On Thursday, October 20th, Square Enix released the newest trailer for the upcoming title in the legendary Final Fantasy series. This newest trailer focuses heavily on the newest game’s story with some additional gameplay.

Final Fantasy XVI will take place in the world of Valishthea. This world is inhabited by beings called Eikons, who are powerful spirits that have been present throughout the series as summons. In Final Fantasy XVI, these creatures inhabit the bodies of humans who can call upon their power and are known as Dominants.

This trailer also introduces audiences to the various important factions and characters that will play a major role in the newest story. Square has stated the player character, Clive Rosfield is a part of The Grand Duchy of Rosaria but other kingdoms include Sanbreque, The Dhalmekian Republic, Iron Kingdom, and Waloed. Clive’s story is tied to that of his brother Joshua, the Dominant of Phoenix, and their quest for revenge against the greater powers of the world.

After Final Fantasy XV‘s modernist world of Eos and Final Fantasy XIII‘s science fiction setting of Grand Pulse, it’s nice to see the series return to a classical fantasy setting. I also was excited to see that crystals would be playing a part in the narrative once more. Though cliché there is something about the way Square Enix implements the idea into their worlds that always works for me. It certainly helps that the world is looking absolutely stunning from a graphical perspective.

In addition to story details, the trailer also showcases some more action-heavy gameplay. I haven’t been the biggest fan of the series’ shift toward this style of combat. However, here it looks quite compelling, due to the focus on a singular player character rather than a party of heroes. In my opinion, when most of the party is controlled by AI it often can make combat encounters feel quite awkward and lead to frustrating experiences when the party acts poorly. Additionally, developing competent AI puts extra strain on development time.

With the shift to a singular protagonist, the game will hopefully have more dynamic and fast-paced combat encounters that mirror other established action RPG titles. I’m hoping the entirety of the game can capture the visual intensity of the boss fights shown off here and am glad to say I’m looking forward to a Final Fantasy game again.

Final Fantasy XVI will launch in the summer of 2023 for PlayStation 5.

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