While some of them might think they saw too much of it prior to release, Final Fantasy fans have probably forgotten all about their apprehensions now that they've finally gotten their hands on Final Fantasy 16.
Regardless of whether they’ve spent the past few days trying to avoid spoiling the sense of wonder they’ll inevitably experience upon jumping into the game for the first time by playing through already released titles or sharing wholesome stories, instead of racking up hours in its demo, surely now all of these fine folks are happily playing away?
Unfortunately, it seems that, following a re-ignition of the long-running debate surrounding Final Fantasy 14 by the new game’s reception, fans are now fiercely disputing whether it delivers a ‘true’ Final Fantasy experience.
What do you think of Final Fantasy 16 so far?
The feeling-based fracas in question is taking place in a recent thread on the subreddit r/finalfantasy, which user dragonofthesouth1 kicked off by declaring that they had a message for those who think the game is “not Final Fantasy.”
They then went on to specify that, while the series means different things to different people, in their estimation, the aspect of it that makes it unique is “the feeling of [going on] a truly wondrous, grander than life, granular romp through a huge, beautiful world and [experiencing an] engaging story that centres [around] character drama [with a background of] international and cosmic turmoil.”
“This game has that [feeling] in droves,” they argue, adding: “with map designs reminiscent of [Final Fantasy] 10, and a vibe most comparable to [Final Fantasy] 4, I feel like the naysayers who won't play [16], who are truly old-school, are missing out the most. This Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy to the core.”
Naturally, their take has garnered a pretty polarised response, with some fellow fans agreeing with dragonofthesouth1 that the game does deliver the feeling outlined above, others arguing that it doesn’t and several suggesting that the discussion is a pointless one due to its subjectivity.
As you might imagine, it looks like this discourse is set to rage on for some time yet, with new people continuing to arrive and offer their perspectives, despite user RPG217’s attempt to settle things by arguing: “None of the games are Final Fantasy because they're real and not really final.”
Regardless of how you’re finding Final Fantasy 16 so far, make sure to follow us for an array of helpful guides to everything from completing quests, to gathering resources, and defeating foes, as well as updates on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.