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Final Fantasy XVI



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Rydgea

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There shouldn't be anything "complain" about when we've all only seen one trailer and nobody has a clear grasp of what this game will end up like.

Although, I'm starting to hope the art direction stays as is, a bit raw and natural, if for the sake of substance versus style. There have been many an SE game that I feel prioritized the less important of those two.
 
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I'm content with the reveal as it was. SE usually does those "proof of concept" trailers that do nothing but show that the game is 4-5 years away. It's a frustrating habit of theirs. While they can be visually stunning trailers or great teasers, they always were a sign of a long wait.

With this, I feel like I can be certain we'll get our hands on it in late 2021 or 2022 because it's clearly a game that is already years deep into development.

I mean... it’s Square. We should be expecting about 3-4 release delays. 😂
 

rokudamia2

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I'm content with the reveal as it was. SE usually does those "proof of concept" trailers that do nothing but show that the game is 4-5 years away. It's a frustrating habit of theirs. While they can be visually stunning trailers or great teasers, they always were a sign of a long wait.

With this, I feel like I can be certain we'll get our hands on it in late 2021 or 2022 because it's clearly a game that is already years deep into development.

I would love a glitzy Visual Works trailer and a bunch of concept art and other staples of earlier reveals, but I'm happier to wait for all of that stuff later in the marketing cycle if it means we get more actual content from the game proving it is a real, working game and not some sort of target render like FFXV, FF7R or KH3 had when they were revealed or had their first gameplay reveal.


I agree with the this. Compared to XIII XIV and XV we actually saw in engine gameplay and cutscene. So that's interesting about how they were announced. I can't help but feel this is due to Matsuda. All three of those games were announced when Wada was CEO
 

the red monster

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To add into the battle system discussion, i do hope future FF games will stay action based or like VIIR.
turn based games for me feel a bit boring and outdated at this point and time. the only game i still like it in is pokemon.
 

Idreamaboutcats

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A little late to the party, but a mainline entry after so long, thank God!😣

The trailer's a little vague, but I think it follows the basic formula.

Attack/dethrone/kill God and/or wannabe-God - ☑
Something something crystals - ☑
Summons are plot relevant - ☑
Defying fate - ☑

Crystal Tools

Ohhh come on😩

Also, why am I getting Jean Grey vibes from this? I certainly hope not. Not exactly the biggest fan of Marvel here.
 

SuperSaiyanSora

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Hmm that's a good point. In that case I kinda wish he was more distinct looking, like at least different colored hair or something. Oh well. XD

This seems to be a trailer that reflects how early they are in development, so you never know, design changes do happen! After all, FFXV had a pretty big wardrobe change when it officially became a numbered title. And KH3's very first trailer showed KH2 Sora. I like to think that 2021 will have a lot of information that people are looking for.

Despite people's issues with E3, I really hope it returns in June. Summer Games Fest was ass. The only things that made it exciting were the Xbox and Sony Showcases and State of Play live streams. At least with E3, all the games get announced at one place. COVID will still be an issue in 2021, but I hope they can just do a stream schedule where it's back to back like how it used to work.


I would love to see a female main antagonist. It’s crazy how Ultimecia is the only one in the entire series (I don’t count Cloud of Darkness since it’s genderless), and to be honest she’s actually one of the best of all the antagonists in my opinion. Unapologetically evil with no sad back story that makes you feel bad for her, like pretty much all of the other FF antagonists (except Kefka).

Reminds me of the days when we thought Jihl Nabaat was going to be a villain... Only for her to have basically zero screen time and get dusted immediately. It'd be nice to have a villain like Ultimecia again.

I have a theory that not many are going to like... I think that many Japanese developers, including Square Enix and even certain Nintendo directors like the Paper Mario one, may think that turn based combat isn't a stylistic choice, but instead purely an archaic one. Hence the reason it has been relegated to more "indie", non-AAA games like Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default. After all, one of the main complaints about Pokemon is that it is still a turn based RPG believe it or not. Many directors and game designers in Japan might think of turn based RPGs as an archaic, retro game design, and thus I have a hard time imagining them ever returning to it for mainline Final Fantasy.

