Final Fantasy XVI

[desertlizard]

Well why did you drop FFX? Did you not like the characters? The pacing of the story? The setting or aesthetics? Gameplay? There is probably a game out there that address what you found lacking.

oh dont get me wrong i love ff games its just that i dropped cuz you know, life got interesting at that time (early 20's) and i just couldnt keep up playing ANY kind of videogames, at that phase of my life i guess... you know what i mean, if your old enough, i just got back in business (playing videogames) about 5 0r 6 years ago, and well it 'd be a good time to replay it.

[Graeham]

I'm hoping it won't be too long until we learn more about the game itself.

[Xilurm]

The website is up.

I love the world building this game has in the website. And the character art. I'm so glad Nomura isn't the main artist for this game. I love KH but I feel the guy is involved in everything these days.

https://eu.finalfantasyxvi.com/

[RobertoCarlos]

Looks like lord of the rings gondor

[dope_danny]

I like what i'm seeing so far but "Blight" makes me wonder if theres some 15 connection. I hope there isn't but you never know with final fantasy nowdays, it hasn't been truly self contained games since X like twenty years ago.

[Segus1992]

I like what i'm seeing so far but "Blight" makes me wonder if theres some 15 connection. I hope there isn't but you never know with final fantasy nowdays, it hasn't been truly self contained games since X like twenty years ago.

Don't do this to me, man.

[Video Games]

Don't do this to me, man.

x3

[thilicen]

It would break my heart if they moved even further away from the traditional cast and party dynamic with this one compared to earlier versions. Especially with FF7 remake re-igniting so much of the magic that was Final Fantasy back in the days, and they did so with half the team missing. FF15 took so much of that dynamic away with their dramatically reduced group size, no females, etc. And this one as far as I can see so far is running the risk of not having a party setup at all. That would really suck.

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x3

Wow. That actually hurts.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Setting

• The name of the setting is Valisthea

• Civilization is centered around the Mothercrystals, which gives off aether people can use to cast magic.

• It seems like you cannot renounce or pass on your Dominant powers. If you're lucky/unlucky enough to get them you're a Dominant forever and that's that.

Nations and their Dominants

• The Grand Duchy of Rosaria Dominant is annointed as Archduke. Their Dominant is the Phoenix.

• The Sanbreque Dominant is a war hero and champion. Their crest depicts a woman and two dragons. So I'm guessing their dominant is either Shiva or Bahamut, or maybe some FFXIV E8 Savage shenanigans where it is a fusion of botha young woman and a dragon (or two dragons?).

• The Waloed Dominant is the King. Their sigil is a horse, so their dominant is probably Odin.

• Dhalmekian Dominant has a seat at the Parliament. Their Dominant is Titan

• The Iron Kingdoms kills Dominants (perhaps they are the guys Clive was with at the beginning? Perhaps they tried killing Joshua?)

• The Crystalline Dominion has no Dominant.

Characters

• MC is Clive Rosfield

• Eldest son of the Archduke of Rosaria

• Was expected to inherit the Phoenix dominant but his younger brother Joshua got it

• Became Joshua's bodyguard at 15, gets "blessed" to wield Fire powers.

• The young grey haired girl (who is speculated to be the Shiva dominant) seen by Joshua in the trailers is Jill Warrick

• She is from "the Fallen Northern territories" and now in the care of Rosaria, so I'm guessing either she's a hostage or the Archduke was good friends with her parents and is taking care of her

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My questions are:

• If the Iron Kingdoms are trying to kill Dominants, then what exactly is their foreign policy? At first I thought "oh, they must be the people who tried to kill Joshua, and the people Clive was with trying to kill Shiva", but then I realized that would make no sense because then they'd unite every faction in the setting against them and would be promptly crushed. So maybe they only go after Dominants if they think they can get away with it? Or are they chill and not war like, only killing Dominants that stray into their territory?

• Now that I think about it, the Iron Kingdoms killing Dominants implies that there are more than just four Dominants in the world at any given time, or - again - the Kingdoms would have to be fighting everyone in order to kill Dominants. So there could be many more Dominants in the world that aren't affiliated with any nation. Why? Why try to hide yourself? Why not go join up with Rosaria/Sanbreque/Waeold/Dhalmekia and become a champion of that nation, being lavished with wealth and power and security? Or if you came from a small village, why not try to use your powers to make your village greater? Hopefully we hear more about these lesser or rogue Dominants.

