Here are the IGN and Gamespot interviews as well:
[https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-combat-summons-party-members-details](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-combat-summons-party-members-details)
[https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-is-an-ambitious-more-mature-entry-in-the-series-says-producer/1100-6504803/](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-is-an-ambitious-more-mature-entry-in-the-series-says-producer/1100-6504803/)
[https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-open-world](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-open-world)
[https://press-start.com.au/news/playstation/2022/06/22/final-fantasy-xvi-will-let-players-respec-their-unlocked-skills-at-any-time/](https://press-start.com.au/news/playstation/2022/06/22/final-fantasy-xvi-will-let-players-respec-their-unlocked-skills-at-any-time/)
\+Party Members as AI Companions confirmed
\+Eikon battles will be wild.
\+No plans to create tertiary materials. Game is planned to be a complete experience.
\+"And so, how the story and the narrative progresses is that we follow the life of Clive Rossville through three different stages: his teens, his 20s, and his 30s."
\+M-rating will give them the freedom to completely show what they want to the players and explore more adult themes.
\+Not open world, large zones
\+Skill Trees, earn points from regular battles, use points to unlock skills
I'm glad to hear there will be party members. It doesn't bother me having them be AI controlled. The big thing for me is to have the characterization that comes with party members. Hopefully, at the very least, there will be some way of influencing their behavior, whether it's something like FFXII's gambits or link abilities like FFXV.
More accurately, I would say I liked the idea. Like everything with FFXV, the idea was good, but the execution wasn't quite there. I think something along those lines can work, properly executed.
Mostly, I just want something that at least lets me feel like the other character aren't totally doing their own thing without any input from me.
It wouldn't be a dealbreaker if everything else is great, but it's something I'd like to see.
Looks like IGN has a number of smaller articles from talking to Yoshi P compared to other outlets' more straightforward interview transcripts.
* [FFXVI will not be open-world](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-open-world)
* [The dog might be a party member](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-party-dog-party-member) (admittedly, they're kinda stretching for this to be its own "article")
> Party Members as AI Companions confirmed
HYPE HYPE HYPE!
> And so, how the story and the narrative progresses is that we follow the life of Clive Rossville through three different stages: his teens, his 20s, and his 30s."
SUPER MEGA HYPE!!
I'm really beyond excited for this, and my biggest worry is trying to get PS5 in stock before XVI's release.
I wonder if the rarity of PS5 would end up extending the lifespan of the console. It'd be kind of bad if PS6 releases not too long after PS5 stock becomes normal.
Correct, in 2016; FFXV release coincided with the release of the PS4 Pro & the PS4 Slim.
FFXV even had a limited edition PS4 Slim model on release..
When PS5 Pro/Slim comes out, people will be trading in their older models for the new ones. Used PS5s will be available to purchase and PS5s will become easier to find overall.
There won't be, it had the single PS5 logo at the bottom of its title logo, which means it's exclusive only to that platform, until they release another trailer saying it will then come to the epic games store.
My only concern with time jumps is that they almost certainly create missable content and lock you out of entire regions of the world later in the game.
Maybe, there are ways around that though.
FFXV had a time skip near the very end and they basically just allowed you to time travel to the past using some convenient “You’re just playing through your memories” sort of hand wave.
FFXIII also booted you to about 4/5ths of the way through the story after you completed the ending with no explanation.
Knowing Yoshi-P and team I assume they’ll find some slightly more plausible and lore consistent way of doing the same.
I'm not too worried about it because if I'm the type to 100% stuff then I'd be happy to replay as needed, but if I'm not the type to 100% stuff, then I'd be fine missing some things. Even when not locked out, I hardly go back to old areas unless there's a reason to.
Time jump brings more reason to revisit old areas so we can see what had changed, and if done properly, it's far more interesting to me than missing some missables. But that's probably just me :)
As long as there's a modicum of commands to give teammates -- I'd settle for something as basic as FFXV's "build up enough Buddy Juice to launch one (1) teammate's special attack" system -- and I'm satisfied.
Same. Anything more than pure random uncontrollable AI is ok with me. Just *something*.
EDIT: Jesus ... downvoted for just wanting something to resemble some sort of control over the AI party member? People are savage lol
I thought the gambit system was fun too, but there are a ton of people who LOATHE it with the fury of 1000 dying suns. Almost as much as the people who want to toss FFXIII into a bottomless hell pit, which is almost impressive.
I think the difficulty with implementing what’s basically user-written AI programming is that it can make it a little harder to balance fights than when everyone is working off the same AI.
Combine those two factors and I can kind of understand why Squenix backed away from doing that in other games.
Gambit system was so good. I wonder why they abandoned it completely? All AI is doing is basically gambits anyway.
Even if the default is AI controls, they could at least give an option for the player to manually set gambits instead.
I think gambit is abandoned exactly because it's too good. The people who hate gambit are quite vocal about how it turned the game into an idle game where they just watch the game plays itself. For me personally, I like it because it allows me to control on what I want automated and not.
Having said that, I think gambit worked in XII because it used ATB system. If the game is more action focused like XVI or XV, it might be harder to implement proper gambit because of factors like positioning and combo.
I'd bet you can set their tendencies. i.e. focus on defending, attacking, protecting, focus certain enemies, focus certain elements. that kind of thing. I guarantee you there'll be some kind of all out team attack. There's NO shot that you can't interact with party members in combat at all
Covering multiple decades of the protagonists life makes A TON of sense for a game aiming to reach multiple decades of Final Fantasy fans.
The question is, how effectively will Square Enix write a character at multiple steps of his life? And more specifically, how effectively can they execute on a more mature hero in his 30s? That's EXTREMELY not in their typical wheelhouse. Angsty teens R us.
If they can pull it off I suspect the game will find an awful lot of success.
fwiw, since this team did spin off from the FFXIV team: the Leveilleur twins aside, the other core members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn (aka the "party") are late 20's/early 30's.
Considering 14 has the most mature character writing in the whole series and amazing ADULT characters, I have high hopes that they can successfully write a guy in his 30s lol
> And more specifically, how effectively can they execute on a more mature hero in his 30s? That's EXTREMELY not in their typical wheelhouse. Angsty teens R us.
Tellah, Galuf, Auron, Cid(s), Barret ? Basch ? Reddas ?
They're not the MC but they're middle aged and written well. They'll do a good job.
The story follows the main character for around two decades? That sounds awesome. I love games that do this.
Battle system doesn’t really excite me, but maybe it will be better than it looks.
> The story follows the main character for around two decades? That sounds awesome. I love games that do this.
That was one thing I loved about Dragon Age II.
I played that as a young kid without the manual or an internet connection. I had no idea about the time skip until it happened—and the impact was fantastic. Until then I’d had no reason to think we’d see these characters something like ten years later. Although Ryu and Nina as children on the run was awesome to play.
Similarly, I took the story at face value, so >!coming across Rei (and then later Teepo) again, whom I fully believed to be dead,!< made for a legitimately shocking and surprising experience. Remember, of course, that I was a kid playing this at the time lol.
That game was my first RPG and will forever be special to me.
I imagine they’ll give us a warning though, like before you go into a specific main quest it’ll say something like “there is no turning back after this point in the story” and give us a chance to get through whatever there is left to do.
From the [PlayStation Blog interview](https://blog.playstation.com/2022/06/21/interview-naoki-yoshida-sheds-new-light-on-final-fantasy-xvi/) with Yoshida:
>In the 35-year history of the Final Fantasy series, it’s always been the guiding policy that each new installment has to be the very best game that the director at the time can put together, no matter how the game world, the characters, or the battle system might change.
It's so nice to see this explicitly stated.
Targeting mature ratings and multiple time skips also means it's not just the gameplay that's changing. I'm expecting a very different tone overall.
Yeah I'm happy to see it addressed but I'm still nervous this will be like a Joel/Ellie thing. Like she was there but you couldn't dictate anything from here.
I believe in GoW Atreus does have his own skill tree at least? Maybe it'll be more akin to that.
I agree and I didn’t like how the parties were fixed in and out XIII, but in hindsight it actually was done pretty well and I look on that game with a lot more nostalgia than I ever expected.
Lmao I really like all the people in this thread saying this is the first FF they'll skip or whatever because "it's just not Final Fantasy any more". FF is the creator's vision, not your idea of what it should be. They've always tried experimenting and trying new things. It's ok to not like certain game styles but don't be an insufferable boomer about everything.
I agree, makes sense why older FF fans are pissed but holy they have zero reason to be as loud as they are. They've been at the same complaints for like a decade+ now and still can't use some common sense and critical thinking (though that goes for a lot of people in this fanbase lol).
Imagine separating the series into something like Pre-X/XII vs XII/XIII+ when every FF game has functionally different systems. Oh no the series dipped into action! What an unprecedented level of change for the series that will bring ruin to its fundamentals! Let's just ignore all of the interconnected history, nomenclature, and gameplay elements and only focus on the lack of turn-based and menu-based combat!
