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[gela94]

A huge design flaw. 50+ hours invested by the player to get to the game worth playing? Don't have time for that.

MMO-style busy work, but without the MMO operant conditioning structures to keep you engaged. The progression/reward currencies in FFXVI are largely pointless, and there is no interesting storytelling, interesting characters, interesting player action or player choice, interesting enemies to defeat, or interesting rewards in all but a handful of the side quests here. And no, good RPGs aren't just "prettifying" fetch quests. They are creating mini scenarios that either take you on a separate adventure or tie into the world meaningfully. Effort is spent to craft them. No matter what form they take, whether they're mysterious and difficult-to-uncover threads in Elden Ring or massively branching scenarios catering to player choice in Fallout: New Vegas or compelling stories that leverage amazing worldbuilding in Witcher 3 or epic journeys to the edge of the world in Elder Scrolls or loyalty missions in Mass Effect 2 or any of dozens of other examples, good side quests operate in an entirely different universe of design than XVI's bullshit waste of time MMO fetch quests.

100% agreed, I wonder why it is so difficult to write engaging sidequests?

 

[gela94]

I like the game but I really hope that the next FF is more RPG again!!

 

[Doom85]

The game is making a mess out of my right stick drift. I love that there are no dead zones and game is very responsive to control but my launch controller is showing signs of very tiny drift. Enough to cause movement. I would love to get new controller but I’ve heard the white controllers don’t have new thicker r2 springs?

I had been tolerating the very mild right stick drift on my first PS5 controller (got my PS5 last May/June IIRC) that happened recently, with Overwatch I barely notice it, and I had quickly gone through Ruined King: A League of Legends Story right before this game released and the camera is fixed in that game so again the drift was barely an issue.

But yeah, as soon as I started this game, instant nope, the drift was a major issue. I switched it with my untouched red controller that I got with the PS5 bundle, and problem solved.

 

[Zheph]

100% agreed, I wonder why it is so difficult to write engaging sidequests?

I would say they get engaging and some are quite good but it doesn't start well and it's uneven
Some are more than recommended as they provide some solid upgrades for Clive

 

[Fools idol]

the latter half of the game is absolute balls story wise. So much wtf and confusion going on, just becomes messy

 

[Hudo]

A huge design flaw. 50+ hours invested by the player to get to the game worth playing? Don't have time for that.

MMO-style busy work, but without the MMO operant conditioning structures to keep you engaged. The progression/reward currencies in FFXVI are largely pointless, and there is no interesting storytelling, interesting characters, interesting player action or player choice, interesting enemies to defeat, or interesting rewards in all but a handful of the side quests here. And no, good RPGs aren't just "prettifying" fetch quests. They are creating mini scenarios that either take you on a separate adventure or tie into the world meaningfully. Effort is spent to craft them. No matter what form they take, whether they're mysterious and difficult-to-uncover threads in Elden Ring or massively branching scenarios catering to player choice in Fallout: New Vegas or compelling stories that leverage amazing worldbuilding in Witcher 3 or epic journeys to the edge of the world in Elder Scrolls or loyalty missions in Mass Effect 2 or any of dozens of other examples, good side quests operate in an entirely different universe of design than XVI's bullshit waste of time MMO fetch quests.

Thanks for saying that. I am getting increasingly annoyed at the "man, it gets good after X hours!"-style arguments. Why can't a game be good at the first hour? Why do I need to subject myself to hours of bullshit before I get to "the good part"? Waste of my time. If you know what you're doing, you can make your game be good from the first moments of gameplay.

 

[GymWolf]

Since you're asking about the "standards", I'm going to compare games weather you guys like it not. Here are some examples where the game can improve by taking inspiration from other games.

Level Design - FFXVI's dungeon consist of going in a straight line with no reason to go off the beaten path, no reason to explore and provides no tension or threat. Take the first "dungeon" of Caer Norvent where you fight Benedikta. The boss fight itself is very fun and epic, loved it...but everything leading to that is a bore. You run into easy mobs that you can one shot with endless Eikon abilities and go to the next door. Run up some stairs, then another door. Another room full of easy mobs, then another door. Nothing to explore, all doors are locked, no danger lurking anywhere, or secret items to discover, cool things to encourage you to stray off to another path. And this is where most people will get triggered....are you ready? Let's compare this first dungeon to Stormveil Castle, Elden Ring's first real dungeon. I can already feel the rage of people saying "yOu sHouLdn't bE coMParInG da 2 gAmezz!!!11". Very different games, I know, but XVI could do some stuff similar in a more grounded way to make it more exciting. Hopefully some of us can at least agree on that. A cool castle with different routes you can take, cool secrets to discover, hard enemies and mid bosses to find deep below the dungeon for example that you can fight now or come back to later, rewarding loot to find in well hidden places, shortcuts to unlock instead of the game holding your hand with endless checkpoints.

