Support NeoGAF

[phant0m]

I loved every second.

Ditto.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Jill is just poor man's Tifa or just random maid with grey Tifa wig. Jill makes Lightning Farron look phenomenal.

So many other FF female characters that make Jill look like hot garbage. Rosa, Rydia, Faris, Lenna, Terra, Celes, Relm, Tifa, Yuffie, Aerith, Rinoa, Quistis, lolSelphie, Garnet, Eiko, QUINA(lol), Yuna, Rikku, Lulu, Paine, DOMINA SHANTOTTO, Prishe, Lilisette, Penelo, Ashe, Fran and so on and so forth.

A character that just stands there is kinda worthless IMO.

 

[NT80]

Haven't played it yet but how can the action combat be a draw if it's stupidly easy? That was one of the things that interested me the most but the lack of challenge would be a big let down.

 

[Chukhopops]

Haven't played it yet but how can the action combat be a draw if it's stupidly easy? That was one of the things that interested me the most but the lack of challenge would be a big let down.

This is the cardinal sin of an action RPG imo. Once you unlock the tornado skill every trash mob and most other encounters just turn into a joke.

It’s ironic that both Forspoken and Stranger of Paradise are better attempts at ARPG gameplay than FFXVI. It still has the best story out of the three I guess.

 

[Doom85]

This is the cardinal sin of an action RPG imo. Once you unlock the tornado skill every trash mob and most other encounters just turn into a joke.

It’s ironic that both Forspoken and Stranger of Paradise are better attempts at ARPG gameplay than FFXVI. It still has the best story out of the three I guess.

Seriously, if I remember right, Forspoken at least remembered that elemental weaknesses/resistances should be present in a RPG. With FF XVI, I can’t believe a mainline entry in one of the flagship series of the genre couldn’t even manage that.

People clown on Nomura, but at least he never disrespects the RPG elements in his action RPGs.

 

[semiconscious]

The sad thing about FF15 is that it failed to achieve what it it set out to do.

The sad thing about FF16 is that it achieves exactly what it set out to do and isn't very good...

how come every time i've just about convinced myself to try this game, someone like you has to go & say something like this?...

 

[aclar00]

That me with 99.98 games out on the market.

It's a particularly shitty take.

I'm convinced it's a good game and I still don't want buy it.
Partly because I know I wasn't made for me and my old ass gamer taste. Partly because I know it would slide right into my back log. Partly because I haven't even played any of the +90 scored games this year.

I had to be convinced Bloodborne was a good game. I had to convince MYSELF it was great game. It's one of my top 5 games now.

Its one thing to convince someone of a genre or style of game they arent normally interested in is good and its another to convince someone that a game is good in a genre/series they already know and love.

I like other FFs and other JRPGs, but FFXVI is a snorefest.

 

[skit_data]

Now that it's been a while I've concluded that FFXVI had some components that were great (sometimes even exceptional) but the sum of its parts didn't really hold together as well as they could have. The inconsistent quality in side missions, the lackluster character customization and exploration really could have used some more work. I do understand why people hesitate to even call it a "real" FF installment because there are a lot missing for it to be considered an actual RPG in the same way the rest of the series.

But I still think it deserves to win best soundtrack at the Dorito Pope Awards.

Edit:

Spoiler: Story related

I think it was a huge mistake to reveal that Joshua was alive so early, it was completely unnecessary and really took away a lot of the impact from the prologue. Big miss IMO.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Imagine making an RPG with no RPG elements.

Soken is also overrated and I can't really remember any music track from XVI. Soken is very I dunno samey? He's like a modern day Motoi Sakuraba.

I still prefer Uematsu or Sakamoto.

 

[AngelMuffin]

 

[The artful mincer]

how come every time i've just about convinced myself to try this game, someone like you has to go & say something like this?...

Lol sorry mate! At the end of the day if your interested I say go ahead.

We all have different tastes and you may end up liking it.

 

[rofif]

Jill is just poor man's Tifa or just random maid with grey Tifa wig. Jill makes Lightning Farron look phenomenal.