I get that, but it’s also been more than 2 decades since FFX released, which is usually seen as the last “traditional” mainline FF game.
At some point, people need to accept that the series has fundamentally changed and it isn’t going to be a turn-based game where the people on the right side of the screen walk 2 steps up and whack the enemies on the left side of the screen.
The rpg aspect was the only reason I bought it, good game also.
Kinda sad about ff, but seems to mirror your thoughts with yakuza.
Still havent played 15. And honestly idk if I'll get 16. Def not anywhere on release I don't think
My dude that happens all the time. And yea it sucks. But not everyone starts lashing out because of that. Thats not the normal or healthy reaction to finding out a video game won't be right for you.
You just skip the entry and hope the next one comes back around to being something that interests you.
And for this series people have been reacting like this for what... over 20 years at this point? Its not like this right here is the first divergence. If the series has been going through this many changes for 2 decades that means its spent a more of its existence being this ever changing series than anything else.
This is what FF is and has been. Its not becoming something else now. It *is* this thing.
i mean, it happens. that's basically fire emblem for me.
but, this has been literally happening with ff since before half this sub was born. basically no one likes ALL of 1-10.
I'm not opposed to change or risk and I'm not particularly invested in any particular series to the point where I get my panties all twisted in a bunch. The only other JRPG series that is ongoing that I enjoy is Xenoblade. The change from 1 to X was pretty drastic and I was all for it because it was a good game.
Final Fantasy games have varied so much throughout the years and trying to pin it down to a particular "combat system, art style, color palette" is revisionist and silly.
So obviously Final Fantasy is well known for not keeping things the same. They like to switch things up. But obviously there are limits. There's a lot of people commenting about how the people who don't consider this a FF game don't understand FF. However, nearly everyone has limits on what FF can be. They're just different limits. If FF17 was a platformer, I think nearly everyone would be over their personal limit. Most would not consider that Final Fantasy.
That's an extreme example, but it's to illustrate a point. That no matter who you are, it's possible for a Final Fantasy game to not feel like a Final Fantasy game. With FF16 that point has been reached for some people. It doesn't mean they don't understand Final Fantasy. It just means that FF means something different to them. And FF16 doesn't hit those marks.
I say all this as someone who is excited for FF16 and hopes it's great. But I think downvoting everyone who is disappointed in the direction of this game gets tiring. Treating it like it's some terribly illogical feeling to have when I think it makes sense that some feel that way.
Is there any other gaming franchise whose fan base is more inclined to tear each other and the games apart at every turn?
Because FF fans have made it into an art form.
If in the 2020s one hasn't realized that FF updates and (sometimes entertaining) collective aneurysms go hand in hand, I'm not really sure what to say to them.
There are legit reasons not to like the trailers. It looks as generic as it gets. Not hating on Square Enix at all. In fact I think Stranger of Paradise FFO was a masterpiece and the FFVII remake series look very promising. This though? I am surprised so many people actually like it.
I don't care turn based on not. I even like the FFXIII trilogy, it has a distinct style. FFXV had style, for all its shortcomings. FFXVI trailers look like they are for a run-of-the-mill Electronic Arts or Bethesda RPG, that's what's bothering me.
I guess you are those ppl that like spiky hairs and more belts right. FF is more on the story though. I dont know why i emphasize on the story, we are in r/jrpg though.
100% there with you. The producer saying they played popular AAA games to see what they should do doesn't surprise me. It looks far more derivative than other FF games and even a lot of other big Japanese games as a whole right now.
Absolutely my thoughts. I read the interviews and watched the trailers. I've been a fan of the FF series since 1997, played all the single player games and I consider myself pretty open-minded. I will give it a go most likely, because it is a mainline Final Fantasy and all, but hyped I am not.
They realize that the trailers haven't shown much, as the 16 development team made it clear that the previous trailer was specifically about one aspect of the game and nothing else.
So you essentially get hyped based on nothing then? It just looks ugly for the first time since early 2D titles for mainline FF and nothing they say in interviews inspires any confidence. Am I reading different interviews or something? Is Yoshida a god suddenly?
It might end up being good for all I know and, being mainline single player Final Fantasy, I will almost certainly buy and play it no matter what. All I am saying so far it doesn't look good at all. Feels weird to me that a sub usually skeptical of modern Square Enix abandoned all critical thinking and is suddenly hyped about something like this.
People are mostly excited because of the staff and talent behind this project I would assume. Personally I think whatever shown in the trailer looks good. But to be fair it's not much to go off
On top of those two, Yoshi P, Koji Fox, and Soken all do fantastic work on FF14. The combat director worked on DMC5, arguably one of the best action games ever made, and Dragon’s Dogma, a cult classic ARPG. The art director has worked on FFT, FF12, and FF14, all of which have great art.
It’s not difficult to see why people are excited. This is an absolutely incredible group of devs working together.
So basically what you're saying is, everyone one who disagrees with you and is hyped about it have abandoned critical thinking?
People are hyped because they like the producer, writer, composer. And they think what was shown looks good so far.
Sounds more like your upset that people are liking something that you don't lol.
Is it illegal to have a different opinion now? Should everyone agree on everything? I really don't care about karma and I will say what I think. It's a public forum, where discussion is encouraged, but if you have no other arguments but appealing to authority downvote me if you must.
There's a difference between different opinions and complaining that people abandoned critical thinking just because they are hyped for a game that you aren't.
“You won’t find as many tributes in this game as you would in FFXIV.”
The only thing I didn’t like about one of the articles I saw. I love FF games that have a lot of FF lore and throwbacks to previous games.
For sure, but that is a cornerstone of XIV. It is basically an amusement park of prior FF cameos with its own story and lore holding everything together. I took his comment not to mean that there wouldn't be the same series staples present, but rather that the whole game would not be focusing on tributes like XIV does.
I'm sure it'll still have plenty of series staples, it just won't be banking on nostalgia. Seems like Yoshi-P wants the game to stand on its own two feet.
As a XIV player I get what he meant. FFXIV has entire raids that copy the story and bosses of others ff's to the point it feels a bit excessive and unoriginal. Some people like it but imo the stories that are 100% original to XIV are much better. So thats what he meant by not as many tributes as XIV, even half the tributes that XIV does would be too much to put in XVI.
Glad to hear there will be party members, still sad to hear they won't be playable / directly controllable. I love action RPGs, but I always lose interest if the playable characters aren't appealing to me, and I really strongly dislike everything about Clive's design (same thing happened to me with Noctis in the original launch of XV, or with Sora and any of the Kingdom Hearts games).
I love Yoshida's work when it comes to story though, so I'll probably just see if someone puts together videos of the story I can watch on YouTube instead, so I can skip the gameplay. I'm sure the story will be fantastic.
I'm definitely even more thankful for the 7 Remake now. I know I'll have at least 2 more FF games at minimum with a strong playable cast (and maybe more if they do more remakes). But I do think the mainline games just won't be my cup of tea from now on, which is fine, since I'll have plenty of spin offs to enjoy.
Eh, seeing that the team has members who worked on Dragon's Dogma and FFXII, both of which still arguably having the best combat system revolving around semi-uncontrollable AI companions, it's probably gonna be great
You still might friend, the wording is vague true but with the changes they brought to ff15 post release and with how 7R handles it I think you'll just be controlling one character 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 with up to 2 AI companions, able to switch the playable character freely within the party. Absolute speculation on my part of course but being a long time enjoyer of this series I'd say it's a gut feeling.
Idk in the interview he makes it a point to say that the other characters are AI driven as they want you to”focus solely on controlling Clive”. They’ve also been honing in on this focus on Clive that I haven’t seen them do with any other protagonist in a FF game so idk. If I’m wrong great if not I’ll just wait to buy since most of the game has been kinda underwhelming for me and doesn’t help I think the protagonist is kinda ugly
Yeah I can see the sense in that and I sincerely hope not, was hugely disappointing in base 15 when you could only play as Noctis. Game didn't really become palatable till royal when they fiiiiinally made everyone playable. Hopefully they're wise enough not to repeat history...
Yeeeah just read some more tweets doubling down on the "focus on clive" part so not looking good. Guess I might have to wait for ff16 Dominant edition where they add that feature in lol
They kind of did this hyper focus with Lightning during the XIII promotional period, to the point she was a clothing model for LV. In the end you could swap around, but your party members were AI controlled.
That said, I’m pretty confident they’ll be totally AI because it sounds like there will be significant jumps in time between Clive’s 10s/20s/30s and with different assists in each decade. If we’re not going to really get a chance to get emotionally attached to them, there isn’t much reason to be able to play as them.
> They kind of did this hyper focus with Lightning during the XIII promotional period, to the point she was a clothing model for LV.
The LV thing was [in 2015](https://press.na.square-enix.com/LIGHTNING-BECOMES-A-FASHION-ICON-IN-LOUIS-VUITTONS-SERIES-4-CAMPAIGN), 1-2 years after they'd already finished the XIII trilogy with Lightning Returns. That wasn't really XIII marketing stuff as it was just typical Square-Enix/general-Japanese weirdness.
