Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
It feels like most people only played FFVII and in their minds all FF should look like that.
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FINAL FANTASY XVI | Prologue DEMO
- Thread starter Perfo
- Start date
Hugare
Member
Finished the second part of the demo now
It kinda soured my experience a bit, tbh
By default, the game equips you with the ring that let you know when an enemy is going to strike so you can evade, and well, thats not a good sign.
Many enemies at the same time + eikon powers that fill the screen with particles + dark dungeon is a bad combination for combat.
I'm going to be honest, most of the time I wasnt seeing shit of what was happening on the screen. If it wasnt for the ring indicating that I would receive a hit, I would have taken so much damage that I wasnt expecting.
Without the ring, you have to pay atention to the enemy movement in order to predict his attack. Try doing that with 5 enemies at the same time when shit is going down inside a dark room.
Maybe they could have put an indicator like in the GOW games, I dont know. With crowds, the ring is absolutely necessary. Which sucks, cause it feels like cheating.
Everything changed with Benedikta tho. Only one enemy to focus on, you can pay atention to her attacks. I unequiped the ring and kicked her ass. Was glorious and very satisfying.
But yeah, crowd fights are kinda broken, imo.
EDIT: Also, not being able to customize the UI is a bummer. I havent searched for it on the first part of the demo 'cause I wasnt having problems with the combat, then I searched for it in the second part, and yeah, cant turn off all those numbers and etc. Bummer.
It kinda soured my experience a bit, tbh
By default, the game equips you with the ring that let you know when an enemy is going to strike so you can evade, and well, thats not a good sign.
Many enemies at the same time + eikon powers that fill the screen with particles + dark dungeon is a bad combination for combat.
I'm going to be honest, most of the time I wasnt seeing shit of what was happening on the screen. If it wasnt for the ring indicating that I would receive a hit, I would have taken so much damage that I wasnt expecting.
Without the ring, you have to pay atention to the enemy movement in order to predict his attack. Try doing that with 5 enemies at the same time when shit is going down inside a dark room.
Maybe they could have put an indicator like in the GOW games, I dont know. With crowds, the ring is absolutely necessary. Which sucks, cause it feels like cheating.
Everything changed with Benedikta tho. Only one enemy to focus on, you can pay atention to her attacks. I unequiped the ring and kicked her ass. Was glorious and very satisfying.
But yeah, crowd fights are kinda broken, imo.
EDIT: Also, not being able to customize the UI is a bummer. I havent searched for it on the first part of the demo 'cause I wasnt having problems with the combat, then I searched for it in the second part, and yeah, cant turn off all those numbers and etc. Bummer.
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Little Chicken
Member
I'm not really enjoying myself and wondering why I pre-ordered the deluxe edition. Same mistake made with FFXV!
I think perhaps it's because I'm tired. I should try again later.
I think perhaps it's because I'm tired. I should try again later.
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Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
I think they equipped the ring automatically in the demo for people who wanted to do the "story focused" option. Easier to get people who don't want it to remove it and get on with their playthrough, than people who need it not having it and complaining that the game is too hard.
But you're right though. Dodging attacks from off screen that don't have their path/hit area telegraphed is going to be a pain in the ass. Although they did say at the event that this dungeon is the darkest area in the whole game, it was a bit much. Glad it's a one off.
Overall I liked the demo a lot. Going to play through it at least once more before the game comes out.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Stop preordering games.
Dr. Claus
Vincit qui se vincit
I removed it immediately and never had an issue understanding where the enemies were in relation to Clive nor when I should dodge. Git gud scrub.
Plus the enemies are clearly separated from the environment due to their color design so you can always tell where they are in relation to the rest of the environment.
You have crowd control abilities, wide area damage, and many ways to keep an eye on large groups. This isn't rocket science.
There is an indicator when you are about to get hit by an enemy off screen.
I do get the feeling that the one on one fights are going to get as insane on Hard/Final Fantasy mode as say the Organization 13 optional fights in KH3/2
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
MISTER INVEIGLER
Member
Yeah If you don't equip that ring, you're pretty much asking to to be hit with random off screen magic attacks.
The boss fights are the same. Whenever I go in limit breaker I can't see any attacks from the enemy because of all of the particles on the screen.
I didn't have that ring auto equipped. What difficulty did you select?
