Ultimate Fantasy XVI Overview (PS5)

Ultimate Fantasy 16 is the furthest the mainline sequence has ever strayed from its conventional RPG roots. It is extra of an motion recreation with RPG parts bolted on than it’s an RPG with motion fight, however on the similar time, it boasts all the substances that we affiliate with the best Ultimate Fantasy titles. Its character-driven story is grand and intoxicating, its fantastical world constructing is sensible, and it is match to burst with superb battles. Once more, it is a daring new route for the beloved franchise, but it surely’s additionally the very best mainline, single-player Ultimate Fantasy recreation since 12 — and it is not even shut.

Granted, the extremely divisive 13 and 15 did not precisely set a excessive bar, however with 16, it appears like Ultimate Fantasy is concentrated once more. This was a mission with a transparent imaginative and prescient, and that shines by means of within the spectacular cinematic high quality of the storytelling, and the largely wonderful fight system. When the credit rolled, we felt like we would been on a memorable, emotional journey and we had been unhappy to see it finish. That is what ending a Ultimate Fantasy recreation ought to really feel like.

For this explicit journey, you are plopped within the persistently tragic footwear of Clive Rosfield — a noble-born swordsman charged with the safety of his throne-bound youthful brother. On this world, a choose few — together with Clive’s little bro Joshua — are primarily born with the facility of demigods within them. Some nations use these ‘Eikons’ to wage battle, whereas others worship them. These omnipotent entities are on the coronary heart of the sport’s story, and each time an Eikon takes to the stage — whether or not it is throughout an eye-popping cutscene or a mind-melting boss battle — it is laborious to not be blown away.

Ultimate Fantasy 16’s narrative is a reasonably intricate mixture of grounded political intrigue — all very paying homage to Ultimate Fantasy 12 — and loopy Eikon-based chaos, with magic and crystals and superhuman feats that would not really feel misplaced in Dragon Ball Z. One way or the other, the sport’s plot manages to meld all of this collectively with out creating tonal whiplash, and that is maybe all the way down to its principally immaculate script. Certainly, the localisation crew deserves a lot reward right here, as a result of they’ve taken a Japanese script and remodeled it into one thing that feels fully pure, topping it off with some very good voice appearing.

When the sh*t hits the fan — and it does, loads — Ultimate Fantasy 16 tells a very gripping story. It is up there with essentially the most emotionally impactful plots in fashionable gaming, and it is additional bolstered by cinematic motion sequences that will make God of Warfare 3 blush. We’ve not seen spectacle fairly like this in a very long time, and because the story develops, it solely will get an increasing number of obsessive about one-upping itself on the “is that this truly taking place?” scale.

Now, given its penchant for prolonged cutscenes, you is likely to be sitting there anxious that Ultimate Fantasy 16 is extra film than recreation. It is a truthful concern in the event you’ve dabbled within the demo — which options the title’s cutscene-heavy prologue — however fortunately, fight and exploration are simply as prevalent as the large story moments. Whereas there isn’t any doubt that this can be a cinematic expertise at the beginning — it is precisely what Sq. Enix needs you to see in trailers and thoroughly curated displays — you may nonetheless spend most of your playthrough battering beasts and wandering throughout massive environments.

Structurally, the sport jumps between very linear, story-slinging ‘dungeons’, and entire chapters the place you are free to roam open areas, ticking off facet quests and attending to know secondary characters. Ultimate Fantasy 16’s plot pacing may be so intense that it is good to have some downtime now and again, so we did finally discover ourselves welcoming the chance to only go off and do our personal factor for a bit.

Nevertheless, we are saying ‘finally’ as a result of among the facet quests — significantly early on — are mind-numbingly boring. The drop off in general high quality between the primary story and these elective duties may be jarring, as partaking digicam angles and full movement seize are changed by static character fashions and flapping mouths, spewing the form of fully forgettable quests you’d discover in an MMO (which does make some sense, seeing as this recreation is spearheaded by Ultimate Fantasy 14 builders).

The issue is that we’re gone having to chew by means of such dreary facet quests in fashionable RPGs. In an period the place titles like The Witcher 3 and Horizon Forbidden West have redefined what we have come to count on from branching actions, Ultimate Fantasy 16 could as effectively be a PS2 launch by way of questing. Some quests do assist flesh out the world, offering perception into the finer factors of the lore, however when the accompanying gameplay actually boils all the way down to discovering objective-marked NPCs and listening to their inane prattle, one after one other, you possibly can’t assist however really feel as if your time is being wasted.

Fortuitously, when the subsequent story beat kicks in and also you’re again on the rollercoaster, you possibly can forgive the title’s (admittedly elective) missteps. The aforementioned ‘dungeons’ symbolize the core recreation at its peak, as Clive rages by means of a sequence of beautiful places, peppered with close to completely positioned encounters and jaw-dropping boss battles.

Alongside the story, it is actually the fight system that holds every part collectively. Accessible and flashy, but in addition stocked with an intriguing diploma of depth, Ultimate Fantasy 16 performs a bit bit like a streamlined Satan Could Cry. The inputs are comparatively easy, however the, er, satan’s within the particulars, as you progressively begin to discover extra superior strategies like parries and assault cancelling. On a elementary stage, it feels incredible to play, with responsive controls, slick animations, and satisfying sound design.

