Opinion: PS Plus Users, You Should Play Final Fantasy 16 (But Only If You Play It Like This)

Writing this has made me want to replay 16 again... Or maybe I'll just replay the Titan fight. Still gives me goosebumps!

I replayed 16 nearly a year ago to tackle the DLC expansions and yes, oh my god, I forgot how ruthlessly tedious the side quests were. Its world building is some of the best of the series.

Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. I love traditional Final Fantasy (whatever that even means at this point) but this game is special. The combat system is so fun, especially in Final Fantasy mode (which is frustratingly locked behind a first playthrough). As for side quests, the game itself seems to understand how superfluous they can be, clearly marking out which ones actually give you something worthwhile. Despite everything, this is like top 3 FF for me.

Couldn't agree more about the side quests. Apart from that, great game, amazing boss fights and soundtrack. My personal goty in the year I played it

I didn't mind the side quests at first but they become a real problem towards the end when you are in Waloed. I get why they increased towards the end as it meant you had content where you could use the new summons, but they could also have done a much better job of making it good content.

@Metonymy I agree with your comment about FF Mode, I think the game and combat system in general would have been much more well received had it been available from the very start.

I bounced off more than 2 decades of FF games for many reasons but 16 pulled me right back in. It wasn’t the combat (every FF has different combat. 10 vs 12 vs 13 anyone?) but the commitment to being a Final Fantasy game: ridiculous bosses, melodramatic plot and a protagonist not out the save the world but just his Brother. Clive Rosfield isn’t just the best acted protag in the series but probably the most well-rounded as a hero and a wonderful exploration of modern masculinity.

Maybe you couldn’t control his friends but I actually gave a crap about Jill and Cid and Gav and Joshua which is more than I can say for Prompto, Gladiolus, Fang or Vanille.

This game exemplifies how the Square of today is most certainly not Golden Age Square of the 90’s.

There’s much to like about FF16, but a lot of it is either squandered potential or not fully realized.

•The visual aesthetic is excellent, but the graphics themselves are so blurry it looks like someone smeared Vaseline on the screen. A Pro patch was low hanging fruit that simply rotted on the branch.

•The world, mythos and various worldbuilding details exude a sense of wonder and mystery, yet the side quests are atrocious braindead affairs and don’t let the living world breathe.

•Story and main characters are well written and feel like real people with their own unique tendencies and characteristics, but the side characters and quest givers are cookie cutter cardboard cutouts devoid of any personality.

•Battle system is decent, but nothing exceptional. It falls into the trap of being coded in such a way that you really only need one or two basic moves/combos and you’ll end up spamming these ad nauseum for the whole playthrough. I played 16 immediately before Stellar Blade and oh god the combat in SB is orders of magnitude better.

•Great soundtrack. Phenomenal. Really nothing to criticize here, or with the voice acting (Ralph Ineson is just constantly awesome).

•Even the pacing is generally good, although again the fetch quests—ahem—side quests really tend to bog everything down.

FF16 wants to be great but ends up being just plain good. It’s definitely worth playing once, but that second playthrough for the platinum became incredibly tedious incredibly quickly due to the game’s faults. At least it’s better than FF13, and infinitely so. That game is pure slop and an embarrassment to the series.

When the game was new I read somewhere that the side quests were boring, but would expand on the story in meaningful ways later on, so I kept doing them... until I couldn't do it anymore. But it was already too late and a few hours later I quit. A very disappointing experience back then, but somehow I'll still give it another go next week (if they made it available for streaming, as I only have the Portal).

I would have been excited for this month’s PS Plus offerings if I had not already played FF16 and quit half way through. Something simply did not clicked. Can’t place my finger but this was both Final Fantasy and not-Final-Fantasy at the same time. Perhaps it should have evolved in a different way to stay the same. But I understand many would love and enjoy it.

I dropped FF16 around the midway point as i was very bored with it and despite trying to force myself to finish it, i stopped and sold it and I am a major FF fan.

Ill pick up my save from where i left off and see if my opinion changes

@vikramsingh

Literally my thinking. Quit around halfway

This game hits astronomical peaks and then has you collecting sand for half an hour.

