Topic: PXB gamers, what do we think about the FF16 demo?

I don’t visit PS or many other sites so I’m kind of in a bubble. I know a lot of us here are multi console gamers. So I’d be interested to know if you have played the FF16 demo on PS5 and your impressions?

I played it through last night in 1 sitting and I don’t know what to think about it. The big positives for me are the characters, story, voice acting and music.

I found myself enjoying the story and its characters, being from the UK I love the voice work that’s presented and the music as always in a FF game is great. The ending of the demo without spoilers left me thinking wtf 😂 I am interested to see where they could take it.

Then there’s the flip side. The gameplay graphics and performance.

I was completely underwhelmed by the graphics, it looks okay but it didn’t blow me away and some scenes are just too busy I could hardly tell what’s going on. The performance was horrible, I played on performance mode and it was rough.

Finally the gameplay… it seems fun enough in combat but outside of that I’m worried. It’s completely on the rails with no exploration and the big battles as the summon things are as dull as dishwater. There’s also performance based rewards after battles, I hate that stuff. I found the camera bad in battles too.

Overall a very mixed bag, I don’t know if I’ll buy it. It’ll be very interesting to see how this reviews.

Perhaps @NEStalgia and the others can share their impressions. I don't have a PS5 but I'm curious about anything Square Enix. That said, I'll probably play this on Series X2 in 2027. It would be interesting comparing it other Final Fantasy games. These are the ones that I've played so far:

I (GBA)
IV (DS)
VII (PC)
VIII (Xbox)
X/X-II (PS4)
XV (Xbox)

@Banjo- I was a big FF fan up until about 10, since then it hasn’t really appealed to me. 16 is bizarre, it feels like a final fantasy game, but it’s so far from what FF fundamentally is.

I said to NES it seems like FF: God of War and after playing the demo I’m not even sure that’s a good way of describing it. I have very mixed feelings about it and would like others opinions

@Fenbops Yeah, me too, hopefully more people join us here.

Literally just sounds like Bayonetta, except the sass, humor, and personality are replaced with grimdark medieval stuff.

I haven’t played it yet as I’m waiting for the full game release

Just fyi the demo is a slightly earlier build, so potentially some of the performance should be in a better state on release as square said there won’t be a huge day 1 patch.

Most on pushsquare seem positive towards it. Even those who weren’t sure on it or FF. Apart from those that have been against it day one ‘because it’s not FF’ or some poor excuse.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner I’m still on the fence about it. I tried the demo because I had reservations about the combat. Admittedly the combat does seem fun, minus the dodgy camera, I’m just not sure it will have the legs to stay interesting over however many hours the game is going to be. The summon thing battles I found to be complete trash. Pressing a couple of buttons and QTE’s. Other games get criticised for them.

I tried it, and I just don't get what all the fuss is about. It looks pretty good visually, but I can't say I enjoyed the demo a lot. Even for a game in the prologue, the cutscenes were just way too long, and disjointed which made it even worse. One scene ends, and you think "I finally get to play", then you take twenty steps and another starts. I enjoy reading dialogue in RPGs and personally interacting with the NPCs, not just staring mindlessly while the non-stop movies roll. That really just isn't for me. I'd have to think later in the game the carpet bombing of cutscenes would have to let up... Hopefully.

The combat seems okay, you can tell where the inspiration comes from, though. It def feels somewhat less hack n slashy than I expected, so as someone that can jive with Tales, I can ultimately deal with FFXVI's action-oriented combat. I think really though, the demo just doesn't feel like an RPG game. I've said it all along, that for better or worse, it looks like it plays more like the newer God of War games, and after trying it I'd still say it does. There's this weird idea that if a game has a plot and you get to level up, then it must be an RPG, and that's... False. I'd just lump it under 3rd person action adventure. Really, I don't think I'd hate the game, I'm sure I'll play it sooner or later, but I'm in no rush to buy it at $70. It'll probably be a bargain bin used pick up four years from now, just like FFXV was.

@Banjo- Despite what the holy warriors of light that will defend all threats real or imagined around this game would tell you, I don't actually have an opinion on it yet. I played the demo, haven't finished yet, and haven't really got to see much gameplay. It's just so. much. cutscene.

As the holy warriors of light will also tell you, I'm very critical from what I've seen of the game that it is being called a mainline FF at all, but I don't have an opinion on what the game actually is yet, just that it doesn't seem like it's an actual part of the same series as the others. I just think it would have been more appropriate as a new spinoff series or even a new IP entirely.

The graphics/performance are utter tripe, but I expected that going in because I knew it was Luminous engine even though they were cagey about, and we've all known what to expect from Luminous for an entire generation now, so that didn't shock me.