Second Opinion

My relationship with Ultimate Fantasy has been a rocky one. I’ve dabbled with some older entries that many would name classics, I’ve performed about half of Ultimate Fantasy 7 Remake, and none of it has ever absolutely clicked. I had made peace with the concept that the sequence simply is not for me, however then Sq. Enix made Ultimate Fantasy 16. Having performed it by means of — finishing my first Ultimate Fantasy ever — I fully agree with Rob’s evaluation.

The fight is the actual masterstroke, discovering an excellent stability between exuberant flashiness and real depth; you may have numerous instruments to work with, and utilizing all of them is extremely good enjoyable. Nevertheless, whereas numerous the very best moments on this recreation are its outrageously bombastic boss battles, I’ve to additionally applaud the hassle put into the writing and characters. Whereas I can not say with authority that that is the very best script to grace a Ultimate Fantasy, I’ll say it is wonderful. The general story is compelling, I actually care about many of the forged, and the voice work is essentially of a really excessive customary.

Ultimate Fantasy 16 trims away a lot of the fluff inherent in RPGs to ship a brilliant streamlined motion title. Whereas that will not sit effectively with everybody, it is labored completely on me. It has some lulls right here and there, however by and huge, this can be a recreation that revels in its thrilling fight and tells a mature, impactful story with out sacrificing the guts and soul of the sequence. Sq. Enix lastly has me on board and, I think about, will win many extra new followers with this rollercoaster journey of a recreation.

Stephen Tailby

Assistant Editor

Extra necessary fights — in opposition to foes that may’t simply be launched into the air and combo’d into oblivion — revolve round dodging incoming assaults and retaliating on the proper time. Except for only a handful of particular battles which might be nearly too graphically busy for their very own good, the visible cues — the methods by which enemies wind up their assaults and unleash particular strikes — are extraordinarily effectively designed. This results in a problem curve that usually feels extremely rewarding, the place over the course of a protracted battle, you may familiarize yourself with precisely what your opponent is able to, and be taught to take full benefit.

Together with Clive’s customary sword swings and magic projectiles, you are steadily given entry to a spread of elemental, Eikon-driven talents that function on particular person cooldowns. After unlocking mentioned talents with factors that you simply acquire from battle, they are often assigned to your fight bar, and you start to construct your individual fashion of play. Some talents are ground-shakingly {powerful} however they’re balanced with lengthy cooldowns, whereas others are far more versatile, including distinctive quirks to the best way you method completely different enemy varieties. Once more, the system itself is simple to know, however discovering methods to hyperlink every part collectively is the place the mechanics begin to sing.

Again to the subject of problem, Ultimate Fantasy 16 provides you only one problem stage that may be made simpler by equipping particular equipment, that are granted originally of any new recreation. It is an odd manner of doing issues, however we suppose it really works in that there isn’t any have to rebalance your complete fight system to swimsuit arbitrary settings. Nevertheless, gamers who’re extra skilled with motion video games are in all probability going to crave a larger problem, and that is the place the touted ‘Ultimate Fantasy’ laborious mode enters the equation.

Ultimate Fantasy mode makes your foes stronger, remixes numerous encounters, and even unlocks the extent cap whereas including new gadgets and tools. The catch? It is solely playable after beating the sport, by means of New Sport +. Now, we get it: Ultimate Fantasy mode is designed so as to add replay worth to the package deal — a purpose to affix Clive on his journey yet again, and daring you to push the fight system to its limits. However it’s a little bit of a kicker that the idea of a more durable problem is locked behind a full playthrough — a playthrough that may already final upwards of 70 hours if you wish to full every part.

It is fairly a minor criticism, although. Regardless of its unwavering concentrate on story and fight — there are not any minigames right here in any respect, eschewing sequence custom — Ultimate Fantasy 16 feels strong and full as an motion recreation package deal. Between hunts that see Clive observe down and slay particularly harmful monsters, to the power to replay your favorite dungeons — full with boss fights — by means of a devoted arcade mode, the title absolutely embraces its lovingly crafted fight system.

The PS5 is embraced similarly, by means of the magic of ridiculously quick load instances (severely, it takes lower than ten seconds to get out of your console’s dwelling display screen to gameplay) and haptic suggestions, which is very well carried out all through.

Is it a technical showpiece for Sony’s system, although? Whereas its cutscenes definitely rival and at instances surpass the requirements set by PlayStation Studios, it is not fairly on the extent of a first-party blockbuster general. Typically talking, the visuals are massively spectacular — backed by superb artwork route and environmental design — however as we wrote earlier, issues can look tough outdoors of the primary story, with distractingly wood animations being the most important difficulty.

After which there’s the body price, which does wish to dip on a reasonably common foundation when utilizing efficiency mode. The dips aren’t distracting sufficient to the purpose the place we would suggest the graphics choice — which caps at 30 frames-per-second in change for barely higher visible high quality — but it surely’s an actual disgrace that such an in any other case refined motion recreation cannot preserve a clean 60fps. It is also price noting that, at the least at launch, there isn’t any choice to disable the title’s heavy-handed movement blur impact — though we daresay you get used to it.

In fact, this would not be a Ultimate Fantasy evaluate with out mentioning the music. Merely put, the rating is excellent; an absolute odyssey of orchestral magic that enriches each cutscene, each location, each battle. In a phrase, immense.