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[sigmaZ]

very much agreed...

I think it's a bit more nuanced. For repetitive activities aimed at completionists, I think icons and checklists are vital for the sense of completion.
For explorative elements however, I think the activities that aren't checklisted should be as varied as possible. Herein lies the problem with BotW and TotK's approach. There's lots of repetitive activities that are hard to keep track of which can fatigue more casual completionists. The balance of this though is to keep the check-list content meaningful, worthwhile and limited.
The joy of random exploration however should be random encounters and things that are least expected. These include things like enjoyable activities and minigames, etc. as well as unique items and equipment. (This is something that Zelda does fairly well by having NPCs reveal locations on the map).

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

She has arrived and she's a beauty;

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

FFXV has its issues, but worst? No, that still goes to XIII, followed by II.

Hard disagree, lol. But to each their own!

 

[Zathalus]

Just finished the game and overall I'm pretty disappointed. Not a fan of the ending and my previous complaints still hold ground. Other then the flashy combat, fantastic set pieces, and more mature story the game fails to innovate and actually regresses compared to other Final Fantasy games.

Frankly, is basically an action game at this point that has a token attempt at RPG mechanisms. What I was hoping to be a GotY contender turns out to be just another above average game. Let's hope Starfield and BG3 don't disappoint.

 

[Rush2112]

its a great game with poor story pacing and I will explain:

when you play GoW, the story progressively becomes more epic as the game goes forward.

In FF16, it gets MASSIVELY epic, then MEH for like 2 hours, then EPIC, then MEH for 3 hours, rinse and repeat. That’s poor pacing. i think it happened because these guys are MMO designers and that’s how it is in 14. You kill a big boss and suffer hours of boring aftermath. it just doesn’t work that well in a single player game.

 

[EviLore]

its a great game with poor story pacing and I will explain:

when you play GoW, the story progressively becomes more epic as the game goes forward.

In FF16, it gets MASSIVELY epic, then MEH for like 2 hours, then EPIC, then MEH for 3 hours, rinse and repeat. That’s poor pacing. i think it happened because these guys are MMO designers and that’s how it is in 14. You kill a big boss and suffer hours of boring aftermath. it just doesn’t work that well in a single player game.

That’s the biggest problem for me. It’s a slog with a long time commitment to get to the next big climax. The side quests and normal fights are unengaging, overlong busy work. Typically in a character action game you’d need to be efficient against normal enemies, effectively manage resources, or deal with puzzles or some other way to make the between moments meaningful. And the overall length would be much shorter. I have no interest in MMO style time wasting.

But the climaxes are indeed fun and cool so I keep getting pulled back in, only to get frustrated by most of the content.

 

[Dr. Claus]

its a great game with poor story pacing and I will explain:

when you play GoW, the story progressively becomes more epic as the game goes forward.

In FF16, it gets MASSIVELY epic, then MEH for like 2 hours, then EPIC, then MEH for 3 hours, rinse and repeat. That’s poor pacing. i think it happened because these guys are MMO designers and that’s how it is in 14. You kill a big boss and suffer hours of boring aftermath. it just doesn’t work that well in a single player game.

I take it you didn't play GoW Ragnarok then? Starts epic in the first hour, then meanders through MEH for 40 hours before teasing something epic in the last 3 only to shit the bed.

I would much rather take FFXVI over Rangarok any day of the week.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I’m haven’t found it to be slow or a slog, there’s a cyclicality to the main quests.

- start off at the hub, upgrade gear
- explore open area section that’s introduced
- do side content that opens up (optional)
- progress main campaign culminating in boss fights and ekion battles

The slower parts of the game introduce the lore. And while the game is cutscene heavy, that’s par for the course for an RPG, only difference is that this game uses cutscenes instead of static text boxes. I much prefer the former, and the cutscenes generally don’t drag on too long as they are cut well

 

[Hugare]

I take it you didn't play GoW Ragnarok then? Starts epic in the first hour, then meanders through MEH for 40 hours before teasing something epic in the last 3 only to shit the bed.

I would much rather take FFXVI over Rangarok any day of the week.

Was just talking to my cousin that's also playing FF XVI, and he told me "I'm enjoying it way more than Ragnarok", which I agree

In FF XVI there are lots of down times, sure. But its not like you are in a hurry to change your fate so you could kill the norse gods with Ragnarok or something.

I usually notice this pacing whiplash. In The Witcher 3, for example, Geralt spends his time getting some frying pan back to its owner or playing Gwent instead of going after Ciri.

But here in FF XVI its fine, imo (so far, at least)

I appreciate the calmer pacing before shit eventually hit the fan again. It's been a good balance so far.

There's a reason why Asura's Wrath wasnt 50h long

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Was just talking to my cousin that's also playing FF XVI, and he told me "I'm enjoying it way more than Ragnarok", which I agree

In FF XVI there are lots of down times, sure. But its not like you are in a hurry to change your fate so you could kill the norse gods with Ragnarok or something.

