Review: ‘Final Fantasy XVI’ is a near-perfect execution of an ever-evolving genre

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What makes a great story? Is it the inclusion of fleshed-out characters, with real human conflicts, flung into a period of catastrophic change? Is it intricate worldbuilding, supported by a world that manages to fully suspend your disbelief? Is it great narrative moments, cinematic in their guile and epic in their scale?

More importantly still, what really makes great gameplay? Does it have to do with fun, unrepetitive combat? Is it about the level design and the pace it sets during your playthrough? Is it about finding clever ways to subvert expectations and introduce innovative mechanics to unkempt genres?

Like every developer before them, those were the questions Square Enix had to tackle when making Final Fantasy XVI, and despite all the reservations we had about the game after watching those confusing gameplay clips, it seems that the team has (somehow) managed to find compelling answers to all of them, seamlessly weaving that wisdom into the idea of an epic fantasy tale that spans an entire continent.

The times being what they are, developing an RPG experience that boasts such a polished fictional landscape — and even more genuine characters — must be a logistical nightmare. This is, after all, an era where big publishers are desperately investing in new live-service experiments or unabashedly ripping off successful projects to maximize net revenue. I mean, why even bother spending five or six years in expenditure (in Final Fantasy XVI’s actual case, preliminary development began eight years ago) on the off-chance that the game might be successful?

And even if it is successful, it’s not going to sell nearly as much as all those other trendy games. The role-playing genre’s reach has always been tenuous at best, and