I decided to do something different and write a psuedo-review of a game I’ve actually finished. I say psuedo-review because I’m not really going to give it a score, and I don’t think I’m the kind of person to say if a game was definitively good or bad.

So, the game I’d like to talk about is Final Fantasy XVI. The most recent entry in this franchise that I can tell tried to take different paths, but frustratingly, ends up hitting the same highlights as other games. It continues the trend of later games in trying to switch up the formula and do more action based combat, but it does try to make it more engaging than what I remember in Final Fantasy XV. In that game, I didn’t feel a lot of agency on my part when it came to combat. But in FFXVI, I did feel like there was some skill involved, and I liked the different skills I could switch between to find my playstyle. I honestly don’t think it’s a bad thing that I found some skillsets just a bit cumbersome or slow, I feel like someone out there liked them and that just speaks to the game trying to have variety, for everyone.

But, one area that I wish they tried to switch things up is the story. We’re going to get into full-on spoilers and talk about key story beats and the ending, so fair warning.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

So there’s a joke about most JRPGs that you start these games as a normal kid, but by the end up, you’re killing god. I remember playing through FFXVI and feeling like it was a breath of fresh air because it didn’t seem to be going in that direction. The story was all politics, leaders of various countries fighting over land that was slowly dwindling away. They used Eikons (the usual summons from the previous games) to do battle for them, and these Eikons resided in humans. I liked that there were some distinct differences in how these people were treated. Some used their status to gain power, others were seen as nothing more than weapons, and then others just wanted to be left alone.

You play as Clive Rosfield, and growing up, your mother sees you as less than a weapon, as you don’t have an Eikon, but your brother does. After some story beats, your brother appears dead, your mother betrays you, your country, and for good measure, makes sure your dad is out of the picture. Already, these are small stakes compared to other Final Fanasy stories because the world isn’t ending, and you’re just dealing with an unjust world. Your mother Anabella just wants power and doesn’t care what it takes to get it. The motivation seems one-note, but I think the story does a good job of selling her greed. The build-up to that confrontation was great, and as the story progressed, I hated her more and wanted revenge. The story did a good job of making me feel invested.

But here’s the problem, around halfway through, that storyline gets resolved. You get your closure with your mom, her ending fits, it’s not satisfying, but that’s kind of the point. The problem is the game still has to keep going, so it pivots from stories of political intrigue and damaged families to well..dealing with a god. The whole time, the game teases this villain, Ultima, and eventually you find out he is a god that made all of humanity and made you, Clive as his weapon to combine all the powers of the Eikons to bring about the restoration of Ultima’s people. It’s…messy and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Ultima came from a planet that his people ravaged, so they found a new one, yours, and he wants to restore his people and to do that…he needs to ravage your planet.

I had to push through to finish this game as the later half of the story just didn’t grab me, and I was a little disappointed I ended it by fighting god. I would have preferred a smaller story with more emotional stakes. It’s hard to get invested when the story jumps to Epic level and then has no room to turn down the volume. I just didn’t think there was a good way to make me care or even understand Ultima’s plan. On paper makes sense, but it also doesn’t make sense that he gave his creations free will, and that’s why they’re able to beat him. If the game had stuck to a storyline of magic users wanting to be free, and Clive dealing with his mother that never loved him. I would have loved that, smaller stakes, humanity maybe isn’t at risk, but there is an impact between these power beings fighting each other for dwindling land.

This game feels like it thinks it has to stay in the Final Fantasy sandbox. It needs to have crystals, it needs to have Shiva and Ifrit, and you need to end up killing god at the end to save all of existence. But maybe the next game doesn’t have to do that? Final Fantasy XII did a good job of playing the political game, and it seemed to have stuck the landing. I think games should try to be smaller because you can’t really raise the stakes when you start so grand. I’ll take a slice of an epic RPG next time, not the full cake.