I am always, always hungry for a Final Fantasy game.

Now as I've said before, I couldn't really consider myself a gamer anymore. I simply lack that kind of time. I played Elden Ring for hundreds of hours, over the span of a year, but pretty much nothing at all for years before that.

So when I heard 16 (XVI) was due to come out, I finally gave in and bought a whole PS5 for the occasion. It was an inevitable purchase, but the prices remained extremely high until relatively recently.

I had been anticipating this game for a long long time, and although the aesthetics were quite the opposite to the FF9 days of Microsoft Paint-levels of colours and vibrancy that first got me into the franchise, instead being a medieval-palette of grim browns and greys (at least, at first glance), my faith in Square Enix to make a damn good game was still strong.

What is Final Fantasy?

For those who don't know, this series is not actually connected string of sequels. On the contrary, no game is even remotely connected by story, world or universe. They are completely independent of each other, with a shared name.

But anyone who has played more than one game will know that no matter what kind of universe you're in, they all have certain connections, similarities in monsters, themes and music.

Here's a few examples of game elements which are consistently in every single game:

• Chocobos, a large yellow bird you can ride around the landscape
• Moogles, a strange magical floating pig-type animal
• Spells, either by monsters or you, the same spells with the same names. (Cure, Hellfire, Firaga, Osmosis, etc)
• Eikons, magical god-like creatures you can summon to battle (Odin, Shiva, and more)
• Monsters, from tentacle-clad malboro's to sabre-tooth coeurls (but always many, many new ones)
• A story in which crystals are typically one of the main themes
• The opening music theme - and several others - updated and re-orchestrated per game.
• The game cover art style
• A highly customizable battle system (unique to each game in its base design)

This is really kind of a genius way to keep some kind of cohesion under the same name, giving you a sense of familiarity while exploring something totally new (great for marketing, too).

So, after a couple of days of playing number 16, what do I think?

FFXVI: A good game?

I'll just come out and say it. Yes, of course. It's a great game and I love it. I think it's so pristine and beautiful, fluid and fun, with attention to detail even the most renowned games would envy. Let's not forget that while I spend the next few paragraphs complaining.

Unfortunately...

I've been a little bit spoilt. Like I said, the last game I played was Elden Ring. A game famous for its dark and haunting beauty, huge open landscape, and perhaps most of all, its difficulty.

So when I learnt that Final Fantasy as a franchise was moving away from the open world market, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I'm always hungry for open world. But I guess it is going out of fashion, at least according to their team.

In practice however, that feature disappearing hasn't bothered me that much at all. It is admittedly nice to actually finish the game in under 500 hours, just enjoy the narrative flowing through seamlessly. But I do have a few gripes which I think, at least 24 hours into the game, seem to take away some of the Final Fantasy spirit.

There shouldn't be any story spoilers, but some details about the gameplay.

Vestigial mechanisms.

For the first time in any of this franchise, crafting and customization is functionally absent, and yet there is still a pretense that crafting exists.

For example, in FF9 and others, you play multiple characters, switching between them in a turn-based battle system. Each player has different strengths, whether they are healing, fighting, tanking, the traditional RPG roles.

Not so anymore. You play one guy, and his strengths are dictated by the story set in stone. This means there is no armour selection, no weapons or gear to choose. Ok, well there is. But it's obsolete and may as well be completely automated.

You can still collect items to craft with, but there's only about 7 different items which you collect hundreds, if not thousands of, and use them in bulk to create... a slightly stronger sword. The swords are not elemental or hold some other unique powers such as speed, evasion, poison. They are just damage dealing, and each new sword you get is a few points stronger than the last.

You can physically craft more, but that is the only variable. Just a bit more strength. You can't really upgrade a weapon beyond weapon +1, +2, which again, just deals slightly more damage.

In all other RPG games, there is some kind of unique gaming mechanism that allows you to make a unique experience to your taste.

