Game Producer Naoki Yoshida and Localization Director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox took advantage of their appearance at Pax East this past weekend (March 25th & 16th, 2023) to spend an hour talking about the upcoming action RPG Final Fantasy 16, which will be released on March 22nd June 2023 will be available in stores. And both used their time wisely; on the one hand to show some gameplay scenes and on the other hand to answer questions from fans.
You can also watch the entire panel of the two for yourself – this is also highly recommended if you have an hour to spare. We’ll look at some interesting aspects below. Because finally the developers of Square Enix have shown some impressions of Valisthea, i.e. what the country and its kingdoms look like. There are also more insights into the Esper fights.
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Impressions from Valisthea
The name of the country, parts of which you will travel with protagonist Clive, is called Valisthea, and it is divided into six realms with different forms of rule. Life in Valisthea is ruled by the Mother Crystals – glittering mountains of crystal that the realms provide them with Aether. This is the fantasy equivalent of the oil of our time. Understandably, life centers around these mother crystals that promise comfort and abundance. Large centers of power have arisen around each of the mother crystals, between which there has long been an uneasy peace. However, as the mysterious blight spreads in Final Fantasy 16 (buy now €79.99), the balance between the powers is shaken and Valisthea is engulfed in war.
If you want to classify the individual kingdoms, this map will help. [Quelle: Square Enix]
The six realms of Valisthea, it is known, are the Grand Duchy of Rosaria, from which Clive and his brother Joshua hail, the Holy Empire of Sanbrèque, the Kingdom of Waluth, the Republic of Dhalmekia, the Iron Kingdom, and the autonomous Crystal Dominion, with the largest of all mother crystals, to which all other kingdoms have equal access. Yoshida and Fox have shown in a short clip which areas of Valisthea you can enter and explore. In the gallery we have tried to name the areas – however, some areas are not entirely clear where you will find them.
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Visit to Dhalmekia
As part of the panel, Yoshida and Fox also showed a scene from the game themselves, namely a more open area of Dhalmekia, which is about 2×2 kilometers in size and not only offers fights for Clive and his companions, but also settlements such as The Boklad Markets, among others , where mainly refugees are staying. They think their only chance is the Crystal Dominion’s mother crystal – they’re probably on the run from the Blight.
The world map gives an idea of the size of Valisthea’s lands. Source: Square Enix
The background why the two developers show the desert area is as follows: The presented game material of the Final Fantasy 16 Media Tour in February 2023 put the focus on the action-packed combat of the RPG, so an arena was shown that was gloomy. Fans now believed that Final Fantasy 16 would be very dark throughout.
The Republic of Dhalmekia is located in the south of Valisthea and has a desert look. Source: Square Enix
That’s why Yoshida and Fox now showed the complete opposite with Dhalmekia; just a very bright desert environment. A world map was also briefly shown, giving you a rough idea of the layout of the world and the amount of explorable locations that you gradually unlock as you progress through the story. You can also see the location “Fields of Corova”, which was used to demonstrate how long the loading times of FFXVI’s fast travel system are. Spoilers: not particularly long, just a few seconds.
The Hideaway
Also featured is The Hideaway of Cidolfus, which serves as a safe place to which Clive can always return during his adventures. There is, among other things, the blacksmith Blackthorne, with whom Clive can forge and improve new armor and weapons. The items that Clive plunders from defeated opponents are used for this purpose. In Hideaway you will find, among other things, side quests that you can devote yourself to. While there will be such in other places, but the majority starts in Hideaway.
Source: Square Enix At the blacksmith in The Hideaway, you upgrade or reforge pieces of armor.
Source: Square Enix The Cidolfus Hideaway serves as a safe hub from which Clive embarks on his adventures.
More esper action
So far we have assumed that the Esper fights will be played with the well-known Espers, i.e. Phoenix, Garuda, Titan, Odin, Bahamut, Ramuh, Shiva and Ifrit. However, the Esper Battles gameplay trailer also featured Typhon, and the high-rise “monster” you see in the image above is dubbed “Titan Lost.” To illustrate the differences between Esper fights, a fight between Phoenix and Ifrit is shown.
Quelle: Square Enix
Titan Lost in Final Fantasy 16
Source: Square Enix An esper fight against Typhon.
We ourselves had experienced the fight between Ifrit and Garuda as a melee brawl, but the two fire espers fight each other in flight, which of course results in a completely different gaming experience. For example, Phoenix needs to aim the cursor at Ifrit to throw fireballs at the Esper.
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And finally to our question about the role-playing game in Final Fantasy 16: Will the action RPG provide enough RPG? This question will be answered in April 2023, when the people at Square Enix want to reveal more details about the RPG elements of FFXVI. We are excited!
