Preview: Final Fantasy XVI is a bold new direction for the series
Enlarge / Get ready for a darker story than you might expect from the Final Fantasy franchise. (credit: Square Enix)
In so many ways, Final Fantasy XVI wants you to abandon everything you know about the franchise. It's an action RPG with a heavy emphasis on the action" part, built around only one playable character. It's a darker, more violent story that, by the developers' own admission, draws more from fantasy blockbusters in the West. And it's seemingly trying to deliver the type of game a modern audience expects. While each entry in the series has tried something new, Final Fantasy XVI is arguably the biggest departure thus far.
After getting a hands-on with a preview demo-and talking to the creative business Unit III development team about the story, structure, and content of the game-the series diehard in me is starting to make out the vision being constructed here. Final Fantasy XVIis a bombastic, aggressive spectacle with prestige-level production values and a striking, self-serious vibe. But more than anything, the playable demo has me largely convinced that this new gameplay formula is actually the right move for the franchise.
[Disclaimer: Square Enix asked us to specify that this preview demo was a special version made for the media to experience and content may differ from the final version.]