Square Enix's upcoming Final Fantasy 16 is well on its way, with many suspecting that its release date will be revealed very soon. The game has doubled down on the company's modern action-RPG approach even more so than past Final Fantasy's and looks to bring a fresh experience to longtime fans. It will be interesting to see how Final Fantasy 16's medieval world of Valisthea adapts the many icons of the franchise.
One major change that's coming to FF16 is how it handles the series’ jobs. Because the player will just be controlling Clive Rosfield like they did Final Fantasy 15's Noctis at its launch, they will have a lot of customization and versatility at their fingertips. Clive can switch between different move sets that draw power from various Eikons, which take the form of Final Fantasy's signature summons. This is similar to switching jobs or classes in classic Final Fantasy, although there are some notable exclusions like Summoner due to the obvious redundancy. Every Eikon and Dominant duo tends to be based around a classic Final Fantasy job, and some are more apparent than others.
Fighter
Being the classic fantasy hero, protagonist Clive Rosfield instantly calls to mind the basic Fighter dating all the way back to Final Fantasy 1. As Clive is not the Dominant of Phoenix and thus not the traditional heir to the Archduke's throne, he has instead decided to serve his Dominant brother as the greatest champion in the Grand Duchy of Rosaria. Fan speculation is that Clive awakens as the Dominant of Ifrit, whose brute strength also lends itself well to the basic Fighter template. It’s standard action game fare, but Clive’s class will become considerably more flexible once other Eikons start granting him their strength.
White Mage and Red Mage
Meanwhile, Clive's brother Joshua Rosfield lacks any such combat training. Instead, as the Dominant of the Eikon Phoenix, Joshua appears to have traditional White Mage curative abilities, and the choice to bestow Phoenix's blessing. Combined with Joshua's red and white robes, it seems like these comparisons might have been intentional. While Joshua may not take to the field in fights, players can still benefit from Phoenix's swift abilities in battle. Under Clive's control, Phoenix's fiery blessing comes off more like the abilities of a Red Mage, combining offensive Fire magic with supportive movement skills, as well as Clive’s usual fleet-footed swordplay. Whether Phoenix will show much of its White Magic roots in-game remains to be seen.
Black Mage
Of course, the original mage trio can't be complete without the Black Mage. Final Fantasy 16 makes a specific Black Mage reference tough to nail down, as each Eikon is associated with a single magical element. Some early footage has shown that Clive is able to use Thunder magic while channeling Shiva's power, so the duty appears to fall to the player for creating a mixed Black Mage. In terms of character association, the ice-based Shiva and thunder-inclined Ramuh are the two most likely suspects, although Ramuh’s Dominant may prove to be more akin to Final Fantasy 3’s Sage.
Monk
Complementing Final Fantasy 1’s trio of mages is a trio of melee classes, and one of the more popular ones is the barefisted Monk. This class is easy to pick out among Final Fantasy 16’s cast, as the stone-infused Hugo Kupka and his Eikon Titan use similar iconography. Hugo himself bears some resemblance to the Final Fantasy 4 Monk Yang, which may be deliberate. Even if Hugo and Titan aren't as swift as most famous Final Fantasy martial artists, they'll be able to hit just as hard.
Thief
That leaves the last basic job from Final Fantasy 1, the humble Thief. Right now, there is no one character that perfectly conforms to this role, but the revealed cast may have a hidden candidate. Benedikta Harman channels the wind-based Garuda, but that's not where she most resembles a rogue. Rather, it's her job as a spy and intelligencer for the Kingdom of Waloed that seems like a modernization of the old Thief archetype. This may seem like a stretch, but with how strong most of Final Fantasy 16’s main characters are, the usual sneaking and pick-pocketing of a Thief doesn't feel appropriate here.
Dragoon
The last two classic Final Fantasy jobs evident in Final Fantasy 16 right now have both been acknowledged by developers as deliberate visions for certain characters. The Dragoon class, first introduced in Final Fantasy 2, is being used by the appropriately draconic Bahamut Dominant, Dion Lesage. Dion leads a squadron of Dragoons who appear to fight just like the high-flying class normally does. As the heir to the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, which itself uses draconic imagery, it only makes sense for Dion to be the game's archetypical Dragoon. Whether this will coincide with the air of tragedy that follows many of Final Fantasy’s Dragoons will be revealed in time.
Dark Knight
The final job evident in the revealed cast is Dark Knight, another Final Fantasy 2 job that belongs to Waloed king Barnabas Tharmr. Barnabas is a mysterious individual who rules through strength and is empowered by the mighty blade of Odin. HUD analysis has revealed that Odin’s element is considered Dark in Final Fantasy 16, further hammering this point in. However, as obviously inspired by Dark Knights as Barnabas and Odin are, there is one other who could lay claim to the class. Clive himself, when paired with the Hellfire-based Ifrit, perfectly conforms to Dark Knight's image of a dark avenger ruthlessly pursuing their quarry to settle an old grudge. The fact that adult Clive and Barnabas look similar is just the cherry on top. Their meeting in Final Fantasy 16 will likely be an explosive one, and fans won't want to miss it.
Final Fantasy 16 will be released in 2023 for PS5.
