First Final Fantasy 16 Review Awards a Near-Perfect Score

Will wait for other reviews before getting too excited.

I question their scoring system if 15 got a 38/40…

Not bad, but I’ll wait for more reviews on this one. If I had to guess, I’m going to say this game will hover around the 8.2 - 8.5 mark. Hopefully, reviews are good because I will definitely buy. I haven’t touched my PS5 since God of War Ragnarok.

Back in the good old days, a Famitsu 40/40 score was a big freakin' deal. Really something to write home to your mom about.

Nowadays... let's just say their editorial standards have slipped.

I thought that was good until I saw what other final fantasy’s they had given high scores to. 12, one of the 13s, and 15. Possibly the very worst ones in the franchise. Weird.

Waiting for youtubers to give their verdicts.

@thefourfoldroot1 15 and 13 Really only ones people have issues with. 12 is a special case for most fans

I got my copy yesterday and just started playing. I skipped all the cutscenes in the demo as I was only curious to get a feel for the combat. I started a new game and I'm still in the demo areas but my first impression is very strong. Let's hope it'll get even better. I'm pumped.

@C25CLOUD ff12 for all it does well, does split fans. If 4 reviewers were scoring it out of 10, I would certainly expect it to hit under max score. Same with 13-2, I mean come on. I quite enjoyed it but a perfect score? No way.

The reality is famitsu reviews are clearly leaned on by Japanese publishers.

@FatalBubbles I question their scoring system if 13-2 got a 40/40…

I mean it's not a bad game but a 40/40? Hell no

13 and 15 for me mark a change in FF but I loved and still do the 13 battle system seemed like the perfect fit between old and new. 15 just changed the game up , it’s different but still very enjoyable - I’m excited for the game and feeling positive that what ever happens we will get a fun and highly playable triple a game - which is exactly what we and the franchise deserve, roll on release day

Famitsu also gave Forspoken a 35/40 recently, so yea.

@C25CLOUD
True, 12 is an exception. I still hate it though. Bought it 3 times trying to like it. Just can’t get myself to. Still, there are reasons other than the combat that divide people - the story is dull as dishwater for example…

@dschons Have you noticed any differences from the demo version to the release version performance wise or graphically?

@Kevw2006 feels exactly the same to me. The fps dips are still present with the D1 patch installed.

when does the review umbungo end?

@thefourfoldroot1 You are not The only one. I tried FF12 three different times at very different points in my life.
Got to the second town once. Not for me.

At least as terrible as 13 was, it still had a story that pulled you along... corridor by linear corridor.

@Powerplay94 . The problem is they employ a 10 point scale and use half of it.

The reviews will be mostly puff pieces and anyone who dares to be critical will get attacked for it. (See Destructoid/ J.S. Sterling - FF13)

I tend to only trust Youtubers/streamers with no (obvious) corporate agenda that can prove they've put several hours into the game.
There have been too many examples of shill media giving unrealistic scores for me to entertain them nowadays. Famitsu is near the top of that list.

@Cordyceps FF13 being bad was never controversial. That's why every modern review of it tends to start with the words "Why FF13 isn't as bad as you think."

That review history for FF games is shockingly bad. 40/40 for 13-2, wow. The 38/40 for FF15 is shocking, they even scored Forspoken 35/40, what were they thinking

@dschons Thanks, it's not something that really bothered me but I saw quite a few people mention it so I wondered if there was any improvement.

@FatalBubbles
Better yet, FFXIII got a score of 39 🤣

@Kevw2006 Yeah, it didn't bother me that much either although it's quite noticeable in some areas. But far from unplayable imo.

@LifeGirl The only real complaint that got levelled against FF13 was that it was largely too linear until you got near the end. It was a design choice that reviewer's can't really mark down for because if they did then a lot of other games would also need to be penalised for it. If I recall correctly the review scores for FF13 were actually generally quite high.

@dschons
How's the performance?

Loved XIII and XV so i’m sure I will enjoy this too. Famitsu’s review means absolutely zero to me though.

Admittedly, I went into the demo thinking "this is going to suck", having played FF15 and not enjoyed it and played the FF7R and enjoyed the combat but thought they'd butchered the story.

I'm the end, I've pre-ordered this and look forward to playing this weekend.

@Kevw2006 Nah, the story itself got plenty of hate as well.
"We are L'Cie, enemy of Cocoon."
"SERAH!!"
We are L'Cie, enemy of Cocoon."
"SERAH!!"
"We are L'Cie, enemy of Cocoon."
Etc.

