Final Fantasy 16 is a slick, modern epic with the soul of a PS2 game

Square Enix is looking to change the main Final Fantasy series with Final Fantasy 16 isn’t up for debate. It’s true that every Final Fantasy game is an innovation, but this one stands out. It’s produced by Naoki Yoshida — the fixer who saved Final Fantasy 14 and turned it into one of the world’s hottest massively multiplayer games — with a remit to broaden the series’ appeal and turn these venerable role-playing games into a slick, modern action-adventure. Yoshida loves to mention two of the most popular, recent mass-market fantasies: Game of ThronesThe following are some examples of how to get started: God of War.

In the race to maintain Final Fantasy’s position as one of the world’s biggest blockbusters the risk is the series losing its own identity. Fans may be upset to hear that the series has morphed into a one-character game, even if it is a highly refined version of a RPG. Others might have qualms about Final Fantasy characters getting spattered in gore or screaming “I’ll fucking kill you!” at the top of their lungs.

Both of these things occur in a single game scene. It certainly raised my eyebrows during the playthrough Final Fantasy 16’s opening hours at a recent London press event. It’s not as radical as it seems. Final Fantasy 16 might seem to be — and despite its self-conscious edginess — it’s undeniably a Final Fantasy game at heart. The game has all the familiar elements: the Chocobos, Moogles and crystals. But more importantly, it’s got the right spirit. It is earnest, grandiose and a bit emo with a healthy dose of charm and goofiness. Yoshida insists that the game comes from the heart, not from a corporate mandate for change: “For us, it was about: Let’s just make what we love and get everyone excited in this series again,” he told me. Based on what I’ve played, I believe him.

Square Enix

It’s true that the Square Enix team is so anxious to make a splash that the game takes a little while to settle into a comfortable rhythm. The opening is a context-free flash-forward to an aerial battle between two of the game’s godlike summons, Eikons, with the player controlling a flame-spitting phoenix in a Star Fox-style rail shooter. It’s spectacular, if puzzling: Within a couple hours, you’ll be playing this sequence again, only with a better idea of what’s going on and what you’re supposed to do.

Clive Rosfield is our main protagonist. He’s a disgruntled soldier who works for a hit-team that is avoiding a fight between two factions. Clive’s a typical Final Fantasy character: an emo-pretty boy with an endearingly stiffness. There’s a confusing cutscene involving some political maneuvering between two powers in a keep near the battlefield: We hear about the Iron Kingdom, Waloed, the Dhalmekian Republic, and the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, without quite understanding which of them is represented in the current fight. There’s a chat about Mothercrystals and Dominants.

Final Fantasy 16It starts off in medias-res and throws you right into the middle of its complex political and military map. It’s a bold storytelling choice that might have floundered if not for the Active Time Lore system, which allows you to pause the action (or the cinematic) at any point and read helpful wikis on the characters, locations, and concepts in play in the current scene.

Square Enix

After another destructive Eikon battle, observed from the sidelines this time, there’s an extended flashback/tutorial sequence as we hop back to Clive’s teenage years as the less favored prince of yet another kingdom, the Grand Duchy of Rosaria. His delicate younger brother Joshua is a Dominant, which means he has the power to summon and control the Phoenix Eikon that is Rosaria’s defender. As the elder heir, Clive was expected to inherit this power, but didn’t — much to his mother’s disgust. But he’s a gifted soldier with the power to absorb and use aspects of the Eikon’s power in flashy attack moves and spells.

It’s only now that the game starts to relax and be itself, taking time to more patiently build its characters, its world, and its gameplay. Clive is able to enjoy the royal family drama more than the political intrigue. He also gets to run around and mop up goblins as part of a mission that introduces him to free-flowing fighting. The first proper boss battle is against a Morbol (a ravenous plant, and vintage Final Fantasy monster) — it’s terrific, with interesting mechanics, clever staging, and a satisfying rhythm, thanks to the combat system’s focus on staggering and then punishing enemies.

The boss battles are raging in Final Fantasy 16, but you’ll be looking forward to them. They’re sharply designed, epic without being slogs, and they’re the best showcase for the full range of Clive’s combat skills. The game’s approach to accessibility and difficulty is interesting, too; you’re given a suite of “Timely” items that can be equipped for customized help in certain areas, such as dodge timing, skill selection, or healing. With the most powerful of these equipped, the game is a brainless, glorious, button-mashing lightshow; with none of them, it’s a precise but fluid brawler.

Square Enix

Clive is older when we return to him after tragedy strikes a family ceremony. I won’t spoil the plot any further, but this is the point at which Clive leaves his life as an Imperial assassin and hooks up with Cidolfus Telamon, or Cid, a classic Final Fantasy laconic gunslinger type who reminds me of FF12’s Balthier, voiced rumblingly by Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones). Cid takes Clive to The Hideaway, an outpost hidden amid ruins that serves as the game’s hometown and base of operations, with a garrulous cast of characters and a Final Fantasy 7, family-of-rebels vibe.

During the first few hours of this day, Final Fantasy 16It’s a straightforward, fast-paced game that balances big story beats with moments of spectacular visuals. Clive can also level up and grind enemies in linear arenas. I also got to sample a later area of more open design, where there’s some exploration and side-questing to be done. Structurally, the game reminds me most of 2009’s Final Fantasy 13The underrated entry in the series, with its beautiful graphics and great gameplay that gradually expanded beyond its initial tightly constrained funnel. FF13’s biggest flaw was its painfully slow start, which thankfully is not a problem that FF16 shares.

Final Fantasy 16’s developers may have wanted it to be God of War, and it certainly has the production values, but that game’s virtuosic, seamless Hollywood staging is not what Square Enix does best. By staying true to themselves, Yoshida’s team has created something that may not play like Final Fantasy, but definitely feels like Final Fantasy. This game shares DNA with an entire generation of Japanese RPGs and Action Games from the 2000s. That was the peak of PlayStation 2’s popularity. This game has the dramatic flair, cool moody attitude and playful self-mocking that defined the 2000s, when the PlayStation 2 was at its peak.

Question is: Final Fantasy 16Can this game survive beyond the first few hours? We’ll find out on its release on PlayStation 5 on June 22.