What do you think of Final Fantasy 16? Is it as good as the reviewers say?

Most reviewers and Final Fantasy fans see Final Fantasy XVI as a return to form after the divisive reception of Final Fantasy XV (IMO one of the worst FF games). I think Final Fantasy XVI is a good FF game but I don’t hold it in as high regard as most reviewers and fans.

The story and characters in XVI are far more fleshed out and developed than FFXV’s (although that’s not saying much). The gameplay is more or less linear as in FFXIII’s and you have the same active combat system as in FF7 Remake and FFXV. The graphics and soundtrack are as we’ve come to expect from FF games, stellar.

However my main gripe with the game is that although it returns to a more traditional medieval setting compared to FF15, I’m torn about the combat system. Fans of God of War, Bayonetta and Devil May Cry may enjoy the stylish combat system with some quick time events here and there thrown in, but I still enjoy my traditional JRPG turn based combat. Call me old school like that. FF16 just feels like the developers saw games like God of War and Uncharted, wanted to make a game with a nice story and characters and lots of cinematics and then have stylish combat sequences. For me, the battles get repetitive and it’s not particularly challenging even on the ‘action mode’ which is the harder difficulty.

I get it, the storyline is more cohesive than FF13 and FF15’s but I think too much was sacrificed in terms of the actual gameplay. Half the game is just watching lengthy cutscenes. And the other half is mashing buttons and dodging in fights. But don’t get me wrong, it’s a good FF game. But is it one of the best FF games ever? I don’t agree with that.

I would rank FF16 around the same tier as FF12, a game that focuses more on the combat (albeit a bit grindy) at the expense of the story and characters that FF16 has. So that puts FF16 somewhere in the middle – I don’t rank it as high as the all time greats FF6, FF9 or FF4, nor is it going to be as iconic as FF7 or FFX. At the same time it’s not a terrible FF game like FF8, FF13 or FF15 either. So it sits in the middle alongside FF5, FF12 and FF7 remake – good but not great. 7/10 for me.