I see this a lot all over the internet. People nitpicking on more recent titles of the series for not going for a turn based combat system, while they are mistaking the ATB system for a turn based system, which it's NOT. Pokémon is turn based. Final Fantasy X is turn based. Just a detail I wanted to get out of the way first. People make it seem that a Final Fantasy has to "be like this" or "has to have this mechanic and that type of story". They talk about the identity of the series. While there are elements that carry over to each title, every entry has it's right and, in my opinion, the obligation to be unique, to reinvent the formulas and structures of the series in order to find its own identity. So many seem to forget it's not about a combat system they are stubbornly stuck on. Seriously, move on. This is how Video games evolved. They have become more dynamic and interactive. The series wouldn't hold up to any more titles if it would stay on old dusty gameplay designs for some boomers unwilling to adapt, progress and evolve with it. Just because you're salty for not being able to keep up with a Real-Time combat system you shouldn't go around spreading unnecessary and even down right false criticism. Just because the gameplay design doesn't suit your personal preference, that doesn't make it a bad game. And you're so insisting on riding this dead horse that you don't give the actual core elements of these games the time of day they deserve. Final Fantasy was always about mysterious, enticing new worlds, new lovable characters with a story that drives their development. Critique is fine... but it should stay fair. And while FF XVI found a new path in it's darker and grittier setting, I actually think it was a great and bold move to go for a more grounded and adult story, while putting a really cool twist on the huge role crystals take in a Final Fantasy. Actually antagonizing crystals was a genius move, as it somewhat liberated the game from old habits and instead of relying on the crystals, they wanted to break out of this habit and find independence, which can't get any more meta, if you ask me.
16 mainline games differs each other with the most concept overall (magic, chocobos, companions/party, crystals, politics, religion, sci-fi/fantasy, eikons/primals/summons, male/female protagonists or characters that remains onto us for decades, etc) That is the true identity of Final Fantasy.
And the problem is, the combat of 16 is insanely good. The problem is that the game is easy and it doesn't forces you to learn combos, but the game has a lot of depth when it comes to the combat, close enough to be a DMC game gameplay wise. It's a shame that people didn't even try to play it properly, instead they just spam ultimates and call it boring when themselves make it boring
@@gabrielnovais871 This! There are so many cool interactions people simply overlooked since they don't experiment and try to understand the mechanics of the game. I made a video hunting some S Rank targets, where every skill and even eikonic ability is used to aim for a combat rotation. I think it's really fun chaining together these massive, cool combos and I made some new combos for Kairos Gate, too, which feels like a whole different game. People are missing out on one of the most satisfying and rewarding combat gameplay currently on the market. It's really reminiscing on action titles like DMC or Bayonetta, but I think it's way more accessable.
The beauty of Final Fantasy is that its always a new experience with consistent themes and elements. 16 had a lot of things that were right and a direction I hope they pick up on especially around story, themes, characterization and spectacle. I think some of the quest designs and sidequests could have been better yes but to say its disregarding its legacy especially when Sakaguchi sung praises for it, is wrong.
Great video, love the new narrator. He brings a lot of passion to the narration, especially when talking about the music. There’s a particular way people talk about music that lets you know how knowledgeable they are. Would be great to see more of him
Too many so called "FF fans" are stuck in the past. It's a narrow minded one dimensional mindset to believe that a franchise that prides itself by being different with each individual game should all be 90s pixelated clones.
I think more people are attached to the PS1/PS2 era than the pixel art games. Either way, I loved the "golden age" of FF, too, and honestly, I think those are just better games, broadly speaking, which I think is a valid opinion. No one is obligated to like or dislike any particular style of game. I also love CBU3's output and am able to appreciate modern FF for what it is, but I can empathize with people who mourn the loss of something they loved.
It's a ROLE PLAYING GAME. FF16 no longer makes it that. I'm glad the sales were mid and most felt it was mid if you don't hide in safe circles and ' yes men ' communities. Hopefully they get back turned base or at least a FF7REMAKE style gameplay hybrid 👍 because this game was trash 🗑️
The point that I was trying to make is that it's narrow minded. It's very possible to love 2 things at the same time. One does not detract from the other.
i love you and your video, i think you are the first to be able to connect so much with the past ff games. And I'm old enough to know as FF1 was my first ff game played when it released in the US for the Nintendo.
Almost always the goal is to protect the crystals, or restore their light, or gather them. The only other game I can think of that has the main good guy destroying crystals is Tactics Advance, and that very much makes sense thematically too, as he is literally trying to break and escape from the world of Final Fantasy. - M
Love this kind of deep dive! Final Fantasy has been such an important part of gaming and set so many storytelling standards in its genre. With so many games that have such rich narratives, it can be easy to miss the way themes and motifs have been played with over the decades. Makes me every curious to see what the next Final Fantasy is going to look like.
To be honest my only real criticism of this game is a majority of the gear gear just being a stack stick. Having something like KH key chain system would have been nice. Playing through the DLC now. Great addition to the FF series.
Final fantasy 16 was absolutely amazing. The haters just don’t like change. The human ego dislikes change. Just how people didn’t like metal gear solid 5. Another incredible master piece people who don’t like change disliked. I hope ff17 is like 16 I even bought the big collectors edition I liked it so much
The human ego is denouncing those whose opinion differs from your own as simply "haters" or "fanboys". I've wanted CBU3 to make a single player FF for years and was fully behind them. Played the demo and felt sure it was going to deliver for me. Then the full game launched and I genuinely struggled to finish it. Didn't even bother buying it on PC because I just have zero interest in replaying it again. I'm in that opposite camp - for me I want 17 to be more akin to Rebirth. If it follows 16's design then it probably becomes the first FF I haven't bought day one.
Nope, it's time for the series to go back to turn based or ATB turn based. They need the next entry to be an evolution of where they left off the combat with the FF13 Trilogy and build off that. 16 had good combat, but the lack of magic and no party system was disappointing
My criticism on FF16 is the lack of decent exploration, how linear it is and that you can’t play other characters or neither deepen their stories. The cool thing about FF is the party members that tends to be as interesting (or more) than the main character. I loved the art style, the dark tone, story and the combat (I played the demo) but that wasn’t enough for me to buy it. I watched all the cutscenes on RUclips and I was pretty happy with it. I knew that if I had bought it I would get bored on playing Clive only and not having too much freedom on exploration.
