We Played Final Fantasy XVI, Here's Our Extensive, Granular First Look Preview 

I love that you get to fight Chirada and Suparna, which of course means that you're in Garuda's castle here in the demo. This is super hype.

I think every FF fan should watch this. You give us background information and not just gameplay which I really enjoyed and made me understand how AMAZING this title is going to be.

This is the type of video that makes me wish I can like a video x1000 times this truly feels like it’s from a fan of the series, I have watched the other previews and this easily trumps them, my favorite part is how you also focused on how detailed the world is and how it’s told and how it’s connected to the story, this is something that is barely touched upon from the other previews, I’m really glad that SE brought you to cover the demo.

This game looks so much better after watching your gameplay breakdown. Not even IGN or Gamespot did a detailed gameplay breakdown, so I thank you!

This is a very well detailed and concise piece. As a Final Fantasy fan who's played every numbered entry, it makes me relieved that you guys played this game even though I was always hype for it. I wanted a final fantasy fan or someone who understands the series very well to be able to play it and I'm so glad you guys had that opportunity!

Very well made video mate! I'm super excited for XVI

As a Final Fantasy fan - I find the quality and detail of your videos insane. Always a joy to watch!

Beautifully done. Very glad SE provided you with the demo as this is the best coverage I've seen and explores aspects beyond the action gameplay.

I didn’t want to watch this because of spoilers, but was pleasantly surprised how you navigate carefully through and gave a ton of great background info as well. 🎉

After watching the IGN review of the demo and then this... it makes me question if they were paying attention to anything. Thanks for the deep dive. Excited for Yoshi-P and his team to get the spotlight in a mainline offline entry.

These are great footages you've captured. My goodness the gameplay looks amazing.

Excellent work as always guys, thank you for the detailed breakdown. This did more for my excitement of the game than the trailers I'd seen so far. Thank you for the effort!

Seeing you two make a video like this is so cool! Very happy for you both!

So happy for you guys that you got the chance to play it. :D So excited for the game.

awesome presentation! Thank you for this. Cant wait to play it!

The narrative's not the only thing that's dark here. I've been watching ff16 previews all day and for every one of them I had to notch the brightness almost up to max just to properly see what was going on in any scene.

Amazing so happy you guys got to try it out hype increased by 100%

Thank you so much for this super high quality content! This continues to be the best FF channel on RU-vid. I can’t wait to follow all your FF16 content leading up to, and following, the games release.

I appreciate the fact that you go in depth into every little thing

Thank you for such a detailed coverage! I'm really, really loving this!

Thank you for sharing!!! I’m loving what I’m seeing. Some things reminds me of Lightning Returns battle system which is cool because I loved that game.

Thank you for putting all this together! I've been biting my nails, hoping this game won't be a bait and switch like FFXV. Everything you've shown looks promising!

I remember Tim Rogers saying that a lot of people in the Japanese games industry, SE in particular, were obessed with The Witcher 3 and Game of Thrones

The caliber of attention to detail and erudition on the subject displayed here are great. Thank you for this presentation.

I'm looking forward to this game. Everything looks great. I hope it does well. Personally, I like all main FFs, and many of the spin offs but I do admit that I miss the more traditional FF experience with the mediaeval setting and all. It's good to see that FF16 has taken a lot of inspiration from the original FF games, in terms of setting at least. I

Finally got into the Final Fantasy franchise properly at the beginning of 2020. Previously I had only completed VII, VIII and I (All in around 2015 - 2016ish so no nostalgia here as all games were completed after adulthood). In 2020 I decided to complete all games (Started with XV and went back to I) and I currently only have XIII and its sequels to go so I'm super hyped for this, looks a lot better than XV that's for sure. I did, however, play XIV back in 2.0 when friends were playing it but I didn't really play it as a FF game, just as an MMO friends were playing and eventually got my way through Shadow Bringers over the years.