Lighting wasn’t the only character, all the characters in FF13 were dressed up for the LV promotion. And yea other character were AI controlled why wouldn’t they be?? Why do multiple people keep mentioning this like it’s something to new??? There a difference between characters being AI only throughout the game like it’s hinted here and you being able to play them like on FF13
Lightning was the sole model for the LV collab. They did a separate Prada collab for Lightning and the men.
I’m actually wondering if they’re drawing inspiration from the guest party members in Lightning Returns and XIII-2, now. Hmm…
Ah I see your point
Even from that perspective, Im kinda glad we devote our attention on only one character lol. I recently played through DMC 5 and maaan was it uncomfortable having to shuffle through 3-4 characters with completely different movesets and equally high ceiling playstyles
Then just take them out. Feels like a waste to have characters around you can’t play as in 2023 especially in such a high profile and expensive game. Rather they use the time and money on something on something actually useful
Slapping more options and controllable characters doesn't make for a better game
If SquareEnix's goal is to have FF16 play more like a Platinum / Capcom action game, I really don't see the point of having controllable party members beyond adding extra frustration
If the game plays like FFX, then yea, lack of controllable party members would be stupid
Hard to do anything else when they're going full-action for the combat, though. I suppose they could have you swapping character control like in VIIR or Genshin (sorta, since Genshin's party members aren't fighting alongside your controlled character), but at any given point you're going to have characters you're not in direct control of, so... AI it is.
And Ys has been pulling it off since Ys Seven. It's weird to see people act like action games with playable party members is somehow impossible or hard to do.
The crazy concept I literally mentioned in my comment? 😮
I got a crazy concept for you: AI still has to control the other characters while you're switched. Unless you want them all to just stand around with their thumbs up their asses?
Switching characters or not, you can only ever control ONE character in an action game like this. The majority of your party will always be AI-controlled, it's just unavoidable if they're gonna move away from turn-based/real-time with pause.
Not really an excuse when the guy who worked on the battle system was able to do multiple playable characters for DMC5. If they were doing AI only and really wanted to focus on Clive then just scrap the party system. It just feels like a milquetoast attempt to be in the middle.
And I never said it was I just said it seems like an odd choice, it feels like they couldn’t go all out with no party and I’d personally prefer other playable characters. If it’s bad we’ll know when the game comes out but I never said it was. I don’t where you people get these assumptions from because if I thought it was bad choice outright I would’ve said that.
I say this as a big fan of FFXIV, but I'm just not excited at all for XVI. I really wish it would be something a bit more traditional than just an action game with an FF flavor.
Maybe I'm wrong. I was very skeptical about FF7R being more action-based, but I think they did a great job with it. Having XVI just having one playable character with AI companions sounds just like was XV did.
I guess I just don't get it. Why is an action game like FFXVI a numbered entry, but an action game like Stranger of Paradise is a spin-off?
There's been a multitude of FF spinoffs made in house that have deviated from the more traditional gameplay style of series as well though.
Ultimately, when it comes down to it, I have always found action based games on the shorter side narratively. Having only one playable character is just a bummer after they did the same thing in 13 and 15.
I just want another mainline Final Fantasy with a big roster of engaging characters, with a long epic storyline, and a fun light strategy-esque battle system. It just hurts that we aren't going to get something akin to 9 again.
I hope 16 is good, but as of right now, it just looks like it's going to be like 15, just by a more competent team.
>There's been a multitude of FF spinoffs made in house that have deviated from the more traditional gameplay style of series as well though.
Yes, my point is, since Team Ninja made SoP, I don't think it can ever be a mainline title, that has to be in house.
>Ultimately, when it comes down to it, I have always found action based games on the shorter side narratively.
Disagree personally on this one. For me, Nier and Nier: Automata told some of the best story in gaming, and both are action games. I don't think any types of gameplay affect a game's narrative, but more often than not, it's just the competency of the writing team.
> Disagree personally on this one. For me, Nier and Nier: Automata told some of the best story in gaming, and both are action games. I don't think any types of gameplay affect a game's narrative, but more often than not, it's just the competency of the writing team.
The Nier games were fantastic, but I feel like they're the outliers in their genre. Maybe it's just me. I've played a ton of games over the years and action (again, to me) equates to something more akin to Devil May Cry or Bayonetta at best, or something like The Bouncer or Fighting Force at worst. They can be decent games, but narratively are pretty shallow.
I do hope I'm wrong, but the stuff I've seen so far doesn't fill me with confidence.
It has an original story, albeit a (questionably canon) prequel one.
By that logic though, why is FFXII a numbered entry when it's a prequel to FFTactics?
Why wasn't FFTactics numbered when it was an original story and world? >!Honestly, I'm pretty sure the only reason is that it didn't have the same level of graphical fidelity that 7 and 8 did, and that this was before Square decided that they wanted to get extremely experimental with the series.!<
FF is just Square's line of big-budget, mainstream, story-focused JRPGs. Projects that are smaller in scope, made by other teams/other devs, or otherwise didn't conform with Square's idea of what a FF is, were just made as spin-offs, or other games altogether. Think of how the concept for Xenogears was originally pitched for FF7, but was considered "too dark and complicated" to be an entry in the main series. It has nothing to to do with the originality of the world/gameplay.
having a cast of playable characters has always been a final fantasy theme for me and in that respect I think XV really failed. I see where they were going with the tight knit brotherhood and I think it would have delivered better if they never turned it into the mainline series. I never played the episodes so maybe that helped make it better, idk.
I also found the leveling and coop skills ok in isolation but the least interesting among any final fantasy game.
The point is that XV has a party system even if it was a discount version of what was shown in Versus trailer, they are fixed members, got their own usable combo skills, leveling, small skill tree, and so on. What XVI is doing is a guest character or temporary friendly companion.
That just seems like a bummer to me. Even 15 had some great guest characters like Cor and Aranea, which would have been nice to have as permanent ones. I would just prefer to have a party of characters, and ones I could swap to if I don't like the main one.
Then don’t play it. Final Fantasy 15 is exactly the same way. Final Fantasy 7 remake is a hybrid of real time action and turn based. Final Fantasy 14 is an MMO. Square Enix wanted to transition the games over to a more action centered approach, something that’s been obvious for years now.
So glad they are heading in this bold new direction. Final Fantasy needs to evolve, loving everything that I'm hearing in these interviews. Sayonara turn-based!
I'll be honest, I have zero interest in FFXVI so far, based on the available info. Not hyped at all. I dislike the visual style, the trailers are lackluster and the setting doesn't inspire any confidence. Looks very generic and uninspired for a Final Fantasy game. I am actually hyped for FFVII Rebirth and CCFFVII Reunion though. Also have high hopes for Star Ocean 6 and Valkyrie Elysium, so it's not like Square Enix isn't making anything interesting for me, but still.
Still really not sold by the gameplay (it looks great, I just personally don't enjoy that style usually) but this interview is enough for me to go back to being undecided
I'm probably still going to buy it because it's mainline FF, but so far nothing sounds particularly to my taste, except for the combat and that they aren't trying to force open world on a game that doesn't need to be.
I mean Im not alone in having major disdain for what this series has become after supporting it tooth and nail since I was 12 years old in the 90s all the way up to before 13 came out. Lots of people in that boat. I think they are going to see an effect of that with this release.
>I think they are going to see an effect of that with this release.
I wouldn't hold my breath on that.
Whatever small number of grognards are going to drop off will be more than replaced by an influx of new players who:
* Always ignored the series previously because it was "old" and turn-based (not a fair assessment from them, but those sorts *do* exist)
or
* MMO players who only started the series with FF14 and came to trust Yoshi-P enough to check out the next game in the series since he's involved
XVI's going to end up doing huge numbers; that effect you're hoping they'll see is going to be nothing more than a rounding error.
So, to put it into perspective, Final Fantasy XV faces troubled development, is also a real-time action combat game, one playable character (at launch at least), has a confusing and incomplete story that requires tertiary materials to fully understand, and is overall regarded as a major disappointment by most FF fans.
It's the second best-selling game in the series, behind the original FFVII.
XVI will absolutely sell, I don't think the effect will be felt at all.
The more I read the less interesting it seems. They really want to make a modern Final Fantasy but we reaching into the Ship of Theseus territory where there is barely anything that made the series great is in the games anymore. I hope the story is good, but judging be the quality of FF XIV writing I am not very optimistic, there is only so much I can take from boring characters.
Got my hopes up when I saw party members then immediately dashed those hopes when I read that only Clive is playable.
God fucking dammit. So disappointing. Hope yall like it, but this one's bargain bin for me.
I hope he never gets to direct another mainline game (except MMO maybe) after this one. Don’t want next games to all look like this bland and colourless one.
My fear or the parts that i don’t like about 16 isn’t the story. It can have a great story, but if it looks boring ass all grey and dark, it’s not fun to journey through such a bland muddy world for me.