@LifeGirl Hindsight is always 20-20.

"Thats why every modern review..."

I'm talking about when the game dropped, You're talking about retrospectively.

Not to be cliche, however reviews never meant much to me. So many janky games I really like, and many reviews sites (including this one) giving them scores like 5/10

@KaijuKaiser
"Heroes don't need plans"
Guns blazing

FFXII is one of my favourite ever games for giving you that sense of adventure. Vaan starting out in a sewer hunting rats to hanging out with sky pirates and a princess. Fantastic game.

Cool.final fantasy 16 is going to be amazing.word up son

@thefourfoldroot1 13 -2 don't get me started I play for 10 mins turn it off lol

I take little notice of reviews and their scores and also swerve all trailers and footage. I want the full experience when I unwrap my collectors edition tomorrow and load the game…got the rest of the week off and am pumped Kupo

I don't trust any site that scores any FF13 as good.
Anyway, I do have this feeling that FF16 might actually be as good as they claim.

How on earth did XV get that score in the first place lol, that was the worst FF ever.

TotK - 40/40
FF16 - 39/40

Still a GOTY Contender though!!!

@Goku_
Matsuda used "Please be excited"
on famitsu board

It was super effective!

Wouldn't believe a word of what Famitsu says. Looking forward to hearing what other outlets say (hopefully in a few hours...!)

Yeah I have to say than in the context of FFXV getting a 38, a 39 doesn't carry much weight. FFXV was an unfinished trainwreck of a game on launch, chapter 13 in particular was embarrassingly poor and the overall story was paper thin at best.

I'm sad I won't play it at launch. Can't buy it right now, and I'm playing other games. But I will before the end of the year. this game is shaping to be really special.

If the past 3 games noted got high scores, then I wouldn't read too much into it. As they were all very subpar games. I've got it downloaded anyway, so got it regardless. but I wouldn't take much notice until they have loads of scores. I'm betting mostly 9's

If all scores are over 35/40 it's impossible to learn anything from this score. On the other hand, it's good to see they rated especially XIII-2 and XII that high, since XIII-2 is one of my absolute favorite entries while most people seem to ignore it.

And while I typed this message I received my dispatch notification for XVI! Can't wait to experience it first hand tomorrow. I ignored most videos and the demo so far, ready to be as overwhelmed as possible by the real deal.

Great, it bodes well! However, Famitsu can’t be trusted these days. Their glory days are long over.

@FatalBubbles why do people hate ffxv again? 😅
I started gaming a year or so after and didn't play ffxv (my first final fantasy) until about a year or two after that and thought it was pretty excellent.
If anything I'm led to believe all final fantasy games are bad lol

Famitsu aren't taken quite so seriously by me these days. Some of their review scores have been bonkers, especially for games like Ff15 and Forspoken.
I'm checking every hour for the reviews and will pre order if theyre generally positive. An 8 or above on average would be fine by me. I just hope somebody mentions whether the QTE's get really annoying or not though. Because thats the main thing that could turn it for me, even with high scoring reviews.

@Michael2008ish review embargo lifts at 5pm UK time, apparently.

@Kraven It's true! It's True! Most sites hire bloggers like it's "MySpace" quality of content, hopefully Push Square stays mighty and true, but there is one "News" editor they let publish rubbish. You know who you are Mr. Delete everything that doesn't agree with you...

9 in the west and this game will be massive.
8 in the west would still be really good.

I've only played a touch of the demo (it is quite cutscene heavy at first) and I get the whole GoT thing people have been mentioning. But to me, it feels they are really trying to make a FF feel more like The Witcher. I mean, Letho even pops up pretty quickly 😁

I hope it works out, as I'm always on the look out for a new gaming experience or new franchise to get into and TW3 was probably the first game to turn me on to playing stuff I'd not usually have played, and I'd never considered playing a FF game before either. So let's get some real reviews going ⚔️

Preorder canceled. There must be a good reason why it's 39/40 and not 40/40.

@ApostateMage Yeah, I love XII. I didn't like it at first and actually stopped playing it after getting to the beach area. I tried again and loved it. It does take a while to get to the point where the actual story kicks in, and it makes the mistake of not building up things properly so when they happen, you can't really care. Like, it means something when Barret fight his old friend Dyne because he's Marlene's father. You like Marlene, met her ages ago at that point, and probably realised Barret wasn't her biological father. It's a great payoff. It also coincides with Barret's backstory. In XII Balthier fights and kills his dad but it feels so emotionless and meaningless as there was no build-up or drama around it. But yeah, the feeling of adventure and discovery is amazing.

