Final Fantasy XVI adds to the series' long history on PC
9.17.2024
By Aidan Moher, Contributor
Now, Final Fantasy XVI is here on PC—along with all its DLC—and ready to introduce a new set of fans to Clive Rosfield and the Eikons of Valisthea.
To guide us along the journey of XVI PC's release, I spoke with the game’s main director, Hiroshi Takai, and localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. They share insight into how they helped craft the PC version of the game, what its medieval setting tells us about the past and the future of Final Fantasy, and how this sixteenth entry in the long-running series makes a surprisingly good jumping-in point for newcomers.
Eikonic series
"Final Fantasy is an RPG series that stretches back to the days of the NES," Takai said. To many players, trying out a nearly 40-year-old series for the first time with the sixteenth entry might seem daunting, but Takai had encouraging words for newcomers. "Numbered Final Fantasies are unique, each with their own world, story, and gameplay, meaning anyone new to the series can start from any game they like," he explained. Takai's suggestion? Start with the Final Fantasy that looks most interesting to you and go from there. In that sense, Final Fantasy XVI—a game that both honors the series' past and pushes it into uncharted territory—is a great place for curious newbies.
Since its beginnings, Final Fantasy has always sought to explore new design spaces and reinvent itself with each new entry. Sometimes, this results in a revamp of its battle system, like in Final Fantasy IV and X; sometimes, it's about taking the setting and story in a new direction, like Final Fantasy VII's gritty cyberpunk aesthetic or Final Fantasy VIII's Star Trek-style utopia. XVI falls into the former camp, leaning heavily on a recognizable setting while pushing the series fully into the realm of high-paced action-based combat—beyond even 2016's Final Fantasy XV or 2020's Final Fantasy VII Remake.
"When it came to gameplay, we simply first prioritized what we as developers wanted to do," Takai said. "For us, that entailed creating an experience that felt intuitive."
Ditching party-based combat—a series staple since the beginning—Final Fantasy XVI puts the player in sole control of protagonist Clive Rosfield. Armed with an oft-upgraded broadsword, combat unfolds with a pace far beyond what's found in other mainline Final Fantasy games, and feels like it'd be right at home in Capcom's Devil May Cry series—which is exactly where Square Enix found Final Fantasy XVI's combat director Ryota Suzuki.
With Takai's team inspired to create an "intuitive" action-based RPG, Suzuki took his experiences on Devil May Cry 5 and Dragon's Dogma and went all out designing a main combat system for Final Fantasy XVI that's fast and frenetic, emphasizing speed, ability customization, and best-in-class visuals. But, perhaps XVI's biggest draw is the massive battles between its "Eikons."
A continuation of Final Fantasy's long-running conceit of "summons," XVI puts these monstrous demi-gods front and center by giving the player full control over them in kaiju-style showdowns that rival the scope of anything seen in Final Fantasy—a series famous for its huge set pieces and genre-defining twists—or the RPG genre period. Known as Espers, Eidolons, Aeons, or several other names going all the way back to their introduction in Final Fantasy III, these summonable deities often offer powerful but short-term benefits in combat. They're a trump card meant to be pulled out when the player needs a burst of damage or healing. In XVI, Eikons are entwined in both the plot and gameplay, playing a central role in Clive's story and the way he—and by extension, the player—fights his way through droves of baddies.
Takai, who told me he "was basically in charge of keeping things in order on the entire [Final Fantasy XVI] project," immediately earned my trust by revealing his favorite Final Fantasy title (and also the first he worked on after joining Square Enix) is the job-focused Final Fantasy V. "It left the biggest impression on me," he said. Like Final Fantasy XVI, the fifth entry was focused on refining the series' trademark combat by giving the player impressive control over their characters' skill sets and abilities. It's easy to see the parallels between Final Fantasy V's robust job system and the various abilities provided by Final Fantasy XVI's Eikons.