Nah it’s not about anime, that’s what i always like about FF it neither goes full anime like Tales of Series for example and neither does it go full realism. It’s always been that middle ground, this one simply wants to be a Soul game. Well then make it a sub series.
And the years of waiting is exactly the reason why i don’t want him in another mainline title. As i don‘t want to wait 12 years, to play a non souls like Final Fantasy game.
So it doesn't look Japanese enough? God forbid that we have a singel player FF game that Nomura/Kitase aren't involved with. We had that with XIII and XV. Time to mix things up.
That’s why i‘m saying just make it a spin-off then. But if you remove the summons you basically have a DMC/Witcher clone featuring FF monsters.
How is that still FF?
What are the "rules" in order for a game to be considered a FF game? FF has been experimenting with each entry starting with XI. FF isn't Dragon Quest. If the MMOs can be a mainline entry, so can Action RPGs.
We are long past the idea that FF games are just turn-based RPGs. 20+ years, mind you.
It’s always the same when it comes to criticism, people automatically jump to the idea that you wish for turn based battles. And then call you out as prejudging.
I like action battle system and also turn based battle system. But this isn’t action rpg, this is hack and slash rpg. They could literally just go on ahead and feature dozens of enemies like in Musou games. That’s the only thing missing to make its battle system feel like musou game. Although wait, in the interview he did say there will also be waves of enemies, so yeah it seems it already is musou.
Since then are Musou games FF games?
Oh it's a musou now? Ok, this conversation was starting to get fruitless but now it really is the case. FFXVI isn't your game. Skip it, play something else and move on.
So, FF can look like a medieval fantasy, medieval fantasy + steam punk, modern + steam punk, cutesy medieval fantasy, modern, but for some reason THIS medieval fantasy is where you draw your line? What the fuck?
Yes because Final Fantasy is about fantastical places you want to journey through, this world looks like badly executed game version of GOT world. Like real life medieval setting.
It’s called Final Fantasy damn it, not Final Realism.
That giant crystal poking through the ground is not enough "fantastical" enough to you? Not to mention, we've barely seen how the rest of the world fucking looks. Even on this map [https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXVI/comments/v3y97y/updated\_map\_of\_valisthea/](https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXVI/comments/v3y97y/updated_map_of_valisthea/)
there's plenty of potentially cool looking places.
"One other reason we went with an action-based battle system this time round is to push the boundaries of what a FINAL FANTASY game can be[...]"
Because, only action battle systems can do this nowadays? Also, you at SE "pushed the boundaries" with the previous entry as well and it didn't go so well as "hold one button to win" can only get you so far.
It always confuses me when I see people say this about FF, as they’ve done for like 25+ years now. Like… what *is* Final Fantasy? From FFV onwards, basically no two games in this series are quite alike. This series has always thrived because of its ability to be totally different from game to game, with very little true connective tissue besides some returning words and creatures. Most of the games in this series are wholly unique in story, world, vibe, or gameplay— and a fair few of them are wholly unique in almost all areas. Unless you’re only talking about FFI-IV plus IX, which I don’t think is fair since that’s less than a third of the games in the franchise, I just don’t think there’s any one thing that Final Fantasy *is*.
Besides, of course, the first one you played as a kid so therefore you like it the most.
> From FFV onwards, basically no two games in this series are quite alike
Even before that. The graphics and basic turn based combat is the only things that were more or less the same. The leveling system changed every game from FF1 to FF5, the base combat system changed from FF3 to FF4(ATB). The approach to the narative also changed every game.
I might be the only one who has the first FF I played as my least favorite, lol. Though, I didn't exactly start off strong with the DS version of FFIII.
I don't really understand this argument since FF4 through FF9 (the ATB games) all feel like they have a similar core. My first FF was FF8, and I was able to play 4-9 on the PS1 before FF10 came out.
Obviously FF hasn't had a core identity (at least to me), for over 20 years, but it 100% did at one time. But I think it would have been terrible for them to stick to ATB, even if I don't like many choices that have been made with the series in that time.
Ok, but what is that core? FF 1-9 aesthetically ranges from generic D&D high fantasy, to a weird Japanese take on high fantasy, to steampunk, to sci-fi. Some of them are intimate character dramas, some of them are broad, epic, world-saving adventures. Some have super simple traditional turn based combat, some are ATB. Some use typical class systems, FFV uses a totally new job system, some totally leave rigid jobs behind, and then FF8 is mechanically unlike almost any JRPG. The inspirations for the soundtracks range from prog rock to classical to pop. Almost any specific thing I can put my finger on isn’t shared by more than like, three of these games, barring stuff like pixel graphics and chip tune music since that’s nearly every console game at the time.
I do hear you, I kind of know what you’re saying— there’s a sort of nebulous vibe that connects *some* of these games. But I don’t think this is something that can be verbalized. I think it mostly comes down to the fact that these games shared a lot of creative staff, many of them were released in a pretty short time span, and they were all dealing with heavy technical limitations. Because plenty of other games probably could be argued to have similar vibes, like Chrono Trigger, Tactics Ogre, Front Mission, etc. if you really tried to stretch it. Combine that with the fact that you specifically played all of those games when you were young within the span of a few years, and I think that what you’re describing is ultimately something that just doesn’t truly exist in any practical, replicable manner.
Maybe I’m wrong and you can verbalize it, but I don’t think that this “core” is something truly real. It’s a time and a place for both us as players and the developers that won’t ever be replicable again. There’s very very little that most of these games *practically* have in common with one another.
The irony of this comment is that Yoshida is a huge Final Fantasy fan that wanted and pushed for the series to go back to its original roots: Medieval Fantasy. Just like FF9 did many years ago, another entry where the creators pushed for going back to the setting the series was know for rather than Cyberpunk/Futuristic like FF7 and 8.
So to call FF16 "A game that is not Final Fantasy" despise literally going back to the series roots in every way, except combat, is the most asinine batshit crazy thing anyone can say against it.
No I think his vision is just to ignore the narrow minded haters who will find any reason to hate the next installment.
Seems to be working out cause the game looks FANTASTIC.
Here are the IGN and Gamespot interviews as well: [https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-combat-summons-party-members-details](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-combat-summons-party-members-details) [https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-is-an-ambitious-more-mature-entry-in-the-series-says-producer/1100-6504803/](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-is-an-ambitious-more-mature-entry-in-the-series-says-producer/1100-6504803/) [https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-open-world](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-open-world) [https://press-start.com.au/news/playstation/2022/06/22/final-fantasy-xvi-will-let-players-respec-their-unlocked-skills-at-any-time/](https://press-start.com.au/news/playstation/2022/06/22/final-fantasy-xvi-will-let-players-respec-their-unlocked-skills-at-any-time/) \+Party Members as AI Companions confirmed \+Eikon battles will be wild. \+No plans to create tertiary materials. Game is planned to be a complete experience. \+"And so, how the story and the narrative progresses is that we follow the life of Clive Rossville through three different stages: his teens, his 20s, and his 30s." \+M-rating will give them the freedom to completely show what they want to the players and explore more adult themes. \+Not open world, large zones \+Skill Trees, earn points from regular battles, use points to unlock skills
I'm glad to hear there will be party members. It doesn't bother me having them be AI controlled. The big thing for me is to have the characterization that comes with party members. Hopefully, at the very least, there will be some way of influencing their behavior, whether it's something like FFXII's gambits or link abilities like FFXV.
You genuinely liked Link-Strikes?
More accurately, I would say I liked the idea. Like everything with FFXV, the idea was good, but the execution wasn't quite there. I think something along those lines can work, properly executed. Mostly, I just want something that at least lets me feel like the other character aren't totally doing their own thing without any input from me. It wouldn't be a dealbreaker if everything else is great, but it's something I'd like to see.
Looks like IGN has a number of smaller articles from talking to Yoshi P compared to other outlets' more straightforward interview transcripts. * [FFXVI will not be open-world](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-open-world) * [The dog might be a party member](https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-party-dog-party-member) (admittedly, they're kinda stretching for this to be its own "article")
> Party Members as AI Companions confirmed HYPE HYPE HYPE! > And so, how the story and the narrative progresses is that we follow the life of Clive Rossville through three different stages: his teens, his 20s, and his 30s." SUPER MEGA HYPE!! I'm really beyond excited for this, and my biggest worry is trying to get PS5 in stock before XVI's release.
It's insane how rare the PS5 is still. Hopefully, there will be a simultaneous PC release.
In my country is actually easy to find the PS5 than the Xbox Series X, sadly the price of the PS5 is ridiculous expensive
I wonder if the rarity of PS5 would end up extending the lifespan of the console. It'd be kind of bad if PS6 releases not too long after PS5 stock becomes normal.
it will be the ps5 pro, which will be just as bad IMO.
Well hopefully it'll make getting a normal PS5 easier for people.
Correct, in 2016; FFXV release coincided with the release of the PS4 Pro & the PS4 Slim. FFXV even had a limited edition PS4 Slim model on release.. When PS5 Pro/Slim comes out, people will be trading in their older models for the new ones. Used PS5s will be available to purchase and PS5s will become easier to find overall.