• The Crystalline Dominion appears to be a neutral zone/buffer zone set up between countries, sorta like Crossbell from the Trails games. So I guess it would be illegal for the Crystalline Dominion to have a Dominant, lest the surrounding nations think that the Dominion is trying to assert itself. (Yup, sounds ripe for a video game plot about a Dominant waltzing in, overthrowing the occupiers, and trying to aid an independence movement)

• Interesting how each mothercrystal is called "Drake's". So we have to crystals named "Drake's Breath", one named Drake's Fang, Drake's Tail, Drake's Spine, and Drake's Head. Lemme guess; the mothercrystals are the body parts of a dragon god or something? Bahamut?

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https://eu.finalfantasyxvi.com/asset..._art_01_pc.jpg

Looks like the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, or the Kingdom of Waloed to me, going by the color palette and the colors of the flag sigils. I'm leaning towards Sanbreque, because I'd associate that huge tower with a Holy Empire. Seems like we go to Sanbreque after the Rosarian castle is destroyed, since we Phoenix (Joshua?) and Ifrit fighting there in the trailer. @2:26 and @3:07

https://eu.finalfantasyxvi.com/asset...1/world_pc.jpg

I'm guessing that this is the Crystalline Dominion. Or it's Sanbreque, due to the color scheme.

[Xilurm]

World Map

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Then the second time Phoenix and Ifrit were fighting it was at Sanbreque.

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I'm guessing that the trailer footage is from the first few hours of the game, so it seems like Sanbreque is the second zone? I wonder if we go there before or after the timeskip. Perhaps after the initial battle in Rosaria, Joshua and Clive flee to Sanbreque and get pursued by Ifrit. Or they pursue Ifrit to Sanbreque.

[Xilurm]

Then the second time Phoenix and Ifrit were fighting it was at Sanbreque.

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I'm guessing that the trailer footage is from the first few hours of the game, so it seems like Sanbreque is the second zone? I wonder if we go there before or after the timeskip. Perhaps after the initial battle in Rosaria, Joshua and Clive flee to Sanbreque and get pursued by Ifrit. Or they pursue Ifrit to Sanbreque.

Judgind by how Clive looks during his fight against the Dragoon, which I assume the same time as the Pheonix vs Ifrit fight, then that's before the timeskip.

Also the description for Clive on the website says this. I'll put the important part in spoilers because it does seem kinda spoilery tbh.

The firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria. Though all expected him to inherit the Phoenix's flames and awaken as its Dominant, destiny instead chose his younger brother Joshua to bear this burden. In search of a role of his own, Clive dedicated himself to mastering the blade. His practice pays off when, at just fifteen years of age, he wins the ducal tournament and is dubbed the First Shield of Rosaria—tasked to guard the Phoenix and blessed with the ability to wield a part of his fire. Alas, Clive's promising career is to end in tragedy at the hands of a mysterious dark Eikon, Ifrit, setting him on a dangerous road to revenge.

Based on that last sentence I don't think Joshua survives.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Judgind by how Clive looks during his fight against the Dragoon, which I assume the same time as the Pheonix vs Ifrit fight, then that's before the timeskip.

Also the description for Clive on the website says this. I'll put the important part in spoilers because it does seem kinda spoilery tbh.

The firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria. Though all expected him to inherit the Phoenix's flames and awaken as its Dominant, destiny instead chose his younger brother Joshua to bear this burden. In search of a role of his own, Clive dedicated himself to mastering the blade. His practice pays off when, at just fifteen years of age, he wins the ducal tournament and is dubbed the First Shield of Rosaria—tasked to guard the Phoenix and blessed with the ability to wield a part of his fire. Alas, Clive's promising career is to end in tragedy at the hands of a mysterious dark Eikon, Ifrit, setting him on a dangerous road to revenge.

Based on that last sentence I don't think Joshua survives.

We see two different Phoenix vs Ifrit battles in the trailer. The first is at the Rosarian castle, when Ifrit first appears. The second battle takes place at a tower that looks like the location denoted as Sanbreque on the map.

So either Joshua survived his initial encounter with Ifrit, or he died and someone else became the Phoenix dominant and Ifrit is trying to kill them too.

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Also if Joshua legit dies in the first few hours of the game, I doubt they would put such a minor character up on the website alongside Clive and Jill. I don't think they would place so much emphasis on Joshua in the trailer (he gets twice as much screentime as Clive) either. And Phoenix vs Ifrit is on the box art. I don't recall Regis getting this much attention in any pre-release materials for FFXV.

