FF16 thoughts

I recently finished playing FF16, and have been trying to gather my thoughts to sufficiently put into words the ways in which the game was such a large disappointment for me. Final Fantasy is far and away my favorite series, and the best thing about the series is Square Enix's willingness to throw out everything from the previous games and carve out a new experience. I took this attitude into FF13 and loved it, ditto for FF15 and FF7R. I didn't know anything about FF16 going in except that it was rated M, that it was going to have a more action-oriented focus(even moreso than 15 or 7R), and that summons were going to play a large role. While there is a lot to like in this game, and I can see it being a big hit with fans of the franchise, I'm sad to say that Naoki Yoshida is now responsible for the only 2 misses for me in the last 3 console generations(excepting Lightning Returns, which I have not really played).

Before delving into why this game didn't work for me, I'd like to point out some of the things that the game did well, and this is not a small list!

- Interesting characters - probably the game's biggest achievement. I enjoyed almost all of the cast, with the notable exceptions of Barnabas and Ultima. Cid and Benedikta were particularly enjoyable, and I wish they had stuck around longer.
- Great voice acting - I was a little worried about this at first, because I really didn't like the voice actors for the child characters in the prologue, but those were the exceptions. The cast was outstanding. Cid and Mid were my favorites here.
- Unique worldbuilding - I haven't read as many stories as some, but I feel like it's rare for the magic using class to be the marginalized class. I wish this concept had been explored a little further, because I was really wondering how it came to be. It was explained in a sidequest towards the end of the game(in a kind of offhanded way), but I wish this idea was given more focus by the narrative. Combining this with the way crystals worked and the expanding blight, and how this motivated commoners, nobles, bearers and governing bodies to protect their interests was fascinating. Never got tired of listening to people's motivations...until we got to Barnabas and Ultima, that is
- Strong emotional scenes - The scene of Clive re-enacting the play for his Uncle Byron when they first meet is beautiful, and will always stay with me. I don't think this game will leave me a broken down mess in the future like FFX does, but you definitely feel the weight of the character interactions in this one.
- Very good music - This is a given with FF games, as even my least favorites have amazing OST's. Cid's theme/the first hideaway theme has been in my head for a week. Several memorable battle themes, fun dynamic shifts when battles start in some areas. Not my favorite FF soundtrack but really well done.
- Game is pretty - This is also a given, and the thing I'm least interested in, but the game sure does look good in cutscenes. Sometimes a bit too noisy visually for my tastes, but definitely a plus overall.
- Some fun boss fights - There were a few fights that were standouts and made me feel like the battle system could have worked for me with the right challenge level. Had a blast with both dragon fights(Svarog and the Ice Dragon) and I recall enjoying Behemoth as well. They had enough stuff to dodge with fair telegraphs. I particularly enjoyed the comet(meteor?) attack that radiates outward that you can either jump or dodge into after it lands, especially when they overlap with other attacks. Felt like the best parts of an MMO fight.
- Generally enjoyable trash mob fights - The combat really showed potential when you were fighting very large groups of enemies. You had so many crowd control abilities to work with, and could play around with fun aerial combos, that it felt like trash mob fights in Kingdom Hearts, which is a huge compliment. I wish the enemies presented more of a challenge(think final hallway of cavern of remembrance), or they expanded on the Chronolith challenges to really push you to your limits with this fun system.
- Chronolith trials were fun - This is generally a plus. The game finally gave me a really interesting combat scenario...but then strips away the only character customization options that you really get in this game(eikon loadouts). Even limited to just one eikon though, and without the fun of swapping between them and managing cooldowns and big combos, this was still the best content in the game for me. Having to manage both health and time and with very limited healing, it was enjoyable to figure out the best way to play each eikon in order to maximize time bonuses. If there had been more stuff like this with you being able to customize your moveset, I think I would have enjoyed the game enough that this pastebin wouldn't exist.

For some people, this game will be a 10/10, and I can look to the above list and understand why. For me, unforunately, it was a 5, because it failed to give me the one thing that Final Fantasy has always given me better than any other series out there: gameplay agency.

Party setup, gearing, character loadout, progression systems, rewards for exploration, postgame challenge that stresses mastering the game's systems. In all of these categories, this is one of the weakest FF games I have ever played. Speaking a bit hyperbolically, this might as well have been a movie. You trudge forward with the exact set of gear the game wants you to have, you comb the map for rewards such as 2 gil, a crafting item that there is zero chance you will ever use, or if you're extremely lucky, an accessory that gives you 8% extra stagger damage on one skill that has a 30 second cooldown. There is no choice to be made between extra attack or extra stagger(why do weapons have both stats when they are always the same?), no effects on gear(remember those?), no status effects at all. This is the meat of my FF16 complaint. This game did not give me enough to do. I did not feel like an active participant in this game. I am not sure an FF game has ever made me feel this way, but the closest feeling I've had to this was playing FF14, which has many of these same problems.