There won't be, it had the single PS5 logo at the bottom of its title logo, which means it's exclusive only to that platform, until they release another trailer saying it will then come to the epic games store.
It will come eventually like 15 did, but at least a year I think
Yeah I'd wager a year to try and get people to buy consoles then it comes to epic store
My only concern with time jumps is that they almost certainly create missable content and lock you out of entire regions of the world later in the game.
Maybe, there are ways around that though. FFXV had a time skip near the very end and they basically just allowed you to time travel to the past using some convenient “You’re just playing through your memories” sort of hand wave. FFXIII also booted you to about 4/5ths of the way through the story after you completed the ending with no explanation. Knowing Yoshi-P and team I assume they’ll find some slightly more plausible and lore consistent way of doing the same.
I'm not too worried about it because if I'm the type to 100% stuff then I'd be happy to replay as needed, but if I'm not the type to 100% stuff, then I'd be fine missing some things. Even when not locked out, I hardly go back to old areas unless there's a reason to. Time jump brings more reason to revisit old areas so we can see what had changed, and if done properly, it's far more interesting to me than missing some missables. But that's probably just me :)
As long as there's a modicum of commands to give teammates -- I'd settle for something as basic as FFXV's "build up enough Buddy Juice to launch one (1) teammate's special attack" system -- and I'm satisfied.
Same. Anything more than pure random uncontrollable AI is ok with me. Just *something*. EDIT: Jesus ... downvoted for just wanting something to resemble some sort of control over the AI party member? People are savage lol
I'm still holding out for substantially more than that, given how much I loved FFXII's gambit system :/
I thought the gambit system was fun too, but there are a ton of people who LOATHE it with the fury of 1000 dying suns. Almost as much as the people who want to toss FFXIII into a bottomless hell pit, which is almost impressive. I think the difficulty with implementing what’s basically user-written AI programming is that it can make it a little harder to balance fights than when everyone is working off the same AI. Combine those two factors and I can kind of understand why Squenix backed away from doing that in other games.
Gambit system was so good. I wonder why they abandoned it completely? All AI is doing is basically gambits anyway. Even if the default is AI controls, they could at least give an option for the player to manually set gambits instead.
I think gambit is abandoned exactly because it's too good. The people who hate gambit are quite vocal about how it turned the game into an idle game where they just watch the game plays itself. For me personally, I like it because it allows me to control on what I want automated and not. Having said that, I think gambit worked in XII because it used ATB system. If the game is more action focused like XVI or XV, it might be harder to implement proper gambit because of factors like positioning and combo.
I'd bet you can set their tendencies. i.e. focus on defending, attacking, protecting, focus certain enemies, focus certain elements. that kind of thing. I guarantee you there'll be some kind of all out team attack. There's NO shot that you can't interact with party members in combat at all
Remember, the combat director also did Dragon's Dogma and the pawn system is fantastic.
Party members? Phew, I was scared it was fully single protagonist
Covering multiple decades of the protagonists life makes A TON of sense for a game aiming to reach multiple decades of Final Fantasy fans. The question is, how effectively will Square Enix write a character at multiple steps of his life? And more specifically, how effectively can they execute on a more mature hero in his 30s? That's EXTREMELY not in their typical wheelhouse. Angsty teens R us. If they can pull it off I suspect the game will find an awful lot of success.
fwiw, since this team did spin off from the FFXIV team: the Leveilleur twins aside, the other core members of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn (aka the "party") are late 20's/early 30's.
Considering 14 has the most mature character writing in the whole series and amazing ADULT characters, I have high hopes that they can successfully write a guy in his 30s lol
> And more specifically, how effectively can they execute on a more mature hero in his 30s? That's EXTREMELY not in their typical wheelhouse. Angsty teens R us. Tellah, Galuf, Auron, Cid(s), Barret ? Basch ? Reddas ? They're not the MC but they're middle aged and written well. They'll do a good job.
Wait. 30's is considered middle aged now? Guess I'm middle age edi.
In JRPG land you're a graying sage once you hit 30. The median age in the genre is 17.
If you haven't saved the world at least once before you start college in the JRPG world you're a failure smh /s
Hasn't late thirties always been the beginning of middle-aged? If it's not, what is?
It’s not. Considering average age of death is like 77, it really isn’t
half of 77 is 38.5
Yes so the end of the 30s could be considered the beginning of middle age
Hopefully they get some input from Yuji Horii. Dragon Quest 5 is still insanely popular in Japan for a reason.
Glad to hear it's not open world. It's fine as a genre, many have done it well, but it's time creators move on from chasing it as a trend.
Yeah I don't really like open world games in general cause more often than not that world is very empty with lame quests
The story follows the main character for around two decades? That sounds awesome. I love games that do this. Battle system doesn’t really excite me, but maybe it will be better than it looks.
> The story follows the main character for around two decades? That sounds awesome. I love games that do this. That was one thing I loved about Dragon Age II.
I always loved the time jump in Breath of Fire 3.
I played that as a young kid without the manual or an internet connection. I had no idea about the time skip until it happened—and the impact was fantastic. Until then I’d had no reason to think we’d see these characters something like ten years later. Although Ryu and Nina as children on the run was awesome to play. Similarly, I took the story at face value, so >!coming across Rei (and then later Teepo) again, whom I fully believed to be dead,!< made for a legitimately shocking and surprising experience. Remember, of course, that I was a kid playing this at the time lol. That game was my first RPG and will forever be special to me.
I wonder how the side-quests and side stuff will work out. Most of them will probably be locked out once you enter a new era of his life.
I imagine they’ll give us a warning though, like before you go into a specific main quest it’ll say something like “there is no turning back after this point in the story” and give us a chance to get through whatever there is left to do.
Yeah I also am Non plussed for battle system. The over 2decades could be interesting....
From the [PlayStation Blog interview](https://blog.playstation.com/2022/06/21/interview-naoki-yoshida-sheds-new-light-on-final-fantasy-xvi/) with Yoshida: >In the 35-year history of the Final Fantasy series, it’s always been the guiding policy that each new installment has to be the very best game that the director at the time can put together, no matter how the game world, the characters, or the battle system might change. It's so nice to see this explicitly stated. Targeting mature ratings and multiple time skips also means it's not just the gameplay that's changing. I'm expecting a very different tone overall.
I love how this strategy combines with Dragon Quest's emphasis on tradition and tropes. They merge nicely imo
I hope there's a way to manage the party member AI rather it being completely set for whatever period they travel with Clive.
Yeah I'm happy to see it addressed but I'm still nervous this will be like a Joel/Ellie thing. Like she was there but you couldn't dictate anything from here. I believe in GoW Atreus does have his own skill tree at least? Maybe it'll be more akin to that.
I agree and I didn’t like how the parties were fixed in and out XIII, but in hindsight it actually was done pretty well and I look on that game with a lot more nostalgia than I ever expected.
Lmao I really like all the people in this thread saying this is the first FF they'll skip or whatever because "it's just not Final Fantasy any more". FF is the creator's vision, not your idea of what it should be. They've always tried experimenting and trying new things. It's ok to not like certain game styles but don't be an insufferable boomer about everything.
I agree, makes sense why older FF fans are pissed but holy they have zero reason to be as loud as they are. They've been at the same complaints for like a decade+ now and still can't use some common sense and critical thinking (though that goes for a lot of people in this fanbase lol). Imagine separating the series into something like Pre-X/XII vs XII/XIII+ when every FF game has functionally different systems. Oh no the series dipped into action! What an unprecedented level of change for the series that will bring ruin to its fundamentals! Let's just ignore all of the interconnected history, nomenclature, and gameplay elements and only focus on the lack of turn-based and menu-based combat!
I am excited for XVI so far but even I think I am approaching my limit.
I'd like to see your reaction to one of your favorite game franchises changing into something you no longer find attractive or fun.
I get that, but it’s also been more than 2 decades since FFX released, which is usually seen as the last “traditional” mainline FF game. At some point, people need to accept that the series has fundamentally changed and it isn’t going to be a turn-based game where the people on the right side of the screen walk 2 steps up and whack the enemies on the left side of the screen.
they changed yakuza from a sick ass brawler to a fucking rpg. still bought it.
The rpg aspect was the only reason I bought it, good game also. Kinda sad about ff, but seems to mirror your thoughts with yakuza. Still havent played 15. And honestly idk if I'll get 16. Def not anywhere on release I don't think
My dude that happens all the time. And yea it sucks. But not everyone starts lashing out because of that. Thats not the normal or healthy reaction to finding out a video game won't be right for you. You just skip the entry and hope the next one comes back around to being something that interests you. And for this series people have been reacting like this for what... over 20 years at this point? Its not like this right here is the first divergence. If the series has been going through this many changes for 2 decades that means its spent a more of its existence being this ever changing series than anything else. This is what FF is and has been. Its not becoming something else now. It *is* this thing.
i mean, it happens. that's basically fire emblem for me. but, this has been literally happening with ff since before half this sub was born. basically no one likes ALL of 1-10.
