Final Fantasy 16 Xbox Series X Review – Eikonic

It’s no secret that Final Fantasy XVI had a challenging start. Despite being the next mainline entry in one of gaming’s most storied genres, its sharp pivot to the character action genre dampened its impact with some of the franchise’s biggest fans, and its exclusivity to PS5 limited the potential reach to new ones. With that said, when you strip out the real-world context, the game itself showed a clear vision and strong focus from the developer, as the game embraced its real-time combat.

It proved to have a deep, rich setting powered by cinematic visuals and standout performances across the main cast, complemented by a masterful character action gameplay system that encourages experimentation, rewards precision, and provides spectacular feedback. Now, two years on from launch, Final Fantasy XVI finally makes the transition to Xbox after a shadow drop at the Xbox Games Showcase, and while the game itself is largely unchanged in its transition, coming to a new platform just means that more people can now play a genre-defining character action game.

"Two years on from launch, Final Fantasy XVI finally makes the transition to Xbox after a shadow drop at the Xbox Games Showcase."

In keeping with the genre’s tradition, Final Fantasy XVI’s main campaign is a grand fantasy epic with many thematic parallels to real-world issues. Here, in the kingdom of Valisthea, magic is supplied by towering mothercrystals and harnessed by so-called Bearers, who have largely been enslaved across the kingdom to use their magic for political purposes.

As the mothercrystals’ power dwindles, causing Blight to grow across Valisthea, a kingdom-wide battle for power, magic, and freedom ensues. Valisthea and its regions, shine thanks to its different leaders, and conflicts. Rulers make brash and questionable decisions rooted in their own flaws, and you are exposed to countless of this world’s most powerful people and get to experience why they make their decisions and how they reckon with them as they watch the consequences unfold.

Complicating the setting further is the existence of Eikons, massive magical beings that harness standard elemental powers, including Eikons of Fire, Wind, Lightning, and so on. These Eikons live inside of individual people, known as Dominants, who can summon these Eikons and harness their power for their own sake.

Many political or royal leaders in this world are Dominants, and the game begins on the night of the death of the Phoenix, the Eikon of Fire whose dominant, Joshua Rosfield, is the son of royalty in the country of Rosaria and the brother of the playable character, Clive Rosfield, as played by Ben Starr. Clive, who is originally only a Bearer, is enslaved after this incident until finding freedom 13 years later, where he discovers another Eikon of Fire and his ability to harness the power of multiple Eikons.

"Rarely does Final Fantasy XVI feel like it’s dragging out its runtime."

Thematically, the game covers issues like systemic oppression, racism, and power imbalances, and while it isn’t always the most subversive or tactful on the more difficult topics, the sheer ambition of its scale and the consistency in its performances make it one of the most impressive video game settings in recent memory. It constantly hits you with gut punches of revelations or major new events, and it somehow makes everything feel approachable and understandable.

Rarely does Final Fantasy XVI feel like it’s dragging out its runtime, because even when you are on smaller, lower-stakes main missions, you’re finding new opportunities to meet interesting characters, like Cid or Jill, or explore beautiful and often-decrepit landscapes. And when things do start to ramp up, the game finds ways to consistently raise the stakes visually, which culminates in an incredibly memorable third act that contains some of the most stunning gaming moments in recent memory.  

Even if a bit long-winded, the setting is well-paced and well-told, and it gives you ample resources to understand the lore and plot in this world. Its main innovation is Active Time Lore, which allows you to pause the game at almost any point in the world or in cutscenes to learn about the main characters or settings in the scene.

Additionally, when you go back to the Hideaway that acts as your home base, you can see fully-detailed descriptions of past events before and during the game to either fill in your understanding of the lore or get back up to speed if you missed something. It’s a small but revelatory addition that games have already started to mirror in the years since and still should serve as the model for how games can recount their lore. If you do want more than the main campaign, too, you can also explore around Valisthea and take on side quests or bounties in ways similar to other games, though with less freedom than in, say, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. While these give you a chance to continue exploring or battling, these often come across as relatively run-of-the-mill, with content that usually doesn’t amount to more than fetch quests or bounties that feel like they were relegated away from the main campaign.

