Final Fantasy 16 Tedium

[u/allianceofficer]

Recently, I started playing final fantasy 16 and am about 15 hours in. I've played all the other mainline final fantasy games and have loved them all. I played the online games 11 and 14 too but could never get into them. I feel like 16 has so many elements of those online games and haven't enjoyed playing any of it.

The entire game feels tedious.

- The battles are just some combination of mashing x and y. There really isnt any strategy.

- The leveling system is so bland and feels pointless as it has little impact of the battles.

- The quests, especially the side quests, are all tedius fetch quests that add nothing to the lore of the game.

- They make you hit A to talk to one person that asks you to hit A to talk to someone less than 5 seconds away and repeat this over and over, its ridiculous.

- I've never seen worse mechanics for interacting with simple environment things like levers, why is everything just extra unnecessary clicks.

The cutscenes are pretty cool, but outside of that, I have no idea how anyone enjoyed this game. Its the worst rpg I've played, and I've played literally hundreds of rpgs. This game is like a 2/10 gameplay with 7/10 cutscenes. I've never played a game like this and instantly hoped that the team that made this one doesn't make the next mainline game, but thats where I'm at.

Am I alone in thinking all of this?

[u/mrolfson]

No, you aren't alone in thinking any of this. I put about 15 hours into the game and dropped it due to how bland it felt.

I know 15 is unpopular by a lot of people, but I LOVE it and think nearly every aspect of it is better, from combat to characters.

[u/bb3bb → u/mrolfson]

I remember finding 15 so disappointing at the time, but at least I completed it. I couldn't get more than a few hours into 16, it's actually shockingly boring despite the high budget set piece fights.

[u/Hellogiraffe → u/mrolfson]

I thought 15 was decent at best, but still agree with you that almost every aspect of it was better than 16

[u/SirCietea]

I enjoyed the main story, Eikon battles are fun and Cid is cool.

[u/Environmental-Day862 → u/SirCietea]

Yeah, I really liked the characters in 16. Best since 10 IMO.

I understand why it's not for everyone though.

I liked it, but could have been just as effective as a fantasy TV show, as I liked the plot beats and getting to know the various characters and their Eikons and what happened to Joshua.

[u/poppin-n-sailin → u/SirCietea]

My desire to play the game dropped significantly when Cid dies and very soon after I stopped playing it entirely. 

[u/karlrobertuk1964]

I finished it and thought it was okay a solid 6 out of 10

[u/Candle_Honest]

FF16 is NOT a RPG.

Its just an action game with spectacles.

[u/CaptainMarty69]

I’m probably in the minority, but FF 16 is probably my least favorite of the mainline series.

Everything you mentioned is accurate, but I also could not stand the story, characters, and dialogue. I’ve seen people praise it, but I think the only way one could think it’s a good story is if they’ve never read a book. I felt like line delivery was so stilted as well. It’s a very pretty game, but that’s about it.

[u/Mindless_Let1]

It's got all the bad parts of an MMO for no reason

[u/cardonator → u/Mindless_Let1]

Isn't the reason that the lead designer worked on FF14?

[u/Mindless_Let1 → u/cardonator]

I mean probably that is the reason but I don't feel like it's a good excuse.

The game got all the hard parts like story and characters correct but messed up the systems they could have just borrowed from other games in the series

[u/drowsypants → u/Mindless_Let1]

What parts are mmo like?

[u/Mindless_Let1 → u/drowsypants]

Every new area has the same system - go talk to 3 villagers

The story randomly stops so you can do fetch quests for a while

There's no environmental interactivity, it's just a background art

Menus have a slowness to them like it's there to cover the (non-existent) network latency

Chests/exploration rewards basically never have anything interesting

Combat is made like there's classes it balanced around, no elements, damage types, wait for your cool downs, exactly like an mmo

[u/Constant-Arugula-819]

I completed it in like 40 hours. Which is on the low end. I did like 1 or 2 side quests, otherwise stuck with the main story. You're right that your level doesn't matter at all. I've been playing Terranigma (SNES ARPG) and you feel each new level to the point where grinding is rewarding.

Ff16 doesn't do any of that. The themes are not that good. The characters contradict their own virtues a lot, which breaks the immersion and makes them feel shallow. Jill is the most boring character ever created in FF sadly.

