There’s the standard tap-to-slash and tap-to-shoot inputs for Clive’s sword and magic attacks, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. While I love and occasionally miss the turn-based battles of Final Fantasies past, the real-time fighting here is undeniably action-packed and spectacular. It also keeps aimless wandering at a minimum - a nice bonus.Ĭombat, meanwhile, is something all its own. The smaller maps and linear style of progress allowed Square Enix’s designers to create a detailed and beautifully rendered collection of landscapes bursting with personality and filled with cleverly choreographed moments. This is more in keeping with earlier games in the series (I’m thinking of Final Fantasy X and XII ) than the more recent open world experiment that was Final Fantasy XV. Valisthea isn’t really an open world, per se, but rather a series of connected mazes sorted into nations that we can freely return to and snoop around as they gradually unlock. Players need to head out and see Final Fantasy XVI ‘s wilderness and towns for themselves, and that’s where the real fun is. We can call up key facts on settings and characters within the current scene simply by tapping the touch pad dive into a world encyclopedia kept and updated by the tome master at Clive’s hideaway and visit a culture tutor who can explain relationships between characters and nations via helpful visual webs and maps.īut books only teach so much. Expect 14A sex scenes, gorily severed limbs, magical hounds, and an unnatural, existential threat known as the Blight - an encroaching deadness that sucks life from the land and cares not for borders or crowns.Īll the people and places can be a little daunting to keep track of, but Square Enix’s gamesmiths help us navigate this snake’s nest of fantastical machinations with some useful lore-parsing systems. Along the way we are treated to an ongoing parade of heroes and villains who are intricately connected to each other by blood and romance, nationality and brotherhood, loyalty and betrayal. The following years see Clive gradually morph into a powerful protagonist who will, hopefully, one day free the world of evil and tyranny. The pair abscond the battlefield, running into a freedom fighter and outlaw named Cid - one of those familiar names that will excite franchise fans, in this iteration played by the enormously talented baritone Ralph Inneson (of The Witch and The Green Knight fame) - who assists in their quests for justice and revenge.įinal Fantasy XVI screenshot. His fate changes when he is tasked to kill a “dominant” - a human who is inhabited by and can transform into a preternaturally powerful entity known as an Eikon - only to learn the dominant is actually his childhood friend, a now-grown woman who has been forced into serving a rival kingdom. He is betrayed by his power hungry and opportunistic mother and sent to serve as a slave soldier in a rival nation’s army. Set over decades, the story is focused on Clive, a prince of the kingdom of Rosaria. It also paints a complicated political landscape in the continental world of Valisthea, which is filled with competing nations, conniving characters, and sophisticated intrigues that recall - and sometimes even rival - those found in George R.R. It opens with an eye-popping clash of creatures as they fall into an endless chasm that recalls Gandalf’s famous battle with the balrog, then goes on to pit us against familiar foes like orcs and goblins. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But these inclusions are loving homage, not rote repetition. The beautifully orchestrated scores feature reprises and leitmotifs that longtime fans will appreciate, a handful of characters typically bear familiar names, and you can always expect massive creatures with mythological provenance to make spectacular appearances. To be sure, callbacks to previous entries exist. Each entry feels like an entirely new game that stands completely on its own, with no need for players to have any knowledge of what has come before. Ltd.’s Final Fantasy series is the gold standard for franchise innovation.Įvery game in the series stars a fresh cast of characters in an original world, and the play mechanics - combat, character growth, environmental interactions - are basically designed from scratch. Please try again Article contentįor me, Square Enix Co. The next issue of Financial Post Top Stories will soon be in your inbox. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
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