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Final Fantasy XVI



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The Dead Skin

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Yup. XIV was understandable though; still, 2.0 made up for it in spades anyway.

I can name a few reasons.

1. Those three games all bear long scars from the tenure of Square Enix's first post-merger CEO, Yoichi Wada. I don't believe Wada alone is to blame, but considering the preferred method of solving problems at his time was "throw more money at it lel", it's not hard to see the pattern. That's how SQEX gave us two sequels to XIII; "we blew a truckload of money on this, might as well make good on it."

2. A huge chunk of XIII's development time was, in fact, devoted to its proprietary engine: Crystal Tools. In the meantime, the developers at Business Division 1 just couldn't figure out in what direction to take the gameplay; it didn't even have a battle system until The Powers That Be™ forced BD1 to make a demo for the FFVII: Advent Children Complete Blu-Ray.

Add to that some public-relations blowups (passing PS3 screenshots as X360...) and a localization that blew a huge chunk of the story to the ground, and you have... one of my favorite FF games, actually, but it drew a lot of heat from just about everyone else. Someone at IGN, especially.

3. You already know what happened with XIV.

4. Oh boy. Ignoring its vaporware history as Versus XIII, XV somehow repeated many of XIII's wounds. It was supposed to be made by the Kingdom Hearts II developers, then was abruptly passed on to Business Division 2 (Type-0) on another proprietary engine (Luminous Studio), while somehow repeating several of XIII's development wounds—down to the Episode Duscae demo, which was bundled with Type-0 HD and played very differently from the final game.

The script was still being heavily rewritten months before release, which probably made the story a lot messier. Finally, SQEX put out a plethora of badly-advertised tie-ins; and a "live service" formula that ended in the game's director quitting, and half its DLCs being cancelled and stuffed into a book. One PR disaster after another, oops!

The XV developers, now without their old director, are soldiering on at Luminous Productions and its as-yet-untitled Project Athia; I honestly hope they'll be okay.

If XIII got more heat than it deserved, XV got a volcanic eruption. It was a development so disorganized and excessive, it's probably not something anyone involved would rather talk about.
 
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Idreamaboutcats

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Yeesh…I knew some of the reasons but didn’t know it was that bad to such an extent. I hope they learn from their mistakes with XVI. I’m just glad it’s all gone now. The missing NPCs, scripts that don’t make sense, fucking “jiggle physics”. Let it all die and stay dead.
 

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I think it's very fair to say crystal tools and luminous left Square Enix in the wildernesses for a good decade or so. But in reality that all stemmed from their absolutely crap tier business decisions, which it seems like they're no longer engaging in (for the most part)
 

The Dead Skin

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I think it's very fair to say crystal tools and luminous left Square Enix in the wildernesses for a good decade or so. But in reality that all stemmed from their absolutely crap tier business decisions, which it seems like they're no longer engaging in (for the most part)

Not just SQEX. A lot of developers/publishers, like EA and SEGA got bitten back by in-house engines; maybe someone saw the writing on the wall? That's why a lot of their recent games have just used Unity (Mobius FF, I Am Setsuna, SaGa: Scarlet Grace) or Unreal (Dragon Quest XI, FFVII Remake, KHIII, The Last Remnant).

Speaking of... did anyone confirm that XVI is using Crystal Tools? Spockanort posted about it earlier but I'm actually curious now.
 
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2 quid is good

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Speaking of... did anyone confirm that XVI is using Crystal Tools? Spockanort posted about it earlier but I'm actually curious now.
All I've seen on the topic is that it's using the same engine as 14, which uses Crystal tools and I believe some variant of luminous for lighting, but don't hold me to it
 

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A Land Blessed in the Light of the Mothercrystals
Final Fantasy XVI’s adventure takes place in a land called Valisthea, which is studded with colossal mountains of glittering crystal called Mothercrystals. These Mothercrystals have towered over the realms around them for generations, blessing them with aether. This blessing of the Mothercrystals has allowed these realms to thrive, and their people to live in comfort.

