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FINAL FANTASY XVI |OT| Ifrit Bleeds We Can Kill It

Are you playing in Quality or Performance mode?

  • Quality

    Votes: 274 59.8%
  • Performance

    Votes: 184 40.2%

  • Total voters
    458
Game’s graphics are at their best when it’s not in full daylight, lighting here really boosts the general looks and atmosphere while during the sessions at day can look pretty flat and dated overall.

More pictures from my favorite time of the day atm. I wish all the game was set in such a mood lol, the darker this tale the better lol

TfV9iml.jpg
BuZRgTb.jpg
jrD6cHf.jpg
ZWGwTzj.jpg
asxBWjX.jpg
ZUB9ya6.jpg

I hate that dreary time of day :(
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
I hate that dreary time of day :(
Ahah, I know it’s not for everyone but I like when the game doesn’t shy away from its real nature . Actually I think they should’ve been more aggressive and make this tale even more darker and more violent, but being a main FF I feel they felt forced to put in more light moments and thus brighter days and locations here and there.

Mine is also a stylistic graphical preference btw. It really looks better when the weather is not sunny, the engine can really look crap otherwise because of flat lighting during daylight.
 
Some glorious screenshots, spoiler-tagged of course, about 66% through the main story:

Pqn0F11.jpg
Q0T5KQg.jpg
mTKgbHp.jpg
1HpBkH7.jpg
y2zLzcQ.jpg
p3cDwfi.jpg
rcdpjAP.jpg
fZyVjjb.jpg
jJqRuSM.jpg
mc9iS1Q.jpg

As a professional photographer I wish there were more options, photo mode is as bare bones as it gets but at least it's there from day 1, lots of other games patched it in weeks later when most have already long moved on from the game.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
I'm kind of iffy on the game so far several hours in:
  • The overall design isn't what I was expecting, and feels a bit rote quickly. I feel like the player merely jogs from one arena battle to the next followed by a boss battle or two, repeated ad nauseam. I bet fans of both FF VII Remake and fighting games are probably loving this setup, but I was expecting something deeper, something more layered, like previous and recent FF titles
  • Combat often feels clunky and imprecise - parries, dodges, when and how an enemy is staggered or when they're able to just power through anything because they already winded up for an animation / move, it feels so very random and dated in that respect
  • Technically: the framerate seems to be all over the place in framerate mode and I can't see why. It looks good, sure, but not so good as to justify such erratic performance. There's also times when despite having controls set to be inverted for vertical, both in game and in system settings, it ignores it
  • Despite my misgivings with the combat, it still manages to be fun and rather forgiving. I am not the greatest of gamers when it comes to skill, and I think I may need glasses so there's that as well, but I don't find things punishing. Once you get into the groove with some enemies it becomes really fun. Some bosses have actually felt under tuned to me, in fact
  • The audio on this game is some of the best I've ever heard. They paid more attention and care to surround sound than about 90% of the games I've played on my PS5, and the music is peak Final Fantasy. The way they take old and familiar tracks and subtly transform them in a fantasy themed, melancholy way is a real achievement. Love it
  • The voice acting and direction of the cut scenes are great, the writing however I feel is too predictable and derivative. They've really hit every predictable trope and anime / FF story beat so far to the point that I actually rolled my eyes on several occasions

I am enjoying myself enough to finish, and don't think I wasted my money or anything, but I was definitely expecting better after the reviews I read.
 
  • Technically: the framerate seems to be all over the place in framerate mode and I can't see why. It looks good, sure, but not so good as to justify such erratic performance. There's also times when despite having controls set to be inverted for vertical, both in game and in system settings, it ignores it
It absolutely does and I can't stand it! I get use to it quick enough, but why the hell is beyond me...!
 

Sygma

Member
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 Eikon battle 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 against
Titan
might the be craziest boss battle I've ever seen, topping anything in GoW, DMC, Asura's Wrath etc. The wild thing is I know this will be topped too 😂 Have to say, I really didn't like the
music in the 2nd phase of the battle, seriously Yoshi P, what were you thinking?
but the end? Spectacular 💯
Haha wait, it gets better
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Some people might disagree with me I actually loving the pacing, after epic chapter get some breather and go back to hideout to do some quests and hunts, practice some new skills we just got and then get back to the main story….I love it.