So many other FF female characters that make Jill look like hot garbage. Rosa, Rydia, Faris, Lenna, Terra, Celes, Relm, Tifa, Yuffie, Aerith, Rinoa, Quistis, lolSelphie, Garnet, Eiko, QUINA(lol), Yuna, Rikku, Lulu, Paine, DOMINA SHANTOTTO, Prishe, Lilisette, Penelo, Ashe, Fran and so on and so forth.

A character that just stands there is kinda worthless IMO.

Jill is fine but she is ultra sadge all the time

but we all know who the real queen is

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

Wrong. It's a shallow mediocre game that feels like a bad Final Fantasy spin off.

 

[Hudo]

Imagine making an RPG with no RPG elements.

That's the company motto of Square Enix.

 

[Meicyn]

Bah she's strong but still shows vulnerability and forges one of the most natural and believable romances with Clive where they fight with, emotionally support, love, and call out each other so nicely.

Is she strong though?

Spoiler

She’s the eikon that repeatedtly gets punked. This happens even in the main scenario arc that is supposed to be her moment to shine! Instead of playing as her or as Shiva akin to how you played as the Phoenix, you get to watch as she uses Diamond Dust to make a battle arena for a fire boss so that Clive can do all the real work. She didn’t even get to smash the crystal there after saying she is going to finish things, Clive does it! She is literally exhausted after making an ice wall. This after seeing what all the other eikons do, is hilariously pathetic.

Jill is just a boring, weakling character in the context of the alleged power she should have as an eikon. I was genuinely expecting maybe a moment where she questions what they are doing in Act 2, when the civilians blame Clive for the suffering they experience. Clive says something akin to “what we’re doing is necessary” and she responds with an almost sassy “if you say so…” I was thinking alright, finally, maybe some tension and questioning if their chosen path is the right one. But nope, that was as far as it went. Jill just hangs out until they sideline her for a huge chunk of the game.

Jill is boring because she was written to be for Clive, and little else. Her romance is realistic as far as games go, but other than that, she is a subservient love interest. Strong? The game does nothing to establish that.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Is she strong though?

Spoiler

She’s the eikon that repeatedtly gets punked. This happens even in the main scenario arc that is supposed to be her moment to shine! Instead of playing as her or as Shiva akin to how you played as the Phoenix, you get to watch as she uses Diamond Dust to make a battle arena for a fire boss so that Clive can do all the real work. She didn’t even get to smash the crystal there after saying she is going to finish things, Clive does it! She is literally exhausted after making an ice wall. This after seeing what all the other eikons do, is hilariously pathetic.

Jill is just a boring, weakling character in the context of the alleged power she should have as an eikon. I was genuinely expecting maybe a moment where she questions what they are doing in Act 2, when the civilians blame Clive for the suffering they experience. Clive says something akin to “what we’re doing is necessary” and she responds with an almost sassy “if you say so…” I was thinking alright, finally, maybe some tension and questioning if their chosen path is the right one. But nope, that was as far as it went. Jill just hangs out until they sideline her for a huge chunk of the game.

Jill is boring because she was written to be for Clive, and little else. Her romance is realistic as far as games go, but other than that, she is a subservient love interest. Strong? The game does nothing to establish that.

Spoiler

Absolutely she is. Yes she loses to Titan but she's repeatedly said to have carried the load while Clive couldn't summon Ifrit and is the only reason they get as far as they do, holding off a volcano. Even when she's captured it's to save Clive who just got his ass kicked and she saved him by doing so. No she doesn't just autowin everything and that's GOOD otherwise we'd have a captain marvel character where it's "strong female lead!" And they just are the best at everything. So glad they didn't do that no weakness thing and that she's not afraid to lean on someone and show emotion. Clive leans on her just as much even with all his power especially during their 5 years

 

[Meicyn]

Spoiler

Absolutely she is. Yes she loses to Titan but she's repeatedly said to have carried the load while Clive couldn't summon Ifrit and is the only reason they get as far as they do, holding off a volcano. Even when she's captured it's to save Clive who just got his ass kicked and she saved him by doing so. No she doesn't just autowin everything and that's GOOD otherwise we'd have a captain marvel character where it's "strong female lead!" And they just are the best at everything. So glad they didn't do that no weakness thing and that she's not afraid to lean on someone and show emotion. Clive leans on her just as much even with all his power especially during their 5 years

Spoiler

She couldn’t take on liquid flame, a random-ass boss, on her own. She functions as a barrier maker, which apparently exhausts her. Lmao. And again, in a moment where she is trying to close a chapter of her life, they made Clive break the crystal. Absolutely awful way to handle that. Cid broke the first crystal, Clive has most of the opportunities to shatter others, they couldn’t have Jill shatter the crystal in the shithole where she was enslaved for a huge chunk of her life?

