‘Final Fantasy XVI’ Goes Gold, Uses the Full Power of the PS5
Prepare to feel the full power of the PS5 with Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XVI is the next title in the long-running Final Fantasy series. Clive Rosfield will be the protagonist this time around, who is on a quest for revenge after an attack on their kingdom that cost him everything he held dear. The game is set to be more action-packed and gritty than any Final Fantasy game before now. The gameplay for the game has been reported to have more in common with God of War than the old turned-based days of the JRPG’s past. Square Enix is swinging for the fences on this one and it looks like they are going all out.
via Sony
Golden Time and PAX East Trailer
Gamers have been getting the most news about the game at once the past week with one of the biggest pieces being that the title has officially gone gold.
Final Fantasy XVI has gone gold.
From the entire team, including Torgal, we hope you’re looking forward to #FF16‘s launch on June 22nd 🐺 pic.twitter.com/Vrtd3cMNW5
— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) March 31, 2023
This is fantastic news and was pretty much assured by producer Naoki Yoshida that nothing would delay it. In case you missed it, there was also a fantastic trailer shown off during PAX East that showed off much more of the game’s world than ever before.
The trailer was a welcomed sight with everything shown before this point has been either very little light, dark colors, or just plain on fire. The team was very adamant that the game would be the grittiest Final Fantasy yet and I was worried that meant the charm of Final Fantasy would be missing. The trailer shows off the more fantastical elements missing from the past trailers like Chocobo riding through vast areas, shops in villages, and lush colorful land. The trailer actually made me the most interested in the game since it was first announced.
Full power!
The other thing I found incredibly interesting was the developers let everyone know just how much they have utilized the PS5’s features. The game’s main director, Hiroshi Takai, sat down with Sony for a new PlayStation Blog about their team’s work on the game. Takai talked about what he found impressive about the PS5 compared to past consoles:
“The two main things that struck me were the size of the memory and the speed of the SSD…it comes with enough memory installed to take full advantage of the hardware. As for the SSD, as we were building the game, I was simply blown away by how fast it was.” “Naturally, we wanted the graphics to be the best that they could be, so we put a lot of focus on the fine details of the character and environmental models, as well as the quality of the lighting and the shadows, to really make them shine. It’s really resource-intensive just to render these models on screen, and the lighting and shadow effects are then layered on top of that. We’re only able to do this thanks to the size of the PS5’s memory…..the way that the game seamlessly flows between resource-intensive gameplay to equally intensive cutscenes and back again wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the speed of the SSD.”
via Sony
The thing I found the most interesting was the use of the Haptic Feedback controller feature in the game. The Haptic Feedback feature is an option where the controller vibrates or makes the triggers act differently in a way based on gameplay. Instead of a simple vibration from getting hit, it is more of a subtle rumble to simulate the feeling of, for example, driving in mud. I feel like it has gotten some use before in games, but nothing on the level Takai ambitiously explains.
“There are certain sections where the player will have to open heavy doors or lift up portcullises, and we use the adaptive triggers there to put across that feeling of effort and resistance. They’re also used when riding chocobos. The haptic feedback can produce extremely subtle vibrations, which we use to create a heightened feeling of presence in cutscenes. We converted the sound effects used in each scene into haptic data, which let us portray details that we’ve never been able to before, like the movements of the air……We fine-tuned the gameplay so that when you take the DualSense controller in your hand, your every input produces a reaction that you can really feel.”
via Sony
Takai ended the talk of the game being that even though the story will be darker than anything they have done before, it still comes from a place of hope.
“…While it might go to some pretty dark places, it’s a world where that darkness only exists because light exists too, and our heroes go through the trials that they do precisely because they have hope that things can get better. A world where every man, woman, and child has their own sense of what a “just” world should look like.”
Everything Square Enix has shown recently has me more on board for the game than before. I was worried about the idea of “gritty Final Fantasy” and hearing Takai mention the themes of the game made me more hopeful it won’t be a bummer of a story. The turn into a full-action RPG though is the only thing I hesitate on. As much as I liked the Final Fantasy VII Remake, the combat style was not exactly what I would call amazing. I will wait for the reviews on this one personally before jumping in, but it is nice to be just a little more excited at the idea than before.
Final Fantasy XVI is set to release on PS5 on June 22nd
“Kweh” – Chocobo