Edit: especially after that epic Titan fight I need breather to collect myself, my heart still beating very fast….Holly fuck!
 
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GymWolf

Member
Shit, i don't know what eikon to exclude from the 3 spot available...

Rock is my main style
Garuda has the grab when enemies have half stagger bar gone
Ramuh has the big damaging finisher
Phoenix has the shift

I guess phoenix is the less important because with the rock style i'm always close to the enemy...

Suck to only have 3 slots.
 

Zheph

Member
Shit, i don't know what eikon to exclude from the 3 spot available...

Rock is my main style
Garuda has the grab when enemies have half stagger bar gone
Ramuh has the big damaging finisher
Phoenix has the shift

I guess phoenix is the less important because with the rock style i'm always close to the enemy...

Suck to only have 3 slots.
It's only gonna get more headscratching in that department

Which one do you prefer? For me, I would say that Garuda is probably the most useful here
Do you play a lot with the titan's block or mostly his abilities? I only dodge myself
So if that's the case why not resetting your abilities, mastering the Titan ones you like and put them on another Eikon

I can't show you my actual build due to spoilers but its all over the place for example I use Garuda without any of her abilities
 

GymWolf

Member
It's only gonna get more headscratching in that department

Which one do you prefer? For me, I would say that Garuda is probably the most useful here
Do you play a lot with the titan's block or mostly his abilities? I only dodge myself
So if that's the case why not resetting your abilities, mastering the Titan ones you like and put them on another Eikon

I can't show you my actual build due to spoilers but its all over the place for example I use Garuda without any of her abilities
I literally only use the garuda grab when enemies have half stagger bar and the multiple slashy skill when they are on their knees, nothing else.
I was a dodge machine before but now that i unlocked titan, his abilities are much fun to use so it has become my main style.

Ramuh for me is useless except for the big finisher for big damage when enemies are staggered.

Phoenix was my main style when i was just evading, now it is kinda useless except to cycle the skills for damage when the enemy is staggered.

Is there a ring like the berseerk ring that works with perfect blocks instead of dodges?
 
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Zheph

Member
I literally only use the garuda grab when enemies have half stagger bar and the multiple slashy skill when they are on their knees, nothing else.
I was a dodge machine before but now that i unlocked titan, his abilities are much fun to use so it has become my main style.

Ramuh for me is useless except for the big finisher for big damage when enemies are staggered.

Phoenix was my main style when i was just evading, now it is kinda useless except to cycle the skills for damage when the enemy is staggered.

Is there a ring like the berseerk ring that works with perfect blocks instead of dodges?
I will have to double check for the ring regarding perfect blocks but it's pretty strong as it is as you know

Get rid of Phoenix and master the skills you like on it if there is any
or Ramuh, he is okay but...
 

GymWolf

Member
I will have to double check for the ring regarding perfect blocks but it's pretty strong as it is as you know

Get rid of Phoenix and master the skills you like on it if there is any
or Ramuh, he is okay but...
The finisher for the titan style seems more like an area of effect attack and not a single target damage so i still need ramuh finisher for the big damage, i can't ditch him...
 
It is getting better, no doubt, but I miss it being more RPG and a minimap. Why no minimap?
I kind of like the lack of mini map, feels more like I'm exploring an area even if I'm really not and can always bring up map if I really need it. But a toggle wouldn't hurt.


I'm having an issue that wasn't happening earlier in the game - the environment gets slowly brighter and then slowly darker.. but happens so much it's driving my eyes nuts. Is this cloud cover or is something wrong with the game? Especially obvious in brighter outdoor area.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Does this game get better? I’m about half way through and it’s so dull with the most boring missions and environments. Genuinely don’t get the high score reviews. What a disappointment
there are some sweet boss fights you might not want to miss

Shit, i don't know what eikon to exclude from the 3 spot available...