It has some of the very best storytelling of the series imo, certain points are just so intensely dramatic it's almost unbearable.

But it does have issues with filler, and it's bizarre how they just gave up giving Jill any character development halfway through. A flaws release, but a proper return to form.

I loved the game, I also missed out the side quests. I never found the game hard enough to justify doing the side quests to "level up". I'd heard they were dull so didn't really feel i missed out on anything

I consider FF16 the most disappointing game I’ve ever played - not that it’s a bad game - but that never has my opinion of a game soured so much over the course of playing it. It’s mostly because of the story. It starts with warring feudal houses, but the plot changes like 4 or 5 times over the course of the game, in terms of what the end goal of the protagonists is, and where it ends up is such a trope that it’s almost like parody, but it’s not funny, just eye roll inducing.

I was excited to play a more grounded, more human FF game; instead it ends up as absolute anime nonsense that you can’t take seriously.

I don’t think I did any of the side quests (if I did they didn’t seem like SQ’s) and that was just a natural process and not from any advice.

It’s weird. I like the game yet I can see why people might be put off by it. But also as a 14 player some of my time was spent noting all the elements cribbed from 14, given it was written by the same writer who wrote ARR and Heavensward

Ralph Ineson does a good job as CID but it’s also impossible to not instantly be reminded of all his advertising voice overs given his extremely distinctive voice.

@Sweetz any story choice now is a trope in all media now because everything has been done to death already.

@Netret0120 I think I'll start from the beginning again, probably just to fall off at the midpoint a second time. 😅

I didn't play a ton of FF16 when it released before dropping it, but I do remember a lot of the side quests being pretty terrible.

If I ever get around to playing the game again, I would definitely skip them.

@ilyn I’m not sure what they were thinking with the difficulty. The combat system naturally has a ‘play with your food’ feel to it, so I still had fun with it in a first run-through but in FF mode the system truly shines, demanding the player stays 3 steps ahead executing perfect parries and dodges while managing cooldowns and charging specials etc. It put me into that rare flow state that the very best combat systems do. It’s a crime that players walked away from this system with the impression that you can just press square to win. And that’s on the developer.

@ShogunRok I see your Titian fight and raise one Bahamut fight, either way the boss fights are pure cinema!

I’m not an RPG gamer at all. I’ve tried – and failed – to get into some of the best the genre has to offer. Persona 5 and Dragon Quest XI are just two examples of games I genuinely appreciated, but just couldn’t mesh with the turn-based combat. Is there something wrong with me? Am I really a 'gamer'?

Enter Final Fantasy XVI. It was the summer of 2023, and I’d just come off the back of putting well over 200 hours into Tears of the Kingdom on Switch. At the time, I considered Nintendo’s open world epic to be one of the greatest games ever made. And in some ways, I guess it still kinda is. Then, out of the blue, on my 50th birthday, a video game shaped package dropped through my letterbox. I opened it to find FFXVI. My wife was overseas visiting family for six weeks and ordered it for me as a surprise. I’ll be honest though, I really didn’t fancy it at all. I’d already tried the demo and didn’t particularly enjoy it. In retrospect, I was too wrapped up in Link’s grand adventure to appreciate it. Why couldn’t Clive climb walls or ascend through ceilings damn it?!

A day or two later, when my brother popped round to see me, we decided to chuck the disc in and give it a whirl. To say that we both fell in love with the game is something of an understatement to say the least. The opening was exceptional, and the visuals, soundtrack, voice acting, story and combat were all fantastic. But man, those Eikon boss fights were utterly stellar. Over the weeks that followed, I gobbled up the remainder of the game like it was my job, and I loved every minute.

There are dozens of games – TOTK included – that I’d initially adored only for my opinion of them to dwindle over time, but three years later, my love of Clive Rosfield and his pals has only further blossomed. This article has reminded me that I really must go back and have a crack at the platinum trophy. The only games I ever platinum are those that I truly love, and the fact I don’t have the top gong for FFXVI is something of a travesty. Thanks for the nudge, @ShogunRok. I needed it.

