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[SaniOYOYOY]

23h in, i must be past half point, maybe three quarter in.
It is still a tremendous game.
I might be the only one but see huge Yoko Taro influence with the overall vibe, of course the dark fantasy setting, but moreso the music full acoustic guitar parts (it sounds eerily similar to nier and automata compositions sometimes and i'm loving it), or the way they try not to bridle themselves, everything is on the table, murder, rape, slavery, etc. This way of showing the worst in people and at the same time showing the best in us in certain quests. There is a kind of naïveté i found in Yoko Taro's work i find somewhat here.
They don't manage to attain the level of genius where Yoko Taro is with his storytelling tho, and there's certain FF tropes that give the story a different flair anyway, but there's obvious inspriations.

About the FF flair, and a multitude of little things (like the old school sprites of the main charcaters you find in the menu) sometimes i had fun imagining the game as a old school 90s rpg, and it made a lot of sense. Made me appreciate things more. FF XVI is an action adventure game designed like old school rpg (with quite lacking rpg elements i have to admit) and if you start remembering how you felt when you played an old school rpg in the 90's and get in that mood, you'll have a great time and a smile on you face for the whole ride.

Spoiler

and that devil may cry chapter with the second titan fight
I was like wtf they make me play DMC (tho the arm running was more of bayonetta i think bayo last boss had something similar) now and sure enough the chapter ends with the classic triple still shot and i was over the moon

gaf, dont hate me, but I also think nier's soundtrack is a tier above this
but again its nier... I dont know if there is any soundtrack more memorable in gaming

 

[SaniOYOYOY]

Played until the

Spoiler: heavy Jill spoiler, like very heavy

uoooh seeegs

portion.
its insane. goty.

Spoiler

every thing that can go right regarding a childhood friend goes right.

 

[STARSBarry]

everything is on the table, murder, rape, slavery, etc. This way of showing the worst in people and at the same time showing the best in us in certain quests.

Oh no don't mention slavery as eurogamer will write anouther article about how FF XVI is cultural appropriation as white people have never at any point in history been slaves. That they are stealing people of colours history from them in this fantasy game where you punch dragons in the face as a giant horned fire dog.

 

[GymWolf]

let's say I keep a few ones in particular for the stagger I won't say which one especially but if you did the demo you might have an idea
I like Phoenix Rising in all situation even tho its the first ability you get in the game I find it pretty smooth

but i feel the stagger is not that short? did it got better with time? I can't say for sure

I usually bring the stagger meter to half, then use the garuda grab to put the enemy on his knees and then from my understanding, fast hits works best to erase the second part of the stagger bar so i use the garuda multiple slash thingy and sometimes that's enough, and sometimes i need to use another ability to complete the stagger, that leaves me with another 4 eikons ability to use when the enemies is actually staggered.

I don't have time to insert any other attack tbh, sometimes i can't even chain the 4th eikon skill before the stagger ends.

 

[Toots]

Oh no don't mention slavery as eurogamer will write anouther article about how FF XVI is cultural appropriation as white people have never at any point in history been slaves. That they are stealing people of colours history from them in this fantasy game where you punch dragons in the face as a giant horned fire dog.

Don't give them (stupid) ideas

gaf, dont hate me, but I also think nier's soundtrack is a tier above this
but again its nier... I dont know if there is any soundtrack more memorable in gaming

I also think that Nier is, as you exactly defined it, "more memorable". I don't think there a more memorable game than nier and the whole of Yoko Taro's production in fact. He makes games that stay with you.
I know this take will piss kojitron stans so much they surely ask their moms for a double dose of mountain dew for their afternoon snack, but i have to say it, i think Taro is the most influencial japanese game director of the 2000s in term of storytelling and cinematography, and we see his mark on almost every japanese rpg or adventure game since Nier. Who does the stuff kojima does apart from him ? No one. Kudos to him, but it is not because he's the only one who can manage it, let's not be silly, it's because as much as we collectively like to play kojima's games, we all know they are really really cringe.

 

[GymWolf]

The ost when you fight

Spoiler

typhon half body

was certaintly a choice...completely different mood from the other eikons battle theme, i liked the beginning, not much during the fight itself.