Rock is my main style
Garuda has the grab when enemies have half stagger bar gone
Ramuh has the big damaging finisher
Phoenix has the shift

I guess phoenix is the less important because with the rock style i'm always close to the enemy...

Suck to only have 3 slots.
I used Phoenix throughout the entire game. The uppercut is great leveled up and the swirl attack hits groups of enemies. I’d do that swirl, switch to Titan, pound the ground, and then uppercut anything with a lot of health. Leveled up, the Phoenix attacks are some of the best because they transition very well.
 
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Dunkelgrau

Member
Guys, I'm about to drop this game. Yesterday I defeated this
huge dragon in "mothercrystal cave"
(I'm about level 25) and the game is just way too easy. It's a pure button-masher. 😩
 
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mortal

Banned
Does this game get better? I’m about half way through and it’s so dull with the most boring missions and environments. Genuinely don’t get the high score reviews. What a disappointment
What's the point of asking a rhetorical question like this?
If you spent as many hours playing the game as you claim, then maybe stop playing it instead of wasting it on something you clearly aren't enjoying. 🤷‍♂️
 
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Minsc

Gold Member
Thinking back on it, pretty much a staple of Final Fantasy games to hit the ground running, especially X. All my favorites begin on very high notes, I can't imagine playing through a FF game halfway and wondering if it gets better.
 

Doom85

Member
Thinking back on it, pretty much a staple of Final Fantasy games to hit the ground running, especially X. All my favorites begin on very high notes, I can't imagine playing through a FF game halfway and wondering if it gets better.

Funny, I feel X is actually one that doesn’t hit the ground running. Tidus is kind of just thrown from people to people, first the tutorial with Auron, then the brief exploring with Rikku, then a brief period with Wakka, then a fucking trail puzzle temple bullshit (well, to be fair, the first one isn’t too bad, but they kept getting worse), and then FINALLY Tidus sets off with an actual party and a clear objective.

In contrast with say VII and IX, VII throws you into the mission immediately, and IX has setup for the individual four characters and then unites them with a shared objective (well, except Steiner to a degree).

To be fair, X isn’t as bad in this regard as XIII, which not only takes 2 hours before you get any idea of what even the fuck is going on, but also gives no Exp for battles until that point.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
I'm having an issue that wasn't happening earlier in the game - the environment gets slowly brighter and then slowly darker.. but happens so much it's driving my eyes nuts. Is this cloud cover or is something wrong with the game? Especially obvious in brighter outdoor area.
Isn’t just the LG doing their fucking auto dimming by chance and you happened to notice it more with this game? Hate that feature but comes with these TVs :/
 

Minsc

Gold Member
Funny, I feel X is actually one that doesn’t hit the ground running. Tidus is kind of just thrown from people to people, first the tutorial with Auron, then the brief exploring with Rikku, then a brief period with Wakka, then a fucking trail puzzle temple bullshit (well, to be fair, the first one isn’t too bad, but they kept getting worse), and then FINALLY Tidus sets off with an actual party and a clear objective.

In contrast with say VII and IX, VII throws you into the mission immediately, and IX has setup for the individual four characters and then unites them with a shared objective (well, except Steiner to a degree).

To be fair, X isn’t as bad in this regard as XIII, which not only takes 2 hours before you get any idea of what even the fuck is going on, but also gives no Exp for battles until that point.

I just remember being so impressed with X right away, the way they had the combat built right in to the exploration (it wasn't totally seamless) but the pods shooting down on the map and then cutting to the same looking background in the fight and Auron being such a bad-ass slaying them easily, with the larger boss one, then the whole stadium being flooded/destroyed in GC, yeah I guess it's all a bit chaotic but I loved it. Then it settles down a bit. I guess I mean the story just comes right at you and the stakes are instantly raised from the very start.
 
Isn’t just the LG doing their fucking auto dimming by chance and you happened to notice it more with this game? Hate that feature but comes with these TVs :/
I didn't notice it until about 30+ hours in. I will say there was an environmental change later in the game I think it's related. Before that the lighting was always nearly perfect!
 
