Love it or hate it,Final Fantasy 16made waves as a groundbreaking entry in the long-standingFinal Fantasyseries. FF16’s real-time action stays away from the turned-based combat of prior titles, such as Final Fantasy 10. Moreover, the narrative style intentionally resembles that of dark fantasy titles likeGame of Thrones, with political tension, sex scenes, and bloody battles.
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For all the praise it has received, FF16 remains divisive. There are perhaps too many cutscenes in proportion to gameplay, and while engaging, the slasher-esque combat could leave fans yearning for more strategic gameplay. All in all, FF16 is shy of a masterpiece, due to several missed opportunities standing between the game and greatness.
7Playable Party Members
The option to alternate party members would add variation to FF16’s combat. Throughout the game, you primarily control the protagonist Clive Rosfield.
Though a few excellent fighters join your party, none are playable. Maybe, in a future DLC installment, you will get the chance to play as Jill Warrick or Cid Telamon.
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The ability to channelEikons, god-like beings that people known as Dominants can summon, at least makes the battle more dynamic.
In the first act, you temporarily guide the Phoenix. Then, when you take control of Ifrit in his Eikon form, you get to experiment with a different fighting style. You can also command your party member Torgal, though you never get to play as the wolf.
6Complex RPG Mechanics
Is FF16 an RPG? Players have questioned whether the game belongs to the genre because there are so few options to customize a characterbuildthat caters to your unique play style, and Clive does not significantly advance his abilities in a way that is noticeable in battle. Yet sinceClive levels up and increases his stats, FF16 just barely earns the RPG title.
To appease fans who expected complex RPG mechanics, FF16 could have included more weapon types or gear slots. There also should have been a greater impact on gameplay from unlockingabilitieson the skill tree.
A cooking system modeled on Final Fantasy 14 or 15 would have been a welcome addition, too, to a game that otherwise lacks captivating diversions in between main story quests.
5Memorable Side Quests
FF16 does not suffer from a shortage of quests, but engrossing side quests are scarce. The side quests feel like busy work, especially early in the game.
That said, they are an easy way to rack up experience and gil but infrequently yield rare materials or one-of-a-kind weapons like the Gotterdammerung.
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Once you reach Act Two, the side quests incrementally improve and further worldbuilding. Some highlights include the White-Winged Wonder, which rewards you with the Chocobo mount, and Laid to Rest for its moving storytelling.
4Hard Mode Available From The Start
Before you begin gameplay, you choose between Story Focused and Action Focused Modes. The former functions as easy and the latter as normal difficulty.
Story Mode automatically equips you with Timely Accessories that simplify gameplay, and enemies start out with reduced health and attack power. The third and final level of difficulty - Final Fantasy Mode - is locked until you beat the game and start aNew Game Plussave file.
Whereas you can switch between Story Focused and Action Focused Modes anytime outside of combat by changing the settings, you are locked into Final Fantasy Mode.
However, a hard mode should have been available from the start. For many returning players, you can breeze through the boss battles and mindlessly clear out regular enemies.
And when your inventory of potions refills anytime you die, game overs are forgivable. Therefore, FF16 provides little incentive or opportunity to challenge yourself outside of Arcade Mode.
3Open World
FF16 takes place in asemi-open world. Across the realms, there are open expanses of desert and grassland that you can explore at your leisure.
You will stop off at various towns along the way, but the side quests and NPCs there lack depth. The monotonous towns seem to exist solely for cutscenes associated with the main story and routine shops, where you can purchase potions, armor, and equipment.
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Although an open world would have taken FF16 to the next level, the necessary development time and delayed release date likely would have outweighed the benefits of free roam.
2Fully Developed Female Characters
The women in FF16 deserve more screen time. To name a few, Anabella Rosfield, the former Duchess of Rosaria, enters the scene as a power-hungry traitor.
Alongside Anabella, Benedikta Harmon is an earlyvillain, who manipulates men and will do whatever it takes to destroy the Kingdom of Waloed’s enemies. But the female characters often get killed off early in the game and lack serious character development.
By the end of FF16, the men clearly hold more power than thewomen. The story renders Jill, the female lead, powerless.
Even before that, Jill assumes the role of Clive’s romantic interest, foremost, in their will-they-won’t-they romance. In respective intimate scenes, Jill and Benedikta are depicted as seductive, with their naked bodies on display, and their sex appeal exposes underlying misogyny.
Female characters can be villains and lovers in Final Fantasy, but they should have as many lines of dialogue and chances for character development as their male counterparts.
1Greater Diversity
The most controversial aspect of FF16 is its lack of ethnicdiversity. Most of the characters arewhite with regional British accents, while some characters could be viewed as Asian.
On the other hand, Black characters, such as Barrett Wallace in Final Fantasy 7 and Fran in Final Fantasy 12, are glaringly absent.
This would be a problem in any game, but FF16’s slavery backdrop exacerbates the issue. Bearers, those who can wield magic without relying on the Mothercrystals, are enslaved in the fictional world.
The disturbing side quests All Bark and Playthings exemplify how Bearers are mistreated. FF16 of course portrays slavery as wrong, but it fails to address how race has historically been used to dehumanize and justify the mass enslavement of a people group.
To achieve greatness, the Final Fantasy title would need to diversify its cast and reform its color-blind society.
Next:Final Fantasy 16: Things To Do After You Beat The Game