I thought many of the other characters were really great and well-written. Jill had her own character arc which paralleled Clive's in a nice way (though perhaps a little underdeveloped). I loved Benedikta, Dion was great, Cid obviously just so charming. I personally never felt like these characters needed to be party members in order to be interesting or developed. But I do agree that it would be nice to have a larger party again for XVII. - M
Yes I agree with most of this. I liked it but I don't think I'll replay becuase theres not as much depth for me. I no vid ive seen has been able to tell me why they took out elements fire enemies are weak to ice and water attacks and so forth I gives the feeling of being "along for the ride" the story was good but none of my decisions mattered. I went in with a mediocre setup against bahamut and won. I think they should continue doing stuff like this but keep some of the gameplay depth. Sprinkle in a little skyrim in the mix. Ya know?
I actually argue that Final Fantasy 15 started the trend of betraying Legacies. And listen...I don't like FF13....but theirs a Final Fantasy that I think is worst than 13....I'm sorry but hear me out. Final Fantasy 15 has THE worst Story ever! Think about it! EVERY Final Fantasy is about denying fate. FIGHTING against the gods or whatever Destiny has set for you. Final Fantasy 7 the Shinra Corporation and Sephiroth are trying to control the fate of the people and the entire Planet. And Cloud and his team are against that and ended up winning and saving the planet. Final Fantasy 10 it's about fighting the cycle of death created by Sin & Yu Yevon. And the religious fanatics who want to keep the cycle going. As they believe it's the only way possible to maintain balance. Eventually Tidus and his crew find another way. That ends the cycle of death and the lies spread through religion. HELL Final Fantasy 13 AND 16 have you fight the gods that are trying to control the fate of reality itself. And win with Clive and Lightning. But you know what game says, "FUCK all that?" It's Final Fantasy 15. Bahamut NEW that the world was going to go into a plague and at first tried to destroy it. Only to get stopped by the other gods. Then instead of trying to keep the plague from happening. He let it happen, forcing Ardyn to stop it. Which HE knew would happen because he saw the future of it happening. THEN he FORCED Ardyn into a fate! Where he became the villain to save the planet. Something Ardyn was against but Bahamut still FORCED him to do it. And instead of us as NOCTIS saving Ardyn and finding another way to save the planet...we listen to the gods aka Bahamut and his crew. To not only kill "Ardyn" something they forced him to become. But we're not even trying to fight the fate the gods set us on...we are just doing exactly what they want. Its kind of ass. Now gameplay wise and the characters in it are 🔥! But the story/plot WHEN you really think about it. Is so ass that if it was any other Final Fantasy Protagonist. I'm pretty sure they would have fought Bahamut at the end. While trying to find a way to save the planet.
I haven't enjoyed a Final Fantasy as thoroughly as this since Final Fantasy VII. This is easily in my top 3 Final Fantasy titles and somewhere in the top 10 all time favorite videos games. Any "fan" who is so jaded as to discriminate against this game because of the differences it has from a majority of the series must be so cynical and disconnected from being able to enjoy media without giving some nostalgic bias to everything new that isn't exactly like their childhood that they simply cannot enjoy anything for what it is. The only flaw this game has is its side quests and their lack luster impact on the mainline story and the fetch quest style solution they all seem to share. The entirety of the main campaign was so immersive, entertaining, and enjoyable to play that I had a hard time putting it down, and when I was away, at work or the gym or even out with friends, I would find myself thinking about this game and what could possibly happen next to make what was already an amazing story even more grandiose, and it never disappointed. I can easily give this a 9/10 and say this is as close to perfection as any game has been for a long time.
The story and theme of every final fantasy has been fine in my eyes, ranging from somewhat mediocre to excellent. Gameplaywise, I like turn based more than action, but only because it makes it easier to control the actions of all the party members in a battle. With a game like 16, there is none of that beyond some manipulation for Torgal. While each eikon granted Clive a different elemental spell, there was no difference between them beyond color. Not a single enemy had any form of elemental resistance or weakness at all which kinda defeats the purpose of having them at all beyond providing the player with a ranged attack option. The same can be said of status effects. Clive can use potions to boost defense and, I think, attack. No enemy ever hits Clive with darkness to hinder your vision or poison to drain your HP. I'm not asking for much, but at least a few. That leads me into my final point. Gear is almost entirely useless outside of boosting Attack or Defense a little. It takes a long time before you can even tell a significant difference too. If we had elemental resistances and status effects to deal with, it would add tons of options for gear to provide. Poison proof, half damage from ice, lightning elemental attacks with your sword. Even in 15, you could swap in something that boosted HP a lot but sacrificed magic or something. I just wish 16 had more of these elements and I'd think it was one of the top games in the series.
You know beside the rpg mechanic that i do miss very lot, if you e v e r played couple of old ff below 7, the story on 16 us actually pretty well fitted in on the old gen. Shattered? No, confused? Yes
To be fair with you, FF7 remakes doesn't do justice for the OG in terms of pacing and world building. There's a lot of fillers that are useless for the plot or the lore as a whole. The Midgar part on OG was 4 hours, the devs extended it to a full game with Remake, while adding absolutely nothing important. Rebirth has the same problems and it's even worse because there are loads of free fan service without any narrative coherence. At least for me, the OG FF7 is the true experience of this game when it comes to story
@@GameScoreFanfare I'm so glad to see you back! I absolutely loved your videos and come back to them regularly. Actually just wrapped up Shadow of the Colossus for the first time since I was a kid and came back to your video on it. Brilliant!