These massive battles are a genuine treat, offering action at a scale and visual splendor only hinted at in previous generations. Each Eikon is based on a different element—fire for Ifrit, ice for Shiva, earth for Titan, and such—and these elemental abilities not only dictate the way they behave as Clive and his companions and adversaries (who shall remain nameless for fear of spoilers) inhabit their towering bodies, but they also imbue Clive with unique "Eikonic Abilities" when he's in his regular human form, which allows Clive to assign a loadout of moves to suit your preferred playstyle. For instance, Titan provides Clive with strong defensive moves, while Garuda's claw-based attacks are fast and easily stagger enemies, and Shiva lets him freeze enemies in place. As Clive's arsenal of Eikonic Abilities grows, the player unlocks more and more opportunities to shape combat to their liking—bringing us full circle to the customizability that was central to Final Fantasy V.
Iconic storytelling
Since its earliest days, the Final Fantasy series has had a helix-like relationship with Western RPGs, like Dungeons & Dragons, Wizardry, and Ultima—inspiring and inspired in turn. Final Fantasy XVI marks the series' return to a medieval setting reminiscent of its earliest titles.
Final Fantasy XVI's realm of Valisthea feels like familiar territory for anyone who's been playing RPGs—whether on console, PCs, or tabletops—for any number of years. With its castles and armies, inhibited level of technology, and heroes and villains wielding swords heavier than a dishwasher, it's a style of fantasy that's been beloved and subverted since at least the 1970s, when Dungeons & Dragons, Terry Brooks, and those PC RPGs took Tolkien's faux-medieval fantasy world as inspiration for their own settings. Stepping away from the blend of futurism and fantasy that has defined many of the most recent series entries, XVI hearkens back to Final Fantasy's earliest days.
"We didn't want a setting that felt overly convenient,” Takai said. "We wanted the world to feel real." From this foundation—straying from the more science-fantasy worlds featured in the previous two single-player mainline titles, XIII and XV—Takai and his team went about adapting the resulting narrative in a manner that would feel natural to users all over the globe. "That meant focusing on more than simply the words on the page and adopting more of a comprehensive culturalization approach (as opposed to translation approach) when preparing the game's many language versions."
Early in development, this involved Takai, producer Naoki Yoshida, and creative director Kazutoyo Maehiro getting together to discuss the "pillars" upon which Final Fantasy XVI's gritty and epic story would rest. They settled on three concepts: a return to a medieval setting, summon-versus-summon battles, and real-time action. "With that in mind," Takai said, "the next step was to create a world where these battles would feel natural and an energy source to power them. Finally, we left it to Maehiro-san to finalize a script."
As an event planner and scenario writer, Maehiro has worked on many of Square Enix's most beloved stories, including Final Fantasy Tactics, XII, and Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward. The common bond between these stories is that they eschew the series' overtly fantastical overtones for worlds and narratives that are grounded in political stories like War of the Roses and political fantasy like George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones before eventually veering off into the realm of reality-destroying demi-gods.
Without delving into spoilers, XVI is no exception. Beginning with a strikingly gritty story focused on personal stakes within the grinding machinations of empires at war, it grows over its 60-hour runtime into a conflict as epic as anything else found in the long-running series. When the game begins, protagonist Clive is a young man, naive to the world. Over a story that spans decades, we watch as his life crumbles around him after being forced into slavery and how that fire eventually forges him into the steel required to rise up against the tyranny of the empire he once supported.
One of the main reasons Takai and his fellow writers chose a medieval setting was because they wanted to remove a level of "convenience" from the world. There's no cell phones or convertibles for Clive, unlike the heroic bros in Final Fantasy XV, which modeled its world off a blend of metropolitan New York City, the American Midwest, and 15th-century Europe.
"One of XVI's major plot points revolves around the plight of the magic-using 'Bearer' servants," explained Takai. "If there exists an abundance of machines and technology to ease society's burdens, then this plight is lessened. We also felt that an overall lack of technology to rely upon would help to keep our characters more grounded."
Despite this new tone, Final Fantasy XVI is heavily in touch with series history. The return to a fantasy-heavy story helped the creators load the game with Easter eggs and references to past games. The obvious series building blocks are all there—tonberries, Cura, potions, and Phoenix Downs—but the cuts go deeper for longtime fans.
