I've completed almost every Final Fantasy game to date and the Final Fantasy franchise has been on shaky grounds ever since the... "less successful" releases of Final Fantasy 13 and 15. Released on June 22, 2023, I played through the entirety of the game to answer the question, "How does Final Fantasy XVI stack up against the rest of the series?"

Surprisingly enough, Final Fantasy 16 feels like a return to the roots of the series where crystals, knights, and magic govern the land, where the main character must set off on an epic adventure to save the world. However, this is a new Final Fantasy for a new age, and Final Fantasy 16 has more portrayals of sex and graphic violence than any of its predecessors. Now, just adding more sex and violence doesn't make a game good, but it does help make the world feel more grounded and its characters feel more human.

Despite having a ton of sidequests, Final Fantasy 16 becomes a bit too formulaic, and much of its "optional content" revolves around travelling to another location, defeating a few enemies, and listening to some character dialogue. I'm thinking about making another video talking about this in detail because it's kind of surprising to me how having so much content can end up feeling bad, but I think part of the reason it became so tiresome to me was because there's really nothing to "do" beyond basic combat in Final Fantasy 16, and so it's really sink-or-swim for the game based on that.

I thought combat was pretty good. It wasn't particularly great, and it wasn't bad, but the more you get used to it, the more shallow it becomes, which is really unfortunate. With that being said, I really did enjoy my time playing, completing, and beating Final Fantasy 16, but with its linearity, limited party members, and lack of complexity, I think its replay value is lacking compared to previous Final Fantasy titles, even with its addition of epic kaiju boss battles.

Maybe the developers will add more side content in the future with the DLC, who knows? There's plenty of room for them to make a prequel or to explore the Fallen civilization...or maybe we'll get something set in the future. It'd be nice if we got more Eikons like Alexander to fit in with the likes of Ifrit, Phoenix, Garuda, Ramuh, Titan, Bahamut, Shiva, and Odin, and we're still missing some of the most iconic Final Fantasy monsters like Cactuars.

What do you think about Final Fantasy XVI, and what score would you give it? How does it compare to previous Final Fantasy titles? Let me know in the comment section below.


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0:00 - Disclaimer of a Jaded Player
1:05 - Review - Main Body
17:00 - Spoiler Zone - Story, Characters, & More
25:44 - Final Thoughts & Score