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Final Fantasy 16 trailer reveals warring kingdoms and role of crystals

There's a new Final Fantasy 16 trailer out called Ambition and it's all about the land of Valisthea's warring kingdoms and what role the series' crystals play

Final Fantasy 16 trailer story kingdoms: an image of Dion in orange light

We know Final Fantasy 16 is getting a year’s worth of polish from Square Enix, but we really just want to jump into this crazy new world now – especially after watching the brand new Final Fantasy 16 trailer, titled ‘Ambition’. In this four-and-a-half-minute long series of cinematics, we learn that the land of Valisthea has been slowly dying for almost 1,500 years and that the only hope for salvation is found with “the blessing of the crystals”.

In addition to this, we learn of Valisthea’s kingdoms – all of which seem to be warring with one another to get their hands on the fading light of the crystals. Of these kingdoms, the Grand Duchy of Rosaria is “a bastion of tradition”, the Holy Empire of Sanbreque is “where ambition is divine”, the Dhalmekian Republic is “where fortune shifts with the desert sands”, the Iron Kingdom has been “forged in faith and fear”, and the Kingdom of Waloed is “indomitable in its isolation”.

Despite not appearing in every Final Fantasy game, crystals are quite important in the series’ lore – especially in the early stages. So, the fact that they could be an important part of this game’s narrative might mean we’re in for something of a classic Final Fantasy story with this upcoming release.

However, they’re not the most exciting part of this trailer. Oh, no – that would be the kingdoms and their warring Eikons. From what we know, these Eikons are summonable “beasts of great might” being exploited by the warring kingdoms to get one up on eachother. However, it also looks like they’re quite an important part of each kingdom’s ruling structure.

The trailer shows us that the Grand Duchy of Rosaria’s Eikon is something of a phoenix, and a PlayStation Blog post goes into more detail about the Eikons of two others: Dion Lesage, crown prince of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque and leader of the dragoons, and Barnabas Tharmr, the ruler of the Kingdom of Waloed.

Barnabas’ Eikon is Odin and Dion’s Eikon is Bahamut. We don’t know what these Eikons look like just yet, or what unique powers they bestow upon Barnabas and Dion. However, we do know that they’re going to play a huge part in whatevers to come.

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, you can check out the new Final Fantasy 16 trailer below:

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We know it should go without saying, but this game looks stunning. Industry insider ‘Nibel‘ has reported that director Hiroshi Takai has confirmed that the development team has “turned its full attention to debugging and final adjustments”. With this game still slated to release in Summer 2023, this statement will be welcome news for fans hoping to find a polished game at launch.

However, that time will have to wait. As a timed exclusive, Xbox players might have to wait a little longer than most to play Final Fantasy 16. Although, we’re sure it will be worth the wait looking at what we’re in for. Is this going to be one of the best PS5 games available when it drops? We’ll have to wait and see.