I usually notice this pacing whiplash. In The Witcher 3, for example, Geralt spends his time getting some frying pan back to its owner or playing Gwent instead of going after Ciri.

But here in FF XVI its fine, imo (so far, at least)

I appreciate the calmer pacing before shit eventually hit the fan again. It's been a good balance so far.

There's a reason why Asura's Wrath wasnt 50h long

I just got the third Eikon and have 15 hours thus far, doing all side quests

Feels like this is going to be a 60 hour playthrough based on the abilities menu that’s still significantly blank

This game just feels more massive than many other games too. I think the production values go a long way in cementing that

 

[Dr. Claus]

Was just talking to my cousin that's also playing FF XVI, and he told me "I'm enjoying it way more than Ragnarok", which I agree

In FF XVI there are lots of down times, sure. But its not like you are in a hurry to change your fate so you could kill the norse gods with Ragnarok or something.

I usually notice this pacing whiplash. In The Witcher 3, for example, Geralt spends his time getting some frying pan back to its owner or playing Gwent instead of going after Ciri.

But here in FF XVI its fine, imo (so far, at least)

I appreciate the calmer pacing before shit eventually hit the fan again. It's been a good balance so far.

There's a reason why Asura's Wrath wasnt 50h long

Yep. When things need to be properly paced in terms of story, going after particular individuals, you have little to do aside from following the MSQ. A handful of sidequests may pop up but they have some relevance to the situation at hand. The only time you get sidequests that are completely odd are during times where the story shows that the characters would have downtime. Wiating on more information, trying to relax after completing a major mission, etc.

Plus it gives you time to actually care about these towns and characters, at least if you do teh side quests.

 

[sigmaZ]

The main issue with the questing is much of the stuff unlocks too slow and the games equipments arent diverse enough to give consist rewards for side content. For some borebuilding is enough but I like it better when stories focus more on plot action and leave the lore building completely as an in world discovery thing told by the environment and short quips of townspeople.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Just got my copy today. Loving the combat. Playing it normally without the accessibility accessories.

 

[Madflavor]

9/10 score added to MC, and user score climbed up to 8.1

3 positive scores added to OC. A 10/10, 8.5/10, and one Unscored but it was very positive on the game.

 

[saintjules]

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Never mind.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Just read the Eurogamer review.

The world is also conspicuous for its ethnic homogeneity, which producer Naoki Yoshida has explained as a reflection of the "geographical, technological, and geopolitical constraints" of medieval Europe. Leaving aside the fact that there were Black and brown people in medieval Europe, this justification rings hollow given that several locations take open inspiration from north Africa and the Middle East, with towns that, for example, riff on Islamic architectural traditions and attire, but are predominantly or exclusively populated by anglophone white people (I hedge, here, simply because I haven't been around and talked to everybody). I find the deletion of people of colour from these spaces more sinister than the racial stereotypes of older Final Fantasies, particularly in a game that wants to talk about overcoming structural injustice and bringing people together. That "togetherness" is worth fighting for, but it's characterised here by what it excludes.

 

[Doomtrain]

It’s so creepy how these outlets always say the exact same things.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

I've been plowing through this, and overall I'm enjoying it. The game is super uneven, though, between the lavish main setpiece missions and the low-budget filler and sidequest missions. It's to the point that it's like two completely different games, you can literally tell that you're going to be slumming it for a while when they break out the shit NPC models and tell you to talk to three nearby peasants and then fend off three waves of wildlife in three different locations. Any hint of FFT/GoT-level narrative sophistication is long gone at the point in the game where I'm at, I think they must have frontloaded all that stuff into the demo to fool people into thinking the game was smarter than it is.

Also, pretty disappointed that there aren't any real cities in this game. At least one would have been nice, like Novigrad in Witcher 3.

Overall I'm having a good time though. The combat never gets old, and the story is engaging enough for what it is. Game is on the level of a good Sony exclusive, though, and not a real masterpiece.

 

[TheKremlinBossMan]

Just finished the game it's a 9.7/10 for me. I have a few gripes but they are really just nitpicky. After completing the game it seems like reviewers have docked it for not being what they wanted and not for failing at what it is.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Can't wait to binge this. I have a week booked off next week, my priority is ffxvi first then star wars jedi survivor..then I can finally dive into totk and diabolo iv.

What a year of games.

 

[GymWolf]

Just by fighting Liquid Flame i cant tell that is a LOT of ppl using the evasion ring, that fight took me 30 minutes to "master" his phase 2, if this game didnt have potion replenishment on death ( like elden ring ) a lot of ppl would be crying a lot more, this game on hard ll be a real challange

Really? I beated him first try last night

He was not easy, you still have to focus but it would have been much better if his attacks were like 30-40% more damaging.