Man after being pretty jacked about this game after the Garuda fight, it's certainly ground to a halt my last couple play sessions. My session last night was particularly dull as we wandered around a marsh / town for a full hour, going from static talking cutscene to static talking cutscene with just a few piss-easy battles on the way. Seemed like we were just about to leave when the game hit me with a mandatory story quest to... go talk to some people in the town, then go find and talk to a guy with one piss-easy battle on the way.

Just got to Phoenix Gate and saved and quit out, someone please tell me the excitement picks back up immediately here.
 
Man after being pretty jacked about this game after the Garuda fight, it's certainly ground to a halt my last couple play sessions. My session last night was particularly dull as we wandered around a marsh / town for a full hour, going from static talking cutscene to static talking cutscene with just a few piss-easy battles on the way. Seemed like we were just about to leave when the game hit me with a mandatory story quest to... go talk to some people in the town, then go find and talk to a guy with one piss-easy battle on the way.

Just got to Phoenix Gate and saved and quit out, someone please tell me the excitement picks back up immediately here.
Imo that's the slowest part of the whole game. Very odd pacing choice to have it slow down that much for so long. So yeah, it gets better.
 
Just 100% the game (pre-NG+, but that’s for later) and here are my thoughts:

Positives
  • Combat both looks and plays really well (despite the framerate being a constant hinder, see below)

  • Beautiful art direction with most of the vistas and scenery being completely jaw droppingly good

  • Music is exceptionally good as well as being very memorable

  • The mature themes that are set in the world is a very welcome addition to the franchise. Blood, nudity and curse words are one thing; but showing the player people who’ve been tortured and child labor as well as many other mature themes is a step in the right direction

  • The hunts are a thrill to do, although it doesn’t quite hit the mark as well as XII did for a few reasons, one being the sense of threat not being present in equal caliber

  • Some (although very few in comparison to the abundance of quests) side quests are very well written

  • Set pieces are, bar none, moments that truly define the Final Fantasy games

  • Cid is one of my favorite Cids in all of FF

  • Dialogue of the MSQ is incredible

Negatives
  • The game drops a ridiculous amount of upgrade materials… but there is almost nothing that require even 1/10th of the materials?

  • Upgrading in general feel like an afterthought. Never did I actually find myself in a situation where I would go: ”wow, can’t wait to go to the blacksmith and see what this leads to!”.

  • Items in general feel extremely lackluster and uninspired. I can prove and summarize this whole thing by saying that Genji Gloves; an iconic accessory throughout the franchise for its multiple different purposes in the different games; simply makes Clive ”5% stronger”. Boring!

  • Jill is yet another case of people hyping up a Final Fantasy character (often female) to almost obsessive levels and then reality remains; she is one of the games most under-developed character and is there primarily to make Clive feel good about himself at times

  • The player feeling disconnected from the world as you, at occasions, have to go out to the world map when entering new zones. In FFXII, for example, almost every zone is interconnected with each other

  • The majority of the side quests are 2004 MMO quality. The structure of these quests are almost always identical to each other - and the low quality script for these quests doesn’t help the matter at cause

  • There’s this trend that Square-Enix have been hopping on lately. This trend is present in almost all of their releases as of late. In the process of you discovering the world, you’ll end up meeting many different characters. In FFXVI (and many other releases), you’ll end up finding 3 ”important” NPCs. These ”important” NPCs are in reality just boring NPCs but Square has decided that these 3 in particular are ”special” so the game forces you to engage with them over and over again - for different reasons each time, but the quests are almost always identical. The static low-budget in-game cutscenes along with the horrid lip sync and terrible writing make these moments the most painful in the entire game

  • Restricted to the use of 3 (!) Eikons and only 6 primary abilities. I found myself maxing out the potential of the 4-5 sets of combos I could implement - because the game forced me to be locked to 3 Eikons

  • Far and beyond the worst technical performing game I’ve ever played on the Playstation 5. This one’s mind-boggling to me. Even a week after playing, I still couldn’t get used to the drops in framerate. This negative specificially and single-handedly subtracts an entire point of my total rating

