The real meat is in the rest of the month, however. Star Wars Outlaws, which has undergone numerous revamps and improvements since launch, will be added to the service for Ultimate and PC subscribers on January 13th. If you need to catch up on Resident Evil before Requiem’s launch next month, then why not play Resident Evil Village? It’s coming to the Ultimate, Premium and PC tiers on January 20th.

Premium subscribers are also eating very well this month with Lost in Random: The Eternal Die, Rematch, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition arriving on January 7th. Final Fantasy – yes, the first one – makes its debut on January 8th for all three tiers, followed by My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery on January 15th.

If you’re itching for a new Metroidvania, MIO: Memories in Orbit from the creator of Shady Part of Me will arrive on January 20th for Ultimate and PC subscribers.

Of course, to ring in the new, Microsoft is also doing away with the old. Starting January 15th, the following titles will exit Game Pass:

• Flintlock The Siege of Dawn (Cloud, Handheld, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
• Neon White (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC)
• Road 96 (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC)
• The Ascent (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC)
• The Grinch Christmas Adventures (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC)

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.

Yoshida touched on the upcoming Mistwalker-developed and Square Enix-published RPG Fantasian Neo Dimension, on which he is serving as a producer, citing it as an example of Square Enix’s strategy to release future titles on Xbox simultaneously.

“Of course, we want you to play it a lot on other platforms as well,” Yoshida said (translation via VGC). “This time, we will also release the Xbox Series X/S version at the same time.

“In the future, Square Enix titles will be released simultaneously on each platform more and more, but since this is close to the first release, we would like Xbox users to play it as well.”

Leaks have repeatedly insisted that an Xbox Series X/S version of Final Fantasy 16 is in development, while the action game’s own developers have also said multiple times that they intend to bring the game to Microsoft’s consoles. Whether we can also expect the same for Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Fantasian Neo Dimension is due out on December 5 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Final Fantasy, for instance, is a franchise that we see none of in the platformer. Though there were some Final Fantasy 7 easter eggs to be found in 2020’s Astro’s Playroom, where Astro Bot is concerned, there is no Final Fantasy representation whatsoever. When asked about the same while speaking with Game File, the platformer’s director and Team Asobi’s studio head Nicolas Doucet was unwilling to give a concrete response, but suggested that Square Enix was unwilling to allow Final Fantasy cameos in Astro Bot.

“It’s difficult to comment on that,” Doucet said when asked about the lack of Final Fantasy in PlayStation. “We really respect the choice of each publisher.”

Final Fantasy has, of course, been strongly associated with PlayStation over the course of the latter brand’s entire history, so it’s not surprising that the franchise’s absence in Astro Bot – especially with the game brimming with appearances from so many other franchises – has been disappointing for a number of fans.

Astro Bot will be adding more VIP bots soon though, even if they’re not from Final Fantasy, with free DLC set to launch this fall.

Astro Bot is available on PS5. Read our review of the game through here.

While producer Naoki Yoshida and Square Enix are looking into “options” for new content, the latter is already looking to the future. It released a questionnaire for Final Fantasy 16 players in Japan, asking for their feedback (with a Square Enix ID required to participate) by August 6th. It will be given to the developer for consideration in future development.

Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean a new mainline title is in the works. Square Enix could simply be gauging the response to Final Fantasy 16 before deciding on its next project. In what form that manifests remains to be seen.

Fans have plenty to look forward to shortly, with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth releasing in early 2024 for PS5. Remakes of Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 10 are also rumored to be in development, along with a remaster for Final Fantasy Tactics.

In an annoucement for an upcoming live performance of Final Fantasy 16’s music at the Takarazuka Revue, Square Enix revealed that the Final Fantasy franchise has now collectivel sold over 180 million units worldwide since its debut in 1987 (via @Genki_JPN on Twitter). That number accounts for all mainline games and spinoffs across all platforms.

The most recent instalment in the beloved franchise was, of course, Final Fantasy 16, which launched last month to widespread acclaim, and commercial success to match, with over 3 million copies sold in less than a week. You can read our review of the game through here.

The next game mainline game in the series if Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second instalment in the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, which is due out sometime in early 2024. Meanwhile, leaks have claimed that Square Enix is also working on ground-up remakes of Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 10.

The Final Fantasy series has sold over 180 million units worldwide!https://t.co/Io40GapVYp pic.twitter.com/pL9oTb8l8v

— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) July 10, 2023

As for Dragon Quest, it’s crossed 85 million in global shipments and digital sales since the first title launched on the NES in 1986. Meanwhile, Kingdom Hearts has shipped over 36 million units worldwide since the first game released in 2002 for PlayStation 2.

The future looks bright for all three franchises, with Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion all coming within the next 12 to 14 months. Kingdom Hearts 4 is also in development, though no release window has been announced. The next mainline entry in the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate, is also in development, but there’s also Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest Treasures (which launches in December for Nintendo Switch).

Naoki Yoshida, director and producer of Final Fantasy 14 and producer of the upcoming Final Fantasy 16, recently said the same in an interview with Inverse. According to Yoshida, Final Fantasy as a series is unable to keep up with the wide range of demands and requests from its fans- and he feels the best way to go about attempting to do that is to have many different types of Final Fantasy titles trying many different things.

“In terms of whether Final Fantasy is successfully adapting to industry trends, I believe the series is currently struggling,” Yoshida said. “We’re now at a point where we receive a wide variety of requests regarding the direction of our game design. To be honest, it’d be impossible to satisfy all those requests with a single title. My current impression is that all we can really do is create multiple games, and continue creating the best that we can at any given time.”

Of course, there are a number of major Final Fantasy games coming in the near future, and they all seem to be going for very different (but very interesting) things. This Winter, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion launches for PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC, while Final Fantasy 16 arrives in Summer 2023 for PS5. Winter 2023, meanwhile, will bring Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth to the PS5 as well.

Whether or not any (or all) of these games will be able to live up to expectations remains to be seen, but there’s plenty of optimism surrounding them nonetheless, and what we’ve seen of the titles so far – Yoshida and co’s Final Fantasy 16 in particular – has looked promising.

ZUBAT (POKEMON)

If you’ve spent even a couple of minutes in a cave in a Pokemon game – especially one of the earlier ones – you’ve cursed out at the sight of a Zubat. These pesky Pokemon appear with far too much regularity, forcing players to exit out of battles what feels like one every few seconds. If you don’t have some Repels handy, you’re in for a true test of patience.

Final Fantasy 4, Final Fantasy 5 and Final Fantasy 6 will arrive later this year for both platforms. Though previous ports have been rather hit or miss, the Pixel Remaster titles feature fully remastered sprites by veteran artist Kazuko Shibuya. The soundtrack has also been rearranged by Nobuo Uematsu, the original composer for the titles.

In terms of gameplay features, a modernized UI and auto-battle options have been added to get through some of the more tedious fights. There’s also an illustration gallery, music player and Bestiary. With previous versions of the ports being pulled from Steam, these are now the only ways to experience the classic RPGs on PC. Stay tuned for more details on the other titles in the meantime.