Final Fantasy XVI Reviews
A bold change of direction for the Final Fantasy series that almost manages to pull it off. Grandiose combat and great performances are the highlights, but a largely funneled story and underdeveloped environments sour the spectacle.
Final Fantasy XVI is the definitive real-time combat experience of the series. It expands the horizons of the franchise and mixes the concepts of RPG and Hack & Slash into one masterpiece. Being by far the most epic installment of the franchise yet, it delivers an astonishing soundtrack, a dark-themed story with deep characters and relationships, and an unmatched feeling in combat that even the most experienced will be in awe with.
Final Fantasy XVI creates an unforgettable experience and continues the legacy of Final Fantasy.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Final Fantasy XVI is one of this year’s best games that flawlessly marries the design and narrative sensibilities of Japanese and Western RPGs in a manner that is simply spell-binding.
Spectacular, with an epic story and astonishing graphics: and yet, Final Fantasy XVI forgets what is really important for the series. It's impossibile to create a build and there's nothing important left for you to manage through the menus. Proper RPG options are gone, dungeons are just banal corridors, players are forced to play the entire game in easy mode and you can beat the game with literally no effort. There's a decent base for the future, but it's not enough to see a real rebirth for the saga.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Final Fantasy 16 isn't just a stellar video game with gorgeous graphics and incredible combat. It's also an emotionally engaging experience and the absolute peak of everything the series stands for.
Final Fantasy XVI melds the best of the series’ themes with a modern, malleable take on combat—creating a heartrending, generation-defining tale of revenge, fate, and freedom.
PlatinumGames' influence on Final Fantasy's action combat is a massive step in the right direction. That, combined with a thrilling war epic narrative and interesting characters makes for one fantastic game.
If you like Game of Thrones-style intrigue and drama, you will like Final Fantasy XVI. It takes itself very seriously and lacks any fun diversions to mix up the experience. Final Fantasy XVI delivers a truly Westernized take on Final Fantasy with simplistic hack-and-slash combat that will appease average gamers.
Still, it is an excellent action game with perhaps one of the medium's most likeable protagonists in recent times. Final Fantasy XVI is a worthy return for an iconic franchise — that much is clear. Whether this success can light the path for future Final Fantasy games and elevate the series to its past heights, is perhaps a trickier question to answer.
Final Fantasy 16 combines the flashiness of games like Devil May Cry 5 with a compelling story about family, hardship and eudaimonia. It is not without flaws, with its formulaic side missions, pacing issues, and inconsistent open-world design. However, Final Fantasy XVI is still one of the best games in the Final Fantasy series. With some of the best cutscenes and animation in the industry, along with compelling characters and mesmerizing moments, Final Fantasy 16 is undoubtedly one of the best games to play on the PlayStation 5.
While it would be easy to look at Final Fantasy XVI from certain angles and proclaim something looks rough when looked at as a single package and a sum of its whole, this is a fantastic game. The cinematic flair, crazy action combat and extremely involved story with a nice side dish of world building make this a game worth playing. This is likely to appeal to fans of most character action games but also to those who just want another cool Final Fantasy to get lost in. Absolutely get this game.
Overall, Final Fantasy XVI is a phenomenal gaming experience that I enjoyed from start to finish. With dynamic gameplay, amazing characters, and an emotional storyline, new and old fans alike will love the latest entry in the franchise.
FFXVI fulfills basic elements of the series. This is total visual feast and beatifully crafted game. If you are willing to open your mind and don't require all the stuff from the past, you are here for a treat in terms of story, characters, the world, wild action game fights and astonishing soundtrack.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Final Fantasy XVI may not be perfect, and surely some changes may not be welcomed by the fans of the older games, but these changes are necessary to push the series forward, and one day, all these new changes will be the ones that we know and love the Final Fantasy series for.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Final Fantasy XVI continues to push the series into a new direction. While it has a well-realized setting, good characters, satisfying combat, and excellent cinematic large scale battles, the slow pacing, lackluster RPG elements and barebones optional content grind the excitement to a halt too often.
Final Fantasy XVI is one of those very rare masterpieces with issues. Developed by a stellar team, the game shines when it comes to story and combat, but fails in other aspects like narrative structure, itemization and RPG elements.
My tastes have changed over the years, and I neglected certain franchise titles in that time. However, despite its missteps, I can wholeheartedly say Final Fantasy 16 managed to bring together in one title the things I loved about the earlier series’ entries, all while making most of the experience fresh and entertaining. The grim-dark tone, spectacular “kaiju battles,” and grandiose transformations with over-the-top action kept me entertained.
This is how big-budget games should be. They should feel like they’ve had time, effort and money thrown behind them, but they should never feel like the “business” side of things is more important than the “creative” side of things. So many modern triple-A games get that completely wrong, and Final Fantasy XVI puts those titles to shame. It’s an absolutely magnificent video game, and one I hope is looked back on as a major milestone in the series.