I have yet to see a Square-Enix title trailer and not sit there in shock and awe. From Final Fantasy 7 to the latest trailer for the newest FF since Final Fantasy 7: Remake, Final Fantasy 16. Not too much has been revealed but we will attempt to tell you what we know.(If anything)
This is the 16th mainline entry from Square-Enix. Just in case you don’t know your Roman numerals. It’s being produced by Naoki Yoshida(Yoshi P), directed by Hiroshi Takai. These names should sound familiar as Yoshida directed FF14, and Takai has worked on the “SaGa” series and the XBox exclusive “The Last Remnant.” Big names and games, especially Yoshida’s work on FF14 which is currently one of the highest subscribed to MMORPGs on the market. As for Takai, I haven’t played “the Last Remnant” but I did play “SaGa Frontier 1 and 2” on Playstation 1 and thoroughly enjoyed them. I didn’t finish them joints though cause they were f$#%in’ hard.
Let me tell you about the world. All Final Fantasy titles are traditionally related to gems, stones, or crystals. This title re-approaches this take on the “Mothercrystals”. “Mothercrystals” give off “aether” which gives people access to powerful magic. The first appearance of “mothercrystals” came from Final Fantasy 14 Online. In FF16 the people of Valisthea are said to use magic pulled from the mothercrystals to protect themselves from the even greater threats that exist within the world. Apparently that coexistence was a peaceful one, until it wasn’t.
Eikons are this game’s iteration of the summons. Or Espers, or Eidolons if you prefer. In this game, eikons are tied to humans who are called Dominants. Some are hailed as royalty and some are revered. All are bound to their ability to call forth terrifying creatures(eikons) capable of mass destruction.
Valisthea is made up of 6 domains. The first is the Grand Duchy of Rosaria. The mothercrystal there is called “Drake’s Breath.” The provinces of western Valisthea unified and became the Grand Duchy. For a time, Rosaria experienced a period of prosperity. That all changed when the Blight started to spread. Not too much is understood about the blight, only that it’s a looming problem that affects the people of Rosaria. Rosaria’s Dominant controls the Phoenix, Eikon of the Flame.
The Holy Empire of Sanbreque is a theocracy that built their empire around the mothercrystal of “Drake’s Head”. The people worship the government and the Dominant rely on the power of an Eikon that Square-Enix is currently keeping under wraps. The people of Sanbreque are happy and obidient. As a theocracy they worship the Holy Emperor, and it's subtly implied that those who don't are erased.
The Kingdom of Waloed sees it’s lands under constant threat of attack from the beastman and orc tribes that make the wilds of Waloed their homes. The Dominant there is revered as King or some kind of monarch. They have the power of another undisclosed Eikon has used the power of the mothercrystal called “Drake’s Spine” to empower their army as they seek to invade it’s neighboring nations.
Up next we have the Dhalmekian Republic. The republic has a parliament that oversees 5 states that make up the country. The republic uses the "Drake’s Fang" mothercrystal’s power to control the southern parts of Valisthea. The Parliament answers to the Dominant who wields the power of Earth Eikon,Titan.
Off the coast of Storm is a small group of islands that make up the Iron Kingdom. Dominants are killed here. They believe them to be unholy and execute anybody with the ability to summon an eikon. Speaking their own language and having their own cultural norms, The Kingdom has little contact with the other nations. I say little because apparently, their mothercrystal known as Drake’s Breath is where The Iron Kingdom and Rosaria clash. Drake’s Breath happens to be shared by both nations, as it sits between them and they both depend on it to use magic.
The last nation is the Crystalline Dominion. There aren’t any dominants here. The Crystalline Dominion is located at the heart of Valisthea and it has the tallest mothercrsytal there, "Drake’s Tail." There is a peace treaty currently in effect between all of the nations of Valisthea. All nations fought over Drake’s Tail because of its location. Once the peace treaty was signed the nations agreed to an armistice. Representatives from each nation formed a council that governs over the central islands that surround the mothercrystal.
The people of Valisthea have been fighting over the mothercrystals and their power for centuries. Well, what would a Final Fantasy mainline title be without war. Just Final. Or Fantasy. But not both. Seriously though, this kind of tension build up is most likely gonna give context to what some have been referring to as “Devil May Cry” inspired fighting mechanics shown in some very brief gameplay clips seen from the trailer.
Alright I said enough about that. Who are we playing as? The protagonist of the story’s name is Clive Rosfield. He’s son of the Archduke of Rosaria and a brunette dude with a claymore. Or a bastard sword. I’m not too sure. He’s the guy with the phoenix wing attack we’ve seen in the trailer. He’s an overachiever when it comes to swordplay but after achieving the rank of First Sheild, and earning the right to wield part of the Phoenix’s power, Ifrit(another mainstay summon creature from previous FFs) defeated him in a battle that has him on a quest for vengeance. If Delita Hyral from Final Fantasy Tactics was cloned with Noctis Caelum, and that clone was trained by Auron from Final Fantasy 10, you would get Clive.
Joshua Rosfield is Clive’s younger brother. He is the leader of the Firebird’s Flames(possibly the “Turks” of the Duchy). He is the Dominant of Rosaria. He’s a bit of a softy. What can I say? The kid's a good egg. I don’t want to hate on him, however he is described as being a really nice guy to everybody, loves his big bro, and is frightened of conflict. He adamantly admires how his brother is about that action. Whatever happened with Ifrit and Clive affected him as well.
Jill Warwick sounds as though her character is closer to who Delita was than Clive favoring him visually. She is 12 years old and was raised (say it with me) “as a little sister to the boys”. That concept hasn’t been done to death. The brothers trust her with their pain and she does her best to therapize them.
These are the only characters they introduced thus far. Yoshida has made statements in press materials for the game that people can expect more information in 2021. People shouldn’t expect to see this game before 2023 though. I’d even bet 2024. I said a lot with this article. That’s honestly how hyped I am about this game. There are folks who seem very excited and some who are disappointed with Square-Enix’s move to not go with a turn based fighting system. These fans have stated that SE has forgotten its roots and that turn based gameplay is supposed to be a mainstay feature of the franchise. I disagree entirely and could write an even longer article about why I disagree.
But I’ll spare you and end it with a few questions for the followers. What are you excited about for this title? What do you want to see? Do you think this will be on par with the other games in the franchise? Thanks for stopping by and keep checking back for more information here at the Nerd’s List.
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