Is it hot or not?

[vanessaking2]

What are your opinions about the new Final Fantasy?

[thebonesofYou]

I’m personally really enjoying it. It seems a bit polarising to some, and I can definitely agree with some points on both sides with the positive/negative views.

 

The characters, music and gameplay are all great. There are some typical RPG elements absent which are certainly missed, but I’m liking it for what it is.

[monteblommie]

Game is an easy 9/10 for me but....

The performance issues are too widespread, i expect a full 60 fps if i choose performance mode not 60 for combat 40 for exploration/cities

[No longer here]

Game is a 8/10 for me atm (8 hours in)

 

Game and presentation looks phenomenal and I think the gameplay and story are pretty solid imo however it is without its issues. 
As someone said above, it is missing some rpg elements that I would’ve hoped to be there, and the performance is alright, however the motion blur drives me nuts lol

 

It is also early in the game for me so obviously this is not final, but great first impressions ??

[da_Heino]

Quote

Is it hot or not?

 

It's hotter than Ifrit and Phoenix combined

[HollowCalamity]

Absolutely loving it. I have played every mainline title except 11 and, at least for the first ten hours, this is right up there at the top. There are moments in this game that had me audibly cheering at my screen, to the point where my roommate came over to ask if everything was okay. However, I want to say that I totally understand a lot of the criticism XVI has received, and I think it ultimately boils down to what someone's definition of a "Final Fantasy game" actually is. For me, FF is about incredible stories, characters, and music, and this has nailed those three aspects. I'm totally on-board for the narrative and Clive's arc, the side characters are quite fleshed out (this Cid might be my favorite ever), and the OST is absolutely god-tier. 

 

Anything else beyond that is up to the individual title. I don't particularly care what the combat system is, as long as it's well thought out (turn-based, ATB, gambit, action – I like them all), and this is certainly a well-designed real-time system. I feel that XVI knows exactly what it wants to be, but if your favorite parts of FF are a specific style of gameplay, or controlling a whole party, this might not be the one for you – and that's okay! Not every game works for ever gamer, and hopefully those people can still enjoy great RPGs like Octopath II or the upcoming FF7 Rebirth/Star Ocean remake. For me, though, this is Final Fantasy at its best since X, at least in the opening ten hours. They could still fuck it up, but for now, I'm 110% on-board.

 

I will say I kind of hope CBU3 isn't handling XVII. Not because this game isn't awesome but because I personally love how different every mainline game is. I want there to be another mainline title that appeals to people who maybe didn't click with this one. Don't know who would develop it, though. 

[TIReckoningIT]

As a massive fan of the franchise honestly I have to give this game a 10/10.

 

The story is amazing, the soundtrack is beautiful, the cinematics are mindblowing and the combat is deeply engaging.

 

The only thing that might drive people off is that it does have very little rpg elements but personally I'd say thats what the franchise needed, a full on re-definition (15 tried that aswell and failed miserably)

 

For all the fps fanatics out there, yes it dips down sometimes simply because the ps5 cant handle the astonishing graphics the game throws at you, cant blame the game for that though if the hardware is too weak

[Baker]

Normally not really a fan of hack and slash style combat in JRPG’s but this game has been epic so far. I love it.

 

Apart from one thing: the sidequests. It’s mini fetch quests over and over again. Terrible. They should have left it out.

[PositronCannon2]

1 hour ago, TIReckoningIT said:

For all the fps fanatics out there, yes it dips down sometimes simply because the ps5 cant handle the astonishing graphics the game throws at you, cant blame the game for that though if the hardware is too weak

 

It's the other way around, you can't blame the hardware because it's 100% known to the developers what hardware they're working with and its capabilities. If despite that they don't provide a performance mode that actually prioritizes performance outside of battle, they absolutely can be criticized for that. Make the graphics less "astonishing" if you need to, that's why it's the performance mode.

 

"FPS fanatics" is also an interesting way of describing "people who don't like a game stuttering constantly because it runs at 45 fps half the time".

Edited June 24, 2023 by PositronCannon2

[sephirothdude]

I am enjoying it, I see people giving out about it and how it's "not a true final fantasy game because its not turn based" I guarantee the same people would be giving out if it was turned based saying "turned based is so last year maannnn" .