But i much prefer this ost over automata, i barely remember any track for that one.

 

[Toots]

I usually bring the stagger meter to half, then use the garuda grab to put the enemy on his knees and them from jy understanding, fast hits works best to erase the second part of the stagger bar so i use the garuda multiple slash thingy and sometimes that's enough, and sometimes i need to use another ability to complete the stagger, that leaves me with another 4 eikons ability to use when the enemies is actually staggered.

I don't have time to insert any other attack tbh.

It changed my life when i understood that, rather than saving all my eikon techniques for after i staggered an enemy, i rather use them soon and time the last hits until stagger so i have them back to deal maximum damage was the way to go. As you said garuda is a great staggering machine, and if you bring the enemy to its knees and use the upward spinny move you can break more than half of the second stagger bar part, and with another technique or a few combos it's almost instantaneous stagger from mid bar. So much fun
Another combat tip, if you're annoyed by mulitple small enemies i found the phoenix special move (the one you grow both wings and burn everything on the battlefield) is the best to take care of them. Also the berserker ring is op (you get it by doing side quests and leveling you "popularity" meter).

 

[GymWolf]

It changed my life when i understood that, rather than saving all my eikon techniques for after i staggered an enemy, i rather use them soon and time the last hits until stagger so i have them back to deal maximum damage was the way to go. As you said garuda is a great staggering machine, and if you bring the enemy to its knees and use the upward spinny move you can break more than half of the second stagger bar part, and with another technique or a few combos it's almost instantaneous stagger from mid bar. So much fun
Another combat tip, if you're annoyed by mulitple small enemies i found the phoenix special move (the one you grow both wings and burn everything on the battlefield) is the best to take care of them. Also the berserker ring is op (you get it by doing side quests and leveling you "popularity" meter).

Yeah i already use the aoe moves against groupes, but they are so easy that they don't really bother me.

 

[STARSBarry]

The ost when you fight

Spoiler

typhon half body

was certaintly a choice...completely different mood from the other eikons battle theme, i liked the beginning, not much during the fight itself.

But i much prefer this ost over automata, i barely remember any track for that one.

I felt like the intent was to create music that made you feel uncomfortable, with beats that feel out of sync, with those few moments where the choir kicks in that I believe relates to ifirit battle.

There's this specific genre of music that tells a story, back in the day this was something like a bubbling Brook of the wind in the trees. But especially with movie and video games where they are mediums that mix visuals and sound, this has become much more important. Sometimes tracks are just bad, but and this sounds funny, I generally believe this track has the parts that sound bad on purpose, to help represent what the player should be feeling when engaged with it.

To show you what I mean, in regards to that



If you listen to the back of the track you can hear what almost sounds like the wirl of blades, while the main track takes a threatening tone with brief highs of soaring orchestra. This is when fighting a damn aerial helicopter boss that hunts you for most of the stage, its not accidental that those things are in play. It helps the brain connect directly to what is happening on screen. I feel recently Square Enix seem to be using that trick really well in there in house titles.

I'm not saying the track in FF XVI is enjoyable to listen to, but I think it does its job of steering the player towards being unnerved and also intrigued in the opponent of the fight, so I quite enjoy it for what it is.

 

[ExcitableBoy]

This game has way too many cutscenes. You spend more time watching than you do actually playing. The writing isn’t even good either.

 

[jorgejjvr]

Are you on performance mode? You could try setting off VRR on Ps5 system

Yeah performance mode and vrr, will try that

 

[Doctor Hades]

What are peoples thoughts on the sections where you literally just walk forward for a while or run through an area, not really doing anything..it will auto jump up a wall etc and then it just goes into a cutscene at the end..

I mean...what is the point of that? is that actually a game at that point?

It's got me scratching my head....

I am fine as well with this. There was only one brief section -

Spoiler

where everything was dead from the blight so there were no enemies or animals at all

- where you just walk through it with nothing else to do except reach the next area. Otherwise, most other sections do at least offer some enemies to fight and as the game progresses the areas become more expansive so you can choose to explore a bit for those flashing blue icons and engage with enemies.

As for auto-jumping or auto-crouching for that matter; I've never seen the point in asking the player to press a button to jump or crouch when you are already pushing forward toward a marker that shows a jump or crouch icon. You are already interacting by moving so what purpose does an extra button press achieve? I applaud this game for making these automatic.

