User Score
8.1

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8567 Ratings

User score distribution:
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  1. Jun 30, 2023
    9
    Mi sento di recensire questo gioco come primo titolo valutato su metacritic nonostante il mio giudizio sicuramente non imparziale, la cui causa scatenante è sicuramente l'impatto che ha avuto su di me come primo final fantasy mai giocato.
    La qualità nello storytelling, nella cinematografia, nella creazione delle colonne sonore, nella componente artistica, nel doppiaggio, nel gameplay
    Mi sento di recensire questo gioco come primo titolo valutato su metacritic nonostante il mio giudizio sicuramente non imparziale, la cui causa scatenante è sicuramente l'impatto che ha avuto su di me come primo final fantasy mai giocato.
    La qualità nello storytelling, nella cinematografia, nella creazione delle colonne sonore, nella componente artistica, nel doppiaggio, nel gameplay (seppur in parte tagliato per riempire vuoti che potevano essere lasciati tali per aggiungere chicche alla base più che solida) sono la prova di un grande impegno.
    Spero che nonostante alcune criticità riusciate tutti a godervelo come prodotto nonostante il cambio di formula, perché continuando per questa strada il brand può soltanto divenire migliore, e noi pubblico/fruitori dobbiamo farglielo capire.
    Un saluto a tutta la community e a chi lo ha giocato.
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  2. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Incredible game. You can tell the team put a lot of heart into making it. I find the action gameplay addicting and rewarding. I find the graphics really beautiful. I LOVE the story, writing, and dialogue. I have no negative things to say about this game. I just love it too much.
  3. Jun 30, 2023
    9
    Amazing game. Beautiful story, well written characters, fun gameplay, god tier OST. My only issue is minor things like being unable to sprint in towns which can get a lil annoying when doing the side quests .

    Do not listen to the people review bombing for it not being a "Real final fantasy" This game is all final fantasy. It is easily the best final fantasy since X. (not counting XIV)
  4. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    You must play FFⅩⅤⅠ
    It is the most goddest game.
    Thank you for the fantastic journey.
  5. Jun 23, 2023
    10
    This game is truly a work of art. Yoshida brought us yet another profound story with many diverse aspects. People complaining about the amount of cutscenes just don’t have the patience to enjoy the rich story and lore. 9/10 because although the side quests bring interesting perspectives, they aren’t always that fun to do.
  6. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    This is easily the best FF title I have ever played. I don't think I've ever felt more invested in a story. A must play for fans of the series. Highly recommend.
  7. Jun 30, 2023
    9
    Final Fantasy 16 é tudo aquilo que prometeram e acredito que seja muito mais Lutas contra Eikons, são incríveis
    Música, é uma das melhores da franquia
    Personagens, carismáticos e inesquecíveis Sistema de combate, brilha muito Missões secundárias, deixam muito a desejar infelizmente não são todas que te motivam Sistema de recompensa não foi muito satisfatório Com tudo nenhum jogo é perfeito
    Final Fantasy 16 é tudo aquilo que prometeram e acredito que seja muito mais Lutas contra Eikons, são incríveis
    Música, é uma das melhores da franquia
    Personagens, carismáticos e inesquecíveis Sistema de combate, brilha muito Missões secundárias, deixam muito a desejar infelizmente não são todas que te motivam
    Sistema de recompensa não foi muito satisfatório
    Com tudo nenhum jogo é perfeito mas esse jogo está em ótimo caminho pra os futuros jogos da franquia nota 10/9,5
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  8. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    the best game this year!
    i like it so much its smooth and fun the story is 10/10 perfect
  9. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    The story, action, and voice acting are all amazing and has me hooked on every second. Pair that with the Godzilla like monster battles with old FF summons and good quality of life items like the active time lore, makes this one of my favorite games this year! Highly recommend if you are any type of FF fan!
  10. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. FFXVI’s gameplay is nothing short of exhilarating. Simplistic though it may begin, through progression, the combat becomes deep, complex, and extremely satisfying. Combat feels intuitive, simple, yet complex enough to offer variety. With “Devil May Cry-esque” combo style, when you finish a particular long fight with one of the Eikon’s final abilities (Mastered Flames of Rebirth being my personal favorite) you feel as powerful as Mythos should. Additionally, the game adds seamless transitions from in-game combat to cinematic combat in the form of QTEs (Dodge, Strike, and Clash) which enhance the spectacle without distracting you from the action.