That arc is supposed to be Jill’s, and yet, it is Clive who gets to fight the end boss there, and it is Clive who gets to smash the crystal. Terrible scenario writing.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Spoiler

She couldn’t take on liquid flame, a random-ass boss, on her own. She functions as a barrier maker, which apparently exhausts her. Lmao. And again, in a moment where she is trying to close a chapter of her life, they made Clive break the crystal. Absolutely awful way to handle that. Cid broke the first crystal, Clive has most of the opportunities to shatter others, they couldn’t have Jill shatter the crystal in the shithole where she was enslaved for a huge chunk of her life?

That arc is supposed to be Jill’s, and yet, it is Clive who gets to fight the end boss there, and it is Clive who gets to smash the crystal. Terrible scenario writing.

Spoiler

meh she got to stab the dude and have her monologue which was fantastic I don't really care if she breaks the crystal.

 

[Omnipunctual Godot]

Really needed more RPG mechanics instead of just watering down to the point in which they may as well not be there.

Yes. Your choices basically boil down to "Yes, I'll take the quest," or, "No, I won't take the quest right now."

The main game is great, and the pacing is on-point. But the inane and endlessly repetitive sidequests drag the entire experience down.

 

[Meicyn]

Spoiler

meh she got to stab the dude and have her monologue which was fantastic I don't really care if she breaks the crystal.

Let’s make an analogy that maybe will drive the point for you. Replace Clive with Luffy, and Jill with Zoro. In what’s supposed to be Zoro’s arc, Zoro stands there on the sidelines during the final battle of this arc for nonsensical plot reasons as Luffy gets to beat up the big bad enemy, and afterwards Luffy gets to smash the plot device. Zoro is shown as exhausted and struggling after the fight ends, even though Luffy was the one doing the major fighting and Zoro was basically relegated to the background. But that’s okay, Zoro got to stab the weak, defenseless, non-threatening bad guy and say a one-liner. This is your idea of a strong moment and a strong character.

It’s trash, man.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Let’s make an analogy that maybe will drive the point for you. Replace Clive with Luffy, and Jill with Zoro. In what’s supposed to be Zoro’s arc, Zoro stands there on the sidelines during the final battle of this arc for nonsensical plot reasons as Luffy gets to beat up the big bad enemy, and afterwards Luffy gets to smash the plot device. Zoro is shown as exhausted and struggling after the fight ends, even though Luffy was the one doing the major fighting and Zoro was basically relegated to the background. But that’s okay, Zoro got to stab the weak, defenseless, non-threatening bad guy and say a one-liner. This is your idea of a strong moment and a strong character.

It’s trash, man.

You're playing as Clive. I dunno what to tell you. It's a mechanical thing and they explain well in the story why another character would be more exhausted as they're literally shouldering all the eikoning through the timeskip and NPCs around the hideout show and tell how supportive and important she is

 

[Meicyn]

You're playing as Clive. I dunno what to tell you. It's a mechanical thing and they explain well in the story why another character would be more exhausted as they're literally shouldering all the eikoning through the timeskip and NPCs around the hideout show and tell how supportive and important she is

Spoiler

Bro, you literally play as the phoenix not once, but twice, and you also play as Joshua during the early hours of the game, so the playing as Clive bit holds no water.

They could have had you play as Shiva during that segment. Had they done so, her being exhausted from not only protecting Clive, but fighting the monster and then smashing the crystal would have made much more sense, and then in the final bit, she finishes off the priest. The arc was hers, and her doing all the really cool shit would have solidified her as the strong character you say she is, yet isn’t shown in the actual version of the game. And she wouldn’t be Captain Marvel strong woman either, because further exertion would cost her own life. She literally has limits.

It was her arc, not Clive’s. And yet, it’s still the Clive show during that part.