The game is very story heavy and mostly linear, more akin to something like Final Fantasy 13 than 15. Again, I am fine with linear games if they tell a good story and have engaging gameplay which this does in my opinion. It is a bit dated in some ways in terms of design which makes the world feel less seamless and somehow very small. Otherwise it is a very good Final Fantasy game, up there with Final Fantasy VII Remake and X in my opinion.

 

[DenchDeckard]

in a shocking turn of events...I pushed my chair back....and chose Quality mode and gave it like 20 minutes...Sure its not ideal but its so much better than that god armful performance mode. I think im used to it now. Maybe I can learn to accept 30 fps on these consoles for some play time this gen. :/

 

[saintjules]

 

[Luipadre]

in a shocking turn of events...I pushed my chair back....and chose Quality mode and gave it like 20 minutes...Sure its not ideal but its so much better than that god armful performance mode. I think im used to it now. Maybe I can learn to accept 30 fps on these consoles for some play time this gen. :/

Its great minus the awful motion blur amount. I just want to lower the intensity of it, otherwise the quality mode is excellent imo

 

[ebevan91]

in a shocking turn of events...I pushed my chair back....and chose Quality mode and gave it like 20 minutes...Sure its not ideal but its so much better than that god armful performance mode. I think im used to it now. Maybe I can learn to accept 30 fps on these consoles for some play time this gen. :/

I've been playing on quality mode since like 15 minutes after the demo/prologue. Once you get used to the 30fps it's so much better than performance mode. It's stable too which is great. I hardly even pay attention to the motion blur anymore. I guess I just got used to that too.

 

[Doctor Hades]

in a shocking turn of events...I pushed my chair back....and chose Quality mode and gave it like 20 minutes...Sure its not ideal but its so much better than that god armful performance mode. I think im used to it now. Maybe I can learn to accept 30 fps on these consoles for some play time this gen. :/

I am playing FF16 in 30 fps Quality mode on a LG B9 OLED TV, which is normally an eye-sore for 30 fps games due to the near-instant pixel response, but I have been finding it perfectly fine. In fact, the 30 fps framerate feels great as it has proper framefacing and, so far, about 13-14 hours in doesn't seem to prone to noticeable framerate drops. Then again I haven't even tried the Performance mode at all in the final game and only tested it for 2-3 minutes in the demo before switching back to the Quality mode.

The weird thing is that I just cannot stomach 30 fps on PC even with a controller but it seems fine on console. This bodes well for Starfield (hopefully) which I hope to play on my PC (at 60+ fps) and Xbox Series X (for that big screen/surround sound experience).

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

This scene with

Spoiler

Clive's uncle

, both amusing and emotionally charged, so good.

Game continues to be my GOTY frontrunner as I knew it would be, hasn't let me down yet. Also, Will o Wykes + Lightning Rod is a potent combination I discovered, especially against a staggered target

 

[Whitecrow]

I just finished it. And im gonna throw this statement here.

Ff 16 is the best audiovisual experience ever created and it's not even close.

Couldnt care less about the few flaws it has, my eyes were burning with joy during most of the playthrough.

Im still unable to process the fact that a team which was dedicated to an mmo, have in fact created the most incredible console experience ever.

The ammount of work and artistry put on every eikon fight is off the charts.

If there's something worth buying a good TV/audio equipment for, is this game. No kidding.

HDR implementation is great, and the soundtrack, as everyone knows is also killer.

I feel like this game marks a milestone in terms of what games and movies can bring when working together for a common goal with talent and passion.

I think there will be a long time from now to see another game reach this level of spectacle.

 

[Hugare]

Suzuki says at the end of the interview that they were expecting players to feel like the game was easy during the first playthrough.

The real challenge lies in the NG+

And he also said that even after that, there's another even harder mode

Kinda sucks that you have to play the game 2-3 times to feel really challenged, but they were probably scared of players choosing hard mode from the start, getting stuck on a difficult spike during the 40h campaign and dropping the game

They really want everyone to experience the story

I just finished it. And im gonna throw this statement here.

