Step into the dark, immersive world of Valisthea in Final Fantasy XVI, the latest title in the Final Fantasy library. For a long time, Final Fantasy attracted players with sprawling narratives and recognizable characters, but this time the series will take you for a ride into a much more tragic and gloomy narrative full of revenge, power tangles, and impending tragedy.
A land governed by Eikons, Final Fantasy XVI’s Valisthea is a place where Eikons, massive destructive creatures able of incredible and destructive power, rule. The Dominants, these Eikons are born with their power; if they want it or not. The mighty Mothercrystals provide the nations of Valisthea with magicks for survival, balancing the power to each of the six realms of Valisthea. An ominous force, the Blight, threatens to destroy the delicate balance.
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The central element of this epic, is Clive Rosfield, the First Shield of Rosaria, sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the Dominant of the Eikon Phoenix. What he finds is that Clive’s life goes tragically wrong, leading to him on a one-man racism crusade that could potentially bring doom to the world.
A PS5 Experience Like Never Before
Final Fantasy XVI comes to PlayStation 5 at the height of technology the console now offers. Valisthea’s landscapes appear greatly enhanced with the 4K resolution. They also make every moment more immersive with their haptic feedback and adaptive triggers on the DualSense wireless controller. The controller adds a tactile element to the pulse of magic in a tense battle, or the force of Clive’s sword strikes, where it’s never been before.
The PS5’s high-speed SSD means your load times between scenes and battles are almost gone as you’re seamlessly whisked right back into the action, with no delay.
A Legendary Series Evolves
It always has been a groundbreaking series with its mainline story game always offering something new. The series is a turn-based combat series of the earlier titles to the fast-paced, action-oriented systems of the later games. Final Fantasy XVI takes this innovation a step further, reimagining classic movements, such as summons, also known as Eikons, and mixing it with volumetric real-time combat.
In an almost complete departure from the ensemble cast of previous games, this installment tells its tale through Clive’s perspective. However, the world over is filled with beautiful, strange characters, like the layered Cid, or sinister villains such as Kupka or Clive’s mother, whose biggest impact always seems to remain.
A far darker tone puts it light years ahead of previous series entries, with the complexity of the plot and character development to match. They may not be the best Final Fantasy story of all time, but they’re certainly the strongest in the past two decades. Final Fantasy XVI will leave you checking what happened last time after its beautiful world and plot twists add to its emotional reach.
Gameplay: New Strengths and Challenges
While Final Fantasy XVI’s gameplay toes that thin line between action and role-playing, it is far from perfect. The combat system is fast and the stagger mechanic feels GOW but it is a little less refined. It is engaging and enough to keep you hooked when you are actually playing it, but the lack of true difficulty and lack of customization options, if you want to make your character level 8 just because you want to, will leave out those who like their RPGs a tad more hardcore.
As Clive, you do not have the capacity to improve his abilities beyond a general stat progression, he is a fixed character in terms of skill set. The plot and characters are what make this fun (although some of the side quests get repetitive: same old things like getting materials or killing the same kind of enemy), and really consistent.
Character Highlights: Clive and Beyond
Clive Rosfield is one of the series’ most fascinating protagonists in many years. But his national journey from protector to outlaw is a part of his soul as is his desire for revenge. Most fans of the series will love that this is some of the best-developed and emotionally relatable main character for Final Fantasy in two decades.
The supporting cast in this is smaller than in recent games, but characters like Cid and Gav dust off here with their almost unique arcs. Blackthorne and Mid even smaller characters leave a good impression. But Jill, a solid character with an explosive backstory, does not quite reach that emotional height, leaving players not quite feeling like the one she should have been used.
Final Verdict
Final Fantasy XVI has some flaws in gameplay, but an absolutely unforgettable experience that melds dark and mature storytelling with stunning visuals and memorable character moments. Our biggest compliment for the game is that it captivates the world of Valisthea, makes high stakes, and manages to immerse players into this rich fantasy world.
This latest installment of the series will really appeal to fans of the series who will find much to love the implementation of the PS5 upgrades. Despite being far from perfect, Final Fantasy XVI is a glorious return to form from the series and well worth the trek.