Final Fantasy XVI

 PlayStation 5
User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8567 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6,528 out of 8567
  2. Mixed: 693 out of 8567
  3. Negative: 1,346 out of 8567
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  1. Kongming00
    Jul 19, 2023
    5
    This was really hard to review. As a lover of ALL rpgs, something just feels so generic. And don’t get me started how it still hurts my eyes even with motion blur off…
    Story- 7
    Gameplay-6 Graphics- 5 Sound - 7 World - 6 Replay -1 Story was generic european nonsense. Some of the characters are loveable. But most just fade into bg. I dont remember any of the non mains. I have played and    This was really hard to review. As a lover of ALL rpgs, something just feels so generic. And don’t get me started how it still hurts my eyes even with motion blur off…
    Story- 7
    Gameplay-6
    Graphics- 5
    Sound - 7
    World - 6
    Replay -1

    Story was generic european nonsense. Some of the characters are loveable. But most just fade into bg. I dont remember any of the non mains. I have played and loved every FF game. Some more than others. But this was just a slog to get through. First time I have skipped a cutscene because I just didnt care…

    Gameplay was epic in the summon battles. Great in boss battles. Everything else was so easy and boring a 3 year old could beat it.

    Graphics. Muddy. Blurry even with blur off! Why do the field areas look like ps3? And the frame drops are reaaaallllyy bad

    Sound is great. Music is great in the battles. Everywhere else is generic

    World. Again some great inside areas. All the outside areas look like ps3 and blurry. Replay. Never again. I wanted it to be over with how generic the battles were. Such a waste of time. Cant wait to get back to FF7 rebirth.    … Expand
  2. Galazar
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    It's a 5/10 at best, not the 10/10 all the review sites are throwing out.

    I won't repeat all the other others have said, but post demo.. This game is boring af! It's literally point A to point B, every single aspect is dull as hell!
  3. Xplocion
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    Good:
    Closer to FF1-4 than to the more modern FFs (7-15) without technological and cyberpunk things. Cinematics with the game engine.
    Bad: You only control one character, you don't have a party or supports. The difficulty selector on the lowest makes the game less than an interactive movie, a low-budget follow-up to Kingslave with QTE. It is focused on the badly implemented Hack'n    Good:
    Closer to FF1-4 than to the more modern FFs (7-15) without technological and cyberpunk things. Cinematics with the game engine.

    Bad:
    You only control one character, you don't have a party or supports. The difficulty selector on the lowest makes the game less than an interactive movie, a low-budget follow-up to Kingslave with QTE. It is focused on the badly implemented Hack'n Slash and a "I want and I can't" with the theme of the parry in the fights. Epic battles are full of immersion-breaking QTEs and you watch the movie and just respond (or not) to button presses. Even in performance mode, the scratches and frame drops are felt, especially in QTE. Exaggeration in exploiting delivery missions. The story is boring, what is a like-Game of throne? Not kidding, obviously not, the argument is poor and rather seems like a bad attempt at ring of power together with willow cliches. The graphics are very bad and very painful (bought with current games or games also from Square-Enix such as FF7 Remake, FFXVI looks bad, is more painful and looks worse when compared to other games from other brands (Elden Ring).The villain is painful (yes, in FF we have already had villains of this type such as The Emperor, Zemus or Ultimesia...)

    Meh!:
    If you complained about FFXIII being a endless corridor it was, how curious that here I don't see complaints or offended and if they complained that Lightning from FFXIII had the personality of a stone, Cleid arrives to lower the standard even more and pity others. Just as FFXIII-3: Lightning Return was another tweaked and renamed game, so it seems that this FFXVI was originally an expansion or DLC from Forespoken or Babylon's Fall or from the canceled story DLC expansions from FF15 full reuse    … Expand
  4. Danilocomin
    Aug 12, 2023
    5
    Eu sou fã da franquia de décadas. E digo com convicção pois acabei de platinar o 16, esse foi o FF mais chato de todos. Simplesmente acabaram com a magia do jogo. Gameplay repetitivo, sem nave pra voar ou mapa para explorar. É um bom jogo, apenas isso.
  5. Wunpleum
    Aug 15, 2023
    5
    Mediocre game. Boring story and gameplay. Okay Graphic. Performance below average.
  6. tjholowaychuk
    Aug 18, 2023
    5
    I’m a long time FF fan, I grew up with the series but this one is just not good unfortunately.

    The characters are bland, the setting is uninteresting and lacking the typical FF charm, level design is linear and bland, world traversal is bland (just a map), music is ok but sometimes just annoying and pretentious, performance is bad, graphics are mediocre unless you’re in a cutscene. The    I’m a long time FF fan, I grew up with the series but this one is just not good unfortunately.

    The characters are bland, the setting is uninteresting and lacking the typical FF charm, level design is linear and bland, world traversal is bland (just a map), music is ok but sometimes just annoying and pretentious, performance is bad, graphics are mediocre unless you’re in a cutscene. The only good thing I can say about this game is the enemy designs can be quite nice, and the boss battles are decent, and some cutscenes are really epic and stunning.    … Expand
  7. realfire23
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    I would have voted a 7 but score is getting too high.
    1. hardest diffcult 0 times died. Just pressed X and dodge 98% of the time. Very unsatisfying combat only for ADHS people who like button mashing
    2. It tries to mimic western rpg like witcher but even witcher 10 years older is better in almost every perspective 3.90% of the side quests are an insult. fetch x y 4. Its way too dark, in    I would have voted a 7 but score is getting too high.
    1. hardest diffcult 0 times died. Just pressed X and dodge 98% of the time. Very unsatisfying combat only for ADHS people who like button mashing
    2. It tries to mimic western rpg like witcher but even witcher 10 years older is better in almost every perspective
    3.90% of the side quests are an insult. fetch x y
    4. Its way too dark, in terms of brightness. Even brightest settings Iam often unable to recognise anything on the tv
    5. some people call it game of thrones of rpg. lmao… after 1-2 hours everything is clear and predictable 6. Customisations/RPG are minimal
    7. No groups … I miss party management
    8. It made me like ff15 … which was already a desaster


    pro

    the story is well told and I like it. German Translation / voice acting is very good.    … Expand
  8. kenduck
    Jul 2, 2023
    5
    Combat is fun and graphics is amazing.
    Wrong game design directions. Why would a fast-paced act game have so many cut scenes?
    Some of them should be replaced by simple dialogues. I though RPG player are more into these amount of cut scenes. The core gaming system is bad which is lack of RPG elements. Gear system feels like it's designed by someone without experience in about one month?    Combat is fun and graphics is amazing.
    Wrong game design directions. Why would a fast-paced act game have so many cut scenes?
    Some of them should be replaced by simple dialogues.
    I though RPG player are more into these amount of cut scenes.
    The core gaming system is bad which is lack of RPG elements.
    Gear system feels like it's designed by someone without experience in about one month?
    Quest system is bad . Maybe who just played a 2010 online game designed some of the boring quest.
    You can only control a dog and the party member is like a stupid NPC.
    No hidden dungeons or cave to explore. No hidden weapons and mini games.
    Most the budget are spent on cut scenes and Eikon fight and skills.
    It just feel unbalanced.    … Expand
  9. Not_too
    Aug 15, 2023
    5
    A good game, and signs of life for the FF series. In the future Im sure its going in the right direction. However there is just simply something missing from FF16 that the old games had. An emotional catalyst or hook thats missing in FF16. As polished and full of great spectacle as FF16 is it fails to reach the heights set by its predecessors. Also the ending is pointlessly ambiguous andA good game, and signs of life for the FF series. In the future Im sure its going in the right direction. However there is just simply something missing from FF16 that the old games had. An emotional catalyst or hook thats missing in FF16. As polished and full of great spectacle as FF16 is it fails to reach the heights set by its predecessors. Also the ending is pointlessly ambiguous and serves to generate more discussion at the cost of story cohesion. Not a huge fan of this move.… Expand
  10. DanijelM
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    I wanted to give it a 10 but then I saw gay characters in the game and NO! I don't play games with this woke BS.
  11. Pskc
    Jul 4, 2023
    5
    The game is unbelievable the story pulled me in immediately with eye watering visuals there are some boring parts side mission in-between main story but it really makes up for it with some of the best boss fights I've ever seen its like god of war 3 ×100
  12. Umutz
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Where to even begin.. I'm halfway through the game and so far I think the story is great and the soundtrack is amazing. I like the dark tone and the sense of war and deceit being around the corner all the time. I think the characters are good and I find myself laughing from time to time even though the game really has a dark story. The game in itself is beautiful to, the stroke of the wind on grasssy parts just looks amazing and satisfying. The enemies also have great designs.

    But....

    That's it for the good stuff. And I actually find myself pretty disappointed. For starters, the battle system just lacks inspiration, you just do the same stuff all the time and there is no strategy behind it. You can attack fire type enemies with fire and still do a lot of damage. There is no status ailments. If you die during during a boss fight you get to start in the middle of the fight with replenished items.

    The weapons are boring, they just add a stronger attack and nothing else when you get a new one. There is no funny items that do funny stuff (FFX and FFXII had plenty).

    You get to battle the same kind of enemies all the time, I think there is like 10 different type of enemies and the rest is just different variation of the same kind of enemy.

    The hunts are easy, I could easily kill a rank A monster even though I was 8 levels lower than the actual monster. There is no puzzles or any form av exploring. Up until FFXIII the games wasn't open world and still had exploring to do.

    WHY is there no chocobo theme? Like WTF!?

    I will finish the game, and probably enjoy the story. But I feel SE really losing their touch. To not be able to plan a good strategy for enemies or not being able to explore is just so so sad. They keep saying they need to modernize, and that's fine, but don't remove key aspects because of it. This game would be awesome with a battle system that improved from FFXII, that was fast paced but still needed strategy.

