Final Fantasy 16 was always going to be an important entry into the historic series, and now following the release of several media and influencer previews, it sounds like it’s going to be something of a revolutionary one as well. Final Fantasy 16 combat is apparently unlike anything we’ve really seen in the series before, and manages to be both engaging, epic, complex, and accessible at the same time.
As many excited fans will know already, Final Fantasy 16’s combat is being headed up by Ryota Suzuki of Devil May Cry 5 fame, and multiple previews are saying that his influence is hugely noticeable – and for the better, it seems.
NME describes the decision to bring Suzuki aboard as “a move that’s very much paid off” after its time with Final Fantasy 16’s preview build. Elsewhere, Eurogamer says that “the fluidity of combat and its array of interlinking options is impressive”.
Some of the combat features include an AI companion in the form of Torgal the wolf-dog (and yes, you can pet him, apparently) which can be directed using your D-pad to either “heal, maul, or generate aggro” according to NME. It’s worth noting that Clive is the only one of the cast of Final Fantasy 16 characters you will have full control of during the game, and while you can instruct a companion, the actions themselves will be performed by the AI.
Other features include Clive adding to his arsenal of abilities by defeating Eikons in battle and harnessing the powers they possessed for himself. You can cycle through these abilities during battle, which is “fiddly” at first and will require some practice, according to Eurogamer. We’ll talk a bit about Final Fantasy 16’s Eikon battles specifically in a moment.
YouTuber ‘Skill Up’ also notes the novel way in which FF16 will deal with combat difficulty. The developers were apparently “not interested in autobattlers or an easy mode” for those that don’t want the ultimate challenge in combat. Instead, the game’s ‘story mode’, as it appears to be framed, will give you access to several Timely Accessories that will make combat more accessible. These include things like a ring that can give you a longer window to dodge.
These come at a tradeoff though, as your limited inventory slots will be taken up by these accessories, but if you’re struggling with just one aspect of combat, this system will let you essentially scale the difficulty yourself and give you a workaround for that one aspect.
Eikon battles, by the way, sound like they’re rather awesome. Each will have a distinct theme and feel, and the one that was made available during the preview “was made to feel like a pro wrestling match” – something it actually achieved, with some added dismemberment, according to Skill Up.
That’s just a top level look at some of the changes and innovations that are being made to combat in Final Fantasy 16, but it’s safe to say that things will be very different in this entry compared to others in the series. There’s definitely a lot of excitement among those that previewed the game, and it sounds like the Final Fantasy 16 release date can’t arrive soon enough.