Final Fantasy 16 has debuted what I can only assume is it's 113th trailer, and somehow it's as stunning as ever, with 25 minutes of brand new and stunning 4K gameplay footage recorded on PS5.
I'll be forthright with y'all. The new Final Fantasy 16 gameplay trailer, which PlayStation was kind enough to dedicate an entire State of Play to, revealed very little actual new information about the upcoming sequel. That's apparently because, after an onslaught of trailers, previews (here's ours), and the like, we've seen all that Square Enix wants us to know about Final Fantasy 16 ahead of its June 22 launch. Yet somehow this does not mean the new trailer isn't worth watching; in fact, I'd say it's the only Final Fantasy 16 video you need to watch if you haven't seen any others or just want a good overview of the game pre-launch.
One of the first things that struck me while watching the new footage is just how darn pretty Final Fantasy 16 when it's basking in natural daylight. So much of the footage shown so far has been dimmed by nighttime environments and poorly lit interiors, so it's lovely to see what the world looks like when the sun is shining. I also like that there's a wider variety of environmental designs compared to, say, Final Fantasy 15. Some Final Fantasy 16 scenes look similar to its direct predecessor, while others remind me of Final Fantasy 10, and others, something completely new.
There's also a ton of combat shown in the gameplay footage, with large swarms of smaller enemies and larger, more involved boss fight type battles. It's here that we see the clearest Final Fantasy 14 inspirations so far, with prominent AoE markers and arena style fighting.
Toward the end of the trailer, we get to see what Square Enix calls "the shining point of Final Fantasy 16": the epic Eikon vs Eikon battles. These Kaiju-style duels allow the player to take control of their own primal beast and duke it out with other Eikons in explosive, real-time battles.
In the trailer, we see the player character control Ifrit and fight against Garuda, a massive bird-like enemy, as well as the "God of Eidolons," Bahamut, and other giant monsters. These dynamic and "entirely seamless" battles will slip into entirely different genres at times, from a "3D side-scrolling shooter to a heavyweight wrestling match with devastating attacks that encompass the entire battlefield."
Some other more subtle, but still valuable aspects of the game were also shown off, like the Hideaway hub, where you can learn the background information of all sorts of key players, and the Hunt Board, where you can find information on Elite Marks, tough monsters you can kill in exchange for valuable rewards - yet another Final Fantasy 14-inspired carryover.
All in all, Final Fantasy 16 looks great, but I really don't feel like I need to see anymore before launch, or else risk not knowing if I've already beat the darn thing every time I come back to play.
In case you missed it, Final Fantasy 16 has gone gold, which means it's right on track to release on time this June.