  • Locking on to the enemy and/or switching targets in-battle is by far the hardest challenge in the game. It is absurd how an AAA Final Fantasy in 2023 can’t even get locking on to enemies right - especially coming from Stranger of Paradise that does locking on and switching really well

  • Way too many MSQ cutscenes were using the in-game engine (static animations and bad lip-sync). There are scenarios in the game that could’ve really used motion capture and just higher budget cutscenes in general, but were instead gutted to uninteresting robot-like scenarios

  • The sense of urgency in the main quest is often lacking because of how often you have to go back to the camp

  • There is no sense of distance in the world. The time it should take for a character to travel between the continents should be noticeable in-game, but we see NPCs travel between massive parts of the world in mere minutes. The results of this is that the world feels smaller than it actually is

  • It pains me to say this but although the music is incredible in many ways; there aren’t enough of them. The amount of times the same music is repeated during cutscenes is to an absurd level. I also don’t agree with most of the music that were being used during the side quests. Some of these songs should’ve remained exclusive to the MSQ but instead are plastered all over random side quests like Barry who’s sad that his apples are stolen by random bandits. I would’ve also loved to have every region of the game have its own battle-theme

  • The lack of enemy variety. I guess it’s on par with games like XV and XIII… but I can’t stop thinking about how there weren’t even that many COLOUR variations

  • Also, where in the flying fucks are cactuars and tonberries? For this alone I would subtract 50 points… there was absolutely no reason to not have these iconic enemies in the game. I don’t give a fuck if it doesn’t fit your games ”thematics”, cactuars could’ve 100% been a hunt in the desert and a master tonberry should’ve been hiding in… well, you know exactly where if you’ve come far enough into the game

  • Locking hard difficulty to NG+. I used zero accessories throughout the entire game and barely used any potions. This is by far the easiest Final Fantasy (on par with XV) to date and it’s not even a contest

  • No real end game. No real grind. No super boss. Come. The. Fuck. On.


Nitpicks
  • Logo drop (both the very early one and post-intro-one) isn’t as good as the many incredible logo drops of previous Final Fantasy games

  • Having to play the game and then restart the game to see the Final Fantasy menu + logo is not a direction I like

  • Not being able to charge your sword without Clive attacking the air once.

  • No real status ailments and lack of elemental weaknesses. The game tells you, upon retrieving a new Eikon, that your spells’ element changes… but there’s basically no difference in damage if you i.e. use fire on Bomb, etc.
Do you know hot to get into
that Fallen ruin door in the northern part of Rosaria? It's near where The Dim is on the map, a small section on the eastern part
. It's been driving me crazy.
This is also a question for anyone else that knows or has completed the game. I'm on new game + currently.
 
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Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Man after being pretty jacked about this game after the Garuda fight, it's certainly ground to a halt my last couple play sessions. My session last night was particularly dull as we wandered around a marsh / town for a full hour, going from static talking cutscene to static talking cutscene with just a few piss-easy battles on the way. Seemed like we were just about to leave when the game hit me with a mandatory story quest to... go talk to some people in the town, then go find and talk to a guy with one piss-easy battle on the way.

Just got to Phoenix Gate and saved and quit out, someone please tell me the excitement picks back up immediately here.
The game very often distinctively alternate 2 hours of free time (exploring, side quests, lore study, hunts) with 2 more of epic linear set pieces. It’s the game design philosophy they had more or less for most of 14 applied now here. Also the game is freaking huge, you’ll have plenty of hours of excitement so you should take these opportunities to rest up a bit from one big moment and the next.
 