This is the third preview I've watched today, and I finally understand what the game is about. Thanks so much for making the video.

Amazing work, guys. Thank you.

This is the best trailer for the game. It definitely eased some of my concerns. I keep telling myself "Trust YoshiP's team", but I've been burned by FF so many times over the last 20 years, and I still had my reservations. This has made me feel a bit less apprehensive.

It looks like a great action game and in all honesty I'll probably buy and play it. But, I mourn the loss of the slow, methodical nature of older Final Fantasy games. To get that fix now I'm just pushed into the arms of competing games!

at the 24:25 mark on the right side of the screen an experience window pops up with 2 values (a red and a blue icon) any idea what these represent?

watching from Seville, Spain 😎 - excited for this !

The Eikon combat reminds me of playing as the Tailed Beasts in the Naruto 3D fighting games. Pretty cool

This game is one of two reasons I got a ps5 I’m glad you got the chance to play and show off what we’re all eagerly awaiting.

I’ve been with this channel since the beginning and you never disappoint. Once again QUALITY content mate!

I love this youtuber, my man always goes into amazing detail. 👏 keep it up brother

Wow, Square Enix must be proud of what they have made so far to hand it over to FFU, being the lore and worldbuilding granularity king. Congrats on getting the exclusive play

Hopefully there won't be too many ★ Cinematic Strikes, or at least not just ones that are "here's a slowmo action sequence, u have 10 seconds to press one specific button to win" kinda QTEs. Dunno how to feel about the excesive amount of damage numbers popping on the screen during battle, but otherwise, it's looking pretty good. Here's hoping for more info on any sort of party system coming soon, or about the world structure since it's not gonna be open world.

Wonderful work on this preview!

Thank you very much for this video and the news relay! You guys are awesome

Good to know you guys enjoyed it. I know I'm ready for ff16

Well this eased my concerns greatly. :) Being able to enjoy the game without having to worry about button mashing is right up my alley~ That's a pretty great accessibility feature for me. And it sounds it has some great ones in general, that's really awesome.

Excellent coverage Union. Thank you.

finally! details on the combat system! keep doing what you're doing guys, great video as always

Considering that the Kingdom Hearts team helped out making this combat, I can only imagine at how fleshed out combat may feel in KH4

Thanks for this preview. Fingers crossed🤞 for the demo releasing in March

Thanks for this vid! I'm looking forward to this as a fan of both left and right FFs, but I was worried about 16 especially because I am BAD at action games; Automata was the first one I ever felt comfortable with because of how customizable it was. Hearing that 16 has quite a few similar features in place that you can pick and choose without just turning enemies into HP sponges or feeling like you're being babied the whole time is super reassuring!

Got the premium collectors edition pre ordered. To say um hyped about this game is an understatement.

3:50 Off topic but i would like to see someone do a "7 degrees of Kevin Bacon" JRPGs as a whole like this because of all of the mergers and people leaving companies in groups and getting hired at a new place together or starting their own place. Half of modern Final Fantasy came from people who worked on Chrono Cross, but half of that development team left to make Baten Kaitos and we get Xenoblade and Eternal Sonata from BK. Koudelka and by extension Shadow Hearts came from the Secret of Mana team. The Mana team also is responsible for Ever Oasis and the Zelda remakes on the 3DS. Mario RPGs can be traced back to FF Mystic Quest. Chrono Trigger being made by Dragon Quest staff and DQ games being developed by different developers really opens a can of worms. Heartbeat made DQ6&7 and Heartbeat dissolved into Genius Sonority who made Pokemon Colleuim and XD. Level 5 did DQ8&9 and Akihiro Hino did direct them so we get Ni No Kuni from that. My head hurts now.

Thanks for the video. Very informative.

Very interesting.....I like how spells can be used in a more melee-fashion when you're closing in on your enemies (they can also be sort of spammed, like with the *"Fire"* spell. Instead of having a specific animation for it like in past turn-based Final Fantasy games and even something like *2020's Final Fantasy VII Remake,* as long as you keep holding and/or pressing the mapped button, you can keep using such a spell freely from what I've seen so far), and how much the new *"Limit Break"* system within this game reminds me of the *"Trance"* system from *2000's Final Fantasy IX.* Instead of being a one-and-done move, it's now a meter that depletes as Clive and his attacks are now more stronger than ever before; the only difference from Trance is that he doesn't physically *transform* like the party members in Final Fantasy IX do when undergoing a Trance (at least from what I've seen so far), but the fact that the Limit Break system in Final Fantasy XVI reminds me of that is a good sign.....I'm impressed with what I've seen so far.

Really excited for this one. One thing I'm curious about is how the world is connected. Is it stage-based? Or will it have zones, like Tales of Arise?

I really like the variable difficulty mechanics. I remember playing Bravely Default for the first time where you can configure basic aspects of gameplay like choosing the frequency of random encounters or turning off all XP gains to decide just how strong you want to be at the moment, I couldn't help but think that these are the kinds of features contemporary games should strive to implement as to remove potential tedium without flattening the difficulty entirely. It's about respecting the player, I guess, especially their time.

This game looks absolutely phenomenal!!!! June can’t get here soon enough? Dis they happen to mention if there will be a demo available for the consumers sometime soon?

Really enjoy your takes here, very unique approach and thorough. Happy to see someone carving their own path opposed to following preview gaming scripts 🔥

Very happy to see. As soon as I see combat I knew we were in for a treat.

I’m (kind of) excited for the game but I feel like I’m going to miss the “team” format. There is something about saving the world with your friends that means something to me. I also feel like there is a lack of femininity and feminine energy in the gameplay I’ve seen. I felt that way too with 15, which had two girls really - the “love” who was basically irrelevant and Cindy who was basically a hooters mechanic. I need strong female warriors in my games. I need characters like Tifa…like Yuna, and Rikku. I need Lightning. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Thank you for this - even though I won't be playing it until it releases on PC (2024?), I'm very excited about it, and that's sure to only increase.

Always the go to channel for anything Final Fantasy

Thanks for the breakdown, the battle system seems to be very fun and satisfying to play! :) On top of a promising story setting, characters, lore and music... I feel like FFXVI might become my favorite FF (FFX still wins for now).

my one biggest concern was that it just wouldn't feel like a final fantasy game, but you know what, from what you showed in this video, I really think they have cleverly managed to hit the sweet spot of capturing the feel of a final fantasy game, but still like a modern version

Really solid video that breaks things down in a much more granular way than a lot of the other coverage out there. it's also really nice to see more positive coverage from avowed long time fans of the series. So many people who are complaining about the direction of FF16 are trying to create and promote this narrative that ALL of the long time FF fans don't like the direction FF16 is taking or that ANYONE who's a real/true fan of the series doesn't like the action game style gameplay. As someone who has literally played and enjoyed the series since FF1 (even if I haven't loved every single game), I'm really looking forward to FF16 and am actually glad they're making the game they want to make instead of trying to remake the same thing they made 30 years ago.

Awesome vid! Can't wait for this game.

Really disappointed they think turn based is dead, but still looking forward to 16 regardless

Thank you for the in-dept info, I'll differently wait tell it's on a big sale to pickup but I'll give it a chance when it's cheap. I know I'm apparently extremely in the minority, But I miss the turn based FF games.

is there gear system with visual difference? like different armor and weapon that we can change?

Just over 3 minutes in and I paused the video to like and comment! Your channel is amazing!

Once this hits PC I'll be all over it

QTE get a bad wrap. They work best in games like Bayonneta and Asura wrath. Sounds like they have been done justice in this game can't wait

Do you know what performance options there are? For example, is there a 4k/30fps and 1080p/60fps (or ideally 4k/60fps, though I'm not expecting that)?