FF16 is basically FF in name only with iconic visual and naming elements from the series as window dressing. None of it is tied to gameplay that made the series popular, and, no, we’re not just talking turn-based mechanics. They slapped FF on an action game and threw in the name Cid, Ifrit, Crystals, and such to give an impression of the franchises recognizable visual and naming elements. The return to a medieval setting was welcome. If SE could nail a big budget modern FF that actually pulls the the roots of the series they would have a massive success. Baldurs Gate proves there’s a hunger for quality turn based strategy RPGs. Clair Obscur, Sea of Stars, Fantasian, and Unchained Echoes show there’s room in the turn based mechanics for evolution of the formula. Why can’t SE see this. A new modern game returning to the series roots if done well (no not some mobile gatcha retooling) would sell like hotcakes with the core fans driving sales by word of mouth alone.

Got the platinum and loved the journey. Totally agree that the boss battles are the MVP of 16! This is just now the perfect excuse to check out the final DLC and get the 100% completion.

Oddly enough this was the first FF i have never finished. Which upset me because it was the first one i ever preordered the limited edition with the figure (i was super hyped up). I was so bored about 2/3rds through. I think it suffered from similar problems of XIII. It was too linear and the combat was too bland. Great action combat for an FF, but it was trying to be Tales or other action RPGS without having the depth.

Glad some people loved it. I really wanted to enjoy it, but everytime i booted it up it felt like i was forcing myself to enjoy it.

@kcarnes9051

FF16 is basically FF in name only with iconic visual and naming elements from the series as window dressing

Many concepts in 16 are repurposed from, based on or influenced by 14. The whole people as summons concept originated in 14 (same writer wrote those bits) for example.

Yes, it still counts.

I don't think every sidequest is bad and especially when a majority offer nice worldbuilding, but yeah some can be pretty uninteresting fetchquests. Other than that, still my favorite FF game. Doesn't matter what FF's gameplay is either turnbased or real time, just as long as it's a good FF game.

@The_Pixel_King This game just made me love Clive's character. Especially past the prologue where he's at his lowest and transforming into such a stoic character with a bit of Cid's humorous personality fused into him.

I dropped this after a few hours. This might sound harsh, but I thought Clive was an idiot meathead. There's plenty of those in JRPG history but I found it really hard to connect with the guy.

The boss battles seemed cool as well but I couldn't shake the sense that the game was trying too hard to be EPIC.

I didn't like 15 or 16 and I don't hold high hopes for 17. There's better JRPGs out there these days. I'm playing Trails in the Sky at the moment and am absoultely loving it.

Personally, I feel it also suffers even more if you do choose to engage with all of the side content by how formulaic the combat ends up becoming late in the game. So much of it revolves around breaking enemies and then dps-dumping them as much as possible in that window that you'll eventually find a combination of summons and abilities that makes the most of that... and then combat pretty much becomes working up to the same attack sequence over and over and over again.

Especially with how tanky a lot of larger enemies can be, it can start to feel very stale very quickly once there's no further room or need for experimentation. Moving on further into NG+ and the higher difficulty that bloats enemy health even further... lord, no, that becomes a soul-destroying slog between the boss spectacles.

I also definitely recommend this. Paid full price and totally worth it. Fantastic story and soundtrack + great combat customization.

Played the Demo, really enjoyed the gameplay / story / characters / combat / style etc.
Performance (fps) was a car wreck (with poor visuals) so that killed any interest in it.

Before I even read the article, I knew exactly what you were going to say. The second time I played it, skipping all side content, was a far superior experience.

That was my biggest issue with the game it’s a great character action game but a terrible RPG and I bought it thinking I’d be playing an RPG so I was disappointed.

It almost feels they made an action game and then 80% into development they said “oh darn we forgot to make an rpg” and then they tacked on elements at the end.

So yeah this article is right, just do hunts and fight stuff.

@ShogunRok I'll take your advice. I'm going to skip all side quests apart from the combat-focused monster hunts on my first playthrough. Second playthrough is to mop up the rest of the trophies

I will not argue with anyone calling the side quests bad but I wanna say I had a ton of fun with FF XVI and I did get the platinum trophy.

It IS a really great game, in my opinion, if you're not trying too much to find what you reguraly expect from a Final Fantasy entry.