The setting and characters were good, but the writing fell flat on its ass after midway to the story. The world is empty, the sidecontent boils down to "talk to person X" and "kill X number of enemies". The only gameplay in the game is to move and fight. Which on its own isn't a big problem, but the gameplay gets stale very quickly; you're constantly waiting for Eikon abilities to come off cooldown and then spamming them on a staggered enemy. There's only a basic combo and/or spamming lunge and magic burst inbetween. By the time I got Odin's abilities, I was so disinterested and uninvested in both the story and gameplay, and it felt like a chore and a slog to finish the game. The sidecontent is so bad. It's like the creators thought they could get away with the most bare bones mmo sidequests that don't add anything to the characters or the world. There's no more than four sidequests out of the dozens that I consider worth seeing. The setting had a lot of promise, but it got so obsessed with Bearers and everything to do with them, that all the tensions and political intrigue gets trampled over by it. And the introduciton of the akashicwhatsitsface aether zombies just felt so lazy and dumb. Honestly, I think the plot was at its best on the opening hours of the game, and began to lose its novelty by the time Drake's Head is destroyed. After defeating Bahamut, the story doesn't even know what to do with itself and just goes "lol, everything goes to shit and the already empty open world is now truly empty, and on top of that ugly, and with sleepy piano arrangements that make it really difficult to stay invested". Also, I absolutely hate it that you can't visit any of the major citystates. You only ever go to the actual interesting locations through 'dungeons' and cutscenes. Like, they kept promoting Oriflamme and Twinside on the trailers and artwork, but you never get to experience them. The characters had me hooked upon reveal, but got treated awfully. Benedikta was offed too early, Hugo was reduced to a pathetic simp, Jill was given barely any spotlight despite being present for most of the game and even had Clive steal her big moment... Barnabas was just "lol, he's mad and obsessed with the villain and apparently gets turned on by seeing the villain turn into his naked mom..." Like. What. And he's somehow older than he physically appears, because, uh, plot demands it? Dion was the most interesting and the one who wasn't completely ruined. In fact, it felt like all the characters, minor and major alike, got stomped down to elevate Clive. I get it, he's the poster boy, you're supposed to love him. But come on. There's so much lore and potential, but it's like the writers couldn't focus on the interesting things. Just because the player has access to a hundred powerpoint slides about the lore with a press of a button, doesn't mean the writers can be lazy about the presentation. Yes, I'm salty about this game, because I feel its trailers and promotional material promised more than it delivered. I'm just glad VII Rebirth made my PS5 purchase worth it.
Honestly these are all pretty valid criticisms! I don't disagree with a lot of it. I did enjoy the combat and found it engaging, though it takes a bit too long to unlock enough to make it interesting. I've never really understood the sidequest complaint, as if other games do any much different. There's definitely a number I remember fondly, and felt a decent amount of them added to the characters, worldbuilding and lore suitably. However there are way too many thrown at you in the back half! My issue was more with the main story pacing, which fell off a cliff after Titan. Felt like for every meaningful quest you had to do three pointless ones in between. I remember the Devs saying they wanted it to feel like a rollercoaster - but what rollercoaster stops in the middle of the ride for 5 hours after every loop-de-loop? If I'm totally honest, for me it was Rebirth that over-promised and then completely under-delivered! 🫠 - M
@@Nucanon_com Different strokes for different folks. :^) Sorry for the rant, I can't help myself. I just wanted to like XVI so badly, but even when I thought I had lowered my expectations to the dirt after the halfway point, it still managed to disappoint me by the end. I will admit XVI has possibly the strongest and most intriguing opening and its highs are super high, while its lows are the lowest of lows. And yeah, the pacing is the biggest issue, really.
Apart from some flaws at launch, ffxv wasn’t bad, and I believe the royal edition fixed most of it, and FFXVI was good, a little repetitive but good enough to be a worthy successor. People just like to complain over anything
The characters look cool enough, but the rest is boring, not everybody loves GOT, I stopped watching it after the first season, the problem with FFXVI is it gives you much less unlike FFVII rebirth, you wanna control all your characters? NO! You wanna have plenty of Summons in the game, NO! You want some silly moments in the game? NO! Hell even FF Tactics has silly moments. Plus you only get FOUR characters in your team, thats another very weak point. Yeah its practically a one player rpg like Diablo nowadays so you are getting much less, but paying the same price.
Why would you want to control other characters when Clive can do everything that everyone can do? I get your point of a party missing, but I really don't miss it because Clive can put everything together with smooth combos
Ff7 rebirth is not a complete game Its story is just a part of ff7 and dragged out to hell to fit the game I rather play 16 again to experience a whole journey also the game has silly moments in it Also considering silly moments the 7 remakes added way too many silly moments the original ff7 is not that silly overall
Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth forever! ;D Meh Final Fantasy XVI ;P waaaaay to dark and brutal and serious and war and tragedy and whatnot - not a good-mood game this one.
I’ll be straight up, this game was so fucking boring…I literally found myself nodding off during majority of its premise as if I was in class. Only time the story ever picked up was when you’d reach the mother crystals or whenever Ultima hit the screen. Ultima and Torgul were the best part of the game. And the moogle. World kinda sucked, traversal sucked more, and your literal movement was mad confined. No double jump, can’t vault over mad shit, and the fucking invisiwalls. like what? why are their so many invisible walls in an open world final fantasy game? I’m a severe die hard to the franchise and company, but this game was dead boring af. I just beat it finally last night and damn 😭😭 kaiju battles were beautiful and exquisite tho i will say that. But yeah, story sucked, plot holes everywhere, points of the plot that never got touched on again, but did have amazing combat. I’d give it a 6/10. Maybe a 7. Any other higher score this would have would be due to Ultima cuz that was one wavy ass antagonist fr. Every time he appeared I did feel the dread of his presence shit was nuts. But then he became super imperfect in the end which kinda sullied his whole characters arc, but it wasn’t that bad. Music was ofc beautiful af. Music 10, combat 10, Kaiju battles 100, emotion 7, story 4/5, traversal 4/5, pacing 5, side content 4, character design 10, world design 7, character interaction 8.
I'll be honest i personally just won't play FF if it's not turn based in some way. I've always been drawn to gameplay first and anything else after. But regardless of my 1 opinion glad people still got passionate about it.
I felt opposite, I have never played turn-based games because they are like unimmersive slogs akin to playing a football manager rather than a truly game. However, after a while I gave up and started to endure them, since the other aspects of those games are generally awesome. JUst wishing I could get over my hate for turn-based, so I would be able to enjoy these games more.
I think what they need is a new identity. They can’t make keep making drastic changes to the combat all the time. The story may have similar structures. But other jrpgs also has deep stories, while also having a stronger identity. I think if they retain the combat of 7 remake/rebirth while making adjustments for each game, they can cultivate a steady fanbase instead of constantly having one time fans that only gravitate to one game. It’s sad that even kingdom hearts has a more consistent identity than ff at this point. I do love 16. But it’s combat will definitely not be replicated, because it’s tied to the main character. The same can be said for 15, but I don’t like that game. I would play games like 7 remake, but I would be skeptical of newer games because if the combat isn’t good, it’s a hit or miss. If they want to modernize the combat, that’s fine. But there needs to be consistency while also tying the characters story abilities into the combat. I see your argument that story traditions have been consistent, but the ideas of fighting fate or finding identity have been in other jrpgs like xenoblade or persona, making ff no longer unique in that regard. There’s no longer anything unique about this series imo. I can be fan of specific games in the series, but I can’t be a fan of the series.
