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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. 22116
    Jul 1, 2023
    9
    Best game of the year. Totally recommend for people looking for a sory-oriebted game with a big, interesting plot. The only thing really bothered me was unstable FPS in performance mode. In some places, like villages or cities it is like I have 30-40 frames, which makes game fill terrible.
  2. j_obediah
    Jul 1, 2023
    7
    This game is being pushed into the green by a lot of hype.
    Graphics: 10/10. Perfect
    Story: 7/10: The hero is the overly compliant cliché who does whatever is asked of him. Including horribly boring side quests. A LOT of exposition and forced dialogue that does not feel natural at all. Horrible pacing with hard, frequent, transitions that make you feel as though you're going through a    This game is being pushed into the green by a lot of hype.
    Graphics: 10/10. Perfect
    Story: 7/10: The hero is the overly compliant cliché who does whatever is asked of him. Including horribly boring side quests. A LOT of exposition and forced dialogue that does not feel natural at all. Horrible pacing with hard, frequent, transitions that make you feel as though you're going through a documentary and not a flowing narrative.
    Gameplay: 7/10: Not very interesting. It has a lot to it, but there's no real feeling of reward to it. I had more fun when I equipped the auto-attack ring. but then I just wished it let me hold the attack button down instead of constantly mashing it.
    Music: 4/10: I had to turn it down because the music did not fit the scenes. Boss battles that are supposed to be intense are accompanied by flowing, thoughtful music. I felt no suspense in those times.

    The game just did not deliver. If you're going to change this much about the series, then you gotta knock it out of the park, and it just didn't do that.    … Expand
  3. 0Silver
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Hands down the best game ive played in the year. It has its ups and downs but the ups are make the downs worth it. Hope to see more about this game in the future.
  4. kataclysmicmind
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Great game, good story even if predictable at points, great graphics and performance, can be too easy or challenging depending on preference
  5. Oliverje85
    Jul 1, 2023
    1
    All of the negative reviews I have seen are on par with how I feel. Poor pacing, poor mechanics, poor story and character development with mechanics that seem like afterthoughts. More Devil May Cry than Final Fantasy. I will not be getting another one after this, but as a fan of games 1-12 (minus a few here and there) l, it seems I am not the target audience for this anyways.
  6. kvva2020
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Definitely not the game style I grew up with, and the fast gameplay was a bit uneasy at first, but definitely this is NEXT-GEN. The story, the cinematic, the music, the game was definitely more focused in what it wanted to say and definitely taking the PS5 engine to the max.

    Playing this leisurely at 2 hours a night before bed, and treating this like a lost Game of Throne season and    Definitely not the game style I grew up with, and the fast gameplay was a bit uneasy at first, but definitely this is NEXT-GEN. The story, the cinematic, the music, the game was definitely more focused in what it wanted to say and definitely taking the PS5 engine to the max.

    Playing this leisurely at 2 hours a night before bed, and treating this like a lost Game of Throne season and enjoying every second of it.    … Expand
  7. Aseminos
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    I love every second of this game. Characters have "soul". Story keep you in constant pressure for what gonna be next. And fighting system is very satisfying
  8. dyrewhite
    Jul 1, 2023
    1
    I'm very disappointed in the shallow combat system. I turn to Final Fantasy for stimulating strategic fun, this game is not that. Also disappointed in the lack of character customization. It's hypocritical to say that your game is taking a "realistic" angle and hamstring your main character into this unchanging brute. People change, thats reality. Even Gerolt had options. Also animateI'm very disappointed in the shallow combat system. I turn to Final Fantasy for stimulating strategic fun, this game is not that. Also disappointed in the lack of character customization. It's hypocritical to say that your game is taking a "realistic" angle and hamstring your main character into this unchanging brute. People change, thats reality. Even Gerolt had options. Also animate another weapon type, I know its hard to make video games but more than one weapon type seems like a simple ask. I've been playing these games since 1997, its sad to think that this is the last major entry I'll ever purchase. Thank you for doing what you do all these years.… Expand
  9. Thwomp
    Jul 1, 2023
    7
    For the life of me I cannot understand all the 8's 9's and 10's here. Holy smokes this game is no where near a freaking 10 or masterpiece, and it's definitely not a 0 either. There must be a plethora of trolls who give the fake negative AND positive score reviews. Because this is one of the not so great Final Fantasy games in the series. And here's exactly why.