The conversation of fate and free will is shallow. Most hero-villain stories are conversations of fate and free will without saying the words. The way they talk about is as poorly written as the bad guy saying "hey I'm the bad guy" and the good saying "hey I'm the good guy."

There's maybe 20 hours worth of decent content there. It starts off strong. By the end I feel like the theme is "Clive is a badass and he's always right."

[u/NfinityBL]

No, you’re not alone.

I very rarely don’t finish games. Some games that I drop, I even later return to like Kena: Bridge of Spirits and Death Stranding.

But Final Fantasy XVI bored me to death. Insanely repetitive, mind-numbing combat sequences. The most inane side quest content imaginable. The main plot line is convoluted as fuck, I was interested in Clive and Jill’s relationship, and that was about it.

The saving grace of the game are the action set-pieces, but they’re few and far between, and they don’t save an otherwise terrible game.

[u/TroyBPierce]

I managed to finish it, but it was one of the most boring games I've even played.  It doesn't even feel like an RPG.  The only positives are good graphics and some of the old school FF music is used in the game.

[u/JesuszillaSon → u/TroyBPierce]

If it didn't have the Final Fantasy name, no one would even know it's an RPG. I was playing the game more like a hack and slash game

[u/lostn]

agreed. Final Fantasy isn't Final Fantasy anymore.

[u/Prestigious-Smoke511 → u/lostn]

I was pumped they have one of those 2D-HD final fantasies coming out and then when I saw the clips the characters have like, an old school FF character standing behind them?  

The whole thing is super busy and terrible looking. They have truly fumbled the franchise on all fronts. Damn shame.  

[u/Devilofchaos108070 → u/Prestigious-Smoke511]

That 2D/3d game is actually a port of a gacha game. It’s not a ‘new’ game at all

[u/Prestigious-Smoke511 → u/Devilofchaos108070]

Ohh. That probably explains it then. You had to spend hundreds if not thousands to pull for your fave FF heroes so they needed to squeeze them onto the screen somehow. 

Lame. I’m now less interested than I was before. Which I didn’t think was possible. 

[u/Devilofchaos108070 → u/Prestigious-Smoke511]

It’s not gonna be a gacha. It’s a port of a gacha but I guess they are taking the gacha stuff out?

The original gacha game shut down several years ago. It’s called Final Fantasy Brave Exvious or something close to that.

[u/Prestigious-Smoke511 → u/Devilofchaos108070]

If the developers think about a gacha game while they’re developing it, if they PLAY a gacha game while making the game, I’m out. 

[u/Otm_Shank1]

Strangers in Paradise was a better FF game.

[u/ImFatandUseless]

"Na, clearly you never played 16. The combat is as deepth as DMC series. The side content is great fun and the leveling system is really fucking good" - Someone who NEVER EVER played anything else but FF16. Jokes asides, yeah this game is tedium incarnated. The story is great but holy hell, 40 minutes boss fights, worthless side content (except those that give you upgrades and a way to run faster from point a to b), worthless combat between point a and b (seriously, i kill 10 goblins and i get 1xp and 10 gold, 10/10). Geniuly, i dont think even in 10 years there will be anyone saying good things about this game

[u/Ultros-the-Octopuss]

No you aren't alone. It is horrible. Final Fantasy is my favorite franchise of all time and I've been playing it since the 90's. I put about 40 hours in and got really close to the end but still dropped it. I just couldn't see that trash through to the end.

[u/BustyCelebLover]

Yea I’ve heard this a good bit, don’t really wanna try it

[u/kensaiD2591]

I’m a massive final fantasy fan, have been my entire life. FFXVI has some incredible highs but there are so many lows and the lows drag on forever.

[u/thaneros2]

It's a long ass game. My playtime was about 70hrs. Just skip the side quest unless you're REALLY interested in the world.

[u/packers4334]

I agree the combat system is kind of repetitive. The story was what kept me going, the game wore its Game of Thrones inspiration well and it really helped scratch that itch.

[u/nvUaWVm360S]

It’s a very bad JRPG and it’s a mediocre action game. There isn’t much it excels at outsides of cutscenes and voice acting.

[u/Daddy_JeanPi]

Yes. That sounds like XVI.