    Shame.. Square    … Expand
  13. flobv86
    Aug 15, 2023
    5
    The game is pretty poor overall. Story is interesting, and combat can be nice at times but even for combat, too many fight interuptions on important boss fights that have you lose focus while watching the lengthy cutscenes. Level design is really poor also. "open world" parts are absolutely useless. Big frame drops even on performance and graphics look more like 2013. Max 5/10 for me
  14. Fragmaster5000
    Jul 11, 2023
    5
    Just does not like a classic FF game to me anymore. The game in itself is fine, but surely is not FF to me anymore.
  15. Backbone55
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    Absolutely no excuse for the game to run this bad in PERFORMANCE MODE!!!!! Combat is pretty simple as well
  16. Mgcarter91
    Jun 28, 2023
    5
    I’m not a fan of what the final fantasy combat system has become. It just feels to hack and slash. This one is also more a movie than a game. You’ll probably enjoy it if you like this style of combat and are more interested in a story, but otherwise I would avoid it.
  17. Trai12
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    People nowadays accept paying 80$ for a game that has framedrops well below 60 and resolution goes as low as 720p. A mediocre game at best overhyped by their own fans and gaming media. Battles are way too easy, you can just press two buttons (rip square one) and any extra skills that you use make it a kids play. Setting, story, chars and monsters are the only interesting thing that save this game.
  18. FlippinFlippo
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game is very good, gameplay and graphic wise, Im loving this game very much!… Expand
  19. RPGlore
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    Lots of lights, flashes and trying to be "Edgy" with the story... nothing else
    Really slooooooow, lots of cinematics. if you want to make a movie then make a movie not a 80% cinematics game.
    No mini-games, nothing to explore for, no party, no classes,... just smash buttons and lots of lights and cinematics. Seems they (Yoshi-P and DMC guy) have tried to kill this franchise. Did they    Lots of lights, flashes and trying to be "Edgy" with the story... nothing else
    Really slooooooow, lots of cinematics. if you want to make a movie then make a movie not a 80% cinematics game.
    No mini-games, nothing to explore for, no party, no classes,... just smash buttons and lots of lights and cinematics.
    Seems they (Yoshi-P and DMC guy) have tried to kill this franchise. Did they kill it?. We will see.    … Expand
  20. Zfong4
    Aug 22, 2023
    5
    The demo was the most interesting part of the game. Bought the game and hated virtually every minute of the repetitive game - from lacklustre game of throne wannabe main quest line to stupidly dumb fetch quests. Major regret!
  21. Rami_el_maton
    Jul 13, 2023
    5
    Es el mejor final fantasy desde el IX, la historia es muy buena, tiene un sistema de combate espectacular, unos gráficos impresionantes y es el juego con las escenas más épicas que he visto nunca.
    Compra obligatoria.
  22. urufangu
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    After 6 hours of start the game there's a lot of cinematics, the gameplay at the moment is simple and too straightforward, I hope it gets better.
  23. Killshotroxs
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    Final Fantasy PS5 Review:

    If someone's here just for a number then here is it Rating 5/10, kindly take it and leave. For those who wants an unbiased review of a Game... not the franchise but simply FF16 from a viewpoint of a player who has never touched another FF game then here it is... read on my Friend: Summary: The Game is an orgasmic dish for those who want beautiful    Final Fantasy PS5 Review:

    If someone's here just for a number then here is it Rating 5/10, kindly take it and leave.

    For those who wants an unbiased review of a Game... not the franchise but simply FF16 from a viewpoint of a player who has never touched another FF game then here it is... read on my Friend:

    Summary:

    The Game is an orgasmic dish for those who want beautiful cutscenes, a decent story, some Thrill (Press Square to activate though), and moments of decent Boss Fights, But as a Game it lacks an Unifying character which will never soothe your soul while playing, in one line.... "It's always Lacking Something no matter where u are in the Game".

    Gameplay:

    The way Devs only gave 2 modes of difficulty and locked the most difficult mode behind approx. 40Hrs of gameplay felt brutal just after about 5 hours into the game, the game seems to never challenge you, and that's saying after trying almost all Rings, Bands, Swords, Spells and Abilities with all boss fights and High Tiered Enemies even some Arena Fights (sage fight is a must) in the span of whole Tiresome Gameplay.

    Here's an Example: The very first few things you get unlocked in the quests are rings: They have many abilities one such is Timely Evasion: After about 10mins in and i knew something was wrong.... the ring Literally Evades all the attacks of even Boss Fights ( Lowest point of the Gameplay ), even a 6yr old kid with one hand could have played this game by just doing Button smashing and he still would have been able to finish it without any Help... I wouldn't be surprised if there's an Youtube vid out soon with a person achieving something same after challenging themself to do it.

    For a challenged gameplay i replaced the evasion Ring with increased defense rune which still didn't make the gameplay worthy of your full involvement, and at this point it will hit you that you have been playing a game which lacks a major core part of it... The Gameplay, For those of Y'all still wondering why go on then? why not just give up and get rid of it and be done with it? Because That's when the good part comes in.... The PLOT, as anyone who has finished the game by now would agree... also what disappointed me more was that when you’re not spamming your Eikon abilities, you’ll be smashing your default sword attack until the charge meter goes full or atleast one of Ur abilities recharge.... speak about Tiresome, even if they do all recharge.... they all contain almost same amount of Damage so this FF game basically took away your choice to strategize.... I may be New i know but isn't that why this Franchise was famous for?

    Plot:

    The only thing that Studio may have pulled off perfectly is the Plot, It keeps on Rewarding Just a Little to get you through to a Mid Gameplay that you don't leave it in the Middle and makes you Anticipate what the next part in the story would be.... Now if you're a movie buff and regularly see Suspense Thriller movies then even you too will see some plot twists coming from a mile away but the Story elements and Suspense laid with Electrifying Cutscenes somehow weirdly makes you wanna play and get to the End to know how it unfolds...

    There will be cutscenes where you will be Like DAMNNN and there's a perfect soundscore playing in the background which will make your soundbar go nutss and the added mystery component plays it's part well too but the political themes in game are not that intriguing and have the potential to tell a powerful story about injustice, war, and personal strife, However, the game fails to live up to its potential because its exploration of these themes is shallow. The game's lectures on the horrors of slavery are little more than superficial and do not have a significant impact on the protagonist or the overall story.( Literally gonna Ignore the part where a Bearer and even a Dominant is slave to normal Humans?? )

    Lore and Characters:

    It's hard to understand the Importance of characters who popup after like 40% of the gameplay and the role they playing in Protagonist's Story. There are various factions divided in the Vlaisthea some foes and some friends ofcourse but even the leaders of such factions get little to no intro and after you're done with the first quest in the area, there's a hard chance you will even want to talk to them, there were a few ofcourse but not motivating enough for a gamer to do this with every Important Figurehead with a sidequest.

    It is the Game's responsibility to grip it's users to the Game as much as it is of a Gamer's to play it..... if you don't have that going for you then it's a Losing battle for any title.

    Rating 5/10
    Final Fantasy 16 presents itself as an Cinematic antiquated encounter, almost trying to resemble and old RPG gameplay from the past that fails to grasp the essence of appeal to any gamer of any Level. Consequently and Sadly it offers no significant value.    … Expand
  24. FerRTT
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Comprei na intenção de jogar um jogo pesado com um enredo nível Game Of Thrones e Jogabilidade nível devil may cry, mas achei uma história "pesada" que não arisca, bota umas mortizinhas fracas um prota chorão com pinta de Jhon Snow do Paraguai. Jogabilidade com uns combos sem complexidade que tu faz com uma mão.
  25. DAVIDRB
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    Bon jeux pour cette année 2010…. Seul bémol c’est qu’ils fait cracher ma PlayStation lors des cinématiques….
  26. AyyDee
    Jul 4, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I really wanted to like this iteration of FF but it I found myself falling asleep while playing a few times.
    The combat is OK..... Slash, slash, slash, limit break, eikon abilities, cooldown, repeat. It reminds me of FFXIV with a little active combat, on top of that the best Eikon, Odin.... isn't even unlocked until pretty much the end of the game. The game basically wants you to complete it first to then start having fun with having all the abilities and skills for new game plus. I'm sorry but I don't have the time or energy to play through everything AGAIN to get the best weapon to play arcade me for a high score.... What happend to all the cool side quests, dark aeon.... sorry Eikons, thing that you WANTED to do. Oh wow a few monster hunts.... AND!?!?!......
    there are about 5 side quest worth doing, all the rest are just to wasted your time to say the game took longer to complete then what it should of, generic fetch quests, run around needlessly for a few gil and creating items you will probably never use because all the stuff worth your time is pretty much at the end of the game. At the end of a cutscene a chracter says he wants to have a word with Clive, only for me to run across the other side of the hideaway to say two sentences that he could of just said in the original cutscene.... its a constant run around, of needlessly filler.
    The story is good, but again I feel the game keeps purpose postponing and slowing everything down on purpose and its quite annoying.
    The only character that had an impact for me was Cid.
    In short because I cant be bothered to write anymore... the game is mediocre, its FF, but only because of the Eikons, Crystal's and other nuances of the final fantasy series. Not a fan of the direction its headed and this just goes to show by the sale that have dropped by 90%. Please don't believe the hype.    … Expand
  27. Ryang23
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    We're halfway through 2023 and Square Enix is using FSR 1 for their biggest title game.....I hope they plan on moving on to a whole new game engine after this title as everything from the early 2000's facial animations down to the late 90's textures all over the place are looking pretty sorry. Which the horrendous job FSR 1 is doing to hide the resolutions of 720p-1080p being upscaled toWe're halfway through 2023 and Square Enix is using FSR 1 for their biggest title game.....I hope they plan on moving on to a whole new game engine after this title as everything from the early 2000's facial animations down to the late 90's textures all over the place are looking pretty sorry. Which the horrendous job FSR 1 is doing to hide the resolutions of 720p-1080p being upscaled to 1440p in performance mode doesn't do any favors at all. The motion blur is so bad it would be comical if it hadn't made me sick to my stomach yesterday. A feat only 1 other game has achieved over the past 33 years. 29- 60 fps in performance mode and stutter city everywhere you go to top it all off. 60fps is only achieved when the resolution is shoved off a cliff when you enter battles so the game is at least physically playable. How do you defend any of that?… Expand
  28. jkvlnt
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    Remember going to your friends house when you were younger and they had the hot new game that everyone was talking about that you hadn’t had a chance to play yet? You’re watching them play and it looks amazing. You see them do so much sick stuff and want nothing more than to have a turn on it yourself. You ask them if you can have a go, and they reluctantly say yes. You walk down aRemember going to your friends house when you were younger and they had the hot new game that everyone was talking about that you hadn’t had a chance to play yet? You’re watching them play and it looks amazing. You see them do so much sick stuff and want nothing more than to have a turn on it yourself. You ask them if you can have a go, and they reluctantly say yes. You walk down a corridor for a minute, and then they snatch the controller back from you and you have to watch while some amazing stuff takes place. Eventually they give you the controller again, and let you run through an empty albeit pretty field where there are a few enemies that amount to nothing but brainless punching bags. That gives you enough time to know that the combat seems super fun with a lot of depth to it if you choose to deep dive into the combo system. But before you can do much else the controller is yanked away again by your friend.
    This is, I think the best of describing Final Fantasy 16. A game that is itself almost desperate to not let you play it. You’ve likely already heard that the combat is great and it certainly is. But the pointless punching back enemies that litter the games empty open area zones aren’t worth engaging with, and that only leaves the bigger fights and boss encounters in the games more linear sections. These can be great, but last about 5 minutes, before wresting control from you to subject you to another 30 minutes of its confusing mess of a melodrama. This is coming from someone who likes melodrama mind you, and I found the demo a great setup for a potentially intriguing albeit simple medieval fantasy revenge story. Within about 10 minutes of playtime outside of what the demo offered, a pattern of jumping from one thing to the next with careless abandon would be how this game attempted to tell its story. At time of writing this I’m about 80% done the story. It’s very clear at this point that they almost immediately abandon any attempt of telling a simple but well put together story, and jumped instead headfirst into something else entirely. It’s got to the point where I just feel myself going comatose whenever some of the atrocious voice work start blathering on; expositing things that should have been either setup earlier to lend themselves to a more cohesive narrative, or explained dynamically as you play. Instead the methodology is to just have you spend 20 minutes after a main quest concludes running around speaking the boring NPC after boring NPC and having the fill in the many blanks. I had a feeling that I would likely struggle to finish the game when I was first hit with such marvellous quest design as:
    Talk to NPC who wants you to talk to three other NPCs. One of the three instructs you to go and find someone in a location you’ve visited dozens of times already. Go there, talk to NPC. “Sorry person you need isn’t here, go here instead”. Find other NPC, talk, quest complete.