"The most effective part of Final Fantasy XVI’s battle system is how it rewards you for finding new ways to string together attacks or other moves to ensure there’s never a dull moment."

Where Final Fantasy XVI foundationally differs from its counterparts is in its combat, basically its impressive real-time character action system. As Clive, you have traditional sword attacks and ranged magic attacks, but your ability to harness multiple Eikons allows you to equip special abilities from up to three Eikons at a time, giving you an arsenal of powerful attacks that can focus on one enemy or take down groups of them at a time.

The most effective part of Final Fantasy XVI’s battle system is how it rewards you for finding new ways to string together attacks or other moves to ensure there’s never a dull moment. More so than many other games with class- or job-based gameplay systems, I found myself looking actively for ways to make my Eikon abilities better interact with each other, finding the most optimal combinations of abilities to make sure I’m maximizing damage and not having to wait for too many abilities to cool down at once. You can also power up your standard attacks, dodge, or use one of a handful of movement abilities that allow you to keep moving and acting even while your attacks are cooling down or you’re waiting for the best moment to strike.

Empowering this is the stagger mechanic, which XVI brings over from past games in the genre. Staggered enemies are susceptible to all-out attacks from you and your allies, and a multiplier builds to increase the damage of any attacks on enemies until they get back up. Getting enemies into this state is inevitable and vital, so it naturally encourages you to master your arsenal and know the correct sequencing of attacks to maximize damage. Over the course of 40 hours, not only does it never get old to learn new attacks and figure out your favorites, but it becomes an almost musical experience when you execute everything perfectly.

While Final Fantasy XVI’s combat may lack the depth seen in some other games, it makes up for it with stunning visuals and satisfying feedback that set it apart from similar titles. Every attack, from the swing of a sword to the most powerful Eikon attack, feels incredibly satisfying to hit, with beautiful visual flair and surprisingly effective controller feedback.

When you reach the latter half of the game and the stakes truly ramp up, the visuals only further amplify how fun and effective the combat feels, especially as you reach some of the major boss battles that are the stars of the show. Without spoiling anything, boss battles are often brilliant and epic at massive physical scale, and the game does a phenomenal job at keeping you aware of what’s going on and engaged in the conflict. It doesn’t step in for scripted moments too frequently, and even when it does, I can usually forgive the QTEs for how slick and stylish they look.

"The best part about Final Fantasy XVI being on Xbox is that more people can now play a genre-defining character action game."

The only real drawback of the transition to a character action system is that combat can sometimes be too easy on standard difficulty. Once you get the hang of it, it’s not overly difficult to perform precision dodges, which negate all damage, and there are a few moments where the game takes over to emphasize the spectacle. Additionally, the fact that your potions and consumables fully replenish at each respawn means that death often feels like a reward, and it meant that I rarely had to fight a boss more than twice. Of course, higher difficulties and New Game + are available for those who want it, though, and they offer new reasons to come back and play through the game again.               

The best part about Final Fantasy XVI being on Xbox is that more people can now play a genre-defining character action game. While it differs from its counterparts in its gameplay, it brings a masterful character action system to the table that creates remarkably enjoyable and satisfying gameplay that encourages you to keep trying new things and ensure there’s never a dull moment.

Its setting, too, is an ambitious, thoughtful tale about human rights and systemic societal issues that gives players a huge slate of dark fantasy lore and world-building and sprinkles in some of the genre’s idiosyncrasies on top. It’s all pulled together by an incredible visual spectacle that constantly engages you and continues to one-up itself at every turn and amplifies every moment. Whether you’re a fan of the genre or of action games in general, Final Fantasy XVI embodies the best of its influences and remains a strong recommendation as one of the best action games of the generation.

This game was reviewed on Xbox Series X.