Each major numbered Final Fantasy game tells a new story in a new universe, giving each next entry a powerful mystery. That feeling is especially strong with Final Fantasy XVI, which has been teased with stunning, eye-popping trailers Since 2020.
The PS5 exclusive lands June 22, and developer Square Enix just raised the curtain at a preview event in New York City with a playable demo of the game earlier this month. She plays Producer Naoki Yoshida (AKA Yoshi-P), the charismatic character credited with reviving the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Final Fantasy XIV. He and his team gave us a primer on the story and the world before letting us experience the game for the first time.
The world in a state of war
This RPG takes place in Valisthea, a world divided into six nations that depend on giant magic crystals – a recurring item in Final Fantasy – for energy. As the game unfolds, this energy is severely depleted and conflict is brewing between the nations of Valisthea.
It’s more of a Cold War due to the existence of the Dominators – humans with the ability to summon huge magical beings known as ICONS. Like a dragon in Games of ThronesEikons are basically weapons of mass destruction in this world. Except all countries have them and they act as a deterrent to open war.
You play as Clive Rosfield, whose younger brother Joshua controls the powerful summoning of the Phoenix. After the tragedy strikes, Clive bonds with another fiery Eikon, Ifrit, and goes on a quest for revenge. This causes the Equinoxes to battle each other for the first time, throwing off the delicate political balance in Valisthea and creating a lot of collateral damage.
The Phoenix Eikon is central to the game’s epic story.
Square Enix
Clive’s journey will take him through the seven countries of Valisthea – which are divided into divided open areas rather than one large open world – with a changing cast of AI-controlled allies as backup (there wasn’t much exploring in the preview section though). You’ll also be able to dive into the history of Valisthea as much as you want, Settlement Director Michael Christopher Koji-Fox told CNET.
“We have a character who gathers knowledge; he’ll tell you what’s happening in the game — characters, places, history, things like that,” said Koji Fox, whose past projects include Final Fantasy IX and XIV. “It doesn’t affect the story, it doesn’t affect the gameplay, but for those players who want to dig deeper and find out what happened 200 years ago, why these countries hate each other, you can go and do it.”
domination over the dominant
The playable section of the demo saw Clive and his ally Cidolfus Telamon (Cid for this game, a recurring name in the series) making their way to the Dark Tower in search of Benedikta Harman, a spy for a rival nation. Cid is dominant over lightning summoning Ramuh, while Benedikta is associated with the terrifying wind elemental Garuda.
Cid has beautifully styled hair and his voice likely sounds familiar – he’s voiced Ralph Inesonwho appeared in Game of Thrones, Chernobyl And willow It infuses his personality with awesome charisma. The fiery Benedikta is easily the most striking character design in the preview, and you know she’s bad because she dropped the f-bomb.
Benedicta is a fierce rival of Clive.
Square Enix
These hegemons humanize political conflict, and their different statuses within their kingdoms indicate different cultures and attitudes across this world. This section takes place a few hours into the game, though there is a tutorial where you play a young, fresh-faced Clive to learn the basics of combat.
Dirty Tower wasn’t just a visual of the first PS5 Final Fantasy, which will let you choose between performance and fidelity modes In the final game. However, this site offered plenty of opportunities to explore the game’s real-time combat system where goons jumped around at every turn. unlike Final Fantasy VII RemakeYou don’t control your entire party directly – only Clive and loyal canine companion Torgal (whom you can pet).
Adapt your fights
The basic combat fits neatly into the RPG mold, with Clive being able to use a combination of melee attacks, magic, dodge and blocking. Final Fantasy XVI’s battles move at a much faster pace than those of the older games, and combat director Ryota Suzuki drew on his experience to develop the lightning-fast action game. devil may cry 5 to develop this series.
“The most important thing about Final Fantasy XVI was to create a system that could be accessed by many different types of playstyles; more technical, elegant and for players who aren’t too caught up in the action,” said Suzuki via a translator. “So we didn’t want it to be overwhelming.”
Torgal is an exceptionally good dog and useful in fighting.
Square Enix
In addition to having access to Final Fantasy XVI, there are “Timely” accessories, which you can equip to simplify certain aspects of combat. This can let you pull off Clive’s most impressive combos by tapping the same button (rather than learning specific inputs), letting you easily dodge and making doggo pal Torgal a battle automatically.
You can customize this item based on the items you equip, giving you a chance to play around with different parts of the combat system at your own pace. Attacking had the most noticeable effect, since the unequip reduced Clive’s attacks from visually stunning Devil May Cry-style aerial ballets to basic pushes and slashes – you’ll have to learn a range of combos to naturally achieve his more elegant moves.
Elemental icons
Your magical combat abilities are determined by the Eikon you equip, Phoenix fire, Titan land and Garuda winds were available in the demo, but Clive seems to be absorbing or copying these from other Dominators while facing them (likely Garuda powers) locked early in the version Experimental). Earning experience allows you to unlock or improve Clive’s item skills.
You can direct Eikons to use elemental attacks in battle.
Square Enix
You can also switch between Eikons in battle, essentially allowing Clive to change character classes on the fly. It’s an evolution of the beloved action system in which it first appeared 1992 Final Fantasy Vwhere you assign roles to characters and they learn those job-specific abilities by leveling up.
“I’ve been hoping to take that job system and somehow replace the jobs with Eikons, and recreate that system into a full ergonomics,” game director Hiroshi Takai, who worked on the fifth entry in the series, said through a translator.
“Making it something very customizable and unique to each player… The Clive they have in the end and the board they use in that final battle varies from person to person.”
Garuda is pretty cool looking throughout the intense boss fight.
Square Enix
Flipping through these elemental powers became increasingly natural as the demo progressed, with a combination of those and a satisfying dodge system making the boss fight against Benedikta and Eikon a joy to play. The seamless transition between gameplay and cutscenes infuses the experience with classic Final Fantasy melodrama without dragging away control for too long.
Battle of the Titans
The final part of the demo took place a few hours after the game, with Ifrit facing off against Benedikta’s Garuda in an epic. Godzilla vs. KongConfrontational style. It’s the kind of sequence that would have been a spectacle in the old Final Fantasy games, but XVI makes it completely playable and a lot of fun.
This battle felt very different from normal combat, conveying an incredible sense of primal power as the Icon lay waste to a secluded part of Valisthia. Ifrit uses a combination of powerful fighting moves and fiery blasts against Garuda’s quick strikes and wind-based attacks. The projectiles also neutralize each other, which is a particularly nice touch.
Ikons are a force of nature, and their clashes cause great chaos.
Square Enix
The developers note that the gameplay of these Eikon clashes will vary, hinting that you’ll have to fight each one differently depending on your item prowess, unique traits, and Clive’s relationship with the character you’re controlling.
Even with the shift towards action-oriented battles, Final Fantasy XVI feels like an emotional roller coaster in the series’ grand tradition. Speaking through a translator, producer Naoki Yoshida wants players to feel excited and hopeful by the time they finish the game.
“When those end credits roll and players experience the whole story, I want them to feel like they can move into tomorrow, no matter what happened today,” he said.
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق