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. 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
  2. Thauan
    Jun 30, 2023
    10
    You know a game is divisive when you scroll the user reviews and 90% of the scores are 10s or 0s. That aside, the game is amazing, you can see how much the developers loved what they were doing. The combat is addicting as hell, the music is top tier as expected from Soken, story is not the usual JRPG shonen cringe. Can't to play this on PC.
  3. ziffgetsmeta
    Jun 27, 2023
    10
    6 hours in, and the game is amazing so far! The story is like GOT when it was still good. World building is solid, characters complex and compelling. Even the item descriptions are written from a fun POV. The Active Time Lore system feels innovative and should be added to every new game with so many characters and locations.

    It’s not really an RPG, but that’s ok! It’s an evolution of    6 hours in, and the game is amazing so far! The story is like GOT when it was still good. World building is solid, characters complex and compelling. Even the item descriptions are written from a fun POV. The Active Time Lore system feels innovative and should be added to every new game with so many characters and locations.

    It’s not really an RPG, but that’s ok! It’s an evolution of the series where you can spend more time actually playing than tweaking your team’s build out in menus. Combat feels fun and your character gains new abilities often enough to keep things fresh. The game looks beautiful on a PS5 in graphics mode. Locations feel alive, with so much diverse terrain. There has been no shortage of epic battles and big spectacles. I haven’t played a game this hard to put down in a long time. The review bombers are plain wrong. Trust the critics on this one and everyone else who is giving actual reviews.    … Expand
  4. 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
  5. SpookyManIvan
    Jun 23, 2023
    10
    This is one of the best if not the best FF game. Absolutely recommend it to everyone
  6. Belior
    Jul 3, 2023
    0
    This isnt a Final Fantasy! Its a casual dumb ass action button smasher. Boring and not a JRPG!
  7. Kenshin_Cloud
    Jun 23, 2023
    10
    This game is dang near perfection. The action, the story, the characters, the world. It's takes everything to a whole new level.

    People trolling this by giving it low scores are just trolling and are most likely just trying to guarantee TotK wins GOTY because they know how good this game actually is!
  8. mike-
    Jun 30, 2023
    1
    Terrible combat direction for the franchise. Mindless rinse repeating of the same combos over and over. No reason to switch up abilities because elements don't matter, so just pick the skills with the biggest damage. No RPG element/system are left, everything has been reduce to the most minimal possible to the point of have no reason to be remaining in the game. No reason to explore, noTerrible combat direction for the franchise. Mindless rinse repeating of the same combos over and over. No reason to switch up abilities because elements don't matter, so just pick the skills with the biggest damage. No RPG element/system are left, everything has been reduce to the most minimal possible to the point of have no reason to be remaining in the game. No reason to explore, no special hidden treasures, no special hidden bosses, no interesting loot, no status effects. The story is good but extremely predicable if you ever played a FF game before.
    The pacing of the game is completely off due to the ridiculous amount of slowly presented dialog.    … Expand
  9. OriginalDrGonzo
    Jun 27, 2023
    0
    This game is Final Fantasy in name only. Absolutely nothing about it hearkens back to what Final Fantasy used to be. There are no party members, it is not an RPG and they say the F word more times than a Limp Bizkit song. Final Fantasy XIV is the last great Final Fantasy to ever be made if this is the direction the series is going.

    It would make more sense to call this game something    This game is Final Fantasy in name only. Absolutely nothing about it hearkens back to what Final Fantasy used to be. There are no party members, it is not an RPG and they say the F word more times than a Limp Bizkit song. Final Fantasy XIV is the last great Final Fantasy to ever be made if this is the direction the series is going.

    It would make more sense to call this game something completely else because Final Fantasy it is not. Do not waste your time or your money. You can't manipulate stats to make "builds", it's extremely linear and is filled to the brim with gore. You can't equip new weapons or armor, there are no side activities, no secret bosses or anything like that. It's basically the Last of Us, everything to look at and nothing to do. I remember when one of the developers said they were concerned about the direction Final Fantasy gameplay was going. They were correct.

