Final Fantasy 16 is yet another bombastic game in the joyously overstuffed year that is 2023. Fans have been waiting a long time for this release, and the wait has mostly paid off, though with a franchise as sacred as Final Fantasy, there are likely to be some growing pains alongside the triumphs of 16’s new direction.

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Bearers, Dominants, and the Mothercrystals take center stage in the drama of Final Fantasy 16. A creeping dread known as Blight is spreading over the land. Blighted areas—known as Deadlands—are left with nothing but ash. Magic is impossible to use there. Blight sets the world in motion and dictates how the factions fight for land and survival. Bearers are those who can wield magical abilities and seem to be hated the world over. Dominants embody an Eikon and are either revered or used as tools of battle. Either way, wielding magical abilities is more of a curse than a blessing in this dark fantasy adventure.

Final Fantasy 16's world, Valisthea, is one of gritty intrigue. While it might never be quite as complex as something like Game of Thrones, we're treated to a large cast of characters and heaps of lore. Fortunately, the game wants to help you keep track of everything going on. Whenever you pause the game, you’ll be able to cycle through relevant information to contextualize everything you’re seeing. While I never found the additional reading to be strictly necessary, I often found it an enjoyable break to educate myself on the different factions at play in a given scene.

What stops the world and narrative from becoming too sprawling is our tight focus on Clive himself. Clive is a thoughtful protagonist who feels more like a person than a hero. He is deeply scarred as both a bearer and a branded—two things the world’s inhabitants hate. Don’t feel too bad for Clive though, because he’s also a person of action and violence, and isn't one to wallow in self-pity. Spending dozens of hours with a single character can often wear a little thin, but not with Clive. We see the cruelty of the world through Clive's eyes as factions slaughter one another to control the Mothercrystals. Knights string up bearers to poles and torture them to death just for being able to wield magic. This is where the game really earns its mature rating.

Often times, it became easier to lean on my favorite abilities instead of utilizing my full arsenal.

When you set out into the Valisthea on a mission, you’ll be able to stretch your legs in open zones, but you’ll never feel like you’re in an open world. The game has a path for you to follow, and it wants you to do so. If you’re playing in short sessions, you might find that some of your play sessions consist mostly of cutscenes, or a 30-minute boss fight. All of these things are wonderfully done and beg you not to put the controller down. However, there were moments where the sheer length of the cutscenes made it difficult for me to find a natural breathing point. Moving from a boss fight into a 15-minute cutscene forced me to pause the game and put my machine into rest mode. I didn't know if my game had saved progress and didn't want to risk being sent backwards.

Unlike other Final Fantasy games where you might control a party, here you just control one character. If you think that sounds like a step down in complexity, don’t worry. Before long, Clive himself has a plethora of abilities that will make it feel as if you're wielding an entire party. You’ll find plenty of variety, as Clive can invest in many different abilities in his pursuit to dominate the battlefield. Clive’s knack for taking the powers of other Dominants means that you’ll have a lot to juggle. While this can be part of the thrill in combat, there is the potential for having too much of a good thing.

As for actual party members, you'll often have guest characters traveling with Clive. The player doesn't control these players, which is somewhat unusual for a Final Fantasy game. Guest characters do, however, pull their own weight in combat. They also contribute heavily to the narrative. The charmingly roguish Cid is never without a clever remark, while Jill always has a thoughtful comment to share. These little moments help the player feel in-tune with side characters in between cutscenes and major plot points.

The combat in Final Fantasy 16 is flashy and fun; whether you’re wielding giant talons to gouge an enemy, calling down lighting, or chasing someone while engulfed in flames, Clive always feels fast and dangerous. Even when enemies are putting up a good fight (and they often are), your powers always make you feel, well, dominant. This can be both a boon and a hindrance, as it’s easy to lose yourself in feeling powerful and end up dead because you forgot about your health bar and general limitations.

More than once, I found myself rushing toward an enemy in a ball of fire, only to be knocked out because I wasn’t as invincible as I felt. Most of the time however, I was a nightmare for my foes. I would disappear and reappear in bursts of flames, knocking enemies into the air before shredding them with massive talons, before calling down lightning to end them where they stood. If all else failed, I would embody Ifrit, emitting large sweeps of fire with every strike of my sword.

