Preview: Final Fantasy XVI Hands-On Impressions
Final Fantasy XVI is about the spectacle. Whether it’s the large, beautifully detailed environments or the flashy, particle-heavy combat sequences, I was enthralled over the course of my nearly six hours with the upcoming RPG during a preview event in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Final Fantasy XVI is the next mainline entry in the thirty-five-year-old series and it’s aiming to tell a grittier, more serious story set in a medieval-inspired world called Valisthea. Six nations vie for power through their control of the magical Mothercrystals that provide aether to the world.
Our demo, which was part of a special version made for media and might differ from the full experience when it launches next month, kicked off with an anime-scale battle pitting two of the major nation-states against each other. From charging Chocobo riders to the various magical spells being slung around the canyon battlefield, it felt sufficiently epic and set the stage for the political and military intrigue that the world is steeped in.
Central to each nation is its Eikon, which Final Fantasy series fans will know as the various “Summons” in previous installments. These Eikons are seemingly central to the national defense of the nation they represent, and certain magic users called Dominants can wield their power such as the Grand Duke of Rosaria’s family manifestation of the Phoenix Eikon or the Dhalmekian’s reliance on Hugo Kupka, the Dominant of Titan.
Image via Square Enix (see disclaimer below)
Interestingly enough, I was struck by how society seems to treat those magic users in Final Fantasy XVI , especially when you consider just how much of the world that Square Enix has built is powered — and protected — through magic.
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