    Imagine taking Kingdom Hearts and doing to that what they have done to this game. Naoki Yoshida, I expected better from you.    … Expand
  10. 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
  11. RaiTheNoblesse
    Jun 25, 2023
    10
    9.5-10/10
    it's not perfect, could use more Rpg elements & exploration.., but the action, story, characters, pacing and whole feeling is something truly special.., only few games like TLOU1/2 have achieved in the past years of narrative driving action-adventures such hights
  12. andreangel
    Jun 24, 2023
    10
    Jogo magnífico
    Jogabilidade gráficos história trilha sonora tudo muito bom
  13. Phipehx
    Jun 23, 2023
    10
    Increíble, awesome, beyond the espectacion, game of the Year, and top 3 of the decade, the only one contender to Zelda TOTK
  14. SymGotSkills
    Jun 24, 2023
    10
    Simply Brilliant! Intuitive Gameplay, Stunning Graphics and breathtaking Story, Totally Recommended 10/10 of Playstation's MasterClass
  15. Umjogador
    Jul 22, 2023
    0
    A trash!! Very generic, dated graphics, nothing new generation.
    There are RPG games a thousand times better than this one.Obsolete, repetitive, tiring, too many scenes, linear. Most of the positive comments are from people who are afraid to speak the truth of the game and not receive it to play, hilarious haha
  16. Just_oK
    Jun 23, 2023
    10
    Easily goty.
  17. Jorjack17
    Jun 24, 2023
    10
    The game isn't a traditional final fantasy, that does not mean its bad. 30 hours in. Hooked.
  18. Jay8K
    Jun 24, 2023
    10
    This game may not play like a traditional RPG, but the game is epic on so many levels.
    The eikon fights are a spectacular. Highly recommend this game if you own a PS5.
  19. 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
  20. feathercave
    Jun 27, 2023
    2
    A game that suffers from the judgment of the creator.

    good point -Graphics are beautiful. Cons -The story is insidious from beginning to end. The player's mood is not uplifted. -The action is so boring. It just repeats routine tasks. - Summoned beast battles are so boring. It's long. Too long. -The music is not as good as the previous FF. -The character's psychological    A game that suffers from the judgment of the creator.

    good point
    -Graphics are beautiful.
    Cons
    -The story is insidious from beginning to end. The player's mood is not uplifted.
    -The action is so boring. It just repeats routine tasks.
    - Summoned beast battles are so boring. It's long. Too long.
    -The music is not as good as the previous FF.
    -The character's psychological description is inconsistent.
    - The main character's purpose cannot be sympathized with the player.
    - Sub-quests, are like MMO. Poor quality.
    -It's all about cut-scenes Half of the game is cut-scenes.
    - The lowest level of gaming experience.    … Expand
  21. noexist
    Jun 27, 2023
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let's start with the good parts:
    The OST is phenomenal, I'll be buying it because of how good it is. One of the best music in FF series. The battles are also interesting change. There's also many of interesting characters but..

    and here're the worse parts
    while the characters are interesting, most of the fate of the characters is ...not good. So anyone who plays games for the characters and the story having a happy end, should double check if they want to play it.
    The story don't have a lot of twist. It's all pretty much straightforward and predictable from start to finish. I'll be more surprised with characters living than them dying every minute. It came to this point that a moment that was supposed to be emotional made me immune and numb to it. I felt nothing because of how many deaths Yoshi-P decided to include in this game. I stopped caring about the characters fate

    The ending ..is not done in a good way. It's sad that they took ideas from FFXV for the ending and by this I mean, how bad it is.

    There's a weird blur in the game that can make you dizzy sometimes. I played with the "graphics" setting, so I don't know if it only exist in this setting. When monsters (most of the time the flying ones) are far away from you, it looks like they're moving in 15 FPS.
    In one scene it was very obvious the FPS dropped below 30 FPS

