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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

“We had set the enemy strength a little low in the main game to ensure that as many players as possible would be able to reach the ending. But, from player reactions and streams, it seemed to me that we could maybe push that enemy strength a little higher."

 

[Maitre_Piccolo]

What the f, just put difficulty modes if you want to ensure as many players reach the end... Forcing all players to play on easy mode is dumb.

 

[Revolutionary]

“We had set the enemy strength a little low in the main game to ensure that as many players as possible would be able to reach the ending. "

Bitch please. Difficulty settings exist for a reason. Normal should never be easy.

The bigger concern for players completing the story should have been the pacing FFS.

 

[TheAssist]

sheesh, the instant negativity in here xD

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

Now maybe take that player feedback and make a REAL FINAL FANTASY next time.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

What the f, just put difficulty modes if you want to ensure as many players reach the end... Forcing all players to play on easy mode is dumb.

Yeah, it's confounding.

 

[th4tguy]

There are difficulty settings in the game. They are just adjusting them so each one is a bit more difficult than before.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

There are difficulty settings in the game. They are just adjusting them so each one is a bit more difficult than before.

Not really. There's easy and easier.

 

[th4tguy]

Not really. There's easy and easier.

There is normal and easy and then for ng+ a hard mode is unlocked.

 

[RoboFu]

Yeah most enemies were stupid chip damage. Granblue fantasy does this whole thing way better.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

There is normal and easy and then for ng+ a hard mode is unlocked.

Yeah - once you beat the 40-50 hour game. I don't want to play it again by that point. Same problem with VII Remake.

I don't have any problem with them putting even some kind of "baby" mode in a game where literally there is no difficulty within the gameplay, but they should have the opposite end of the spectrum as well. Especially in a game like this where a lot of the core focus is that combat system, it doesn't make sense.

 

[The Wheel of Fortune]

It’s funny that what almost prevented me from finishing the game was the horrendous pacing, then.

 

[Wandering Leopard]

I only have 2 issues with the game:

• we shouldn't need to unlock the hard mode, it should have been available from the start
• Some of the side quests weren't good enough and got tedious, but the hunts were fine because the game has good combat mechanics

In general, I love that SE are one of the few big developers that take risks with their major ips and every main FF is basically a new ip.

 

[th4tguy]

Yeah - once you beat the 40-50 hour game. I don't want to play it again by that point. Same problem with VII Remake.

I don't have any problem with them putting even some kind of "baby" mode in a game where literally there is no difficulty within the gameplay, but they should have the opposite end of the spectrum as well. Especially in a game like this where a lot of the core focus is that combat system, it doesn't make sense.

Agreed, hard mode shouldn’t be an unlock.

 

[Fbh]

I wouldn't be surprised if this obsession with making it accessible is one of the reasons it was so bland.
Maybe the character progression was so one note and basic to make it approachable to very casual players
Maybe the crafting was so basic and linear as to not "overwhelm" players.
Maybe most sidequests are so insanely basic so "everyone can complete them"
Maybe there's nothing to find in most locations so "no one misses out on cool content"

There is normal and easy and then for ng+ a hard mode is unlocked.

Except "normal" in this game is the equivalent of easy/casual/story mode in a lot of action games. And the only option you are given on your first playthrough is to make it even easier

 

[Neff]

We had set the enemy strength a little low in the main game to ensure that as many players as possible would be able to reach the ending

Ironic, because the lack of difficulty made the game so boring that I never saw the ending.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I wouldn't be surprised if this obsession with making it accessible is one of the reasons it was so bland.
Maybe the character progression was so one note and basic to make it approachable to very casual players
Maybe the crafting was so basic and linear as to not "overwhelm" players.
Maybe most sidequests are so insanely basic so "everyone can complete them"
Maybe there's nothing to find in most locations so "no one misses out on cool content"



Except "normal" in this game is the equivalent of easy/casual/story mode in a lot of action games. And the only option you are given on your first playthrough is to make it even easier

Honestly I don't think this is a "maybe" at all.

 

[balls of snow]

Maybe...just put in hard mode from the start instead of ng+.
Maybe.

 

[Fake]

This is the first Final Fantasy in the history that had a crisis of identity.

If there is a easy mode there also no reason to the game to be easy to begin with.