Ff 16 is the best audiovisual experience ever created and it's not even close.

Couldnt care less about the few flaws it has, my eyes were burning with joy during most of the playthrough.

Im still unable to process the fact that a team which was dedicated to an mmo, have in fact created the most incredible console experience ever.

The ammount of work and artistry put on every eikon fight is off the charts.

If there's something worth buying a good TV/audio equipment for, is this game. No kidding.

HDR implementation is great, and the soundtrack, as everyone knows is also killer.

I feel like this game marks a milestone in terms of what games and movies can bring when working together for a common goal with talent and passion.

I think there will be a long time from now to see another game reach this level of spectacle.

I havent finished it yet, but the opinion (Ive seen it many times online) that the game relies on cutscenes to tell the story is just absurd

There are so many moments where you are in control. The limit break scene, 100% gameplay is incredible.

So many scenes, like the Eikon battles, would have been just a cutscene in any other game. The battles have limited gameplay, but thats so much better than watching a .mkv video

And what games dont tell the bulk of their story during cutscenes? Naughty Dog games? Past FF games?

People are picking on this game for such absurd reasons

 

[Lokaum D+]

This game has way too many cutscenes. You spend more time watching than you do actually playing. The writing isn’t even good either.

Soccer games has way to many soccer too, imagine a FF game filled with cutscenes, what a trash

 

[Shifty1897]

I usually bring the stagger meter to half, then use the garuda grab to put the enemy on his knees and then from my understanding, fast hits works best to erase the second part of the stagger bar so i use the garuda multiple slash thingy and sometimes that's enough, and sometimes i need to use another ability to complete the stagger, that leaves me with another 4 eikons ability to use when the enemies is actually staggered.

I don't have time to insert any other attack tbh, sometimes i can't even chain the 4th eikon skill before the stagger ends.

Get stagger meter to half, pull to the ground, while stunned, pop gouge, which will take off the other half of the stagger meter. Once staggered, pop everything else and watch half the bosses health fade away.

 

[Whitecrow]

I havent finished it yet, but the opinion (Ive seen it many times online) that the game relies on cutscenes to tell the story is just absurd

There are so many moments where you are in control. The limit break scene, 100% gameplay is incredible.

So many scenes, like the Eikon battles, would have been just a cutscene in any other game. The battles have limited gameplay, but thats so much better than watching a .mkv video

And what games dont tell the bulk of their story during cutscenes? Naughty Dog games? Past FF games?

People are picking on this game for such absurd reasons

I would consider this game heavy in cutscenes compared to other RPGs.
This is closer to books and movies than to games, in the sense that the game takes its time to build characters and events, and make them beliavable, instead of keeping it short for gameplay purposes. At least that's how I see it.

I understand where the critics come from, but I dont see it as a negative.
There's a lof of people that thinks that everything you dont play is bad, because "it's a game", but they're just in denial of what the medium actually is.

 

[The artful mincer]

So....are the people that were crying about damage sponges starting to look rather silly

 

[Macaron]

I just finished it. And im gonna throw this statement here.

Ff 16 is the best audiovisual experience ever created and it's not even close.

lmfaoooooo. Its not even the best next gen audiovisual experience

 

[Whitecrow]

lmfaoooooo. Its not even the best next gen audiovisual experience

Ok

 

[Sub_Level]

I just finished it. And im gonna throw this statement here.

Ff 16 is the best audiovisual experience ever created and it's not even close.

Couldnt care less about the few flaws it has, my eyes were burning with joy during most of the playthrough.

Im still unable to process the fact that a team which was dedicated to an mmo, have in fact created the most incredible console experience ever.

The ammount of work and artistry put on every eikon fight is off the charts.

If there's something worth buying a good TV/audio equipment for, is this game. No kidding.

HDR implementation is great, and the soundtrack, as everyone knows is also killer.

I feel like this game marks a milestone in terms of what games and movies can bring when working together for a common goal with talent and passion.

I think there will be a long time from now to see another game reach this level of spectacle.

Yep and hopefully the NG+ and bonus modes help it engross players beyond the initial honeymoon phase (at least thats my hope for all I know it could be horribly balanced lol). FFXIII was no slouch when it came to being an audiovisual tour de force but XVI has more meat on the bone. What a treat.