"While some are probably just coincidence, I'm guessing a lot were added on purpose," said Takai. "The one that got a smile out of me when I discovered it in-game was the name of the airship in which Clive makes his hideaway—the Invincible!" This is a reference that longtime series fans will recognize as the name of Final Fantasy IX's airship.
"We made sure the game was not only filled with subtle nods to past Final Fantasy titles, but to our favorite games, movies, books, manga, and other timely bits of pop culture as well," localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox said. Playing coy, however, he wouldn't spill the beans, preferring that fans discover the various Easter eggs on their own. "I'm not about to reveal any secrets here!"
He did, however. In fact, the most surprising Easter egg in XVI is probably the one that's missing—a Biggs and Wedge reference. "Oh, you're welcome to look, but I'm fairly sure you'll come up empty-handed," he said. "That doesn't mean some rogue environmental artist didn't sneak something in…just that I haven't heard about it. If you do find one, though, let me know!"
The road to the PC
So, what can you expect from the PC release? An experience as comparable to the PlayStation 5 version as possible, according to Takai—but with the added benefit of PC-specific features like an increased maximum frame rate of 240 fps and compatibility with NVIDIA DLSS 3, AMD FSR 3, and Intel XeSS 1.3 upscaling technologies. What does this mean? One of the PlayStation 5's most graphically intensive games is going to make the move to PC with a bevy of new features that should ensure it's up to par (or even better) than the original.
Final Fantasy XVI PC was created by the same team that worked on the original PlayStation 5 version, which means that the developers had a level of experience with the game that's not always common when games are ported from consoles to PC by third-party development studios. Keeping the process in-house slowed things down, Takai said, because his team couldn't start development until the PlayStation 5 version was released, and even then, they were simultaneously working on DLC.
"Our ultimate goal of recreating a gameplay experience comparable to that offered by the PlayStation 5 for users on a wide variety of PC environments also posed its own challenges," he said. "And though it took a lot of detailed optimization, we believe we've been able to achieve that goal."
In fact, Takai revealed that "some of the optimization that we were doing for the PC version actually made it into many small post-launch patches for the PlayStation 5!"
In addition to controller support, the XVI PC release also fully supports mouse and keyboard—a control method that might puzzle console gamers, but Takai was quick to assure me that following in the footsteps of similar games helped them land on something that works nicely—and can be customized to meet player needs. "When it came to controls, we didn't want to stray too far from what has become the norm in PC games these days," he explained. Once the foundation was in place, Takai's team invited some "hardcore PC gamers on the development team" to assist with internal testing, which helped them tweak the default settings to something that felt natural and intuitive. "That said, we know that every player is different, so we made sure that key binding was fully customizable."
One of the major selling points of modern gaming consoles is their blazing-fast solid-state drives (SSD), leaving even a complex and graphically intensive game like Final Fantasy XVI with impressively short load times. This proved a challenge for Takai's team since they couldn't rely on every PC player having access to SSD speeds. "The last thing we wanted was for the game to start loading during the middle of an epic battle, so we spent a great deal of time and effort optimizing the game in this area," he said. "We wanted the game to run on as many different hardware builds as possible and continued tweaking right up until launch to realize that goal."
It's not often you get the chance to ask a game's director about a very specific pet peeve, so I jumped on the opportunity to ask Takai whether or not XVI PC would provide an option to clear the skies during Final Fantasy XVI's postgame. (Fans of the console version will know what I'm talking about.) "Sorry, but that's not going to happen," Takai replied. However, he explained that players who purchase the Rising Tide DLC separately or via the Complete Edition will have access to a brand new post-game region complete with pristine blue skies. "I hope that'll suffice."
One of the major selling points for PC gaming is fan-based mod support. It revolutionized games like Skyrim and Elden Ring by introducing everything from total conversion mods and seamless multiplayer. While Takai confirmed they have no plans for official mod support in the future, owing to most of the team already having moved on to other projects, he was supportive of the fan community tweaking the game with their own mods. "Feel free to have fun on your own," he said. "Within reason, of course!"