    Huge, linear, empty    For the life of me I cannot understand all the 8's 9's and 10's here. Holy smokes this game is no where near a freaking 10 or masterpiece, and it's definitely not a 0 either. There must be a plethora of trolls who give the fake negative AND positive score reviews. Because this is one of the not so great Final Fantasy games in the series. And here's exactly why.

    Huge, linear, empty and boring world. NPC's outside of main characters have nothing to add with their dumb dialogue and most NPC's just stand in one spot the entire time doing nothing. Also, most of the towns are boring and lifeless as well. Dialogue and script is good at times, bad at others.

    Side quests are easy, but god awful boring. The only reason to do these is to get crafting materials and some extra ability points for eikon powers, which are not needed at all to beat the game. These will come to you by just doing the main story. Witcher 3 just smashes FF 16 in side quest quality. Sad.

    Muddy visuals outside of the climatic Eikon fights and boss and enemy battles. Visuals are great with spell effects, monsters, etc., and then you get back to the actual world gameplay and Clyde looks like PS4 or worse. Heck there are older gen games like Uncharted and Gears of War and God of War and Witcher 3 that STILL look way better than this. I cannot believe the blur I saw on character models and the low textures all around, especially in the distant environments, which are pretty awful in the background. Flat, blurry, zero texture mountains are abound here.

    Extremely dumbed down combat that this is basically just a straight action RPG with the player spamming square half the time, if not more. Eikon abilities are cool, but you'll usually run with the exact same setup the entirety of the game. ZERO depth outside button mashing eikon abilities to win.

    Speaking of depth, the item system and crafting and gathering system is a complete joke. There are very few items even compared to the huge amount of wonderful items in previous FF games. This is a complete joke, as is the crafting system. It's incredibly easy to craft and you are only ever going to need to craft the next best weapon or armor that the blacksmith has available, which is incredibly elementary in nature. Want multiple options for gear? Good luck! This is incredibly simplified and dumb.

    Now for the wonderful part; the horrible performance at low resolution on NEXT GEN PS5 hardware. Holy man is this bad. Ratchet and Clank looks 10x better as do many other PS5 and Series X games. It is 2023 and even The Witcher 3 next gen update absolutely SMASHES FF 16 in terms of resolution and performance. And the original game is almost 10 years old now!! There is no excuse why Square Enix couldn't make a more stable game with better visuals and resolution. Hell, there aren't even any graphics settings in this game and it's a next gen game, LOL. Just about every single new game has several graphics options on console such as HDR, Ray Tracing, Anti-Aliasing, on and on. FF 16? You can forget it! You're limited to graphics and performance mode and the graphics mode is virtually unplayable because the framerate isn't even locked at 30. It dips into the 20's for god sakes. And the performance mode reaches a maximum of 60 fps with several dips into the 40's. UNACCEPTABLE IN 2023, Square Enix!!! You can do better than this. So many other games run look so much better than this garbage. I literally felt like I was playing a PS4 or Xbox One game like MGS Phantom Pain. That game was 1080p max but at least it ran great, and it it was massive.

    Now the little good that there is in this game that prevents it from being a complete disaster.

    While the combat is extremely dumbed down, the fights look incredible thanks to the amazing particle effects and animations of the eikon abilities, boss battles, and cinematic gameplay of the Eikon battles. If those fights didn't look and feel so good then this game would have been a 2 or 3 at best.

    Music is also great and even probably improves on FF XV's awesome soundtrack which has two of the greatest orchestral/choir boss tracks in a game, ever. Hats off to the composer of FF 16, because like Blizzard and World of Warcraft, Square Enix's design team sure doesn't know what the hell they're doing anymore.

