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June 30th, 2023, 12:44 PM
#1
Final Fantasy XVI
I'm going to pick up my copy today. Anyone else played yet? I've heard good things from a trusted friend.
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June 30th, 2023, 4:51 PM
#2
outside of 7, im not a huge final fantasy guy. started 6 and 9 but never got far. played a bunch if 14 with my wife when she was heavy into it awhile back. didn't have a ton of interest in this until the demo came out and i watched some people on twitch play it. the story hooked me, especially the ending to the prologue. huge game of thrones vibes, which works well for me when it comes to high fantasy stuff, cause otherwise i really don't gel with it. played the demo, had fun and bought the game. been playing since release day, im about 29 hours in, something like 62% of the way done, according to the ps5 metrics that get displayed. i've been LOVING it.
i totally get the people that don't, though, or they're disappointed in it. the rpg elements are laughable. loot and gear are linear as hell and elemental magic/eikon abilities mean absolutely nothing; fire does not do more damage or stagger to ice enemies, etc. it very much embraces the action side, for better or worse. this actually fits me very well, cause a lot of rpg mechanics clash with how i like to play games.
it plays a lot like ff14, tbh. from how the quests are set up to how they kind of funnel you into a dungeon for big main story beats and you go from hall to hall killing enemies before facing a mid-boss and then usually an end boss.
exploration is pretty useless. you mostly get crafting materials and potions pick ups by going out of your way to collect glowing orbs or opening chests, with the occasional piece of equipment popping up. there's three piece of gear to equip: weapon, belt and greaves. each only has two stats; weapon has attack and stagger, belt and greaves have defense and hp increase. some gear you can upgrade to +2, some ya can't. once you get a piece of equipment that has higher numbers, there's zero reason to keep the old gear around. once you get into the back half of the game there are apparently some side quests you can do to unlock crafting recipes for high end gear, but it's definitely few and far between.
with little invested history into final fantasy, i thankfully don't come anywhere close to the 'this isn't a final fantasy game' school of thought, so i've been enjoying my time with it a lot. i wish there was some more depth to the gear and crafting, and it'd be cool to have basic rpg mechanics like elemental weaknesses implemented, but there are a bunch of things the game does that make me happy, so whatever. the voice acting and story are fantastic and the combat is fun. the last boss fight i did is probably my favorite boss battle ever. i'd say this and re4 are neck and neck for my game of the year right now.
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July 18th, 2023, 10:26 AM
#3
I went pretty hard on it the first week or two I had it, ended up being pretty busy the last week or so, but got a little playtime in last night.
I've mostly been loving it. As far as stories and presentation go, this is up there with the best. Blowing 15 out of the water for sure. I enjoy the ARPG approach and it's mostly a fun system to play around with. I also like the layers you can add to the combos with getting good timing with Torgal and magic burst attacks. Can see how some people could probably whip out some crazy combos. The boss and Eikon fights are jawdropping.
I'm not super upset about the linear equipment progression because that's mostly how FF games have worked for years, but it's lame that there's no extra effects, just purely affecting stats. That usually adds more customization and less linearity. I feel like if they're going this approach, the crafting system feels kind of useless when you could.just find and buy items. I also agree the lack of magic type mattering is weak, though it's less bothersome than other things.
Honestly, I think the only thing that keeps me from fully loving this game is the lack of a true party dynamic. FF7 Remake felt like it struck the right balance with being an ARPG that still incorporates party management, whereas this is clearly a single character experience. It works narratively, but it makes the journey feel just a bit more lonely. I wish there was at least the occasional command you could give the party members like you do with Torgal, or even adjust AI settings. Personally I'd like to have to keep them alive as well. I've accepted and even enjoy that they are gonna be an ARPG going forward, but it feels like without having an interactive party, it's missing some of that magic that feels like an adventure with a motley crew you find through the game. Frustrating because I like a lot of the side characters, and if anything it would be cool if you occasionally took control of other characters for certain fights to at least switch it up.
But I've been enamored regardless. The callbacks are really well done, and I absolutely love what they've done with the soundtrack. The repurposing of the Prelude and the Final Fantasy Theme really help make this feel like the proper next step in the evolution of the series. And I love that they brought back hunts and have plenty of side stuff to do. Overall, I'm liking it more than 15 right now, but I do hope future entries don't continue ditching the party dynamic. I kind of assume they went this route because they wanted to try something different while they're churning out the FF7 Remake series, so I respect it. I just hope it's the one thing that doesn't become a permanent fixture.
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July 30th, 2023, 4:09 PM
#4
Its in Revelations people
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