Countless wars have been fought over the Mothercrystals all around the land, leading to the rise of nations such as the Grand Duchy of Rosaria, the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, the Kingdom of Waloed, the Dhalmekian Republic, and the Iron Kingdom, each with their own culture and ideology. Ongoing skirmishes have forged an uneasy peace between these nations, but with the emergence of the ruinous Blight, that fragile peace is starting to deteriorate.

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Three characters swept up by the winds of fate
There was a lot of speculation, but yes, the young knight and the tattooed man in the “Awakening” trailer are one and the same. His name is Clive Rosfield, and he’s the main protagonist of this game. The firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria, Clive is a Shield who protects his younger brother Joshua, the Dominant of the Phoenix. Joshua bestowed the Blessing of the Phoenix upon him, giving Clive the ability to wield a part of the Eikon’s fire. However, as the story unfolds, he is swept up into a great tragedy.

Joshua Rosfield is Clive’s younger brother and also the Dominant of the Phoenix—Eikon of Fire. Dominants are special beings who have the power of an Eikon residing within them. As a Dominant, Joshua transforms into the Phoenix and fights to protect his nation. Even though he was born into royalty, Joshua treats everyone with kindness, but he does have his childlike side, too, with a particular dislike of carrots.

The two brothers find a confidant in Jill Warrick, who was raised alongside them. At an early age, Jill was taken from her homeland in the Northern Territories—a nation that swore loyalty to the Grand Duchy of Rosaria—to become a ward of the duchy, securing peace between the two realms. She spends her childhood years with Clive and Joshua as a member of the Rosfield household.

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The Eikons and the Dominants that threaten the world
For those familiar with the Final Fantasy series, you may know Eikons as “Summons”, and they are without a doubt the most destructive and lethal creatures in Valisthea. Wielding powers that can level nations, Eikons reside within special beings called Dominants. How Dominants are treated depends on the realm—in some they are revered as royalty, while in others they are sent to the frontlines as weapons of war.

In the “Awakening” trailer, Eikons such as the Phoenix, Titan, Shiva, and Ifrit make an appearance. As for questions about how many other Eikons there are in Valisthea, who they are, and what will happen when they come to blows, well…you’ll just have to wait for a future reveal to find out!

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The Crystalline Dominion

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The Crystalline Dominion sits at the heart of Valisthea, built around the tallest of all the Mothercrystals, Drake's Tail. Many bloody battles were fought for control of this small plot of land due to its strategic importance, till the warring realms finally agreed to an armistice. As part of the peace treaty, the islands around Drake's Tail became an autonomous dominion led by a council of representatives from the surrounding nations—each realm enjoying equal claim to the Mothercrystal's blessing. No Dominant makes their home there.


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The Dhalmekian Republic

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The Dhalmekian Republic is made up of five states, from which the members of its ruling parliament are drawn. Its Mothercrystal, Drake's Fang, is half-hidden in the heart of a mountain range—the republic's control over it, and its aether, securing the obedience of the large part of southern Valisthea. The Dominant of Titan, Eikon of Earth, is installed as a special advisor to parliament and has a significant say in its decision-making.




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The Iron Kingdom

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A small group of islands off the coast of Storm, the western half of Valisthea's twin realms. Here the Crystalline Orthodox, an extreme faith that worships crystals, reigns supreme. The Iron Kingdom controls Drake's Breath, the Mothercrystal that sits at the heart of one of their islands—long a source of contention with neighboring Rosaria. Isolated and aloof from the mainland nations, the Ironblood speak their own language. Orthodox doctrine judges Dominants to be unholy abominations, and any unlucky enough to be born on the islands are executed.

