry, by far the worst of them all. And it just boiling down to using these few skills to cause stagger then using these others for damage, really made the actual gameplay incredibly same-y. Basically the exact same complain I have with current FFXIV, where your own skills are 99% set in stone for every fight, then all you do is react to mechanics while trying to do the same things. I had no interest in going for the harder bosses as the combat had already bored me to death and I just wanted to complete it.
The side quests started off waaaay too slow for me to give an ounce of care towards them. I really dislike games needing to ease you into the concept of side quests, it's so stupidly unnecessary that a game needs to tell me that I can do quests that aren't main story relevant. I would much rather prefer to start out with something that shows the potential quality in side quests, rather than having you run from point A to point B, and back to point A again. And the game is so much on rails that there's barely anything you can do other than switch out abilities.
And don't get me started on exploration. I absolutely love exploration in games like Starfield, but this game is so insanely unrewarding that I didn't want to even waste my time even thinking about it. Even most of the accessories you find are worthless, just the off chance you find just one which can be useful for that one skill you use. Every single piece of material you'll ever need to upgrade your gear is gained from defeating main story bosses or + icon side quests, or you literally just buy them for gil at the store. I essentially only ever did main story and the side quests that give you upgrades or features, and I never had any issues with lack of gil or crafting items to get the best weapon or accessories. The RPG elements in this game were so lacking that it actually became an issue.
Honestly, this game was an overall disappointment for gameplay. Though I think it's still worth it primarily for the story, as the spectacle it shows are some of the best moments I've ever witnessed in a FF game.
Block/dodge timings are fine and consistent, the window with Titan's block is pretty forgiving. Parry is a lot harder to learn timings, but from my testing it feels easier with flame charged sword. Not usually worth the risk for only a small stagger though.
Promo'SM
A mediocre action game, and an abysmal FF. Awful story, 2d characters, decent music. Sacrifices good storytelling for the shock value of an M rating. Overall, I resent this game for existing and consider it a blight on the FF name.
No, the best worst final fantasy is 8.
It's better than 2, 3, 12, 13, and 15 it's middle of the pack TBH
Square Enix will keep moving incrementally away from their successful formula and some people will continue to use the argument that "there is no rule that a FF game must have...". Eventually, SE will be dumping platformers and dating sims into mainline FF and those who miss the types of experiences they used to deliver will be labelled as deplorable purists. What a shame.
Ff16 bottom 3 ff game
A game that didn't reach the high expectations for Square Enix and sells drops 79% or 78% while in Japan it drop 90%. Sounds like no one wanted this game. Doesn't matter if you like it or not. For Square Enix it was a fail.
Read: ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/final-fantasy-16-sales-numbers-160000713.html
This is also not mentioning the PC release coming, which will be available to a much wider audience. I still fully expect FF7 Rebirth to outdo this game in sales, and not only just because of also going to PC right away. Either way, despite the sales dip, it appears Square does not agree, and does sound like still a fair amount of people "wanted this game." Unless they stated otherwise since the article. Releasing a PS5 exclusive isn't a great play if the intention is to hit 1+ mil sales or it's a failure.
at that point it wouldn't really be final fantasy. They already sorta slapped the summons into the game or whatever but even then. I don't really associate that as is. I just feel that there really are no mechanics outside of parries and dodges in your base moveset. Wouldn't have been call to have classes changes for your base moveset. and another gauge or form select to control ifrit in normal fights and boss fights.
Does it have a Hard mode difficulty selection like Strangers in Paradise does? I been on the fence about getting this entry cuz I've heard it's pretty easy 🫤