If by mastering you mean not getting hit once as a personal challenge then sure, i would not be able to not get hit even once during a long fight, i'm not that good.

 

[TheKremlinBossMan]

Really? I beated him first try last night

He was not easy, you still have to focus but it would have been much better if his attacks were like 30-40% more damaging.

If by mastering you mean not getting hit once as a personal challenge then sure, i would not be able to not get hit even once during a long fight, i'm not that good.

You guys were right hard mode does feel better in NG+. Just the first two fights after phoenix gate were pretty good. I still get why they did it but now that I know there is a mode that is even higher than hard mode they should have given you the option for hard at the start and left Ultima mode for the crazies.

 

[GymWolf]

You guys were right hard mode does feel better in NG+. Just the first two fights after phoenix gate were pretty good. I still get why they did it but now that I know there is a mode that is even higher than hard mode they should have given you the option for hard at the start and left Ultima mode for the crazies.

I'm still on normal first run, maybe you are mistaking me with someone else.

 

[Lokaum D+]

Really? I beated him first try last night

He was not easy, you still have to focus but it would have been much better if his attacks were like 30-40% more damaging.

If by mastering you mean not getting hit once as a personal challenge then sure, i would not be able to not get hit even once during a long fight, i'm not that good.

Yeah, by mastering i mean 0 damage

 

[GymWolf]

Yeah, by mastering i mean 0 damage

I'm confused, doing that as a personal challenge doesn't mean that the boss is actually hard so i have no idea how your conclusion was that many people are using help accessories to beat the game because of that.

People never said that they never get hit, just that the game is not hard, there is a big ass difference.

 

[Lokaum D+]

I'm confused, doing that as a personal challenge doesn't mean that the boss is actually hard so i have no idea how your conclusion was that many people are using help accessories to beat the game because of that.

People never said that they never get hit, just that the game is not hard, there is a big ass difference.

if the game isn't hard enough u just need to make it harder for ur own taste,I personally dont use accessories or potion, and i aways set some kind of challange for myself ( so i die a lot ), about the Liquid Flame i didn't find the fight difficult, but it's a fight where his attack patterns are constantly changing, and this can make the attacks difficult to read ( i did for me that wanted to do a No Hit Run )

 

[Komatsu]

People all over the internet raving about Jill/Clive but I find most of their scenes to be painfully contrived.

Spoiler: Spoilers

It doesn’t help that it is painfully obvious that the mocap was done by Japanese actors, so that in typical Nihon fashion you see a couple in love who simply can’t stand closer than 3ft away from each other.

And the dialogue? UGH. The English VAs do their best with the wooden lines they must read out but…

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

People all over the internet raving about Jill/Clive but I find most of their scenes to be painfully contrived.

Spoiler: Spoilers

It doesn’t help that it is painfully obvious that the mocap was done by Japanese actors, so that in typical Nihon fashion you see a couple in love who simply can’t stand closer than 3ft away from each other.

And the dialogue? UGH. The English VAs do their best with the wooden lines they must read out but…

Yeah I haven't quite finished the game yet but most of it felt pretty empty to me. I mean it wasn't awful or anything but.. other characters have better chemistry not necessarily romantic. I just feel like Jill was a little hollow as a whole.

 

[fart town usa]

People all over the internet raving about Jill/Clive but I find most of their scenes to be painfully contrived.

Spoiler: Spoilers

It doesn’t help that it is painfully obvious that the mocap was done by Japanese actors, so that in typical Nihon fashion you see a couple in love who simply can’t stand closer than 3ft away from each other.

And the dialogue? UGH. The English VAs do their best with the wooden lines they must read out but…

Unless things change, Jill was more interesting as a kid in the prologue. Where I'm at in the game, she just stands there and delivers stilted lines every so often with even stiffer animations. Majority of the time I forget that she's running behind me.

 

[Madflavor]

People all over the internet raving about Jill/Clive but I find most of their scenes to be painfully contrived.

Spoiler: Spoilers

It doesn’t help that it is painfully obvious that the mocap was done by Japanese actors, so that in typical Nihon fashion you see a couple in love who simply can’t stand closer than 3ft away from each other.

And the dialogue? UGH. The English VAs do their best with the wooden lines they must read out but…

I can tell by your description in the spoiler that you haven't gotten far enough.

 

[Komatsu]

I can tell by your description in the spoiler that you haven't gotten far enough.

LOL - I finished the game, buddy.

 

[Madflavor]

LOL - I finished the game, buddy.

Oh so it’s worse and you just lied out your ass?

 

[Bojji]

I love how many reviews weer saying that everyone is white in this game while in south country most npcs have olive or light brown skin. This game represents Europe and middle east in terms of human races, just like in peter Jackson movies people south from gondor had darker skin, just like in the Witcher main game\books events take place in "Europe" while people from Arab and Afrika like countries are mentioned and exists.