So maybe, just maybe, fans themselves will be able to save Valisthea's skies.
Final Fantasy's PC origins
Traditionally considered a console series, Final Fantasy's origins actually tie all the way back to popular PC RPGs of the 1980s, most notably Richard Garriott's Ultima and Andrew C. Greenberg and Robert Woodhead's Wizardry. Inspired by these blockbuster Western games, along with Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi set out to create a living room-friendly game for Japanese fans on Nintendo's newly minted Famicom console (known as the Nintendo Entertainment System throughout the rest of the world). By taking the complex and much-larger PC RPGs and shrinking them down to console size, Sakaguchi—along with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii—helped launch an entirely new subgenre of RPG that found instant success in their home country, and, a decade or so later, would see a meteoric rise in the West thanks to Final Fantasy VII.
While many of the early entries were stuck on console until long after their initial release, Final Fantasy VII was a huge hit on Sony's first PlayStation console, prompting a PC port developed by Square's Costa Mesa offices and released in the West by Eidos Interactive, who was riding high on the success of their Tomb Raider franchise. While imperfect, the PC port of Final Fantasy VII introduced the series to a whole new audience and spawned an active modding community that continues to this day—leading to some incredible improvements to the 27-year-old game.
Though PC support for the series was sporadic after VII, Square Enix melted some faces when it announced Final Fantasy IX, X, and XI at its 2000 Square Millennium Event. Even more shocking than announcing three mainline titles due for release in consecutive years was the series' dramatic return to PCs, with XI being a fully online MMORPG. Set for release on PC and PlayStation 2, it was the series' first multi-platform release. Considered divisive due to its departure from Final Fantasy's single-player formula, XI was nevertheless a huge hit on both PlayStation 2 and PC, leading to a new era for the series as a cross-platform powerhouse, and it's still going today thanks to its small but dedicated fanbase.
Nearly four decades after the series' initial release on consoles, every mainline Final Fantasy title is now available on PC, and the series continues to find new fans thanks to retro remakes like the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series, which refreshed the first six Final Fantasy titles with new pixel-art graphics and modernized quality-of-life features. However, the series' PC flashpoint wasn't the PC port of VII, the remakes of the NES or SNES classics, or even its first successful MMORPG. Instead, it came when Square Enix rebooted its failed second crack at the multiplayer space with 2013's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
Crossover appeal
With over 30 million total registered players as of January 2024, Final Fantasy XIV Online and its various expansions (including 2024's Dawntrail) is one of the most popular and widely played games in the series' history—and even includes a crossover event with Final Fantasy XVI called "The Path Infernal," which granted A Realm Reborn players access to Clive's armor, along with a mount and minion based on XVI's most lovable good boy, Torgal.
But it sure didn’t start out that way.
When Final Fantasy XIV was first released in 2010—in a wholly different form than what we have today—it was eviscerated by critics and fans alike for its poor gameplay and performance. It was a failure unlike anything the series had experienced before, but Square Enix was determined to turn it into a success on par with Final Fantasy's reputation as an industry-leading name.
Around the same time, a relatively unknown developer named Naoki Yoshida joined Takai and artist Hiroshi Minagawa to form a loose group within Square Enix called the Stray Dogs. At first, they were dedicated to understanding how the developer could successfully learn from Western developers in preparation for the move to HD graphics. However, having joined Square Enix to work on the company's other big MMORPG, Dragon Quest X, Yoshida's experience with online RPGs led to the Stray Dogs being pulled into meetings regarding the future of Final Fantasy XIV.
As a result of these meetings, Yoshida officially joined the XIV team as producer and director and launched a top-to-bottom overhaul of the MMORPG.
"They expected something that was at a certain quality and we didn't deliver on that," Yoshida said in a 2012 interview. "We felt that if we just stopped there, it would end up hurting Square Enix in the long run if we just gave up. So we decided to go back and show the players that, no, we're really sorry that we did this, we have to show you that we are really into this project and regain the players' trust by showing them that, yes, we're going to give you what you expected."