The combat remains entertaining throughout, but by the end of the game I was left wishing for a better way to swap between my Eikon powers than just hitting L2. While it functions well with two powers, and is serviceable with three, moving beyond that begins to feel like clicking through a menu to get to the Eikon powers you really want. This is where some kind of pause or slowdown would have been appreciated. With such varied moves, it sometimes felt like I was menu-scrambling for what I wanted instead of tactically using the right tool for the right moment. It simply became easier to lean on my favorite abilities instead of utilizing my full arsenal.

Boss fights are something of an oddity in Final Fantasy 16. If you’re looking for a challenge, the bosses will definitely put up a fight, but you’re rarely in danger of hitting a wall. The game wants you to succeed; it wants to see you progress the story. The challenge will rarely be beating the boss, but rather how well you can beat the boss. In this way, the game can sometimes feel a bit like Devil May Cry minus a score or rank at the end of an encounter.

The bosses are very forgiving. They have thoughtful movesets, interesting mechanics, and often presented a daunting challenge at first brush, but when you fail (and you fail often), the game picks you up with full potions and says “try again.” Progress far enough into the fight, and you'll reach a checkpoint, so not only can you revive with full potions, but the boss will be down to half-health.

The game does this so often that rare instances of truly unforgiving fights feel somewhat out of place. I played the game on 'Action' difficulty and found it extremely forgiving. I can only imagine that players who want to overcome extreme challenges might wish for a difficulty setting that fully resets boss encounters, rather than using checkpoints.

If you’re someone who enjoys a challenge and rolls their eyes at the notion of forgiving boss fights, allow me to mention Notorious Marks. These are optional bosses you’ll encounter out in the world that you uncover through Witcher-like hunting boards. These fights, at least the ones I encountered, do not have checkpoints, so if you fail to beat the foe, you're sent back to the nearest obelisk. Some of these marks are much more challenging than main story bosses, so be sure to bring your consumables. Beating these foes will give you experience and rewards, such as rare materials you can craft with. If you decide to dive into the crafting portion of the game, you might find yourself hunting some truly fearsome opponents.

I can’t talk about combat and boss fights without getting into Eikon fights. Eikons are akin to gods in Valisthea, and a dominant can host (or summon) the raw power of these beings. Taking control of Ifrit, the second Eikon of fire, is always an epic moment in the game. Embodying an Eikon is also interesting because it changes the pace of combat. Clive is fast and deadly, while Ifrit is a Godzilla-sized powerhouse. While you can still dodge and dash, you’re going to feel the creature’s weight, and also its power as you pummel an opponent. Eikon fights feel like two gods facing off, as well they should; the mechanics perfectly capture the cinematic spectacle at play during these epic battles.

Spending dozens of hours with a character can often wear a little thin, but not with Clive, who grows, learns, and changes across several distinct periods of his life.

During one fight, I stared down a creature clearly more powerful than Ifrit, with my only edge being sheer ferocity. It summoned great walls I needed to dodge between, covered the arena in dangerous lightning, and forced me to deftly move Ifrit out of harm’s way. While controlling the beast felt like driving a semi-truck on a twisting mountain, I moved from side to side, feeling myself lean in real life as I did so.

Epic moments like these are seared into my memory, and they’re made even more impactful by the music. Final Fantasy is no stranger to incredible music, and this game has a wonderful score. Whether you’re shopping in a small village or clashing titans over a battlefield filled with soldiers, the music fits the scene and strikes true at every emotional twist and turn. While it doesn’t often call attention to itself, the music elevates the narrative and helps key moments resonate with the audience.

Every fight becomes something of a spectacle with the gorgeous graphics on the PS5. As you swap between Eikon powers in order to vanquish foes, you work in dazzling moves until it feels as if your entire arsenal is a firework show. Character detail and animation feels true to the current generation of gaming and joyfully sheds the weight of last generation’s limited capabilities. Cutscenes, some of which are quite lengthy, are stunning pieces of art that pull you in like a movie.

During my 40+ hours with the game, I didn’t experience any noticeable bugs, crashes, or hiccups. Final Fantasy 16 ran like a dream on my PS5 and will likely continue to run that way as I return to the game for New Game Plus. Players who love side content will find plenty of it here, and I intend to revel in every optional quest during my replay of the game.

In a year full of breakaway hits, Final Fantasy 16 still manages to stand tall among them and stake its claim. I fell in love with many of the characters, felt for them when they hurt, and cheered for them when they succeeded. I sat on the edge of seat during sequences of intense action and thrilling boss fights. I caught myself leaning in as the story gripped me, and I loved every moment of the game’s thrilling combat. Its shortcomings are there, but they are few and far between. I never stopped having fun, and even now I’m itching for more.

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