Otherwise I don't necessarily disagree with anything. I think the combat has potential to be fun but yeah some of the crowd fights weren't great. Also the locked on camera angle was weird.
Performance is also terrible, hopefully a day one patch will fix that.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
No day one patch for this game. What mode did you play on?
I'm hoping. that it was due to the cramped nature of the level. Fighting a bunch of goblins wasn't that bad. It was the castle that was an issue.
Hugare
Member
What indicator? Can you easily get an example?
Maybe I skipped this part during the tutorial or something
Will play it again to see if I get it this time
And I'm no scrub. I only took one hit from Benedikta
Bosses are awesome. Just the right amount of challenge.
Hugare
Member
I didnt choose Story mode
Its equiped there by default when you enter the "Eikon Challenge" (whatever that name was)
Performance mode - felt like it was jumping between 30 and 60.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
Same. I hope a day one patch addresses this. I mean, I pre-ordered and will play anyway. Graphics mode is a solid 30fps.
Dr. Claus
Vincit qui se vincit
What indicator? Can you easily get an example?
Maybe I skipped this part during the tutorial or something
Will play it again to see if I get it this time
And I'm no scrub. I only took one hit from Benedikta
Bosses are awesome. Just the right amount of challenge.
Lol, the git gud scrub was just a joking comment. Not to be taken seriously.
I don't have any photos nor am I near my console atm. Currently at work - I will see about making some when I get back home.
20cent
Banned
Soken on
Yeah...that QTE system for jumping/climbing/ducking is unacceptable since 2010
semiconscious
Member
or perhaps it's because final fantasy's become tired?...
as uninspired a first couple hours of a final fantasy game as i can recall experiencing: strong on the feels (to the point of overdose), & severely short on the charm/humor. not really impressed with the protagonist (again, a prince), or the combat, either (especially the stagger break mechanic). hey, i gave it a shot, &, while i'm happy for everyone loving it, i'm personally out. have fun!...
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SuperSaiyanWithDreads
Banned
Performance is ass, resolution is all over the place, textures is ass, story is not drawing my attention, didn’t enjoy and won’t be buying
TheAmazingSpiderMan
Member
Demo and eikons challenge was amazing, I was so frustrated when it said “Thank you for playing” 22nd June can’t come soon enough!
Dr. Claus
Vincit qui se vincit
Story isn't drawing your attention? Performance is ass?
I don't think you actually played this demo.
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
Ah. I will check out that mode in my next playthrough in a few minutes.
Edit: I forgot! They did address this. It is 60fps in combat, but 30 during normal traversal.
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nikos
Member
Played through the demo today. Enjoyed it but the console limitations are very apparent and really a shame.
I'm sure it'll come to PC eventually but I'm not going to wait. Especially when ultlrawide support, or a good port altogether, isn't guaranteed.
Not a huge fan of the setting, especially compared to previous entries, but I can get over that. I'm sure we'll see some varied environments. Soundtrack is already really good. Combat is fun and the characters are better, so far, than I thought they'd be.
I'm sure it'll come to PC eventually but I'm not going to wait. Especially when ultlrawide support, or a good port altogether, isn't guaranteed.
Not a huge fan of the setting, especially compared to previous entries, but I can get over that. I'm sure we'll see some varied environments. Soundtrack is already really good. Combat is fun and the characters are better, so far, than I thought they'd be.
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Arsic
Loves his juicy stink trail scent
It is not that. That was a preview demo.
The final product here is clearly trying to do 60fps always in performance mode. I myself only had a few hitches doing it.
Also, there is no day one patch. Devs confirmed this.
SuperSaiyanWithDreads
Banned
Racism
Lil_Bambino98 on youtube I uploaded the hour (processing) or you can check my psn, I have no need to lie. Literally, when fighting the swamp monster I dropped to 20fps. the story is a typical pseudo-fantasy world where only the lightest-skinned people exist and have to fight against evil because the character is supposed to be some pseudo-Lord.
Story isn't drawing your attention? Performance is ass?
I don't think you actually played this demo.
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Nautilus
Banned
Played the demo and I have gotta say, this is a very good game. Let's start with the positives:
- The game is is beautiful. Not the best looking game out there, and outside the cutscenes NPCs can look weird at times, but beautiful nonetheless.