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Spoiler

Bro, you literally play as the phoenix not once, but twice, and you also play as Joshua during the early hours of the game, so the playing as Clive bit holds no water.

They could have had you play as Shiva during that segment. Had they done so, her being exhausted from not only protecting Clive, but fighting the monster and then smashing the crystal would have made much more sense, and then in the final bit, she finishes off the priest. The arc was hers, and her doing all the really cool shit would have solidified her as the strong character you say she is, yet isn’t shown in the actual version of the game. And she wouldn’t be Captain Marvel strong woman either, because further exertion would cost her own life. She literally has limits.

It was her arc, not Clive’s. And yet, it’s still the Clive show during that part.

Spoiler

Well it wasn't that for me. She had the spotlight and I didn't really care that it happened during cutscenes and it's not like phoenix ever got too much to do without Clive anyway and took Ls when he wasn't with him

It doesn't really tarnish her character or make me think she's weak just cause I didn't play as her during a boss.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Imagine making an RPG with no RPG elements.

Soken is also overrated and I can't really remember any music track from XVI. Soken is very I dunno samey? He's like a modern day Motoi Sakuraba.

I still prefer Uematsu or Sakamoto.

Nobody in their right mind would call FFXVI an RPG.

 

[Synless]

I really did enjoy FFXVI, but fuck was I disappointed by the side quests and OST. Repetitive and underwhelming outside of a few standout tracks.

I recall someone in a preview thread saying “Soken never misses”, well as far as I’m concerned he struck the fuck out.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Problem with XVI is that it's single player FFXIV(which is arguably single player on it's own for the most part) with a strong start with a weak finish. Literal Raging Fire to Dying Embers. I think the only exciting part of the game is the Godzilla Summon Boss Fights.

A lot of the sidequest/story progression down to relying on Cooldowns and Burst damage is just very reminiscent of MMO design philosophy. Not to mention the lack of RPG strategy involved.

I think FFXVI would be better if they didn't lock Hard Mode behind faceroll mode and was more along the lines of either FFVIIR or Stranger of Paradise. Forcing players to sit through a 50 hour long lackluster story is a bit much.

Ironically I'd place FFXIII Trilogy above FFXVI in terms of overall execution.

I find FFXVI a poor entry as a mainline game in the series. If you want FFXVI done right just boot up Tales of Berseria. Same story beats but the story is decent all the way through and you uh actually have a party of characters you can control with all the RPG mechanics in place.

 

[rkofan87]

the only vga i hope and think ff16 can win now is ben star for vo.

 

[rkofan87]

Problem with XVI is that it's single player FFXIV(which is arguably single player on it's own for the most part) with a strong start with a weak finish. Literal Raging Fire to Dying Embers. I think the only exciting part of the game is the Godzilla Summon Boss Fights.

A lot of the sidequest/story progression down to relying on Cooldowns and Burst damage is just very reminiscent of MMO design philosophy. Not to mention the lack of RPG strategy involved.

I think FFXVI would be better if they didn't lock Hard Mode behind faceroll mode and was more along the lines of either FFVIIR or Stranger of Paradise. Forcing players to sit through a 50 hour long lackluster story is a bit much.

Ironically I'd place FFXIII Trilogy above FFXVI in terms of overall execution.

I find FFXVI a poor entry as a mainline game in the series. If you want FFXVI done right just boot up Tales of Berseria. Same story beats but the story is decent all the way through and you uh actually have a party of characters you can control with all the RPG mechanics in place.

the hard mode thing is spot on but ff13 better then ff16 no.

 

[buenoblue]

I'm playing this right now. 20 hours in. At first I hated it. But then I did a few boss fights and I was like ok this is great. I'm now back to mindless uninteresting fetch quests. The game seems so uneven and defo has an MMO vibe, which is a bad thing for me. Gonna push through though cause some of the boss fights are a real spectacle. I'd say 8/10 so far.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

the hard mode thing is spot on but ff13 better then ff16 no.

Hard disagree. FF XIII has its flaws but the gameplay was awesome, the character progression was cool, the environments were visually interesting, and it kept me wanting to know what would happen next.

XVI I was just bored out of my mind most of the time. 20% of it was awesome visually-stunning spectacle (although piss easy) + GoT-style intrigue. The other 80% was some of the most painfully bland, uninspired filler I’ve seen in a big name JRPG.