    It’s ironic that they said they used the first season of Game of Thrones as thematic inspiration for the game, because the way they tell the story in this game feels as though you get to watch the first episode of the first season, then they skip you all the way to season five and just occasional stop the game dead in its tracks to give you a 30 minute lore recap on key events that you just don’t get to take part in but are seemingly crucial to the story. The cutscenes are of course superbly well done. But so much of the exposition is delivered not through the actual cutscenes but through these stiff and lifeless conversations that aren’t animated in the slightest. Character says line, long pause, character responds, long pause. Rinse and repeat.

    Though the game isn’t open world, the game is still too open world; a symptom of this death grip the game has on the notion of needing to be perceived as an RPG.
    The zones that you can explore feel akin in scope to something like a Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time. Only difference being that in Ocarina of Time the Field serves as an access point to all the key areas of the game. The zones in FF16 serve no purpose other than prolonging your access to the linear segments that are actually fun. Once you’ve run through them once, they serve no function other than the occasional side quest that may pop up there, and trust me when I say side quests in this game are the last thing you want to waste your time on.

    Many times over the team said that this game was an action RPG. There is no RPG in here. If they’d just accepted that maybe they wanted to make an action game that would take you at most 20hrs to clear that was all linear with well designed levels and great combat, I think it could work. Unfortunately the need to maintain the series pedigree or not stray too far from the known path renders the game a mess, a pretty one with some fun to be had of course, but a mess nonetheless.    … Expand
  29. Knapppp
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    Not so tragic as I expected, but still disappointing. Battle system is ok, I can live with it and it is fun, apart from long time needed for taking HP sometimes which makes it exhausting and not so fluid. The story is also good, plus the music as usual in FF.

    Graphic is ok. Not sure why I see so many 10/10. This is far from highs for PS5 and not even close to GoW or Horizon (especially    Not so tragic as I expected, but still disappointing. Battle system is ok, I can live with it and it is fun, apart from long time needed for taking HP sometimes which makes it exhausting and not so fluid. The story is also good, plus the music as usual in FF.

    Graphic is ok. Not sure why I see so many 10/10. This is far from highs for PS5 and not even close to GoW or Horizon (especially the latter even though Forbidden West is an open world and XVI not). Also, the character faces look sometimes really not good. Frame rate drops in performance mode (still after the patch) is outrageous and motion blur in graphic mode looks weird - not sure why it is even used and you cannot turn it off.

    They said the game will be linear, which I don’t mind, but at least I thought it will be more like Star Ocean or Tales of Arise. However, here we have a lot of “corridor-like” dungeons and areas. After some hours we get bigger areas, but there is literally nothing to do there. Rarely any good treasure/item which is worth discovering. The world and exploration feels very flat. There are no distractions from the story (like mini games at least or any other activities). How is this different from Final Fantasy XIII?

    World map is just locations where you can click to teleport which again takes away the immersion

    Side quests are the worst part of the game. Most of them are completely pointless (there are really no good prizes for finishing them) and boring. Item crafting, skill tree and stats/equipment are very basic and to be honest are probably there just to still call it an “rpg” because they are very simplistic and not in a good way    … Expand
  30. Jvalero1122
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    Juegazo, simplemente, juegazo. Gráficamente es genial, la historia es una maravilla, el sistema de combate y el mismo combate es una cosa burtal, guapisimo.
  31. Mickey2112
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    This game gets a 6. Another PS movie game where game mechanics are secondary to flashy cut scenes. I get people will like that but I'll skip. PS is boring so far this generation.
  32. Userback
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    no llegar a ser buen rpg, no llega a ser buen juego de accion...no es mundo abierto pero como lineal es demasiado pasillero y nada explorable, y aun asi tiene secundarias como si fuese de mundo libre...ni hablar del rendimiento y calidad... vale la pena el juego por 20 euros como mucho
  33. Mitche789
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    Literally everything is good. The graphics the gameplay, the story is unreal, the combat
  34. TheMan2
    Jul 29, 2023
    5
    Just finished the game with all quests done and hunting after more than a month.It was very painful. Honestly, it felt good to be in this world. I remember being at Martha’s inn and thinking ”this is nice” (because of the music, lighting etc.). The main story was enjoyable but not ground breaking. Some of the side stories were enjoyable as well BUT 100% of them were ruined by the fact thatJust finished the game with all quests done and hunting after more than a month.It was very painful. Honestly, it felt good to be in this world. I remember being at Martha’s inn and thinking ”this is nice” (because of the music, lighting etc.). The main story was enjoyable but not ground breaking. Some of the side stories were enjoyable as well BUT 100% of them were ruined by the fact that they always ended in a fetch quest or a lame combat encounter.
    Speaking of combat, when you finish the tutorial 1 hour or 2 in, you’ve seen everything. You get flashier moves for sure but the game doesn’t get more mecanics. The game systems in general are a disaster, indie game levels kind of disaster! Be it loot, crafting, quest design, skills, everything is garbage.
    The world, although engaging, is also shalow. All the big buldings and towns are just decoration. You never get to explore more than 2 or 3 streets, and this is in the very best case scenario.
    It frustrating because the game keeps remind you of great things from previous titles (big cities, magic, dungeons, character parties, ships and so on) but none of those thing are in the actual game.
    I honnestly don’t understand how the game has 80+ scores. As an rpg, it’s bad and as an action game it’s mid at best. Don’t even compare it to DMC.
    Anyway, at this point I’m no longer expecting SE to produce the kind of FF’s I liked or FF’s that are not half backed. But who knows. See you in FF7R 2 I guess    … Expand
  35. vash_payan
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    It seems to me that the game is too simple. The saga has been innovative on many occasions, but this game has not wanted to take risks and has only offered combat with a lot of brilliance. Disappointing in graphics, story and performance.
  36. George_Jungle
    Sep 5, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Another disappointing entry since FFXIII and another AAA bumble that shows how far the gaming industry has fallen.
    Visuals are fine I guess though the facial expressions of characters remains unchanged since the PS3 era. Music is mostly good with highs and lows. Story is somehow better since the Devs understood that they don't need to shy away from mature themes and presentation. Still underdeveloped though.
    Characters are mostly empty husks except for Clive and Cid and that is very obvious with Jill that simply exists in the game just for the hero to have the most boring romance ever made in a videogame. The fact that you don't have a proper team like every other mainline entry to follow you at all times doesn't help either.
    Combat is one of its strongest points, indeed plays like DMC but suffers from the fact that it takes too long to acquire new Eikons which give you new abilities to experiment. Areas are either straightforward or some semi open spaces that offer nothing for those who search every nook and cranny. Just empty MMO garbage with a bit of FFXIII feel.
    As for it's best aspect, that is the main story boss battles that look and play gorgeously, even the Eikon battles that don't exactly offer any difficulty or skill to prevail, just spectacle. It's probably the easiest FF I ever played and even action mode(normal) offers almost no challenge at all.
    It's worst aspect and that which infuriated me the most are the unnecessary and immensely boring side quests (around 100 of those, excluding monster hunts) that along with some tedious story moments made progress a slog. Around 50% of the main story I started skipping every cut scene from the side quests. Videogames are meant to be fun above everything else and to me it felt like doing work/chore of the worst kind. Game Devs, we don't need an RPG to be a 100 hours long to think that our money is well spent. With 30 hours of quality we're content, something you don't seem to understand and for that you'll eventually go out of business. Fun and escapism are the key words,got it?

    PS. People who give FFXVI 0-1 are dumb, but those who it 9-10 are window lickers and paid shills and deserve every garbage AAA title that comes their way. As for me this Final Fantasy is the Final nail in the coffin, I've had enough really.    … Expand
  37. Abibboy83
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    No es mal hack & slash, pero FINAL FANTASY ya perdió su identidad. No es como la saga Xenoblade que mantiene su estilo, o la saga Tales of, que aunque la historia sea mas madura en Arise, mantiene la identidad de la saga, final fantasy desde el 12 es un mal intento de agradar a todos los jugadores y esto termina por no gustar ni a antiguos fans ni a posibles nuevos jugadores.
  38. OmegaReaper
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    Having played every Final Fantasy and its spin offs over the years, this one just doesn't quite match up to it's previous successors.

    Pro Excellent music as always Eikon Battles Nice to see Phoenix again Torgal since you can pet him. British Voice Actors for once. Not worried about Graphics on games, But there were some nice beautiful areas. Cons Battle System, while the combo    Having played every Final Fantasy and its spin offs over the years, this one just doesn't quite match up to it's previous successors.

    Pro
    Excellent music as always
    Eikon Battles
    Nice to see Phoenix again
    Torgal since you can pet him.
    British Voice Actors for once.
    Not worried about Graphics on games, But there were some nice beautiful areas.

    Cons
    Battle System, while the combo system is a little fun, it's not for me. Its focusing more being an action game than a rpg.

    Timely Accessories for accessibility options might seem good but makes the game way too easy regardless of which mode you use. Story mode you get most right of the bat, action mode at certain intervals. These accessories shouldn't have needed to be in the game and take up valuable accessory slots. Should have been made as options via a point system.

    Magic to me was pretty much useless, no need to have been in the game, no monster/enemy elemental weaknesses, lack of status effects. Admittingly Magic in FF14 is mostly a dps mechanic but that's as an MMO, but there is still DoTs and Status effects. For example the Morbol boss these monsters normally have fire weakness, Clive uses fire type skills but the "Fire" is just for flashy effects and dealt a measly 10 damage towards it.

    Linear area based progression similar to FF10 and FF13
    More of a DMC clone with FF skin on top.

    Now as of late there is a mass divide between FF fans which happens every single FF released, but this one takes the biscuit. Now if you give any type of criticism towards FF16 in any of the groups these hardcore fans will do everything in their power to say you are wrong especially with lines like
    "You don't own a the game or PS5", "Cope and Seethe" and so on.

    Well to me its a mid game. 5/10 and that's pushing it.    … Expand
  39. CrazedBuffoon87
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Its an amazing story with awesome graphics and fun gameplay. I never thought id play another final fantasy that made me feel like when I was a kid... Best of all: it's devoid completely of wokeness
  40. fishhelmet
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    The story and graphics are pretty great but everything else about the game is mediocre at best and tedious at worst. The combat is repetitive, the progression system is about an inch deep and I would barely call this an RPG let alone a final fantasy game. This is about half of a great game, the bones are there but there's little else.
  41. Chabs1985
    Jul 26, 2023
    5
    What happens to Final Fantasy?

    Since FF10 I wonder what Square is doing with its license. FF6,7,8,9 were masterpieces. The 13 very average but I had fun but the 15 and 16 looks like discount games for the series. The 15 had at least the merit of having great music and a good design chara. The 16 fails almost everywhere, an agreed scenario try to be inspired by Game of Thrones.    What happens to Final Fantasy?

    Since FF10 I wonder what Square is doing with its license. FF6,7,8,9 were masterpieces. The 13 very average but I had fun but the 15 and 16 looks like discount games for the series.

    The 15 had at least the merit of having great music and a good design chara.

    The 16 fails almost everywhere, an agreed scenario try to be inspired by Game of Thrones. Music sometimes good but forgettable. A gameplay without depth and easy, not subtle and stupid. No alterations of states, no reflection to have. A false side rpg used to hide a linear path that makes us go from scene to scene. (well realized, we must recognize it).