Yeah, this is essentially what I want to say. In terms of mainline Final Fantasy, turn-based combat is officially dead until further notice. That's why Bravely Default is a thing, that can be the turn-based combat game that people like. And sure, maybe people feel that BD doesn't have the charm of a FF game... But it's not all the games early on in FF were brimming with charm either. And BD has tons of charm.

As much as people were praising Persona 5 for it's turn-based combat and even used that as a defense... Atlus was planning on making it more of an Action RPG back in its earlier development period, so imagine how that would've been received.

I think many people forget this, but the only reason why FFXV is an ARPG is because Versus XIII was supposed to play just like a Kingdom Hearts game does. When it was upgraded to a numbered title, it was already too far in development to strip it for something more traditional. Plus the world design doesn't really work for turn-based combat anyway. If Versus had released, the FFXV in that scenario likely would've been turn-based too but with more freedom than FFXIII's.
 

2 quid is good

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While I definitely enjoy action gameplay, I don't think turn based is outdated, or slow, just that it's perceived as such. Like any battle system it is what you make of it (for the most part)

If Square really wanted to the could incorporate a modern fast paced turn based combat which imo is what FF7Rs combat (I can't really call it pure action). Definitely not a bad thing and I was very pleasantly surprised by it.

Also, I feel a few people are getting a little muddled up with how they're saying things. I've seen quite a lot of people complain about the dark atmosphere of the trailer and an equal amount of people hitting back at that, but I don't necessarily think fans are complaining about blood and gore, just the visual dark palette used here. Again, this is probably something that'll stop being a complaint once we see more of the game
 

BadgerBC

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I've been waiting to see what the next Final Fantasy will look like, and I love that it has a more medieval fantasy look. We've been getting a lot of moder-futuristic settings in FF.

The summons, I think they called them Icons, have amazing designs. Ifrit looks demonic.

Looks like we have a young prince, the bodyguard, and someone in a high position as the main characters to play.

The combat so far looks one on one, which I think is just testing combat and hopefully we get to see party combat in the future.
 

Deliverance

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I sympathize with those turned based fans because for a series with so many spin-off titles, it really shouldn’t be too much to ask for the mainline games to have a consistent gameplay style. Like there’s really no reason to have numbers at this point.

I’m of the opinion that if a series gets stale it’s perfectly fine to just stop and make something new.
 

2 quid is good

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I sympathize with those turned based fans because for a series with so many spin-off titles, it really shouldn’t be too much to ask for the mainline games to have a consistent gameplay style. Like there’s really no reason to have numbers at this point.

I’m of the opinion that if a series gets stale it’s perfectly fine to just stop and make something new.
I don't agree with this when it comes to Final Fantasy mostly because every game is a brand new experience, and ever since FF2 the series has been constantly experimenting with gameplay styles. FF8 and FF10 are both turn based but in SUCH different ways, moving into action combat is not a big deal I think, especially with the way it was implemented in FF7R
 

Oracle Spockanort

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I sympathize with those turned based fans because for a series with so many spin-off titles, it really shouldn’t be too much to ask for the mainline games to have a consistent gameplay style. Like there’s really no reason to have numbers at this point.

I’m of the opinion that if a series gets stale it’s perfectly fine to just stop and make something new.

The numbers merely represent new entries in the series. The common thread between the games is not the gameplay style which has always changed since the beginning of FF, but rather the application of common lore aspects.

Crystals, magic, summons, man vs god, etc.

FF is not it’s gameplay.

And FF hasn’t gotten stale. Literally everything they do for every release is to make sure it doesn’t grow stale.

You are saying they should end a series that has grown stale, and yet every FF has been a brand new experience that gains millions of fans.
 
