Final Fantasy 16: What Clive’s Face Tattoo Means For Magic In Valisthea

If you happen to’ve seen Ultimate Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield, you’ve doubtless observed he has a black face tattoo on his left cheek. This tattoo connects extra extensively to the world of FFXVI, Valisthea, and magic’s place in it. 

Throughout my cowl story journey to Tokyo, Japan, to talk to developer Artistic Enterprise Unit III, I discovered so much about magic in FFXVI and the way it impacts Clive’s life and everybody on this world. The particular tattoo on Clive’s face is the mark of a Bearer, which signifies he can use magic. This may look like an incredible capacity, however the nations of Valisthea view Bearers as one thing apart from human. These nations model their Bearers to indicate they’re enslaved, and nations commerce Bearers throughout borders based mostly on who wants their magical talents. When Clive receives this branding, his life is without end modified. 

In my hands-on time with FFXVI, I noticed numerous different individuals in The Grand Duchy of Rosaria, Clive’s residence at one level, with the identical mark. They have been finishing duties like fetching water, carrying heavy objects, and extra. Flashing ahead previous the sport’s opening hours, Clive is on a mission to assassinate a key determine in a conflict, and he’s joined by a number of different troopers additionally bearing the mark. Earlier than this journey, I assumed Clive’s tattoo was distinctive to him, however the mark of a Bearer is not as uncommon in Valisthea as I initially thought. 

Valisthea’s reliance on the magical work of Bearers speaks to its larger reliance on magic on the whole. Whereas the principle situation will drive Clive’s story ahead, localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox says the world of FFXVI isn’t all politics, intrigue, and Clive’s story on a regular basis, and CBUIII labored onerous to inject minor, on a regular basis issues into the world. These issues communicate to one thing bigger occurring in Valisthea and the driving drive behind the sport: the depletion of Mothercrystals. 

FFXVI director Hiroshi Takai says these large crystals are akin to grease fields in our world, describing that nations in Valisthea battle for management of them a lot in the way in which our societies have fought whole wars over oil. 

Koji says in the event you ask, “How do they do this in Valisthea?” the reply is probably going magic powered by the Mothercrystals. 

“Why do we have to discover a strategy to make hearth sizzling after we can simply use a fireplace crystal and make the fireplace hotter? You don’t have to invent bows and arrows in a world the place you could have magical projectiles that may be shot through a crystal,” he says. “And so as a result of you could have these individuals counting on the magic, they don’t discover ways to do a whole lot of stuff, they usually rely in some locations an excessive amount of on these crystals.

 “[This reliance] turns into a type of centerpieces within the narrative: what occurs when the magic begins to expire? How are we going to pour our water? How are we going to dry our laundry? And as an alternative of determining methods to mild their cigarettes with no crystal, the very first thing they consider is, ‘Effectively, we have to go and invade this nation and get their crystal as a result of that one remains to be working.’”

Artistic director Kazutoyo Maehiro says FFXVI positions magic on this strategy to clarify its foundation in a approach Ultimate Fantasy video games haven’t executed in earlier releases. 

“Within the Ultimate Fantasy collection, magic is simply one thing that you simply see in all of the video games, and it’s by no means actually defined why it’s there,” Maehiro says. “It’s simply all the time there. It’s all the time been that staple for the collection. Individuals use it [and] it’s an on a regular basis factor. Everybody can use it. However we expect in previous Ultimate Fantasies, it hasn’t actually been defined why individuals have this magic. Why can they use it? Yeah, there’s an MP bar, however what’s that vacant bar? What occurs to the person who’s casting it after they use magic?

“We wished to introduce these themes on this story that’s centered across the Mothercrystals. And it’s the identical factor with the [crystals of Final Fantasy]. What’s a Mothercrystal? What are these crystals that individuals are utilizing to solid these spells? Why is it an on a regular basis factor for them? Let’s discover their on a regular basis lives with this magic. How does that have an effect on their lives? Bringing this idea of magic and making it an precise a part of the narrative was one thing we wished to do.”

Whereas magic will, from a gameplay perspective, primarily function a strategy to harm enemies, it’s attention-grabbing to listen to how a lot thought CBUIII put into its place in Valisthea, and I’m excited to be taught extra about its position in Clive’s story. 

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