Though Final Fantasy 16 is less than a week away from release, the demo has taken gamers by storm and garnered favorable reception for Square Enix's latest entry in its long-running series. In just the short time that Final Fantasy 16's demo has been available, gamers have been able to get a feel for how the action combat works in Final Fantasy 16. But, between the Eikonic abilities at Clive's disposal, sometimes it is the most underappreciated abilities that can become the most powerful when in the thick of battle.
Under the direction of former Capcom developer Hiroshi Takai, FF16's action combat has taken inspiration from Devil May Cry 5 and other action-focused titles. Given that Takai worked on DMC 5 in addition to titles such as Dragon's Dogma and Marvel vs. Capcom 2, it comes as no surprise that the fast pace of combat would make its way to Valisthea. However, during the Final Fantasy 16 launch event on June 11, Square Enix revealed that developers that worked on NieR: Automata and the Kingdom Hearts series were brought in to assist with developing FF16's combat systems. As a result, the flow of battle has become one of the main selling points of the game - though one ability seems to make a lot of fights easy.
The R1 Button is Clive's Best Friend In a Fight
Despite wielding the power of Final Fantasy's most powerful beings such as Garuda, Titan, and Ifrit, Clive's arsenal comes down to the fundamentals of swordsmanship. One of Clive's most useful maneuvers can be done by any player with the push of a button. Still, the art of dodging in Final Fantasy 16 boils down to more than just pressing the R1 button. If players choose to use one of the game's Timely Accessories, the Ring of Timely Focus, time will slow to a crawl and give the player a moment to escape an attack. While some players may opt to use any of these Timely Accessories, others may choose not to. Either way, with enough practice and patience, players that prioritize avoiding attacks and countering with strong Eikonic abilities of their own will see success in combat.
While the Eikons may be the stars of FF16, Clive's use of Cinematic Evasions makes avoiding damage all the more stylish to look at as they happen. Even in the Final Fantasy 16 demo, one of Clive's first tests is against a Dragoon that can Jump in the air and swing his spear with a wide range. From the onset, Clive must use a Cinematic Evasion maneuver to avoid being ambushed by the Knight of the Blinding Dawn. Though the Dragoon's spear strikes can be parried with a timely weapon swing, his Jumps need to be evaded to claim victory. As the fight progresses, the Dragoon will get desperate and use Double Jumps and escalate the battle against the young but deft Shield of Rosaria.
In the Eikonic Challenge portion of the FF16 demo, Clive squares off with Chirada and Suparna, the top lackeys of Benedikta Harmon, the Dominant of Garuda. With their wind attacks and swift attempts to dive bomb Clive, it serves as an advanced tutorial for players and rewards them for recognizing patterns in the heat of the moment. While Creative Business Unit 3 already uses this tactic in Final Fantasy 14 across multiple levels of combat, FF16's action combat amplifies that aspect even more. Though the styles and genres of both FF14 and FF16 differ greatly, the fundamental concept of avoiding attacks remains constant.
Other games such as the Dark Souls trilogy and Hades make dodging nearly mandatory to success, FF16's approach to combat provides room for players to improvise and find a style that suits them. Still, those that master dodging will find themselves taking very few hits during even the toughest fights. While the wait for the game's full release cannot be dodged, only time will tell what tactics players take up once it launches.
Final Fantasy 16 launches on June 22 for PS5.