    I don't think I'll be interested in FF17 if the atmosphere is going to be similir to FF16. I play games to uplifting me but this game sadly did the opposite. I'm a long time FF fan, so this saddens me to be honest
    It's not a bad game per se and if someone loves games like this, they're going to love it    … Expand
  22. Rosfield-bsac
    Jul 5, 2023
    10
    Me fascino el juego, y lo volvería a jugar muchas veces mas. Espero que haya algun contenido extra mas adelante que complemente aun mas este juego maravilloso
  23. Fabiank2
    Jun 27, 2023
    10
    This is such a brilliant game! Seriously, the story made me CRY like a baby but also made had some smiles and scream of excitment! The boss battles are among the best EVER in EVERY media, games, movies, comics, you name it, FFXVI has some moments that are EPIC beyond words! The combat is great, the graphics are MESMERIZING! Seriously, best ive ever played and i finished every single one since VI!
  24. kellcooz
    Jun 26, 2023
    10
    Combat biggest draw for Devil May Cry, Bayonetta or God of War fans. Lovely epic story. Modern Masterpiece. Best Final Fantasy since FFX.
  25. rmndjsdz
    Jun 28, 2023
    10
    Un Final Fantasy maduro y el mejor de la últimas dos décadas, una historia brillante que te atrapa desde el principio, recuerda mucho Juego de Tronos, la jugabilidad es impecable como los mejores Hack & Slash, que decir de la banda sonora con altísimo nivel, como nos tiene acostumbrado la saga, buen contenido el cuál dan muchas horas de juego el cual está bien amortizado, en cuanto aUn Final Fantasy maduro y el mejor de la últimas dos décadas, una historia brillante que te atrapa desde el principio, recuerda mucho Juego de Tronos, la jugabilidad es impecable como los mejores Hack & Slash, que decir de la banda sonora con altísimo nivel, como nos tiene acostumbrado la saga, buen contenido el cuál dan muchas horas de juego el cual está bien amortizado, en cuanto a misiones secundarias, muchas don de recadero alineado mucho a la realidad de los jrpg pro la jugabilidad lo compensa, el diseño artístico es sobresaliente y a nivel de gráficos están bien, algo a destacar es que el juego funciona muy bien no he encontrado Bugs y el rendimiento corre mayormente bien, en momentos d mucha acción caen los FPS pero no sé s una situación demasido recurrente. Se agradece también el dobjale en latino felicito a square enix.… Expand
  26. porcodepre
    Jun 29, 2023
    10
    Action rpg, com uma história, visual, gameplay e personagens incríveis.
    História madura e bem desenvolvida.
    Batalha dos Eikons são sensacionais.
    Trilha sonora do mais alto nível.
    Nota 10 pela coragem da Square em trazer uma história digna de série HBO.
  27. snes
    Jun 26, 2023
    6
    Yeesh, after 15 this one feels a bit lackluster. Heck after the recent FF7 remake it especially feels lackluster. I do get what the devs were trying to shoot for but the main story is just... Meh, nothing about it calls out to me. Nor did they make very likeable characters, though imo FF never makes very likeable characters so maybe that's just on me. Also the side quests are incrediblyYeesh, after 15 this one feels a bit lackluster. Heck after the recent FF7 remake it especially feels lackluster. I do get what the devs were trying to shoot for but the main story is just... Meh, nothing about it calls out to me. Nor did they make very likeable characters, though imo FF never makes very likeable characters so maybe that's just on me. Also the side quests are incredibly mediocre, like FF14 has better side quests and it's an mmo. Combine that with the terrible exploration and lack of minigames and there's just very little reason to explore this world. Zero reason to ever replay this game unless you're a sucker for the story, which lol, I'm not... I do like the combat, and it's of course polished to the standard FF levels. If this game is your jam then more power to you, have some fun in my stead cause this game aint it for me chief.… Expand
  28. Jeremie198630
    Jul 1, 2023
    10
    Quel jeux époustouflant. Je dois dire que j'en attendais pas autant. Le jeu est épique. L'histoire est tellement bien écrit. L'audio 3D est fabuleux avec un casque. Les musiques : WOWWW
  29. trues
    Jun 29, 2023
    9
    Overall an epic instalment and enjoyable for any final fantasy actionRPG lover. Come in with some patience for the cutscenes, and relax while enjoying the story and you will have a good time. Pros: Dark edgy fantasy/mystery story
    Epic visuals
    Giant summons and spectacles Fun combat Likeable protagonist Easy to get invested in emotionally Cons: Pacing could use a bit of work Needed a bit    Overall an epic instalment and enjoyable for any final fantasy actionRPG lover. Come in with some patience for the cutscenes, and relax while enjoying the story and you will have a good time. Pros: Dark edgy fantasy/mystery story
    Epic visuals
    Giant summons and spectacles
    Fun combat
    Likeable protagonist
    Easy to get invested in emotionally Cons:
    Pacing could use a bit of work Needed a bit of story editing with some of the lulls throughout the game
    Maybe a few less cutscenes could help but I didn’t really have any issues with it personally    … Expand
  30. Lamorak87
    Jun 28, 2023
    10
    I’m giving this game a ‘10’ to balance out some of the nonsensical review bombs this game is getting from incel neckbeards, but my “real” rating is a 9 for this game. Giving any game a 0/10 means that game is nonfunctional which is NOT at all what’s going on here.
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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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 »