Yoshida certainly delivered on earning that player trust back. A decade after its August 2013 launch, Yoshida's Final Fantasy XIV Online remains one of the most popular and successful MMORPGs of all time, widely praised for its story, accessibility, and staying power.
With the success of A Realm Reborn and its expansion packs cementing Yoshida's all-star status at Square Enix, he was tagged with heading the series' next mainline title after Final Fantasy XV's (tumultuous and long-overdue) release in 2016. Assembling the Stray Dogs, along with writer Kazutoyo Maehiro, composer Masayoshi Soken, artist Kazuya Takahashi, and the aforementioned combat director Ryota Suzuki, Yoshida set to work defining the future of Final Fantasy.
While XVI's multiplayer elements don't extend beyond a score-based Arcade mode, Takai thinks Final Fantasy XIV fans might be surprised to find that some aspects of XVI's boss battles may feel familiar. "While these similarities are certainly not intentional," he said, "I suppose they are to be expected considering how many of our staff have either worked on XIV previously or are Warriors of Light themselves! We invite XIV players to try XVI and see how many of these Easter eggs they can find!"
Beyond Yoshida being in charge of both projects, the teams working on Final Fantasy XIV and XVI are completely independent, according to Takai. "As such, they're going to each have their own 'color,'" he explained. "There really isn't that much communication between teams when it comes to what they're going to make, so there isn't much thought put into what to copy or avoid.
"Which, now that I think about it, makes it kind of amazing that all the games are so different. I think this is mostly due to the original series creators such as Sakaguchi-san or Kitase-san instilling in us this belief that Final Fantasy is whatever we want to make it."
Final (?) Fantasy
To tell Final Fantasy XVI's story, Takai and Yoshida's team created an entire fleshed-out world. While you learn a lot about Valisthea through the game's main plot, there are many more details hidden throughout the game. "For those fans who want to delve deep into the lore of Valisthea," said Takai, "I recommend checking out the various systems we've implemented in-game to help do so: Active Time Lore, the Thousand Tomes, and the State of the Realm."
These systems aim to improve on a similar approach in Final Fantasy XII by integrating Valisthea's complex background and history throughout the game via intuitive UI elements. For instance, during any cutscene, players can pull up "Active Time Lore" and get encyclopedia-style entries for any characters, nations, or lore mentioned in the scene. For a game as long and story-stuffed as XVI, this feature is a blessing for many players who might have trouble keeping track of its large cast and plot beats—your Final Fantasy-veteran author included.
These deep dives into Valisthea's history feel appropriate for a game that seeks to push the Final Fantasy series forward into new realms while maintaining a strong connection to its past. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that the first Final Fantasy title to cover decades of its protagonist's life is also the most interested in marrying its own decades-long history with change and growth as the series reaches middle age.
So, what's the future for Final Fantasy XVI, and what does that tell us about the future of the series? Takai said Final Fantasy XVI Complete Edition—which includes the base game and both DLC episodes—is the full story. "We've had a lot of fans ask us about the possibility of more DLC, but currently, we have no plans for expanding the world in-game," he said. "That doesn't mean, however, that the possibility for new content is zero."
What about that ending, though? A lot of fans wondered if the DLC would provide more answers for the game's teasingly ambiguous ending, but they shouldn't hold their breath. "As for the ending, well," he said. "I am currently satisfied with leaving it ambiguous, so you won't be seeing any official announcements about what 'actually' happens!"
So, while Clive's story is over—whatever that means—the future is bright for Final Fantasy. With each new Final Fantasy title carving its own path, Takai couldn't say how Final Fantasy XVI's success might influence the future of the series. "I'll be happy if our choices to try new things (such as a mature rating or real-time action battles) inspire the next development team to also take some chances and do what they want," he said.
Whatever's next for Final Fantasy, the release of XVI on PC reaffirms that the series' popularity extends well beyond the home consoles that initially launched it into global stardom.