Josh Broadwell If you’re looking for a breathtaking blockbuster, Final Fantasy XVI isn’t it. Square Enix’s latest entry in the long-running RPG series is often messy, oddly paced and frustratingly restrictive in its vision.
More frequently, though, it’s subtly brilliant, with a bold and ambitious narrative, nuanced character development and some of the genre’s best localization and voice work.
It’s a significant departure for the series and one that pays off, despite a few missteps along the way. First, though, you have to get through the prologue, and Final Fantasy XVI makes a poor first impression in most of that.
After a brief battle scene, it begins in the Duchy of Rosaria, a location that could’ve come from “Game of Thrones,” T.H. White’s “The Once and Future King,” or any medieval fantasy.
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