    The side quests are catastrophic, the pnjs are despicable because they look like robots without souls. The chara-design is infamous, Clive is the worst main character of a Final Fantasy, his outfit is disgusting, it looks like Castlevania.

    Apart from the scenes of great shows, I found this game very poor playfully.

    I have a lot of hope with FF7 Rebirth because I loved the remake, please go in this direction for your future games. The fighting system was perfect, as was the story and the characters.    … Expand
  42. Dubs27
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    The gameplay is amazing the story and cinematics is amazing. Loving it so far best final fantasy since X. Can't wait to get further in the game. Will be sad once it's over
  43. AGCR
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Honestamente es el primer FF que juego y me ha gustado, sé que no sigue un mismo rol y dinámicas que otros FF del pasado pero no es razón para que Fanboys de cierta marca verde le den malas reseñas injustificadas cuando ni siquiera lo han jugado.
  44. Baneblade
    Jun 28, 2023
    5
    Potentially good game impaired by lack of critical industry standard user experience feature. Graphical issues are nothing compared to being unable to play due to shockingly unfamiliar button placements. For most of people that play more than one game, new muscle memory for each game is not something that could be tolerated. Who would dodge with R1 and not O? Why Lock target is not R3?Potentially good game impaired by lack of critical industry standard user experience feature. Graphical issues are nothing compared to being unable to play due to shockingly unfamiliar button placements. For most of people that play more than one game, new muscle memory for each game is not something that could be tolerated. Who would dodge with R1 and not O? Why Lock target is not R3? This review could be much higher if Square Enix simply release a patch to enable custom control layout. But they don't even recognize the issue. Do they even have QA department? If so then replace them with competent people for not doing a simple job. I tried PS5's Accessibility feature combined with scheme B, I could do the combat perfectly, but then when I get to the game's menu, it gets messy again because the buttons already swapped. Also, the diamond shaped bar at the bottom right does not change according to the selected button scheme. Otherwise, this could be a sneak attempt at selling Dualsense Edge, that could swap button profiles easily. Unfortunately most of people don't have that controller, so yeah, another game for the backlog that will never see play.… Expand
  45. rmcrom
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    There's more time watching cutscenes than actual getting to play the game. And the cutscenes can't be skipped. This is the first final fantasy I have bought and I will not buy any more.
  46. jonnyfiver
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    The games rpg systems are threadbare. I get that they wanted to bring more people in and serve a broader demographic but did they really have to go all “baby’s first rpg” on us? I get that its an action oriented game but does that mean that they had to dispense with any sort of depth as well? Handholding at every turn? Tales of Arise had depth to the combat and many different ways to play.The games rpg systems are threadbare. I get that they wanted to bring more people in and serve a broader demographic but did they really have to go all “baby’s first rpg” on us? I get that its an action oriented game but does that mean that they had to dispense with any sort of depth as well? Handholding at every turn? Tales of Arise had depth to the combat and many different ways to play. I was shocked when I saw how overly simplistic the gear and skill tree was. I mean, the gear is nothing more than a stat stick, nothing promotes any unique style of play or gameplay modifier. Honestly, I’m disappointed. Find that cool new sword? Well, the only difference between this one and the last one is +10 attack. And no, you can’t mod it with any sort of interesting perk or status effect. The most recent Tales had multiple party members and even then each individual had a broader skill tree to choose from. As an rpg fan, what am I supposed to make of this? Is this *enough* for an ff mainline game for you guys? Hell, even DMC5 has more depth than this. I understand that the ff franchise is predominately known for its great narrative direction, but they've always coupled it with excellent and oftentimes very sophisticated and complex gameplay elements. Remember the gambit system in ff12? What we see here is a gimped dmc5 and a tacked on stagger system that was ripped from the corpse of ff13 and stitched onto this. Given the glowing reviews, i was expecting just so much more, and instead i got one of the most barebones gameplay offerings ive seen in a long time. Save yourself some cash and just watch the cutscenes online, its basically the same experience. $70 for a movie is a bit too rich for me.

    it's a 5. Most mid game ive ever played. Guess we'll try again in another 8 years. damn...makes me feel sad just thinking about it.    … Expand
  47. MrKingConker1
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    The game is basically very good, but there are some negative points that I find difficult to overlook.
    1. The performance is really bad for a PS5 exclusive game.
    The graphics are also not above average for a Final Fantasy/PS5 exclusive game. 2. the side missions are really soulless and boring. 3. That may be complaining on a high level, but I still noticed negatively that the lip    The game is basically very good, but there are some negative points that I find difficult to overlook.
    1. The performance is really bad for a PS5 exclusive game.
    The graphics are also not above average for a Final Fantasy/PS5 exclusive game.
    2. the side missions are really soulless and boring.
    3. That may be complaining on a high level, but I still noticed negatively that the lip synchro is not very good, regardless of the language. This is especially noticeable in NPC conversations.    … Expand
  48. Craxk
    Jun 23, 2023
    5
    After the exceptional Demo, the game had a solid start.
    The combat was fun and the cut scenes are good, but the story falls off for around the last third of the game.
    The main quest takes all the worst parts of Final Fantasy XIV and puts fetch quests in as filler, The side quests are bland fetch quests with little to no rewards and the rewards you actually do get are useless, and despite    After the exceptional Demo, the game had a solid start.
    The combat was fun and the cut scenes are good, but the story falls off for around the last third of the game.
    The main quest takes all the worst parts of Final Fantasy XIV and puts fetch quests in as filler, The side quests are bland fetch quests with little to no rewards and the rewards you actually do get are useless, and despite the world opening up later in the game it is empty with nothing in it being worth your time.    … Expand
  49. TimmonsXCI
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    Is it a Final Fantasy game, or is it a hack and slash just branded Final Fantasy? The game seems to walk a fine sketchy line where it can't decide on what kind of game it wants to be.
  50. bonnieloup
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Fantastic combat and even more fantastic storyline. A total new vision for Final Fantasy which is worth trying and embrace.… Expand
  51. Pickle43
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    A Final Fantasy with gorgeous environments and fun combat marred by ugly npc models, questionable world building and a predictable story.
  52. K0bino
    Jun 24, 2023
    5
    13 hours in.
    -Sidequest are chores I don't mind too much, I'm sure most would hate -story is solid and suspenseful (so far) -combat is made for experimenting, as simple as it is, at first -graphics are AMAZING Highly recommend for action gamers and people who have held off Final Fantasy since 10, it's definitely worth checking out.
  53. tonberry_ftw
    Jun 29, 2023
    5
    It was definitely better than FF13 and FF15. I'm actually ok with the new changes that they have implemented, but I think among FF series, it had some of the least interesting characters. I feel like overall story progression gets less and less interesting as you near the end, and meaningless subquests also make things worse. Overall, I would think it's not bad, but not great either, butIt was definitely better than FF13 and FF15. I'm actually ok with the new changes that they have implemented, but I think among FF series, it had some of the least interesting characters. I feel like overall story progression gets less and less interesting as you near the end, and meaningless subquests also make things worse. Overall, I would think it's not bad, but not great either, but that's just my opinion.… Expand
  54. JoeSaw
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Is too much just for the ps5 engine. Maybe should be OK in a computer with a good graphic card or for the xbox series X that is absolutely more powerful than ps5.
    De verdad que hay mucho fan poniéndole un 10 a un juego de 6 o 7 como mucho. A la ps5 para verlo a tope se le queda grande. Sobrevalorado, aunque estará en mi colección porque soy fan de la saga. Pero nada más.
  55. Dragdos
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Bom, minha review é essa aqui, sobre o jogo, ele tem uma historia maravilhosa, eu pessoalmente fiquei chateado no final, agora sobre a gameplay, o jogo tem vários problemas, queda de fps é um deles, mas pra min o pior é que o jogo não tem mecânica de fraqueza elemental nem no ng+, um game que cada summon tem um elemento especifico não ter uma programação de fraqueza elemental, isso éBom, minha review é essa aqui, sobre o jogo, ele tem uma historia maravilhosa, eu pessoalmente fiquei chateado no final, agora sobre a gameplay, o jogo tem vários problemas, queda de fps é um deles, mas pra min o pior é que o jogo não tem mecânica de fraqueza elemental nem no ng+, um game que cada summon tem um elemento especifico não ter uma programação de fraqueza elemental, isso é lamentável até por ser JRPG, as missões secundarias são uma perda de tempo, sem proposito algum, o jogo praticamente não tem mecânicas de buff e debuff, em exceção uns itens que aumentam o ataque ou defesa por alguns segundos, e os inimigos são muito, mas muito buchas de dano, a IA dos inimigos é horrorosa, até no ng+ os inimigos são muito maçantes de se enfrentar, quando se chega no ng+ demora muito pra subir de nível e pegar todas as habilidades, além de que para craftar a ultima weapon, que é a melhor arma do jogo, você so vai conseguir perto do final do ng+, daqui para lá você já não aguenta mais jogar o jogo, por que como so tem o Clive jogável ele fica muito repetitivo, para quem terminar o jogo, vai sentir falta de um pós game e umas Boss Secrets como no FF X. O jogo é bom para quem vai so zerar uma vez, já para quem vai se aprofundar no game é bom ter ciência dos problemas, eu recomendo fortemente que comprem o jogo daqui a seis meses numa promoção, caso esteja no hype pela história, recomendo ver pelo youtube, ele não chega a valer tanto 300 Reais ou 70 Dólares como um Elden Ring ou um Final Fantasy VII Remake.… Expand
  56. Lasrmiller19
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Strays way to far from the rpg model if we wanted action games we'd buy them not final fantasy this was the worst final fantasy i ever played the director should never be allowed near final fantasy again
  57. jddgsd
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Please for the love of god play the demo first and dont let them tell you that it is any different than that and then you make your decision whether you want to play a movie or a game. This is literally point A to point B there is not even an effort to tell you otherwise. The story is great but the game is a INTERACTIVE MOVIE please dont waste your 80 FREAKING DOLLARS on this unless youPlease for the love of god play the demo first and dont let them tell you that it is any different than that and then you make your decision whether you want to play a movie or a game. This is literally point A to point B there is not even an effort to tell you otherwise. The story is great but the game is a INTERACTIVE MOVIE please dont waste your 80 FREAKING DOLLARS on this unless you like playing a movie. IGN said akin to God of War they have been deleted from my shortcut list.… Expand
  58. fangsandflames3
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    Easily best game of the year. Excellent story, beautiful graphics, outstanding music, and fun combat that you can customize.
  59. Sufiyah13
    Jun 25, 2023
    5
    It's so pathetic that people are review bombing this simply because it's a PlayStation exclusive. If you have an issue with exclusives then find a more productive way of fighting that but don't **** on a specific game.

    I preordered and played through about 2 hours of it so far and it's phenomenal! Not a fan of button mashing games but with something that's delivering such a visually    It's so pathetic that people are review bombing this simply because it's a PlayStation exclusive. If you have an issue with exclusives then find a more productive way of fighting that but don't **** on a specific game.

    I preordered and played through about 2 hours of it so far and it's phenomenal! Not a fan of button mashing games but with something that's delivering such a visually impressive experience, a hard hitting story and awesome gameplay, I'm willing to let my fingers bleed a little. Overall i think its so awesome to have a less than 30 hour option in a sea of 100+ hour games, that's on such a high caliber. Maybe I'll even go back and play the previous final fantasy games after if i get the time.    … Expand
  60. Shadowninja1605
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    Absolutely incredible!!, an amazing game from start to finish, with great writing, captivating characters, and fluent and flashy combat
  61. Darkaar
    Jun 26, 2023
    5
    Cons.