16 combat is perfectly fine if they wanted to carry it forward. Just like the games, and how combat evolved from 7 Remake to Rebirth, the combat systems from 16 will also evolve if it's allowed to. The obvious point of contention is that in 16, everything centered around Clive, but a future FF game can evolve that into a party wide combat easily enough. My biggest issue with the combat, was that outside boss fights, the enemy AI, and even enemy variety was bare bones. You never had to strategize how to fight. You just mash the attack button, so it never fully makes use of the combat systems itself for huge portions of the game.
@ I agree with you about lack of enemy variety in 16. But I also feel a party system with this combat system wouldn’t work well either imo. That’s because party members would either feel optional, or the ai would do actions on their own. This is like kh and even xenoblade games. 7 remake/rebirth had the best party system for action rpgs because while the ai dodges and does basic attacks on their own, you need to control how they expend their main moves and other special abilities. You can also give them materia to automate some moves, but that’s the player’s choice. I think ff12’s combat is good for party gameplay, but I’m personally not a fan of it, I like 16 more. A good system should make each party member valuable and incentivize players to use them as they are a benefit. 15’s party system feels optional too, the combat was designed around Noctis, so he had all of the tools necessary to win. Again I like 16’s combat to some degree and I love kh even more, but the party system wouldn’t be feasible since both games are more combo focused rather than managing party members. The systems wouldn’t mesh well, so you would have to choose one or the other. If you try to do both, you’ll end up with a half baked combat system that doesn’t know what it’s trying to be.
I just found the game so boring. Very linear game and it commits the cardinal sin of every but the main characters being stupid. Everyone else in the world lacks agency. They just do things the way they do them because thats how the world is. Games with deep world building are able to create a sense of the masses doing what they wish to do; not what the world tells them to do.
16 is gorgeous, no denying that. But to me what makes a good Final Fantasy has always been about 2 things. 1: A insane story that hits your feelings and sparks your imagination. 2: Completely over the top action, nothing is beyond the party's power, want to open up a black hole or throw a meteor on a small enemy mob? you can do it. Unfortunately both story and action have been scaled down over the years. In 16 you even see all the amazing stuff Dominant's can do, only for Clive to have just a small fraction of that power. And to make it worse, you get limited slots, so you can't even have all moves available at all times. And the story, I don't know exactly how they are doing it wrong, but its just so extremely forgettable. I've played it just a few months ago and I can barely remember most of the plot points aside from some of the more epic moments like when Barnabass is on screen. I will repeat it tough, at the very least 16 looked incredibly great. I loved the designs of both environment and characters as I really wanted a medieval European styled Final Fantasy. Saying that turn based combat and complex leveling mechanics are to blame for its decline are clearly unfounded. Just look at Baldur's Gate 3. I believe a Final Fantasy game would flourish making a game in the style of Baldur's Gate 3. (Granted, if they put as much love and care for detail in it as well.) Square Really fails to see the core problem. The theme of the Crystals and the legacy of the previous games are not more a burden, then they are a pillar they can build on. Its the consumer trust and familiarity that was created with those past games. The problem and decline in Final Fantasy is clear when you look at past titles. 11 was a MMO, so you alienated a large portion of your fandom, same for 14. To this day I don' t know what those two stories are about, and I don't care as much when I try to read up about it either. 12 was oddly bad looking and its story barely remains in my mind (low story and you don't really feel powerful unless you summon.) 13 looked good but the combat felt very very weird and not very powerful unless you summoned as well. Versus 13 was a masterpiece in the making, and was butchered and cut to a horrible slob called 15. With Noctis at his full power being the equivalent of the Noctis we saw in the prologue part of Versus 13. Then also being used accost countless other games, as well as integrating multiple other games into 15 for pure commercial purposes. Management should not blame the decline on the fans or how the fandom perceives the games. Its simple mismanagement of the brand, plain and simple. Versus 13 was one of the most important games for FF history, and Nomura should have been given more time, resources and people to complete it. Instead the entire project was butchered and along with it the stable future for the FF brand. The only thing somewhat keeping FF relevant atm is the 7 remake series. And that project only keeps relevance due to, you guessed it: the aforementioned pillar. The very pillar they want to get rid off. Does the management see this? Likely not, and they are still trying to knock that pillar down.
@gabrielnovais871 it's a brainless and easy hack and slash. That's the point. The previous games were tactical and at least required some thinking. The game doesn't require any form of skill and that is the issue
@@gennousuke69 ruclips.net/video/039S7Bbf7qs/видео.html&ab_channel=Selchlightwarden / I truly can't see how this is braindead, but thanks for being respectful :). The game forces this type of playstyle but ONLY on Ultimaniac, which is a shame to be fair, since this difficulty is tied with Arcade Mode
XVI just sucked. I beat it and never even tried the DLC. World is empty and side quests weren't really rewarding at all. I REALLY hope XVII goes back to what made me love the series.
But it is a final fantasy game its story carries that spirit Clive is also a one man army and thats kinda a point in the story with the eikon abilities
FF16 is my favorite story of the series personally
I see this a lot all over the internet. People nitpicking on more recent titles of the series for not going for a turn based combat system, while they are mistaking the ATB system for a turn based system, which it's NOT. Pokémon is turn based. Final Fantasy X is turn based. Just a detail I wanted to get out of the way first.
People make it seem that a Final Fantasy has to "be like this" or "has to have this mechanic and that type of story". They talk about the identity of the series. While there are elements that carry over to each title, every entry has it's right and, in my opinion, the obligation to be unique, to reinvent the formulas and structures of the series in order to find its own identity. So many seem to forget it's not about a combat system they are stubbornly stuck on. Seriously, move on. This is how Video games evolved. They have become more dynamic and interactive. The series wouldn't hold up to any more titles if it would stay on old dusty gameplay designs for some boomers unwilling to adapt, progress and evolve with it. Just because you're salty for not being able to keep up with a Real-Time combat system you shouldn't go around spreading unnecessary and even down right false criticism. Just because the gameplay design doesn't suit your personal preference, that doesn't make it a bad game. And you're so insisting on riding this dead horse that you don't give the actual core elements of these games the time of day they deserve. Final Fantasy was always about mysterious, enticing new worlds, new lovable characters with a story that drives their development. Critique is fine... but it should stay fair. And while FF XVI found a new path in it's darker and grittier setting, I actually think it was a great and bold move to go for a more grounded and adult story, while putting a really cool twist on the huge role crystals take in a Final Fantasy. Actually antagonizing crystals was a genius move, as it somewhat liberated the game from old habits and instead of relying on the crystals, they wanted to break out of this habit and find independence, which can't get any more meta, if you ask me.
