Gaming Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)

P-Ro

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Haha I’ve been busy so not been able to push on as much as I’d have liked. I’ll have it finished soon!

That whole Typhon/Ultima segment was so good.
The next 12 hours or so after that fight was my favourite part of the game. Enjoy!
 

Irwin99

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The PS5 doesn't have the widest user base yet so that has to be factored in, but, even though i thought it was a good game, i still feel SE don't really know what they should do with FF going forward.

Will be interesting to see how successful the FF IX remake is because maybe they could replicate something like that? It's alleged to be a much more modest and faithful remake than VII and if it does well maybe it will convince to step back a bit from these big budget more action focused games with realistic graphics.
 

P-Ro

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The PS5 doesn't have the widest user base yet so that has to be factored in, but, even though i thought it was a good game, i still feel SE don't really know what they should do with FF going forward.

Will be interesting to see how successful the FF IX remake is because maybe they could replicate something like that? It's alleged to be a much more modest and faithful remake than VII and if it does well maybe it will convince to step back a bit from these big budget more action focused games with realistic graphics.
I was under the impression it was just going to be a remaster. I've heard there's noise within square about remaking ff6 which is a game I never played but heard that it's incredible.
 

Irwin99

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I was under the impression it was just going to be a remaster. I've heard there's noise within square about remaking ff6 which is a game I never played but heard that it's incredible.
Maybe closer in spirit to a remaster than a remake; i'm pretty sure they'll add things like voice acting and maybe refine the card game.
 

SilentWitness

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Hit the platinum on this a couple of weeks ago, was pretty easy to do. Overall I'd probably put it at around an 8/10. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it was fairly easy. I didn't have any real difficulty with any battles in comparison to FF7 remake which was a struggle with some of the trophies.
 

Irwin99

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It’s way too easy to the point where I’ve kinda lost interest now that Baldurs Gate 3 is out.
Have seen some devs/people in the business getting a bit snarky about how well that game's doing, similar to what happened with Elden Ring. Is it really that good? If it's worrying people by the praise its getting that must be a good thing surely.
 

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Have seen some devs/people in the business getting a bit snarky about how well that game's doing, similar to what happened with Elden Ring. Is it really that good? If it's worrying people by the praise its getting that must be a good thing surely.
By all accounts, it dwarfs pretty much everything else on the market in terms of RPG scope. Hence some devs getting worried that future RPGs will be judged by the Baldur's Gate III standard.

For what its worth, I think Larian's CEO has also said that their next game won't be as big or ambitious as BGIII. It seems like they've really gone all out.
 

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Have seen some devs/people in the business getting a bit snarky about how well that game's doing, similar to what happened with Elden Ring. Is it really that good? If it's worrying people by the praise its getting that must be a good thing surely.
It’s stupidly good.
 

caid

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The scope in Baldurs Gate is absolutely bonkers to be fair. I think about half my playtime is on a mainline story with the rest just being random brilliant sidequests. Even leaving aside how much you can do within each small quest its huge
 

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This is hardly an rpg compared to BG3. I liked it for what it was, but the days that I look forward with massive anticipation to a new FF game are officially dead.
 

pacifictheme

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I think it's been known since pre release that it wasn't really going to be an RPG so comparing it to baldurs gate seems a bit weird.
 

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I think it's been known since pre release that it wasn't really going to be an RPG so comparing it to baldurs gate seems a bit weird.
Yeah fair enough, but it's also not really an rpg compared to older FF games and that's a shame.
 

KiD MoYeS

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It's more God of War than Final Fantasy. But still a very good game with epic boss battles. Really enjoyed it, although the final third started to drag a bit.

I replayed Final Fantasy X on Switch after completing XVI. X is still the best, for me. I have downloaded XII, which I've never played so interested to get going with it. IX is also great and XV was meh.
 

Massive Spanner

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I think it's been known since pre release that it wasn't really going to be an RPG so comparing it to baldurs gate seems a bit weird.
I didn't compare it to BG3, though, I said my interest has waned massively since BG3, which is awesome, released. Up until then it was more of a pop on for an hour game. It just hasn't massively grabbed me and I think a lot of it is cause it's so easy.
 