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I'm kind of iffy on the game so far several hours in:
  • The overall design isn't what I was expecting, and feels a bit rote quickly. I feel like the player merely jogs from one arena battle to the next followed by a boss battle or two, repeated ad nauseam. I bet fans of both FF VII Remake and fighting games are probably loving this setup, but I was expecting something deeper, something more layered, like previous and recent FF titles
  • Combat often feels clunky and imprecise - parries, dodges, when and how an enemy is staggered or when they're able to just power through anything because they already winded up for an animation / move, it feels so very random and dated in that respect
  • Technically: the framerate seems to be all over the place in framerate mode and I can't see why. It looks good, sure, but not so good as to justify such erratic performance. There's also times when despite having controls set to be inverted for vertical, both in game and in system settings, it ignores it
  • Despite my misgivings with the combat, it still manages to be fun and rather forgiving. I am not the greatest of gamers when it comes to skill, and I think I may need glasses so there's that as well, but I don't find things punishing. Once you get into the groove with some enemies it becomes really fun. Some bosses have actually felt under tuned to me, in fact
  • The audio on this game is some of the best I've ever heard. They paid more attention and care to surround sound than about 90% of the games I've played on my PS5, and the music is peak Final Fantasy. The way they take old and familiar tracks and subtly transform them in a fantasy themed, melancholy way is a real achievement. Love it
  • The voice acting and direction of the cut scenes are great, the writing however I feel is too predictable and derivative. They've really hit every predictable trope and anime / FF story beat so far to the point that I actually rolled my eyes on several occasions

I am enjoying myself enough to finish, and don't think I wasted my money or anything, but I was definitely expecting better after the reviews I read.
Feeling similarly. I think the game is fantastic as a stand alone game, but this isn't what I've come to expect from a FF title. The action is fantastic, and the balance is spot on from the beginning. It gets a little bit harder as the game goes on, but even in action focus mode it's not so difficult that I ever felt like I needed the help accessories put in the game.

Clive really feels like a bad ass, and that's great. But now the disappointing aspects need to be addressed. The skills you can level up are quite basic, you can't control other party members except for Torgal, and that's very basic. After certain points in the game, Clive is suddenly adorned with new armor, accessories and weapons with no action from the player, making you feel like you are just along for the ride and not in control. and Jill, Cid or whoever is in your party just works independently with zero input from the player.

It really is just an action game and moves very fast, unlike traditional jrpgs, and is over way too fast for a traditional jrpg.

So yeah, I too have mixed feelings about what this game is, what it wants to be etc. but at least it's not XIII or XV, and that's a huge positive for me.
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
Feeling similarly. I think the game is fantastic as a stand alone game, but this isn't what I've come to expect from a FF title. The action is fantastic, and the balance is spot on from the beginning. It gets a little bit harder as the game goes on, but even in action focus mode it's not so difficult that I ever felt like I needed the help accessories put in the game.

Clive really feels like a bad ass, and that's great. But now the disappointing aspects need to be addressed. The skills you can level up are quite basic, you can't control other party members except for Torgal, and that's very basic. After certain points in the game, Clive is suddenly adorned with new armor, accessories and weapons with no action from the player, making you feel like you are just along for the ride and not in control. and Jill, Cid or whoever is in your party just works independently with zero input from the player.
You have to manually equip new accessories and weapons. At no point does the game automatically equip them for you - unless I missed something. Or are you talking visually?

The skills are anything but basic, with numerous context sensitive actions, positioning-based set ups, and more.

It really is just an action game and moves very fast, unlike traditional jrpgs, and is over way too fast for a traditional jrpg.
The average FF game is beaten in 40-50 hours. Just like this one.
 
You have to manually equip new accessories and weapons. At no point does the game automatically equip them for you - unless I missed something. Or are you talking visually?

The skills are anything but basic, with numerous context sensitive actions, positioning-based set ups, and more.
When you and Jill return to Rosaria, that lady gives Clive his father's weapons, armor and accessories.
 

Dr. Claus

Banned
When you and Jill return to Rosaria, that lady gives Clive his father's weapons, armor and accessories.
Visually, yes. You have to still manually equip them. At least I had to.

Just like you were automatically given new visual design in FF4 after you become a Paladin.
 
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SCB3

Member
So I unlocked a Mount! Great faster travel

But I cannot for the life of me remember wtf is going on in the story after a day or 2 away, I'm on the Quest
Bloodlines
 
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