16 mainline games differs each other with the most concept overall (magic, chocobos, companions/party, crystals, politics, religion, sci-fi/fantasy, eikons/primals/summons, male/female protagonists or characters that remains onto us for decades, etc) That is the true identity of Final Fantasy.
And the problem is, the combat of 16 is insanely good. The problem is that the game is easy and it doesn't forces you to learn combos, but the game has a lot of depth when it comes to the combat, close enough to be a DMC game gameplay wise. It's a shame that people didn't even try to play it properly, instead they just spam ultimates and call it boring when themselves make it boring
@@gabrielnovais871 This! There are so many cool interactions people simply overlooked since they don't experiment and try to understand the mechanics of the game. I made a video hunting some S Rank targets, where every skill and even eikonic ability is used to aim for a combat rotation. I think it's really fun chaining together these massive, cool combos and I made some new combos for Kairos Gate, too, which feels like a whole different game. People are missing out on one of the most satisfying and rewarding combat gameplay currently on the market. It's really reminiscing on action titles like DMC or Bayonetta, but I think it's way more accessable.
The beauty of Final Fantasy is that its always a new experience with consistent themes and elements. 16 had a lot of things that were right and a direction I hope they pick up on especially around story, themes, characterization and spectacle. I think some of the quest designs and sidequests could have been better yes but to say its disregarding its legacy especially when Sakaguchi sung praises for it, is wrong.
Great video, love the new narrator. He brings a lot of passion to the narration, especially when talking about the music. There’s a particular way people talk about music that lets you know how knowledgeable they are. Would be great to see more of him
This is so incredibly kind of you to say, thank you! 😭 And yeah bit of a music fan, guilty as charged!
- Mathew
I don’t care what anyone says about Final Fantasy 16, I enjoyed this game and especially the combat system whether is turn base or action base.
Too many so called "FF fans" are stuck in the past. It's a narrow minded one dimensional mindset to believe that a franchise that prides itself by being different with each individual game should all be 90s pixelated clones.
I think more people are attached to the PS1/PS2 era than the pixel art games. Either way, I loved the "golden age" of FF, too, and honestly, I think those are just better games, broadly speaking, which I think is a valid opinion. No one is obligated to like or dislike any particular style of game. I also love CBU3's output and am able to appreciate modern FF for what it is, but I can empathize with people who mourn the loss of something they loved.
It's a ROLE PLAYING GAME. FF16 no longer makes it that. I'm glad the sales were mid and most felt it was mid if you don't hide in safe circles and ' yes men ' communities. Hopefully they get back turned base or at least a FF7REMAKE style gameplay hybrid 👍 because this game was trash 🗑️
It still is a RPG but, pop off I guess? Also sales were mid not because it was bad but because it was a PS5 exclusive for a year pretty much.
The point that I was trying to make is that it's narrow minded. It's very possible to love 2 things at the same time. One does not detract from the other.
A "trash game" that scored a 92 metacritic rating.
The only final fantasy that's left in this world, is one where you think you can have an experience like this without microtransactions.
i love you and your video, i think you are the first to be able to connect so much with the past ff games. And I'm old enough to know as FF1 was my first ff game played when it released in the US for the Nintendo.
Except crystals have been broken in many other games. Also, this series CONSTANTLY remakes itself.
Almost always the goal is to protect the crystals, or restore their light, or gather them. The only other game I can think of that has the main good guy destroying crystals is Tactics Advance, and that very much makes sense thematically too, as he is literally trying to break and escape from the world of Final Fantasy.
- M
Great choice of music and diving into the Prelude theme 🙌definitely felt the nostalgia with that one.
Love this kind of deep dive! Final Fantasy has been such an important part of gaming and set so many storytelling standards in its genre. With so many games that have such rich narratives, it can be easy to miss the way themes and motifs have been played with over the decades. Makes me every curious to see what the next Final Fantasy is going to look like.
Such an underrated video! earned a sub
To be honest my only real criticism of this game is a majority of the gear gear just being a stack stick. Having something like KH key chain system would have been nice. Playing through the DLC now. Great addition to the FF series.
Final fantasy 16 was absolutely amazing. The haters just don’t like change. The human ego dislikes change. Just how people didn’t like metal gear solid 5. Another incredible master piece people who don’t like change disliked. I hope ff17 is like 16 I even bought the big collectors edition I liked it so much
The human ego is denouncing those whose opinion differs from your own as simply "haters" or "fanboys". I've wanted CBU3 to make a single player FF for years and was fully behind them. Played the demo and felt sure it was going to deliver for me. Then the full game launched and I genuinely struggled to finish it. Didn't even bother buying it on PC because I just have zero interest in replaying it again.
I'm in that opposite camp - for me I want 17 to be more akin to Rebirth. If it follows 16's design then it probably becomes the first FF I haven't bought day one.
Nope, it's time for the series to go back to turn based or ATB turn based. They need the next entry to be an evolution of where they left off the combat with the FF13 Trilogy and build off that. 16 had good combat, but the lack of magic and no party system was disappointing
Watched this with the lads. Class video
My criticism on FF16 is the lack of decent exploration, how linear it is and that you can’t play other characters or neither deepen their stories. The cool thing about FF is the party members that tends to be as interesting (or more) than the main character. I loved the art style, the dark tone, story and the combat (I played the demo) but that wasn’t enough for me to buy it. I watched all the cutscenes on RUclips and I was pretty happy with it. I knew that if I had bought it I would get bored on playing Clive only and not having too much freedom on exploration.
I thought many of the other characters were really great and well-written. Jill had her own character arc which paralleled Clive's in a nice way (though perhaps a little underdeveloped). I loved Benedikta, Dion was great, Cid obviously just so charming. I personally never felt like these characters needed to be party members in order to be interesting or developed. But I do agree that it would be nice to have a larger party again for XVII.
- M
Yes I agree with most of this. I liked it but I don't think I'll replay becuase theres not as much depth for me. I no vid ive seen has been able to tell me why they took out elements fire enemies are weak to ice and water attacks and so forth I gives the feeling of being "along for the ride" the story was good but none of my decisions mattered. I went in with a mediocre setup against bahamut and won. I think they should continue doing stuff like this but keep some of the gameplay depth. Sprinkle in a little skyrim in the mix. Ya know?
