Square Enix has done an interesting job of adjusting the difficulty of Final Fantasy 16, with a wide difficulty window that allows some players to easily make it through the game while still being offered a number of high-skill challenges. However, more than just making bosses harder or reworking difficulty settings, this design appears to be a major change from Final Fantasy 15 which had received criticism at launch for being too easy for various reasons.
The most notable change for Final Fantasy 16 is the way that the game doles out healing items, heavily limiting how often players can recover health while exploring dungeons and fighting bosses. That being said, Square Enix didn't just limit item counts and call it a day, instead opting to make adjustments around player and boss health in order to still push for progress without being too simple.
Final Fantasy 15's Infinite Health Stocks
One of the major critiques against Final Fantasy 15's combat was that while it was flashy and visually impressive, even the toughest bosses weren't exactly difficult. While this lack of difficulty was a part of Noctis' entire approach to combat that let him zip around the world at high speed to attack and evade, it was the healing items that really made the hardest bosses too easy. This is because the item limits for most consumables like potions, high potions, and phoenix downs were set to 99, with both of these items being cheap enough that players can fill out their stocks from very early on.
The result of this nearly unlimited supply of healing items is that players could pause at almost any time during a fight in order to quickly heal the entire body after a boss uses some incredibly powerful attack. This is changed in Final Fantasy 16 with players only being allowed to hold a limited number of potions and high potions at any given time. Starting with only four potions and three high potions, the game doesn't offer the player a lot of opportunities to heal while traveling through the world or fighting against bosses at the end of dungeons.
In addition to the limited number of potions and high potions, Final Fantasy 16 doesn't introduce anything that has the same reviving effect as the phoenix down until late into the game. This stands in stark contrast to the way that Noctis and his friends are able to use revives on themselves after already having their health drop to nothing. However, while the severely limited potions in Final Fantasy 16 might seem too punishing, the balance of the retry system still gives players who need assistance a chance to get through the game.
Retrying Boss Phases in Final Fantasy 16
One ingenious way that Square Enix has actually managed to counter the critique of Final Fantasy 15 being too easy and still making Final Fantasy 16 accessible is in the way that the retry system works. Against normal enemies out in the field or the notorious targets from the hunt board, dying will result in respawning back at the nearest obelisk, having lost whatever items were lost during the battle. However, when fighting multiphase bosses like Final Fantasy 16's Akashic Dragon, the game can offer the ability to retry from the start of the most recent phase while also replenishing items.
While it might not feel as satisfying for some players to have to reset between phases of some of Final Fantasy 16's harder bosses, this does limit how punishing the fights can be. With bosses that can last several minutes at a time, having to revert all the way back to the start of the fight could be incredibly frustrating. So, having an easier way to get through to the credits, which stays invisible to higher-skilled players, is a great way to rebalance other difficulty settings to help players through Final Fantasy 16's campaign.
Final Fantasy 16 is available now for PS5.
