Evolution or Identity Crisis?
I’ve always loved Final Fantasy. It’s not just a series of games—it’s this unexpected, twisted adventure that I can dive into whenever I need to escape, to feel comfortable, to get lost in a world filled with unforgettable characters and deep, engaging stories. Whether it’s the grand political struggles of Final Fantasy Tactics, the emotional journeys of Final Fantasy VI and IX, or the massive, open-world freedom of Final Fantasy XV, there’s always been something magical about these games.
At its core, Final Fantasy has always been about reinvention, yet for decades, it still managed to keep a clear identity—strategic, party-based gameplay, deep RPG mechanics, vibrant worlds, and stories that made me actually care about the characters. Every game had its own unique feel—IV’s dramatic storytelling, VI’s diverse party and opera scene, VII’s cyberpunk fantasy mix, IX’s classic medieval charm—but no matter how different they were, they all still felt like Final Fantasy.
But these past few years? I can’t help but feel like Final Fantasy is losing itself.
Modern Final Fantasy What Are You?
Modern Final Fantasy games have had a hard time balancing evolution and tradition. Final Fantasy XV was a bold step into the action RPG genre, but at least it still felt like Final Fantasy. It had a party system, deep world-building, strategic elements in combat, and a real sense of adventure. It had flaws, sure—but you could still feel the heart of the series in it.
I know, Final Fantasy has always been a franchise built on reinvention, yet for decades, it maintained a clear identity that made it stand apart from other RPGs. The series consistently evolved while holding onto core design elements such as strategic, party-based gameplay, deep RPG mechanics, expansive worlds, and narratives that engaged players through their choices and consequences. Classics like Final Fantasy IV, VI, VII, and IX all had their own unique styles, yet each remained undeniably Final Fantasy in both gameplay and spirit.
Then comes Final Fantasy XVI, and honestly? It doesn’t just stray from the Final Fantasy formula—it outright abandons it. No party system, no meaningful RPG mechanics, barely any exploration, and the combat feels hack-and-slash action game than anything remotely Final Fantasy. The world feels empty, the side quests are dull, and the RPG depth is practically nonexistent. It’s like the game is using the Final Fantasy name for the brand recognition but isn’t actually trying to be a Final Fantasy game.
I get it—Square Enix wants to attract new players, and they don’t want the series to feel outdated. But change for the sake of change isn’t always a good thing, and when you strip away everything that made the series special, you’re left with something that just doesn’t feel right.
As a longtime fan who cherishes both the classic and modern titles—including my personal favorites, Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth—it’s disheartening to see the series lose its identity. While change is necessary, it shouldn’t come at the cost of what made Final Fantasy special in the first place.
What Defines a Final Fantasy Game?
The Final Fantasy franchise has always been about innovation, yet it thrived because it built upon a solid foundation that defined its identity. Across multiple generations, core Final Fantasy elements remained intact, ensuring that no matter how different the settings and battle systems were, the games still felt like part of the same series.
1. Establish Your Party! Strategy Time
One of the most defining aspects of Final Fantasy has always been party-based combat. Whether it was turn-based, ATB (Active Time Battle), or a modern real-time system, the presence of a diverse cast of playable characters with distinct roles added depth and strategic complexity to battles.
- Final Fantasy VI had a large roster of unique characters, each with their own special mechanics.
- Final Fantasy VII introduced Materia, allowing for incredible customization while keeping each character’s personality intact.
- Final Fantasy IX embraced a classic Job System approach, ensuring every party member had a defined role with strategic advantages and weaknesses.
Even Final Fantasy XV, despite its real-time action approach, retained party elements by allowing direct control over Noctis and strategic coordination with Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus. Players could swap to different characters in the Royal Edition, essentially offering a modernized Job System with different playstyles.
2. Deep RPG and Be Fancy!
Customization has always been a staple of the series, allowing players to shape their experience based on preferred strategies.
- Final Fantasy IV-VI had structured character roles but still offered plenty of ability customization.
- Final Fantasy VII‘s Materia System allowed for extensive build variety.
- Final Fantasy IX‘s ability-learning system from gear made equipment meaningful beyond just stats.
