FINAL FANTASY XVI

Thirty-five years ago, Square was on the brink of collapse, having released some poorly received games for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System.

- Jose Alvarez

DEVELOPER Square Enix Creative Business Unit III

PUBLISHER Square Enix

PLATFORM PlayStation 5

Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi sought to create a role-playing game (RPG) inspired by the release of Dragon Quest (1986). Little did Sakaguchi realize at the time that this game, Final Fantasy, would become one of the most well-known and best-selling franchises in video game history. The initial development team only had five members (10 after Sakaguchi asked for more help on the project), and it became a runaway hit in Japan. 35 years later, Final Fantasy continues to sell like hotcakes. But what about the latest numbered entry in the series, Final Fantasy XVI? Would it reach the lofty standards set by previous games in the series?

Twenty years after Sakaguchi's departure from Square Enix, Final Fantasy XVI seeks to continue Sakaguchi's vision of what an RPG should be. The action-based combat returns from XV and other series staples, such as Chocobos and summons (now called Eikons). XVI takes place on Valisthea, which is divided into six nations, each holding Crystals and Dominants, alongside humans who serve as hosts for each nation's Eikon. The protagonist, Clive Rosfield, while the firstborn son of the Kingdom of Rosaria's ruling family, acts as a guardian to his younger brother Joshua, who is the Dominant of Phoenix and thus heir to the throne. They seek to combat the Blight, a magical power that slowly but eventually consumes all that come into contact with it.