I guess making the game more 'accessible' was their step to the tomb. You should target your audience, aka FF fans, not new players. New players don't give a fuck about your franchise.

 

[cash_longfellow]

sheesh, the instant negativity in here xD

Every FF16 thread…it’s insane lol

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Every FF16 thread…it’s insane lol

I knew I shouldn't have posted this. But it's been shared everywhere else other than here on gaf.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

I love that SE are one of the few big developers that take risks with their major ips

every main FF is basically a new ip

 

[cash_longfellow]

I knew I shouldn't have posted this. But it's been shared everywhere else other than here on gaf.

Not your fault…it happens in almost every thread, not just FF16 thread..it’s just worse in the FF16 threads

 

[rkofan87]

dlc 2 when?????????????????????????????

 

[Arsic]

If they’re smart they’ll make the PC version have a hard mode open from the jump.

Even the hard mode upon beating the game is pointless because you are a beef bus then.

 

[Katatonic]

I just hope they keep the FFXVI template going in some form, at least as a spinoff.

 

[Atrus]

Since the DLC content occurs at the very end of the game, I’m sure the idea was to try and push as many people as possible to the end so they could sell more stuff. It just didn’t work.

There was no excuse to make “Story mode” the hardest difficulty with no option to make it harder. Even the “harder” dlc was a walk in the park.

 

[tommycronin]

In general, I love that SE are one of the few big developers that take risks with their major ips and every main FF is basically a new ip.

 

[Neilg]

There is normal and easy and then for ng+ a hard mode is unlocked.

the hard mode is even a notch below what i'd expect normal to be, and you dont get it until after you beat the game.
I fucking loved FF16, but the difficulty was a bit of a disaster. They should have leaned into the DMC influences and made it possible to play the main game from the start with higher difficulty and ranked scores, rather than making you beat the game, beat the game AGAIN, and then play each stage in the special score attack mode with the final, third high difficulty. Just give that to people right from the start if thats what they want, and if they don't, they won't pick it. such an easy solution because all of that was in the game already.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Imagine if they had a story mode difficulty, then easy, normal, hard, very hard, stupid hard as an unlock and flavor text Dominant as the hardest to unlock instead of locking you into easy for 50 hours of sewage and then hard(easier then easy) for another 50 hours.

And instead of equipping an item for easier mode you had two different levels of super easy with Assist and Full Assist mode if you wanted to make it a cakewalk.

Meanwhile Granblue all like "you can play whatever you want have fun champ" and "story done in 10 hours now you can play the game for reals".

Also Narmaya > Jill.

Hell Lyria > Jill.

 

[fart town usa]

I think the stagger system needs a complete overhaul, I'd say the same for FF7r.

The give and take of the stagger system in FFXIII has yet to be topped when it comes to subsequent FF stagger mechanics.

 

[Zephyranthes]

As good of a development team as Square CBU3 is, I do feel that sometimes they are too fearful of upsetting players when it comes to game difficulty. Over the past several years they have homogenized the jobs in FF14 based on their role, partially in response to player feedback that some were too difficult to understand. This does make it easier to learn new jobs, but the tradeoff is that they feel less unique. There is also a particular quest in the latest expansion that was designed to make the player feel weak and powerless in a way that aligned with the story context, but enough people complained about how hard it was, so they nerfed it to the point that the feeling has been mostly lost.

 

[Madflavor]

They should've had two difficulty modes from the start. Easy and Normal. Forcing only one difficulty mode and making it piss easy, was an incredibly stupid thing for them to do. I love the actual combat of the game, but it falls apart because there's no RPG mechanics and proper difficulty to support the combat and make it shine.

No buffs/debuffs, no elemental damage, no gear and set bonuses, no skill trees for you party members, it was just an incredibly backwards game. I'm pretty sure during development they thought the big set piece battles would carry this game hard. I'm replaying FFVII: Remake right now, and it's so fucking night and day the options and control you have to build your party members, compared to FFXVI. When Rebirth comes out it's going to really shine a light on FFXVI's shortcomings.