Hell, I’d take the “beautiful 1-dimensional tube” FF XIII maps over the “open zones with nothing interesting to see, no interesting treasure to find, filled with generic MMO quests and little shiny dots” FF environments any day.

Now that I think about it, the linear action levels in FF XVI (aka the only parts that had any passion and excitement put into it) were pretty similar to XIII’s level design.

 

[Brock2621]

This thread is true. And XVI gets a lot of hate for some reason. Probably expectations but give this game to someone completely blind (like I’ve done) and they are like “yo what? This is what I’ve been missing!? All FF games are this epic!?”

 

[Pasta la Vista]

It let me down in a lot of ways for sure. But I did enjoy my time.

It has some very spectacular moments but the combat ended up being very shallow. The time skips sucked and the pacing is not the greatest. Visually its very impressive at moments under lighting that is done in like the first half of the game. What brought it down ultimately for me was the lack of nuance and like attention to detail, world traversal, etc. It felt too small. I still consider a good game though.

 

[peish]

Imagine making an RPG with no RPG elements.

Soken is also overrated and I can't really remember any music track from XVI. Soken is very I dunno samey? He's like a modern day Motoi Sakuraba.

I still prefer Uematsu or Sakamoto.

Soken is good, if not a bit samey when it comes to those big bosses track

FF16 OST > FF15 OST

 

[Silver Wattle]

 

[Unknown Soldier]

I don't think FFXVI will win any GOTY awards this year against such stiff competition but it deserves nominations. It's a solid GOTY Contender type game for sure.

 

[Krathoon]

The game was absurdly Game of Thrones.

 

[Susurrus]

It was awesome on the technical department. Music, voices, graphics, cinematics, all amazing, and all with super short load times.

That's all it had going for it.

Gameplay was pretty boring. What was even the point of the magic attack? It was ranged I guess, the only benefit. Magic bursts weren't really any stronger than a regular attack and didn't even trigger most of the time. What's the point of different elements? It didn't do anything. Abilities were pretty bland. I just couldn't enjoy it. Should have used the gameplay of Stranger of Paradise if going for an action game.

Also those cutscenes where they were just standing there talking holy shit I quite literally kept falling asleep.

Shit should have been a movie or TV show or something.

Which was really disappointing. I was super excited for the game, even bought the neat FFXVI Dualsense during my trip to Japan this summer.

 

[Minsc]

This thread is true. And XVI gets a lot of hate for some reason. Probably expectations but give this game to someone completely blind (like I’ve done) and they are like “yo what? This is what I’ve been missing!? All FF games are this epic!?”

My problem with FFXVI is they took basically everything away from what I enjoyed in prior FF games, and they didn't replace it with anything. As far as epic fights, they're pretty run of the mill for TV/Anime shows, so even those barely registered for me. Like there's a good chance whatever random show I'm currently watching will have way more epic and entertaining fights than what I got in FFXVI, so even that didn't really do much for me.

 

[Fbh]

This is the cardinal sin of an action RPG imo. Once you unlock the tornado skill every trash mob and most other encounters just turn into a joke.

Most encounters are a joke regardless of which skills you have unlocked because for some reason they decided that forcing you to play on very easy was a good idea.
I played without using any potions or other healing items and even with that I died maybe 3 times during the entire main story, all 3 times were during multi phase boss battles (and the game then revives you at the phase in which you died with full health)

This thread is true. And XVI gets a lot of hate for some reason. Probably expectations but give this game to someone completely blind (like I’ve done) and they are like “yo what? This is what I’ve been missing!? All FF games are this epic!?”

A part of it is definitely expectations.
Despite all my complaining I still enjoyed the game. It's just that I expected a 9/10 game but got a 7/10 one instead.

 

[Mossybrew]

Mediocre game. I recently deleted it from my hard drive after not playing for many weeks and realizing I had no desire to actually finish it.

 

[sigmaZ]

Imagine making an RPG with no RPG elements.

Soken is also overrated and I can't really remember any music track from XVI. Soken is very I dunno samey? He's like a modern day Motoi Sakuraba.

I still prefer Uematsu or Sakamoto.

You're gonna piss a lot of people off with them truth bombs.

