Final Fantasy 16 – nice combat, shame about the story (Picture: Square Enix)

Square Enix reimagines the Final Fantasy formula as a Game of Thrones inspired action role-player, but does the change in direction work?

In the build-up to the release of Final Fantasy 16, producer Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) was adamant that the game was not a JRPG. There are two schools of thought regarding that term, with one stating that the phrase Japanese role-playing game is simply an indication of its point of origin, while others insist it’s a distinct sub-genre that any developer, from anywhere in the world, can make. We’ve always subscribed to the latter view and on that basis, Yoshida is right: this isn’t a JRPG.

We mean that neither as a positive or negative, especially as the more important question for fans will be whether this is a proper Final Fantasy game or not. It has the name, there are chocobo in it, a character called Cid, and an obsession with crystals and confusing nomenclature; plus, one of the key plot points revolves around giant monsters, called Eikons, which are inspired by classic Final Fantasy summons.

The art design, especially for human characters, is more grounded than usual for the series, but the surface trappings of the mainline games are all present and correct. And yet the gameplay is almost completely unrecognisable as a Final Fantasy game. Aspects of the storytelling are more familiar, but they’re presented in a way that will be totally alien to long-term fans. Which means people’s reaction to the game are going to be very different depending on their history with the series.

It’s seven years since Final Fantasy 15 (as usual there’s no story connection between the two games) and according to Square Enix work began on the next game sometime in 2015. That would’ve been right around season 5 of Game of Thrones, which is almost all you need to know about the major influences on Final Fantasy 16’s story and presentation.

From the locations to the bewildering array of regional British accents, including some voice actors from Game of Thrones itself, it’s very obvious what Square Enix was going for here and, to some degree, it works. Final Fantasy 16 is more high fantasy than even George R. R. Martin’s original novels, but judged by the norms of the franchise this is much more grounded and naturalistic than usual.

As you may already know, the combat is not turn-based but early comparisons to God Of War aren’t really accurate. Knowing that combat director Ryota Suzuki also worked on Devil May Cry gives a much better idea of what to expect, and while it’s never as purposefully absurd, or difficult, as Capcom’s games each encounter is just as fast-paced and still graded according to how stylishly you fight.

Magic revolves around the Eikons, with each one representing a different elemental ability, so there’s a fire one, an ice one, an electricity one, and so on. A small number of in-game characters are able to wield their power and also use familiar Final Fantasy spells under a slightly different pretence, including fireballs and ice attacks. Others are peculiar to Final Fantasy 16, including a bullet time effect and the ability to suddenly yank enemies towards you.

Normally, people are supposed to stick to just one Eikon but protagonist Clive gradually gains access to more through the course of the game, opening up a huge range of unlockable abilities that keeps combat interesting throughout. And that’s before you factor in the ability to transform into the Eikon itself, which results in several entertainingly bombastic Godzilla style boss fights – including some of the best use of quick time events we’ve seen in a long time.

The combat might have no connection to Final Fantasy mechanically, but the roots of the series can be seen throughout and we consider the foray into real-time action to be entirely successful.

Other elements of the game are far less interesting though, with the side quests in particular feeling like something out of a bad PlayStation 2 game. If Final Fantasy 16 had a sense of humour you’d almost think they were parodies of old school fetch quests and yet there’s absolutely no trace of irony in how many times the game has you go from point A to point B to kill something, collect something, or simply just talk to someone.

However, arguably the biggest problem is the storytelling, which is horribly convoluted – again almost to the point of parody – and relentlessly grimdark. The latter is obviously a result of trying to copy Game of Thrones, but the show was frequently very funny and Final Fantasy 16 never really is (well, calling your main hero Clive is pretty amusing but we don’t think that counts).

Final Fantasy 16 – the graphics are great (Picture: Square Enix)

Everything is so overcomplicated and long-winded it’s no wonder the game’s own developers became confused as to what’s going on. It’s epic and (melo)dramatic, while at the same time being boring and filled with unnecessary bloat.

It’s also weird and uncomfortable (given how the game’s cast is solely white European, despite many of the villages clearly being based on African and Middle Eastern architecture) how much of the early plot revolves around slavery, and Clive’s incredibly slow realisation that maybe it might be a bad idea.

Except for the combat, everything happens slowly in Final Fantasy 16 and it’s hugely frustrating. That and how keen the game is to make the politics of the world as incomprehensible as possible – before just giving up halfway through and having you fight a generic world-ending threat.

By its end, the game is reusing plot points from multiple older Final Fantasy games and the whole idea of being something new and different gets lost in a muddle of poor storytelling and an overlong running time. Even that might have been saved if the character work was better but while Clive is a reasonably likeable protagonist, and there are some interestingly odd side characters, they’re not nearly enough to balance the books.

Final Fantasy 16 would’ve been infinitely better if it was half the length and had a much more streamlined story, in terms of both its basic outline and the way it’s conveyed. We enjoyed it more than Final Fantasy 15 but purely because of the combat. In the end, our biggest takeaway was that we wish Ryota Suzuki would be given his own title – one that didn’t have the unwanted baggage of trying to be three different games at once.

Formats: PlayStation 5
Price: £64.99
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix Creative Business Unit III
Release Date: 22nd June 2023
Age Rating: 18

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Square Enix reimagines the Final Fantasy formula as a Game of Thrones inspired action role-player, but does the change in direction work?