World / Exploration - Here one example: Star Wars Jedi Survivor that came out 2 months ago... Koboh was fun to explore and was NOT open world. You can leave the small town, find a distant hidden cave, ruins, mines enemy bases, etc enemies to fight, loot to collect and more. There would also be NPC's you find randomly (not constant waypoints on map) that would give you better and more interesting side quests, which afterwards you can recruit back to your base. Some of the explorable hidden areas required light puzzle solving as well to take a break from all the action and cutscenes. Again, I am not asking for open world, just a larger explorable zone with some more innovation than what we got here. XVI's "world" feels very miniscule for such an amazing world (storywise) that they built here. It would have been awesome to see more interesting aspects of Rosaria, Sanbreque, Dhalmekia and more. As it currently stands, it feels like the world map is just a stage selector from an action game.

Side Quests/Mini Games, etc - FF7's Gold Saucer was amazing back in the day... chocobo races, FF8's triple Triad card game was awesome and collecting new cards felt rewarding, FFX's Blitzball also had me playing for hours and my personal favorite, Gwent from Witcher 3. But those are just mini games and side distractions, but even certain side quests are just much better done in these other games. The FF14 DNA is very present in 16's side quests. It really is majority fetch quests with some of them having interesting story pieces to them. For example on the ones you do for Otto later on was actually very interesting and helped build his character a bit more. Some other ones earlier on in Sanbreque with the psycho little girl Lisette was also interesting storywise...but all it turned out to be was go to this blatant waypoint we provided to you. Your reward? Here's some Gil and a Sharp Fang crafting item you are NEVER going to use. It just doesn't feel rewarding at all. The side content that I do enjoy are the hunts, HOWEVER, with the game being as easy as it is, those have become even a push over and cakewalk too. I did a hunt where I was 6 levels below the boss and had half the amount of potions and still easily won that fight on my first try.

RPG Depth - It's just crazy to me that franchises like God of War and Assassins' Creed feel more like an RPG than a mainline Final Fantasy game. XVI has some of the best uses of elements with the Eikons, yet they don't mean shit. As far back as I can remember, the Bomb enemies in FF games had elemental weaknesses and would get health when being attacked by fire and Malboros (morbols) would cause status effects that would require different play styles, builds, items, etc. Weapons and armor in previous games were also more meaningful with extra/different Materia slots in FF7 and permanent abilities you can learn in FF9. Other games added intrinsic traits and different elements, stat buffs, etc. None of that really exists here, there's really no incentive here other than a small percentage bump for a rather easy game. XVI feels very shallow with no depth. People can use the excuse "appealing to the masses" as much as they want, but this is NOT an "evolution", it's simply dumbing down the game.


And before anyone thinks I am completely hating on the game, this franchise is my favorite gaming franchise ever. Story and characters in XVI are some of my favorite and I am enjoying that aspect. Even with the change to a more action based combat is totally fine for me, I never had no issue with that. It's the rest of the stuff I listed there that is seriously lacking. If people want to pretend that FFXVI has good level design, more power to you....

Holy shit, i felt like i was the only one who loved blitzball in the whole planet...

 

[DelireMan7]

Holy shit, i felt like i was the only one who loved blitzball in the whole planet...

I never got the hate of Blitzball. Love at first sight for me. Spent countless hours on it.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Holy shit, i felt like i was the only one who loved blitzball in the whole planet...

I had over 50 hours blitzing In X

 

[Zheph]

I enjoyed Blitzball too and Wakka's ultimate weapon is so powerful you want to do it

It was one of my biggest gripe when Yoshida said there won't be minigames in XVI, really feels like its part of the series

 

[Shake Your Rump]

Ok bought myself also a copy of the deluxe edition. Gotta support the best FF release in two decades in every way I can!

I would like to have the deluxe edition. The case and map look cool. However, it’s $40 extra. That 45% higher cost just for those things! I remember when steelbooks were free with preorders, and Skyrim came with an awesome, heavy duty map ten years ago.

 

[Perfo]

I would like to have the deluxe edition. The case and map look cool. However, it’s $40 extra. That 45% higher cost just for those things! I remember when steelbooks were free with preorders, and Skyrim came with an awesome, heavy duty map ten years ago.