    I played this with the Ring of Timely Focus equipped the entire time, so I can’t speak much about the difficulty save for it wasn’t as challenging as Elden Ring, but I also played it on story focused mode. I never felt underpowered or overpowered.

    Nothing more can be said about the writing accomplishments of the Final Fantasy writers other than they are some of the best in the industry and the writing in Final Fantasy XVI was nothing short of magnificent. Every story beat, every main quest, every side activity came with a compelling human story. Stories about slavery, prejudice, life, death, nihilism, everything in between give the story a more adult feel which is only made better with the atmosphere, characters, and score. Final Fantasy XVI is probably the first game in which the side missions felt just as important as the main questline. Even the dreaded “fetch” quests were brilliantly incorporated, and none felt like a chore.

    While the graphics won’t win it any awards competing with the graphical powerhouses by the likes of God of War Ragnarok, Last of Us Part II, or Horizon Forbidden West, the graphics in FF16 are a touch more improved than its predecessor FF15. Fidelity and textures aside, the environments themselves looked handcrafted and hand placed. The detail of each settlement, the topography, the atmosphere was expertly rendered making the world feel lived in, beautifully serene yet grim. From the forest, deserts, marshes, cities, hamlets, etc., the level designers have done so well with their world-building that I couldn’t help but to take a moment to admire the world around me no matter how trivial or insignificant they were to the story writ large.

    While much of the story has you follow open-world corridors, once you’ve run through the entirety of each territory, the map feels more akin to open sandboxes such as what Bioware achieved with Dragon Age II. But that’s not to say that this was poor design. On the contrary, the overall story benefits from the more linear paths to help players get invested in the lore of the world which by the way is a new feature during cutscenes.

    Amazingly orchestrated, FF16’s musical tracks perfectly encapsulate the atmosphere of the world expertly. Nothing more to say. It’s a Final Fantasy game afterall. My only complaint was the music that triggered when mounting your Chocobo which sometimes took me out of a serious moment with its goofier theme.

    I finished my first playthrough with a total of 64 hours of gametime. There is a New Game + feature in which you keep all your items and gear, but I haven’t embarked on that journey yet. However, I imagine that you can easily get more than 100+ hours of content out of this title which is becoming more of a rare oddity with recent RPG titles. And there are hopes of future DLC.

    In all my playtime, I NEVER experienced anything remotely buggy or glitchy. And as of this review, Final Fantasy 16 has not have a single update since launch and it doesn’t really need one. I should need to tell you how rare that is in today’s world.

    SUMMARY: This game is a masterpiece in my eyes. From the characters, the world, the story, its’ themes, its atmosphere, the musical score, the gameplay, the scale, everything just feels good, and I would hope after reading this review, you will give it a try. And if you are a fan of Final Fantasy as a whole, you must pick this up, you won’t be disappointed.
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  11. Jun 30, 2023
    9
    Although I don't like medieval settings in games and was hoping for a typical mix like previous Final Fantasy games, I got hooked by the great storytelling and the lovable characters.
    I deducted one point for the gameplay which could be better and feels plain after some battles.
  12. Jun 30, 2023
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. About half way through the msq and I have had an amazing ride so far! The graphics are stunning especially the battle cutscenes! I feel pumped up every single major battle!

    The music is also good and some of the tracks are total bops (especially the ones in major battles).

    I am loving the story so far and I think it has a really good main romance if you are in to watching a good slow burn ship.