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The Grand Duchy of Rosaria

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Long ago, a group of small independent provinces in western Valisthea found strength in unity, and formed the Grand Duchy of Rosaria. After years of relative prosperity, the duchy now finds itself threatened by the spread of the Blight—a threat that, left unchecked, would doubtless usher the realm to ruin. Rosaria draws its aether from Drake's Breath, a Mothercrystal situated on a volcanic island off the coast. The Dominant of the Phoenix, Eikon of Fire, is enthroned as Archduke when they come of age.

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The Holy Empire of Sanbreque

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Sanbreque is the largest theocratic force in Valisthea. The Empire's holy capital Oriflamme is built around Drake's Head, the Mothercrystal that blesses the surrounding provinces with abundant aether. The people happily take advantage of this, living in comfort and security under the watchful gaze of the Holy Emperor, whom they worship as the living incarnation of the one true deity. The Dominant of serves as the empire's champion, taking to the field in times of war to rout its enemies.


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The Kingdom of Waloed

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Waloed claims the entirety of Ash, the eastern half of Valisthea, as its dominion. The kingdom's control of the continent has oft been tested by the orcs and other beastmen who make their home there, but the current ruler of the realm—Dominant of —has succeeded in quelling their rebellions. Using the power of the kingdom's Mothercrystal, Drake's Spine, this new king has built up a mighty army, with which he now seeks to test the borders of his neighbors.


 

MATGSY

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Clive Rosfield=Chris Redfield, he's even got a Jill by his side.
 

AdrianXXII

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Oh there's a lot of good information here. I'd have never guessed that Clive and Joshua are supposed to be brothers, that should make for an interesting character dynamic.

The wording here also supports that there should only be one Eikon per element, calling the Phoenix "Eikon of Fire", though I might be reading into things here.

Not sure how I feel about not-sister Jill. Her status reminds me of the romantic interest that's practically a sister, but technically not. Which personally I've never been keen on. Though it's nice to know there'll be at least one significant female protagonist.
 

Xblade13

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Woah that's a lot of info! Maybe it really is coming earlier than we might think. Holiday 2021, or sometime 2022 perhaps?

And that's precisely what I figured this game would have: intensive world building. Already we have several kingdoms with different cultures and such, the Mothercrystals being giant real-world monoliths is definitely a stylistic thing I was surprised to see, and we have three main characters Clive, Joshua, and Jill. Whether all three are party members, we have yet to meet actual party members, or if this will be a solo Clive story remains to be seen.
 

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Clive.... All I can think of is my old physics teacher who, while a very nice guy, definitely isn't what I'd call protagonist material.

The names remind me intensely of Enid Blyton but I love everything else a hell of a lot, especially that concept art, it kinda looks like a fantasy London
 

The Dead Skin

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The Empire is named "Sanbreque"? Good to know. One time I fansubbed the Awakening trailer and misheard it as "Samberg" (from ザンベルク Zanberuku), so I feel kinda silly lol.
 

Sephiroth0812

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Wow, that all looks so pretty, especially the blue-golden city which I assume to be Oriflamme, the capital of Sanbreque.

These Kingdom Banners give both a Type-0 and Game of Thrones-esque feeling and most of them seem to incorporate their "main" Eikon.

Phoenix for Rosaria,
seemingly Ixion for Waloed and Leviathan or Bahamut for Sanbreque.
They're called the "Holy Empire" so one is tempted to think Alexander being their main Eikon, but on the lower middle of their banner are two mirrored beasts that could be interpreted as either a draconic snake (like Leviathan) or an asian-type dragon (possible hint towards Bahamut) .

Dhalmekia, which is an interesting combination of "Dalmasca" from FF XII and "Palamecia" from FF II has Titan according to the description, although since it is said to be a Republic made of five individual member states I could imagine each member state having an Eikon.
Their sigil/banner seems to have the "classical" chinese/asian elements incorporated though, fire, air, water, earth and what looks to be either wood or metal (the smaller sigil on the lower right which looks like three claws/thorns on a blue/purple background).

Now the Iron Kingdom does not have any living things on their banner, but there is a "fiery" crystal in reddish colors so I would theorize their main Eikon being Ifrit, but since they apparently mercilessly kill Dominants I doubt that Ifrit's Dominant would work in any official manner for them.