All limited editions are getting more crappy and more costly for no reasons. I also see and hate this trend :/

 

[Zheph]

I got the collector and imo it's not worth it, the map is nice tho

 

[TheKremlinBossMan]

Well I finally did it. No I didn't finish the game but I did get most of the things that you can get in a first playthrough except the curiosity for the chronolith trials. Going to finish the rest Before I finish the game.

Reading through the comments on here is weird as shit. This is the most fun I have had in any video game in a long time. I have no clue what the ending is but right now this is in my top two FF games ever and I have played and finished them all. I do have one huge gripe but I get why they did it. They flesh out so much of the world through side quests that I couldn't believe some of the things that happen that you could just miss. I have 100% the side quests some are bad and some are really good.

Interestingly no one has discussed how they included end game content day 1 with NG+ Chronolith trials and Final Fantasy mode. Most devs would have either made you wait months for that or made you pay for it.

 

[Ozzie666]

Nice game and all. It has enough Final Fantasy spirit in it. But ever since 10 or 12 onwards, they really started losing their way. This should be a spinoff. I think FF7 remake was on the edge of breaking the formula way too much, this game takes it a step further. I can't but help shake the God of War vibes and linear game play. The more I play, the more the rose-colored glasses are coming off, good game on its own for sure. Maybe I'm just old, but it's missing the charm, exploration and so many Final Fantasy tropes. I miss turn based and parties. I get why they went this way, and you don't need a help guide to finish is. But I enjoyed 6-10 much more.

Hats off to Yoshi-P and his team for recovering from FF15 disaster. Much better effort for sure.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

Just checking in to say Berserker Ring is god-tier, been using it ever since I unlocked it and it will keep a permanent spot on my accessories

Currently on

Spoiler

Fire and Ice

chapter, very cool, OST continues to deliver, already got the special edition pre-ordered

 

[Dunkelgrau]

I'm at level 20 right now. Does this game get any harder?

I am feeling like a monkey from NASA playing this game. It's feels like a total button masher to me. Never used those rings from the beginning.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Ok, i didnt even knew that chocobos can attack in combat

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I habe beaten with round about level 20.

Does this game get any harder? I am feeling like a monkey from NASA playing this game. It's feels like a total button masher to me. Never used those rings from the beginning.

About level 30 but not IMO. Game is very easy.

Not sure I've had a game over screen yet.

Edit, guess I'm level 35.

 

[TheKremlinBossMan]

Just checking in to say Berserker Ring is god-tier, been using it ever since I unlocked it and it will keep a permanent spot on my accessories

Currently on

Spoiler

Fire and Ice

chapter, very cool, OST continues to deliver, already got the special edition pre-ordered

I have never taken it off, there is no suitable replacement for it. Nothing comes close.

The soundtrack is also god-tier I have the same edition pre ordered. I do have a question for anyone else that is playing. I am at the end and have not heard this track anywhere.



It's not on any of the orchestration rolls and I think I may have heard it briefly in a side quest. Hoping it's in the last area.

 

[Kazdane]

I'm still early into the game, perhaps getting midway through?

Spoiler: The point I'm at in the story, roughly around 10 hours in or so, I'd say

Basically, I've gotten right to the time jump five years later, and just arrived at the new hideout

So far I'm liking the story, it's one of the darkest so far in a FF, perhaps the darkest of all the mainline titles. The combat is good, although there really aren't as many combos as I was hoping and in the end using Torgal is as simple as sending him to attack just as your last attack in the combo hits, or the special ability you're using impacts the enemy (and you'll know you've timed it right because the button press becomes red in the lower left corner of the screen). The game is as epic as it gets, very much in line with some of the best moments in FF XIV, although I miss having a warning when you are about to start a lengthy sequence of cutscenes/fights, so that you can postpone it and do it at a later time.

As for the secondary quests and dungeon design, it's literally a page pulled from FFXIV. Dungeons are extremely linear (just as in XIV), and the side quests are very simple (at least those I've seen) and not time consuming at all. This is the case as well in XIV, where you'll get asked to bring 3 apples, or kill 3 mobs or whatever and you won't have to stray very far from wherever you are or need to go. So that means you may either love it or hate it (personally I like it in games that are heavy on story, like this case). It's easy to see that the team is working on XIV. Heck, in fact

Spoiler: mild spoiler about the design of some particular enemies and early lore

the design of the ancient machina enemies (or whatever they actually are) at Phoenix Gate seem heavily inspired by the Allagan creatures from XIV, one of them quite literally looks like an Allagan node:

So far, I'm loving every second of the game, but that was my expectation anyways because I like what this team is doing on XIV, I just hope they keep the pace on what's to come next, but right now, at the point I'm in the story, the world of FF XVI is very intriguing and appealing to me.

