Final Fantasy 16 unveiled a whole bunch of new gameplay. Environments, combat, live demo, fast travel, accessibility. Here’s what to remember.
The Final Fantasy 16 promotional machine is on the way. Difficult at this stage to remember that for many months, the next episode number of the saga was walled in total silence. As the game’s release is slowly approaching, Square Enix no longer seems to be missing a single opportunity to show off its PS5 exclusivity. After unveiling a few excerpts, some of which have been debated, Naoki Yoshida made the trip to PAX East 2023 to reveal new images of FF16. History, environments, fights… the Japanese publisher continues to make fans yearn for what is set to be one of this year’s must-sees.
A long presentation of Final Fantasy 16
Spotlight on Final Fantasy at PAX East 2023. The game’s producer spoke at length Final Fantasy 16. At least, Square Enix tried since if visitors to the American show were able to discover new images without incident, the disaster was total online. Regular cuts during all phases of gameplay, stream offline for much of this panel… not everything went as planned. On the Web this event did not fail to react, but not necessarily in good. In the process, the Japanese branch promised to publish the complete video of the presentation in VOD on YouTube, it is now done.
Yoshi-P therefore wanted to recall that his new baby revolves around four pillars: the narration, the characters, the fights and the graphics. More than words, this time the savior of FF14 has come with a whole bunch of new, never-before-seen footage that has fans dreaming. These are therefore new panoramas that have been revealed for the time of a short trailer, the team above all emphasizing outdoor environments in order to respond to the concerns of players who feared to only survey places too dark.
Fast travel in four seconds
Wanting to reassure them, the producer unveiled a live demo of Final Fantasy 16. We can see Clive, Jill and good old Talgor walking through a more open desert environment, then leading to a village. The opportunity also to discover for the first time The map of the world showing all the areas that can be explored during the adventure, or at least 19 based on what has been revealed. Players will then be able to return to each location visited at any time should they wish to deviate from the main quest thanks to fast travel which transports them from one town to another in just four seconds.
This FF16 demo also highlighted a few shops where the hero can get supplies. Some cities will also host a pierre d’« Arete “, transporting the hero in a kind of virtual world where he can train in combat, replay certain clashes to obtain the best score (Arcade mode), or simply try the scenes again. Another option is still kept secret. The producer promises that this was only a very small overview of the ancillary activities, but we will have to wait before discovering more.
FF16 RPG Mechanics Showcased Next Month
The fights and the Primordials have also been highlighted with gameplay sequences that promise ever more visceral and nervous clashes. Yoshi-P also recalls that the famous fights of these impressive creatures will all have a different feeling and reveals a taste of each, not too much so as not to spoil too much. Aware of concerns around the action side of Final Fantasy 16, the producer showed the famous accessories that will make the game more accessible through a live gameplay demo. For the record, the game will not have a classic difficulty mode, everyone will be able to customize their experience to simplify it on certain aspects of the fight. One of them allows you to dodge more easily via a QTE while another will automatically avoid all attacks for example.
A presentation finally quite dense which unfortunately still has not concretely shown the RPG mechanics of Final Fantasy 16. Yoshi-P gives players an appointment in April. From next month, Square Enix will communicate more concretely on this aspect. In the meantime, you can find the full presentation in the video below. If you just want to take a look at the new footage, here’s the rundown:
- 15:49 to 17:35 – Trailer, the world of Valisthea
- 24:44 to 25:52 – Primordial skills
- 30:19 à 39:40 – Gameplay Live #1
- 47:51 à 58:53 – Gameplay Live #2
- 1:00:27 to 1:02:17 – Primal Battles
