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Final Fantasy XVI might be the most aggressively action-based RPG yet. While the Final Fantasy series has a history of flirting with action game mechanics, it’s always kept this one-foot-in-JRPG feeling of restraint.
That’s not so much the case with Final Fantasy XVI, as I’d learned when Square Enix let me try a special build of the game just for the media. While game producer Naoki Yoshida has confirmed the existence of JRPG staples like subquests and the like, the heart of Final Fantasy XVI is very much an action game- and Square Enix is doubling down on this by making sure it’s a good one, too.
After the demo I’d even gotten to chat with the game’s combat designer, Ryota Suzuki, who provided additional insights on the game’s combat, so I’ll be peppering in his input as they come up.
DISCLAIMER:This is a special version made for media to experience, and contents may differ from the final version. Additionally, images shown are from a special version made for media to experience, and contents may differ from the final version.
Smokin Sexy Style
Final Fantasy XVI has a lot in common with the Devil May Cry series, which isn’t surprising when you remember Suzuki also worked on Devil May Cry V. That’s not a bad thing, either- a lot of Devil May Cry’s success lies in the fact that the series knows how to make action feel involved and cool.
Right: Final Fantasy XVI Combat Director Ryota Suzuki
You see it most in the main character Clive’s ability to switch between Eikons. These function a lot like Styles in your typical Devil May Cry game, with each of the Eikons having a unique “Eikonic Ability” even bound to the same button. In the demo we got a taste of Phoenix, Garuda and Titan, representing a pretty diverse move pool: Phoenix’s abilities are very mobility based, with a forward lunge that can be cancelled into melee or magic attacks. Garuda is much lighter, with abilities that reward fast strikes and the ability to pull people in a la Snatch. Meanwhile Titan’s kit is akin to a bruiser, with high power hits and a Royal Guard-esque parry, complete with follow-ups.
Now, we don’t know if every single one of the game’s Eikons is going to have a style associated with it- but the selection we got in the demo was a good sampler of the game’s combat, letting you switch Eikons mid combo like a true stylebeast to use various equipped special abilities. I really like that these cooldown-based skills are all part of their Eikon’s archetype- Titan has an armor-based rush punch, letting Clive absorb an incoming hit and then getting a rush punch worthy of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure out for it, while Garuda has a Fade Slash- letting you dodge an attack before lunging in with a vicious counterattack as well as a whirlwind of slashes, strengthened by mashing.
You aren’t entirely limited in these skills either. While each Eikon only has two equippable slots, you can buy additional moves to swap them out at any time via the main menu, or even upgrade your equipped moves.
While your average guard might not necessitate the use of Clive’s whole arsenal, it always feels like something will. Phoenix’s kit was the most underwhelming to me, yet the presence of guarded enemies made it so you’d always want to have it’s moves ready to break it. Similarly, Garuda’s Deadly Embrace gains an extra ability against gargantuan bosses- a Nero-style Buster attack.
Really Getting Into The Weeds
I’d teased it a little earlier, but we really need to talk about how skills actually work in Final Fantasy XVI. Basically, you can spend points earned in combat to buy new abilities for Clive or his different Eikon abilities. Clive’s own movepool is fairly interesting- while you can buy additional attacks like a Stinger or Helm Splitter (they’re the same move, just performed in the air or grounded), the lack of new combos is notably missing.
According to Ryota Suzuki, this was intentional. While Clive can’t do delay combos like a Devil May Cry character, the complexity of XVI instead comes from rotating out the massive array of tools Clive has at his disposal. One of these is Torgal, his trusty dog companion- he’s the only member of the party to always be at Clive’s side, and also the only one you can directly command. One of these three commands is called Maul, which can keep enemies in the air- letting you set up your next big offensive without having to drop your combo.
Speaking of the air, Clive has one very noticeable skill in his skill tree. Called Stomp, Devil Hunters might better know this skill as Enemy Step- it lets you cancel any move with a jump, letting you juggle your enemies. You’re only allowed one jump cancel per combo, but just having the option at all (alongside Torgal’s juggling capabilities) already opens up the door massively for combo expression.
Aside from that, he also has several other skills he can use too. As a First Knight he can charge up his sword with Phoenix’s blessing, making it much better at breaking guards and having a neat fire effect. He can also charge his magic attacks- turning peashooter-like flames into more explosive blasts.
But what players need to most take heed of is the mastery abilities. These are additional effects you get for maxing out any skill in Clive’s retinue. Stomp, for example, gets a whole additional jump- in my own tests two loops was more than enough to deal with most enemies. Eikon skills have an even more impressive mastery- paying out the points to max them out will free them of their Eikonic shackles, letting you equip their skills on to other Eikons. While Phoenix’s kit may seem less impressive at first, imagine what happens when you remove the uppercut with something more damaging- like one of Titan’s explosive punches.
It’s great because so many of these skills definitely feel like they were intended for styling on your enemies. In fact, Suzuki even explained to me that the game’s Stagger mechanic was a vehicle for exactly this- by breaking your opponent’s stagger meter, you get free reign to wail on them, with a big number to tell you just how much damage you did at the end of it.
That being said, it does feel like you’d have to work extra hard to get any kind of air combo going. Moves that look like they’d launch you often times don’t, such as a winged uppercut courtesy of Phoenix. It’s not massively disheartening, but would make the combos in the game feel that much more wild. Right now air combo afficionados only option is jumping up and pulling a poor soul with them via Garuda’s Deadly Embrace. Not terrible, just a little inelegant compared to how many action games have some kind of built in launcher.
Skill Issues
Of course, no one’s born a combo beast. While we didn’t get to try it out in the demo, Suzuki told us that the full version of Final Fantasy XVI will also include a training mode- letting you practice your combos on any enemy type in the game. Considering how many times I ran out of enemies to kill while trying to experiment in the demo, this is gonna be a huge chunk of Final Fantasy XVI’s popularity online- people posting Combo MADs of Clive rocking out and denying poor guardsmen the ground.
Both Suzuki and Yoshida also confirmed other additional modes as well- like a score attack mode for players who are really looking for a challenge. They didn’t go into specifics on what this mode would entail, but it’s my personal hope that “Score attack” is a colloquialism for “Boss rush”, or at least some mode akin to Bloody Palace in Devil May Cry.
If the path of “do combo” isn’t for you, don’t fret- you don’t have to engage in the system if you don’t want to. The game also includes multiple equippable rings, which automate various parts of the gameplay like healing, commanding Torgal and even slowing down time to help you dodge or parry better. It’s not a bad idea- not every Final Fantasy fan dreams of doing air combos, and it lets these players still enjoy the high-stakes melodrama of kingdoms with supersoldiers who turn into kaiju.
Shall Never Surrender
With Final Fantasy XVI due out this June, our look at the game was a great way to hook in more people that might have been turned away by the Final Fantasy series’ JRPG roots. It’s a character action game first and foremost, and anyone driven by an insatiable thirst for combos is sure to enjoy what the game has to offer.
Even if you like big spectacle- the game’s Eikon fights promise to be something new, as producer Yoshida confirmed that each of the titanic fights would be built around the two Eikons fighting, rather than one static combat system for each bout.
One thing’s for certain though: I’m going to be busting up my hands in that training mode as soon as it’s made available to me.
Preview content for Final Fantasy XVI was from a build specially made for the media, and contents represented a game still in development