 

[Sub_Level]

The second hub is great. Serious Mass Effect Normandy vibes.

 

[FoxMcChief]

It is strange. I don’t have the issue.
Have you tried changing ps5 audio settings?
I use linear pcm and av amplifier or whatever as audio device type even though Injust use tv speakers

Yup, I tried that, using headphones, playing via remote play.

I captured a video of the noise that’s killing my ears.

 

[Madflavor]

FFXVI's normal difficulty is definitely not hard. But imo it ain't got shit on how piss easy FFXV was. I never died once in that game, even when I felt like I should've.

 

[Clear]

How are you guys playing this game time-wise? I've found myself falling into a routine where I play like a 2-3 hr block every day, which seems to be enough to do a couple of side-quests, a couple of story missions and up to a big set-piece event. After which I'm satisfied and happy to leave the game for the day.

Its been really nice because its like having a feature-length episode of a mini-series every session!

I really feel like this MMORPG like structural repetitiveness is by design, and although I'd be skeptical if this was laid out to me up-front as a "plan" or design goal, I think it actually works really well.

 

[zkorejo]

How are you guys playing this game time-wise? I've found myself falling into a routine where I play like a 2-3 hr block every day, which seems to be enough to do a couple of side-quests, a couple of story missions and up to a big set-piece event. After which I'm satisfied and happy to leave the game for the day.

Its been really nice because its like having a feature-length episode of a mini-series every session!

I really feel like this MMORPG like structural repetitiveness is by design, and although I'd be skeptical if this was laid out to me up-front as a "plan" or design goal, I think it actually works really well.

Played three sessions all 4 hours and above. I haven't played since yesterday because I just can't put the controller down, so I'm waiting when I can dedicate a long session to it.

 

[adamsapple]

Percentage wise, how far am I in the story ?

just got to the third time skip after the Ultima scenes

The side quests in the game are very mediocre so far.

 

[Zheph]

Percentage wise, how far am I in the story ?

just got to the third time skip after the Ultima scenes

The side quests in the game are very mediocre so far.

Quite early on, hard to say maybe 20%?

It does get better but very uneven

 

[Sethbacca]

I feel like a Tactics game based on this world with a Total War type scale with Eikons and bearer units and everything would be fucking amazing. One of the scenes where I was watching some backstory unfold over the map really had me wishing it was a thing.

 

[Macaron]

I'm at level 20 right now. Does this game get any harder?

I am feeling like a monkey from NASA playing this game. It's feels like a total button masher to me. Never used those rings from the beginning.

It gets harder after final time skip

 

[FoxMcChief]

Are you talking about the sounds that come when you’re playing with Jill?

Nah. It’s some kind of sound glitch. It only happens when she’s off screen. It even happens in some of the cutscenes. I posted a video of how it happens when she’s off screen and doesn’t happen when on screen.

 

[GymWolf]

Just checking in to say Berserker Ring is god-tier, been using it ever since I unlocked it and it will keep a permanent spot on my accessories

Currently on

Spoiler

Fire and Ice

chapter, very cool, OST continues to deliver, already got the special edition pre-ordered

Is there a catch with that ring? I just obtained it yesterday and tried a couple of times but it seems like a big boost for just a ring, maybe the flame hits do more damage but less stagger?

Also maybe people could get bored of that little animation after every perfect evade.

 

[Dynasty8]

Iterestingly no one has discussed how they included end game content day 1 with NG+ Chronolith trials and Final Fantasy mode. Most devs would have either made you wait months for that or made you pay for it.

Most devs would have included a hard mode from the beginning.

 

[GymWolf]

It gets harder after final time skip

I played like 3-4 hours after the second timeskip and i didn't noticed at all.

Reached the point where

Spoiler

the ship is ready to travel and i'm doing the blacksmith sidequest with the griffon

 

[Macaron]

I played like 3-4 hours after the second timeskip and i didn't noticed at all.

Reached the point where

Spoiler

the ship is ready to travel and i'm doing the blacksmith sidequest with the griffon

The hunts and bosses are the difficulty jump. Common enemies remain easy

 

[GymWolf]

The hunts and bosses are the difficulty jump. Common enemies remain easy

The first hunt you get during the campaign was very easy but i still have to fight the others, finger crossed.
The griffon was also very easy.

 

[Macaron]

The first hunt you get during the campaign was very easy but i still have to fight the others, finger crossed.
The griffon was also very easy.

