With the arrival of a new mainline Final Fantasy game come huge expectations from fans of the franchise and the gaming industry at large. It's a trailblazer in the JRPG space, with several developers and series looking to it for guidance and inspiration. Final Fantasy 16 launches in June, and will be hoping to reestablish its place as the go-to game in the genre after Final Fantasy 15's lukewarm response and the ever-increasing popularity of Persona during the time that the Square Enix property has struggled to find its footing.
It would have a lot to live up to anyway, but the 2020 release of Final Fantasy 7 Remake bringing players back to Midgar was met with near-universal acclaim, and the sixteenth game being a new story that can't rely on old material means it achieving the same level of praise will be even more difficult. To do this, it has to get a lot right, but Clive's appearance and design in Final Fantasy 16 continue a negative trend for the series that it can't seem to shake, which could have a detrimental effect on its story and character development.
Clive Has to Stand Out in Final Fantasy 16
Valisthea, Final Fantasy 16's setting, looks gorgeous - even more so as the environments and presentational value of the world stood out in a recent State of Play presentation. The story beats weren't given as much screen time, but components like the Hideaway and the different nations that Clive can visit made the lengthy trailer truly memorable. However, great world-building is just one strand of Final Fantasy's typical strengths. The series has been going strong for 36 years, and the recent single-player mainline games haven't hit the heights of the PS1 days, which is something that Square Enix is likely hoping to change.
To do this, Clive has to stand out among the other series protagonists, and though his story will be segmented into three phases in his life, each incarnation doesn't feel similar to anything that fans haven't seen before. A doe-eyed teen with cropped brown hair describes Zack from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7, Noctis in Final Fantasy 15, and Clive in the upcoming entry, and as he enters adulthood he could be easily mistaken for Noctis when he comes of age in the closing moments of his journey.
Final Fantasy Has a Protagonist Problem
The same is true of plenty of the Final Fantasy protagonists in the past. While Cloud, Tidus, Lightning, and Squall all have iconic characteristics that make them instantly recognizable (be it in Smash Bros, Kingdom Hearts, or otherwise), characters like Vaan in Final Fantasy 12, Noctis in 15, and Jack in Stranger of Paradise don't have many distinctive features that make them stand out. Noctis' most defining visual characteristic is that he looks reminiscent of Sasuke from Naruto Shippuden, and following in the footsteps of other franchises isn't something that a titan the size of Final Fantasy should feel the need to lean too far into.
Comparing this to Yuri in Tales of Vesperia, Chrono in Chrono Trigger, Adol in Ys, and Sora in Kingdom Hearts, it becomes increasingly evident that Final Fantasy knows how to develop a great protagonist, but not necessarily how to create one with visual features that match. Cloud (and Sephiroth by the same standards) was iconic in large part because he looks cool, which doesn't sound like an important component of a video game character, but for JRPGs it's essential.
Final Fantasy 16 launches on June 22 for PS5.