Oh there's a lot of good information here. I'd have never guessed that Clive and Joshua are supposed to be brothers, that should make for an interesting character dynamic.

The wording here also supports that there should only be one Eikon per element, calling the Phoenix "Eikon of Fire", though I might be reading into things here.

Not sure how I feel about not-sister Jill. Her status reminds me of the romantic interest that's practically a sister, but technically not. Which personally I've never been keen on. Though it's nice to know there'll be at least one significant female protagonist.
Yea, me neither. It is completely possible though that their parents have one black and one blond hair and each of the brothers take after a different parent.
From the descriptions given I would assume that Clive goes more after their father while Joshua takes more from their mother.

Since both Ifrit and Phoenix are already confirmed to exist I doubt this, also since for example the Dhalmekian Republic seems to incorporate five different elements in their banner.

Sure, the "raised together then becoming love interest"-scenario is one of the oldest and some may say overused ways to incorporate romance plot lines but I dare say such things are to be expected in works that aim to take it easy on such things.
Don't say "significant female protagonist" just yet because promotional material claiming a character to be important does not automatically translate to having heavy narrative focus and/or being playable.
 

Zettaflare

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The Eikons being sealed within humans reminds me of the Jinchiruriki from Naruto. Especially with how they are treated in different nations

Also carrots are absolutely delicious Joshua. And good for you.
 
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Rydgea

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Who's editing the thread title to something snappy, like the others: FFXVI - Eat your carrots, Josh.

Whenever someone/thing is given the same name in a Final Fantasy game, I instinctively presume there are similarities. I know it isn't spelled the same, but I wonder what parallels we may see between this new Jill and Ms. Nabaat.
 

Elysium

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@Sephiroth0812: Dhalmekia made me think of Dalmasca, too.

Are there supposed to be words added in the last two descriptions at a later date to "Dominant of _______"? So far, sounds interesting. The artwork of Clive reminded me of Squall—just the pose, I guess. I love the artwork of Joshua though; he’s the one I’m most interested in so far. Why are there "orcs" in a FF game? Aren't orcs a LOTR-specific creation?
 

AdrianXXII

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Yea, me neither. It is completely possible though that their parents have one black and one blond hair and each of the brothers take after a different parent.
From the descriptions given I would assume that Clive goes more after their father while Joshua takes more from their mother.
Yeah, I'd think so too. From the nation's description it seems that either their father or mother was the Dominant before Joshua. My guess is it was their mother, seeing the dialog indicates their father is still alive. Unless an Eikon can have multiple ones at the same time, which doesn't seem to be the case from what I've seen so far.

Since both Ifrit and Phoenix are already confirmed to exist I doubt this, also since for example the Dhalmekian Republic seems to incorporate five different elements in their banner.
When I wrote this, the banners and little blurbs for the nations weren't posted yet.

I was thinking that each Eikon would have it's own element which would make Ifrit's appearance a big abnormality, seeing there shouldn't be another fire Eikon. But with The Dhalmekian Republic having five elements depicted in their banner I feel I'm probably wrong.

Sure, the "raised together then becoming love interest"-scenario is one of the oldest and some may say overused ways to incorporate romance plot lines but I dare say such things are to be expected in works that aim to take it easy on such things.
Don't say "significant female protagonist" just yet because promotional material claiming a character to be important does not automatically translate to having heavy narrative focus and/or being playable.
Very true, she just might end up being the Kairi of the group. Included in the art work and depicted as the third member of the group, but sidelined and forgotten in the actual story.
 

Sephiroth0812

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Yeah, I'd think so too. From the nation's description it seems that either their father or mother was the Dominant before Joshua. My guess is it was their mother, seeing the dialog indicates their father is still alive. Unless an Eikon can have multiple ones at the same time, which doesn't seem to be the case from what I've seen so far.
Indeed, the description says the Dominant of the Phoenix becomes the Archduke/Archduchess of Rosaria once of sufficient age to rule, so I would guess that Phoenix stays in the same family and just moves from generation to generation picking its "host" as that seems to be what Dominants are.

