Developed by Square Enix, Final Fantasy 16 is the 16th mainline entry in the highly acclaimed and long-running Final Fantasy franchise. The game is set in the fictional world of Valisthea, where six distinct regions fight for dominance. The world of Final Fantasy 16 is powered by the Mothercrystals, which grant the power of Eikons to certain individuals called Dominants. These Dominants play a key role in solidifying the status of each of Valisthea's main regions.
The game stars a young knight from the Grand Duchy of Rosaria named Clive Rosfield who embarks on a journey to understand the mysterious powers of the Mothercrystals, while trying to save his younger brother Joshua, the Dominant of Phoenix. Final Fantasy 16 introduces a real-time combat system that builds upon its predecessors in meaningful ways and features loads of new combat mechanics.
Magic Burst
Final Fantasy 16's combat starts with the basic melee attack options, but the game heats things up by allowing players to carry out a Magic Burst attack in-between every melee attack or at the end of a melee combo. To nail a Magic Burst combo, players have to get the timing of both the melee and magic action buttons just right. A Magic Burst can be performed at any point during a melee combo making the combat feel fluid.
There are also a few shortcuts that can be utilized to achieve a Magic Burst finisher, such as performing a Phoenix Shift and then pressing the magic button, carrying out a lunge and then pressing the magic button, or mixing together several aerial combos. Though it can be tricky to get the timing right, mastering the Magic Burst ability will increase the timing window for performing the finisher after a melee attack.
Charged Attacks
Charged attacks are essentially a heavier version of the melee and magic attacks. Holding down the melee button allows players to carry out Clive's Burning Blade ability, which sees Clive's sword become engulfed in flames as he strikes his enemies. This ability can also be used to parry incoming attacks or launch lighter enemies into the air if timed correctly. On the other hand, holding down the magic button will allow players to dish out strong magical projectiles. While performing a charged magic attack, Clive also takes a step back, which, if timed right can be used to evade an enemy's incoming attack while simultaneously releasing a powerful projectile.
In addition to being more powerful, charged attacks are also able to break an enemy's guard, leaving them vulnerable to follow-up combos. The time for charging can also be reduced by mastering the skill. Finally, the most important thing to know about charged attacks is that they can be charged while Clive is performing other actions as well, such as attacking, jumping, or dodging.
Eikonic Abilities
Eikonic Abilities are special moves that Clive can pull off mid-battle to aid him in combat. Each Eikon in the game grants a different kind of ability to Clive, ranging from offensive to defensive tactics. These attacks generally deal significantly more damage than Clive's melee and normal magic attacks. As the game progresses, Clive is able to equip three Eikons and six Eikonic abilities. Hence, players have to choose which abilities they want to have in their roster before initiating a battle.
Eikonic abilities are further divided into core abilities, which do not have a cool-down period and can be used at any time, and super abilities, which are super powerful moves that can be unlocked by upgrading the skill tree, but have large cooldown periods to balance things out. These powerful abilities not only add to the depth of Final Fantasy 16's combat system but are also cinematic spectacles that make the game feel more alive. Players can close in the gaps between them and enemies by using Phoenix's Phoenix Shift, pull enemies towards them with Garuda's Deadly Embrace, guard with Titan's Titanic Block, and do so much more to make every battle feel entertaining.
Dodging and Parrying
Final Fantasy 16's combat does not have a block mechanic and instead allows players to either dodge incoming attacks or parry them. While Clive cannot block attacks on his own, it is possible to guard against attacks by using the Eikonic ability, Titan's Titanic Block. On the other hand, the idea behind parrying is that players would have to throw in a melee attack just before an enemy attack is about to hit them. Parrying enemy moves requires immense precision and technique and can be fatal if not executed properly.
Mastering the parrying mechanic allows players to see how much they have improved since their initial adventure began. However, being able to perfectly parry an attack is easier said than done, as enemies attack players at extremely high speeds. This high-risk high-reward mechanic does an excellent job of keeping the fights thoroughly exciting.
Maximizing Spoils
For every battle they complete, players will receive rewards known as spoils, which typically come in the form of XP, Gil, and materials. What the game never really tells players, though, is that these rewards are sometimes determined by how well players perform in battle and how effectively they utilize all of the skills at their disposal.
Observant players will have noticed that the game hands out star rankings for performing certain actions in battle, with things like timing and combos helping to determine how many stars a player receives. Come the end of the battle, these rankings will help to determine the amount of XP and Skill Points players receive, incentivizing stylish and fluid play.
Final Fantasy 16 is available now exclusively for the PlayStation 5.