@Fenbops I honestly can't tell if the demo actually tells us anything about the gameplay or not really. If that really is how the whole game plays then it's just appalling, but I still feel like it cuts you off in the early tutorial, and Square demos are pretty much always terrible slices of gameplay out of context, so it may be out of context. I mean, I'm critical in general about how they've handled the game, but even I can't figure out if it's time to toss my hands up from the demo or if I still know as little as I did 6 months ago. And reviews won't help because I'm pretty sure most reviewers decided 6 months ago it was GOTY even if it launches like CP2077. At this point I'm convinced the only way I'll know if I like it or hate it is wait for it to hit $35 and try it. I did that with Forspoken lol.

Overall I don't think this game would be garnering nearly as much attention, or debates, if it weren't named FF, which is exactly why they named it FF, but that's good and bad because while it draws far more attention and money than a new IP, it also doesn't let the game breathe and try to do what it's doing because it's supposed to be trying to live up to a thing it's clearly not trying to be. I think everyone would have been happier, and business would have been less profitable if they just launched a new IP. I think it would have become a Dragon's Dogma kind of thing that sort of flopped financially but built a cult traction for a new series they could cash in on later. In fact as-is it feels far more like an entry in the Dragon's Dogma series and a real competitor to Capcom's burgeoning IP than it does to any other FF title. Which isn't bad, but......branding.....seriously, just, branding....

@SplooshDmg ‘There's this weird idea that if a game has a plot and you get to level up, then it must be an RPG, and that's... False.’

Absolutely 100%.

Levelling up in this prologue felt pointless, almost like it was just there for the sake of it because it’s FF. I didn’t feel any effect of it in battle. I can kind of live with the long cutscenes as it is a prologue and sets things up I guess. I was laughing because your brother and sister sound exactly like Hugo and Amicia from A plague tale 😂

@NEStalgia the demo tells me to not expect much from those ‘big’ battles, all show and insulting gameplay. 😂

FF games used to be cutting edge, best looking games of a generation… this one looks so average. Character models are good as expected and there are plenty of flashy particle effects but the environments, mannn, they didn’t look great. Especially that swamp.

I did like the story though, I’m a sucker for this type of fantasy and think they have a solid cast to work with, I’m just not sure if I like it as a game at the moment. Reviews will be very interesting because from that demo it should in no way be a 10/10 or even a 9/10 game imo.

@Fenbops See, I don't mind a long prologue setting up a story, what I do mind is it being delivered as outrageously long cutscenes. I just dislike cutscenes, as I literally just don't watch TV shows or films, outside of the very occasional anime series. I play games because I pretty much because I almost universally hate watching TV. So, once you start forcing me to basically start watching full length episodes of TV shows in a game, we have problems. I just miss the old days when those stories were delivered as dialogue boxes that I got to read instead.

I kid you not, the entire time I was playing I was thinking how much certain things felt like A Plague Tale. I mean, it makes sense given the settings, etc. But I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking it. Lol

Exactly what happened with Tears of the Kingdom. That and the fact that it's a PS5 timed-exclusive makes me not trust what it's said on PS. On the other hand, the demo of XV wasn't really like the game.

I think that they learnt that with Forspoken. The thing is, if this game is a hit, the series as we know it might be dead. But how can a new game with the Final Fantasy title not be a hit? It's a vicious circle.

That's actually the worst thing you could have told me about this game since I couldn't stand Amicia's overreactive and moody personality.

@Fenbops I really don't understand why they're still using luminous. They were going to use ue, didn't like the lighting and went back to a luminous fork but danced around that it was a luminous fork at though it's not visible. The engine is bad. Everyone knows it's bad. Nobody ever believed it wasn't bad. Same problem as Bethesda except they have legacy tools that can't escape the engine.... Square doesn't have that problem so idk why they went back to it. Ue has problems especially for open world but this isn't open world. And it wasn't the first choice. It's a really weird outcome. That engine still fumbles on monster pcs.

@Banjo- I really can't tell how much of the hype around the game is based on the FF stans being FF stans, how much is a new audience hyped for what's essentially a new action game IP that has nothing to do with FF, which is a shame they didn't make a new IP for it), and how much is an extension of the console war. Most seems to be the first, but I'm sure there's part that's the latter as well. It's definitely one of those things that the fandom makes you have a worse opinion of the product than the actual product itself offers.

I can't even tell what success for the game means. On one hand I'd agree it's the future of the series if it brings in the money. On the other hand that ignores the crowd going wild for Rebirth which may make everyone forget this one is a thing by next year, while appearing to go even MORE traditional maybe all the way to total turn based, or closer to it, yet people seem hyped for it.