XVI seems to be the opposite; the story kicks in early, gives you reasons to care early, but has no sense of adventure or discovery as it's completely linear and just teleports you from cutscenes to boss fights. Hopefully that gets better as it goes on.

@Cherip-the-Ripper Brace yourself! Boring, empty and bland world. Almost parody levels of terrible side quests (drive 20 minutes to bring a man some tomatoes from a box in the middle of nowhere). You don't spend any time in your hometown before it's destroyed so have zero attachment, same for your dad dying, the cutscene of it being destroyed is just clips from the movie, right after your dad is killed you're helping a woman collect frogs and racing chocobos. Boring characters that barely change or develop for dozens of hours, their main character moments are removed from the game and sold as DLC.

Terribly told story where you see the main female character for about 20 minutes in the whole game and antagonists with zero development just turn up and die. Awful combat where you just down potions to survive any fight, and you can literally complete the hardest dungeon in the game by holding one button. Only 1 town for most of the game, but the same copy-pasted petrol station over and over. A ridiculous world where there are monsters everywhere and supposedly everyone is scared of them yet everyone wears no armour and lives in places with no walls or defences at all. Enemies bought from asset stores like a cheap Steam game... The list goes on.

Look for Super Eyepatch Wolf's review on YouTube. He totally nails why people don't like it and were so disappointed.

Yea famitsu is a weird anomaly but I just take it as the game receiving three 10s, and a 9 so far I guess

Some of what those reviews said is very encouraging though that we're in for an amazing time:

• Epic story with gut wrenching developments
• Depth to mastering combos & abilities
• Something anyone can enjoy
• Becoming an Action RPG is not a change but an evolution
• "FF-ness" is there
• 30-40 hours, 70 hours for completionists

@K1LLEGAL Came here to say the same, theres a huge community of people that like the 'controversial ones, i personally love xiii and xv, for all their faults. I like all the FFs actually, genuinely enjoyed them all. Very hyped for tomorrow.'

@Cherip-the-Ripper The 'problem' if it is such, is that after (and maybe including 13), the FF games haven't been FF games.

FFXV is not what most series' fans would consider an FF game, and neither is this. But I did like the demo.

@Cordyceps And you're still wrong.

Epic story with gut wrenching developments
Depth to mastering combos & abilities
Something anyone can enjoy
Becoming an Action RPG is not a change but an evolution
“FF-ness” is there
30-40 hours, 70 hours for completionists
Exhilarating battles
Amazing depiction of how to deal with human emotion both positive & negative
Satisfies all players without leaving them behind
39/40..

@matroska XV is the only mainline FF i didn't complete. Aside from XI and XIV.
It just never grabbed me. I have started it 3 seperate times over the years, but never really got past the first couple of hours.
From your rather brilliant description, it seems i'm not missing much lol

@Kraven that's rough since there are so many good games

FF16 is in a class of game that I don't really value review scores for. Yeah it's "good", it's going to be a 10/10 for someone, somewhere. The rub lies in seeing if that someone is me or not. Just like TotK is a 10/10 for a lot of people, it's a foregone conclusion that media outlets are going to praise it. But that doesn't mean your/my 10/10 lines up with their 10/10.

I feel as though reviews for AAAA games are almost useless, because they very seldom get anything but near-perfect scores and those that don't get those scores are usually still 10/10 games to someone, it just happened to not be the reviewer.

I guess I'm not really sure where I'm going with it other than that my reaction to "FF16 gets near perfect score" is "well, yeah. doesn't say much". In an idea situation you'd have people who love different types of games all review a game with a range of scores so that you can tell what type of person enjoyed the game, but that'd require outlets paying a whole panel of people to play and review a game, and it would involve giving "golden" games like FF16 low scores if they just weren't your thing. Considering how much the internet recoils when you dare to give a game it likes a low score I guess it's just not realistic.

Soapbox over. tl;dr: "yeah ff16 good of course".

@whensdinner, reviews are important. Its up to us to take what we want from them. I always read several reviews, i dont just rely on one gamesite etc. I try get a more balanced view.
If somebody loves it, i want to know why. If somebody hates it, i want to know why.

playing the demo i have no doubts about this game

@Michael2008ish It's the only one I've done 'one and done' on. The only reason I haven't replayed VIIR is because I want to play it again with the second part ready and waiting. ONce I understood how the classic mode worked, I had a blast with it, depiste it being action-oriented.