    The side quests are the usual side quests in jrpgs. I actually have been reading them. Normally in jrpgs I like to skip the dialogue for side quests and just get them done. Are some of them “boring” fetch quests? Yes, but there was only one so far that I felt was super boring and could not wait for it to end and it was one of the last ones that I did. I have done every single side quest and hunt when they appear so far. All of the side quests do give better world building and look at the people in the world and how they are dealing with the difficult circumstances so I do recommend doing them. Most of them take no time at all to do. Some of them also lead up to you getting a trophy for the in game trophy shelf (like some of the apples or a chocobo saddle), ability to ride chocobos, or increased potion potency when you use potions. It may not be anything flashy as a reward (so far at least) but it still gives you something and you get more background story. As for the hunts, I really have enjoyed those battles.

    There is basically no exp grinding in this game. I personally look at that as a plus though. I am also not using any of the help rings that the game gives you but you can make the game more difficult or easy to your liking which is nice. I love the battle system as well. It has been very fun especially when you stagger the enemies. There are a handful of characters I really love so far: Clive, Jill, GAV, nektar, Joshua, and of course CID!! Cid in this game has to be one of my favorite characters in the whole entire franchise so far. I 100% recommend anybody to play this game!
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  13. Jun 29, 2023
    10
    the plot, the gameplay, the emotions are absolutely 10/10. This is the game of the year I promise
  14. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Whoever gave this game a 0 hasn't played the game at all.

    Final Fantasy XVI is one of the best games I have played this year and easily beats it's predecessor. (Btw I love FF XV, played through it multiple times and plan on doing so in the future)

    The characters are compelling, the world is amazing and I couldn't stop playing.

    10/10
  15. Jun 30, 2023
    9
    Final fantasy is the first game I've played in the series. Since the demo that released a few days prior, I have been extremely hooked on it. This game has been one of my favorite games to play this year so far and has been living up to the hype I had since playing the demo. From the characters, to the backround music, to the Eikon skills, and Boss fights, this game has truly been aFinal fantasy is the first game I've played in the series. Since the demo that released a few days prior, I have been extremely hooked on it. This game has been one of my favorite games to play this year so far and has been living up to the hype I had since playing the demo. From the characters, to the backround music, to the Eikon skills, and Boss fights, this game has truly been a wonderful experience. Even the side quests have been cool, and rewarding in some way. My only 2 complaints are how many cutscenes there are, and how long they can be at times and the motion blur is a bit disoreniting at times. Other than that, I have truly enjoyed this game.
    Easily a 9/10 for me!
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  16. Jun 30, 2023
    9
    I loved everything about the game aside from the quality difference between the side-quests in the first half of the game compared to the quests in the last 3rd. The quests in the last 3rd were really engaging but I didn't feel the same about the other quests in the first 50% of the game. Combat is fun and has a lot of depth if you want to engage in it, the final fantasy mode is great.I loved everything about the game aside from the quality difference between the side-quests in the first half of the game compared to the quests in the last 3rd. The quests in the last 3rd were really engaging but I didn't feel the same about the other quests in the first 50% of the game. Combat is fun and has a lot of depth if you want to engage in it, the final fantasy mode is great. Story and characters engrossed me and by the end of the game I was trying not to finish the game because I didn't want things to end. Expand
  17. Jun 28, 2023
    10
    Absolutely brilliant. Yoshi p is just what final fantasy needed. He should be out on every final fantasy game going forward
  18. Jun 24, 2023
    10
    An absolute masterpiece story is amazing and this game really hits the feels too it has everything any gamer could ask definitely GOTY contender with out a doubt one of the best games in 2023
  19. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is an amazing story driven AAA game, on of the best FF games in my opinion and definitely better than any trash xbox has dropped in the last 4 yrs Expand
  20. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    FF16 lives up to the hype. The game is graphically beautiful with compelling characters and a gripping story. The gamplay is extremely satisfying and engaging. I don't think you could ask much more from a game. It makes the most of the PS5 and I hope to see more games like it in the future!
  21. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Truly a masterpiece in story telling, musical score, voice acting and action oriented gameplay. It's a 10 for me in every category but I think more can be added on optional side content.

