Closing Fantasy 16 is the furthest the mainline collection has ever strayed from its conventional RPG roots. It is extra of an motion recreation with RPG components bolted on than it’s an RPG with motion fight, however on the identical time, it boasts all the substances that we affiliate with the best Closing Fantasy titles. Its character-driven story is grand and intoxicating, its fantastical world constructing is good, and it is match to burst with wonderful battles. Once more, it is a daring new course for the beloved franchise, however it’s additionally the most effective mainline, single-player Closing Fantasy recreation since 12 — and it isn’t even shut.
Granted, the extremely divisive 13 and 15 did not precisely set a excessive bar, however with 16, it seems like Closing Fantasy is concentrated once more. This was a challenge with a transparent imaginative and prescient, and that shines by means of within the spectacular cinematic high quality of the storytelling, and the largely wonderful fight system. When the credit rolled, we felt like we might been on a memorable, emotional journey and we have been unhappy to see it finish. That is what ending a Closing Fantasy recreation ought to really feel like.
For this explicit journey, you are plopped within the persistently tragic sneakers of Clive Rosfield — a noble-born swordsman charged with the safety of his throne-bound youthful brother. On this world, a choose few — together with Clive’s little bro Joshua — are primarily born with the facility of demigods within them. Some nations use these ‘Eikons’ to wage battle, whereas others worship them. These omnipotent entities are on the coronary heart of the sport’s story, and each time an Eikon takes to the stage — whether or not it is throughout an eye-popping cutscene or a mind-melting boss struggle — it is onerous to not be blown away.
Closing Fantasy 16’s narrative is a reasonably intricate mixture of grounded political intrigue — all very paying homage to Closing Fantasy 12 — and loopy Eikon-based chaos, with magic and crystals and superhuman feats that would not really feel misplaced in Dragon Ball Z. In some way, the sport’s plot manages to meld all of this collectively with out creating tonal whiplash, and that is maybe right down to its largely immaculate script. Certainly, the localisation crew deserves a lot reward right here, as a result of they’ve taken a Japanese script and remodeled it into one thing that feels utterly pure, topping it off with some very good voice performing.
When the sh*t hits the fan — and it does, lots — Closing Fantasy 16 tells a very gripping story. It is up there with probably the most emotionally impactful plots in fashionable gaming, and it is additional bolstered by cinematic motion sequences that may make God of Conflict 3 blush. We’ve not seen spectacle fairly like this in a lengthy time, and because the story develops, it solely will get increasingly obsessive about one-upping itself on the “is that this truly occurring?” scale.
Now, given its penchant for prolonged cutscenes, you may be sitting there anxious that Closing Fantasy 16 is extra film than recreation. It is a honest concern for those who’ve dabbled within the demo — which options the title’s cutscene-heavy prologue — however fortunately, fight and exploration are simply as prevalent as the large story moments. Whereas there is not any doubt that this can be a cinematic expertise at the beginning — it is precisely what Sq. Enix desires you to see in trailers and punctiliously curated shows — you may nonetheless spend most of your playthrough battering beasts and wandering throughout massive environments.
Structurally, the sport jumps between very linear, story-slinging ‘dungeons’, and complete chapters the place you are free to roam open areas, ticking off facet quests and attending to know secondary characters. Closing Fantasy 16’s plot pacing could be so intense that it is good to have some downtime now and again, so we did ultimately discover ourselves welcoming the chance to only go off and do our personal factor for a bit.
Nevertheless, we are saying ‘ultimately’ as a result of a number of the facet quests — notably early on — are mind-numbingly uninteresting. The drop off in total high quality between the principle story and these non-obligatory duties could be jarring, as partaking digital camera angles and full movement seize are changed by static character fashions and flapping mouths, spewing the form of utterly forgettable quests you’d discover in an MMO (which does make some sense, seeing as this recreation is spearheaded by Closing Fantasy 14 builders).
The issue is that we’re gone having to chew by means of such dreary facet quests in fashionable RPGs. In an period the place titles like The Witcher 3 and Horizon Forbidden West have redefined what we have come to count on from branching actions, Closing Fantasy 16 could as effectively be a PS2 launch when it comes to questing. Some quests do assist flesh out the world, offering perception into the finer factors of the lore, however when the accompanying gameplay actually boils right down to discovering objective-marked NPCs and listening to their inane prattle, one after one other, you may’t assist however really feel as if your time is being wasted.