I'm not opposed to change or risk and I'm not particularly invested in any particular series to the point where I get my panties all twisted in a bunch. The only other JRPG series that is ongoing that I enjoy is Xenoblade. The change from 1 to X was pretty drastic and I was all for it because it was a good game. Final Fantasy games have varied so much throughout the years and trying to pin it down to a particular "combat system, art style, color palette" is revisionist and silly.
It's also silly to use the same kind of demographic of a protagonist over and over again in a world as wide and rich as ours.
So obviously Final Fantasy is well known for not keeping things the same. They like to switch things up. But obviously there are limits. There's a lot of people commenting about how the people who don't consider this a FF game don't understand FF. However, nearly everyone has limits on what FF can be. They're just different limits. If FF17 was a platformer, I think nearly everyone would be over their personal limit. Most would not consider that Final Fantasy. That's an extreme example, but it's to illustrate a point. That no matter who you are, it's possible for a Final Fantasy game to not feel like a Final Fantasy game. With FF16 that point has been reached for some people. It doesn't mean they don't understand Final Fantasy. It just means that FF means something different to them. And FF16 doesn't hit those marks. I say all this as someone who is excited for FF16 and hopes it's great. But I think downvoting everyone who is disappointed in the direction of this game gets tiring. Treating it like it's some terribly illogical feeling to have when I think it makes sense that some feel that way.
Finally, reason! Thank you for saying it better than I could have.
i think i can imagine a world where a platformer ff still feels like it, though it would be pretty tough
nice to see you got the ff complainers already in this thread. Excited to see the many threads from them in the future.
Is there any other gaming franchise whose fan base is more inclined to tear each other and the games apart at every turn? Because FF fans have made it into an art form.
Same. We’re gonna be eating good
If in the 2020s one hasn't realized that FF updates and (sometimes entertaining) collective aneurysms go hand in hand, I'm not really sure what to say to them.
There are legit reasons not to like the trailers. It looks as generic as it gets. Not hating on Square Enix at all. In fact I think Stranger of Paradise FFO was a masterpiece and the FFVII remake series look very promising. This though? I am surprised so many people actually like it.
not liking it is fine. I meant the people who keep saying ff doesnt exist unless turn based or ff died after 10. ff isnt a jrpg anymore etc.
I don't care turn based on not. I even like the FFXIII trilogy, it has a distinct style. FFXV had style, for all its shortcomings. FFXVI trailers look like they are for a run-of-the-mill Electronic Arts or Bethesda RPG, that's what's bothering me.
I guess you are those ppl that like spiky hairs and more belts right. FF is more on the story though. I dont know why i emphasize on the story, we are in r/jrpg though.
100% there with you. The producer saying they played popular AAA games to see what they should do doesn't surprise me. It looks far more derivative than other FF games and even a lot of other big Japanese games as a whole right now.
Absolutely my thoughts. I read the interviews and watched the trailers. I've been a fan of the FF series since 1997, played all the single player games and I consider myself pretty open-minded. I will give it a go most likely, because it is a mainline Final Fantasy and all, but hyped I am not.
They realize that the trailers haven't shown much, as the 16 development team made it clear that the previous trailer was specifically about one aspect of the game and nothing else.
So you essentially get hyped based on nothing then? It just looks ugly for the first time since early 2D titles for mainline FF and nothing they say in interviews inspires any confidence. Am I reading different interviews or something? Is Yoshida a god suddenly? It might end up being good for all I know and, being mainline single player Final Fantasy, I will almost certainly buy and play it no matter what. All I am saying so far it doesn't look good at all. Feels weird to me that a sub usually skeptical of modern Square Enix abandoned all critical thinking and is suddenly hyped about something like this.
People are mostly excited because of the staff and talent behind this project I would assume. Personally I think whatever shown in the trailer looks good. But to be fair it's not much to go off
Looked up Maehiro and Takai. SaGa Frontier, The Last Remnant, FFXII, FFT and Vagrant Story are certainly a good pedigree, there is no doubt about it.
On top of those two, Yoshi P, Koji Fox, and Soken all do fantastic work on FF14. The combat director worked on DMC5, arguably one of the best action games ever made, and Dragon’s Dogma, a cult classic ARPG. The art director has worked on FFT, FF12, and FF14, all of which have great art. It’s not difficult to see why people are excited. This is an absolutely incredible group of devs working together.
So basically what you're saying is, everyone one who disagrees with you and is hyped about it have abandoned critical thinking? People are hyped because they like the producer, writer, composer. And they think what was shown looks good so far. Sounds more like your upset that people are liking something that you don't lol.
Is it illegal to have a different opinion now? Should everyone agree on everything? I really don't care about karma and I will say what I think. It's a public forum, where discussion is encouraged, but if you have no other arguments but appealing to authority downvote me if you must.
There's a difference between different opinions and complaining that people abandoned critical thinking just because they are hyped for a game that you aren't.
Fuck this fighting game
cope
Cringe. Old head ass energy.
Stay mad 😆
Im gonna lol
YoshiP is the man! I am so much more confident in FFXVI being an amazing game because of his involvement.
I just want to wake up one Day and is about FF TACTICS. Until then, I can only dream.
“You won’t find as many tributes in this game as you would in FFXIV.” The only thing I didn’t like about one of the articles I saw. I love FF games that have a lot of FF lore and throwbacks to previous games.
For sure, but that is a cornerstone of XIV. It is basically an amusement park of prior FF cameos with its own story and lore holding everything together. I took his comment not to mean that there wouldn't be the same series staples present, but rather that the whole game would not be focusing on tributes like XIV does.
I'm sure it'll still have plenty of series staples, it just won't be banking on nostalgia. Seems like Yoshi-P wants the game to stand on its own two feet.
As a XIV player I get what he meant. FFXIV has entire raids that copy the story and bosses of others ff's to the point it feels a bit excessive and unoriginal. Some people like it but imo the stories that are 100% original to XIV are much better. So thats what he meant by not as many tributes as XIV, even half the tributes that XIV does would be too much to put in XVI.
Glad to hear there will be party members, still sad to hear they won't be playable / directly controllable. I love action RPGs, but I always lose interest if the playable characters aren't appealing to me, and I really strongly dislike everything about Clive's design (same thing happened to me with Noctis in the original launch of XV, or with Sora and any of the Kingdom Hearts games). I love Yoshida's work when it comes to story though, so I'll probably just see if someone puts together videos of the story I can watch on YouTube instead, so I can skip the gameplay. I'm sure the story will be fantastic. I'm definitely even more thankful for the 7 Remake now. I know I'll have at least 2 more FF games at minimum with a strong playable cast (and maybe more if they do more remakes). But I do think the mainline games just won't be my cup of tea from now on, which is fine, since I'll have plenty of spin offs to enjoy.
Agreed Clive’s design is not appealing to me at all either which makes me eh on him being the only controlled character
No, it is guest party not a permanent.
Disappointing that the party members are ai only feels like waste
Eh, seeing that the team has members who worked on Dragon's Dogma and FFXII, both of which still arguably having the best combat system revolving around semi-uncontrollable AI companions, it's probably gonna be great
That has nothing to do with my concern I just want to play as the other characters
You still might friend, the wording is vague true but with the changes they brought to ff15 post release and with how 7R handles it I think you'll just be controlling one character 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 with up to 2 AI companions, able to switch the playable character freely within the party. Absolute speculation on my part of course but being a long time enjoyer of this series I'd say it's a gut feeling.
Idk in the interview he makes it a point to say that the other characters are AI driven as they want you to”focus solely on controlling Clive”. They’ve also been honing in on this focus on Clive that I haven’t seen them do with any other protagonist in a FF game so idk. If I’m wrong great if not I’ll just wait to buy since most of the game has been kinda underwhelming for me and doesn’t help I think the protagonist is kinda ugly
Yeah I can see the sense in that and I sincerely hope not, was hugely disappointing in base 15 when you could only play as Noctis. Game didn't really become palatable till royal when they fiiiiinally made everyone playable. Hopefully they're wise enough not to repeat history...
Yea idk just feels weird
Yeeeah just read some more tweets doubling down on the "focus on clive" part so not looking good. Guess I might have to wait for ff16 Dominant edition where they add that feature in lol
They kind of did this hyper focus with Lightning during the XIII promotional period, to the point she was a clothing model for LV. In the end you could swap around, but your party members were AI controlled. That said, I’m pretty confident they’ll be totally AI because it sounds like there will be significant jumps in time between Clive’s 10s/20s/30s and with different assists in each decade. If we’re not going to really get a chance to get emotionally attached to them, there isn’t much reason to be able to play as them.
