Final Fantasy XVI

[Duraframe300]

Demo launches 10:00 CEST.

So you can go to sleep if you waited.

mediocrepoet I was right, prologue + battle demo you can try after you completed the story portion.

 

[Zariusz]

I wish that it would launch and then it actually would be Stranger Of Paradise 2: Jack is Back

 

[Duraframe300]

Combat Showcase is starting.

 

[Duraframe300]

 

[Duraframe300]

Hunts need to be found by the player after accepting the request. Don't have quest markers by the sound of it.

Edit: They showed an S Rank hunt. Max lost and Suzuki won (though he has previously lost to the same boss in a preview for IGN).

 

[Duraframe300]

Here's the fight against the Atlas hunt, showing more high level gameplay.



Suzuki's segment starts at around 09:00.

Some other thing that isn't in the footage, but was shown beforehand: Abilities can be mastered and when they are mastered you can mix match. Use one of Ramuh's abilities in Titan's loadout for example.

 

[Duraframe300]

Demo is live.

Edit: Dodge feels good. I'd recommend just starting in action mode.

Edit2: Stopping for Lunch. Really like it so far (though unsurprisingly its really story heavy in the beginning. You're not getting into real combat for quite a bit except the tutorial.) Leagues beyond FFXV in terms of execution of course.

 

[Duraframe300]

There's an active time lore feature. Basically you can pause the game at any time by pressing the touchpad on the DS5 and the game will show you some lore pertaining to the current situation. It works even in cutscenes giving you info related to what's being discussed.

Special Edit: This even adapts during cutscenes, so if a charachter enters the screen his lore info will be added.

Nice little extra mile feature.

Edit: Enemies seem to hit pretty hard in general. Was very lax for a few seconds and some fucking starting area goblins took me down to half health. Ditto starting area boss. People can probably power through it with items, but he's definitely capable of killing you. Got my health into the red.

Edit2: Game can't really be cheesed with healing items. They actually seem pretty restrictive. You can only take 4 potions and 3 hi-potions with you into battle, at least in the prologue. I'm ok with this.

 

[abnaxus]

Benedikta is one horny bird (literally).

 

[Nathaniel3W]

I saw some gameplay videos that made the game look very monochromatic. There was a dungeon where all the enemies were black with some glowing blue parts, and the walls of the dungeon were mostly black, lit with some blue lanterns. Then there was another dungeon where all the enemies were black with some glowing red parts, and all the walls were mostly black, lit with some red lanterns. The characters in the party were wearing all black and gray, and they would glow while dishing out some Devil May Cry superultramega aerial attack combos that occasionally involved growing wings and blasting energy from one's chest.

Is that what the entire game is like? Are there any colorful areas or any characters who aren't a bunch of mopey emos?

 

[Kem0sabe]

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Edit: The Kingdom Hearts team helped out as well.

 

[Nathaniel3W]

Visually, it's very, very impressive. Beautiful. It really is. But why did Final Fantasy have to go all grimdark?

 

[Duraframe300]

Visually, it's very, very impressive. Beautiful. It really is. But why did Final Fantasy have to go all grimdark?

I mean Tactics and Vagrant Story were pretty grimdark as well story wise.

 

[Anonona]

I mean Tactics and Vagrant Story were pretty grimdark as well story wise.

And I'll include XII too. FF XVI's writter is the same guy (Kazutoyo Maehiro) that wrote all of those games, so is natural that it has the same style and themes.

 

[Duraframe300]

I mean Tactics and Vagrant Story were pretty grimdark as well story wise.

And I'll include XII too. FF XVI's writter is the same guy (Kazutoyo Maehiro) that wrote all of those games, so is natural that it has the same style and themes.

Matsuno wrote those. Maehiro was working under him though and clearly an understudy.

 

[Duraframe300]

Beaten the demo, going to purchase the full game when it releases. Like the story, the combat is fun (No comparison to XV really, a million times better), the spectacle and polish is there. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but in terms of overall experience there's a very good chance its probably the best FF title since IX/X. (Not in terms of preference or other qualities, don't get me wrong. I mean in the sense of there not being some giant flaw to point out if you take the game at face value).

Don't be afraid to wait though. Not buggy, but performance isn't exactly flawless, so waiting for a few patches or the inevitable PC Version is a good choice.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention. I can't speak about exploration as the demo doesn't contain it, but the combat challenge was Benedikta's fortress already shown off in a press demo. What wasn't shown off there however is that at least in one part of it there are multiple exclusive paths you can take. One led me to more standard items, the other to a chest (each having their own enemy groups to fight as well). Not sure if this is a recurring theme in the dungeons, but just thought I'd mention it.