I can go into too much detail on the way previous FF's provided impactful decisions or exploration. The trade-off of AP growth vs materia slots vs linked slots vs stats in FF7. Trying to customize weapon and armor to take on the challenging postgame fights in FFX. Using your upgrade materials wisely in FF13 to massively improve stats on accessories or to funnel in to weapons with unique effects. Exploring FF15's world and finding unique dungeons with interesting mechanics - rather than the straight shot combat zones in FF16 - that reward you with powerful gear. While it is fun to come up with your own unique eikon loadout in FF16, the game sorely needed more than just this to scratch that same itch. When people say FF16 is not an RPG, I don't think they mean it literally. I think the point they are getting at is that if you play JRPG's(not just FF's) for this type of player agency, this game has nearly nothing for you.

In my mind, you have to really love the story and the combat to get anything out of this game. While I can admit that I don't play games for story(even though I play mostly JRPG's!), the combat system absolutely could have carried the experience for me if it was done right. Unfortunately, despite the positives I listed above, I found the combat was mostly mediocre and wasn't enough to carry the experience for me. If I had to break down the reasons why I felt this way, it would probably be as follows:

- Not enough challenge - I already know the rebuttal to this is that FF games have never been challenging, but this excuse doesn't really land for me. Firstly, FF absolutely has had challenges(usually in the postgame) that ask you to either really master the game systems, put a lot of work in grinding or setting your party up, or both. Vercingetorix, Penance, Emerald Weapon, Ozma, <redacted ff7r encounter>, Yiazmat, Shinryu. You weren't walking into these fights for the first time unprepared, not knowing what to expect, and walking out victorious. These were challenges! If you weren't using a guide, you had to strategize these fights and you would have a serious sense of accomplishment when you cleared them. There is nothing that even comes close to approaching this in FF16. Secondly, it didn't really matter that I overleveled myself on the monster arena and tore through FFX's final dungeon without taking a scratch, because I at least had a choice in the matter! I traded the fun of challenging, intricate boss fights(of which there were still plenty earlier in the game) for the fun of crafting myself a busted setup. The problem isn't that FF16 doesn't have challenging combat, it's that it barely has anything else. The fact that they locked the harder difficulty behind a second playthrough was also insulting, both because I didn't enjoy this game enough to want to slog through it again to get the experience I should have been able to choose the first time, but because it wasn't really feeling much more challenging anyway because I spent 55 hours already learning all these enemies movesets on easy mode.

- Not enough variety to combat - The problem here is that every enemy is basically the same. There are no significant elemental weaknesses, no status effects, no enemies you have to fight from range. With the exception of a few of the standout boss battles, you do not need to tailor your approach to what you are fighting. You go through the same rotations on every boss and miniboss. This is why I generally preferred the large trash mob fights, at least there you needed to have spatial awareness and could try to optimize grouping enemies together and maximizing your AoE's. The only variety you really get is in the eikon battles, which were certainly unique, but dull.

- Boring spectacle fights - I seem to be in the minority here from what I've seen on twitter, but I loathe these eikon boss battles. They are extremely long, with very limited movesets, asking you to repeat the same thing over and over. I just watched a speedrun of the Titan fight and it took 20 minutes. And Xenosaga 2 battles are too long!? Give me a break. I just wish these were a movie, they looked cool, but because I kept having to press square over and over again, I just wanted them to be over every single time. There is almost no way you could be trying to win and die in these fights, at least not on the first playthrough(full disclosure, I stopped after fighting the first S rank hunt in my FF mode playthrough. It didn't feel significantly different enough that I thought I would enjoy another full playthrough.)

The combat was FINE, but I needed it to be more than that, given that this game was basically a movie otherwise. The pieces are there, and I think I would be interested in the right kind of DLC, but it isn't quite enough to carry the experience for me.

As for the story, I was really engaged in the story most of the way through. In the end, I'd say it's definitely better than your average FF story, but I feel like it loses what makes it the most interesting as you reach the conclusion. Much like FFT, the interesting character drama and political intrigue gives way to a less than compelling gods vs humans plot, the likes of which you have seen time and time again if you're a fan of the genre. In particular, Ultima's(and by proxy, Barnabas') motivation and dialogue could have been lifted wholesale out of hundreds of other JRPG's. It's not BAD, but it doesn't live up to the promise the story had 10 hours earlier, in my opinion. The ending didn't really do much for me either. I don't have anything against bittersweet or ambiguous endings, but if any game could have used the FF9 "everybody is reunited and big hugs all around" ending, it was FF16. These characters went through hell and back, and they were so extremely likable through it all, that I really would have liked a moment of catharsis in the end. Even if your read on the ending is that every major player survived somehow, it still doesn't have the same impact as seeing characters be reunited. This is not really a complaint, but the ending just didn't elicit any kind of emotion from me, despite it being a pretty emotional game.

In conclusion, this is an unusual feeling I'm sitting with at the end of a Final Fantasy playthrough. Sometimes I wondered if I was an irredeemable FF fanboy who would like anything they make, but now I find myself starting to understand the feelings of those that were so disappointed by FF13 or FF15. I sincerely hope this game does well, and that people enjoy it, but I never want to see this become a template or a design philosophy going forward. This is a step away from nearly everything I love about Final Fantasy. However, I take comfort in the fact that I still can look forward to the Bravely series, the Octopath series, the FF7R series, and probably even FF17 in 5+ years.

Not every FF game has to be made with my tastes in mind, and the great thing about the series reinventing itself is that the next one will likely be a fresh and unique take on the series.