Fortuitously, when the following story beat kicks in and also you’re again on the rollercoaster, you may forgive the title’s (admittedly non-obligatory) missteps. The aforementioned ‘dungeons’ signify the core recreation at its peak, as Clive rages by means of a collection of beautiful places, peppered with close to completely positioned encounters and jaw-dropping boss battles.
Alongside the story, it is actually the fight system that holds all the pieces collectively. Accessible and flashy, but additionally stocked with an intriguing diploma of depth, Closing Fantasy 16 performs a bit bit like a streamlined Satan Could Cry. The inputs are comparatively easy, however the, er, satan’s within the particulars, as you progressively begin to discover extra superior strategies like parries and assault cancelling. On a basic degree, it feels implausible to play, with responsive controls, slick animations, and satisfying sound design.
Extra necessary fights — towards foes that may’t simply be launched into the air and combo’d into oblivion — revolve round dodging incoming assaults and retaliating on the proper time. Other than only a handful of particular battles which can be nearly too graphically busy for their very own good, the visible cues — the methods through which enemies wind up their assaults and unleash particular strikes — are extraordinarily effectively designed. This results in a problem curve that always feels extremely rewarding, the place over the course of a protracted battle, you may become familiar with precisely what your opponent is able to, and study to take full benefit.
Together with Clive’s commonplace sword swings and magic projectiles, you are steadily given entry to a variety of elemental, Eikon-driven talents that function on particular person cooldowns. After unlocking mentioned talents with factors that you simply achieve from battle, they are often assigned to your fight bar, and you start to construct your personal fashion of play. Some talents are ground-shakingly {powerful} however they’re balanced with lengthy cooldowns, whereas others are way more versatile, including distinctive quirks to the way in which you method completely different enemy varieties. Once more, the system itself is straightforward to know, however discovering methods to hyperlink all the pieces collectively is the place the mechanics begin to sing.
Again to the subject of issue, Closing Fantasy 16 provides you only one issue degree that may be made simpler by equipping particular equipment, that are granted firstly of any new recreation. It is an odd means of doing issues, however we suppose it really works in that there is not any must rebalance all the fight system to go well with arbitrary settings. Nevertheless, gamers who’re extra skilled with motion video games are most likely going to crave a larger problem, and that is the place the touted ‘Closing Fantasy’ onerous mode enters the equation.
Closing Fantasy mode makes your foes stronger, remixes numerous encounters, and even unlocks the extent cap whereas including new gadgets and gear. The catch? It is solely playable after beating the sport, by means of New Sport +. Now, we get it: Closing Fantasy mode is designed so as to add replay worth to the package deal — a motive to hitch Clive on his journey yet again, and daring you to push the fight system to its limits. However it is a little bit of a kicker that the idea of a more durable issue is locked behind a full playthrough — a playthrough that may already final upwards of 70 hours if you wish to full all the pieces.
It is fairly a minor criticism, although. Regardless of its unwavering concentrate on story and fight — there are not any minigames right here in any respect, eschewing collection custom — Closing Fantasy 16 feels sturdy and full as an motion recreation package deal. Between hunts that see Clive monitor down and slay particularly harmful monsters, to the power to replay your favorite dungeons — full with boss fights — by means of a devoted arcade mode, the title absolutely embraces its lovingly crafted fight system.
The PS5 is embraced similarly, by means of the magic of ridiculously quick load occasions (severely, it takes lower than ten seconds to get out of your console’s residence display to gameplay) and haptic suggestions, which is rather well carried out all through.
Is it a technical showpiece for Sony’s system, although? Whereas its cutscenes definitely rival and at occasions surpass the requirements set by PlayStation Studios, it isn’t fairly on the extent of a first-party blockbuster total. Typically talking, the visuals are vastly spectacular — backed by superb artwork course and environmental design — however as we wrote earlier, issues can look tough exterior of the principle story, with distractingly picket animations being the most important challenge.
After which there’s the body price, which does wish to dip on a fairly common foundation when utilizing efficiency mode. The dips aren’t distracting sufficient to the purpose the place we might advocate the graphics choice — which caps at 30 frames-per-second in trade for barely higher visible high quality — however it’s an actual disgrace that such an in any other case refined motion recreation cannot preserve a clean 60fps. It is also price noting that, no less than at launch, there is not any choice to disable the title’s heavy-handed movement blur impact — though we daresay you get used to it.
In fact, this would not be a Closing Fantasy assessment with out mentioning the music. Merely put, the rating is excellent; an absolute odyssey of orchestral magic that enriches each cutscene, each location, each battle. In a phrase, immense.