I actually argue that Final Fantasy 15 started the trend of betraying Legacies. And listen...I don't like FF13....but theirs a Final Fantasy that I think is worst than 13....I'm sorry but hear me out.
Final Fantasy 15 has THE worst Story ever! Think about it! EVERY Final Fantasy is about denying fate. FIGHTING against the gods or whatever Destiny has set for you.
Final Fantasy 7 the Shinra Corporation and Sephiroth are trying to control the fate of the people and the entire Planet. And Cloud and his team are against that and ended up winning and saving the planet.
Final Fantasy 10 it's about fighting the cycle of death created by Sin & Yu Yevon. And the religious fanatics who want to keep the cycle going. As they believe it's the only way possible to maintain balance. Eventually Tidus and his crew find another way. That ends the cycle of death and the lies spread through religion.
HELL Final Fantasy 13 AND 16 have you fight the gods that are trying to control the fate of reality itself. And win with Clive and Lightning.
But you know what game says, "FUCK all that?" It's Final Fantasy 15. Bahamut NEW that the world was going to go into a plague and at first tried to destroy it. Only to get stopped by the other gods. Then instead of trying to keep the plague from happening. He let it happen, forcing Ardyn to stop it. Which HE knew would happen because he saw the future of it happening. THEN he FORCED Ardyn into a fate! Where he became the villain to save the planet. Something Ardyn was against but Bahamut still FORCED him to do it. And instead of us as NOCTIS saving Ardyn and finding another way to save the planet...we listen to the gods aka Bahamut and his crew. To not only kill "Ardyn" something they forced him to become. But we're not even trying to fight the fate the gods set us on...we are just doing exactly what they want. Its kind of ass.
Now gameplay wise and the characters in it are 🔥! But the story/plot WHEN you really think about it. Is so ass that if it was any other Final Fantasy Protagonist. I'm pretty sure they would have fought Bahamut at the end. While trying to find a way to save the planet.
I haven't enjoyed a Final Fantasy as thoroughly as this since Final Fantasy VII. This is easily in my top 3 Final Fantasy titles and somewhere in the top 10 all time favorite videos games. Any "fan" who is so jaded as to discriminate against this game because of the differences it has from a majority of the series must be so cynical and disconnected from being able to enjoy media without giving some nostalgic bias to everything new that isn't exactly like their childhood that they simply cannot enjoy anything for what it is. The only flaw this game has is its side quests and their lack luster impact on the mainline story and the fetch quest style solution they all seem to share. The entirety of the main campaign was so immersive, entertaining, and enjoyable to play that I had a hard time putting it down, and when I was away, at work or the gym or even out with friends, I would find myself thinking about this game and what could possibly happen next to make what was already an amazing story even more grandiose, and it never disappointed. I can easily give this a 9/10 and say this is as close to perfection as any game has been for a long time.
What a video! Loved it ❤
The story and theme of every final fantasy has been fine in my eyes, ranging from somewhat mediocre to excellent.
Gameplaywise, I like turn based more than action, but only because it makes it easier to control the actions of all the party members in a battle. With a game like 16, there is none of that beyond some manipulation for Torgal.
While each eikon granted Clive a different elemental spell, there was no difference between them beyond color. Not a single enemy had any form of elemental resistance or weakness at all which kinda defeats the purpose of having them at all beyond providing the player with a ranged attack option. The same can be said of status effects. Clive can use potions to boost defense and, I think, attack. No enemy ever hits Clive with darkness to hinder your vision or poison to drain your HP. I'm not asking for much, but at least a few. That leads me into my final point.
Gear is almost entirely useless outside of boosting Attack or Defense a little. It takes a long time before you can even tell a significant difference too. If we had elemental resistances and status effects to deal with, it would add tons of options for gear to provide. Poison proof, half damage from ice, lightning elemental attacks with your sword. Even in 15, you could swap in something that boosted HP a lot but sacrificed magic or something. I just wish 16 had more of these elements and I'd think it was one of the top games in the series.
You know beside the rpg mechanic that i do miss very lot, if you e v e r played couple of old ff below 7, the story on 16 us actually pretty well fitted in on the old gen.
Shattered? No, confused? Yes
I just finished the VII remake on pc, the only final fantasy i've ever played before that was X. Which was way better than VII story/gameplay wise.
To be fair with you, FF7 remakes doesn't do justice for the OG in terms of pacing and world building. There's a lot of fillers that are useless for the plot or the lore as a whole. The Midgar part on OG was 4 hours, the devs extended it to a full game with Remake, while adding absolutely nothing important. Rebirth has the same problems and it's even worse because there are loads of free fan service without any narrative coherence. At least for me, the OG FF7 is the true experience of this game when it comes to story
Wait wait this is the guy from Game Score Fanfare?!?! Ive missed you man!
👋
@@GameScoreFanfare I'm so glad to see you back! I absolutely loved your videos and come back to them regularly. Actually just wrapped up Shadow of the Colossus for the first time since I was a kid and came back to your video on it. Brilliant!
The setting and characters were good, but the writing fell flat on its ass after midway to the story. The world is empty, the sidecontent boils down to "talk to person X" and "kill X number of enemies". The only gameplay in the game is to move and fight. Which on its own isn't a big problem, but the gameplay gets stale very quickly; you're constantly waiting for Eikon abilities to come off cooldown and then spamming them on a staggered enemy. There's only a basic combo and/or spamming lunge and magic burst inbetween. By the time I got Odin's abilities, I was so disinterested and uninvested in both the story and gameplay, and it felt like a chore and a slog to finish the game. The sidecontent is so bad. It's like the creators thought they could get away with the most bare bones mmo sidequests that don't add anything to the characters or the world. There's no more than four sidequests out of the dozens that I consider worth seeing.
The setting had a lot of promise, but it got so obsessed with Bearers and everything to do with them, that all the tensions and political intrigue gets trampled over by it. And the introduciton of the akashicwhatsitsface aether zombies just felt so lazy and dumb. Honestly, I think the plot was at its best on the opening hours of the game, and began to lose its novelty by the time Drake's Head is destroyed. After defeating Bahamut, the story doesn't even know what to do with itself and just goes "lol, everything goes to shit and the already empty open world is now truly empty, and on top of that ugly, and with sleepy piano arrangements that make it really difficult to stay invested". Also, I absolutely hate it that you can't visit any of the major citystates. You only ever go to the actual interesting locations through 'dungeons' and cutscenes. Like, they kept promoting Oriflamme and Twinside on the trailers and artwork, but you never get to experience them.