Give me the same game with a turn-base fight system, a real sense of inventory, equipment and a team to lvl up with jobs of their own... and it's pretty perfect for me.

I mean : the story, the setting, the lore : everything was top notch, in my humble opinion. The gameplay, on the other hand, was not what I was expecting from a Final Fantasy.

And I'm not against action-rpgs : the FFVII Remake saga proved you can have some action and still have a great RPG to its core.

But I loved FFXVI, the story really resonated with me.

But what do I know ? I'm a FFXV lover ! So...

Oh, by the way, a FFXVI PS5 Pro patch would be the dream, Square Enix...

Yeah ignore the side quests and this up there with the some of the best for me. Music, Characters, Story, Combat and those ridiculous summon battles

You get to play as a Kaiju. If that doesn't excite you then you’re dense.

Not owning or planning to own a PS5 is a bigger obstacle in my case; the only eyebrow raiser about the game itself is the [borderline] lack of party members which the franchise has mostly designed for sequels/spinoffs, but I needn't be advised to "ignore the haters" in its regard - that's what I do in general and that's what has rewarded me with some of my favourites over the years, including FFXIII & Co and prospectively FFXV. Chances are XVI will eventually prove worthwhile for me as well. Dogs bark, the caravan moves on.

The game series has been abbreviated FF for so long, the writers decided that the more F-bombs they could squeeze in, the better. Ugh.

I liked a lot about the plot, but boy oh boy was Game of Thrones popular during this game's development. That same tone permeates the whole script.

The combat is fun in a knockoff Devil May Cry kind of way. The spectacle boss fights were both its highest and lowest points. Visually, they were a marvel. They could also be a lot of fun. Then the QTE's started, and I flashed back to 2013 and wanted to pull my hair out. The regular fights can get bland, but I'll admit that I found one combo that worked for me and stuck with it. It's probably more fun if you mix it up.

Look, the game is fine. It's not a top five in the franchise. It may barely be a top 10, but for free, it's real hard to argue with it. I played it once all the way through and enjoyed my time with it all things considered.

I loved FF16, BUT it's practically the only FF ive played other than OG FF7.

So I can't in good faith recommend it to people who like the traditional turn based FF games but anyone who likes Devil May Cry, Bayonetta or the PS2 God Of War games...definitely play FF16. It's a blast if you like that over the top hack n slash gameplay.

It’s a crime by Square that this game never received a ps5 pro patch.

This is what I remember about the game

No status effects besides a couple buffs. No elemental weaknesses. Only one weapon type. Giant empty world. No agency or even stats for party members. No traditional spells in the FF spirit. Items very loosely based on FF. Awful side content

The main quest was sometimes interesting and cool stuff did happen, but this very much was not a final fantasy game. It shares the name, a few summons, a few themes, but that's it. The 7 remakes have been far more like FF despite being action than this was

This is well written, it says what I was thinking. I couldn't quite identify at the time what I didn't like about FFXVI when I bought it day one. I never know what to expect from a new Final Fantasy and this one I still enjoyed but I did have higher expectations.

even the story beats have some very boring moments. I couldn't finish; it was so dull. They shouldn't have even tried to pretend it was an openish world Arpg. just should have made it a story driven basic linear action game spinoff. as that's exactly what it is alongside some really terrible padding.

I Keep trying to will myself to go back but remember how terrible it got once it opened up and avoid it.

I love ff16, it is true that side content would have needed a little more of kick, but I loved doing it too, there is a lot of lore ans interesting world development in the side quest.

I'd say that depends on the kind of player, if you love knowing more of the world, i'd suggest doing all, if you only want a hype train, go only for the main quest.

Not the best ff, but a great game, i love it

Good to know!! Thanks for the heads up ✨

I loved this game one of my favorite games. I have alot though. Being able to be the Summons mostly Ifrit and the story I loved it. Can get samey but when the action hits it hits and it has some great spectacle.

It only took them 16 tries to get me to roll the dice in a FF game. Here's to hoping...

Misguided would be correct. See that cave, yeah can’t go there. That ruin, nope. It is a linear action game in the world of FF. The story is hopelessly predictable with an ending that goes nowhere.

The problem isn't dumb side quests, the real problem is that majority of them unlocks right before ending. It's the most stupid thing in games.

Everybody knows that any rpg game is played in three steps:
1) Survive that stupid opening (ohh god how many times I've seen that cliche "We think you have died." or "You don't remember who you are?")
2) Finish all side quests (repetitive festive of boredom), so you level yourself up, find gear and clear map.
3) Play peacefully story (which is maybe twice longer than average side quest and requires around 10-15 % of monumentally huge map) and wonder why did they put so much resources to create that junk (step 2) around it... ?

Everyone disses the side quests. Maybe it’s my years MMO fetch quests, but I didn’t find them that bad.

I felt the reward of the world building, the connecting with the quest givers and the unique items you get for Clive’s room to be all worthwhile.

The rest of the game was also good. My only gripe is the lack of a solid 60fps mode.

As someone who hasn't played this and will likely give it a go, I will take this advice to heart. I don't have the stamina for a lot of long games anymore, and if it's long and tedious... just, no.

Honestly, the vast majority of games are better if you ignore the side quests.

I might download it. I put down Crimson Desert because they won't stop updating and I like a self-contained experience. Hopefully they will stop soon but it is doubtful. Anyway, I usually play one big game at a time so I'll look into it.
I am a big fan of 4-9. VI is legendary status and 9 is probably my favorite besides Tactics.
Does the soundtrack have lyrics?

@djlard "Wake up sleepy head, you have a long day ahead of you..."

I bought it some time ago, because I wanted to supported SE to make sure we get more FF games. I knew it would come to ps plus, but wanted to send the right message.

Anyway. I had a huge backlog and starting such a long game never seemed like a good idea, because of the very limited time I have the last couple of years. When I eventually decided to play it, I was mighty impressed with the boss battles. As Robert mentioned, I'll likely never forget some of them (especially the first).

But the rest felt astonishingly bad. As if someone tried to make it as dull as possible to sabotage it. I simply don't get it. I dropped it as soon as Hades II came out, but I will eventually get back to it.
I'll certainly avoid side quests now that I know that you can play it even if you skip them. So, thanks, Robert!

For anyone on the fence, the gameplay is incredibly satisfying.

Thank you for this. 👍

I have been playing games since i was eleven. 44 now. And this is the only game i ever shelved due to being a boring unfun slog. I will never understand people defending this game. 15 min spectacle followed by four hours of coma induced boredom with bad really bad sidequests.

I agree about the sidequests. I do think the game drops the ball in the last part, where it shifts from brilliant political power games to cosmic stakes.
Final Fantasy has always been about light standing against darkness. I would have loved if they kept the realpolitik but somehow injected those themes. Let Clive lead a war to put something better in place.

Apparently, you can skip all side quests during the main character's teen and twenties without it affecting the platinum trophy.
And the game allows you to get back to your last save before the last dungeon to clear things after the end game, at your leisure, which might soften the pain, right?

Note that I have yet to play it (only did the demo back in the days), that's what a quick internet search told me xD

I bought FFXVI after being intrigued by the demo but I thought that the rest of the game was never as interesting as that opening. The boss fights and music were great but personally I thought everything else was very average.

I won't describe why I feel that FF16 sucks balls for 50th time. I'll just say that "L3+R3 to accept the truth" is even dumber than "Press F to pay respects".

It was a great action adventure game

@doctommaso but sometimes, if not most, you need to play them to level up

This game is so fire (Pun intended) my top FF games ever but I hated the side quests near ending of game felt like a real life chores 😭

@naruball Yes, too true.

If there was an option to skip boss fights, I might've actually finished the game.

The Souls-inspired 'dodgeroll or die' approach to game design is not my idea of a good time.

Stuff like this just makes me appreciate the classics all the more.

I'll give it a go at some point however the side quest thing is disappointing, I love a side quest. I'll try just doing the hunts but I don't hold much hope, I found the remake that's on extra pretty boring after thirtyish hours so .. Side quests for me make or break on the rewards obtained, not whatever story is tacked to them.