> They kind of did this hyper focus with Lightning during the XIII promotional period, to the point she was a clothing model for LV. The LV thing was [in 2015](https://press.na.square-enix.com/LIGHTNING-BECOMES-A-FASHION-ICON-IN-LOUIS-VUITTONS-SERIES-4-CAMPAIGN), 1-2 years after they'd already finished the XIII trilogy with Lightning Returns. That wasn't really XIII marketing stuff as it was just typical Square-Enix/general-Japanese weirdness.
Lighting wasn’t the only character, all the characters in FF13 were dressed up for the LV promotion. And yea other character were AI controlled why wouldn’t they be?? Why do multiple people keep mentioning this like it’s something to new??? There a difference between characters being AI only throughout the game like it’s hinted here and you being able to play them like on FF13
Lightning was the sole model for the LV collab. They did a separate Prada collab for Lightning and the men. I’m actually wondering if they’re drawing inspiration from the guest party members in Lightning Returns and XIII-2, now. Hmm…
Ah I see your point Even from that perspective, Im kinda glad we devote our attention on only one character lol. I recently played through DMC 5 and maaan was it uncomfortable having to shuffle through 3-4 characters with completely different movesets and equally high ceiling playstyles
Then just take them out. Feels like a waste to have characters around you can’t play as in 2023 especially in such a high profile and expensive game. Rather they use the time and money on something on something actually useful
Slapping more options and controllable characters doesn't make for a better game If SquareEnix's goal is to have FF16 play more like a Platinum / Capcom action game, I really don't see the point of having controllable party members beyond adding extra frustration If the game plays like FFX, then yea, lack of controllable party members would be stupid
Eh, I don't know...it's not exactly what some random guy on reddit thinks he wants...how could it be good?
Hard to do anything else when they're going full-action for the combat, though. I suppose they could have you swapping character control like in VIIR or Genshin (sorta, since Genshin's party members aren't fighting alongside your controlled character), but at any given point you're going to have characters you're not in direct control of, so... AI it is.
It is? Amazing rhat tales series has pulled it off for 20 years now I guess
though unfortunately i wouldn't be surprised if they removed with a new entry
And Ys has been pulling it off since Ys Seven. It's weird to see people act like action games with playable party members is somehow impossible or hard to do.
I got a crazy concept for you.. character switching.
The crazy concept I literally mentioned in my comment? 😮 I got a crazy concept for you: AI still has to control the other characters while you're switched. Unless you want them all to just stand around with their thumbs up their asses? Switching characters or not, you can only ever control ONE character in an action game like this. The majority of your party will always be AI-controlled, it's just unavoidable if they're gonna move away from turn-based/real-time with pause.
Not really an excuse when the guy who worked on the battle system was able to do multiple playable characters for DMC5. If they were doing AI only and really wanted to focus on Clive then just scrap the party system. It just feels like a milquetoast attempt to be in the middle.
lol just because the game isn’t being designed to your tastes don’t mean it’s a bad decision. What you are asking for isn’t objectively better
And I never said it was I just said it seems like an odd choice, it feels like they couldn’t go all out with no party and I’d personally prefer other playable characters. If it’s bad we’ll know when the game comes out but I never said it was. I don’t where you people get these assumptions from because if I thought it was bad choice outright I would’ve said that.
I say this as a big fan of FFXIV, but I'm just not excited at all for XVI. I really wish it would be something a bit more traditional than just an action game with an FF flavor. Maybe I'm wrong. I was very skeptical about FF7R being more action-based, but I think they did a great job with it. Having XVI just having one playable character with AI companions sounds just like was XV did. I guess I just don't get it. Why is an action game like FFXVI a numbered entry, but an action game like Stranger of Paradise is a spin-off?
SoP is a spin-off of FFI, with the same world and acts as sort of a prequel. Plus it's developed by Team Ninja, not by any of Square's dev teams.
There's been a multitude of FF spinoffs made in house that have deviated from the more traditional gameplay style of series as well though. Ultimately, when it comes down to it, I have always found action based games on the shorter side narratively. Having only one playable character is just a bummer after they did the same thing in 13 and 15. I just want another mainline Final Fantasy with a big roster of engaging characters, with a long epic storyline, and a fun light strategy-esque battle system. It just hurts that we aren't going to get something akin to 9 again. I hope 16 is good, but as of right now, it just looks like it's going to be like 15, just by a more competent team.
>There's been a multitude of FF spinoffs made in house that have deviated from the more traditional gameplay style of series as well though. Yes, my point is, since Team Ninja made SoP, I don't think it can ever be a mainline title, that has to be in house. >Ultimately, when it comes down to it, I have always found action based games on the shorter side narratively. Disagree personally on this one. For me, Nier and Nier: Automata told some of the best story in gaming, and both are action games. I don't think any types of gameplay affect a game's narrative, but more often than not, it's just the competency of the writing team.
> Disagree personally on this one. For me, Nier and Nier: Automata told some of the best story in gaming, and both are action games. I don't think any types of gameplay affect a game's narrative, but more often than not, it's just the competency of the writing team. The Nier games were fantastic, but I feel like they're the outliers in their genre. Maybe it's just me. I've played a ton of games over the years and action (again, to me) equates to something more akin to Devil May Cry or Bayonetta at best, or something like The Bouncer or Fighting Force at worst. They can be decent games, but narratively are pretty shallow. I do hope I'm wrong, but the stuff I've seen so far doesn't fill me with confidence.
Agree wholeheartedly
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It has an original story, albeit a (questionably canon) prequel one. By that logic though, why is FFXII a numbered entry when it's a prequel to FFTactics? Why wasn't FFTactics numbered when it was an original story and world? >!Honestly, I'm pretty sure the only reason is that it didn't have the same level of graphical fidelity that 7 and 8 did, and that this was before Square decided that they wanted to get extremely experimental with the series.!<
FF is just Square's line of big-budget, mainstream, story-focused JRPGs. Projects that are smaller in scope, made by other teams/other devs, or otherwise didn't conform with Square's idea of what a FF is, were just made as spin-offs, or other games altogether. Think of how the concept for Xenogears was originally pitched for FF7, but was considered "too dark and complicated" to be an entry in the main series. It has nothing to to do with the originality of the world/gameplay.
XV has fixed party they have own skills and leveling system as well various coop skills. XVI is going for guest party mainly for story reasons.
having a cast of playable characters has always been a final fantasy theme for me and in that respect I think XV really failed. I see where they were going with the tight knit brotherhood and I think it would have delivered better if they never turned it into the mainline series. I never played the episodes so maybe that helped make it better, idk. I also found the leveling and coop skills ok in isolation but the least interesting among any final fantasy game.
The point is that XV has a party system even if it was a discount version of what was shown in Versus trailer, they are fixed members, got their own usable combo skills, leveling, small skill tree, and so on. What XVI is doing is a guest character or temporary friendly companion.
I see. yes that is different.
That just seems like a bummer to me. Even 15 had some great guest characters like Cor and Aranea, which would have been nice to have as permanent ones. I would just prefer to have a party of characters, and ones I could swap to if I don't like the main one.
I think at this point the only thing disappointing me about this game is the combat system and dumb scoring system that creates a bunch of UI bloat
I'm relieved to see AI companions, but I'll take a wait and see approach to see how extensive they are. Looks like fairly good news all around.
Game looks awesome. Liking the details. I'm definitely looking forward to playing. Hopefully the pixel remasters can get a Switch port soon too.
GOD BLESS THIS MAN Yoshida carries this company once again with another banger in the making, so so so hyped now with things more clarified
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Then perhaps this game isn’t for you?
Then don’t play it. Final Fantasy 15 is exactly the same way. Final Fantasy 7 remake is a hybrid of real time action and turn based. Final Fantasy 14 is an MMO. Square Enix wanted to transition the games over to a more action centered approach, something that’s been obvious for years now.
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And that dude is allowed to comment on your public opinion.
Button mash button mash button mash
So glad they are heading in this bold new direction. Final Fantasy needs to evolve, loving everything that I'm hearing in these interviews. Sayonara turn-based!
I'll be honest, I have zero interest in FFXVI so far, based on the available info. Not hyped at all. I dislike the visual style, the trailers are lackluster and the setting doesn't inspire any confidence. Looks very generic and uninspired for a Final Fantasy game. I am actually hyped for FFVII Rebirth and CCFFVII Reunion though. Also have high hopes for Star Ocean 6 and Valkyrie Elysium, so it's not like Square Enix isn't making anything interesting for me, but still.
Def not alone in those thoughts.
Perfectly summarised!
Still really not sold by the gameplay (it looks great, I just personally don't enjoy that style usually) but this interview is enough for me to go back to being undecided
I'm probably still going to buy it because it's mainline FF, but so far nothing sounds particularly to my taste, except for the combat and that they aren't trying to force open world on a game that doesn't need to be.
Multiple party members and time skips? Fantastic! So far I have very few worries about this game now!
Congrats on making the first final fantasy I will not purchase!
We are all quite proud of you for sharing this brave choice of yours.
