Final Fantasy XVI is Awesome, Actually

In this, the year of the RPG, I think that Final Fantasy XVI deserves more recognition. It started strong right out of the gate, with an explosive 3 million copy first week and tons of hype all around the internet in the gaming community. But it dropped off just as quickly as the beleaguered Diablo IV…even though I think it’s a much better game than Activision’s weird <a href="https://medium.com/@xander51/diablo-iv-seems-like-its-dead-777b35adc794" rel="noopener">bland stupid grind fest.</a> Square Enix, the developer and publisher of the game, weirdly hastened its hype demise by throwing it under the bus during an August earnings call — blaming their recent financial shortcomings on the game’s “underperformance.” This despite the fact that Final Fantasy XVI reviewed and sold well for a PS5-only release. Square has a curious history of throwing out a ton of shovelware and making strange investments, then blaming the failure of these initiatives on a game that supposedly undersells. See also: their handling of the entire Tomb Raider 2013 reboot trilogy. Regardless of its sales success, this game is a wonderful, weird, and triumphant technical achievement, and a must-play for anyone with a PS5 looking for a truly unique action RPG experience. Its combination of Final Fantasy characters, magic, and systems with hard-edged R-rated Game of Thrones trappings shouldn’t really work at all — but the whole thing coalesces into an endlessly fascinating and cool saga. <a href="https://xander51.medium.com/final-fantasy-xvi-is-awesome-actually-09d19b33ffb6">Read More</a>