    No rpg mechanics. Horrible side quests. Tedious animations you see a 100 times. Poor performance in both modes. The game forcefully slows the player down by having the weirdest sprint mechanic plus no sprinting in towns. No exploration, it's a complete waste of time. Crafting system is pointless. Most characters are bland/boring. No party system. Voice acting is hit or miss. Pros.    Cons.

    No rpg mechanics.
    Horrible side quests.
    Tedious animations you see a 100 times.
    Poor performance in both modes.
    The game forcefully slows the player down by having the weirdest sprint mechanic plus no sprinting in towns.
    No exploration, it's a complete waste of time.
    Crafting system is pointless.
    Most characters are bland/boring.
    No party system.
    Voice acting is hit or miss.

    Pros.

    Combat is fun. (way to easy tho)
    Story is decent.
    Music is decent.
    Set pieces are amazing.

    Overall the game is mid with an okay story and combat    … Expand
  62. Maxon75
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    80€ pour un film, c’est cher ! L’histoire est pas mal mais niveau gameplay c’est zéro ! Je ne comprends pas comment on peut faire un jeu aussi vide en 6 ans de développement…Dommage
  63. Dumeta
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    Pro:
    -Combat is enjoyable mostly at Bosses and Hunts
    -Over the Top Eikon Fights are a nice spectable, really well designed cinematic wise -Like the Idea of the active time lore -Soundtrack overall very strong, like expected of a ff as a fan Neutral -Going for a dark and mature Story, and trys to deliever it. -Framerate goes down few times, Grafik and Animations sometimes topnotch    Pro:
    -Combat is enjoyable mostly at Bosses and Hunts
    -Over the Top Eikon Fights are a nice spectable, really well designed cinematic wise
    -Like the Idea of the active time lore
    -Soundtrack overall very strong, like expected of a ff as a fan

    Neutral
    -Going for a dark and mature Story, and trys to deliever it.
    -Framerate goes down few times, Grafik and Animations sometimes topnotch like cutscenes and sometimes felt outdated not polished.

    Negativ:
    -Combat in my opinion get repetetiv, especially against standart mobs and repeatable Minibosses.
    -Story has not hooked me sadly, missing a lot a full fleshed out Party, more memorable Characters, i didn´t connected really with the World.
    -I would prefere the Game would offer more Itemvarity/usefull Items and Gear, even if its a actrion-rpg now, hoped it would not dropped all those aspects beforehand.
    -Would have liked more good designed sidecontent, like more postgame quests, hidden areas or superbosses instead of a ng+ replay.
    -The World and Area fells somehow lifeless (not much going on), missing too more "big" citys. Often a highlight in Jrpg for me.

    For what i am looking, this Final Fantasy has sadly many for me imortant points missed.
    The Story and trip saved it for me, at least i got in some Characters more attached after time and had some surprising twists, that im here for personally.    … Expand
  64. ako005
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    The plot is incomplete, the characterization is lacking, and the ending is disgusting. The game system is boring and there is no desire to delve into it. Most of the funds are spent on the summoned beast battle scene, and the rest is very perfunctory.
  65. behola
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    A series of cutscenes inferior to those in B-movies, monotonous battles, and boring mini-games that are only flashy. It is a boring game that cannot be enjoyed either as a visual work or as a game. It is a work worthy of its creator, who looks like a delinquent child.
  66. Miguel9494
    Jun 27, 2023
    5
    Me gusta la jugabilidad y la forma de los personajes , las gráficas son excelentes que no se compara a los anteriores final fantasy
  67. yatoff7
    Jun 28, 2023
    5
    Increible el sistema de combate, la historia 10/10 sinceramente de las mejores historias de un videojuego puede ofrecer. Si fixean lo del rendimiento del juego y den la opcion de quitar el motion blur.
  68. BLUECRUSH
    Jun 28, 2023
    5
    apart from the fact that it's not the typical FF experience for me, i have to say that the performance of the game is an absolute impertinence. 30 fps quality mode I can not do to me, everything is blurry when you move times, the combat system is also not good. the performance mode is not even a performance mode. and then 720p on top to 60 at least in combat to be able to hold? last thereapart from the fact that it's not the typical FF experience for me, i have to say that the performance of the game is an absolute impertinence. 30 fps quality mode I can not do to me, everything is blurry when you move times, the combat system is also not good. the performance mode is not even a performance mode. and then 720p on top to 60 at least in combat to be able to hold? last there are still people with the console overheats, which has not happened to me fortunately after 19hrs yet. if everything is fixed I'm happy to reconsider my rating. in the current state not reasonable.… Expand
  69. Auriss
    Jun 28, 2023
    5
    This game is not worth the money spent to buy it and not even the time spent to play it.
    We’re talking about a totally unsatisfactory combat system. The difficulty of each fight is reduced to dodge the enemy’s shots and throw spells at each CD since there are no MP to consume but only CDs to have to wait, in the meantime you can freely hit sword.
    The videos are intrusive and present at    This game is not worth the money spent to buy it and not even the time spent to play it.
    We’re talking about a totally unsatisfactory combat system. The difficulty of each fight is reduced to dodge the enemy’s shots and throw spells at each CD since there are no MP to consume but only CDs to have to wait, in the meantime you can freely hit sword.
    The videos are intrusive and present at every step (literally). The intensity of the videos is zero, since the graphics are not beautiful (definitely far from current gen graphics) the facial expressions of the characters are almost absent and leads you to immediately get bored.
    The only thing I save is the plot, but can a plot be worth 80€? I don’t think so.
    FFXVI is far from being as beautiful as the most famous previous chapters.    … Expand
  70. ronchalant
    Jun 28, 2023
    5
    It's an absolutely beautiful game, and the story itself is fairly good. That said, I really want to enjoy this more, but there are too many nagging problems. Mainly: it's a lot of cutscenes and locked dialogue with periodic action and gameplay. If you just want a story then I think you'll enjoy it, but I prefer games that tell a story - not stories that occasionally let you run the mainIt's an absolutely beautiful game, and the story itself is fairly good. That said, I really want to enjoy this more, but there are too many nagging problems. Mainly: it's a lot of cutscenes and locked dialogue with periodic action and gameplay. If you just want a story then I think you'll enjoy it, but I prefer games that tell a story - not stories that occasionally let you run the main character from place to place. Skill Up claimed the game was 75% cutscenes, and while I think that's a slight exaggeration, it's not that far off. And much of the "action" is moving from one place to another, battling minor groups of enemies who pose no threat.

    The enemies are redundant and far too easy. You can make it more interesting by mixing up your style and rotating different kinds of attacks, but aside from bosses and "cinematic mode button selection" I honestly think I could beat the game just using the basic attack over and over.

    Others may find these non-issues, and if you enjoy the game by all means have at it. I rather wish I could get my money back.    … Expand
  71. nunokalhau
    Jun 30, 2023
    5
    I love the story, some visuals, and I accept that the action is great, even though I don't like action heavy games that much. That being said, some details on why I'm on the fence:

    Story: Its really good, but sometimes I can't help but feeling that they added a lot of spam just to make the game longer. I really don't understand why people are praising the side quests as well, so far the    I love the story, some visuals, and I accept that the action is great, even though I don't like action heavy games that much. That being said, some details on why I'm on the fence:

    Story: Its really good, but sometimes I can't help but feeling that they added a lot of spam just to make the game longer. I really don't understand why people are praising the side quests as well, so far the side ones I did didn't have anything to add to the story that I personally value.

    Visuals: yeah, combat is great and all with a lot of details. Running on a LG C2 TV, I can't help but feeling that sometimes all the details get mushed together along with the motion blur and it looks like sh*t. When it doesn't it looks good. Some environments are lacking "life" or some details. I feel that some locations got more attention than others.

    Gameplay: uff, you know what I really hate the most? when we return some items to a NPC... first we need to select the items, and then we need to press confirm... and there's always that small delay when delivering stuff and the quest actually completing, I just started skipping all this **** And people complained about unskippable merlin trials...

    I'm probably around mid game now: so far only crafted 1 (!!!!) sword, I rarely take notice on what I'm picking up, rarely go to see the items I have to equip, rarely look at the abilities or stats... there's just no point in caring about these systems.

    I'm playing on normal, but I don't like fast action games (or I'm not mentally able to play these anymore), so unfortunately either I use that ring that gives "auto attack" by spamming square (also the dodge ring) , or I'll just need to learn how to play the game like a pro: I don't want to neither do I have the time for that. With that said, my playstyle is like the following:

    watch movie > run straight > spam square > occasionally press R1 > repeat

    Not enough depth for me, but again, main story has been really good so far.    … Expand
  72. JackMoschet
    Jun 30, 2023
    5
    Do not take the rating on this site seriously. Whether it's 0 or 10, multiple of these entries mention giving the game a misleading score to amplify their side of the discussion. In fact, there's a ton more 10s doing that than 0s. I finished the game yesterday, and here's the meat of some advice: Final Fantasy fans, this isn't Final Fantasy. If you're going in hoping the series kept muchDo not take the rating on this site seriously. Whether it's 0 or 10, multiple of these entries mention giving the game a misleading score to amplify their side of the discussion. In fact, there's a ton more 10s doing that than 0s. I finished the game yesterday, and here's the meat of some advice: Final Fantasy fans, this isn't Final Fantasy. If you're going in hoping the series kept much of anything from it's previous games, you'll be majorly disappointed. It's mostly a brand new series in the ice cream cone, with some FF sprinkles. New players: go for it. You probably don't care about honoring the series or holding it to standards the developers have abandoned. It's fast, flashy, and dark. That's very popular right now, and you'll probably enjoy it. As an FF game, I'd give it a 4. As a new IP, I'd give it a 7. I picked 5, because haters and lovers alike are being utterly bias with their reviews. It's a bit of a sell out move by Square Enix, but some people don't care. It all depends on what you enjoy, and what an honest series means to you.… Expand
  73. gggeist
    Jul 1, 2023
    5
    Reading all the reviews talking about this being a mature FF game is wild. The story definitely falls short in a lot of aspects. This game is an identity crisis for FF. Still kind of fun though I guess.
  74. SilentDoc
    Jul 2, 2023
    5
    Great game, just not a final fantasy. A missed oportunity in my opinion. Technically excellent, interesting story, but 0 reward for exploration, 0 motivation to get items for equipment, non challenging combats...
  75. Ahglock
    Jul 1, 2023
    5
    It looks good, but that is where the positives end IMO. The game play is shallow and far too easy, the story is dark but not particularly good or deep, the characters are not compelling, and the cut scenes are far too frequent. If you want flash with no substance this is the game for you.
  76. EightEyes
    Jul 2, 2023
    5
    I'm new to the Final Fantasy series, and this game was fun in some parts. I liked the combat and story okay, but I felt like it could be better. So, I got excited knowing there's at least 15 other entries. Maybe they did the combat/story in a way I'd like better. I did some research, and whoa, seriously, the people saying this entry is "not Final Fantasy" weren't kidding. None of the gamesI'm new to the Final Fantasy series, and this game was fun in some parts. I liked the combat and story okay, but I felt like it could be better. So, I got excited knowing there's at least 15 other entries. Maybe they did the combat/story in a way I'd like better. I did some research, and whoa, seriously, the people saying this entry is "not Final Fantasy" weren't kidding. None of the games are like this one. I'd hate it if my favorite series changed that much. I guess 15(?) is kind of like this one, faster and stuff, but from the videos I saw, 16 definitely doesn't match the others. Keep that in mind if you want to give this series (and this game) a chance.… Expand
  77. LeafAdam
    Jul 2, 2023
    5
    A flashy fighting system where you can't see anything from the amount of effects and b
    and damage numbers.
    Everything else is the bare minimum --> in the game there is no reason to do side(fetch)quests or "explore", collect items or anything. Beautiful though, but that doesn't redeem it. It was hard to finish, halfway through I realised I'm bored... I'm playing A Final Fantasy and I'm    A flashy fighting system where you can't see anything from the amount of effects and b
    and damage numbers.
    Everything else is the bare minimum --> in the game there is no reason to do side(fetch)quests or "explore", collect items or anything. Beautiful though, but that doesn't redeem it. It was hard to finish, halfway through I realised I'm bored... I'm playing A Final Fantasy and I'm bored and waiting for it to end.    … Expand
  78. Acsid
    Jul 3, 2023
    5
    I was so hyped up for this game, the only reason I bought a PS5...
    With just about 95 hours into the game after exploring, grinding, I'm level 50, completed all the side quests and memory board.
    First instinct was to watch every cut scene to get the whole story, But D*mn... There's just SOOOO many. What happened to old style Final Fantasy,? The kind that started the whole thing... Parties,    I was so hyped up for this game, the only reason I bought a PS5...
    With just about 95 hours into the game after exploring, grinding, I'm level 50, completed all the side quests and memory board.
    First instinct was to watch every cut scene to get the whole story, But D*mn... There's just SOOOO many.
    What happened to old style Final Fantasy,?
    The kind that started the whole thing...
    Parties, exploration, dungeons
    The combat is ok, just ok.
    The camera angles are really bad during the fight, and without a mini map (a small complaint) your pulling to the world map to see what direction your wound up facing after a fight. Minor annoyance, but it's there.
    What we end up with is basically an interactive movie unless you do the (mostly sadly lacking) side quests.
    At this point I'm at the end, the final battle? And I skip cut scenes, fast forward through dialogue.
    It's such a slog...
    Is it a good game? Yes indeed it is, Is it a great game? (Like most people believe)?
    Nah...
    Definitely not the "game of the year" Disappointing    … Expand
  79. dasregal
    Jul 3, 2023
    5
    It's missing a lot of what one might expect of an FF game, but that's not really its biggest flaw. It just retreads ideas from FFXIV way too closely and fails to wrap up the narrative in an interesting way. Didn't feel worth my time or money in the end.
  80. Alisan1379
    Jul 7, 2023
    5
    This game is an amazing experience, an story that have been written so well combined with a great gameplay that is getting bigger , more exciting..., and a fantastic music by (soken)
    And actually game is 60fps , and has a good side quest that make you understand the world of the game better.after playing this game for 28 hour , I would say it's the best final fantasy series that I played,    This game is an amazing experience, an story that have been written so well combined with a great gameplay that is getting bigger , more exciting..., and a fantastic music by (soken)
    And actually game is 60fps , and has a good side quest that make you understand the world of the game better.after playing this game for 28 hour , I would say it's the best final fantasy series that I played, and it's my GOTY.❤️❤️    … Expand
  81. Scottkey
    Jul 12, 2023
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The end was so good, same thing for the boss battle, the story was great but sometimes i had some problème to understand… Expand
  82. emitrex
    Jul 12, 2023
    5
    Es un juego realmente excelente , una propuesta atrevida y arriesgada por parte de square Enix , es genial el sistema de batalla , los jefes son de una épica increíble , es una maravilla visualmente en ps5 , con tiempos de carga inexistentes y lo del árbol genealógico de los personajes , familias etc , es lo mejor para enterarte bien de la historia, y eso sin hablar de la banda sonora ,Es un juego realmente excelente , una propuesta atrevida y arriesgada por parte de square Enix , es genial el sistema de batalla , los jefes son de una épica increíble , es una maravilla visualmente en ps5 , con tiempos de carga inexistentes y lo del árbol genealógico de los personajes , familias etc , es lo mejor para enterarte bien de la historia, y eso sin hablar de la banda sonora , una de las mejores de toda la saga , es sin duda bel final fantasy más maduro.… Expand
  83. straubsberry
    Jul 12, 2023
    5
    The issue with diversity does unfortunately reign true in this game. However, in every other aspect, I find it truly incredible. I hope that in the future the issues of characters fitting only one demographic will be fixed, and that I can rate a wonderful game without having to make mention of an issue we shouldn’t still be having.
  84. Sbhu
    Jul 17, 2023
    5
    The story was so hard to get through and I miss the more traditional RPG elements. Won’t be preordering this series anymore.
  85. Insert_Carrot
    Jul 20, 2023
    5
    Final Fantasy 16 is not a bad game, but it's also not a good game, and crucially, it's everything I don't want from a FF game. Bloated cut scenes, shallow combat, minimal and essentially pointless RPG elements such as leveling up and weapon upgrades and a boring story filled with too many characters that I do not care about.

    On a positive note, the game runs well, it's a very pretty    Final Fantasy 16 is not a bad game, but it's also not a good game, and crucially, it's everything I don't want from a FF game. Bloated cut scenes, shallow combat, minimal and essentially pointless RPG elements such as leveling up and weapon upgrades and a boring story filled with too many characters that I do not care about.

    On a positive note, the game runs well, it's a very pretty game and the music is excellent. In fact the music might be my favourite thing about it. Can't fault it. But that's about all the nice things I have to say about the game.

    The gameplay loop for much of this game is as follows; run along an empty corridor for a few minutes heading in the direction of a way point, get to waypoint, cut scene begins. Cut scene lasts for ten minutes and has zero interactive elements. Control is returned so you can smush a handful of pathetically weak baddies and one tank who is also easy, but takes ages to kill... all of this is dealt with by hammering the square button, interspersed with the occasional dodge or use of special power... then back to hammering square while you wait for your special abilities to recharge. Then you get another corridor or cut scene. Rinse and repeat ad nauseum.

    Cut scenes consist of weirdly stiff and awkward character animations, poor camera framing, and bland, overly written dialogue with very little substance. I think the worst thing about the cliched dialogue is how smug it all feels. Bloated, cliche-riddled pseudo-poetic nonsense. Characters you barely know will go on and on about their tedious backstory for way, way too long while stirring music builds in an effort to force you to feel some sort of emotion or connection, with all the subtlety of a brick to the face. Most of the cut scenes in this game are like having somebody grab you by the shoulders whilst screaming "feel something!" directly into your face. I can't say that I appreciated it.

    It's a forgettable story about warring nations, magical crystals (seriously Squenix, you can stop with the crystals at this point) and a band of rugged heroes battling to save the people by murdering the **** out of a whole lot of people. It's a bit more complicated than that, but not by a lot. Game of Thrones comparisons can be found all over the internet, probably because of all the scenes with olde worlde maps and little pieces representing armies being moved around by various factions, cut scenes prefaced with "meanwhile, in a far away land..." showing the game's numerous two-dimensional cartoonishly simplistic villains chuckling evilly whilst discussing their painfully dull plans for world domination and power mongering... things of this nature litter the game. Honestly calling it a game feels misleading as so much of it is just watching cut scenes.

    There are a million other things that I could rant about (the side quests, item collection, upgrades and leveling, the number of times the game hands control back to you just so that you can press a button or two only to be dRaGgEd BaCk InTo MORE cUt ScEnEs... my god) but I'll refrain. I can't say that I truly hated FF16, because it's a pretty game that functions as intended, and it's obviously well liked by a lot of people, but I was bored whilst playing it and now, reflecting back on it, I'm sad. I really, really wanted to like this game, but I just didn't. I'm probably getting grumpy with old age, perhaps my soul is dying. Who knows? All I know is that I did not connect with this game on any level, and I'm bummed about it. All of the crazy people giving this bland and shallow nonsense a perfect score... I wish I was there with you, drinking the Kool Aid and having a grand old time, but I'm not. I'm going to pour myself some hard brown liquor and maybe download some of those shiny remasters of the first six FF games and play those instead, and pray to the gaming gods that I haven't gotten so old and bitter that I can't enjoy those anymore either. Fingers crossed.    … Expand
  86. Coralpearlz
    Jul 23, 2023
    5
    Fine action-game, but it's barely even an RPG/JRPG and feels ashamed to be an Final Fantasy title at times.
  87. Thiccbob
    Jul 23, 2023
    5
    First of all, I think people should wait until they actually finish the game before rating the game a 10 or a 0 after only 6 hours of gameplay. So, I'm a lifelong Final Fantasy fan, since first playing FFX as a kid. So it pains me to give this game such a low score. I thought the series had hit rock bottom with 15, and maybe it technically had, and while the two are very different, I feelFirst of all, I think people should wait until they actually finish the game before rating the game a 10 or a 0 after only 6 hours of gameplay. So, I'm a lifelong Final Fantasy fan, since first playing FFX as a kid. So it pains me to give this game such a low score. I thought the series had hit rock bottom with 15, and maybe it technically had, and while the two are very different, I feel like both of them are a low point in the series.

    Tl;dr version: The game has incredibly flashy if repetitive combat, with the exception of the eikon fights which are the best parts of the game. The story gets interesting at times, but dull characters don't help make this straightforward story stand out. It's alright as a one time play through, but I don't think it will leave much of a positive impact on the franchise. It will probably go down as a very dull entry in the series.

    Longer version: The demo had me hooked on the game, especially with the way it ended. However, that demo hid the worst parts of the game: the pacing and by extension, the side quests. In between the highs of the eikon fights, which are a lot of fun and very flashy, are dull parts where you return to the hideaway and get bossed around by Mid or go around running inane errands for some random npc, even though I'm supposed to be the leader of their whole resistance, but whatever. The side quests are also basically just that. Dull fetch quests, with dull npcs. Sometimes they are interesting, but after running around delivering apples, it was clear they were going to be like that the entire game.

    As for the story, it can definitely be confusing at times. The game has a compendium where you can look up terms, people, and places, but until those places or people become major players in the story (which is like halfway through, since the first half focuses on like 2 or 3 kingdoms out of the 6 in the game) their roles in the game's world are kind of confusing. In the final leg of the game, you get an NPC, Vivian, and she has a map and goes through and explains each kingdom's motivations and what exactly they are doing at that point of the game, which is incredibly helpful, it's just a shame nobody does earlier in the game. But that leads me to my next point. Most of the characters are just so dull and they don't really feel that special. I liked Byron and Cid, but everyone else, even Clive himself, are just kind of boring. I've never cared less for characters in a Final Fantasy game than in 15. At least 15 had some cool DLC to flesh out their main cast. You get a glimpse of the main enemy after you get the first eikon, and I thought there would be more interesting developments, but there wasn't really. Yoshida's involvement was so hyped so maybe I was just spoiled by 14's amazing story, although that game had over a decade to develop its plot with amazing plot twists. There's also a lot of stuff that was interesting but never explored, like what about the lands outside of Storm and Ash? Why is Leviathan not there? What the heck happened to the Fallen?