[Rogalicus]

We see two different Phoenix vs Ifrit battles in the trailer. The first is at the Rosarian castle, when Ifrit first appears. The second battle takes place at a tower that looks like the location denoted as Sanbreque on the map.

So either Joshua survived his initial encounter with Ifrit, or he died and someone else became the Phoenix dominant and Ifrit is trying to kill them too.

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Also if Joshua legit dies in the first few hours of the game, I doubt they would put such a minor character up on the website alongside Clive and Jill. I don't think they would place so much emphasis on Joshua in the trailer (he gets twice as much screentime as Clive) either. And Phoenix vs Ifrit is on the box art. I don't recall Regis getting this much attention in any pre-release materials for FFXV.

My guess is that trailer is intentionally misleading us to think that Clive will be on revenge for what happens to Joshua. But there's one line in trailer that doesn't make sense: Clive screaming "Joshua, stop this" when he's surrounded by enemies and transformation after that, when we actually don't see Joshua becoming Phoenix, only being covered in fire. The timing is also off, first we see Phoenix flying, then someone on the ground burning and becoming Ifrit, while invader shouts that it's impossible, which probably means he didn't know Ifrit's identity. We also see Clive using attacks that look like some fire thing and key art has his hands charred. Also the key line of trailer is "The Legacy of the Crystals has shaped our history long enough". This might mean several things, but currently I can guess these variants:
1) Dominant's transformation is not a good thing and Joshua's too inexperienced, so he was Phoenix, but lost control and lost the fight. Clive becomes second Phoenix.
2) Joshua lost control and irreversibly turned into Phoenix, but Ifrit's dominant is Clive himself, who tries to stop him from going loose. The line about killing someone is Clive's determination to stop Joshua.
3) Clive had Phoenix all along, just lying dormant. Joshua is the one with Ifrit. Basically second variant but reversed.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I don't see how Joshua could be Ifrit. We see early on in the trailer Joshua healing Clive's hand, which would be a power associated with Phoenix. Also, Joshua is a boy, whereas the burning man who transform into Ifrit is... well, a man. So unless Joshua suddenly shapeshifted into a grown adult, I don't think he'd fit.

I can buy that Clive could be Ifrit. Notice how Clive and the guard (when they kicked over the body of the dead dragoon) were in the same courtyard that the guard and the burning man were in when the burning man transformed into Ifrit. It seems like Clive entered the courtyard, fought the dragoon boss, the guard arrives, and the either 1. Clive left and the burning man arrived and turned into Ifrit in front of the guard, or 2. Clive turned into the burning man and then turned into Ifrit.

The problem with Clive being Ifrit is that we have this art.




So... what? Clive is on the poster twice? Once in the foreground and again as Ifrit? That doesn't make much sense to me. It could work if you had Joshua and Clive both on the cover at in front of their Eikons, but that's not the case.

But, then again, just look at the cover art. Clive's arm is on fire, similar to Ifrit's skin. So more points towards an Ifrit connection. IDK

[xmirrors]

*snipped depressing image*

Please stop.

It gets worse every day. Just last week I was babysitting my niece and was humming Summer Nights to myself. When she asked about it and I told her it was from Grease, the confused look on her face crushed my soul.

[LemonDemonGirl]

I know this may sound a little bit random, but anyone want to see the Summon Anima from FFX in this game?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I know this may sound a little bit random, but anyone want to see the Summon Anima from FFX in this game?

Would be super gruesome if done in FFXVI's more photo realistic artstyle. Anima's summoning sequence/entrance was also extremely cool.

[Graeham]

It really does remind me of an even more mature Vagrant Story/Final Fantasy XII. Both of which remain my favourite games to this day.

I hope we learn about other characters soon. I'm also hoping we get a vast game world to explore and towns that actually have a lot to do inside them.

[tehealadin]

It really does remind me of an even more mature Vagrant Story/Final Fantasy XII. Both of which remain my favourite games to this day.

I hope we learn about other characters soon. I'm also hoping we get a vast game world to explore and towns that actually have a lot to do inside them.

I need to give Vagrant Story another try. Twice I have tried to play it and just couldn't get into it. I am aware of its reputation, I think maybe when I got it (on release) I was just too young to appreciate it.