Edited June 24, 2023 by sephirothdude

[Eraezr]

Gonna copy and paste this take I saw on Twitter ---

 

Quote

 

FinalFantasyXVI has been seeing near-universal love, yet I can’t help but notice some publications, content creators..etc. calling it “not a Final Fantasy game” or “Devil May Cry with crystals and Eikons” or pointing out the lighter RPG elements.

 

FF16 a game that is part of an anthology franchise that changed story, characters, systems and sometimes even genres between games, is being condemned for changing its formula (which it always did, even as recently as FFVIIR and FFXV, FFXIV, FFXIII saga and FFXII). I wonder where was this energy when Assassin’s Creed completely abandoned its science fiction/conspiracy lore and the titular Assassins and Templars in favor of a fantasy/RPG approach akin to The Witcher? Or… when Tomb Raider completely erased Lara Croft and replaced her with a new character that looks, acts, sounds, feels and behaves nothing like the Lara Croft everyone loved? Most publications applauded these changes, to longtime fans’ dismay. Many went as far as saying “Finally Assassin’s Creed abandoned its sc-fi/modern day stuff” which is the foundation pillar of Assassin’s Creed, and in similar ways demonized what the empowering icon I classic Lara Croft was and applauding her change to an everyday person type of character in the name of “relatability”.

 

So which one is it? Should franchises stay authentic to their roots or should they change? I’m always for staying true to the roots, but the roots Final Fantasy were always that every mainline title overhauled the formula and aesthetic one way or another. I’d say the changes in Final Fantasy to be far more acceptable than any other brand that is based on an interconnected lore and met-story (Assassin’s Creed) or an iconic badass character who makes light of hard situation and raids for sport (Tomb Raider). Final Fantasy XVI has mountain-sized crystals that absorb aether and produce magic, Kaiju-scale Mortal Kombat Eikon battles, characters defying fate, a wide array of lush, vibrant, fantastical, dark and gloomy types of lands, dungeons, villages and kingdoms, more abilities than Diablo 4 does and basically so much of what classic Final Fantasy games have. If anything, it is more Final Fantasy than anything the franchise produced after Final Fantasy X

 

 

[Biertje373]

It's hot.

[Skurkitty]

As someone who thought FF7 remake was super mid tier, like 3-3.5/5 at best, and has never played any other FF. This entry grabbed me due to the first M rating I've seen in the franchise and the much darker approach. It's sitting at a 4/5 for me at around 8hrs in, definitely a 5/5 on the boss fights.

[JagKenobi]

Only thing remotely bothering me atm is the inconsistent performance in Performance Mode. I don't know when it's even displaying 60fps because things are either blurry or stuttering almost all of the time for me. I'm so close to just locking it at 30fps.

[RedDevil757]

Combat turned me away from the game.

[TIReckoningIT]

3 hours ago, PositronCannon2 said:

 

It's the other way around, you can't blame the hardware because it's 100% known to the developers what hardware they're working with and its capabilities. If despite that they don't provide a performance mode that actually prioritizes performance outside of battle, they absolutely can be criticized for that. Make the graphics less "astonishing" if you need to, that's why it's the performance mode.

 

"FPS fanatics" is also an interesting way of describing "people who don't like a game stuttering constantly because it runs at 45 fps half the time".

Idk I come from a time where graphics were irrelevant and so were fps. sure its nice to have 60+ fps but like if I really care about fps that much I would play stuff on pc with 200+ fps. anything above 30fps is enough for me to enjoy a game as long as its steady. Like you want them to make the game look worse in some areas because it pushes the hardware to its limits. its not like its dropping down to 10fps, most people wont even notice the slight fps dips in areas without combat. I never noticed a drop in fps if it wasnt during walking sections in huge cities, which is a small pill to swallow. 90% of games that release these days come unfinished and riddled with bugs, something minor as this shouldnt be looked at so harshly but to each their own

[sepheroithisgod]

It's an inferno.

[bduarte1]

it's incredible! combat is amazing, and the Eikon's fights are not but EPIC! What an amazing game.