Even modern titles like Final Fantasy XV provided deep progression mechanics, skill trees, magic crafting, and weapon customization to encourage player choice. However, Final Fantasy XVI strips almost all of this away, reducing character growth to a linear, basic skill tree with no real build variety.
3. Explore and Explore…
Exploration has always been a critical part of Final Fantasy. The best games in the series featured large, interconnected worlds filled with secrets, towns, side quests, and hidden lore.
- Final Fantasy VII featured a vast overworld filled with mini-games, secret locations, and optional characters.
- Final Fantasy IX provided one of the most vibrant fantasy worlds, brimming with personality and adventure.
- Final Fantasy XV took exploration to the next level with a massive open world, letting players travel freely, hunt monsters, and uncover hidden dungeons.
In contrast, Final Fantasy XVI’s world is barren, filled with empty fields and dull, repetitive side quests that offer little incentive for exploration. Instead of feeling like a grand adventure, it feels like a linear hack-and-slash game forced into an RPG label.
4. Good Narrative Comes With Feels!
Storytelling has always been central to Final Fantasy, but it was never meant to come at the expense of gameplay.Games like Final Fantasy VI and VII proved that narrative and gameplay can coexist in a way that keeps players engaged, involved, and emotionally invested.
Final Fantasy XVI, however, leans too heavily on cutscenes, leaving little room for meaningful player engagement.While its story has interesting ideas, it lacks meaningful character arcs, consequences for actions, and an immersive world to support the plot. Instead of building on the deep narratives of past titles, FFXVI sacrifices player involvement for long, non-interactive sequences.
Misunderstanding Modern Try- Final Fantasy XV
Despite its divisive reception, Final Fantasy XV succeeded in modernizing the series while keeping key Final Fantasy traditions alive.Despite its divisive reception, Final Fantasy XV actually succeeded in something that many modern Final Fantasy games have struggled with—it modernized the series while still keeping its core identity intact.
At its heart, Final Fantasy has always been about friendship, struggle, and adventure, and XV managed to bring those themes into a fresh, open-world action RPG setting. Noctis and his brothers-in-arms—Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto—weren’t just party members; they were family. The game wasn’t just about a prince on a journey; it was about the bond between these characters, how they relied on each other, how they laughed together, how they struggled together. This brotherhood was the emotional core of the game, something that felt completely in line with Final Fantasy’s long-standing tradition of powerful character-driven narratives.
And yes, Final Fantasy XV took a huge leap into the action RPG genre, but it did so without sacrificing the series’ soul. The open-world exploration felt freeing in a way that no other Final Fantasy had done before. Combat, while more action-heavy, still allowed for strategy through character switching, weapon selection, and magic use—giving players room to experiment and adapt. It may not have had the traditional job system, but the ability to swap characters mid-fight added a layer of depth that kept combat engaging.
It wasn’t perfect—the story had pacing issues, and the game’s second half felt rushed—but Final Fantasy XV was still a true Final Fantasy game at its core. It gave us a deeply emotional story rooted in classic Final Fantasy values, while also bringing in modern gameplay innovations that kept it fresh. It proved that Final Fantasy could evolve without losing its identity.
And that’s exactly why Final Fantasy XVI’s drastic departure is so frustrating. But first, let’s look at Final Fantasy’s core values and how they can be found in Final Fantasy XV.
1. Be Your Brothers
While the base game only allowed direct control of Noctis, the Royal Edition introduced the ability to switch between Prompto, Ignis, and Gladiolus, each with their own distinct fighting styles:
- Noctis played like an agile swordsman, able to warp around the battlefield.
- Gladiolus was a tank-like bruiser with powerful strikes.
- Ignis focused on tactical magic-infused combat.
- Prompto was a ranged specialist, adding shooter mechanics.
This effectively modernized the classic Job System, making each character feel unique while offering strategic variety.
2.If You Search You Will Find Suprise in EOS
FFXV’s world felt alive and immersive, filled with optional quests, hidden dungeons, superbosses, and deep lore. It retained the adventurous spirit of classic Final Fantasy games while embracing modern open-world design.
3. Engaging Endgame and Side Content
Unlike FFXVI’s dull mission structure, Final Fantasy XV had tons of meaningful side content:
- Massive superbosses like Adamantoise.
