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Controlling the party in Final Fantasy 16 Party explained

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Does FFXVI let you pick party members, and how do you control your party?

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The new Final Fantasy 16 party system is a lot different from previous games, with FFXVI providing much less control over the party as a whole in exchange for far greater control over the central character Clive. But can you still choose party members, and can you control them and give them orders? We'll cover the basics here and what you need to know about the new party mechanics in FFXVI.

Can you choose party members in Final Fantasy 16?

Clive looks to the horizon in Final Fantasy 16

(Image credit: Square Enix)

No, there is no way to choose what characters are members of your party in FFXVI. In fact, party members are chosen entirely by the events of the story, and what characters would naturally be around, present and willing to help at that time.

This means that you get no power over who is in your team and party, though certain characters are around for most of the time, while others will be present only for a specific mission or two. There'll even be missions where you have no party members, and Clive is fighting on his own - if you need some help with that, our Final Fantasy 16 tips will help you make it through.

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Controlling party members

Jill and Clive battle a bighorn in Final Fantasy 16

(Image credit: Square Enix)

There is only one party member you can control in Final Fantasy 16 - the dog Torgal. In combat you can switch from the consumable menu to the Torgal menu by pressing left on the D-Pad, at which point you have three options:

  • Up on D-Pad: Sic (Torgal performs a standard attack on the target)
  • Right on D-Pad: Cure (Torgal casts a large radius spell that gives Clive health regeneration)
  • Down on D-Pad: Ravage (Torgal performs an attack that knocks the target into the air)

Torgal will perform all these moves anyway, but as and when he chooses. Alternatively, you can equip the Ring of Timely Assistance, which effectively makes Torgal's AI much more intelligent and causes him to automatically cooperate and cure Clive as needed - very useful when it comes to healing in Final Fantasy 16. 

All other party members are out of your control, and will simply do their own thing in combat. However, they can't die or even be downed, so you really don't need to worry about them - they're only beneficial as allies.

You also can't improve their stats or change their gear in any way, again with the exception of Torgal, who automatically levels up at certain key points in the story, indicated by his "pedigree" rating in the menu.

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Joel Franey
Joel Franey
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.