_{The vast leveling system of FFX, the sphere grid}

In FF7, you had orbs that you imbued into weapons and gear, which give you a multitude of powers and buffs, which you eventually learn permanently, allowing you to add more and more, with each player taking on whatever blend of roles you like.

In the latest Zelda instalment, you have different equipment that helps you climb better in the rain, or move around with more stealth, weapons which you can fuse pretty much anything onto them to add all kinds of different abilities and elements.

In Elden Ring, you earn points as you kill, and you spend those points by assigning them to increasingly expensive attributes such as Vitality, Arcane, Strength, Dexterity, with hundreds of weapons that each cater to different type of builds that you create. Depending on how well you do this will determine your outcome in battle.

This is kind of quintessential RPG vibe is completely absent in FF16.

There's no protection against different magical attacks, as there are no monsters that deal them out. They all just deal damage straight up. You have elemental magic - so far for me I have fire, wind and lightning - but it's not obvious that the actual elemental aspect of the magic does anything at all. No monster seems immune, weak or strong against any given element. You can indeed fight fire with fire with no obvious challenge. It seems mostly an aesthetic thing.

This means gaming strategy kind of goes out the window too. When a fight starts, you just... fight. You hit the 'hit' buttons until the enemy dies. These mechanisms were specifically in place so you can't just button bash your way through a game with a big sword. You have to work it out and think.

Now, in 16, I really can just button bash my way through. There are even a set of rings you can wear from the start of the game that literally just automate everything, so you can pretty much just mash a single button over and over again, and every enemy will be dead in a few seconds.

It feels a lot less gratifying than Elden Ring, where I found myself on numerous occasions running into a fight for the 150th time, my face red with rage, only to explode with elation when I finally defeated it through hours of levelling, strategy, and seeking the right blend of different gear that worked for me.

No, none of that here. And although I retain the fact that Final Fantasy 16 is still an incredible game, it's for none of the reasons that make it Final Fantasy.

So is it actually good or am I just being a loyalist?

There are several other less significant bothers for me, but this is getting long enough. I do think some of that is partly because of my relatively fresh experience with Elden Ring: Monsters in FF16 are lacking. They're lacking in diversity of design and their battle strategy. I might even say it's lazy. No matter if you're fighting a huge crystal dragon, an almighty God of magic or a little wasp, the same strategy applies. Wait until they pull back in preparation to attack, where you have about an entire second to respond, press dodge, hit, and repeat until you win.

But... I insist, it is still a seriously good game - If you like narrative-based games. There is probably more cutscene than anything else, but the story is exceptionally strong and tantalizing.

The physical beauty of the game alone is enough to pay and play. far less grim-toned than advertised.

_{In contrast to this, much of the game is in luscious green landscape as seen below}

The attention to detail is second-to-none. Even 20-some hours in, I'm still unlocking various things from ranked battles to historical catalogues of events through the history of the world map you can sit and read as if you're in a library.

The game does the job, and any gamer not loyal to this franchise will simply experience a really good game. But to the fans like me, a lot of the essence of final fantasy - those quintessential RPG elements - has been stripped, in place of what seems to be a pandering to a more ADHD-style modern audience.

I do find myself, sitting at work, counting the minutes until I can go and continue my quests. It seems that you can get away with a lot of mistakes if the rest of you is pristine.

But I do wonder, was this really a result of pandering to modernity?

Like, there does seem to be an over-heavy emphasis on being seamless and fluid. You don't press anything to jump or climb, you just run up to things and it does the job for you. You don't pick up items, you just run past them and they get picked up. Loot magnetizes into your inventory. There's no turn-based waiting or moments of downtime. You don't have to sift through your gear and figure out what's best. You don't need to swap out certain items or collect enough potions to get through the next fight.

You just go go go go go!

Like I said, that does make for a good game. But something is being lost here, and us old folk probably don't appreciate it.

But then, we aren't really the market anymore, I guess.