    And then, finally, the combat. It's incredibly flashy and cool looking, but the game seems to boil down to: press R1 to doge, hit an enemy until they stagger, then use all your cooldowns at once, repeat. You get many eikon abilities, but you will mostly use phoenix and ifrit abilities the whole game, and near the end once you get Odin, Zantetsuken makes every non-boss enemy a joke. Some eikon abilities feel straight up useless, like Ramuh and Shiva. There are "Eikonic vulnerabilities" which are elemental weaknesses essentially, but it's so inconsequential that you won't even notice they are weaknesses. They also went the FF14 route where you can use fire magic on fire enemies, etc which I felt was weird. Things like weapons, armor, accessories, crafting, and leveling up felt almost entirely pointless. I used like the same 2 accessories the whole game, potion healing up and the one where dodging increases damage from attacks. Things like +10 defense or attack felt like they made no difference, and neither did any new equipment or leveling up. You unlock trials throughout the game which force you to use certain eikons, but I didn't love the combat, so I didn't finish them all. There are hunts which are a nice challenge if you are under leveled. It's a shame because I feel FF7R had the perfect balance of action RPG and classic turn based RPG elements, but they decided to go for style over subtstance with this game.

    Overall it's not terrible, but I just don't see any lasting appeal with this game. After I beat the game, I just had no desire to play it. Like ever again. I spoke with a few people who also bought the game, and they feel pretty much the same way I do. It's fun at first but really overstays it's welcome.    … Expand
  88. Fetpro
    Jul 28, 2023
    5
    Un très beau final fantasy dans tout ce qu'il y a de graphique, technologie et une très bonne story comparé à l'opus précédent qui été vraiment bâclé. Cependant il manque quelque chose pour être un vrai ff. J'ai fais le jeu car grand fan de la licence et il m 'as couté cher mais comparé aux autres je ne le ferais qu'une seule fois.
  89. melchior21
    Aug 6, 2023
    5
    I wanted to love this game. I've been a longtime fan of the series. Final Fantasy 7 remains my favorite game of all time. It honestly pains me to see what the series has become.

    They have stripped away so much of what makes a Final Fantasy game a Final Fantasy game. And for what? They announced that we don't like turn-based or ATB combat anymore, that the series was "too sci-fi", etc.    I wanted to love this game. I've been a longtime fan of the series. Final Fantasy 7 remains my favorite game of all time. It honestly pains me to see what the series has become.

    They have stripped away so much of what makes a Final Fantasy game a Final Fantasy game. And for what? They announced that we don't like turn-based or ATB combat anymore, that the series was "too sci-fi", etc. That's all news to me, because those were all the things I loved about the series. I loved the cyberpunk or steampunk settings of 7, 8, 10, and 13. FFX had the best combat in the series IMO. But we apparently don't like those things anymore.

    And apparently we don't like good storytelling either. I feel like I'm going insane when I see the praise for this story. Have the standards for narrative fallen so far? These writers have never heard of "show, don't tell". Because half the story is quite literally told through Active Time Lore. And the rest of it is ridiculously heavy handed and dumbed down. DO YOU GET IT? PEOPLE TREAT BEARERS LIKE SECOND CLASS CITIZENS? DO YOU GET IT?!??!?

    Hire an actual writer or two. The pacing of the narrative is horrific. So many of the sidequests are pure bloat and could have been cut entirely. The side quests that are all worthwhile and actually add to character depth and narrative occur in the last few hours of the game, long after you might have stopped caring. Put those side quests earlier in the game. There were so many narrative hits that didn't resonate because I was *told* to care about these characters when I should have been *shown*. That's what the great games of this series did so well. We cared when events happened in 7 and 10 because those characters were developed and we got those narrative bits. In FFXVI, we read Active Time Lore and get told about various things we should care about.

    Story isn't the only thing that has suffered relative to previous games in the series. There are about 10 different enemies in this game, all with the same attacks. Compare that to the bestiary of 7 or 8. We're going backwards. Combat is laughably easy, and there is nothing that qualifies as a super boss that ranks with the likes of Emerald/Ruby Weapon, Nemesis, Penance, Ozma, etc.

    This is literally half of a Final Fantasy game and people are praising it to high heaven. To each their own I guess. I just feel like we should be adding to what has been established, not stripping away content. I don't even think this is the best RPG released in the last two years. Star Ocean Divine Force was unironically better with 1/10th of the budget.    … Expand
  90. Tjprez
    Aug 14, 2023
    5
    I just finished the game and honestly, it was just brutal to get through. I skipped almost all of the story cut scenes after a while because of how boring and invested I was in what was going on. Please bring back ones with open world exploration, secrets and side quest that aren't just me chasing around and collecting things. Have me unlock characters and create my own party. These gamesI just finished the game and honestly, it was just brutal to get through. I skipped almost all of the story cut scenes after a while because of how boring and invested I was in what was going on. Please bring back ones with open world exploration, secrets and side quest that aren't just me chasing around and collecting things. Have me unlock characters and create my own party. These games just aren't fun anymore and this probably my last one that I will buy.… Expand
  91. northstarraven
    Aug 22, 2023
    5
    I was excited at first, but then I was met with cut-scene after cut-scene. Foul mouth, and out of place voice acting. The quests were MMO busy body quests. The game was linear and basically Devil may cry with summons. They took way to much influence from Game of Thrones. Performance mode ran terrible. Looks pixelated in battles. Made me second guess my PS5 purchase.
  92. Aceball
    Aug 28, 2023
    5
    How the mighty have fallen, I used to be crazy about final fantasy games but this is the worst of the lot, story is very game of thrones, combat is button mashing and there are far too many cutscenes, it's an empty shell of what a final fantasy game should be.

    When you start it just doesn't feel like a final fantasy game, after a while the boss fights really ramp up and the combat is alot    How the mighty have fallen, I used to be crazy about final fantasy games but this is the worst of the lot, story is very game of thrones, combat is button mashing and there are far too many cutscenes, it's an empty shell of what a final fantasy game should be.

    When you start it just doesn't feel like a final fantasy game, after a while the boss fights really ramp up and the combat is alot more engaging although it just doesn't feel like final fantasy.

    From ff 1 until ff10 ff games had a staple ingredient, an engaging party, deep story, everyone in your party had their own character and a deep story, you synergised with your party. The only thing they did right was the deep story even if it was a bit of a game of thrones rip off It's ok saying every ff game needs to be different but you still need the same basic ingredients to make it an ff game, If this is the way ff games are going I will save my money when 17 comes out.

    Whatever happened to square? I mean the game is largely successful but the difference is ff16 will be forgotten about in 2 or 3 years, ff 7 8 9 and 10 are still talked about more than 20 years later.

    Take a good look at baldurs gate 3, ok yes of course it's an entirely different type of game but what i mean is its very very different from bg 1 and 2 but has kept the basic ingredients that made the originals great, that's why it's 96%, this is currently 87%.

    87% is a good score but that's the difference between good and great.

    It's not 1998 now, we wait 7 years to get a new ff game, 1 doesn't come ever year, we wait 7 years and they release this devil may cry with ff summons and flashy graphics.    … Expand
  93. AtariPup
    Aug 29, 2023
    5
    I’ve played more than half of the final fantasy games and this one is my favorite. I didn’t want it to be over and I’m still sad that I’m done with the game now, like 6 weeks after I finished it. It’s an incredible game. The story is beautiful. The characters are special and wonderful and the graphics are brilliant. I’m not into the mechanics - I love the story and consider myself a casualI’ve played more than half of the final fantasy games and this one is my favorite. I didn’t want it to be over and I’m still sad that I’m done with the game now, like 6 weeks after I finished it. It’s an incredible game. The story is beautiful. The characters are special and wonderful and the graphics are brilliant. I’m not into the mechanics - I love the story and consider myself a casual player and if you select story mode they give you accessories to be able to skip the technical stuff of the battles. There is something here for everyone. I also love that they reduced the male gaze quite a bit and additionally they gave us some major eye candy with Clive. Thanks for remembering that women play games too SE! Anyway - Best game ever.… Expand
  94. jaggerjacks
    Sep 5, 2023
    5
    Final Fantasy 16 has honorable qualities. But I feel it's the most overrated game of 2023. Most of its flaws (and it has many) would never have been tolerated on a game called "Fall of Crystals" and designed by a random studio.

    I love the work that Noaki Yoshida and his teams have done on Final Fantasy 14, but my admiration for them shouldn't blind me to criticism.
  95. jinnbapho
    Sep 8, 2023
    5
    Boss fights were cinematic, but the story and side missions become a slog very quick. Absolutely 0 RPG elements as well. No real customization or loot at all.
  96. Talitor
    Jul 18, 2023
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a huge fan of the series, this entry was yet another letdown. I'll try to go through it as short as possible as pros and cons:

    The pros:
    -Very good graphics, although performance isn't great. I'd recommend going for the 'graphics' mode, since the 'performance' one can't hold a stable framerate to save your life. It's really jarring to look at.
    -Stylish combat, although it does get pretty repetitive by the half-point
    -A lot of "content" (which is also a con, more on the quotation marks on the 'cons')
    -High production value, with decent voice acting. You can tell the game was made with good hardware and talented people.
    -A few memorable boss fights

    The cons:
    -The story. It's actually quite interesting when you look at the setpieces, but the execution simply doesn't hold up. The pacing is very poor, and after fairly surprising first good two hours the story takes a backseat, and all the filler content starts taking place. Also, the game pulls a massive "your princess is in another castle" by capturing the female lead not one, not two, but three freaking times. It got old the second time.

    -The music. I didn't expect to be so disappointed by FF soundtrack, but I honestly cannot remember any tracks of this game, and music was always very important part for me about these games. The music is simply not memorable nor particularly noticable, but rather that epic orchestra which is just backing up the fights and the scenes.

    -The content. There is a lot to be had, with the main story easily taking close to 20 hours. Add another 20 for all the hunts, side-quests and another playthrough with possibly harder difficulties. The issue here is that the content is mostly not interesting. The side-quests are often XIV-style (you know, the MMORPG of the series) styled fetch quests with plots that actually don't provide for interesting stories to tell, but rather VERY generic stuff.

    -The dialogue. This one is probably related to the content as well, but the dialogue is written in a manner where everything has this weird, very slow pace which seems to question the intelligence of the listener. This goes as far as to have some incredibly cheesy, corny lines (which isn't that unusual in the series, but here they went way overboard). The dynamic between characters is like something generated by two robots without any real emotions, other than the biggest emotional parts of the game, which are at least voice acted well.

    -The UI is XIV copy.

    -The fighting. It actually feels like a lot to take in at first when they start introducing new Eikon abilities, but after getting a grasp of it all the battles run exactly the same without any real strategy. Despite being flashy, it feels almost as like a step up from FFXV: you do actually have to put more consideration into your inputs, but it simply isn't too interesting once you actually figure it out.

    -The Eikon battles. Now, I actually enjoyed the parts where you fight the Dominant before they turn into Eikon, but these battles seem to go on forever. You literally "slay" (the game even says so) the same boss 3 times. I get that these are supposed to be the main pull of the game, but surprisingly fighting as your own Eikon is pretty much the same stuff you do as Clive: but simply on a bigger scale. The principle is exactly the same.

