‘Final Fantasy XVI’ Is a Messy, but Quietly Brilliant Next Step for Square Enix’s RPG Series: Video Game Review
Josh Broadwell If you’re looking for a breathtaking blockbuster, Final Fantasy XVI isn’t it. Square Enix’s latest entry in the long-running RPG series is often messy, oddly paced and frustratingly restrictive in its vision. More frequently, though, it’s subtly brilliant, with a bold and ambitious narrative, nuanced character development and some of the genre’s best localization and voice work. It’s a significant departure for the series and one that pays off, despite a few missteps along the way. First, though, you have to get through the prologue, and Final Fantasy XVI makes a poor first impression in most of that. After a brief battle scene, it begins in the Duchy of Rosaria, a location that could’ve come from “Game of Thrones,” T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King,” or any medieval fantasy. There’s a wise ruler, his cruel wife who prefers one of their sons over another, a band of brash and loyal knights, and a smattering of happy peasants who serve them all.