Highlights
- Final Fantasy 16 side quests are not particularly difficult, but some stand out, offering more engaging gameplay and character interactions.
- For example, Rekindling The Flame quest involves fighting a mini-boss slime monster with shifting shapes, requiring players to adapt their tactics.
- On the more action-packed side, Blacksmith's Blues quest introduces challenging mini-boss fights with a griffin and a chimera, testing the player's prowess in combat.
Final Fantasy 16 has a surplus of side quests, but none of them are particularly difficult. They predominantly boil down to collecting miscellaneous material and/or killing a batch of nameless enemies. It's simple stuff, especially for fans of action games. That said, certain quests stand out.
A handful of side missions are a cut above the rest. Though still not overly difficult, but they confront players with more than just mooks. That's probably because they come from the various friends whom Clive meets throughout FF16. As such, they're the most engaging from both a gameplay and character perspective.
6 Rekindling The Flame
Eastpool doesn't meet a happy fate in the story. Although its citizens aid Clive in his journey, the village is soon destroyed by the hero's backstabbing mother and her imperial forces. That's not the end, though. The Rosalith underground and locals of Martha's Rest eventually decide to reestablish Eastpool as a sanctuary for Bearers. There's only one problem: the place is currently occupied.
A batch of bandits has taken over, but that's just the beginning. The village is now home to a slime monster called "Two Scoops." This mini-boss has a lot of health and a long reach. That reach comes from shifting its shape in the blink of an eye. This pattern (or lack thereof) makes it one of the more erratic monsters, meaning players need to change their usual tactics to adapt. Button-mashing won't get the job done this time.
5 Carved In Stone
Considering most of FF16's gameplay revolves around fighting, fans may be shocked to find a side quest focused on memorization. When Clive and company visit Tabor, they encounter an old man shouting from the rooftops. No, he's not telling kids to get off his lawn.
Instead, he wants someone's help with his scholarly pursuits. His old bones prevent him from climbing stairs, so he requests that the heroes read three ancient stones around town and report back with the inscriptions. Such an archaeological mission stands in stark contrast with every other task. Because of that, it's liable to catch players off-guard.
The multiple-choice answers should make things easier, but they do the opposite. The options all have similar wording, undoubtedly throwing some people off. The whole exercise may be devoid of combat, but that ironically makes it more difficult.
4 Blacksmith's Blues
At various points in the game, Blackthorn encounters objects showcasing superior smithing skills. He then loses confidence in his own forging, and Clive offers to help him out. That help amounts to fetching the aforementioned objects. Two instances, however, mix things up.
To attain the item, players have to combat a mini-boss. Specifically, they must vanquish a griffin named Dozmare. He's a target on the hunt board, but it doesn't reveal his exact location. Rather, it provides a vague hint about where he might be. Later, Blackthorn's old home falls under attack by an Akashic monster mob. These creatures are led by a chimera.
The ensuing fights are no cakewalk. The griffin is a mobile opponent. He flies around the arena and uses his momentum to deal heavy damage to anything in his way. His wing sweeps make it hard to get close to him, let alone score a hit. Meanwhile, the chimera has all that and more, mixing in AOE and elemental offensives. The challenge isn't surprising since both Akashic and hunt targets are meant to be beefed-up monsters. It's also not the last time they coincide with side quests.
3 Please Sir, Can I Have Some Morbol
The hideaway's resident gardener/herbalist also encourages Clive to go on a hunt. He needs the vines of a Morbol. The only such creature they know about is on the hunt board, simply known as "Carrot." Like all Morbols in the game, it's basically a Malboro from other Final Fantasy entries. In case fans were wondering, it's equally annoying to fight in real-time as it is in a turn-based format.
Though poison isn't an issue due to FF16's lack of status effects, Carrot makes up for it through sheer ferocity. He has a wide range of attacks, both from its huge maw and mass of vines. Even worse, he can dive into the water and pop up right next to the heroes. The amplified damage means these moves are even more of a royal pain. That's not even counting the fact that, like all hunts, players only get vague clues rather than precise directions. That's a major disadvantage of merging hunts and side quests.
2 Weird Science
Nevertheless, here's another extra mission with a notorious mark. Owain, who's helping in Mid's workshop, needs a batch of bomb ash. Of course, he doesn't mean just any bomb—the ash can only come from a Bomb King. So, it's back to the hunt board. If players work out where His Majesty is, they're in for a volatile fight.
That's because bombs are some of the most irritating enemies in Final Fantasy. In addition to flaming attacks and being immune to fire itself, they can detonate. This self-destructive tactic creates a devastating kamikaze that obliterates the party's health. While elemental strengths are now null and void, bombs still pack a wicked explosion. The Bomb King's version is even more potent.
As if that wasn't bad enough, he can summon a horde of smaller bombs to back him up. This turns the battlefield into a minefield. It's a good thing the quest yields a larger potion satchel, as players may use every healing item in their pouch.
1 Trading Places
Fans may not think much of a side quest picked up in Boklad, a glorified rest stop. It starts harmlessly enough: players wipe out a mindless rabble from a nearby fishing village. However, this is just the warm-up for the second part.
The questline culminates in a climactic dragon fight. It's not a notorious mark, but it should be. It has all the laser and flame attacks of an ordinary dragon, but they're amplified by its Akashic state. With that power, they can take players out in a matter of seconds. What made Theodore think he could conquer this beast is anyone's guess.
Final Fantasy 16 is available on PlayStation 5.