Godzilla, Evangelion, Pro Wrestling, And More: The Inspiration Behind Final Fantasy 16’s Eikon Combat

gameinformer.com:

I recently went hands-on with Final Fantasy XVI, the next mainline entry in the long-running series due out on PlayStation 5 this summer, to play roughly two hours of the game. Most of that playtime consisted of me controlling Clive as I battled alongside ally Cidolfus Telamon (always a Cid, right?) through a castle dungeon. However, toward the end of my preview, I was able to fight Garuda, one of the game’s Eikons, while controlling Ifrit, another Eikon. 

At this point in the game, roughly five hours in according to FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida, Clive has little control over Ifrit. A special few in the world of FFXVI are Dominants, meaning they can tap into the power of an Eikon and even transform into them. Cidolfus, for example, can become the Ramuh Eikon. Clive, however, is not a Dominant (but his younger brother, Joshua, is). 

I’m not exactly sure what story events led to this moment – I tried asking the team but they remained tightlipped – but regardless, it was good fun. Ifrit features just a few attacks and lumbers around the giant battlefield while attacking Garuda. Yoshida says this fight reflects Clive’s inexperience utlizing the power of Ifrit. After I defeated Garuda, Cidolfus even had to transform into Ramuh to put an end to my uncontrolled, anger-filled rampage. 

During a group interview with Yoshida, the game’s director Hiroshi Takai, and its combat director, Ryota Suzuki, a question about FFXVI’s Eikon vs. Eikon combat was asked. According to Yoshida, each Eikon fight will be unique to that specific combat scenario. Because of that, developer Creative Business Unit III drew on various sources of inspiration for different fights. 

“The Eikon vs. Eikon battle that you got to play today, the Ifrit vs.