If you like pretty games, it’s got that, the soundtrack, and Torgal going for it. Most of the characters are carried by great voice acting, some really have nothing interesting about them. FFXVI is a weird one; the best way to describe it is identity crisis.
[SPOILER]
It’s almost self-aware like the game knows it lacks variety and is terribly paced because the writers decided not commit to medieval GOT tropes halfway through and transformed the narrative into a Covenant- no DMC, no FVII dlc? High fantasy with sci-fi ancients and demon Clive trying to save the planet from mother crystals depleting aether? There’s too many competing ideas thrown in the blender here, which is a shame because gameplay and story doesn’t really get pick-up until Clive reaches his 30s.
The RPG elements in this game aren’t great either. Yes, the quests are mostly fetch errands with sprinkles of hunt quests, but the real detriments are the weapons crafting and lack of strategy needed in fights. When I think about it, the KH series has better feeling combat. There is an arena but I really hope the Final Fantasy mode adds some difficulty.
Overall this is not a terrible game. It looks polished but lacks focus. For all the hype surrounding it, FFXVI is just not engaging for 80% of the game. I understand others enjoying it, however a game that is also majority cinematic over actual gameplay is just not for me.