The Legacy of the Crystals Lives On

 

Square Enix is at it again

Square has been a household name for years in the gaming community to the point that even those who have not played a single one of their games have a passing knowledge of Cloud and Sephiroth are. With the Sony PS5 Showcase streamed live on September 16, the community was presented with certain specs and details surrounding the console and what games and hardware to expect later in the coming months.

And then Square announced a new entry in the mainline Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy 16. After viewing the trailer one can see that they are returning to their medieval fantasy roots with a story centered around the conflict between warring kingdoms. We see what seems to be bits and pieces of a “time-skip” where the protagonist is seen both in his more humble days acting as a guard of sorts to the young prince seen in the trailer, and then later on as part of a somewhat mercenary or bandit group about to launch an attack on Shiva, a very recognized and fan-favorite summon from the series. Here the summons play a major role in the story, which is in my opinion a much welcome return, the summons are called Icons and are controlled by a dominant, which from what the trailer seemed to tease is that those who are dominants transform into the summons but for how long, is not certain or what triggers the change is still unsure.

In the gameplay spectrum, they have decided to make it an action-RPG, but with combat mechanic similar to Devil May Cry, seeing in the trailer how the protagonist is able to switch weapons and fighting styles rather fluidly which means combat will undoubtedly have the players' blood pumping. Though I do miss the older more strategic gameplay element of turn-based combat, thus new the system shows much promise.

Another aspect that seems to show much promise is the story itself, the intricacies of political turmoil amongst the kingdoms and the mature tone of the story shows that the team behind writing the scenarios are poised to give us an amazing and well thought out tale of intrigue, betrayal, and broken promises.

Not surprising, seeing that the team behind this title is also the same team behind raising Final Fantasy 14 from the dead. Turning the once dull MMORPG, into one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences for the last couple of years with a story that keeps players new and old engrossed for hours on end. 

Many questions remain unanswered concerning various aspects of the title, but one thing is for sure Final Fantasy has yet to show signs of slowing down any time soon.