 

[Interfectum]

Checking back in after the weekend. No idea how far I am but I'm level 24. The game is definitely growing on me. My criticisms still remain (not enough RPG, too much modern AAA stink on it, etc) but they get dulled by the sheer spectacle of what this game is trying to pull off. I'm honestly not trying to rush through this game because I doubt we see anything on this level again for years.

The presentation and direction here makes modern God of War look like a fucking joke. SSM not even in the same league as Yoshi P and his team... good christ.

 

[Hugare]

I would consider this game heavy in cutscenes compared to other RPGs.
This is closer to books and movies than to games, in the sense that the game takes its time to build characters and events, and make them beliavable, instead of keeping it short for gameplay purposes. At least that's how I see it.

I understand where the critics come from, but I dont see it as a negative.
There's a lof of people that thinks that everything you dont play is bad, because "it's a game", but they're just in denial of what the medium actually is.

I havent played new JRPGs, only the old ones, but from those I've played, instead of cutscenes, they have those FF XVI B-tier dialogues in sidequests to tell their story. Most times not even voice acted.

Old FF games, for example, when it wasnt a cutscene telling the story, it was a dialogue box with muted characters.

Even DQ XI, one of the biggest names in the JRPG genre, in a 2017 game, had muted characters speaking with dialogue boxes most of the time when telling the story.

So I would rather have tons of high quality ingame cutscenes most of the time

After the barebones FF XV and its lackluster storytelling, it feels like a breath of fresh air to have some cutscenes in FF again

 

[FoxMcChief]

So no one else here is having that high pitched chirping noise when Jill is in the party? First noticeable when on your way back to the Phoenix Gate?

 

[Whitecrow]

So no one else here is having that high pitched chirping noise when Jill is in the party? First noticeable when on your way back to the Phoenix Gate?

I did hear it. Didnt know the cause tho.

 

[RyanEvans21]

Eikon VS Eikon Battles

 

[fallingdove]

gaf, dont hate me, but I also think nier's soundtrack is a tier above this
but again its nier... I dont know if there is any soundtrack more memorable in gaming

I don’t disagree.

 

[Dr. Claus]

So no one else here is having that high pitched chirping noise when Jill is in the party? First noticeable when on your way back to the Phoenix Gate?

I have heard zero such thing.

 

[FoxMcChief]

I did hear it. Didnt kniw the cause tho.

People on Reddit said it has something to do wit resetting her position when off camera. Then if you have her on the screen, it stops.

 

[RyanEvans21]

So no one else here is having that high pitched chirping noise when Jill is in the party? First noticeable when on your way back to the Phoenix Gate?

Didnt notice it! (Playing with Headphone).

 

[FoxMcChief]

Didnt notice it! (Playing with Headphone).

I was thinking about trying that out. I have been using my sound bar.

 

[GymWolf]

Get stagger meter to half, pull to the ground, while stunned, pop gouge, which will take off the other half of the stagger meter. Once staggered, pop everything else and watch half the bosses health fade away.

If gouge is the garuda multiple slashy thing then it's exactly how i do now.

 

[decisions]

Bump please!

Already answered haha:

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/fina...-bleeds-we-can-kill-it.1658090/post-268113973

 

[balls of snow]

Alright played up till where the demo ended supposedly. That was the most dragon ball ass shit imaginable. Also,

Spoiler: Prologue spoiler

Poor Joshua, I thought they would go the predictable way and off the father, did not expect it to go beyond that damn. Hard to watch phoenix get ripped apart like that.

I need a chill game as a breather.

 

[Boss Man]

Checking back in after the weekend. No idea how far I am but I'm level 24. The game is definitely growing on me. My criticisms still remain (not enough RPG, too much modern AAA stink on it, etc) but they get dulled by the sheer spectacle of what this game is trying to pull off. I'm honestly not trying to rush through this game because I doubt we see anything on this level again for years.

The presentation and direction here makes modern God of War look like a fucking joke. SSM not even in the same league as Yoshi P and his team... good christ.

They laughed at me for calling it God of War with worse combat but better story and cinematics but that’s still the closest summary IMO.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

They laughed at me for calling of God of War with worse combat but better story and cinematics but that’s still the closest summary IMO.