- The story is shaping up to be the strongest aspect of the game. Very well told,. and is really intriging. Its really well written too, I just don't get where this is better written than previous FF games(As some suggested), and FF 7 Remake was well written as well as this game(Actually prefer that game in this regard)
- The combat system is also really good. Its not fantastic by any means(Again, FF 7 Remake combat system is miles better and the best new combat system in 10 years), but its surprisingly fun. One gripe though is the completely unnecessary QTEs. I get it, they are flashy anmd nice to see, but they are braindead easy, and honestly just gives you a free hit, which further adds the credence that the game may be too easy. QTE for enviroment prompts is especially dumb.
Now for the negatives:
- Minor gripes: The game has no mana system or something that limits how many times you can use your abilities. That may be not be an issue through the game, but at least for now I fear that this may kind of make normal attacks redundant when you can simply spam abilities, since they are far stronger and run simply on a cooldown. My other gripe is that this game may be too easy, as potions are VERY plentiful.(And I heard someone say that even boss has checkpoints in them). And one thing that bothers me: Its fine with potions having a limit on how many you can carry them, but not having a stash that you can keep them, and any surplus you get is used instantly just rubs my survival horror instincts the wrong way lol.
- It seems that there is no map, at least early on, which brings me to my first major gripe: I think exploration will be very light in this game. And for a JRPG, FF especially, that tends to be a very negative thing. Plus, devs said this game was meant to be more of a joy ride, so it further adds credance that this won't have much exploration in it.
- The tone does not fit FF at all. Not one bit. People cursing, GOT-esque style, blood and (implied) decapitations. I don't know, maybe its just me that has quite enough of that type of media this past 5 to 10 years, but I very much prefer the way that FF tells its stories. And while this is not bad, its just not the excellence that is expected out of FF.
- The setting is also in that realm of "not bad, but not memorable at all". Don't get me wrong, I like this "generic" fantasy setting for the right game, but when it comes to FF and the multiple games that simply had much more interesting setting, presentations, and vistas, XVI just ends up being unremarkable.
- The Eikon battle are great eye candies, but that's it honestly. They are fun, they were fun in the demo, but I feel like they would be better off just being a well made cutscene. They are stupidly easy, and they may feed into the felling of the game playing tiself for you, being too easy and all that.
All in all, I think this will be a great game. Which just makes me be dissapointed in Square even more. Why call this a Final Fantasy game? This would have been an EXTREMELY solid first entry for a new IP. Hell, this is what Forspoken should have been. It would have probably kickstarted a whole new franchise for Square. And not only nobody would have had an issue with it, bypassing the whole controversy, but everyone would have been hyped for an exciting new IP. But as a FF game, not only it unnecessarily divides the fanbase even further, but also it will be innevitably compared to previous entries(legendary games), and it will fall short of them.
Its just a stupid situation that Square put themselves in. Like I said, this should review at least around the 83 metacritic, and the demo has convinced me to buy this at a deep discount, but this is no FF. At this point Square doesn't know what they want FF to be, and its just sad to see them squander a historic franchise and a new IP in one fell swoop.
- The game is is beautiful. Not the best looking game out there, and outside the cutscenes NPCs can look weird at times, but beautiful nonetheless.
- The story is shaping up to be the strongest aspect of the game. Very well told,. and is really intriging. Its really well written too, I just don't get where this is better written than previous FF games(As some suggested), and FF 7 Remake was well written as well as this game(Actually prefer that game in this regard)
- The combat system is also really good. Its not fantastic by any means(Again, FF 7 Remake combat system is miles better and the best new combat system in 10 years), but its surprisingly fun. One gripe though is the completely unnecessary QTEs. I get it, they are flashy anmd nice to see, but they are braindead easy, and honestly just gives you a free hit, which further adds the credence that the game may be too easy. QTE for enviroment prompts is especially dumb.
Now for the negatives:
- Minor gripes: The game has no mana system or something that limits how many times you can use your abilities. That may be not be an issue through the game, but at least for now I fear that this may kind of make normal attacks redundant when you can simply spam abilities, since they are far stronger and run simply on a cooldown. My other gripe is that this game may be too easy, as potions are VERY plentiful.(And I heard someone say that even boss has checkpoints in them). And one thing that bothers me: Its fine with potions having a limit on how many you can carry them, but not having a stash that you can keep them, and any surplus you get is used instantly just rubs my survival horror instincts the wrong way lol.