SilentWitness

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i think what’s disappointing is that the ‘hard’ mode of final fantasy mode isn’t hard either. I get why they did it this way and I think it’s the correct decision in getting on board people who are playing their first final fantasy game but for long term fans of the series it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of difficulty or combat at times. They’re getting closer to finding the balance though. I think if they want to make it modern they should stick with the combat method they’ve used in the ff7 remake.
 

pacifictheme

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Yeah fair enough, but it's also not really an rpg compared to older FF games and that's a shame.
I agree and I didn't think much of it. Forced myself to finish it and will never go back to it, can't really think of much it excelled at, it didn't even look great for the most part.

I have played two hd 2d jrpgs this year and would recommend them both in the strongest terms to anyone who likes the genre. Octopath traveller 2 and chained echoes.

Sea of stars is about to release and is few on gamepads and ps plus extra, looks likely to be good as well.
 

pacifictheme

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i think what’s disappointing is that the ‘hard’ mode of final fantasy mode isn’t hard either. I get why they did it this way and I think it’s the correct decision in getting on board people who are playing their first final fantasy game but for long term fans of the series it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of difficulty or combat at times. They’re getting closer to finding the balance though. I think if they want to make it modern they should stick with the combat method they’ve used in the ff7 remake.
To be fair almost all final fantasy games are for the most part easy games, which is fine. Ff16 just wasn't fun at all, as well as being incredibly easy, which is a horrible combination.

I thought ff7r was probably the hardest FF game I have played and hard mode was fantastic.
 

KirkDuyt

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I agree and I didn't think much of it. Forced myself to finish it and will never go back to it, can't really think of much it excelled at, it didn't even look great for the most part.

I have played two hd 2d jrpgs this year and would recommend them both in the strongest terms to anyone who likes the genre. Octopath traveller 2 and chained echoes.

Sea of stars is about to release and is few on gamepads and ps plus extra, looks likely to be good as well.
I loved Chainen echoes! Octopath 2 is fun as well, but after playing the first one very extensively it was a bit samey. And I still don't like the story approach. The combat is awesome though.

The fact Chained echoes was made by just 1 guy is amazing.
 

SilentWitness

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To be fair almost all final fantasy games are for the most part easy games, which is fine. Ff16 just wasn't fun at all, as well as being incredibly easy, which is a horrible combination.

I thought ff7r was probably the hardest FF game I have played and hard mode was fantastic.
I disagree that it wasn’t fun. There were lots of fun elements to do with the story and ways of chaining combat elements together but it did get boring by The second playthrough.

It depends really. They’re generally easy but you have hard or hidden side quests in the older versions that you need to be a good player to complete. In this you can be distinctly average at gaming and manage to find or achieved everything with ease.
 

Irwin99

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This is hardly an rpg compared to BG3. I liked it for what it was, but the days that I look forward with massive anticipation to a new FF game are officially dead.
I honestly didn't mind any of the combat systems from XII onward despite me not considering any of them to be my favorites in the series but the success of BG3 and even Persona 5 must suggest to Square Enix that turn based RPG games aren't quite as dead as they imagine. I had a few issues with the story of FFVIIR but its hybrid system was excellent if they wanted to be more modern. I just don't understand their thinking or why they feel they have to have the biggest audience appeal instead of focusing on what they're known for.

I don't know, the series just feels in a weird place to me and that's despite me thinking XVI was good. Who the heck knows what FF17 will be at this rate :lol:
 

SilentWitness

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I honestly didn't mind any of the combat systems from XII onward despite me not considering any of them to be my favorites in the series but the success of BG3 and even Persona 5 must suggest to Square Enix that turn based RPG games aren't quite as dead as they imagine. I had a few issues with the story of FFVIIR but its hybrid system was excellent if they wanted to be more modern. I just don't understand their thinking or why they feel they have to have the biggest audience appeal instead of focusing on what they're known for.

I don't know, the series just feels in a weird place to me and that's despite me thinking XVI was good. Who the heck knows what FF17 will be at this rate :lol:
Perhaps they wanted a big audience appeal because we are still fairly early in this consoles cycle? There haven’t been that many huge title releases so far so probably thought they could draw in far more PS5 users than they reportedly have.
 

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I read somewhere that the total time for the cinematics in BG3 is longer than the entirety of Game of Thrones. Was Hideo Kojima secretly in charge?
 

