Final Fantasy XVI For PS5

Final Fantasy 16 is the furthest the mainline series has ever strayed from its traditional RPG roots. It’s more of an action game with RPG elements bolted on than it is an RPG with action combat, but at the same time, it boasts all of the ingredients that we associate with the greatest Final Fantasy titles. Its character-driven story is grand and intoxicating, its fantastical world building is brilliant, and it’s fit to burst with glorious battles. Again, it’s a bold new direction for the beloved franchise, but it’s also the best mainline, single-player Final Fantasy game since 12 — and it’s not even close.

Granted, the incredibly divisive 13 and 15 didn’t exactly set a high bar, but with 16, it feels like Final Fantasy is focused again. This was a project with a clear vision, and that shines through in the impressive cinematic quality of the storytelling, and the largely excellent combat system. When the credits rolled, we felt like we’d been on a memorable, emotional journey and we were sad to see it end. That’s what finishing a Final Fantasy game should feel like.

For this particular journey, you’re plopped in the consistently tragic shoes of Clive Rosfield — a noble-born swordsman charged with the protection of his throne-bound younger brother. In this world, a select few — including Clive’s little bro Joshua — are essentially born with the power of demigods inside of them. Some nations use these ‘Eikons’ to wage war, while others worship them. These all-powerful entities are at the heart of the game’s story, and every time an Eikon takes to the stage — whether it’s during an eye-popping cutscene or a mind-melting boss fight — it’s hard not to be blown away.

Final Fantasy 16’s narrative is a fairly intricate mix of grounded political intrigue — all very reminiscent of Final Fantasy 12 — and crazy Eikon-based chaos, with magic and crystals and superhuman feats that wouldn’t feel out of place in Dragon Ball Z. Somehow, the game’s plot manages to meld all of this together without creating tonal whiplash, and that’s perhaps down to its mostly immaculate script. Indeed, the localisation team deserves so much praise here, because they’ve taken a Japanese script and transformed it into something that feels completely natural, topping it off with some superb voice acting.

When the sh*t hits the fan — and it does, a lot — Final Fantasy 16 tells a truly gripping tale. It’s up there with the most emotionally impactful plots in modern gaming, and it’s further bolstered by cinematic action sequences that would make God of War 3 blush. We haven’t seen spectacle quite like this in a long time, and as the story develops, it only gets more and more obsessed with one-upping itself on the “is this actually happening?” scale.

Now, given its penchant for lengthy cutscenes, you might be sitting there worried that Final Fantasy 16 is more movie than game. It’s a fair concern if you’ve dabbled in the demo — which features the title’s cutscene-heavy prologue — but thankfully, combat and exploration are just as prevalent as the big story moments. While there’s no doubt that this is a cinematic experience first and foremost — it’s exactly what Square Enix wants you to see in trailers and carefully curated presentations — you’ll still spend most of your playthrough battering beasts and wandering across large environments.

Structurally, the game jumps between very linear, story-slinging ‘dungeons’, and whole chapters where you’re free to roam open areas, ticking off side quests and getting to know secondary characters. Final Fantasy 16’s plot pacing can be so intense that it’s nice to have some downtime every now and then, so we did eventually find ourselves welcoming the opportunity to just go off and do our own thing for a bit.

However, we say ‘eventually’ because some of the side quests — particularly early on — are mind-numbingly dull. The drop off in overall quality between the main story and these optional tasks can be jarring, as engaging camera angles and full motion capture are replaced by static character models and flapping mouths, spewing the kind of completely forgettable quests you’d find in an MMO (which does make some sense, seeing as this game is spearheaded by Final Fantasy 14 developers).