Final Fantasy XVI (Xbox) Review-in-progress

I have never played Final Fantasy XVI before. I don’t have a PS5. So when the game was announced for Xbox recently and released, I was really excited about it. Then Square Enix gave us a review code! I’ve been playing it and while my full review isn’t ready yet, I wanted to share my thoughts on the game so far.

I’ve been a Final Fantasy fan since FF7 on the PS1. That was the game that made me fall in love with the series. I’ve played almost every game since (and gone back to play the first six). The series has definitely had its ups and downs more recently. I haven’t been a huge fan of the move away from turn-based combat. However I enjoyed FF15 anyway. And I was shocked by how much I loved the FF16 demo on Xbox.

And now I’m playing Final Fantasy XVI on my Xbox Series S. The truth is: I’m addicted to the game. I can play it for hours and when I’m not playing the game, I’m thinking about playing the game.

Why do I like Final Fantasy 16 so much?

Let’s start off with the characters: Clive, Cid, Jill, all the other good ones and bad ones, are all so complex. The characters feel much more adult than previous games and yet they still feel like Final Fantasy characters. Clive is cut from the same cloth as Cloud or Squall. He’s the cool guy who talks only when he has something to say. He fights for his friends and his world.

My favorite character is definitely Cid though. He’s so great. I just like how cool he is and how he just always has a snappy comeback. He’s probably my favorite Cid of any Final Fantasy. That’s saying a lot.

Jill is also great. Such a beautiful character, inside and out, and she is brave and cool.

But its not just the characters. The story is so epic: full of drama and politics that remind me a lot of Final Fantasy Tactics. The world is also huge! It feels like a Final Fantasy world with the classic enemies, Chocobos, a moogle, crystals, and more.

Final Fantasy XVI overall feels like Final Fantasy for grownups. It feels like the series is being viewed through an adult lens, with still room for the wonder, joy, and occasional humor of the old games. Its pretty amazing.

What about the combat though? I said I was a big turn-based fan and wasn’t a fan of how Square moved away from that. What do I think of FF16’s combat?

The combat in FF16 is so great. Yes its fast-paced and action packed. What makes it so special is that you keep getting new abilities that make each move Clive does look very cool. You only control Clive but you have team members that help you out and they do a good job. I’m playing the game on Story mode so the combat doesn’t feel too hard and gives me more of a break then a harder mode would. The combat is fun. I especially love the giant Godzilla-like battles, though the normal combat is great too. The game is a lot of fun overall.

I don’t have too many negatives about FF16. I have noticed some glitches with people’s hair or some character’s faces being out of focus. These are very minor issues though so far. Everything seems to run very well on Xbox. This a great thing because some of the boss fights are massive and intensely fast. I’m playing on an Xbox Series S and so far it handles this game super well.

I’m not sure how far I am into the game but I’m enjoying the heck out of it. I want to try and beat the game and play the DLC, which Square Enix was kind of enough to provide to us too. As soon as I beat all that, I’ll write a full review. Can’t wait!

Final Fantasy XVI is available on the Xbox Series right now. Thank you to Square Enix for providing a digital copy of this game.