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Everyone else seems to be talking about it, and I finished it last night, so, does anyone besides me have thoughts on the demo from playing or watching it? I'd gone ahead and preordered the full game last week because I came to the conclusion that even though it didn't look like it was necessarily for me, I couldn't not play it; and after a couple hours in the demo, I think that is probably still about the same feeling I have.

For me, it got fun after the first 45 minutes or so, but I recognize that I don't see myself actually becoming good at the combat. For my money, I think Remake hit the sweet spot for action-based combat in Final Fantasy, and XVI just went a little too far down the scale towards being hyperactive. And that's kind of where I land on the whole package so far - it takes the great things about FF and dials them all up to eleven. It guarantees the "M" rating that apparently people want, but so far for me it does so in ways that aren't really necessary to make the story better, just different.

I think if the whole game plays out the same way of the demo, I'll find myself exhausted. But I'm still going to play it, and I think I'm still going to really enjoy it - but it's going to take a lot of getting used to and I can't see myself binging it for hours at a time.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Gonna copy and paste what I wrote elsewhere, with copious spoilers just in case people don't want to read certain bits. This was written BEFORE I did the optional Eikonic Challenge bit:

First thoughts: about the world building and trailers

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The first thing I noticed was how ingrained magic is in the world. I *love* this. People casually use magic like it's second nature: for example, touching a fingertip to a candle's wick to light it, rather than using a match. Also, large parts of this demo are taken from the very first trailer two years ago, which I think is a good thing because it probably shows solidity of story. Like, as much as I enjoyed FFXV, it's clear that it went through drastic changes during its production, and I feel FFXVI probably didn't, from what I've seen so far.

Thoughts on graphics

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The graphics are pretty solid! But there were a few times I felt a bit uncanny valley, and I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I did really appreciate the seamless flow from cutscene to battle; it's really perfect. I laughed when I entered the menu and saw sprites of the party in the lower-right corner.

Music

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Really dug the prelude, and the boss fight music was good. The rest? eh, I think I am just not used to it yet. Sometimes it seemed to distract from the story, but I think this is probably because I was hyperaware of the music; since it's Soken-san, I *expected* great music and was rather paying attention to it.

Basic Gameplay!

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I hesitantly chose the option for people familiar with action games, and worried it would be too much for me. But it wasn't! I think it greatly helped that there are some powerful accessories you get early on that do a variety of things. I chose to wear the accessory that auto-dodges, because I am not great at that. This let me just mash buttons to attack, and that worked well. The controls felt intuitive, and the tutorial for gameplay felt like it didn't detract from the game, but rather was part of the story itself. That was a nice touch.

More advanced gameplay

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There ARE active time events, where you have to press a button within a certain timeframe. I did not have any issues with the ones I encountered. There's also an epic battle with specialized controls, and near the end of the epic battle is a DPS check that I failed at the first try, and thus got a game over. But it gave me the option to retry from a checkpoint, which is nice! And I beat it on the second try.

Characters!

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Quickly enamored with Clive and Joshua. Their father feels like a decent sort, too. Do NOT like their mother--I won't say why, but I suspect a lot of folks will also dislike her.

Lore

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So, one reason I have problems getting into the few western RPGs I've tried is because they have big lore drops in the form of a codex or what-have-you and it's a lot to read and truthfully, I'd rather experience the world by talking to NPCs, not reading a book. Well, FFXVI does have lore drops which you can get to by clicking the mouse pad on the controller, but the lore is bite-sized. It's enough that it enriches the story by fleshing out characters/settings, but I also think you could be fine skipping it? Like, it gave background for two minor NPCs, but that was knowledge I don't think I needed, really, but was nice to have.

TORGAL!

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That's it, that's the spoiler. He's adorable and I want a plushie.

Overall impressions

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I wish I could say I was wowed and can't wait to play more, but I can't say that. I did enjoy playing the demo, and I *really* enjoyed meeting Clive, Joshua, Jill and Torgal, but... well, I think it's because I *did* watch most of the trailers and this demo was heavy on trailer info. There wasn't really anything new, except that it possibly cleared up a misconception I had from the trailer (jury's still out on that, so I won't say what it was). It very possibly could be an over-hype thing: I expected a LOT from this game given the team behind it, and it's possible that *anything* they put out would be a disappointment because of that. I would not go as far to say I was disappointed, though. More like they're going to have to work a bit harder than I expected for me to fall in love.

I have since played the Eikonic Challenge, and my viewpoint has changed a bit:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Gameplay was harder for me in the Challenge, because there was no more auto-dodging. I did my best to dodge when it prompted me to, but I don't react very fast. I said in one of my Discords that it felt like the PS5 controller was slightly too big for me, because it felt a bit awkward hitting R1. (I have pretty small hands). That said, the end of the Challenge made me much more intrigued about what's going on in the game, and now I'm eager to see more. I'm glad I played it! I wasn't going to at first for fear of spoilers (hah) but then I couldn't log into FFXIV because my phone was charging which means I couldn't retrieve my one-time password, and I needed SOMETHING to do, so Eikonic Challenge it was.

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I think if the whole game plays out the same way of the demo, I'll find myself exhausted

I'd agree with this. My hands will get pretty tired. Story-wise, well, that remains to be seen, but I remember reading Connie Willis' "Doomsday Book" for the first time which I *loved* but after reading it I was so very exhausted. I can see something similar happening with FFXVI.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth-
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!)
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts

Friend of mine told me that there's something called "Spirits Within" in the game.

Actually, friend of mine also told me he's "playing FFXVI", but now that I read this thread, I'm thinking, isn't the game not out yet? So he was probably playing the demo I guess lol.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 6th July 2023 21:51

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins

FFXVI came out June 22nd. I was playing it for a while, but... well, it hasn't been holding my interest all that great so I haven't touched it in a few days. Not sure when I'll get back to it. I'm pretty sad, because I had really been looking forward to the game.

I think one of the reasons it hasn't been holding my interest is because I am NOT a person who enjoys active play, so I've been using the accessories to make the gameplay easier. But that means it's reduced to hitting one button repeatedly to win, which is kind of boring. If I go back to the game I might switch up the accessories a bit. I doubt I will take off the "one hit combo" one, but right now I have auto-dodge equipped as well. Might take that off and put on the one that slows time. So I'll still need to dodge but have more leeway to do so.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays & Thursdays: Final Fantasy VII -Rebirth-
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Side Quests (or maybe more Rebirth, we'll see!)
7:30pm - 10:30pm Central or thereabouts