ReviewFinal Fantasy XVI review: magic, medieval battles and a soap opera storyline in PlayStation 5 title that owes a debt to HBO’s Game of Thrones

There is a lot the game is trying to juggle, from its Game of Thrones-like setting and warring factions to the trauma that the main character tries to deal with

This is a big-budget soap opera with dazzling battles and an intricate story told through extended periods of cinematic exposition

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There is a lot going on in the new PlayStation 5 game “Final Fantasy XVI”, from magic to medieval battles to an in-depth, grown-up story. Photo: Square Enix

Published: 7:15pm, 30 Jun 2023

Medieval mysticism, raging battles and swordplay – Final Fantasy XVI has it all.

There is a lot the video game is trying to juggle, be it the multiple warring factions of a fantasy realm, nods to climate destruction or deceitful parentage, which has saddled our main character, Clive Rosenfeld, with an existential crisis.

Then there is magic, which anyone who has rolled a 20-sided die or spent time in The Lord of the Rings’ Middle-earth will know is often a curse as much as it is a blessing. And in the Game of Thrones-like world of Final Fantasy XVI, it is mainly just a curse.

That is all just scratching the narrative surface in this title from producer Naoki Yoshida (Final Fantasy XIV Online) and director Hiroshi Takai (Final Fantasy V).

A man rides an escalator past an advertisement for “Final Fantasy XVI”. Photo: AFP

The comparison to George R.R. Martin’s series is no slight, as Final Fantasy XVI appears to be unapologetic in its debt to the HBO franchise spawned by Martin’s books, complete with a map that looks lifted from the opening credits of the series and a beginning that is heavy on action and flirting.

This is a big-budget soap opera of a video game fantasy where battles are dazzling displays of hyperactive sword blades that attack with images of fire and ice. The action is dizzying, as blue and red tendrils circle around Clive in colourful, abstract displays, and each battle win is punctuated with an operatic choir.