Final Fantasy XVI [OT] Clean Out Your PSClive Boys, We're Going Boss Hunting

[Gods&Monsters]

I just finished the whole sequence to get the limit break

 

[Remember_Spinal]

Some of these later eikon fights are fucking insane

 

[Vertigo]

I just finished the whole sequence to get the limit break

Yup. Moments like these are where it shines. Wish the game had that pace all day.

I hope there’s a payoff for suffering thru these side quests. They’re so unbelievably bad. I know I mentioned it earlier but I just had another dump of trash sidequesrs thrown my way. Some of the worst seen in a big budget release and that’s not hyperbole. Most bs mmo quests have more effort.

The problem is I won’t move forward in the game until all those quests alerts are gone. It’s my own player issue. But I don’t want to miss any decent items. Otherwise I think just taking a b-line to the finish might better serve my enjoyment with the game.

Starting to think towns and questing and the half-assed rpg stuff in this should’ve been gutted entirely. Just go for that narrative experience.

Edit: thankfully the next dungeon came up. Rocket man was a fun fight

 

[ethomaz]

I’m reaching the conclusion that explore map (city, castle, etc) is just useless… you can just follow the point marked.

I’m around Rosaria again after the Garuda battle… the battle effects and cinematic was cool but the same issue I posted before is true… to many QTEs in the middle of the battle breaks the imenso on… I was having QTEs each minute.

I started to skip side quest dialogs… I’m completionist and as the side guest are just follow green point I’m not taking attention anymore.

Are games having too many assist nowdays?

 

[Vertigo]

And for all the shit I give the rpg stuff in this game. There’s moments that just throw narrative curveballs at you that are very hype. I clipped it and will try to upload it later for those that want to relive that moment. Very fun. I want to talk spoilers but I won’t. Post typhon is all I will tease tho.

Mixed feelings but still very much enjoying this more so than other ff games I’ve tried in the last few years.

A lot of what I love kaiju is here with attack on Titan influence to the dominant bearer narrative.

Direct nearest competitor to this game to me is honestly Ragnarok. It’s debatable that Ragnarok does buildcrafting and questing better at this point for me in the game since the loot here is basically “stats go up” and that’s kinda ass.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Yup. Moments like these are where it shines. Wish the game had that pace all day.

I hope there’s a payoff for suffering thru these side quests. They’re so unbelievably bad. I know I mentioned it earlier but I just had another dump of trash sidequesrs thrown my way. Some of the worst seen in a big budget release and that’s not hyperbole. Most bs mmo quests have more effort.

The problem is I won’t move forward in the game until all those quests alerts are gone. It’s my own player issue. But I don’t want to miss any decent items. Otherwise I think just taking a b-line to the finish might better serve my enjoyment with the game.

Starting to think towns and questing and the half-assed rpg stuff in this should’ve been gutted entirely. Just go for that narrative experience.

Edit: thankfully the next dungeon came up. Rocket man was a fun fight

I did all the quests after getting access to the Alliants reports and all of them had intereting story, lore and worldbuilding.

Example:

Spoiler

I learned that Cid has a daughter

I don't know what happens later that is so bad with the sidequests but I'm sure I can ignore them. I usually ignore sidequests in stuff like Xenoblade so it's not an issue for me. Every jrpg has those.

I need that downtime tbh after those big adrenaline moments. It would be too much if it was non-stop.

 

[Vertigo]

Jrpgs have been slacking with sidequests (well Zelda and souls does a great job but that’s a different debate opening up another can of worms). But I was expecting to have seen monster hunt quests by now for instance tho.

Even compared to either Ff15 or 7r these quests feel half-baked and that’s the nicest I can put it. It should’ve been a step up from those games.

A bit less filler would’ve served the game better.

I don’t want to spoil anything but I’m looking forward to the disc 2 feeling the game just throws at you. A lot of its design is simple. Is archaic. However is that bad thing? It’s always leading you to the next big thing. And maybe that’s what it wants to be… I’m happy it because fuck open world games. I’m sick of them

There’s plenty of valid criticisms but the journey’s end might have a one of a kind payoff because despite its numerous flaws I kinda love it. I will be comparing directly to the fun and time I had with Ragnarok.

and if anyone had a problem with the name Clive… Let me know what you think when it happens

As someone who loves both Bloodborne and Ragnarok. If you like those games this experience will serve your tastes quite well.

 

[Vertigo]

Here’s the upload of the post typhon scene I’ve been hyping. Will be kept in spoilers and it’s about 16 mins long. I wanted to rewatch that moment glad I did because I missed a detail.

Spoiler

 

[Nhomnhom]

There was an odd thread in Gaf about FFXVI been the true God of War successor that sounded absurd and the guy was spot on. It does not get more epic than this game and it's Eikon battles. Even the combat turned out to be similar.

GoW Ragnarok was definitely missing a lot of the energy and ambition this FFXVI has.

There are moments on Ragnarok where the game is pretty full of itself thinking that it just created a cool shot and this FF game nails this much better over and over with a lot less build up.