- It seems that there is no map, at least early on, which brings me to my first major gripe: I think exploration will be very light in this game. And for a JRPG, FF especially, that tends to be a very negative thing. Plus, devs said this game was meant to be more of a joy ride, so it further adds credance that this won't have much exploration in it.
- The tone does not fit FF at all. Not one bit. People cursing, GOT-esque style, blood and (implied) decapitations. I don't know, maybe its just me that has quite enough of that type of media this past 5 to 10 years, but I very much prefer the way that FF tells its stories. And while this is not bad, its just not the excellence that is expected out of FF.
- The setting is also in that realm of "not bad, but not memorable at all". Don't get me wrong, I like this "generic" fantasy setting for the right game, but when it comes to FF and the multiple games that simply had much more interesting setting, presentations, and vistas, XVI just ends up being unremarkable.
- The Eikon battle are great eye candies, but that's it honestly. They are fun, they were fun in the demo, but I feel like they would be better off just being a well made cutscene. They are stupidly easy, and they may feed into the felling of the game playing tiself for you, being too easy and all that.
All in all, I think this will be a great game. Which just makes me be dissapointed in Square even more. Why call this a Final Fantasy game? This would have been an EXTREMELY solid first entry for a new IP. Hell, this is what Forspoken should have been. It would have probably kickstarted a whole new franchise for Square. And not only nobody would have had an issue with it, bypassing the whole controversy, but everyone would have been hyped for an exciting new IP. But as a FF game, not only it unnecessarily divides the fanbase even further, but also it will be innevitably compared to previous entries(legendary games), and it will fall short of them.
Its just a stupid situation that Square put themselves in. Like I said, this should review at least around the 83 metacritic, and the demo has convinced me to buy this at a deep discount, but this is no FF. At this point Square doesn't know what they want FF to be, and its just sad to see them squander a historic franchise and a new IP in one fell swoop.
somesang
Member
Finished the demo. First hour I was not into it. Didn’t care about any of the characters, disappointed about the frame drops. Lots of “oh cool” moments but interest was waning.
Then the third act came and I was sold. Invested in Clive’s story, curious how the big bad will turn out, interested in seeing more combat, so many questions. Glad we get to continue the game right where the demo ends. English VA is decent but as a dumb American, it’s probably just the accents winning me over.
Then the third act came and I was sold. Invested in Clive’s story, curious how the big bad will turn out, interested in seeing more combat, so many questions. Glad we get to continue the game right where the demo ends. English VA is decent but as a dumb American, it’s probably just the accents winning me over.
Nautilus
Banned
While I liked XVI combat, FF 7 Remake is miles better in every regard. Why? Because FF XVI wasn't developed with being an FF game in mind, while FF 7 Remake was.
Sub_Level
wants to fuck an Asian grill.
This is the best shit I have played in a while. The old grand cinematic Final Fantasy from the ps1 days is back. Shadowbringers & Endwalker stories were great but end of the day they were limited by the MMO format. This on the other hand is pure big budget singleplayer indulgence. I can see many people not being into this type of game but to me its absolute kino.
edit: oh and yeah as others have mentioned Performance mode isnt great. Stick with graphics mode. More consistent fps & looks a lot better.
edit: oh and yeah as others have mentioned Performance mode isnt great. Stick with graphics mode. More consistent fps & looks a lot better.
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Vroadstar
Member
Yes, definitely not expected it being so hardcore- sex, blood and death in just a 2 hour demo of a final fantasy!
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
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Nautilus
Banned
?Jesus man
It’s okay to like it, my god…
I'm just giving my honest thought about it.
DownLikeBCPowder
Member
Okay, finished the demo and here are my final thoughts on it:
Visuals are nice - the game looks good overall. I played on graphics mode and encountered no real problems until the panzer dragoon portion at the end - there was some serious frame drops that even I noticed and I don't much care for frame rate, it was a bit jarring. I was surprised this was happening, I feel like the Ps5 should have been capable of what was on screen (two characters, some random pillars/infrastructure and generic abyss elsewise). But in general I like the animations, visual design, etc. It looks pretty good.
Plot seems interesting enough, the rogue element was a little heavy on the telegraphing I think, but fine and interested to see where things go from here.