 

[MagiusNecros]

As good of a development team as Square CBU3 is, I do feel that sometimes they are too fearful of upsetting players when it comes to game difficulty. Over the past several years they have homogenized the jobs in FF14 based on their role, partially in response to player feedback that some were too difficult to understand. This does make it easier to learn new jobs, but the tradeoff is that they feel less unique. There is also a particular quest in the latest expansion that was designed to make the player feel weak and powerless in a way that aligned with the story context, but enough people complained about how hard it was, so they nerfed it to the point that that feeling has been mostly lost.

They are streamlining XIV to find a wider audience. It's a double edged sword. They rushed the plot and made every job play the same. The split to develop XVI and corporate meddling are to blame. I think they've been too successful and that success has made them forget their core guidelines. Ironic.

The problems in XIV are the same with XVI. They either have very easy or very hard or in the case of XVI Easy and Easier. No in between to condition you for harder content. Sometimes I don't think the left hand knows what the right hand is doing with SE.

I am hoping Dawntrail turns things around but after playing Relink I don't think it will matter.

As stated above if you compare FFVIIR with XVI then you will find a night and day difference in design philosophy. Stranger of Paradise is marginally a more cohesive product then XVI. And as a mainline entry I find XVI to be underwhelming.

 

[SkylineRKR]

You can literally mash through normal and its kind of hard to die against bosses too since they have checkpoints anyway. There is no weaknesses to take note of and you can't go wrong with equipment. I think a Story difficulty would've been ok for this, for people who don't want a challenge but see it through anyway.

Hard mode unlock doesn't do it for me. I did play FFVII HM because the PS5 Intergrade upgrade came out, otherwise I likely would've never touched hard mode. These days I beat a game and then thats kind of it. Sometimes I replay one like Resident Evil or something, but almost certainly not a 50 hour RPG. And then again the pacing is awful.

The game is just a chore to play because its so braindead easy on top of the horrible pacing and quest design. I absolutely don't see why this game gets a reasonable amount of praise. Its not like the story and character development was anything spectacular either. Its story progress is actually similar to FFXII which was undercooked because of issues within the team.


SoP is actually better. Its ugly as sin, but it has similar level design and story progression, just with more challenge.

 

[March Climber]

The difficulty wasn't the main problem with FF16, the overabundance of side quests were, but I will agree that only 3 bosses gave me a slight issue on normal. Then again, I'm the type who likes Soulslikes and CoD on max difficulty, so I'm not a good barometer for how hard a game should be.

To me Final Fantasy games have, for the most part, been easy enough to just spam attack/heal and do just fine for like 90% of their games until you run into that one filter boss or secret boss.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

I loved the DLC. Some great boss fights, lovely art direction, music and extra lore. Bring on the next!

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Now maybe take that player feedback and make a REAL FINAL FANTASY next time.

 

[mayham2199]

What the f, just put difficulty modes if you want to ensure as many players reach the end... Forcing all players to play on easy mode is dumb.

This. Especially when you include those items that auto dodge and all that.

 

[tommib]

I loved the DLC. Some great boss fights, lovely art direction, music and extra lore. Bring on the next!

I heard it was just a dungeon? I want to buy the full expansion but if what’s available is that good I’ll get it right away.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

I heard it was just a dungeon? I want to buy the full expansion but if what’s available is that good I’ll get it right away.

Don't get me wrong, it's short and is just one big dungeon. About 2 hours I think? Just I found it short but sweet. Especially some of the boss fights and the visuals. The Leviathan DLC looks even better so I'm look forward to it.

 

[tommib]

Don't get me wrong, it's short and is just one big dungeon. About 2 hours I think? Just I found it short but sweet. Especially some of the boss fights and the visuals. The Leviathan DLC looks even better so I'm look forward to it.

Getting it today, then.

 

[Clear]

They should've had two difficulty modes from the start. Easy and Normal. Forcing only one difficulty mode and making it piss easy, was an incredibly stupid thing for them to do. I love the actual combat of the game, but it falls apart because there's no RPG mechanics and proper difficulty to support the combat and make it shine.

LOL

FROM seem to be doing just fine without offering any difficulty options whatsoever and simply marketing the game as being challenging.

Number of difficulty modes isn't a real issue.

What is an issue apparently is not spoon-feeding a certain percentage of the audience with clearly labelled difficulty settings and expecting people who find the game too easy to actually look for ways in which to increase the challenge voluntarily.

Making FFXVI hard as hell would not have improved its reception.