    -The antagonist. There are quite a few, but only a single major one. The problem is that none of these have enough impact on your journey to actually make them interesting, and the game has a weird refusal to do unexpected things and kill off characters when they most definitely should have died. The antagonists simply are too weak, and I'm getting massive FFXII vibes here (and they are not good).

    -The leveling/character upgrades. The loot system is absolutely pointless, as you get the good upgrades regardless via gil that you get automatically (of which amount is also greatly inflated), and the upgrades are also extremely minimal (we're talking about a few %, which means like a couple of actual hits in a fight). The abilitiy upgrading is also doing very little to enhance the gameplay or give actual weight to the customisation. It is by far the simplest FF in regards to this.

    -The ending. I mean, it ended pretty much the way you expected from the very beginning of the game, but I was still expecting it to subvert these expectations. It actually ended up being even more simple form of the ending that was very predictable. It's a little bit emotional, but it fails to deliver on those high emotional notes the game is supposed to hit.

    Considering I was very disappointed with XII, XIII, XV and XVI, I feel sad to say this may have been the last time I buy FF title on launch. Call me nostalgic old fool, but the magic, the emotion, the joy and the fantastic atmosphere of the old dames is long gone. I believed the reviews, but after 100%'ing the game, I cannot believe the game has scored as high as it has    … Expand
  97. gun661
    Jun 24, 2023
    4
    It's sad to see they actually and purposefully tried to copy Games of Thrones' style. Especially in the case of Final Fantasy... that's even more disheartening than FF16's story itself. So many big games and other works of fiction try to copy that style nowadays. Because of this, it very much isn't a bold shift.

    To me, a "guy from the Europe", Final Fantasy 1-10 were great in offering    It's sad to see they actually and purposefully tried to copy Games of Thrones' style. Especially in the case of Final Fantasy... that's even more disheartening than FF16's story itself. So many big games and other works of fiction try to copy that style nowadays. Because of this, it very much isn't a bold shift.

    To me, a "guy from the Europe", Final Fantasy 1-10 were great in offering another point of view from another culture. Despite coming from the other side of the world, these stories hit close to home and inspired me to trust my friends and believe in kindness. I felt connected despite the cultural differences. "You're not alone", a central message of FF9. Final Fantasy games didn't intrigue me by trying to imitate western narratives about the disconnect and mistrust between people in an attempt to get larger market shares. Final Fantasy games were answers to the question of how to overcome mistrust.

    I don't get why so many think these grimdark stories are "mature" and "based more in reality". It's just as real and mature as pink fluffy unicorns, just the other way round. It's what 12-year boys hitting puberty might think of what "brutal grown-up stuff" is like. "Look at how tough I am, playing such a game." But even grown-up kids seem to buy into these stories full of mistrust, backstabbing, and needless violence. If these stories are deemed mainstream entertainment nowadays and (young) people start to believe that they imply "realism", oh boy, that's the real dark stuff of our societies taking the risk of going completely bonkers.

    I remember playing Doom when I was twelve. Man, I did feel badass. But it wasn't very mature. In contrast, Games of Thrones takes itself way more seriously and is carried by an edgy, cynical, almost neurotic interpretation of human society ruled by sociopaths that never really did grow up. You could argue that yes, that's social criticism, and yes, there are sociopaths running wild in contemporary politics. But that's not really entertaining. Just as the mentality that most other humans are evil, you "have to fight dirty" to "survive" and mistrust every other person, especially your nearest acquaintances, is neither an insightful nor a helpful moral of the story. It just builds upon another rather bleak ideology. Especially in the context of social criticism.

    I had hoped Square Enix would stay true to themselves instead of seeking similarity, reinventing themselves with a fresh and different take and a level of maturity on par with the old Final Fantasies - all way more mature, authentic, and profound than this installment.    … Expand
  98. Daniel_Campbell
    Jun 28, 2023
    4
    I'm super happy that most of the fanbase loves this game...but I honestly can't bring myself to like it.

    I was excited after seeing all of the positive buzz but I am super disappointed in the final product. It's like they have all of the ingredients except for one... Fun. The game is impressive and so many ways except for the gameplay. It could be some of the most bland and uninspired    I'm super happy that most of the fanbase loves this game...but I honestly can't bring myself to like it.

    I was excited after seeing all of the positive buzz but I am super disappointed in the final product. It's like they have all of the ingredients except for one... Fun. The game is impressive and so many ways except for the gameplay. It could be some of the most bland and uninspired trite I've ever encountered in a AAA game. The environments, music, SFX, ect. All that stuff is great... But, the actual game part sucks. Everything cool that happens in a fight is literally handled with a QTE. Like it's 2006 or something. There's entire boss fights that are 90% super long cutscenes with QTEs. I seriously have no idea what game all these reviewers were playing.

    And this is completely glossing over the fact that they give you these "cheat" items at the start of the game that completely trivialize combat. Items that automatically pull off the optimal combos, auto dodge attacks, auto heal you, etc. There's literally no incentive NOT to use them. At the start of the game they've ask you if you're okay with action, or if you'd rather just enjoy the story. Even if you pick "Action" they STILL give you the items. The story started off strong, VERY clearly trying to copy Game of Thrones. Hell, there's even a Dire Wolf that was "found on a journey from the northern region". But after a few hours it turns into Final Fantasy melodramatic drivel. Deaths mean nothing, huge plot holes, confusing character dialogue, etc.

    There are various "eras" of Square history. There's the 2D classics, the early 3D offerings, the "1000 spin-offs" era, and now we appear to be in the "VFX" era. I certainly hope you like sparks, smoke, explosions, and other various VFX. Because you're going to see them EVERYWHERE in combat. To the point where you can barely see what is happening on screen sometimes.

    Overall the game is pretty...but that's all. It's all flash, no substance. A high budget version of a bargain bin action adventure.    … Expand
  99. Ndonnine
    Jun 26, 2023
    4
    Just let your girlfriend play and you watch cuz this is just a joke. They spent 6 years making cut scenes and forgot to make the game.

    In reality, you should want to keep turning this game on and playing... But you may never finish it or find the will to turn it on. Lets be frank: this isn't a game. It's a game of thrones ripoff cinematic story with a few action combat scenes that you    Just let your girlfriend play and you watch cuz this is just a joke. They spent 6 years making cut scenes and forgot to make the game.

    In reality, you should want to keep turning this game on and playing... But you may never finish it or find the will to turn it on.

    Lets be frank: this isn't a game. It's a game of thrones ripoff cinematic story with a few action combat scenes that you control.

    There's basically no exploration. You maybe play 1/7th of the actual the game. The rest is cut scenes. Combat is over simplified... So much that it's impossible to die. Weirdly, you can make the game even easier by adding newbie rings... No clue why you would.

    There's so bad arse cut scenes with some big things that you basically hit r1 or square.... And these cut scenes battles take WAY TOO LONG.

    If I have to hit x then hold r2 to open another door I'm going to throw the game in the trash. Any reason a dev does something like this is: they are daft and lack any knowledge of gaming.

    Equipment is stupid- you just buy new crap everytime you go to a town.. no real variety or even a need to update your gear. It's thoughtless. Yes, the graphics are good 90% of the time. Sometimes the character models drop textures - super weird.

    Voice acting is mostly good....    … Expand
  100. Doan
    Jun 25, 2023
    4
    The Good:

    1. Graphics - This is also a con, as SE focuses far too much on graphics, while neglecting other aspects of their games 2. Audio - Music, Voice Acting, & Sound Effects 3. Combat* - With the exception of controlling Torgal, which is horribly implemented The Bad (Essentially, everything not mentioned above): 1. Unimmersive - UI clutter and invisible walls everywhere.    The Good:

    1. Graphics - This is also a con, as SE focuses far too much on graphics, while neglecting other aspects of their games
    2. Audio - Music, Voice Acting, & Sound Effects
    3. Combat* - With the exception of controlling Torgal, which is horribly implemented

    The Bad (Essentially, everything not mentioned above):

    1. Unimmersive - UI clutter and invisible walls everywhere. 95% of doors in the game serve no purpose and cannot be used. Windows are constantly popping up which disrupt gameplay, every time a quest is completed, or a new mainline quest starts, or upon level-up, or upon defeating enemies, etc. FF16 feels like any other AAA game: Don't think for yourself to progress the game, simply chase the objective marker around the world until the credits roll.
    2. UI Clutter (Kills immersion) - Quest icons and objective markers are constantly floating around the screen like annoying little bugs. Everything in the game is indicated with brightly-colored and/or animated icons. The Quest Tracker is persistently onscreen with no option to hide it. Damage numbers and enemy health bars cannot be disabled.
    3. Linear - FF16 gives FF13 flashbacks. This is not a good thing.
    4. Quick Time Events - These should be non-interactive cutscenes, so the player can sit back and enjoy the great cinematics, instead of mindlessly mashing whatever button appears on the screen. Nobody likes QTE.
    5. Overly-simplistic Equipment System
    6. Motion Blur - Cannot be disabled
    7. Visually-noisy Combat - During combat, so many obnoxious visual effects are occurring, which makes it difficult to see what is happening. This makes it difficult to focus on the correct enemy and time attacks/dodges
    8. Poor Performance - FPS frequently drops, resulting in noticeable stutters and choppy gameplay
    9. Lame Sidequests (Kills immersion): Side quests require zero thought, as you simply chase objective markers until the quest is complete.
    10. No sense of exploration or discovery - Everything is thrown in your face, as if your are a moron (Kills immersion): Side quests are marked on the map and with floating icons onscreen, items in the environment are large, brightly-lit, & animated, coffers are marked with an icon which can be seen through walls, etc.
    11. Combat - Most of the combat is fun and engaging. The one terribly-implemented combat aspect is controlling Torgal. To control Torgal, you must swap between two different onscreen menus: One for using healing items, and one for issuing commands to Torgal. This is just dumb. You should not have to choose between either using healing items _or_ controlling your AI companion. Torgal should act completely autonomously. If anything, Torgal should have cooldowns which are occasionally activated by the player, but Siccing, Ravaging, and Healing should be fully automated. The accessory which does make Torgal behave this way should not exist, as this is how Torgal should behave by default.
    12. Slow Menus - Menus are animated, so it takes an unnecessarily long time to open, close, and navigate between menus
    13. Lame Eikon Fights - Eikon battles look good, but there is zero challenge to them. They should have just been cutscenes the player could sit back and just enjoy watching.    … Expand
Page:

Awards & Rankings

16
#16 Best PlayStation 5 Game of 2023
1
#1 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 146 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 134 out of 146
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 146
  3. Negative: 0 out of 146
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 22, 2024
    100
    Final Fantasy XVI is an excellent game in every way. If you're a fan of the series for the stories and characters, you won't go wrong here, and if you've avoided the series for, say, turn-based combat, the sixteenth installment offers the perfect opportunity to get started with this legend of the gaming industry. [Issue#329]
  2. Riot Pixels
    Oct 30, 2023
    73
    This is a solid RPG/action game. Some elements of the game are unusual and fresh for single-player parts of the Final Fantasy series, but some are too dull and rudimentary.
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  3. PLAY
    Sep 17, 2023
    90
    New numbered FFs are good again. Stunning to look at, with new, punchy combat, and a great yarn, it is, if anything, too focussed, lacking a bit of the weird. [Issue#30, p.78]
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