It’s been two years since Final Fantasy XVI came out on the PlayStation 5. The world wasn’t prepared when this latest entry to the long-running franchise took them to an epic battle against titanic beasts evoking old-school character action RPGs.
There was so much lore built around Final Fantasy XVI’s Valisthea. From its complex religions where people worship the Crystals, to kingdoms vying for supremacy, there’s too much going on in XVI’s plot that a single 60-hour game couldn’t cover. Personally, this was a heartbreaking sight, as I’ve always wanted more from Final Fantasy XVI’s mythos, and seeing it all go away with no prequels or sequels in sight is a missed opportunity.
My interest in Final Fantasy XVI was mainly due to how it was marketed as the "Game of Thrones meets Final Fantasy," which, to be honest, sounds like a fantastic idea. The political warfare and grounded realism of Game of Thrones made it a pop-culture household name, and Final Fantasy was the perfect game that could take advantage of George R.R. Martin's popular fantasy novel, as it already has similar elements of magic and warfare. Albeit toned down with its gore and sex, XVI carried that ‘dark fantasy’ Game of Thrones mantle well for a PG-13 version.
Set in a ‘warring states’ period in the continent of Valisthea, XVI immediately plunged us into its war-stricken lands. Crowns wage wars at each other in mutually assured destruction thanks to the Dominants. Bearers of a curse that gives them godlike powers in their gene pool, capable of destroying their continent in a heartbeat.
These Dominants are the avatars of the Eikons, iconic creatures that Final Fantasy fans previously knew as Summons. Each of Valisthea’s kingdoms has its own Dominants, with our very own Clive Rosfield taking Ifrit. The others, Shiva, Titan, Garuda, Odin, and Bahamut, are scattered throughout the continent, residing in a complex cast of characters.
The Dominants are my second favorite thing when talking about Final Fantasy XVI. The sheer scale of their boss fights almost blew up my PlayStation 5 when I played them 2 years ago. My first battle against Bahamut took me to the heavens, and my clash against Odin was the perfect skill-check to test my reflexes.
Unfortunately, everything around Final Fantasy XVI’s story and mythology is all told through a surface level. The lore we see throughout the game is just like an iceberg, as most of the game’s interesting tidbits of history are locked behind walls of texts and scriptures from loremasters and historians.
There was so much lost history in Final Fantasy XVI, and it feels like such a waste to just leave everything in one game. Creative Business Unit III clearly did its best to preserve the series’ story, but had no say in its continuation. We could’ve used a prequel to XVI to know more about the mysterious Iron Kingdoms or the lost fallen civilization that once populated Valisthea eons ago.
There’s also more to explore with the game’s Dominants since these are inherited from past avatars. A sequel would’ve been a nice touch to expand on Clive’s final decisions at the end of the game. Plus, Square Enix has the opportunity to introduce new fan-favorite characters. What we got so far was a cheap crossover in Tekken 8.
If Final Fantasy titles like X and XIII had sequels and interquels, XVI deserves that kind of treatment as well. Seeing Naoki Yoshida and his team’s efforts to create complex lore without new material is the franchise’s biggest fumble since Final Fantasy XV.
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