Sony held a state-of-play presentation for Final Fantasy 16 today, and the game’s producer, Naoki Yoshida, gave us more details on what to expect in the next installment in the long-running series.
Among the most important new innovations for Final Fantasy 16 is the ability to open your card at any time. Now you don’t have to wonder where you are in relation to the game world, you can use the map to instantly determine your location.
The bright spot of this presentation was the ridiculously cool Icon vs Icon battles that you’ll be taking part in. While you won’t replace traditional bosses, at certain points in the story you’ll encounter characters like Bahamut or Ifrit and fight them with a summon of their own. The gameplay will even change genres depending on who you’re fighting, mixing things up from regular combat.
Another big detail revealed is that your canine companion, Torgal, acts like a traditional party member and will take orders from you during battles. Oddly enough, your human party members will be fully automated, but dogs are better than humans anyway.
Square Enix is considering Final Fantasy 16 the first “true action RPG in the series”, which could be a big game changer for players familiar with the turn-based entries. Luckily, there will be some new elements that will both enable easy mode and improve accessibility. It’s nice that those who aren’t interested in banging their head against a wall for hours have a chance to experience this game’s narrative.
Last, J pop star Kenshi Yonezu provides the theme song for Final Fantasy 16. While not a household name in the West, fans will likely know him from his work chainsaw man. This should ensure that the theme is at least ridiculously catchy.
Final Fantasy 16 is scheduled for release on June 22, 2023 for PS5. A PC port will come at some point in the future.
Featured image via Square Enix.