- Secret dungeons with high-level challenges.
- Customizable weapons, new abilities, and hidden content that rewarded players for exploring.
Final Fantasy XV wasn’t perfect, but it was a true Final Fantasy experience that blended action, exploration, and RPG mechanics in a way that still felt authentic to the series.
4.Strong Character Arcs and Emotional Weight
Another key element that defines Final Fantasy is its character-driven storytelling. The series has always been about more than just saving the world—it’s about the relationships and struggles of the people involved.
FFXV focused on brotherhood and sacrifice, giving each party member real depth and development:
- Noctis grew from a reluctant prince into a true king, accepting his destiny.
- Gladiolus struggled with his role as a protector, balancing loyalty and tough love.
- Ignis made the ultimate sacrifice for his friends, showing unwavering dedication.
- Prompto faced his own identity crisis, overcoming deep personal insecurities.
Each character had an impact on the story, shaping Noctis’s journey and making the finale hit even harder. Every action, every sacrifice mattered, something Final Fantasy XVI completely lacked. Its story unfolded mostly through passive cutscenes, with little player-driven involvement or character evolution beyond Clive himself.
5. Change Your Weapon and Change The Job
Even though FFXV wasn’t a turn-based RPG, it still found ways to incorporate class variety through Noctis’s versatile combat system. Unlike FFXVI, which locks the player into a single character and limited Eikon abilities, FFXV allowed for true customization and strategic flexibility:
- Noctis could use every weapon type, changing his playstyle dynamically.
- Different weapons played like distinct job classes, from heavy-hitting greatswords to nimble daggers.
- Magic and Royal Arms abilities expanded tactical options.
- Gear, accessories, and food buffs allowed for RPG-like stat optimization, similar to older titles.
This meant players could experiment with different strategies, adjusting Noctis’s build based on their preferred combat style—something FFXVI completely abandoned.
6.Customization – Be Fancy and Strong
One of Final Fantasy’s underrated charms has always been customization—not just in stats but in appearance and role-playing elements. FFXV brought this into the modern era with:
- Alternate outfits that affected stats and offered buffs, just like classic Final Fantasy gear.
- Detailed weapon upgrades, adding more depth to combat progression.
- Cooking and survival mechanics, which weren’t just gimmicks but offered meaningful gameplay advantages.
Even something as simple as changing outfits to reflect the team’s journey added to the immersion—another detail missing in FFXVI, which had almost no customization or RPG depth beyond ability selection.
A Departure Too Far – Final Fantasy XVI
While Final Fantasy XV attempted to modernize the series while still retaining key aspects of its identity, Final Fantasy XVI took a drastically different approach—one that ultimately stripped away the essence of what made Final Fantasy special for decades. By shifting toward an almost purely action-oriented experience, it abandoned core franchise elements that defined the series for years.
No RPG & No Fancy Clothes
One of the defining traits of Final Fantasy has always been its deep RPG systems, allowing players to experiment with character builds, stat progression, and customization. From the Materia system in FFVII to the Job System in FFV and Tactics, the series has consistently provided players with meaningful ways to shape their party. Even Final Fantasy XV—despite its action-oriented combat—offered skill trees, magic crafting, weapon variety, and character progression.
In contrast, Final Fantasy XVI stripped away nearly all RPG elements. There are no skill trees, no party synergy mechanics, no equipment customization beyond minor stat boosts, and no meaningful progression choices. The game offers only a handful of accessories that provide minor passive buffs, but compared to previous entries, these feel incredibly shallow. The sense of player agency and strategic planning—once a hallmark of the series—is almost completely absent.
No Party – Only You and The Loyal Friend
Another major loss in Final Fantasy XVI is the absence of a real party system. While previous games allowed players to control and develop multiple characters with distinct abilities, Final Fantasy XVI locks you into playing only Clive Rosfield for nearly the entire game. Characters like Jill, Cid, and Torgal serve as AI-controlled allies, but they have no meaningful combat depth, no command options, and no development mechanics.