Edit Performance: Apparently Demo is actually an older build. So, that may already have improved. We'll see come release.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Visually, it's very, very impressive. Beautiful. It really is. But why did Final Fantasy have to go all grimdark?

I mean Tactics and Vagrant Story were pretty grimdark as well story wise.

FFT had charm. Ramza and friends were warm to each other. No gratuitous cursing or sex. Also some funny moment like Mustadio and the robot. Also, the game had an appealing aesthetic.

FF12 was a slog. The characters are very dry and there are hardly any moments of levity. At least that game had a visualling more appealing aesthetic than FF16 (sadly the visuals got washed down in the lazy so-called "remaster"). Vagrant Story was also very dry but didn't have a nice aesthetic to make up for it. Also awful gameplay.

 

[Duraframe300]

Visually, it's very, very impressive. Beautiful. It really is. But why did Final Fantasy have to go all grimdark?

I mean Tactics and Vagrant Story were pretty grimdark as well story wise.

FFT had charm. Ramza and friends were warm to each other. No gratuitous cursing or sex. Also some funny moment like Mustadio and the robot. Also, the game had an appealing aesthetic.

FF12 was a slog. The characters are very dry and there are hardly any moments of levity. At least that game had a visualling more appealing aesthetic than FF16 (sadly the visuals got washed down in the lazy so-called "remaster"). Vagrant Story was also very dry but didn't have a nice aesthetic to make up for it. Also awful gameplay.

This post has answered so much over our previous differences in opinion.

This especially

Vagrant Story was also very dry but didn't have a nice aesthetic to make up for it. Also awful gameplay.

Yeah, no. Vagrant Story is great.

So, let's chalk this down to a very different viewpoint and opinions between us.

 

[ADULF HITLOR FAN KLUB]

I just finished the demo and really enjoyed it.

Combat is pretty good and the controls are very responsive, but I think I prefer the combat of FF7R.
The story is captivating and I am excited to see what happens next.
Graphics are very good and the game runs very well. Loading times are extremely fast and barely noticeable.
Music is once again absolutely top notch. Best in the industry, Square Enix can't be beaten.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Visually, it's very, very impressive. Beautiful. It really is. But why did Final Fantasy have to go all grimdark?

I mean Tactics and Vagrant Story were pretty grimdark as well story wise.

FFT had charm. Ramza and friends were warm to each other. No gratuitous cursing or sex. Also some funny moment like Mustadio and the robot. Also, the game had an appealing aesthetic.

FF12 was a slog. The characters are very dry and there are hardly any moments of levity. At least that game had a visualling more appealing aesthetic than FF16 (sadly the visuals got washed down in the lazy so-called "remaster"). Vagrant Story was also very dry but didn't have a nice aesthetic to make up for it. Also awful gameplay.

Yeah I especially liked the light hearted moment where religious fanatics incarnate demon Jesus into Ramza's baby sister by way of blood rituals and human sacrifice.

Or who can forget the warm fuzzies as Ramza's brothers sell him out for political motives all while talking about how he's a worthless bastard child. It hits you right in the feels.

I swear the script was co-authored by teams from Disney and Hallmark in the collaboration of the century.

Spoiler

Did you play FFT when you were 6 years old or something and all you can remember is the sprites were cute?

 

[Riddler]

Played the demo and while I liked it there are some pretty strange scenes.

Like, in the flashback when you're in the throne room, it's clearly written like there are plenty of people there, but in the game it's just you, your father and the knight.

 

[Duraframe300]

Played the demo and while I liked it there are some pretty strange scenes.

Like, in the flashback when you're in the throne room, it's clearly written like there are plenty of people there, but in the game it's just you, your father and the knight.

What gave you that impression? If anything its the opposite with Clive being able to discard formalities in the meeting and his dad being able to speak openly about the state of the realm. If there were plenty people there word would get out to his bitch mother. They address each other directly too.

So him, his son and his right hand man makes sense.

Edit: Clive of course, why did I write Joshua.

 

[shaanghai]

Im loving everything except the combat. Such a shame.

 

[Riddler]

Having finished the demo I thought it was ok.

Parsing the story like it's a stage play makes thing make a lot more sense to me. The characters aren't really interacting with each other and reacting to the world around them, they're performing a play to me.

It's a pity there is no Japanese lip sync though, since while the English VA is pretty good the Japanese is as usual better, especially given the somewhat stilted dialogue.

The combat feels fine to me but the bosses are way to spongy for my taste, but perhaps things improve when you level up a bit?