Gamer Diary - Final Fantasy XVI (Final Entry)
There's beauty in seeing something to completion. More importantly, there is an appreciation that comes from spending time with a game. While I initially disliked Final Fantasy XVI, I grew to pity it. It's another cautionary tale of what happens when developers forsake what worked for them for the chance to find success in mimicry. Final Fantasy XVI is not a new entry in the series in the traditional sense - it is Square-Enix's attempt to make The Witcher 3.
What made The Witcher 3, as my good friend Z calls it, "one of the best games of all times" wasn't solely the "mature fantasy setting." What made the game pop was CD Projekt Red and its unique style of game design and storytelling. The Witcher 3 is an important game because it is a statement piece from a company that has honed its style and infused it into everything it makes. It is, for the old heads, a testament to the philosophy that you can find success in your own lane - like the Bethesda's and Bioware's of the past. And it's precisely why Final Fantasy XVI doesn't work.
One of the issues with Final Fantasy XVI is pacing. The side quests take too long to deliver the payoff. When Clive took on the mantle of Cid and began his quest to save the world, I was not paying much attention to the story within the side quests because many of the quests were fetch quests that were not fun to pay nor rewarding in terms of story. However, near the end of the game, you begin to realize that all those missions were building to a contained story within the world. Character deaths, revelations, and even unique weapons and armor were waiting for the player with enough patience to endure. One aspect many people loved about The Witcher 3 was that side quests didn't always feel like fetch quests. They were their own contained stories that you could follow to a satisfying conclusion. FF16 attempted to follow this style but fell flat.
One of the highlights of the game over time was the monster hunts. These were some of the more challenging fights in the game and provided some much-needed variety to the game loop. However, the risk did not always equal the reward. What's the point of hunting Behemoths if I can't make a weapon or armor vis-a-vis Monster Hunter? Multiple hunts rewarded you with material that didn't matter. Why fight a variation of a mini-boss if the loot doesn't aid in your quest to build a legendary item? This lack of customization also led to one of the major design choices that I wholeheartedly disagreed with. Clive's appearance never changes, and the visual changes you see are so mute that it makes you challenge the point of the grind.
Some things are standard Final Fantasy. The final boss battle consisted of multiple phases; by the last round, it's you versus god. And after multiple Eikon battles that felt part God of War and part Ashura's Wrath, I was hoping for a winner-take-all battle of the universe. If I were to give the game props, it would be for the scale of the Eikon battles. The battle against Titan and Bahamut was my favorite as the fights only grew more intense as Clive unlocked various abilities with Ifrit. But the battle with Ultima felt like the developers didn't know how to top a battle in space, so they settled for a fight that was more in line with a legendary monster hunt. It was a side effect of an issue with pacing.
Final Fantasy XVI is a game of moments. There are moments when you recognize the old Final Fantasy, but these moments are overshadowed by bad directing and an unwillingness to commit. Square-Enix decided to leave the 'fantasy' at home, resulting in a game that couldn't find its voice. Sure, the combat becomes interesting as you unlock different abilities, but there's no reason to deviate once you find what works for you. The old days of grinding to discover a game-breaking weapon/accessory combination are traded for an action system that lacks the depth of current offerings. While there were elements of the story that were interesting, like the plight of bearers, the company never commits to fleshing out the world and telling a tale with actual weight. It's a half-ass attempt for a company with a history of telling stories that stand the test of time. Clive deserved better, and if this is the direction the company is headed, I suggest taking a break from the series. Take some time to find your voice, and if you're going to let the past thirty-plus years of Final Fantasy go for something new, just make sure it isn't a watered-down copy of something that already exists.