Even Final Fantasy XV, which had an action combat system, allowed players to control Noctis and switch between different weapons, as well as command Ignis, Prompto, and Gladiolus in battle. The ability to swap between characters added tactical depth and party synergy. Meanwhile, games like Final Fantasy VI, VII, IX, and X thrived on giving players a diverse cast of characters with different skills, classes, and abilities—something FFXVI completely disregards.
An Empty World and Dull Side Quests
Final Fantasy XVI promised an expansive world filled with lore-rich regions, but in reality, it delivered large, empty zones with little to do. Unlike the vibrant and explorable open world of Final Fantasy XV, which encouraged discovery and interaction with its various towns, outposts, and dungeons, FFXVI’s world feels lifeless.
Side quests—one of the biggest complaints from players—are repetitive and lack meaningful impact. Many of them boil down to mundane fetch quests or basic errands that fail to expand the world or develop the characters. Unlike The Witcher 3 or Baldur’s Gate 3, where side quests add depth to the world, FFXVI’s side missions feel like filler. Even worse, many of these side quests are placed at crucial story moments, disrupting the pacing and diluting the impact of major events.
No Strategy – Just Button Spams!
Combat in Final Fantasy XVI is flashy but shallow. While the game successfully delivers exhilarating spectacle, its actual mechanics are far simpler than past entries. The shift to a hack-and-slash system reminiscent of Devil May Cry or God of War removes the need for party synergy, elemental weaknesses, or turn-based strategy.
In previous Final Fantasy games, combat required careful planning—knowing when to use buffs, debuffs, healing, or special abilities. Even Final Fantasy XV included tactical elements like weapon-switching, teamwork-based attacks, and warp-strike positioning.
Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XVI offers little beyond dodging, mashing attack buttons, and occasionally using flashy Eikon abilities. Without status effects, elemental advantages, or meaningful enemy variety, combat becomes repetitive and one-dimensional. There are no unique builds or meaningful progression, making fights feel more like a flashy spectacle than a deeply engaging experience.
“Hey Player Look My Cinematic!”
The narrative in Final Fantasy XVI is ambitious and grand, but its execution leaves much to be desired. While the game takes inspiration from darker fantasy stories like Game of Thrones, it struggles with pacing, character development, and meaningful consequences.
Many major events unfold in long, non-interactive cutscenes, with no room for player choice Unlike Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which uses interactive storytelling, exploration, and party interactions to bring its world to life, Final Fantasy XVI often isolates the player from the world by relying too much on cinematics.
Additionally, side stories and character arcs rarely reach satisfying conclusions. Characters like Jill and Dion have compelling setups but are underdeveloped due to limited screen time. Unlike past Final Fantasy games, where characters evolved through gameplay and interactions, FFXVI relies too heavily on passive storytelling.
A Tale of Two Directions
Final Fantasy XV wasn’t a perfect game, but it understood what made Final Fantasy special. It modernized the series while staying true to its identity—offering an expansive world, deep RPG elements, strategic combat, and an emotional character-driven story.
Final Fantasy XVI, on the other hand, completely stripped away these elements, turning the series into a linear action game with minimal player choice, limited party interaction, and uninspired side content. Even Naoki Yoshida admitted that he wanted to move away from traditional RPG elements, but in doing so, he also lost what made Final Fantasy unique.
If Final Fantasy is to move forward, Square Enix needs to find a balance between tradition and innovation. Games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth prove that a modern Final Fantasy can embrace action gameplay while staying true to the heart of the series. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth proves that a modern Final Fantasy can stay true to its roots while evolving. By combining real-time action with strategic depth, a party system, and RPG mechanics, it sets the blueprint for how the series should move forward.
The next mainline game needs to learn from both the successes of Rebirth and try to stick Final Fantasy Cores like FFXV—and avoid the pitfalls of FFXVI.
Because at the end of the day, Final Fantasy isn’t just about flashy combat and cutscenes. It’s about epic journeys, deep characters, strategic gameplay, and immersive worlds. And that’s the Final Fantasy I want to see again.
Final Fantasy is a franchise with over 30 years of history, and it has the capability to deliver deep RPG mechanics while embracing modern action RPG elements. It’s time for Square Enix to bring Final Fantasy back—not just in name, but in spirit.
