Board 8 > Final Fantasy XVI

(+) Yeah! (+)

A version of XV that actually cashed the massive check it was writing with the buildup to the Season 2 stuff (or better yet, you know, had all of that stuff in the game from the get-go) would have totally kicked ass. All we ended up with in the end though is a glimpse of what could have been and a fascinating look at what a completely fucked production can do to a game.

This game as been completely awesome in every way except I still can't get over how weird it is for a boss in a final fantasy game to shout out "Fucking dog"

Its kind of weird the heel turn after 15 games

Hey, if Tales of Berseria could go edgelord, so can FF. It's just been 25 years since they last did it.

I refuse to believe Velvet wouldn't be dropping an F bomb every 6 lines if Berseria was an M.

The violence actually is crossing the line for me in the Benedikta/Garuda fight. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to this stuff as a full grown adult.

Edit: Maybe it's not the violence so much as it is how weird it is to think of boring-ass Ifrit like this. He'll always be a basic summon to me!

One thing of note is that the OST has been slapping HARD so far but I will need to go back and listen to it later. It's a different environment paying attention to an OST during normal difficulty MMO fights versus in the middle of fast passed character action battle, until the lyrics kick in.

Of course I'm still so early, maybe we'll get our Endcaller moment.

If they're fully embracing the swearing in this one, does that mean we get Cid uncensored in FF7 Rebirth?

oh #%@* yeah

Just finished the Garuda fight. Now several hours into this game I think the biggest accomplishment they've pulled off with this battle system is I can imagine how they fights would go if it was still turn based and it makes me want to see older games with this battle system to see how those fights would play out

Also while I started in Performance mode I was noticing the inconsistent frames. The area where Martha's Rest is I tried switching to Graphics mode and I probably should have just started with it. The solid 30 FPS feels fine and now it looks slightly better

The more I get into this game Benedikta/Garuda fights, two things are starting to emerge: XVI Cid may be the best Cid, and Torgal is right up there with Interceptor as best doggo material. I mean...goddamn. This game has charm to it, if nothing else.

So apparently.

Xbox players review bombing the game.
Kotaku types fixating on the game being racist.
Combat being discredited cus you have accessibility options to play the game one handed.

Lmao

Never change...I mean, the combat isn't my forte, but this game is cinematic as fuck and has charm and gravitas. As for review bombing, that's pussy ass losers on Twitter doing the usual.

Just more proof how rad the game is when people are this actively trying to take it down.

Bad games take themselves down.

Ok. 10-15 minutes after I said he's in the 'running' for best Cid, XVI Cid just flat out fucking takes the damn title with ease.

So uh, yeah. Game's pretty good right now.

BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Combat being discredited cus you have accessibility options to play the game one handed.

Sorry there's a pause option

The only accessibility I'd like is larger text, but I'm uniquely burdened with being legally blind. Not sure what games just come with larger text that fixes that wholesale. Those old school JRPGs with larger ass font (FF6/BOF3) seem super accommodating when constantly faced with the recent trend to make text as minute as fucking possible.

BK_Sheikah00 posted...

Combat being discredited cus you have accessibility options to play the game one handed.

I mean Clive's sexy but I don't know if he's that sexy.

The actual video going around is some (Polygon?) guy doing the tutorial boss fight one handed with all of the accessibility rings for autododging and autohealing on and acting like he's some kind of whistle blower.

Ironically they are actually still playing bad by the standards of what they are doing.

They got hit with the community notes though so that's been fun.

Yes. Godforbid anyone want to play a game for a story, and find some way to play a game their own way.

Funniest part is it's the exact same journalists (and it IS the same outlets) who have been up in arms about From Soft not having an easy mode or a pause for years who are complaining about FFXVI having these easy accessibility options. They're so laser focused on their narratives that they don't even realize when the game CAN pause (Elden Ring) and assume you can't!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Funniest part is it's the exact same journalists (and it IS the same outlets) who have been up in arms about From Soft not having an easy mode or a pause for years who are complaining about FFXVI having these easy accessibility options. They're so laser focused on their narratives that they don't even realize when the game CAN pause (Elden Ring) and assume you can't!

Spoilers: it isn't about being consistent, it's about making money.