The characters had me hooked upon reveal, but got treated awfully. Benedikta was offed too early, Hugo was reduced to a pathetic simp, Jill was given barely any spotlight despite being present for most of the game and even had Clive steal her big moment... Barnabas was just "lol, he's mad and obsessed with the villain and apparently gets turned on by seeing the villain turn into his naked mom..." Like. What. And he's somehow older than he physically appears, because, uh, plot demands it? Dion was the most interesting and the one who wasn't completely ruined. In fact, it felt like all the characters, minor and major alike, got stomped down to elevate Clive. I get it, he's the poster boy, you're supposed to love him. But come on.
There's so much lore and potential, but it's like the writers couldn't focus on the interesting things. Just because the player has access to a hundred powerpoint slides about the lore with a press of a button, doesn't mean the writers can be lazy about the presentation.
Yes, I'm salty about this game, because I feel its trailers and promotional material promised more than it delivered. I'm just glad VII Rebirth made my PS5 purchase worth it.
Honestly these are all pretty valid criticisms! I don't disagree with a lot of it. I did enjoy the combat and found it engaging, though it takes a bit too long to unlock enough to make it interesting.
I've never really understood the sidequest complaint, as if other games do any much different. There's definitely a number I remember fondly, and felt a decent amount of them added to the characters, worldbuilding and lore suitably. However there are way too many thrown at you in the back half!
My issue was more with the main story pacing, which fell off a cliff after Titan. Felt like for every meaningful quest you had to do three pointless ones in between. I remember the Devs saying they wanted it to feel like a rollercoaster - but what rollercoaster stops in the middle of the ride for 5 hours after every loop-de-loop?
If I'm totally honest, for me it was Rebirth that over-promised and then completely under-delivered! 🫠
- M
@@Nucanon_com Different strokes for different folks. :^) Sorry for the rant, I can't help myself. I just wanted to like XVI so badly, but even when I thought I had lowered my expectations to the dirt after the halfway point, it still managed to disappoint me by the end. I will admit XVI has possibly the strongest and most intriguing opening and its highs are super high, while its lows are the lowest of lows. And yeah, the pacing is the biggest issue, really.
I understand what materia is now lol :D
Great game. Great video.
FF 16 was one of the best games I ever played and people hated on it for no reason same thing happened to ff 15
People can have a different opinion to you.
Apart from some flaws at launch, ffxv wasn’t bad, and I believe the royal edition fixed most of it, and FFXVI was good, a little repetitive but good enough to be a worthy successor. People just like to complain over anything
The worse Final Fantasy game is going to always be the last one released
@ completely true. People are just ungrateful
not final fantasy with no status effects
1:20 they were god damn right.
Great video, FF16 took all the blame for its artistic vision. I hope we get to have more videos like this!
Always a fan!
The characters look cool enough, but the rest is boring, not everybody loves GOT, I stopped watching it after the first season, the problem with FFXVI is it gives you much less unlike FFVII rebirth, you wanna control all your characters? NO! You wanna have plenty of Summons in the game, NO! You want some silly moments in the game? NO! Hell even FF Tactics has silly moments. Plus you only get FOUR characters in your team, thats another very weak point. Yeah its practically a one player rpg like Diablo nowadays so you are getting much less, but paying the same price.
There is nothing silly about playing a fire demon and literally jumping into space to fight a dragon! Extremely serious game!
- M
Why would you want to control other characters when Clive can do everything that everyone can do? I get your point of a party missing, but I really don't miss it because Clive can put everything together with smooth combos
Ff7 rebirth is not a complete game
Its story is just a part of ff7 and dragged out to hell to fit the game
I rather play 16 again to experience a whole journey also the game has silly moments in it
Also considering silly moments the 7 remakes added way too many silly moments the original ff7 is not that silly overall
How nerds be makin shit up cuz they can’t just let things be
Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth forever! ;D
Meh Final Fantasy XVI ;P waaaaay to dark and brutal and serious and war and tragedy and whatnot - not a good-mood game this one.
I’ll be straight up, this game was so fucking boring…I literally found myself nodding off during majority of its premise as if I was in class. Only time the story ever picked up was when you’d reach the mother crystals or whenever Ultima hit the screen. Ultima and Torgul were the best part of the game. And the moogle. World kinda sucked, traversal sucked more, and your literal movement was mad confined. No double jump, can’t vault over mad shit, and the fucking invisiwalls. like what? why are their so many invisible walls in an open world final fantasy game? I’m a severe die hard to the franchise and company, but this game was dead boring af. I just beat it finally last night and damn 😭😭 kaiju battles were beautiful and exquisite tho i will say that. But yeah, story sucked, plot holes everywhere, points of the plot that never got touched on again, but did have amazing combat. I’d give it a 6/10. Maybe a 7. Any other higher score this would have would be due to Ultima cuz that was one wavy ass antagonist fr. Every time he appeared I did feel the dread of his presence shit was nuts. But then he became super imperfect in the end which kinda sullied his whole characters arc, but it wasn’t that bad. Music was ofc beautiful af. Music 10, combat 10, Kaiju battles 100, emotion 7, story 4/5, traversal 4/5, pacing 5, side content 4, character design 10, world design 7, character interaction 8.
Instead of pissing off the old fanbase with a total change, why not make a new series?
You can really only justify a game of that size budget by attaching it to a known name.
- M
It would not draw as large of potential buyers.
I'll be honest i personally just won't play FF if it's not turn based in some way. I've always been drawn to gameplay first and anything else after.
But regardless of my 1 opinion glad people still got passionate about it.
I felt opposite, I have never played turn-based games because they are like unimmersive slogs akin to playing a football manager rather than a truly game. However, after a while I gave up and started to endure them, since the other aspects of those games are generally awesome. JUst wishing I could get over my hate for turn-based, so I would be able to enjoy these games more.
I think what they need is a new identity. They can’t make keep making drastic changes to the combat all the time. The story may have similar structures. But other jrpgs also has deep stories, while also having a stronger identity. I think if they retain the combat of 7 remake/rebirth while making adjustments for each game, they can cultivate a steady fanbase instead of constantly having one time fans that only gravitate to one game. It’s sad that even kingdom hearts has a more consistent identity than ff at this point.