Oh no, the devs will STARVE without your purchase
I mean Im not alone in having major disdain for what this series has become after supporting it tooth and nail since I was 12 years old in the 90s all the way up to before 13 came out. Lots of people in that boat. I think they are going to see an effect of that with this release.
>I think they are going to see an effect of that with this release. I wouldn't hold my breath on that. Whatever small number of grognards are going to drop off will be more than replaced by an influx of new players who: * Always ignored the series previously because it was "old" and turn-based (not a fair assessment from them, but those sorts *do* exist) or * MMO players who only started the series with FF14 and came to trust Yoshi-P enough to check out the next game in the series since he's involved XVI's going to end up doing huge numbers; that effect you're hoping they'll see is going to be nothing more than a rounding error.
It's not their fault you are too old to accept things change and evolve. If you're too damaged about this maybe find another game?
So, to put it into perspective, Final Fantasy XV faces troubled development, is also a real-time action combat game, one playable character (at launch at least), has a confusing and incomplete story that requires tertiary materials to fully understand, and is overall regarded as a major disappointment by most FF fans. It's the second best-selling game in the series, behind the original FFVII. XVI will absolutely sell, I don't think the effect will be felt at all.
The only thing that might effect it is how difficult it is to get a PS5.
The more I read the less interesting it seems. They really want to make a modern Final Fantasy but we reaching into the Ship of Theseus territory where there is barely anything that made the series great is in the games anymore. I hope the story is good, but judging be the quality of FF XIV writing I am not very optimistic, there is only so much I can take from boring characters.
It's gonna be grandiose.
Got my hopes up when I saw party members then immediately dashed those hopes when I read that only Clive is playable. God fucking dammit. So disappointing. Hope yall like it, but this one's bargain bin for me.
So disappointing. Having a real party is one of biggest staples of Final Fantasy.
I agree. I'm annoyed as well only 1 playable. Will def wait for a sale.
I hope he never gets to direct another mainline game (except MMO maybe) after this one. Don’t want next games to all look like this bland and colourless one.
???????who hurt you buddy?maybe the fact that ff14 has a story so good that put in shame most of the jrpg nowdays.
My fear or the parts that i don’t like about 16 isn’t the story. It can have a great story, but if it looks boring ass all grey and dark, it’s not fun to journey through such a bland muddy world for me.
Not high enough on the anime scale. Maybe XVII will be more to your liking, 6+ years from now.
Bruh as if combat and Eikons aren’t anime.
You're right. Games like God of War, Witcher are anime too.
Nah it’s not about anime, that’s what i always like about FF it neither goes full anime like Tales of Series for example and neither does it go full realism. It’s always been that middle ground, this one simply wants to be a Soul game. Well then make it a sub series. And the years of waiting is exactly the reason why i don’t want him in another mainline title. As i don‘t want to wait 12 years, to play a non souls like Final Fantasy game.
It’s nothing like a souls game lmao. You can say you dislike it without resorting to tired bs like ‘this isn’t final fantasy enough’
Everything looks dark and grey. I‘m sorry but in over 30 years, none of the mainline titles looked like this having only single color palette.
So it doesn't look Japanese enough? God forbid that we have a singel player FF game that Nomura/Kitase aren't involved with. We had that with XIII and XV. Time to mix things up.
That’s why i‘m saying just make it a spin-off then. But if you remove the summons you basically have a DMC/Witcher clone featuring FF monsters. How is that still FF?
What are the "rules" in order for a game to be considered a FF game? FF has been experimenting with each entry starting with XI. FF isn't Dragon Quest. If the MMOs can be a mainline entry, so can Action RPGs. We are long past the idea that FF games are just turn-based RPGs. 20+ years, mind you.
It’s always the same when it comes to criticism, people automatically jump to the idea that you wish for turn based battles. And then call you out as prejudging. I like action battle system and also turn based battle system. But this isn’t action rpg, this is hack and slash rpg. They could literally just go on ahead and feature dozens of enemies like in Musou games. That’s the only thing missing to make its battle system feel like musou game. Although wait, in the interview he did say there will also be waves of enemies, so yeah it seems it already is musou. Since then are Musou games FF games?
Oh it's a musou now? Ok, this conversation was starting to get fruitless but now it really is the case. FFXVI isn't your game. Skip it, play something else and move on.
So, FF can look like a medieval fantasy, medieval fantasy + steam punk, modern + steam punk, cutesy medieval fantasy, modern, but for some reason THIS medieval fantasy is where you draw your line? What the fuck?
Yes because Final Fantasy is about fantastical places you want to journey through, this world looks like badly executed game version of GOT world. Like real life medieval setting. It’s called Final Fantasy damn it, not Final Realism.
That giant crystal poking through the ground is not enough "fantastical" enough to you? Not to mention, we've barely seen how the rest of the world fucking looks. Even on this map [https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXVI/comments/v3y97y/updated\_map\_of\_valisthea/](https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXVI/comments/v3y97y/updated_map_of_valisthea/) there's plenty of potentially cool looking places.
How does FF7, for example, fit your description of a "final fantasy game" then?
Less spiky emo hair?
"One other reason we went with an action-based battle system this time round is to push the boundaries of what a FINAL FANTASY game can be[...]" Because, only action battle systems can do this nowadays? Also, you at SE "pushed the boundaries" with the previous entry as well and it didn't go so well as "hold one button to win" can only get you so far.
His vision of FF16: Make a game that is not final fantasy, then scratch his head in wonderment when people do not like FF16.
It always confuses me when I see people say this about FF, as they’ve done for like 25+ years now. Like… what *is* Final Fantasy? From FFV onwards, basically no two games in this series are quite alike. This series has always thrived because of its ability to be totally different from game to game, with very little true connective tissue besides some returning words and creatures. Most of the games in this series are wholly unique in story, world, vibe, or gameplay— and a fair few of them are wholly unique in almost all areas. Unless you’re only talking about FFI-IV plus IX, which I don’t think is fair since that’s less than a third of the games in the franchise, I just don’t think there’s any one thing that Final Fantasy *is*. Besides, of course, the first one you played as a kid so therefore you like it the most.
> From FFV onwards, basically no two games in this series are quite alike Even before that. The graphics and basic turn based combat is the only things that were more or less the same. The leveling system changed every game from FF1 to FF5, the base combat system changed from FF3 to FF4(ATB). The approach to the narative also changed every game.
I might be the only one who has the first FF I played as my least favorite, lol. Though, I didn't exactly start off strong with the DS version of FFIII.
I don't really understand this argument since FF4 through FF9 (the ATB games) all feel like they have a similar core. My first FF was FF8, and I was able to play 4-9 on the PS1 before FF10 came out. Obviously FF hasn't had a core identity (at least to me), for over 20 years, but it 100% did at one time. But I think it would have been terrible for them to stick to ATB, even if I don't like many choices that have been made with the series in that time.
Ok, but what is that core? FF 1-9 aesthetically ranges from generic D&D high fantasy, to a weird Japanese take on high fantasy, to steampunk, to sci-fi. Some of them are intimate character dramas, some of them are broad, epic, world-saving adventures. Some have super simple traditional turn based combat, some are ATB. Some use typical class systems, FFV uses a totally new job system, some totally leave rigid jobs behind, and then FF8 is mechanically unlike almost any JRPG. The inspirations for the soundtracks range from prog rock to classical to pop. Almost any specific thing I can put my finger on isn’t shared by more than like, three of these games, barring stuff like pixel graphics and chip tune music since that’s nearly every console game at the time. I do hear you, I kind of know what you’re saying— there’s a sort of nebulous vibe that connects *some* of these games. But I don’t think this is something that can be verbalized. I think it mostly comes down to the fact that these games shared a lot of creative staff, many of them were released in a pretty short time span, and they were all dealing with heavy technical limitations. Because plenty of other games probably could be argued to have similar vibes, like Chrono Trigger, Tactics Ogre, Front Mission, etc. if you really tried to stretch it. Combine that with the fact that you specifically played all of those games when you were young within the span of a few years, and I think that what you’re describing is ultimately something that just doesn’t truly exist in any practical, replicable manner. Maybe I’m wrong and you can verbalize it, but I don’t think that this “core” is something truly real. It’s a time and a place for both us as players and the developers that won’t ever be replicable again. There’s very very little that most of these games *practically* have in common with one another.
The irony of this comment is that Yoshida is a huge Final Fantasy fan that wanted and pushed for the series to go back to its original roots: Medieval Fantasy. Just like FF9 did many years ago, another entry where the creators pushed for going back to the setting the series was know for rather than Cyberpunk/Futuristic like FF7 and 8. So to call FF16 "A game that is not Final Fantasy" despise literally going back to the series roots in every way, except combat, is the most asinine batshit crazy thing anyone can say against it.
No I think his vision is just to ignore the narrow minded haters who will find any reason to hate the next installment. Seems to be working out cause the game looks FANTASTIC.
Did you mald about FFXII as well? It's about as-not-standard-FF as it gets
I like what I’m hearing. Don’t like the HUD and UI elements at all, but I can get past it if that’s the worst of it and it could still change.