 

I'd give it a 9.5/10 just because of the lame side quests and some performance issues on Performance Mode, other than that I've loved everything so far.

[Property_Damage]

GoTY

[Jeanolt]

5 hours ago, PositronCannon2 said:

"FPS fanatics" is also an interesting way of describing "people who don't like a game stuttering constantly because it runs at 45 fps half the time".

To be fair, if I ask someone if a game is actually good, and the first thing they told me is about the fps, I would also call them a "fps fanatic"

[JPtheNeurotic]

Yes , the game is full of hot people doing hot things. CID could swoon me with that voice .

[ZenaxPure]

Exactly what I expected personally, which is very fun. My only complaint (which I was worried about before the game came out and turned out to be true) is def the very bland weapon/armor system. Nothing but stat sticks, at least 15 hours into the game; accessories are fine though as you're actually choosing stuff based on your playstyle instead of just trying to make the numbers go up.

 

Sadly this just seems to be a common problem in a lot of action JRPGs these days. Scarlet Nexus and Tales of Arise were exactly the same way from recent memory.

 

Side quests I actually think are fine though. All of them are short and mainly exist for world building/lore. Not really my favorite style of side quests (sadly every game can't be Yakuza) but most are just excuse to kill stuff which is fine with how fun the combat is.

[WhisperingDusk]

It is blazing!

 

Every FF has its highs and its lows. And I find something to love in every entry. 

[triplejmzu8]

It confuses me to see how everybody keeps praising FFXVI. Now, I don't hate it and I'm only about 7h in but I just can't seem to like it. To be fair, I was skeptical already with the first trailer and didn't have much fun with the demo but I still wanted to give the whole game a chance (and I am probably gonna sell it after one playthrough).

 

Now, what surprises me so much is that it basically has the exact same flaws that FFXIII had back then - and I remember XIII being torn apart for those issues (linear story, enemies turning into bullet sponges due to the staggering system, ...) - but even ADDS to those issues: There's even less use in exploring the linear areas, the enemies' HP feel in combination with the staggering system feel even worse due to the boring and strategie-lacking combat system, the sidequests are MMO-ish. The story, I think, you either like or don't. I personally don't (so far) because it really feels like Game of Thrones with FF skins added - and I didn't like GoT, nor do I think that the mature tone and the constant swearing fits the vibe of a Final Fantasy game, plus there's barely any diversity in the cast, not even cool races that used to be interesting in other entries, like XII which it drew so much inspiration from.

 

The graphics are fantastic, the music is good.

 

All in all, I think I might have even liked this game if it was not called "Final Fantasy XVI" - if it was a spin-off or a totally different new Square Enix IP. But as a Final Fantasy, XVI has failed imo. Especially after replaying FFI to IX earlier this year.

 

Now I know, not many of you will agree and that's totally fine, I've had those conversations with my brother before. I just really hope that those responsible at SE will take another turn for FFXVII if there will ever be a 17th one.

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention the absence of RPG-elements. The levelling feel just like numbers on the screen and the equipment really doesn't add anything to the gameplay.

Edited June 24, 2023 by triplejmzu8

[Matrim_Drasgen]

The story is good but over-the-top political and backstabby. Music as always is great. The visuals are amazing and I am having no issues with FPS like others so I wonder if it isn't their TVs that can't handle it, because it runs amazing on my setup and several other people I know. Cutscenes are long, boring, and dry and so far haven't provided enough information to justify their length. No new information that isn't fucking obvious. No plot twist. Just straightforward basic trope BS. Combat is a major letdown, it tries to feel like Strangers of Paradise and XV at the same time, taking elements from both and doing worse at it. The game overall is solid but, it is a B+ at BEST and that is really giving it some extra credit it doesn't deserve. After the highly disappointing letdowns of XV and SoP, this game isn't as good as it needed to be to recover from it. Sure it will sell but only because of the "Final Fantasy" name, the great visuals, and the music. If this was any other game without the name, it would bomb. Story and combat (which is where most of the enjoyment comes from for playing a video game) are sub-par and wouldn't stand on their own.