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SweetYetSalty

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Umm, is it silly that I'm very excited to see how some of the iconic monsters will look? Like I'm sure they'll look mostly similar to their FFXV or FFVII Remake looks, but I always grew eager to see the next gen of Tonberry, Bombs, Malboros, Behemoths, Cactuars, Flans, Iron Giants etc. Even the lowly Sahagin. I always rub my hands together when I get to see them as enemies in new games, just as much as the summons.
 

Luminary

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So premise seems to be that the young protagonist is supposed to protect Joshua, fails, and becomes a mercenary. We’ll be playing in both time periods, but it isn’t clear to what extent.

Some humans are dominants for summons, known as Eikons (taken from SE’s subtitles for the trailer, so considering the spelling official for now.) This means the person serves as a vessel for the Eikon and can even use some of their powers, such as when Joshua, the Phoenix Dominant, is seen healing the protagonist. I’m guessing Joshua either dies or is captured by opposing forces after that fight with Ifrit, which leads to the protagonist becoming a mercenary and swearing revenge against Ifrit’s Dominant.

The playable character can use attacks from various Eikons, but I’m hoping that only the Dominants can actually transform into them and use them in battle, which might make party members more likely. Also, I’m hoping there are a LOT of Eikons. With FFXV only having the six Astrals, I’d love to see more of a variety this time around. I know they’re a lot to render, but I think the PS5 can handle it. Also, the game will score extra points if Eikons are playable.

While the game play looks like a hack and slash, I think it’s too soon to define the genre it falls into since we don’t have a UI. I don’t need it to be turn based, but I’d love some kind of ATB gauge for special abilities like FFVIIR had. But as long as it isn’t “hold button to auto-attack,” I will probably enjoy it.

I think the graphics look just fine for this stage of development. We shouldn’t forget how much FFVIIR and KH3 improved graphically in their last year of production. The only thing that was particularly jarring for me was the barren wasteland behind Shiva. It’s such an epic moment between these two godlike beings, but the bland environment just sucks the life out of the scene for me. I hope they add more to it for the final product.
 
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Umm, is it silly that I'm very excited to see how some of the iconic monsters will look? Like I'm sure they'll look mostly similar to their FFXV or FFVII Remake looks, but I always grew eager to see the next gen of Tonberry, Bombs, Malboros, Behemoths, Cactuars, Flans, Iron Giants etc. Even the lowly Sahagin. I always rub my hands together when I get to see them as enemies in new games, just as much as the summons.
Me too and that snippet of battle against a Malboro looks amazing
 

Oracle Spockanort

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Wanted to make note that Joshua and the MC have the same earring. I wonder if that might connect them to each other or if it is just a physical representation of the MC being Joshua's shield.

MC still wears the earring even when he is older.
 

Ballad of Caius

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Wanted to make note that Joshua and the MC have the same earring. I wonder if that might connect them to each other or if it is just a physical representation of the MC being Joshua's shield.

MC still wears the earring even when he is older.
Assuming Prince Joshua turns evil, it'd be interesting to explore the relationship between the "Shield" (Guardian) and his royalty turning bad.
 

Deliverance

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I don't agree with this when it comes to Final Fantasy mostly because every game is a brand new experience, and ever since FF2 the series has been constantly experimenting with gameplay styles. FF8 and FF10 are both turn based but in SUCH different ways, moving into action combat is not a big deal I think, especially with the way it was implemented in FF7R
Brand new in what way exactly? The early FFs are clearly derivative of each other and any changes/additions are the kind of stuff you’d see in any sequel. They’re still turn-based strategies which is a far cry from DMC-style action.

The numbers merely represent new entries in the series. The common thread between the games is not the gameplay style which has always changed since the beginning of FF, but rather the application of common lore aspects.

Crystals, magic, summons, man vs god, etc.

FF is not it’s gameplay.

And FF hasn’t gotten stale. Literally everything they do for every release is to make sure it doesn’t grow stale.

