Final Fantasy XVI Review

Final Fantasy XVI was one of the earlier flagship PlayStation 5 exclusives (reviewed here). This was the game Sony touted to justify its ninth-generation console, and while it garnered acclaim initially, its honeymoon phase diminished. Gamers landed back on their feet and could see Final Fantasy XVI for what it truly was and how its greatness was exaggerated due to it being a PlayStation 5 exclusive. For a long time, everyone was led to believe that only the PlayStation 5 could handle Final Fantasy XVI‘s combat, but now Xbox Series X|S owners can see for themselves what they were missing. Now that the dust has settled and has been ported to another console, was it everything it could have been? How has it held up two years later? Cubed3 is summoned to review Final Fantasy XVI running on Xbox Series X.

What is it that defines Final Fantasy? For many, so long as it fulfills a checklist of standardised iconography, that would be enough. While it is fair to have some expectations met, overly relying on concepts like crystals, moogles, chocobos, and apocalyptic grandiosity isn’t always enough. For a while, the franchise has felt like it’s been losing its identity, and that the games are throwing everything they can to make something stick. Most fans still feel burned by Final Fantasy XII, XIII, and XV, due to a lack of focus and vision.

For Final Fantasy XVI, the story would pare back on the more surrealist elements and scale back on the size of the cast. For the first time, the venerable JRPG series features only one playable character and focuses exclusively on responsive action combat, as Clive Rosfield, a warrior seeking revenge after a tragedy destroys his family and home. Through political intrigue, epic battles, and personal redemption, he uncovers the truth behind the Eikon summon titans, the Crystals’ fading power, and a mysterious force threatening the world. Themes of duty, sacrifice, and freedom drive the narrative, with fast-paced combat and a mature, gritty tone evocative of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Players get to live out most of Clive’s life. Starting as an idealistic youth, he is put through the ringer, being forced to live as a soldier and eventually a freedom fighter for Bearers, individuals born with the ability to use magic without crystals. He joins forces with Cidolfus Telamon, a rogue Dominant of Ramuh, who leads a group fighting to free Valisthea from the control of the Mothercrystals and the oppressive rule of nations. The story explores themes of free will, destiny, and sacrifice as Clive confronts other Dominants, like Titan, Garuda, and Shiva, and uncovers a deeper conspiracy involving the Blight, a destructive force tied to the crystals, and Ultima, a god-like entity manipulating Valisthea’s fate.

The story is fast-paced and conveys complex and fantastic concepts in a way that’s easy to grasp, unlike Final Fantasy XIII. At times, it feels like the plot moves along so quickly that it comes at the expense of the world, making it feel small and artificial. There is not much in the way of side activities apart from some unimaginative side quests which follow a tired MMO-style format of talk to a guy, do the thing, and report back. Clive never gets to play card games or go fishing at any of the beautifully realised ponds or rivers. There isn’t much exploration either, since areas are contained and level design plays it very safe.

What Final Fantasy XVI promises and delivers best is bombastic spectacle. The Eikon battles are appropriately epic and feature some stunning imagery and very expensive-looking set pieces featuring gigantic monsters battling. The gameplay for these moments is restrictive since they are removed from the core game. Sadly, Clive can’t activate full-on Ifrit mode whenever. He goes into a “primed” state, which is functionally a Devil Trigger for all those Devil May Cry experts out there. As an Eikon, most of the attacks or actions feel automated and lack the depth of the standard gameplay. It feels very scripted and artificial, designed to look cool as opposed to requiring players to be skilled.

Side characters and party members get their necessary arcs, but Jill, who is supposed to be the main love interest, feels like an afterthought. In any other JRPG, she would have a bigger presence and be useful in battle, but Final Fantasy XVI has only Clive playable. Every “party member” is a facade that barely contributes anything when things get heated. It may look like they’re fighting and helping out, but they do scratch damage and only exist to give the impression that this is still a Final Fantasy with party members.

Clive’s swordplay is functional and comes with a meaty bite, but it takes a long time before his combat options open up. Final Fantasy XVI is a very long game, wrought with cutscenes and big fields to break up the short scraps with trash mobs. Expect approximately a 65% cutscene to gameplay ratio. At the very least, the scenes are cinematically shot and well-performed by the cast. Ben Starr is typically a solid actor, but the way Clive is written makes him one-note and melodramatic.

After a hefty number of scenes and story development, Clive gains other Eikons, which come with more special moves to learn. These would be fun to use if they weren’t tied to a cooldown, which dramatically reduces their utility. The idea was probably to balance the Eikon abilities so Clive wouldn’t be overpowered, but foes and bosses already have grossly inflated HP values, making the fights more tedious than they need to be. Worse yet, there is a stagger system in place, rendering most of the attacks hopelessly weak until they’re staggered.

The swordplay is merely adequate. Clive doesn’t get anything like dual knives, spears, nunchaku, or different stances. Getting a new sword is only an increase in value and a new 3D model. There isn’t any substantial change in how Clive handles. Most of his moves are lifted from Devil May Cry games, which isn’t a bad thing to do since it’s one of the best places to learn from, but it also doesn’t improve or build upon it, apart from adding timed magical attack charges between attacks.

Clive’s jumping is useless since there is no platforming, and most of the environments are festooned with invisible walls. The graphical fidelity may be as impressive as it can get, but it comes at the expense of exploration and detail. Almost every door can’t be opened, and most settlements restrict access, further emphasising the artifice of the world. In past Final Fantasy games on the original PlayStation, if there was a door, chances are it could be opened and would lead to unique and detailed spaces that might hide an item or feature a scene that further fleshed out the world. Ironically, the more technically advanced and realistic-looking these Final Fantasy titles become, the less real they feel.

Final Fantasy XVI was poised as the definitive PlayStation 5 game for a hot minute, but now it’s on Xbox Series X|S. Its transition has a few details that make it unique compared to its Sony counterpart. Like on PlayStation 5, Final Fantasy XVI on Xbox Series X features performance and fidelity modes, but does them differently. On Xbox Series X, the performance mode is more consistent at sticking to the 60 frames per second target, but displays at a lower 720p resolution, as opposed to 1080p. Final Fantasy XVI is a good-looking game, no matter what, and the lower resolution does not diminish its visual flair, making the performance mode on Xbox Series X the smoothest console experience.

Fidelity mode boosts the image quality to 4K and halves the frame rate to 30, as expected. The cutscenes always run at 30fps even in performance mode. Final Fantasy XVI on Xbox Series X|S is a solid port that makes a few smart compromises to make 60fps more consistent. Even at 720p with softer image quality, it’s hard to complain when it’s already a beautiful title.