    There is no definition of what 'Final Fantasy' games should be like, or they should all be turn-based. I've been playing FF games since the 1980s from native JP FF1. in the old days, we didn't have
    Truly a masterpiece in story telling, musical score, voice acting and action oriented gameplay. It's a 10 for me in every category but I think more can be added on optional side content.

    There is no definition of what 'Final Fantasy' games should be like, or they should all be turn-based. I've been playing FF games since the 1980s from native JP FF1. in the old days, we didn't have the technology to support fast pace action games, so turn-based games make sense.

    In this modern world, I'm glad to see Yoshi-P and his team is not afraid to try new things and push things to the limit, truly showcasing what the PS5 hardware is capable off. Gone are the days where you wait for the next pre-rendered cut scene to happen. Now, not only you are part of the cut scene, they managed to introduce real-time action combat within as well.

    Of course, because actions are real-time there will be less turn-base aspect to them. Instead of planning and coordinating attacks by utilizing you 'traditional' team of 3-4. You now have to learn boss mechanics in real time. For me, this is not as issue as I also do savage/ultimate raids in FF14, and this actually makes combat a lot more interesting and can actually get quite challenging at times. I get how this can be challenging or frustrating to those who are used to more slow paced battles, but Yoshi-P's team spent the extra time to introduce items to make combat easier shows that they understand and they cares.

    Lastly, I just have to add that even if some players don't like this title because it is not 'traditional' enough for them and give this a big '0'. I'll challenge them and ask if they can rate the story, music and technical spectacle a '0' as well. If they do, than I'd say most other games out there also deserve a '0' except a very selected few.
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  22. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Despite haters, the game brings a lot of excitement. I'm with 12 hours playtime, the music its the best part.
    I hope this game gets the audience that it deserves, its very well made.
  23. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    I really love this game. The story and twists are even better than in Game of Thrones.
    I think the side quests could be more exciting. Sometimes, like 2 out of 10, you just need to fetch or deliver something. I thought about skipping them, but don't do that. Some quests add a lot to the story.

    Overall, I'm happy with the game, I highly suggest you try it.
  24. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Amazing game …love the story and combat, I’m new in the FF world but I love everything they did with this game can’t wait for the next ones
  25. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Final Fantasy sixteen is a great game with a good story and great fighting system. It's something new compared to the previous Titels but I have much fun playing it.
  26. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Had an amazing time playing this game the only down side is I feel like I’ll never get to experience something as amazing as this game again. Yoshi p and His team did a great job!
  27. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    Cons - this game takes a good few hours before the story gets great. this game has side quests, and some main quests, and gameplay wise they're pretty basic. they're a stark reminder that the people who made this game also made XIV, and to be honest they can be boring. HOWEVER, halfway through the game I realised how important these "fetch quests" are for the world building of this game.Cons - this game takes a good few hours before the story gets great. this game has side quests, and some main quests, and gameplay wise they're pretty basic. they're a stark reminder that the people who made this game also made XIV, and to be honest they can be boring. HOWEVER, halfway through the game I realised how important these "fetch quests" are for the world building of this game.

    Pros- everyone with a PS5 should play this game. some moments in this game felt like spectacles of video game history. by the end of this game, you will feel as though Valisthea is a living breathing world, with communities of people who love one another and have their own problems. even the smaller side characters in this game are so beloved to me. as far as world building goes, XVI blows any other FF out of the water. its also the most fun ive had with an action game ever.
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  28. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    História adulta para mim é um ponto muito forte, está incrível!
    O combate começa lento com poucas habilidades mas á medida que a história progride o jogo desbloqueia muitas mais e fica frenético !
    As batalhas de chefe... Sem palavras ... De arrepiar!
    Adorei e recomendo muito! Venham mais FF neste mundo incrivel!
  29. 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.
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  30. Jun 30, 2023
    10
    This game story took me back to the good final fantasy coming out in the west days 90s era.
    The combat is pure fun DMC style, the NG+ Final Fantasy mode and Ultimaniac are amazing.
    Game of the year for me.
Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 146 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. 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. 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.
  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]