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    Final Fantasy 16 is the worst role-playing game ever made – Reader’s Article

    Pabio Posted on


    Final Fantasy 16 screenshot
    Final Fantasy 16 – and we thought we didn’t like it… (Square Enix)

    One reader is adamant that not only Fantasy Finale 16 one of Square-Enixis one of the worst games but it’s a shame for the entire genre.

    Ah, Square Enix. Where did it all go wrong? Oh, that’s right. It went wrong with your horrible 2023 game release Final Fantasy 16which is a horribly insidious disappointment. The game is honestly a boring and forgettable grind, for a multitude of reasons. It’s labeled as a role-playing game. What role is there really to play? An errand boy for random characters, who we don’t care about or couldn’t care about at all. And a hack and slash combat system that becomes stale and repetitive as soon as you realize it has no depth.

    Now we all know the truth about side quests. How absolutely horribly atrocious they are. In fact, I never cared about a single side quest. Not a single one could get me out of my boredom phase, because what’s that worth? Talk to a random character and go on a fetch quest? To increase the runtime, until the next main story quest and that being another cut scene fiasco.

    Then there are the main characters. Clive Rosfield is not Cloud Strife. Cloud isn’t the most compelling protagonist, but he’s a cut above Clive, who literally manages to put us to sleep. Which could be said for every character in this game. Jill is boring and uninteresting. Cid becomes one note way too quickly. Even Ralph Ineson can’t make it interesting and it’s overall pretty shameful.

    The main story is way too long, boring and confusing. I will say that one positive was Benedikta. He was a very interesting character and my favorite overall. But her story lasts barely 20 hours, before she is killed and I start to lose my patience, my interest and my desire to continue this parody. What have I left out? Clive’s abilities are slowly draining your sanity and barely seem aesthetically pleasing? The damage inflicted is absolutely embarrassing, to the point where it drags on forever.

    The boss fights, while visually stunning, continue to drag on too long. There’s no need to turn every battle into a 30-40 minute button mashing simulator. But Square has outdone itself. There’s also the general abundance of cut scenes – Metal Gear Solid 4 has some serious competition. Because if I had £50 for every pointless cutscene in this game, and how many times I continually skipped a pointless line of dialogue, I’d be rich enough to buy an island in Italy.

    There is also the fact that for an episode of Final Fantasy, traveling in a group is frankly useless when you only take control of one character: Clive and his Eikon Ifrit. So it seems rather unnecessary to turn this into a group of impossible to control characters and, frankly, it comes across as background noise.


    Final Fantasy 16 screenshot
    Final Fantasy 16 – at least the graphics are good (Square Enix)

    I also point out that this game is very far from what makes a real role-playing game. This is a hack’n’slash title. There’s no rhyme or even reason to call it a role-playing game. If so, it’s the worst I’ve ever played. You’re locked into accepting all the mundane side quests, before you can move on to the next beat of the story. There is no gear system – only the appearance changes and even that is imperfect.

    The dialogue choices are gone, there are none at all. This freedom of choice makes a role-playing game special. Consequences and important decisions play a role in the formation of any character. Without all that, how can it even qualify as a role-playing game? Starfield has more right to this nickname than Final Fantasy 16 and it’s quite embarrassing.

    The demo was fantastic, but misleading. Every moment of the story after this point is forgettable and once the layers are opened it presents a hollow and malignant narrative. The fact that Square even thought about creating DLC ​​for such a mess of a game is beyond appalling. I’m selling this game to CeX and never looking back, because I say this without any regret: Final Fantasy 16 is the worst role-playing game I’ve ever played. Because it’s not role-playing and it dishonors the nickname.

    It’s so far removed from any role-playing element that I’m glad it failed. I urge everyone to stay away from this gaming abomination. Stick to Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. These are slightly better titles and carry the Final Fantasy brand with more love and care than could ever happen. I will even say this. To me, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey felt more like a role-playing game than ever. If you choose wrong, Kassandra or Alexios could lose their entire family at the end of the story, and you will feel the consequences. The choices changed the flow of the story and it was fantastic.

    Overall, I just can’t understand how Square Enix failed us as an audience with this game and it’s a shame. It’s still a reputable company, but when it fails, it really fails. Forspoken was another failure and despite actually beating the story, I was relieved to finally see it through. I just don’t see the benefits of seeing Final Fantasy 16 through to the end.

    This poses the same problem as Fallout 4. Moving away from role-playing elements and prioritizing action over meaningful choices and heavy consequences. I hate this game and I’ll be pretty blunt; it deserved a GC rating lower than a 6. It deserved a 4 out of 10. Because it’s a failure. A failure of Square Enix.

    By reader Shahzaib Sadiq

    Final Fantasy 16 screenshot

    Final Fantasy 16 – is it really that bad? (Square Enix)

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