Yeah it was a C class hunt. Youll get A and S tiers which are more difficult, especially when you can find them at a much lower level (one of the S tiers is lvl 50 tried fighting it at lvl 36)

 

[bbw_lover87]

Man cant stop playing this big alpha energy game, boss fight are incredible, story is good, music pump me up, great ass game, gow ragnarok suck compare to this game lol

 

[Sub_Level]

Man cant stop playing this big alpha energy game, boss fight are incredible, story is good, music pump me up, great ass game, gow ragnarok suck compare to this game lol

It can indeed be high octane, high testosterone gaming at times BBW LOVER 87, but there’s a lot of chill downtime too. I actually enjoy the chill parts, just traveling across the lands helping townsfolk and whatnot. Got my chocobo last night.

 

[mortal]

I love the supporting characters in this game.
Uncle Byron is hilarious

 

[Luipadre]

That plaything sidequest... some of these sidequests are not bad at all. I like the VA and lore around them. Also this game is goddamn gorgeous, especially in HDR. Best use of HDR i've ever seen and it shows how little effort some other devs makes to implement a great looking HDR experience.

 

[SaniOYOYOY]

tried the bahamut build from youtube godamn its so strong and safe

 

[aclar00]

My two cents:

Overal pretty good. Playing on performance mode, which is a bit janky here and there. I particularly get dizzy from just panning/rotating the camera quickly.

Graphics are hit or miss. Character clothes and some environments look great, but the characters themselves, especially the hair are last gen. Not to mention the two main women they've shown in the first couple of hours look like post-op Michael Jackson or Vaan from FFXII. Not a deal breaker or anything, but just doesnt make the characters unique enough.

Lastly, combat is a bit monotonous. I wish there was at least a light and heavy attack. I find myself smashing square just a bit too much and just an ocassional square or Eikon power.

Edit: spelling and grammar

Edit 2: It's also a little heavy on cutscene to action ratio.

 

[Perfo]

Moved a bit forward today past the acquisition of the limit break and I have to say they really really do a good job here in adding a new piece of lore and then dwelling in details for a couple of hours. So far from the name drops of previous games like XV and XIII. Every piece of information given here is explained contextually without looking track of it or just dropping it out. It’s like a big puzzle filling up for a clearer picture once is full. Or so for now it seems, maybe 10-15 hrs in?

 

[TheDuskwalker]

Finally found challenge in the game.

Spoiler

Red dragon hunt quest, he was level 50 and I was 39. Our battle was legendary!

 

[acidagfc]

Oh hey, you killed a major boss? Great job, Clive!
Now run around the base in circles, speaking to npcs one by one. Such a great winddown, right?

Edit:
Oh hey, why not go pick up 5 stones from the ground as your next story quest.
No enemies or anything, just go to a location you already visited and grab some rocks. No one else on this base could manage such a difficult task.

Maaaan, this games goes from the most epic fights ever to the most mind-numbing bullshit.

 

[Ovech-King]

I'm not sure the game is that easy as many says if you don't equip the incoming attack warning ring . From what I've seen so far anyway, some those incoming attacks don't seem to have a clear precise moment where they are about to hit (if I compare with elden ring anyway). Seem like a fair challenge fighting system game to me and I'm only 2 hours in

 

[Phalk]

I'm not sure the game is that easy as many says if you don't equip the incoming attack warning ring . From what I've seen so far anyway, some those incoming attacks don't seem to have a clear precise moment where they are about to hit (if I compare with elden ring anyway). Seem like a fair challenge fighting system game to me and I'm only 2 hours in

I also don't think it's as easy as some people are saying. Normal mobs, sure, a walk in the park, but I had some game overs on bosses.
Not using any of the rings tho.

 

[Zheph]

I'm not sure the game is that easy as many says if you don't equip the incoming attack warning ring . From what I've seen so far anyway, some those incoming attacks don't seem to have a clear precise moment where they are about to hit (if I compare with elden ring anyway). Seem like a fair challenge fighting system game to me and I'm only 2 hours in

I am not here to judge on the difficulty but the animations and clarity on enemies moves is spot on imo akind to what you can get from a fromsoftware game

 

[GymWolf]

I'm not sure the game is that easy as many says if you don't equip the incoming attack warning ring . From what I've seen so far anyway, some those incoming attacks don't seem to have a clear precise moment where they are about to hit (if I compare with elden ring anyway). Seem like a fair challenge fighting system game to me and I'm only 2 hours in

The thing is, that ring would be useful when you fight against multiple mobs, but you can beat the trash mobs in this game with both hands behind your back, no matter how numerous they are.

And during a 1vs1 fight against boss the ring is useless because you only fight an enemy in front of you, so yeah...