The item description is so Koji, love it

Excellent video. I don't care for action RPGs, so this will be the first numbered final fantasy I'll skip. At least Square gave us OT2. I'm good.

Going bold instead of just reading what works has always been what they've done. I still remember a friend who thought the way FF7 turned out meant the death of FF, and loved Phantasy Star IV more. So there has dissenting opinions even back then, much as people might not believe it to be true. Every FF has its own camp of fans, that is just an unavoidable truth, no matter how reviled some entries have been to the "wider" fanbase. I just hope they continue to make bold new games for now and forevermore. And I hope your channel will be there for as long as you're able to give us the goods on how this series changes and evolves.

Definitive channel for Final Fantasy news and reviews. You always tell it how it is but from a point of admiration for the series.

Great review. Thank you!

I'm glad you said what you did at the top about the Final Fantasy franchise history of evolution. Following the news about this game, I've had my reservations (and still do) about the story and combat. They aren't what I liked about the Final Fantasy games that I love. But I am trying hard to keep in mind that FFX, my favorite game of all the video games, was made by a group of talented creatives looking to rethink what a Final Fantasy could mean, and here with XVI, we have a team of people who have proven their talent tacking a similar mission. This game may not be what I want most out of a Final Fantasy, but that doesn't mean it won't be good.

I’ve played every and beaten every Final Fantasy game from the original on NES up to FFXV on my PS4, and I absolutely love the way XVI is shaping up. I can’t wait to see what they have to offer.

Best breakdown I’ve seen/heard yet bc it covers what it was like to play the game, but also emphasizes the context of how it slots into FF as a series and its evolution on the whole. Thank you! This has somewhat eased my apprehension as a traditional FF and turn based fan who’s played the modern games and been disappointed by 13 and 15 specifically in both gameplay and narrative structure (also didn’t love DMCV even tho I do like action games/RPGs like NieR, Souls etc.). The depth and variety of the combat looks promising, I only hope the character development and story cohesion is there to support a grand, heartfelt FF adventure like I grew up loving. If this game hits, it could do what FFXV tried to in bringing new fans who aren’t into turn based games or even JRPGs into the franchise as a wholly new modern entry (and not a - albeit fantastic - remake/reimagining like FFVIIR)

It’s really cool seeing Yoshi’s work translated from a MMO to a hack and slash

So playstation access did a similar video today. While their video was fun they are obviously biased since their job is to hype the project and move units. Your review is unbiased. It's nice to know things are meeting your approval as a fan of the series

Was hoping to hear more about the party system or lack thereof. Is there any control or interactivity with folks like cid?

It looks amazing, I cannot wait! June needs to hurry up and get here already lol

I was excited already but this made me SO excited. Like "go out and get a ps5 now just to be ready for this game on release" excited.

As a longtime fan of the series I have always found that each entry having its own vision and differing from each other is one of its greatest strengths. Maybe it sometimes hits a little different but I appreciate it all the same.

So stoked for this!

Phoenix, Titan and Garuda are going to be this game's Trickster, Royal Guard and Devil Bringer styles. That's actually pretty awesome

As a Final Fantasy fan I love to see ever changing gameplay of the series and how it evolves. FFXVI seems very interesting because looks like the evolution of both FFVII R and FFXV and I'm all here for it

Excellent detail and analysis as always. It seems Square learned a great deal from the marketing fiasco of FFXV and are looking to finally leverage earned media from our beloved community. This channel is excellent and fully encapsulates the enthusiasm of the Final Fantasy community.

When you talked about how the CD is on the summon skills, I realized, that 16 is a single player 14 summoner adventure.

What great video. Awesome Job!

Square Ex.. we want you to push boundaries when working on FF projects... If you can't, go join the Dragon Quest team... Lol I just find it refreshing how Dragon Quest has stayed as true to its roots as it has. When i want an actual turn based rpg like i grew up with, i can rely on DQ.