The main story so far was very strong and pretty much all main characters are interesting including the antagonists. Sidequest also have surprisingly decent narrative, despite their MMO like nature.

 

[anonpuffs]

Oh man the leadup to Drake's Head really dragged.

 

[ethomaz]

And for all the shit I give the rpg stuff in this game. There’s moments that just throw narrative curveballs at you that are very hype. I clipped it and will try to upload it later for those that want to relive that moment. Very fun. I want to talk spoilers but I won’t. Post typhon is all I will tease tho.

Mixed feelings but still very much enjoying this more so than other ff games I’ve tried in the last few years.

A lot of what I love kaiju is here with attack on Titan influence to the dominant bearer narrative.

Direct nearest competitor to this game to me is honestly Ragnarok. It’s debatable that Ragnarok does buildcrafting and questing better at this point for me in the game since the loot here is basically “stats go up” and that’s kinda ass.

Same feel here about the game being compared to Ragnarok… they are very similar indeed.

I said the same in previous posts that to move to action structure made it very Ragnarok like… of course each one has it own strength and weakness.

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Oh man the leadup to Drake's Head really dragged.

But then I had to stop after the time break because it was too much for me. It's very Final Fantasy ending but it's just the middle point!

GOTY upgraded to GOAT

 

[anonpuffs]

But then I had to stop after the time break because it was too much for me. It's very Final Fantasy ending but it's just the middle point!

GOTY upgraded to GOAT

Yeah I spent all day playing and the ps5 says i'm at 45% through the game. It picks up after that section for sure. I'm really enjoying the 3rd eikon's abilities, the amount of stagger you get out of the unlockable ability is crazy. I wish you didn't lock onto it so often though, sometimes I miss my attacks because it locks onto the rod instead of an enemy

 

[Mild Conviction]

I've finished the game. This includes the story and about 92% of side quests (including hunts).

My thoughts (no spoilers):

• Combat is excellent. Sure, a bit easy if you're already experienced with similar gameplay, but it stays fun throughout. I never once entered a battle and groaned because I didn't want to participate.
• Eikon abilities offer enough it needs to in regard to builds. You can focus on big single-target haymakers, or massive AoEs, or focus on stagger more than damage, etc. The ability to mix and match abilities once you've mastered them allows for a lot of maxing for whatever your goals are. The game doesn't need things like status effects or elemental weaknesses drawing attention away from direct offense, which is obviously where the focus is.
• The cast is incredible. Not just the characters themselves, but the voice acting too. Clive is possibly my new favorite FF protag. Ben Starr absolutely knocked his performance out of the park. Jill is possibly my new favorite FF heroine. This Cid is the coolest version Cid in the whole franchise, and Ralph Inneson also killed it with his performance here. I was actually shocked at how much screentime Cid got. Even support characters get scenes that really allow them to shine and show how important they are to the story at large, to Clive personally, and to you, the player.
• The music is superb. Soken is a master at what he does, and every major moment -- either fight or cutscene -- is only made better by his compositions.
• Maps are pretty linear, yes, but I prefer this over big maps of mostly nothing. Granted, it probably would've benefitted from "wider" linearity, so to speak. But either way, if you actually zoom out and look at each region, you can tell they're not SMALL, per se.
• Speaking of maps, the environmental design is also fantastic. The foliage is lush, the rocks, caverns, caves, etc have super crisp textures, and the landscapes and vistas are simply jaw-dropping. The views in this game are divine. I have no issue with NOT being able to cross all that land seamlessly, because the game's scope, scale, and presentation do an excellent job at making you feel the journey to that huge landmark simply at a glance.
• The lore and world-building is insanely dense. They clearly wrote a novel's worth of content simply about pre-game events and characters' backgrounds. And it comes through in gameplay thanks to the presence of multiple features and characters basically dedicated towards explaining lore, events, and terms.
• Side quests are STRUCTURALLY mundane and dull, yes, but their WRITING is excellent and sometimes surprising. They may have fetch-questy objectives, but the stories around a lot of these side missions can be shockingly crucial to a specific character's development or arc. To the point where I was actually downright flabbergasted that some of these scenes were confined to side quests at all. If you care about learning more about characters' backgrounds, then do side quests.
• Speaking of side quests, some actually offer huge, game-altering rewards, like increasing the potency of items and increasing the amount you can carry. I think I got the Berserker Ring from a side quest too, and that thing COMPLETELY changes how dodges function to the point where it's damn near mandatory.
• And finally, the boss fights. I won't mince words here: Final Fantasy XVI has the best collection of boss fights in the whole mainline series, and I'm not just talking about mechanics. I'm also talking about presentation: the arena, the aesthetics, the music -- everything. I've never been so consistently blown away by boss fights in any other entry like I have with XVI. Especially the Eikon fights. I cannot stress enough how remarkable, memorable, insane, and just plain fucking awesome those Eikon fights are. The scale is mind-boggling, and honestly hasn't been since since at LEAST God of War III. I worried about my PS5 overheating numerous times because of how fucking nutty those battles were. They also serve as huge punctuation marks ending major "parts" of the story, like how disc ends did for the PS1 games.
• If I have any criticisms to speak of at all, they'd be: (1) Motion blur. I usually turn motion blur off or at least down when I can. Regardless, I rarely complain about it. But XVI's motion blur sometimes just plain hurts. Probably doesn't help that I played on resolution mode to have a consistent 30fps instead of a wildly fluctuating 60. (2) Speaking of fps, a locked, consistent 60fps performance mode would be nice. I didn't mind playing on resolution mode for my first playthrough because I got a lot of beautiful scenery shots out of it, but on a replay, I'd like a nice, locked 60. (3) This is very general and broad comment, but like with many RPGs, there are some spots where the pacing drags a bit, especially in the "breather" parts of stories immediately after a big section.