On the other hand though in the character descriptions it states that a Dominant has the power of an Eikon residing within them and they can transform into it, but not specifically the Eikon itself being inside them. Maybe the Eikons themselves actually stay in the Mother Crystals and are linked to the outside world through the Dominants and can fully manifest only through them.

In this case it would be at least possible for multiple people being connected to the same Eikon, so even if Joshua is the current Dominant (and those seem to be unique), his father or mother could still have a connection to Phoenix, with the role of Dominant passed down to already mark the successor before the current ruler perishes so he can be sufficiently taught and prepared for his role.
In Joshua's section the description also states that a Dominant can apparently "bless" other people with the powers of their Eikons which he apparently did for his older brother Clive, maybe this process can actually mark people for Phoenix to be chosen as the next Dominant if the need arises, similar to the way potential Keyblade Wielders are chosen in KH.

When I wrote this, the banners and little blurbs for the nations weren't posted yet.

I was thinking that each Eikon would have it's own element which would make Ifrit's appearance a big abnormality, seeing there shouldn't be another fire Eikon. But with The Dhalmekian Republic having five elements depicted in their banner I feel I'm probably wrong.
Ah, ok.

Ifrit is normally the standard Fire-elemental summon though while Phoenix, while also having a fire theme, was in most of the older FFs where it appeared in mainly a summon representing life and rebirth.

Right now, also keeping the Banner of the Dhalmekian Republic in mind, I theorize that each Mother Crystal might have their own set of Eikons which includes one for each element, but not all of them might be active in each crystal, so Ifrit might be the fire-elemental Eikon of a different Crystal which maybe awakened just recently.

Furthermore, all the Mother Crystals having "Drake" in their name which can also be translated to Dragon make me think of them as parts of a huge, big apocalyptic dragon which might have been slain somehow in the distant past of Valisthea, maybe Tiamat or Shinryu?

Very true, she just might end up being the Kairi of the group. Included in the art work and depicted as the third member of the group, but sidelined and forgotten in the actual story.
I certainly hope it won't go to these extremes, lol. But I generally remain skeptic to such generic descriptions until we see more and get even more info about the general story.

That said though, I honestly find both Jill and Joshua far more interesting than Clive so far, despite him being supposedly the main protag.

---
@Tartarus : Yea, the name is very similar and if Valisthea has largely the same climate regions like most fantasy worlds Dhalmeika located in the south would mean they too having largely warm weather.

From the sound of the description though Dhalmekia seems to be much more powerful than Dalmasca when they control large parts of the south realms of the bigger continent.

I too find both Jill and Joshua more interesting right now, with Josh I would assume there's the fact we already get to know some more small personal tidbits about him which makes him stand out a little from the other two so far. Despite being a "blue blood" he's stated to be a kind person yet capable of fighting and already has a humanizing quirk/trait to him with disliking carrots.
Him intimately linked to Phoenix might also be a factor since I can't recall when we last had a FF where a central character was closely linked to this specific summon which also often takes a backseat despite its potential vast powers and uses.

Orcs are if I recall correctly one of the "standard" "evil" fantasy races and while Tolkien and LotR made them possibly most famous by picking them up first in the 20th century they do exist in other works like Warhammer 40.000, Dungeons and Dragons, Warcraft and others.

Final Fantasy explicitly having them is new though as so far the series only had "Goblins" or "Imps" I think, not "official" Orcs.
 

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XVI looks amazing and i am glad it's not half assing its action elements like XV did.
 

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FF16 already looks better then FF15, I did enjoy ff15 (even tho it didn’t deliver as much as I hoped, I guess that’s what we get for overhyping things) but soo far ff16 looks more promising, and I already like the new main character he looks Cool.
 
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