Disclaimer: I write here about game mechanics of the game. Not about Story or game progression. I write about the world of Final Fantasy XVI, but no certain place. Also i'm not finished with this game, maybe 15 hours into the game.
I have see a lot people complaining that Final Fantasy XVI doesn't feel like the other Final Fantasy games or is not a jrpg. Since the franchise Final Fantasy has done a huge part building our perpective of the genre, it's huge that Final Fantasy XVI could be the maybe the end of jrpg on Final Fantasy main games.
I try to tell you what kind of game Final Fantasy XVI is and does it suit a Final Fantasy or jrpg fan. Then you are able to decide if it's something for you or not.
Is this game a jrpg?
There is no clear definition of an jrpg, some thing a jrpg has to be a turn based games and some still see dark soul games as jrpg's.
- This game is for sure a rpg. It has a level system and you are able to equip gear for offense and defense. There is also some kind of ability tree in the game and you are able to choose certain ability you like.
- suprise, this game comes from japan
- Final Fantasy XVI is a story driven game with ceveral characters in your party, but you only able to control the main character
- This game is an action game with focus dodging and skill usage
- The characters in this game feel very grouded and logical and it takes a lot inspiration from historical settings
- There is no element system or effectiveness system in the game
This games battle system reminds me of devil may cry. It feels a bit like a hack n slash game with well designed bosses. It remides me as well a bit of Ys game, because of the dodge and skill mechanics in the game. The game is all about your skill of the game mechanics and has no logical element like effectives of certain elements or weapons.
So is this game a jrpg for you? I think a lot people doesn't see it as jrpg and it's hard for me to see it as one as well. Depending on the definition i would say for some people it is a jrpg.
Is this game a good Final Fantasy?
There is a lot of my own opinion in this section, but i try to explain what kind of game Final Fantasy XVI is. I don't spoiler any story or progression of the game, but try to describe the eviroment of the game. Everything i say should in any trailer you are able to see or in the demo of the first 2.5 hours of the game.
Final Fantasy XVI has a medievil or feudalism theme (please tell me if you know more about this). The characters we see takes with der cloths a lot inspiration of that time. Building, markets and characters that appear in the game are inspired from history. I think quite more than other Final Fantasy games of with a medievil theme. Even the main character start with a appearance that doesn't remind you of fantasy at all. If you run arround in the first area you have to search for things that reminds you on fantasy. But if you look arround, you find a few things. Chocobos that are used from the knights and cyrstals that used to get water and gardening as well as for other things. A lot places stay like this, quite uninspirering if you search for unusual places that often appeared in Final Fantasy games. But later in the game there are a few places that has been build a lot better.
Even regions like forests or villages doesn't have so much fantasy with their appearance. Not with their appearance, but of course with their monsters. I wouldn't say i have seen so far a lot typical monster that represent the franchise Final Fantasy, but there were a few of them, like a morbol. We see as well a few magic that are typical for the game (but i don't know a lot as well so far).
Of course the Eikon battles are a huge part that represents the franchise. Ifrit and Shiva are two of the Eikons in that game and maybe the part of the game i like the most.
I think this game has a lot uninspired regions and places as well as character appearances in the game. Often when i look on the game i'm a bit sad because i want to see more moogles, want to see human like beasts like in Final Fantasy XII or the main mc of Final Fantasy IX. I want to see very interresting forest like the macalania woods in Final Fantasy X or creatives cities like Midgar in Final Fantasy VII. But then again i see everything FF XVI has build arround their Eikons and i'm happy again. It's not the best game to represent what Final Fantasy could be, but at least it excels other games in certain points for a Final Fantasy game, a fantasy game at all or even other jrpgs.
Some games like Final Fantasy XII doesn't even had shiva or ifrit, but this game has it and maybe better than ever. The franchise battle system has been changing for a long time, as well as how the game plays itself. Final Fantasy XV was the first open world game with a terrible car (my opinion). That the course of the franchise and well will for sure see a lot different things in the future of Final Fantasy.
I liked to play Final Fantasy VII remake more, because it's more a jrpg, it has a edgy story, has more typical elements of final fantasy and some very weird bosses (a house), but as a Final Fantasy fan since i played Final Fantasy X (and many more), i still think it's a good game and even a good Final Fantasy.
I hopw others follow their example