Overall, Final Fantasy XVI is absolutely astounding. It's a heavy-hitter in all the ways that matter the most. It's not only a spectacle, it's a gripping story with a fully-realized world, deep characters, and engaging combat. I can't say right this moment if it's my new favorite Final Fantasy (I'll need a lot more time to decide on that), but it's up there.

Now I'm gonna slowly work my way through NG+ Final Fantasy Mode.

 

[Airbus]

Wonder if this game will get DLC?

And bring out more clasic aeons like anima, eden etc..lets do it...

 

[anonpuffs]

btw the state of the realm feature thing is fucking amazing. like, i'm not really a lore junky but it's so well-done. If they do a FF tactics remake I really want them to include something like it in there.

 

[Vertigo]

Same feel here about the game being compared to Ragnarok… they are very similar indeed.

I said the same in previous posts that to move to action structure made it very Ragnarok like… of course each one has it own strength and weakness.

What is and isn’t an rpg is a discussion that has had its lines heavily blurred. The more traditional definitions would be the western ones like games with heavy buildcrafting and ability customization; something which online and souls games do best. Another would be the role-playing aspect of a choose your own adventure game like a Bethesda, CDPR game or the open world nature of Zelda and Elden Ring. The party based jrpg style is another. Another would be a straight up dungeon crawler. It’s such a wide term… like literally every middling pile of shit open world recycled Ubisoft game is an rpg to an extent.

There was a moment in Ragnarok where you’re in a dungeon with a party of like four and I was like “wtf did this game just turn into an jrpg?”

Totally feels like a Final Fantasy game to me. So the rpg debate is kinda like shit. What game isn’t.


About performance mode:

If you can stomach it during overworld exploration it’s kinda still the way to go. The motion blur at 30 is too damn heavy comparatively for whatever reason, like an extra layer of Vaseline smeared. The lost frames and blur is not worth it in combat when performance is actually pretty solid in the most important combat scenarios and dungeon sequences. You can just read enemies better. It is indeed erratic as fuck tho but only really problematic in tall grass and has been less of an issue since the earlier part of the game. They need to polish this. It would make ng+ run very appealing.

 

[Vertigo]

Are we stuck to only two hotkey specials per element?

I have 5 available special abilities for fire element for instance. It seems you can only have two equipped at a time. Which may just lead you to consider your options and just invest in the 2 you’d abuse most.

I ask because maybe I’m missing another hotkey shortcut command. This might be an area where Tales of shows its maturity as an action game.

Wait a sec… Yuri Lowell… the dog … is this a Tales of Vesperia remake!?

 

[Nhomnhom]

Are we stuck to only two hotkey specials per element?

I have 5 available special abilities for fire element for instance. It seems you can only have two equipped at a time. Which may just lead you to consider your options and just invest in the 2 you’d abuse most.

I ask because maybe I’m missing another hotkey shortcut command. This might be an area where Tales of shows its maturity as an action game.

Wait a sec… Yuri Lowell… the dog … is this a Tales of Vesperia remake!?

You can respec any time without cost so there is no point in invest points in an ability you are not currently using. Just like in GoW they don't share cooldown with abilities from other elements so you are meant to rotate between them. If anything being able to cast two of each element is already a lot.

btw the state of the realm feature thing is fucking amazing. like, i'm not really a lore junky but it's so well-done. If they do a FF tactics remake I really want them to include something like it in there.

It's probably going to be very useful if you happen to take a long break and it's pretty smart as far as what it shows, each entry updates with the story and every time I got curious about a new element being introduced to the story it had it's entry there.

 

[ethomaz]

Are we stuck to only two hotkey specials per element?

I have 5 available special abilities for fire element for instance. It seems you can only have two equipped at a time. Which may just lead you to consider your options and just invest in the 2 you’d abuse most.

I ask because maybe I’m missing another hotkey shortcut command. This might be an area where Tales of shows its maturity as an action game.

Wait a sec… Yuri Lowell… the dog … is this a Tales of Vesperia remake!?

They merged Ifrit and Phoenix skills in the same hot keys so it is like that... you can only use two at time but have like 8 avaiable... the others elements have only one eikon so you have at max 4 skills to setup 2.

The moment I got Ifrit it feels like it should be a separeted slots.

BTW you should ignore to use skills points in skills you won't use until you have skills points enough to everything