This thing makes sense based on how people are divided by skin colors on different parts of the world in real life. And in history people didn't mix as much as in current day america or england.

What doesn't make any sense are worlds like in the Witcher tv series or Amazon LotR, where people of all ethnicities live everywhere (just like in 2023 NYC).

 

[Madflavor]

I love how many reviews weer saying that everyone is white in this game while in south country most npcs have olive or light brown skin. This game represents Europe and middle east in terms of human races, just like in peter Jackson movies people south from gondor had darker skin, just like in the Witcher main game\books events take place in "Europe" while people from Arab and Afrika like countries are mentioned and exists.

This thing makes sense based on how people are divided by skin colors on different parts of the world in real life. And in history people didn't mix as much as in current day america or england.

What doesn't make any sense are worlds like in the Witcher tv series or Amazon LotR, where people of all ethnicities live everywhere (just like in 2023 NYC).

Some people trained their brains to get offended by everything. Must be an exhausting way to live.

 

[Komatsu]

Oh so it’s worse and you just lied out your ass?

My post contained my opinion - shared by others here, in half a dozen threads - about the dialogue and the mocap. There's nothing to lie about.

 

[Madflavor]

My post contained my opinion - shared by others here, in half a dozen threads - about the dialogue and the mocap. There's nothing to lie about.

Misformation =\= “it’s my opinion bruh”

There are multiple scenes with Jill and Clive, especially one in particular, that directly contradict your statement about the Mocap.

 

[Komatsu]

Misformation =\= “it’s my opinion bruh”

There are multiple scenes with Jill and Clive, especially one in particular, that directly contradict your statement about the Mocap.

The "bonfire scene" (itself a rather cringe attempt at romance, only marginally less bad than the ending of that one sidequest) does not negate hours of awkwardly staged cutscenes. You're of course welcome to find them fulfilling, well-written and well-directed. I'm not 12 years old so you coming to a diametrically opposing view does not hurt my feelings.

 

[hemo memo]

The "bonfire scene" (itself a rather cringe attempt at romance, only marginally less bad than the ending of that one sidequest) does not negate hours of awkwardly staged cutscenes. You're of course welcome to find them fulfilling, well-written and well-directed. I'm not 12 years old so you coming to a diametrically opposing view does not hurt my feelings.

Last FF was 15. This is a massive improvement. I’m not expecting The Notebook here. Writing is great.

 

[Danjin44]

(itself a rather cringe attempt at romance

What? what was "cringe" about it? I thought it was pretty good, especially compare most of sex scenes in western games which was way more awkward and just downright bad.

 

[Madflavor]

Spoiler

The "bonfire scene" (itself a rather cringe attempt at romance, only marginally less bad than the ending of that one sidequest) does not negate hours of awkwardly staged cutscenes. You're of course welcome to find them fulfilling, well-written and well-directed.

You might wanna spoiler tag that.

Spoiler

It's a scene where they're unclothed and tenderly embrace each other for minutes before smooching. There are multiple scenes after that where they're embracing and/or kissing. If anything, FFXVI shows it's couple get more physically intimate than any other couple in the series. You don't have to like the writing of their relationship, but it was a weird take on your part.

I'm not 12 years old so you coming to a diametrically opposing view does not hurt my feelings.

Yeah? Why would disagreeing with your take be me trying to hurt your feelings? Nobody here would think that's my goal, or anyone's goal when they disagree.

You say weird shit man. I'm not trying to be your enemy.

 

[Brock2621]

Loved it. Plan on playing through it again and really diving into the reading and lore

 

[Guilty_AI]

What? what was "cringe" about it? I thought it was pretty good, especially compare most of sex scenes in western games which was way more awkward and just downright bad.

You clearly haven't seen the right sex scenes

 

[Komatsu]

You might wanna spoiler tag that.

I thought I had been sufficiently vague, but I will.

it was a weird take on your part.

See? You could have started with that. Now that's a counter-opinion I'm happy to debate.

We have here screencaps from 2 scenes, one the main love scene in the game, the other the ending to a side quest. Were they the strongest moments between Clive and Jill in the game? Yes. Were they particularly well written or well staged? No. The dialogue is stilted and wooden ("You're still the same boy I grew up with / Always so eager to save everyone around you"), the mocap is awkward... It's just all very dull, as another poster here mentioned.

Yoshida could have brought Ishikawa, who wrote very strong scenes for Shadowbringers, to polish this part of the script but instead we're given the usual Maehiro slop. He's good at writing boisterous male characters - Cid here is very good - but women are not his forte.

 

[Brigandier]

Just read the Eurogamer review.

I absolutely hate what that site has become... Fuck Eurogamer.