I liked the story, the characters, the visuals, the world, the music. Maybe it wasn't the most original game gameplay-wise, but overall I really liked FF!6. I played it in small doses over a long period, so the "repetitiveness" of most of such open world like games, wasn't so glaring in my case (?). And I also did not expect anything, and did not ask myself the question whether it is a "final fantasy game", what ever that means.

I agree with both @ShogunRok and several commenters. When FF16 is firing on all cylinders, it's peak gaming. Boss fights like Titan, Bahamut and Leviathan are on another level entirely, and the game handles them even better and grander than God of War.

That said, the pacing can really drag, the RPG elements are also minimal and streamlined, and outside of combat and cutscenes there's very little else to do.

Overall, Rebirth scratched my RPG itch far more effectively, delivering everything I associate with the genre: exploration, equipment customization, and a variety of side activities.

But that doesn't diminish what FF16 achieves: it will stay with you and deliver some absolutely stunning moments. Play it, especially if you're not too fussed about deep RPG mechanics!

An absolutely honest "review" of FF16, and I couldn't agree more. The mainline story beats are fantastic, with some great cutscenes, but the side content... ehh, not so much. A whole lot of padding and useless filler. Vapid would be the right word.

Ff7 Re/make/birth suffer from these same problems, also. With terrible npc's and crap side missions being shoehorned in, that totally detracts from the drama and combat. As well as being just too long.

If Squ/Enix could just fine tune their action systems, keep the real time with pause to issue commands, and then strip away A LOT of the excess that keeps getting in the way of their own games, they could be making 10's. Instead, they stutter in my eyes, by trying to make you care, and forcing you to deal with side characters that just don't add anything, and are more annoying than interesting.

Agreed with the advice. I love this game,story,character and of course the combat but the side quests is freaking TEDIOUS

The writer is spot on, FF16 is absolutely brilliant. It may have some the best world building, boss fights and overall story in the series. They are also unfortunately right about the filler. I wish we could have had 1/3 the amount of side quests but the remaining were meaningful and engaging.

There was so much bad / boring content required to progress the main story, I wonder if I remember wrong or other people just turn a blind eye. The whole little desert town before the bahamut fight sealed the deal for me. I don't remember how much further i got but I quit without finishing. The story wasnt that great from the mid point or so of the game. The gameplay outside of boss fights wasn't good. There's no exploration, no secrets , no rpg gameplay elements almost at all. Honestly probably the most disappointing final fantasy for me , although I didn't play much of 13 either.

I'm mid-way through XVI right after finishing VII Rebirth, and honestly it's such a breath of fresh air by comparison. Yes the side quests are mostly dull and pointless, but the rest is really, really good. The one aspect that regularly impresses me is that the devs really knew how to set up a scene. When you step out and see something of such immense scale that weirdly, somehow takes you back to the days of stunning pre-rendered backgrounds. So weird that they got that right better than the VII remakes did. The main cast are great (Clive, Cid and Jill in particular), the villains are much more interesting and menacing than the likes of Sephiroth (remake Sephiroth, anyways), the set pieces actually feel like huge dramatic, cinematic moments...it's just really, really good. I'm going to be gutted when it ends, and I haven't been able to say that about a Final Fnatasy in a long while.

I remember it for being one long string of enemies, field bosses, bosses and gods to fight, and the occasional chill-out in a base camp talking nonsense with NPCs, and then some walking between the boss fights with some plot driving the walk. It is kind of camp and quite over the top, but has a huge scale when it all kicks off and is visually impressive.

It is an action game, though, it is not even remotely like a western RPG in the way I think they thought it was, but it works for what it is, and the combination of insane madness, quirky FF elements, and having Ben Starr shouting IFRIIIIIIIIT every so often makes it a worthwhile experience. When you get into a good flow with all of your combos and special abilities it is absolute peak action in a light, floaty and unrealistic japanese anime kind of way.

Plus there's Gav. Everyone loves Gav.

Alright! Alright!

Yes the side quests are just mmo quest design slop , as someone who loves 14 , i thought it was a horrible idea to bring that aspect to 16

I’m going to replay it and drop the DLC’s in, and I’m definitely skipping the side quests this time around.