Final Fantasy XVI
OpenCritic Rating
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
Final Fantasy XVI Trailers
FINAL FANTASY XVI – Ascension Trailer
FINAL FANTASY XVI - Requiem Live Action Trailer
FINAL FANTASY XVI Launch Trailer SALVATION
Critic Reviews for Final Fantasy XVI
Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.
A smart combat system straining under the weight of a characterful but ponderous pseudo-medieval soap opera, with some of the grandest bosses and dullest sidequests in FF history.
The game is by no means perfect – its pacing is inconsistent and side quests can be hit or miss – but the combination of the combat and the story at large are strong enough to reduce any complaints to minor quibbles. Recently, Square Enix has come out to say that Final Fantasy can take on many different forms depending on the team behind it, and the folks at Creative Business Unit III have found a way to make this latest game their own. There is so much joy and care put into making sure that this experience feels epic and rewards its fan base, even though it’s doing a lot of new things. Final Fantasy 16 is proof that the unexpected can be just as enjoyable as the tried and true.
Final Fantasy 16 is a bold new benchmark for the series that puts emotional complexity and courageous world building at the forefront. Clive Rosfield’s epic journey is defined by constant bouts of hurt and tragedy, but it’s also lined with an inescapable aura of hope in how our heroes are fighting for a world worth saving. Every person you meet and village saved from ruin are worth protecting, with heartfelt dialogue and ferocious combat mixing together in service of an RPG that, while flawed and glacial in some spots, I’d struggle to label as anything other than a triumph.
An excellent battle system shackled to a dispiritingly dull and long-winded fantasy adventure, that takes an inordinate amount of time to say nothing of value.
It's the kind of gamble that Final Fantasy has happily made in the past so that the series may reinvent itself to execute the type of story its creatives want to tell. Time will tell if Final Fantasy 16 pays off, but history certainly supports it.
When I look back at my time with Clive, his friends, his enemies, and Valisthea, it’s those highs that I vividly remember. FFXVI is very different from its predecessors, but in many ways, very familiar; And it’s still a Final Fantasy, through and through, reminding me why I love this series so much.