Combat is better in this game imho

Tho I enjoy GoW’s combat as well

 

[saintjules]

DF's additional thoughts regarding performance mode and the 30fps target (timestamp)

 

[saintjules]

Suzuki says at the end of the interview that they were expecting players to feel like the game was easy during the first playthrough.

The real challenge lies in the NG+

And he also said that even after that, there's another even harder mode

Kinda sucks that you have to play the game 2-3 times to feel really challenged, but they were probably scared of players choosing hard mode from the start, getting stuck on a difficult spike during the 40h campaign and dropping the game

Yeah, a tough spot. I would have preferred there to be a hard mode to start and then have Final Fantasy mode at NG+.

My time is limited these days, so a second playthrough just to experience a tougher challenge sucks, I agree.

 

[Nankatsu]

lmfaoooooo. Its not even the best next gen audiovisual experience

Just curious, which one is it in your opinion?

in a shocking turn of events...I pushed my chair back....and chose Quality mode and gave it like 20 minutes...Sure its not ideal but its so much better than that god armful performance mode. I think im used to it now. Maybe I can learn to accept 30 fps on these consoles for some play time this gen. :/

Did the same and I don't regret it. It's pretty smooth and slight more crispy and detailed.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Just curious, which one is it in your opinion?



Did the same and I don't regret it. It's pretty smooth and my eyes got used to it.

I honestly think Diablo 4 might have the best audio in a game, in a long time. Not that you were asking me.

 

[rofif]

I usually bring the stagger meter to half, then use the garuda grab to put the enemy on his knees and then from my understanding, fast hits works best to erase the second part of the stagger bar so i use the garuda multiple slash thingy and sometimes that's enough, and sometimes i need to use another ability to complete the stagger, that leaves me with another 4 eikons ability to use when the enemies is actually staggered.

I don't have time to insert any other attack tbh, sometimes i can't even chain the 4th eikon skill before the stagger ends.

Or you can tornado them but I am not sure if its as effective

 

[Isa]

I also wish the noise from the controller speaker was louder.

I agree, only noticed it last night lol. Similar feelings about the Haptics, though I notice it a bit more, I wish it was even stronger. The most I've gotten out of it has been during cutscenes, even simple stuff like a character patting Clive on the back, or grabbing his hand etc.

Loving the story so far, I'm 16hrs in have been taking my time. The lighting and textures really look great in this game. Plus the ambition in combat and storytelling is admirable. Also the OST is exceptional and incorporates past songs in the franchise very well, some obvious callbacks while others are more subtle. One low/mid level moment with a song from I think FF4 really got me all choked up, it was like a great mix of emotion and support with nearly 30+ years of memories rushing back at once. Damn.

 

[Macaron]

Just curious, which one is it in your opinion?



Did the same and I don't regret it. It's pretty smooth and slight more crispy and detailed.

I think there are a few that are better. Fanboys nutting too hard, its insufferable. The game has frame drops in every town and motion blur galore on Quality. Yet we're getting "best audiovisual experience" posts lol number one for me this gen is Returnal so far.

 

[SlimySnake]

Combat is better in this game imho

Tho I enjoy GoW’s combat as well

My only issue with the combat is that dodging isnt reliable and attacks dont have that good force feedback. I feel like i am hitting air with all my regular hits. The runic attacks feel great.

That said this game shits on GOW Ragnorak. In every way. Not just setpieces which were awful in GOW, but also the story and storytelling. A freaking side villain gets more character development and backstory than most of the main cast of ragnorak. It is serious with moments of levity. Not a comedy with fleeting moments of drama like GOW Ragnorak. It captures the scale of the conflict simply by cutting away from the main character and showing us a random battle taking place elsewhere in the world with brand new characters that help sell a more global conflict. Something the more intimate one shot take nonsense of GOW Rangorak simply failed to capture.

Honestly, this game has blown me away. I thought there was no way the main game would live up to the prologue but I just fought the second Titan/eukon battle and its been non stop action for the last 5-6 hours. It is perfectly paced, and superbly told like a Sony first party game. Only, it is way better than anything sony studios have made since 2018. This is how you make a story driven linear action adventure.