I just don't know why this game wasn't given it's own brand/series/spinoff identity. It's not like that's not something that they do with the brand. Why split a brand that still has life in it just to appeal to a new market when they could have made the exact same game and branded it as its own series/subseries and started a whole new thing without cannibalizing their existing brand. It just seems like the now typical weird suqare business decisions. If FF were dead as a doornail and hard to sell to new audiences, had laid dormant for years before an attempted reboot, that's one thing, but it's not dead, it's still selling, and they're still making games from the core series. So why stick a different one into it instead of giving it it's own brand? Who does that? Despite the launch hype, that's just it, launch hype. It's obvious this game has enough appeal that it could have launched a new brand for them for a new market without splitting their existing market.

I said before it seems more like a Dragon's Dogma competitor than a new FF game, and in that light, it kind of succeeds I think. Poor branding choices. I mean it may pay off financially, at least short term, but, it's both IMO destructive to the existing FF business, and also a missed opportunity for what could have been a strong NEW brand added to their stable.

But, then, that's Square in a nutshell. The lost Xeno to Bamco then Nintendo because they wanted to shoehorn Takahashi into making endless FF content instead of their new IP, and as a result that IP now works against them from Nintendo. They've always done this to their brands!

@Banjo- to be honest shes nowhere near as bad as Amicia, she just sounds exactly the same 😂 (might be same voice actor?)

@NEStalgia I said a long time ago on PS, if this game didn’t have the Final Fantasy name I wouldn’t even consider playing it. Branding is powerful like you say. With the FF name it’s being over hyped and has YouTubers wetting themselves.

@Fenbops Yeah, I suppose they know what they're doing from the business angle in that regard, and my brain just doesn't work that way, I can't be excited for a thing because it has a certain name. I have to be excited for the thing because I like the thing itself. Obviously the name is supposed to imply it's the same core as the thing you know you like....in this instance that's not what the name does. Seems to be working on a lot of people though.... (And that doesn't mean the game doesn't look interesting for what it is, I just mean it's brand factor.) I still personally would have liked to see the same game as a new IP launch, and it seems to me like the market is reacting positively enough that it could have been a solid new IP launch. Could still have been FF-adjacent as a new subseries that was intended to start a new long running sub-series of action games in a way Stranger of Paradise didn't. The same way Persona is a radically different subseries of SMT that managed to become more popular than the main series without killing the name and market for the main series. I could have seen a case where FF: Dark Blade: The Fall launched now, and eventually became a series known as "Dark Blade" and people forgot all about how it was once part of FF, and FF keeps doing its thing. Not really unlike how they launched KH.

But it's strange to me a game that the media would have had as probably a B-tier curiosity that I still believe would have become a cult favorite, with tons of sequel begging, becomes THE. BIG. THING. Just because they slapped a particular label on it.

I once saw in a store a pair of Nine West flip flops for $99.99. They were the exact same expanded foam flip flops Walmart sells for $2.99 but with the Nine West name screen printed on the heel that will wear off in an hour. I truly do not understand brand appeal but I sincerely hope gaming nerds would never ridicule women's fashion and the price tags attached...it's the exact same thing. Of COURSE that PVC handbag is worth $400 even though it's made of $12 in plastic that falls apart in a month! Do you even know what brand it is?!

For my part I am in line of the main series ended up on X. While I played XII, XIII and XV I am not the biggest fan (XIII is the better of the 3 imo).

I don't have either PS4/PS5 so cannot comments much but I have played a demo of FF VII remake and I strongly disliked its combat, specially the first boss fight. I most likely will play it at some point on PC, as the original is on my top3 favourites overall, but not for more than 20/25€.

This looks even more boring to me as I really don't like bayonetta/others in that genre style. For me if they want to scrap turn base they should go with either auto attack (like XC) or Souls

I’ve been excited about this game, but not having a ps5 have not played it and don’t really know anything about it. If I ever get the chance to play it, I certainly will, though probably as a rental.

@Fenbops Sounding like Amicia is bad news, in any case 🤐. I guess the good girl in the game is going to sound like Zelda in BotW1/2 if all choices are this bad 😭. These voices don't belong to Final Fantasy. Amicia okay, somehow belongs to that game because she is unlikeable and bothersome from start to finish, but Zelda doesn't deserve that stupid acting.

@NEStalgia They did not even do what they did with Crystal Chronicles, they are using the next number XVI like, this is the new Final Fantasy. I remember that XV was not going to be XV either. I know it's not a popular opinion but I loved XV but XV isn't dark.

I know you agree with the following. Many strong IPs have been created recently, I don't think it's as risky when being a famous publisher will gain attention from the media (websites) anyway. I'm sure that much of the current attention comes from the name and from being a timed PS5 exclusive but all the hype on gaming sites and Twitter accounts doesn't mean that the game will have higher sales than being a new IP. It's just hype from the video game nerds. Meanwhile, Atlus is one of the most efficient and consistent developers.