    Story. I actually enjoy it quite a bit. I love the dark adult theme to it. Not much to complain about here from me. Betrayal, love, death, revenge; it's all there. It's just too bad Some characters are much better than others (Kupka and Cid for instance carry a lot of the weight for most of the game). Mother starts off strong and then just stays silent for most of the game, with her child bent over her lap. Pointless, but overall I thought the story was a much needed positive point

    Bottom line is FF 16 is an average action RPG with great moments.    … Expand
  10. 538776w
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    画面：幻想味不足，动画演出华丽，但战斗演出稍微多了，显得审美疲劳。
    游戏系统：战斗手感优异，深度适合，不过和队友的交互少了点。
    剧情：前期展开不错，破坏水晶的铺垫不够，就是西德的一句话带过。几位显现者的刻画都不错，最终BOSS的刻画有点单薄，主要就是最后两章的叙述，和之前的章节呼应不太够，导致最后决战的带入感不强。 作为喜欢RPG玩家我看中的还是剧情和探索要素，感觉本作不太够。    画面：幻想味不足，动画演出华丽，但战斗演出稍微多了，显得审美疲劳。
    游戏系统：战斗手感优异，深度适合，不过和队友的交互少了点。
    剧情：前期展开不错，破坏水晶的铺垫不够，就是西德的一句话带过。几位显现者的刻画都不错，最终BOSS的刻画有点单薄，主要就是最后两章的叙述，和之前的章节呼应不太够，导致最后决战的带入感不强。
    作为喜欢RPG玩家我看中的还是剧情和探索要素，感觉本作不太够。
  11. likhalidx
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    The most epic game I have ever played, yes it has it’s flaws but the enjoyment i had with this game over shadow every flaw I have
  12. andnotmetoo
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Great game! Probably the best in the series.
    Performance mode is perfectly balanced.

    I was expecting something worse, but this game surprised me and exceeded my expectations. I would advise anyone to play it.
  13. XxSkysurferxX
    Jul 1, 2023
    1
    Graphismes très moyens, à peine dignes d’une ps4 (et encore). Framerate en permanence à la ramasse en mode performance. 720 p! (Oui par moment c’est flou et en tout cas jamais très fin). Pour une exclue next gen c’est très très décevant. Aucune interaction par rapport aux éléments du décor. L’eau est très mal réalisée, le ciel également. La jouabilité est simplifiée a l’extrême, appuyerGraphismes très moyens, à peine dignes d’une ps4 (et encore). Framerate en permanence à la ramasse en mode performance. 720 p! (Oui par moment c’est flou et en tout cas jamais très fin). Pour une exclue next gen c’est très très décevant. Aucune interaction par rapport aux éléments du décor. L’eau est très mal réalisée, le ciel également. La jouabilité est simplifiée a l’extrême, appuyer sur le bouton o et vous gagnerez tous les combats. Cinématiques bien trop nombreuses et trop souvent soporifiques. Le jeu était noté 74 % par les joueurs dans ses premières heures avec plus de 1000 avis…..puis bizarrement passe désormais à 83 % avec une flopée de notes toutes extrêmement positives pour parvenir à rehausser cette première moyenne! Ces notes sont à coup sûr tronquées!! Ne vous faites pas avoir, ce jeu est indigne de la ps5 et indigne de la licence. Je m’arrête après une dizaine d’heure de jeu (et de cinématiques !) et le revendrai dans les prochains jours. Quelle déception !!!!!!… Expand
  14. 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.
  15. Alexachi
    Jul 1, 2023
    0
    Le tenía mucha fe al juego, pero terminó siendo una gran decepción. Malos gráficos, mala historia, mala jugabilidad, malos personajes, etc.
  16. Thiagogoslaw
    Jul 1, 2023
    8
    I really wanted to give this game a 9. But it has too many issues. This is a good game with so much potential. The highs go high and the lows very low. Highs: Story, combat, music, lore, graphics, protagonist. Lows: Performance, the game is too linear, poor RPG elements, lack of rewarding exploration, repetitive activities, uninspired side content, lack of a true FF party ( except Cid,I really wanted to give this game a 9. But it has too many issues. This is a good game with so much potential. The highs go high and the lows very low. Highs: Story, combat, music, lore, graphics, protagonist. Lows: Performance, the game is too linear, poor RPG elements, lack of rewarding exploration, repetitive activities, uninspired side content, lack of a true FF party ( except Cid, he's awesome) among others. I hope we'll truly have a 10/10 FF game again as we had in the ps1/ps2 generation. ( FF VII,IX and X)… Expand
  17. ekeiyoung
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Great story! But wanted it to be much more in depth, though I realize it would be 20 hours more gameplay, which is what I want. Love the game. Personally love more ff7 remake style action fights
  18. lasmas
    Jul 1, 2023
    9
    -Very good story
    -Excelent music
    -Best combate ever made as is very similiar to DMC (same direct DAH)
    -Very good world building
    -Very good side content
    -Fun huntts
    -Excelent new game +
    -Excelent challenge bosses (when you repet them from high scores)