Thk goodness there are game like tales of n trial

Very well done. This is a far superior method of building hype to a game instead of just showing story beats and cutscenes. This game looks like it will be very fun. Stay Friendly And Neighborly.

This is exciting. The combat looks like it can be as deep and rewarding as you make it. Annoyingly wont have much to to play on release but will at a later date

Regarding the "JRPG term controversy", I found an interesting take on Maximillian Dood's reaction video that I wanted to share with you: "About the JRPG thing, I have a bit of a unique perspective I'd like to share. I lived 8 years in Japan. Went over there to try and break into the industry... actually did it for a couple of years and worked at a very well-known company for a couple of years (not Square Enix). Anyway, I think the term JRPG was taken as offensive for Japanese developers for a number of reasons. It's not as simple as the negative connotations that sprung up at around the same time as FFXIII, though that's obviously a big part of it. What happens is that, for the longest time (and even today), they've used the term "youge" as a derogative for western games. They didn't even consider them "games" proper (see, "videogames", according to them, were "a Japanese thing" -- and I'm quoting Hideo Kojima here.) I was actually shocked at how disdainful the term "youge" actually was when I went there. Well, right at the time FFXIII came out, the Japanese game industry was declining rapidly in terms of market share. They needed to sell games in the west to survive, but they weren't doing it well. Today, the Japanese game industry is a cell-phone gacha fest, a shadow of its former self. Western developers were putting out console games, good ones, and selling gang-busters. And now Japanese developers were like "how are we supposed to compete with this? It's not fair! We don't have the budget, we don't have the sales!" And it's against this backdrop that the term JRPG began to be used. Regardless of the negative connotations it had over here, over there it was much worse, because 1) they were losing literally 90% of the market, 2) they'd always thought of themselves as making RPGs and 3) they had the term "youge" as an analog. So they automatically assumed that JRPG was as bad as "youge", and, especially as you're losing almost all of your market, that's gotta sting. What I think is that the term was being used negatively by some people at the start, but not all of them, and certainly it's become purely descriptive nowadays. But in Japan they resented the rebranding of the genre, and assumed it was like when they rebranded western games as "youge". The Japanese game industry narrative is this: "RPGs" were not intuitive and could not be enjoyed by a mainstream audience until the Great Yuji Horii came and made Dragon Quest; and they were a hit in Japan but not in the West, because the games were, in FF creator Hironobu Sakaguchi's words, too "complex" for Western audiences (nevermind that the genre originated in the West - but prejudice is never rational). However, thanks to the cutting-edge graphics pioneered by Final Fantasy, they started selling in the West, too. "Final Fantasy" is the big Japanese RPG franchise that sells in the West, too. Anyway, Yoshi P in particular has to have taken the JRPG classification personally, as he was one of the few Japanese gamers who actually did appreciate Western games. He played the original Ultima Online! He played Everquest! So for him to hear that term, and having "youge" as a point of reference, it must have really been awful. Its...complicated... Japanese society as a whole has both disdain and admiration -both superiority and inferiority complexes- with regards to the West. I would have trouble understanding it if I did not have very specific point of reference myself. Well, here's hoping someone takes the trouble to read this post, and that it helps shed some light on the issue."

30:36 Although the developers working on Final Fantasy 6 ~ Just a tiny error there. Overall it's looking promising, even though I'd hoped quick time events had died a horrible death many years ago it's not something that's ever been a big issue. Only releasing for PS5 on the other hand, well... I don't pre-order anyway, so we'll see what happens with other releases.

This and ff7 rebirth are my most anticipated games in a long time

All I know I haven’t been this hyped for characters/story in a Final Fantasy main entry (aside from FFXIV) in many decades.

I’m sold. Great video.

This is pretty much what I was expecting, a very good action game that I'm not at all interested in playing. The only plot twist is the "easy mode" rings. Very good review though