Combat is OK. I strongly prefer FF VII remake combat best I can tell at the moment. I don't like that there is no resource consumption for magical attacks and instead we have summon-based cooldown abilities to swap around through. It isn't the end of the world and maybe it'll turn out just fine. I only peeked lightly into the battle aspect of the demo because I didn't want to jump far ahead in the plot, but I did a few battles and got my mind wrapped around it. I didn't find any of the encounters in the main portion of the demo to be challenging at all, it seems very easy to dodge or be out of the way of enemy attacks when they come and the repetition of just slowly chugging away at the stagger bar to do damage is a little boring, but I'm sure as the game goes on I'll have other abilities that make stagger easier to achieve depending on the enemy you are fighting, so I'm really not worried about that in the long run, just for the demo purposes it was a bit bland and unchallenging. As I've said before, FF is not known for difficulty, so I can't really hold it against it. I like potions being limited, but I didn't really have to use a potion the whole time, so I'm not sure how much value that adds to the strategy - I'm sure it will be more important later, but for the demo it's a non factor. Kills desire to explore what little there is to explore when you just find another potion that's automatically consumed because you already have too many. I worry strongly there will be very little exploration going on in the full game.
I don't really see the point of the big Eikon setpiece battles though - I think these would have been better left to cutscenes. Pressing triangle for 5 minutes while occasionally dodging did absolutely nothing for me and it wasn't even much of a visual spectacle as half was down a repetitive tunnel and the other was in a non-descript area of columns. I could do without it but I'm sure there will be some interesting happenings with it at certain points in the game that are cool.
I'm not excited about just clicking points on a map and going to those zones, I'd at least like something along the lines of FF X where there are zones between major areas, but I'm sure this will be better than it seems in the full game.
I really like the musical score quite a lot - hoping that it continues to be pretty excellent.
Overall I still want to play it, but not as hype as I had hoped for me personally.
Visuals are nice - the game looks good overall. I played on graphics mode and encountered no real problems until the panzer dragoon portion at the end - there was some serious frame drops that even I noticed and I don't much care for frame rate, it was a bit jarring. I was surprised this was happening, I feel like the Ps5 should have been capable of what was on screen (two characters, some random pillars/infrastructure and generic abyss elsewise). But in general I like the animations, visual design, etc. It looks pretty good.
Plot seems interesting enough, the rogue element was a little heavy on the telegraphing I think, but fine and interested to see where things go from here.
Combat is OK. I strongly prefer FF VII remake combat best I can tell at the moment. I don't like that there is no resource consumption for magical attacks and instead we have summon-based cooldown abilities to swap around through. It isn't the end of the world and maybe it'll turn out just fine. I only peeked lightly into the battle aspect of the demo because I didn't want to jump far ahead in the plot, but I did a few battles and got my mind wrapped around it. I didn't find any of the encounters in the main portion of the demo to be challenging at all, it seems very easy to dodge or be out of the way of enemy attacks when they come and the repetition of just slowly chugging away at the stagger bar to do damage is a little boring, but I'm sure as the game goes on I'll have other abilities that make stagger easier to achieve depending on the enemy you are fighting, so I'm really not worried about that in the long run, just for the demo purposes it was a bit bland and unchallenging. As I've said before, FF is not known for difficulty, so I can't really hold it against it. I like potions being limited, but I didn't really have to use a potion the whole time, so I'm not sure how much value that adds to the strategy - I'm sure it will be more important later, but for the demo it's a non factor. Kills desire to explore what little there is to explore when you just find another potion that's automatically consumed because you already have too many. I worry strongly there will be very little exploration going on in the full game.
I don't really see the point of the big Eikon setpiece battles though - I think these would have been better left to cutscenes. Pressing triangle for 5 minutes while occasionally dodging did absolutely nothing for me and it wasn't even much of a visual spectacle as half was down a repetitive tunnel and the other was in a non-descript area of columns. I could do without it but I'm sure there will be some interesting happenings with it at certain points in the game that are cool.
I'm not excited about just clicking points on a map and going to those zones, I'd at least like something along the lines of FF X where there are zones between major areas, but I'm sure this will be better than it seems in the full game.
I really like the musical score quite a lot - hoping that it continues to be pretty excellent.
Overall I still want to play it, but not as hype as I had hoped for me personally.
James Sawyer Ford
Gold Member
“It’ll get at least a 83 meta”
“I’ll buy it…but only at a deep discount”
“This should be a new IP”
Trying too hard my man. This is a final fantasy game through and through. It’s okay for them to reinvent themselves
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