The funny thing to me is the accessibility items... make you less powerful. I like they take up accessory slots.

Sure here's an easy mode, but you will always do less damage because of it

Still early on but Cid is easily the best FF Cid

If he keeps it up he could just end up the best FF character

He's the best Cid by default because of his voice actor.

This is an orientation bending voice I tell you what.

the love for 16 Cid here and all over the internet is wild to me. yes, he's cool but damn. stay thirsty my friends indeed.

I will say that he reminds me of a young Paul Hollywood, and I'd be happy to hear his thoughts on bread.

BK_Sheikah00 posted...

So apparently.

Xbox players review bombing the game.
Kotaku types fixating on the game being racist.
Combat being discredited cus you have accessibility options to play the game one handed.

Lmao

I'm pretty sure 3 is an instance of 1

Guy playing is whoever the hell this is https://twitter.com/OCervejeiro_
and gal who is tweeting I guess appears on a podcast sometimes. Both seem very Xbox-console-wars shilly. I don't mean to go to bat for Kotaku or Polygon or whatever but it's bullshit that Games Journalism automatically gets blamed for random doofuses on Twitter being doofuses.

Dude is retweeting Redfall stans lol.

I thought at first his video was taken out of context because of course nobody would record a video trying to make that point, but then he stepped in to defend Andrea's post. The defense: He also played FF16 with only his right hand on the controller on normal mode and did fine for a bit of the intro!

It had never dawned on me that chocobos were probably very edible until this game. A revelation.

I don't like getting attacked by wild chocobos

I don't want to kill them :(

blue ones deserve to die

Two more things
-I haven't had any major complaints about Performance Mode
-The accessibility er, accessories sound like they have such powerful effects that no normal accessory could compare in advantage. I wouldn't call that a tradeoff. At most you're trading away the opportunity for a little bit of customization.

The only complaint I have with the game is no minimap. Kind of baffling.

Unless there's a mechanic introduced later that sticks something in the top right of the screen.

Games we no minimap give me a headache. There was another one recently... ah yes, Jedi Survivor. You have to put on the droid goggles just to see your set waypoints. Doesn't help that it's still that weird 3D Metroid Prime map style.

That said, FF16's mapped areas aren't convoluted enough that getting lost is a big problem. It's just a minor annoyance to have to bring up the full map to check your bearing.

Oh huh. Spoilers for just after....meeting someone's wife?

I just ASSUMED this outfit was what came after the next time jump. Now that I have it so early here I don't know if they showed any of the 40's Clove in the trailers??

https://twitter.com/shineget64/status/1672849214781689857

lol

Holy shit I just upgraded all the basic abilities and WOW does this dramatically improve things.

See I'm not one to care for giant outdoor vistas, they remind me of games I don't care for.

But you can be sure as fuck that I took a screenshot of this fucking boss arena ass looking secret temple room the second I walked in.

I love how ominous the Royal Meadows theme is

I have to admit, this is the FF game I was least hyped for. Didn't like the look of the combat, thought it was too cinematic without much substance etc. But I am just past the demo portion and I absolutely love it. The story is intriguing, the combat is intuitive and the boss battles are epic. Plus you can pause the game.

The maps feel like FFXIII maps so far. Pretty linear. Dont really need a minimap for that.

I say this as someone who had no issue with the linearness of XIII

"no minimap" is so far the strongest plus i've heard about the game

instead "every time there's a fork, press the button that tells you which way is correct, then go the other way"

not that i'm complaining

Omg the hideaway has an npc named spoony bard

I appreciate how your party members aren't worthless in battle. I'm not sure if they have health bars, but they do a great job at drawing aggro and deal not insignificant damage to random mobs. I do wish there was a little more general banter, though. I don't want them to talk my ear off or like yell the names of abilities, but I do want it to feel more like an adventuring group and that we are in battles together.

I find that party members feel more helpful when they aren't constantly crying to you for help.

Ive really liked the way theyve done side quests early on. All 6 or so Ive done were really about world building. They didnt feel like busy work because it felt like a continuation of the story.

This game is really well put together

Yeah this is something I'm disagreeing with the reviewers on strongly. Yes they're basic bitch objectives but that's not the point of them.