    9.5/10 and 65h first run
  19. Lennietroon
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Amaxing game. Out with the norm but defo an amaxing experience. The characters and the gameplay nothing like a FFexp before. Gamechanging for the FF genre
  20. CloudXz
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    I played Final Fantasy 16 almost 90 hours with all Sidequests and all. What sould i say? A amazing Game.
    Amazing Graphics, the Soundtrack is like in every Final Fantasy Game outstanding good, the Story is great, the Gameplay is fun, Clive is one of the best Main Character in Final Fantasy History and the Esper Fights DAMN!. For me this is already in the Top 3 of my all Time Favorit Final    I played Final Fantasy 16 almost 90 hours with all Sidequests and all. What sould i say? A amazing Game.
    Amazing Graphics, the Soundtrack is like in every Final Fantasy Game outstanding good, the Story is great, the Gameplay is fun, Clive is one of the best Main Character in Final Fantasy History and the Esper Fights DAMN!. For me this is already in the Top 3 of my all Time Favorit Final Fantasy's after 7 on one and 10 on two. It is one of the best Games i ever played in over 20 Year's as a Gamer. The best Game for me since Red Read Redemption in 2018 and the best Final Fantasy since 10 in 2001. Absolut amazing and i love it. Can't wait to play New Game + again.    … Expand
  21. ghxmz
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Masterpiece of a game, simple as that. The only reason the user score isn’t higher is because of the review bombing. You can truly tell that a lot of effort went into making this game.
  22. Heavenslucifer
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    I am so impressed by this game - it is simply stunning and fun to play and the first game since R&C Rift Apart that feels and looks truly next gen. More than all it is thoroughly enjoyable to play with an enthralling story, amazing music and characters with a real depth. As much as I loved Ragnarok, I have actually unexpectedly had more fun playing this game. So much so that I had to joinI am so impressed by this game - it is simply stunning and fun to play and the first game since R&C Rift Apart that feels and looks truly next gen. More than all it is thoroughly enjoyable to play with an enthralling story, amazing music and characters with a real depth. As much as I loved Ragnarok, I have actually unexpectedly had more fun playing this game. So much so that I had to join Metacritic to leave a user review.

    Of course it isn't without issue, 30fps not a stable 60fps, being the biggest negative, however this is easily forgivable with everything else the game achieves with some of the most beautiful graphics and cinematic presentation. The side quests are a bit more mundane but again not that a big issue for me.

    I fully recommend this game to anyone looking to lose themselves in a thrilling exhilarating adventure in a mystical world with some of the best graphics, music and combat system you'll ever experience. 100% sold!!!!    … Expand
  23. Zacks17
    Jul 1, 2023
    4
    "Hell is paved with good intentions".
    This game trying so hard to do good things, but none of them are memorable.
    You'll play once, and never launch it again.
    That is sad, because now we compare the FF games with titles like "Ys" or "Tales of", and historically, there were light years away.
  24. S7ulk1
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    best game i ever played with GOD ragnarok and final fantasy vii...it's a must.
  25. Skye47
    Jul 1, 2023
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. My review is delivered at 25 hours play time, as that is when I finally gave up hope that Final Fantasy XVI could turn it around.

    This is a bad game, plain and simple. There are some positives, but not nearly enough to outweigh the negatives.
    I do not agree with the 0 ratings being doled out as Final Fantasy XVI is not unplayable; however it does not deserve the 9's and 10's either.

    My main problem with this game is the story which is supposed to be the heart of Final Fantasy. The story is a complete downer. After the first hour or so it's just death and depression and everyone hates you and everything sucks and it doesn't deviate from that path. I prefer mature stories but this one is just depressing.