Granted playing Star Ocean 2 with the remade by the man himself his stuff sounds a lot better with good production and proper instrumentation. (His battle songs have always been good though)

With Soken it's interesting because I think there are different kinds of Soken fans. A lot of fans actually like that noisy rock stuff like there was in the Titan fight and when they say they like him they are mainly referring to that overthetop stuff. Others like his theme music more. I find the theme music stuff pretty good overall but I'm personally not big on the choir/vocal stuff. Either way I think he's a bit overhyped but there are far worse composers.

I personally prefer Uematsu as well do to his rocky rhythms and use of melodic themes.

 

[March Climber]

Jill is just poor man's Tifa or just random maid with grey Tifa wig. Jill makes Lightning Farron look phenomenal.
A character that just stands there is kinda worthless IMO.

You just reminded me of how much wasted story potential there was within the side quests. Imagine instead of running random errands for the NPCs in your base, you played character episodes instead.

It would be a few hours of content as you play as Jill, for example, while you dive into her story during your absence in the early years. You’d have way more emotional attachment to the character by seeing her backstory, watching a bunch of well animated cutscenes and a good performance by the voice actor, etc. You would do the same for Cid and the rest of the high profile characters you meet.

This all sound familiar? It should, because FF15 post-release touched on this concept. FF16 should have expanded on it.

It would have been a better way to handle character lore than pressing pause during a cutscene to read about it. Thinking about FF16 again, there’s just so many important lessons it should have taken from other FF games, including the bad ones.

 

[kurisu_1974]

The biggest issue was that it wasn't an RPG and it had no cool equipment or upgrade system. Two things I personally want in a mainline Final Fantasy game. This felt more like a Gaiden type game.

 

[Rickyiez]

Any game is good in relative to FF15.

 

[Markio128]

I think if they’d treated it as a spin-off, rather than a mainline entry in the series, the turn-based fanatics probably wouldn’t have internally combusted as much.

It’s essentially a good game though.

 

[StueyDuck]

it's a great game with probably the best OST of the year

So far this year in terms of GOTY goes

1) The Talos principle 2
2) Sea of Stars
3) Final Fantasy 16
4) Hogwarts Legacy

Haven't touched Alan Wake 2 yet, hope that squeezes in the top

 

[Serge85]

Is trash.

 

[IlGialloMondadori]

It started out awesome. The graphics are amazing.
The content, as it goes, is absolutely bottom-barrel trash shit. I use the word content, because it is not crafted story and gameplay, it's just filler content shit.
The gameplay is fun, but your build tops out like halfway through, and the mobs and monsters are all the same. It's like 40 hours of the worst garbage fetch quests and interminable dialog intermixed with the same boring mobs, and then a big set piece.

IMO I think it's a beautiful, bad game. Again, the absolute worst set of quests in any game I've played in memory.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

I enjoyed FFXVI a lot. So did millions of others. I hope they continue with the more M rated themes and straight action gameplay style, just more refined.

Same. Judged far too harshly but from plenty with an agenda against it for having action combat and also darker tones. Also got review bombed by a few outlets for not having any diversity and yet still held a metascore of 87, this speaks volumes.

It's a 50-70 hour game with some excellent production values and amazing spectacle. Well done characters and lively world which makes FFXV look like a bit of a joke in comparison. No buckling to the woke mob whilst you have other studios churning out much smaller/shorter games that cater to demands of the mob these days. Yoshida and his team deserve more credit as its a very solid first attempt singleplayer FF and an achievement for such a large scale production. The game lacks some RPG systems and isn't perfect, but I can feel the developers gave it their all and respect that.

 

[sigmaZ]

It started out awesome. The graphics are amazing.
The content, as it goes, is absolutely bottom-barrel trash shit. I use the word content, because it is not crafted story and gameplay, it's just filler content shit.
The gameplay is fun, but your build tops out like halfway through, and the mobs and monsters are all the same. It's like 40 hours of the worst garbage fetch quests and interminable dialog intermixed with the same boring mobs, and then a big set piece.

IMO I think it's a beautiful, bad game. Again, the absolute worst set of quests in any game I've played in memory.

But the bore building man. The quest where you talk to ten people to complete the quest is next level!