So just as I was reaching the tailend of games that I wanted to cover we got hit with yet another gaming event because we are currently living in the end times so why not announce literally everything? The Playstation 5 thus has probably no more big surprises for us, it'll come out pretty much when you'd expect and it costs the exact same as the Series X except for the fact that it has tons more big-name games heading it's way. I'm being seirous when I say that this event was a freakin' powerhouse of big titles getting name dropped with gameplay and in there's literally no better way for me to illustrate that fact than going into my single biggest highlight of the show; Final Fantasy XVI. The Madlads actually did it! (I'm still in shock I think.) So now we can offically get to sitting on our hands praying for there not to be another 10 year development cycle and maybe for the game to be a little commited in scope this time around. (That'd be nice.)
So let me start off my saying the very first thing that came to my mind when this announcement was made... BY THE GODS IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING, I NEVER THOUGHT I'D LIVE TO SEE THIS DAY! Now onto much more informed and constructive feedback as I say that I was both surprised and somewhat disappointed to see the direction that the series was going. Contrary to the varying degrees of modern and futuristic that we've seen from the Final Fantasy series of late, (With XIII, XV and VII Remake) XVI appears to be taking us all the way back to the medieval routes that the franchise hadn't truly embraced since... well, FF V. Ever since then it's been bouts into steampunk, cyberpunk, futurism, contemporary-but-with-a-twist, a couple of settings that can be best described as classic Isekai, (in an effort not to piss off fans, I won't specify which settings I'm referring to there) and one alternate take on feudalism where everyone was dressed in school outfits for some reason. (Type-0 keeps me up some nights with it's weirdness.) So now we're going back to heavy suits of armour, mildly old-English and strictly no guns, and you know what? I'm not crazily digging it just yet.
Maybe this is coming from the mind of a fellow who has since discovered FF's sister series, Dragon Quest. (Disclaimer, I know they are not actually sibling franchises, no need to tell me) Those games have settled themselves firmly within the well of medieval fantasy to the point where this new Final Fantasy game sort of, from the right point of view, resembles a more realistic rendition of their world. (Just replace their patented smiling blue Slimes with the agape maw of the garden-variety Malboro and you've got a one-to-one comparison!) And just personally I find worlds that function similarly but fundamentally different to our own rather fascinating, so the 'vague imitation of our past' approach doesn't really scratch that itch. I mean, judging from what this trailer showed us, the world doesn't even look particularly high fantasy, which is nuts because that's practically the mission-statement of the FF franchise. "To stick teenagers against world ending threats and remain strictly in high fantasy all the way." Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's how it goes...
But aside from that relatively minor gripe with the presentation of this world, I must say that everything else had me practically drooling. The game looks gorgeous, obviously, and the world seems full of all those staples of the FF multiverse that we all know and love so very well. Elemental magic, Coeurls, Malboro, Eikons (otherwise know as Gods or Eidolons), and hair. Oh the hair. What's more, the gameplay in this trailer actually looked somewhat interesting in a couple of important fashions. Firstly, it appeared as though each attack was weighty, in stark contrast to FFXV's combat, and even seemed to cater for tactile response movement. (Slightly reminiscent of the 'Fallen Order' gameplay scheme.) And secondly because our heartthrob protagonist who seems completely on his lonesome. Yes, I know that Noctis from XV was similarly revealed without his party members (back when that game was still 'Versus XIII') but they never teased solo gameplay. This feels significant, as though we're meant to take note of the fact that this man is a loner for the first time ever in the Final Fantasy main series. (Or maybe Square's just playing the party close to their chest, who knows at this point.)
Something which did strike me, and that I thought was worth mentioning, was how much everything I saw reminded me of FFXV. Now first I should specify, this is absolutely not related to that game in terms of narrative, that game's past was already thoroughly explored in a DLC pack and there's no room for another story, but were I only a casual fan of that game and not as well versed in it's timeline, you'd might have to forgive me for being confused. First there's the relatively mundane and terrestrial medieval setting which compliments with FFXV's purposefully muted modern day setting; then there is the protagonist who appears to be of some royal blood (That could be entirely off base, but that's what I thought I saw) and his general similar appearance to Noctis, to the point that if you told me this guy was part of the Lucis line I'd buy it. Then there is the mention of Cystals. Again! I thought that plotpoint was buried along with the plans for the 3 thematically connected FF games coined 'Fabula Nova Crystallis', yet here we are 10 years later talking about the 'Queen Crystal'. (Why are we still here? Just to suffer?)
In terms of perspective narrative we don't have a great deal to go off, though I still feel like we were shown just a tad too much. (Maybe showing one of the main characters morphing into a horrific monster sort of gave away the twist a bit.) From what we can tell the narrative will follow one Joshua, a son of a Duke who is shackled with the responsibility of being host to some sort of Phoenix like entity, or Irfrit, or both. The Eikons seemed to have retaken their god-like status, with Shiva even having an entire army of faithful crusaders to serve as at least early game antagonists. And the player seems to take the shoes of Joshua's protector who's up for one hell of a challenge if this trailer is to be believed. Apart from that we were assaulted with a series of plotpoints that currently lack context and for this early in the development stage that's completely fine, arguably a tad redundant, but fine.
Now let me mention the most important piece of news regarding this new game, as tends to be the case with Final Fantasy games: who's behind it. Because of the huge creative freedom offered to the Final Fantasy teams, the developers on the project can vastly alter the end result to make it distinctly different. (Which is why all of FFXV's DLC, which all had different directors, felt so vastly distinct form one another) As it happens the director of this game is the former director of Last Remnant, Hiroshi Takai, which spells good fortunes for fans of that applauded title, but the real news is the producer. That's because the man in charge of producing this game is none other than the myth himself, Yoshi P, saviour of Final Fantasy XIV. We're talking about the guy who led the team that turned a disaster of an MMO into the premier fantasy MMO of today, and it seems that has earned him the most coveted project imaginable in the Final Fantasy franchise, a direct sequel to the mainline series.
Needless to say, I'm so ready for a new Final Fantasy. After coming to terms with the fact that I literally will not be alive to see FF XX get announced, I need to cherish everyone I do see, so I don't take this trailer for granted. The fact that this is going to be a console exclusive does sort of burn, but it will apparently be available on PC as well, so as long as that isn't a timed-exclusivity deal (
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