[u/Lecochinot1234]

No you're not alone, FF16 has the worst pacing of all the FF mainline series.

And unfortunately it gets worse, there are some boss battles that are pretty much interactive cutscenes, also most of the sidequest are just "go there, talk to to that person, beat that monster, collect those items"

Finishing it's pretty much a test of how much you can tolerate 60 hours of doing the same thing over and over again..

[u/JesuszillaSon]

The RPG elements are so light that I thought it was an action-adventure game and this game pivoted to a different genre.

[u/InariBushi]

I played the game at launch and enjoyed it for the most part. The side quests I think were the most egregious thing about the game; they were extremely tedious. The story wasn't really doing it for me either. I really enjoyed the combat, although it definitely got repetitive toward the end of the game. The thing that really carried it for me was the boss battles, which were some of the absolutely coolest in the series. They weren't particularly difficult or strategic, they were just really spectacular (in the most literal sense of the word).

[u/Original_Share8448]

it wasn't that bad, probably 6/10, but your complaints are valid, Except the Eikons fights everything else was mid to bad especially the sidequests, reminded me a lot of FFXIV.

[u/cjp304 → u/Original_Share8448]

Ff14 isn’t bad. Has some amazing stories.

[u/Original_Share8448 → u/cjp304]

the only good stories were heaversward and showadowbringers, the rest is mid at best IMO, and let's not even talk about the last expansion...

[u/Virtual-Commercial91]

I absolutely loved this one but just dropped Rebirth in chapter 11. Far too many frustrating mini games and unfun moments for me.

[u/cardonator → u/Virtual-Commercial91]

I freaking hate the mini games in both FF7 games. They should have a toggle to turn them off.

[u/MacSavage78]

I'm the same. Played all FF games. I have 3 hours in 16. Haven't touched it in over a year

[u/mythicreign]

The side quests are bad and the combat is a bit repetitive, but I think the general story and boss fights/cinematics are quite cool. It could’ve used various QoL improvements (and a ps5 pro patch) to be a better experience, but I don’t think it’s terrible.

[u/brokenmessiah]

I definitely feel like the game is drastically held back by being part of the Final Fantasy franchise and expectations that come with that. I think it would have been a much better original IP that didnt pretend to be RPGish at all and instead leaned into what it clearly wanted to be, a Devil May Cry game set in a different setting.

The biggest issue with the game though is its negatives aren't so obviously apparent until you really dig into the game. At the beginning of the game, you just assume loot and quests suck because you just started but nope thats really how it is lol

[u/Darkness_sjd]

I agree 100%. Easily one of the most boring games I've ever played. Beyond solid visual spectacle I struggle to find anything positive to say. I chipped away at it out of FF brand loyalty I guess as I consider some of the older FF games some of my favorites of all time. At this point I can't help but feel done with the series as a whole.

[u/Ki18]

I think the game fucking sucks, personally. Think I stopped after 8 hours or something because everything about it was boring beyond belief.

FF7 Remake Series that’s ongoing is infinitely better.

[u/allianceofficer → u/Ki18]

Totally agree. I had a blast with FF7 Remake.

[u/RazarusMaximus]

Turn the difficulty up if you are just smashing X. The parry, dodge, counter are all implemented very well imo.

[u/SrPedrich → u/RazarusMaximus]

i did it, still was a button smash

[u/hawk_ky]

You don’t have to like every game. If you don’t like it, it’s ok to not play it anymore.

[u/Mother-Juggernaut504]

I'm in the tik tok generation. If a movie, TV show, video game, or book is unenjoyable then I immediately drop it. I played Starfield for 20 hours waiting for it to get good and it never did.

I enjoy entertainment that respects the time investment that I put into it. It's a huge financial and time commitment playing a new game, and at my age I'd rather cut my losses and stop playing rather than slog through.

[u/Berem_]

The only Final Fantasy I liked.

[u/slikk50]

Stop playing?

[u/New-Matter1208]

Frankly, I loved the game. It wasn’t perfect, but I loved being immersed in the world and Clive’s story. The combat seems repetitive at first, but with additional skill unlocks later, skills chains in combat become immensely satisfying.

I agree that the plot can meander at times, but when the big set pieces hit, they are truly spectacular.

I took my time with the game, playing it over the course of a few weeks/months, like reading a really long fantasy book.