I do love 16. But it’s combat will definitely not be replicated, because it’s tied to the main character. The same can be said for 15, but I don’t like that game. I would play games like 7 remake, but I would be skeptical of newer games because if the combat isn’t good, it’s a hit or miss. If they want to modernize the combat, that’s fine. But there needs to be consistency while also tying the characters story abilities into the combat.
I see your argument that story traditions have been consistent, but the ideas of fighting fate or finding identity have been in other jrpgs like xenoblade or persona, making ff no longer unique in that regard. There’s no longer anything unique about this series imo. I can be fan of specific games in the series, but I can’t be a fan of the series.
16 combat is perfectly fine if they wanted to carry it forward. Just like the games, and how combat evolved from 7 Remake to Rebirth, the combat systems from 16 will also evolve if it's allowed to. The obvious point of contention is that in 16, everything centered around Clive, but a future FF game can evolve that into a party wide combat easily enough.
My biggest issue with the combat, was that outside boss fights, the enemy AI, and even enemy variety was bare bones. You never had to strategize how to fight. You just mash the attack button, so it never fully makes use of the combat systems itself for huge portions of the game.
@ I agree with you about lack of enemy variety in 16. But I also feel a party system with this combat system wouldn’t work well either imo. That’s because party members would either feel optional, or the ai would do actions on their own. This is like kh and even xenoblade games. 7 remake/rebirth had the best party system for action rpgs because while the ai dodges and does basic attacks on their own, you need to control how they expend their main moves and other special abilities. You can also give them materia to automate some moves, but that’s the player’s choice. I think ff12’s combat is good for party gameplay, but I’m personally not a fan of it, I like 16 more. A good system should make each party member valuable and incentivize players to use them as they are a benefit. 15’s party system feels optional too, the combat was designed around Noctis, so he had all of the tools necessary to win. Again I like 16’s combat to some degree and I love kh even more, but the party system wouldn’t be feasible since both games are more combo focused rather than managing party members. The systems wouldn’t mesh well, so you would have to choose one or the other. If you try to do both, you’ll end up with a half baked combat system that doesn’t know what it’s trying to be.
I just found the game so boring. Very linear game and it commits the cardinal sin of every but the main characters being stupid.
Everyone else in the world lacks agency. They just do things the way they do them because thats how the world is. Games with deep world building are able to create a sense of the masses doing what they wish to do; not what the world tells them to do.
16 is gorgeous, no denying that.
But to me what makes a good Final Fantasy has always been about 2 things.
1: A insane story that hits your feelings and sparks your imagination.
2: Completely over the top action, nothing is beyond the party's power, want to open up a black hole or throw a meteor on a small enemy mob? you can do it.
Unfortunately both story and action have been scaled down over the years.
In 16 you even see all the amazing stuff Dominant's can do, only for Clive to have just a small fraction of that power.
And to make it worse, you get limited slots, so you can't even have all moves available at all times.
And the story, I don't know exactly how they are doing it wrong, but its just so extremely forgettable.
I've played it just a few months ago and I can barely remember most of the plot points aside from some of the more epic moments like when Barnabass is on screen.
I will repeat it tough, at the very least 16 looked incredibly great. I loved the designs of both environment and characters as I really wanted a medieval European styled Final Fantasy.
Saying that turn based combat and complex leveling mechanics are to blame for its decline are clearly unfounded.
Just look at Baldur's Gate 3.
I believe a Final Fantasy game would flourish making a game in the style of Baldur's Gate 3. (Granted, if they put as much love and care for detail in it as well.)
Square Really fails to see the core problem.
The theme of the Crystals and the legacy of the previous games are not more a burden, then they are a pillar they can build on.
Its the consumer trust and familiarity that was created with those past games.
The problem and decline in Final Fantasy is clear when you look at past titles.
11 was a MMO, so you alienated a large portion of your fandom, same for 14.
To this day I don' t know what those two stories are about, and I don't care as much when I try to read up about it either.
12 was oddly bad looking and its story barely remains in my mind (low story and you don't really feel powerful unless you summon.)
13 looked good but the combat felt very very weird and not very powerful unless you summoned as well.
Versus 13 was a masterpiece in the making, and was butchered and cut to a horrible slob called 15. With Noctis at his full power being the equivalent of the Noctis we saw in the prologue part of Versus 13.
Then also being used accost countless other games, as well as integrating multiple other games into 15 for pure commercial purposes.
Management should not blame the decline on the fans or how the fandom perceives the games.
Its simple mismanagement of the brand, plain and simple.
Versus 13 was one of the most important games for FF history, and Nomura should have been given more time, resources and people to complete it.
Instead the entire project was butchered and along with it the stable future for the FF brand.
The only thing somewhat keeping FF relevant atm is the 7 remake series.
And that project only keeps relevance due to, you guessed it: the aforementioned pillar.
The very pillar they want to get rid off.
Does the management see this? Likely not, and they are still trying to knock that pillar down.
As far as I know FF7 rebirth did not sell much more than 16 really
FF16 is their worst gameplay so far. it is so boring and dragged out. seriously awful
Wouldn't be an FF game if the third-quarter wasn't way too long and bloated. 😅
- M
@Nucanon_com the gameplay was horrible from start to mid of the game... I couldn't even finish it because it was so bad
skill issue, the game is an hack n slash, if you can't even try and learn combos the shame's on you
@gabrielnovais871 it's a brainless and easy hack and slash. That's the point. The previous games were tactical and at least required some thinking. The game doesn't require any form of skill and that is the issue
@@gennousuke69 ruclips.net/video/039S7Bbf7qs/видео.html&ab_channel=Selchlightwarden / I truly can't see how this is braindead, but thanks for being respectful :). The game forces this type of playstyle but ONLY on Ultimaniac, which is a shame to be fair, since this difficulty is tied with Arcade Mode
XVI just sucked. I beat it and never even tried the DLC. World is empty and side quests weren't really rewarding at all. I REALLY hope XVII goes back to what made me love the series.
Side quests were fine better than whatever those in 7 were where its just extra work thats not worth any reward
This game SUCKED. Beautiful but soulless. When I realized I could ONLY play as Clive I said " NOT FINAL FANTASY ANYMORE" 👎
But it is a final fantasy game its story carries that spirit
Clive is also a one man army and thats kinda a point in the story with the eikon abilities
mainline final fantasy has been dead since 13 came out
Well they release 14, 15, and 16 and those lasts 3 are mainline too