You are saying they should end a series that has grown stale, and yet every FF has been a brand new experience that gains millions of fans.
How can that be the case when there are more than 16 FF games? Is that common lore not also present in every single FF spin-off ever? If the gameplay can be whatever it wants then there’s no point in numbering them.

And FF did get stale, that’s why we have action combat now. 1-10 were turn-based strategies, no amount of mechanical gimmicks changes that. If SE thought there was nothing more to do with that gameplay style then they could’ve just stopped and either made some experimental spin-offs or created some new IPs. But they didn’t. If people like these new mainline FFs then that’s their prerogative. But classic fans aren’t exactly unjustified in disliking them. (BTW this is coming from someone who only has a passing interest in turn-based and FF in general)
 

Noivern

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Wanted to make note that Joshua and the MC have the same earring. I wonder if that might connect them to each other or if it is just a physical representation of the MC being Joshua's shield.

MC still wears the earring even when he is older.

Maybe that is how the MC will get to use the power of other Eikons. Obtaining something that lets him channel the power of their Dominants.

Brand new in what way exactly? The early FFs are clearly derivative of each other and any changes/additions are the kind of stuff you’d see in any sequel. They’re still turn-based strategies which is a far cry from DMC-style action.


How can that be the case when there are more than 16 FF games? Is that common lore not also present in every single FF spin-off ever? If the gameplay can be whatever it wants then there’s no point in numbering them.

And FF did get stale, that’s why we have action combat now. 1-10 were turn-based strategies, no amount of mechanical gimmicks changes that. If SE thought there was nothing more to do with that gameplay style then they could’ve just stopped and either made some experimental spin-offs or created some new IPs. But they didn’t. If people like these new mainline FFs then that’s their prerogative. But classic fans aren’t exactly unjustified in disliking them. (BTW this is coming from someone who only has a passing interest in turn-based and FF in general)

Final Fantasy II plays COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to I and was and still is heavily criticized to this day because of that, heavily looked down as a "bad sequel" to I.
III is a return to formula expanding on everything the first game did, but bringing more to the table like the Summons.
IV takes a lot of what worked on III but expands heavily on the story and reworks the playable characters entirely, re-introducing story party members.
V changed the gameplay yet again bringing back the class system from III and reworking it entirely but keeping the story-based characters from V.
VI plays entirely different yet again, bringing back classes assigned to characters but expanding on this further with each individual character having a unique gameplay mechanic like Edgar's tools or Sabin's combos.
VII is, well, VII.
VIII once again featured a vastly different system with the GF system, the card game, the Draw/Magic system, etc.

I could go on.

So no, each FF game doesn't work like a sequel to each other, each game is a reboot keeping the essential themes of Crystals, Summoned monsters, Man vs Nature and/or God, as well as the iconic classes and monsters like Dragoons or Chocobos.

Also, the franchise hasn't grown stale at all, I'm not sure what you are talking about, lol. Each game sells ridiculously high and has it's on playerbase, even the more disliked games like VIII have their own followings that grow strong. FF is like the de-facto JRPG that still manages to appeal to the general public and bring in more fans to the genre. Of course, it grows to reflect the current time period (like XV being very open-worlded in a era of Bethesda RPGS), but they still stick to their core formula.

Main entries are pushing ARPG not because the franchise has "grow stale", but because that's what the current developers wanted to work with, and there's nothing else to it, really. It's not like this is new as FF has experimented with action before in what became the SaGa franchise, or the Crystal Chronicles spin offs.

@ thread

Regarding the graphic discussion. I'd just like to add that I'm not complaining about the current state of the game; I know a lot will be improved upon until the game is shinier. I just don't like the overall aesthetic that they went for and I doubt we'll see any changes in that aspect. It's like how in the Zelda fandom a lot of people (me included) dislike Twilight Princess for it's dead colors and more realistic appeal while the game has a strong following that loves it exactly for those reasons.

It's fine if you like this kind of art and is happy to see a mainline Final Fantasy game giving it a go, but I personally favor the more colorful, fantasy-like style seen in VI or IX.
 
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