2023 | PlayStation 5 (Personal Computer 2024) | Summons as Kaiju Battles
Final Fantasy XVI (2023) is the latest mainline entry - a mature, dark fantasy with full action combat directed by Ryota Suzuki (Devil May Cry 5 combat designer).
Set in Valisthea, a medieval world where nations war over Mothercrystals (sources of magic). The most radical change: Eikons (summons) are living weapons piloted by Dominants - humans who can transform into kaiju-sized gods.
PlayStation 5 exclusive at launch (Personal Computer version 2024), Final Fantasy XVI ditches Role-Playing Game elements for spectacle - boss battles as entire Eikon vs. Eikon kaiju fights.
→ Eikons as controllable kaiju in massive set-piece battles
→ Full action combat (no party members)
→ Mature themes: slavery, war, political intrigue
→ Game of Thrones meets Final Fantasy
Clive Rosfield - firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria - is trained as a warrior but not chosen as the Dominant of Phoenix (his younger brother Joshua gets that honor). Clive becomes Joshua's "Shield."
When Joshua is killed by a mysterious second Eikon of Fire (Ifrit), Clive swears revenge. The story follows Clive across decades - from teenager to grizzled warrior - as he uncovers conspiracies, frees enslaved Bearers (magic users), and collects Eikon powers.
Clive is older, more mature than recent FF protagonists. He's a protector, a leader, a man driven by duty and rage.
Final Fantasy XVI's biggest innovation: Eikons are boss battles. Each Dominant can transform into their Eikon for massive-scale fights.
The Eikons:
Clive can absorb defeated Dominants' powers, wielding multiple Eikons' abilities. Boss fights are spectacles - Titan vs. Garuda, Phoenix vs. Ifrit, the final Bahamut battle - all massive, cinematic, QTE-heavy.
The Eikon battles are like playing a kaiju movie. Pure spectacle.
Directed by Ryota Suzuki (Devil May Cry 5 combat director), FF16's combat is pure action:
Difficulty modes: Story (easy for non-action fans), Action (normal), Final Fantasy (hard mode)
Purists mourn the loss of RPG mechanics. Action fans celebrate the Devil May Cry influence.
Valisthea - a continent with warring nations powered by Mothercrystals (massive crystals providing aether/magic):
Bearers - humans who can use magic - are enslaved and branded. Magic use drains their life, turning them to stone (petrification). Clive's quest becomes freeing Bearers and destroying the Mothercrystals.
The world is grimdark - Game of Thrones vibes with slavery, war crimes, and political intrigue.
The Cid in this game is Black, older, and one of the most beloved mentors in FF history.
Ultima - the final boss - is a godlike entity who created humanity as vessels. When his world died, he crafted humans to one day produce a perfect vessel (Mythos) to inhabit.
Clive is that vessel. The entire plot - the Eikons, the Mothercrystals, the wars - was orchestrated by Ultima to prepare Clive.
Clive rejects divinity, choosing to destroy magic itself to free humanity from gods. The ending is ambiguous - did Clive survive?
Masayoshi Soken (Final Fantasy XIV composer) delivers another masterpiece. Orchestral, epic, with battle themes that pump adrenaline.
"Find the Flame" (main theme) is hauntingly beautiful.
Final Fantasy XVI is divisive. It's barely a Role-Playing Game - no party, minimal gear customization, action combat. It's more God of War than Final Fantasy.
But as a spectacle action game? It's incredible. The Eikon battles are jaw-dropping. Titan vs. Garuda? Bahamut fight? Pure cinema.
Clive's story is mature - a man grappling with loss, duty, and the cost of revenge. Jill deserved more screen time. Torgal is a good boy.
Final Fantasy XVI is Final Fantasy reimagined for the action game era. Some will love it. Some will mourn what was lost.
The most un-Final Fantasy Final Fantasy. And that's not necessarily bad.