    Spoilers here:
    Literally everyone dies, and when you get the faintest glimmer of hope everyone dies again.

    The story is also poorly told. It's broken up, the supporting cast is not fleshed out at all and the whole time skipping thing is just lazy. It removes any chance the game could have had to develop backstories or give you any opportunity to care about what's going on.

    Sidebar; time skipping / time travel in video game stories is the ultimate hallmark of bad writing.

    The combat is a massive disappointment, as it had so much potential. There's just so much more that could have been done with it. It's all one note; there's no complexity whatsoever. Were the devs afraid that any shred of depth would send the masses of brainwashed weebs running for the hills at the first sign of an elemental weakness?

    Spoilers again as I am going to get specific:

    Ifrit is done dirty in this game. For all the hype around Ifrit and the fact that Clive is his Dominant, all you get for him is 2 crappy abilities and Limit Break which just gives you a strength boost. You don't even get a third ultimate like Judgement Bolt or Tornado; yes you read that right-- no Hellfire for Clive. It would have been so much better in my opinion if Limit Break activated an ultimate ability for whatever Eikon you were using. It would have made them special.

    I did mention positives so I will say that the cutscenes are beautifully rendered and soundtrack / voice performances are excellent. It's a true shame that they were all wasted on this lackluster game.

    Now lets get to the straight up lies. "RPG"; nope. This is not an RPG, this is Game of Thrones the action game wearing a few bits of Final Fantasy's decaying flesh as armour. "Adventure" is a word used to sell this game; nope. There is no adventure here. There is a linear slog through an awful story with nothing to discover in the world aside from the odd chest or item pickup that gives you either 2 gil or some more useless crafting material.

    I'll rapid fire the rest as I am ready now to forget this game ever took my time and money so here we go.

    The sidequests are pathetic, the crafting / gear system is a joke, and the Performance mode is terrible.

    I will close by saying do not be fooled by the demo; I was. It's all downhill after that first hour.    … Expand
  26. Eremyth
    Jul 1, 2023
    9
    This game was something else, an amazing experience from start to finish, full of dark and epic moments that slow down at the right segments to do some good side questing that ties directly to the story and characters around you.
    The story was amazing and Clive as a protagonist was one of my favourites. Cid is definitely the best Cid in the series as a whole.
    The villain is alright and    This game was something else, an amazing experience from start to finish, full of dark and epic moments that slow down at the right segments to do some good side questing that ties directly to the story and characters around you.
    The story was amazing and Clive as a protagonist was one of my favourites. Cid is definitely the best Cid in the series as a whole.
    The villain is alright and serves his purpose, I've seen better.
    Combat was fun and the Music was on another level.

    Overall, go play!    … Expand
  27. Goblin_Slayer7
    Jun 24, 2023
    10
    One of the greatest final fantasy stories ever written. Huge influence from xiv, great characters and great combat. Few performance issues on framerate mode but nothing serious and probably will be resolve in future update. If you are a ff fan and especially ff xiv fan just play it!!!
  28. Betoc99
    Jul 1, 2023
    9
    Great game! Granted I have not yet finished, I have put in a solid 20 hours and am having a blast. The game introduces new mechanics at later stages and keeps things fresh. The Eikon battle are simple epic and sonic fun, there is a lot to do and explore and enjoy with the game. As a newcomer to FF, I simply loved the combat and looks of it all. The story can be a little bit confusing, butGreat game! Granted I have not yet finished, I have put in a solid 20 hours and am having a blast. The game introduces new mechanics at later stages and keeps things fresh. The Eikon battle are simple epic and sonic fun, there is a lot to do and explore and enjoy with the game. As a newcomer to FF, I simply loved the combat and looks of it all. The story can be a little bit confusing, but there is a mechanic that allows you to pause at any point and read more about the current lore, which já awesome. Highly recommend.… Expand
  29. Ioanismaximus
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Right in my alley, fast combat and not turned based, great storyline characters and visuals. And yes I am ffvii original player.
  30. mabohaliqah
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I only didn't like the 4 seconds that bahamut was in. it made me dislike his character.… 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.
    Read full review
  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]
See all critic reviews »