Irwin99

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Perhaps they wanted a big audience appeal because we are still fairly early in this consoles cycle? There haven’t been that many huge title releases so far so probably thought they could draw in far more PS5 users than they reportedly have.
To be honest I didn't think the sales were that bad at all really considering the PS5 user base and all but it seems they didn't hit the best numbers they were hoping for. Maybe the game was designed with those figures in mind.

As i said, I just don't think I understand SE anymore - does anybody?
 

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Wanting to appeal to a large audience is fine, but at least give me the option to start on hard mode. I'm not replaying it to get to the hard part. Ff16 when skipping all cutscenes is not a fun experience. At all.
 

Semper Fudge

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This is hardly an rpg compared to BG3. I liked it for what it was, but the days that I look forward with massive anticipation to a new FF game are officially dead.
Very few RPGs are if that's the bar you're using.
 

SilentWitness

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To be honest I didn't think the sales were that bad at all really considering the PS5 user base and all but it seems they didn't hit the best numbers they were hoping for. Maybe the game was designed with those figures in mind.

As i said, I just don't think I understand SE anymore - does anybody?
True…it’s a shame. At least the remakes are looking good.
 

Gehrman

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I just got some hours into this since owning it for some months. Personally i think fairly high critic scores reflects giving high ratings based off production values rather than gameplay and obviously paid off nerfs. I dont mind being action based rather than an open world rpg, but since its all about combat at least include higher difficulty settings. I think im fairly shit at gaming and im more or less a middle aged man but this is easiest game so far ive played in a while.
 

esmufc07

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I just got some hours into this since owning it for some months. Personally i think fairly high critic scores reflects giving high ratings based off production values rather than gameplay and obviously paid off nerfs. I dont mind being action based rather than an open world rpg, but since its all about combat at least include higher difficulty settings. I think im fairly shit at gaming and im more or less a middle aged man but this is easiest game so far ive played in a while.
There is a harder ‘Final Fantasy’ mode which unlocks upon completion - but difficulty has always been an isssue in FF games. I don’t think I’ve ever found any of them hard.

I did enjoy this game overall - some of the bosses and cutscenes were incredible. Though it does suffer from the usual open world stuff. And I wasn’t to happy with the ending.
 

SilentWitness

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There is a harder ‘Final Fantasy’ mode which unlocks upon completion - but difficulty has always been an isssue in FF games. I don’t think I’ve ever found any of them hard.

I did enjoy this game overall - some of the bosses and cutscenes were incredible. Though it does suffer from the usual open world stuff. And I wasn’t to happy with the ending.
I think there are definitely a few hard fights on FF7 Remake in hard mode but yeah this one is really easy.
 

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Finished it yesterday - I'd made it up to Bahamut before Baldur's Gate and Starfield came out. So returning after a few months away to finish the last bit of the game basically.

This was my first Final Fantasy game and it was one of the most uneven gaming experiences I've ever had. Soaring highs when it came to the action and cutscenes, mixed with the lows that come anytime the awful writing and pacing are allowed to rear their heads. The characters often have interesting things to say, but they take so long to do so and when they do it's in the most preaching, unrealistic way possible. I think some of this is "Final Fantasy stuff" and fair enough, this tone must work for someone. Not for me though, my eyes wanted to roll onto the floor every time another character began a long winded philosophical monologue in the midst of a situation where doing so makes no sense.

All that said, the meat of the game is the action combat. I don't even know if I'd bother calling this an RPG, there are very few choices to be made in terms of building your character, and none whatsoever when it comes to the story. The only character customization of note is choosing which abilities to use, and even that you can effectively respec for free whenever you want.

The action combat itself I found very fun. Once you get the dodge timing down it's hugely satisfying to slip every blow and come back with cool counters that send fancy particle effects shimmering into the air. It's pretty easy, but that let me pay attention to how cool Clive looks sliding around like a wizard ninja. Mixing and matching the various abilities lends to various combos and I wanted to try almost everything. I get that this combat probably irritates people who've been playing the series for a long time, but as a newcomer I thought this was great and I'd play another game like it (although I would like to try a turn based, proper FF game next).

The story...has a lot of interesting elements and certainly didn't suck, but it's so very let down by the writing. It made watching cutscene dialogue truly painful to sit through, which is a shame because the actual narrative and the themes that emerged were worthy of better delivery. The game is also way too long, but I say that about most games these days so maybe it's just me.

Anyway, 8/10 mostly for fun combat, awesome graphics and really badass boss fights. Good in the way the better Marvel films are good.