Connect with us

Technologies

Final Fantasy XVI’s Characters and Combat Hint at an Incredible Adventure

Preview: Square Enix reveals the story and battle system of the next entry in its iconic series before it hits PS5 this summer.

Every main numbered Final Fantasy game tells a new story in a fresh universe, giving each upcoming entry a powerful mystique. That sense is particularly strong with Final Fantasy XVI, which has been teased with spectacular, overwhelming trailers since it was unveiled with Sony’s PlayStation 5 in 2020.

The PS5 exclusive lands on June 22, and developer Square Enix lifted the curtain at a New York City preview event with a playable demo build of the game earlier this month. Acting as producer is Naoki Yoshida (AKA Yoshi-P), the charismatic figure credited with reviving massively multiplayer online RPG Final Fantasy XIV. He and his team gave us a primer on the story and world before letting us try out the game for the first time.

World at war

This RPG takes place in Valisthea, a world divided into six nations that depend on giant magic crystals — one of Final Fantasy’s recurring elements — for energy. As the game kicks off, this energy is badly depleted and conflict is brewing between Valisthea’s nations. 

It’s more of a cold war due to the existence of Dominants — humans with the power to summon massive magical creatures known as Eikons. Like the dragons in Games of Thrones, the Eikons are basically this world’s weapons of mass destruction. Except all the nations have them, and they act as a deterrent to open war.

You play as Clive Rosfield, whose younger brother Joshua has control of the powerful Phoenix summon. After tragedy strikes, Clive is bound to another fiery Eikon, Ifrit, and goes on a quest for vengeance. This causes Eikons to battle each other for the first time, throwing off Valisthea’s delicate political balance and creating lots of collateral damage. 

Phoenix spreads its wings in Final Fantasy XVIPhoenix spreads its wings in Final Fantasy XVI

The Phoenix Eikon is central to the game’s epic tale.

Square Enix

Clive’s journey will take him through Valisthea’s seven nations — which are divided into segmented open areas rather than one big open world — with a shifting party of AI-controlled allies as backup (there wasn’t much exploration in the preview section though). You’ll also be able to dive into the history of Valisthea as much as you wish, Localization Director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox told CNET.

«We have a character that gathers lore; he will tell you about what’s going on in the game — characters, places, history, things like that,» said Koji Fox, whose previous Final Fantasy projects include IX and XIV. «It doesn’t affect the story, it doesn’t affect gameplay, but for those players that want to go deep and find out what happened 200 years ago, why these countries hate each other, you can go and do that.»

Dominating the Dominants

The playable section of our demo saw Clive and his ally Cidolfus Telamon (this game’s Cid, a recurring name in the series) making their way up a dark tower on the hunt for Benedikta Harman, a spy for a rival nation. Cid is the Dominant of lightning-summoning Ramuh, while Benedikta is linked to terrifying wind elemental Garuda.

Cid has beautifully styled hair and his voice will likely sound familiar — he’s voiced by Ralph Ineson, who appeared in Game of Thrones, Chernobyl and Willow and infuses his character with awesome gravitas. The fiery Benedikta is easily the most striking character design in the preview, and you know she’s a baddy because drops the f-bomb.

Benedikta looks at someone off camera in Final Fantasy XVIBenedikta looks at someone off camera in Final Fantasy XVI

Benedikta is a pretty intense rival for Clive.

Square Enix

These Dominants humanize the political conflict, and their differing statuses within their own kingdoms hint at the varying cultures and attitudes across this world. This section occurs a few hours into the game, though there’s also a tutorial where you play as a young, fresh-faced Clive to learn the basics of combat.

The dingy tower wasn’t exactly a visual showcase for the first PS5 Final Fantasy, which will let you choose between performance and fidelity modes in the finished game. However, this location did offer plenty of opportunities to explore the game’s real-time combat system as goons leapt out at every turn. Unlike Final Fantasy VII Remake, you don’t control your entire party directly — only Clive and his faithful canine companion Torgal (whom you can pet). 

Tailoring your battles

Basic combat fits neatly in the action-RPG mold, with Clive able to employ a mixture of melee attacks, magic, dodging and blocking. Final Fantasy XVI’s battles move much more quickly than those old games though, and combat director Ryota Suzuki drew on his experience developing lightning-fast action game Devil May Cry 5 for this series evolution. 

«The most important thing for Final Fantasy XVI was to make a system that is accessible to lots of different types of playing styles; more technical, stylish and for players that are not too into action,» Suzuki said via translator. «So we didn’t want it to be overwhelming.»

Clive scratches Torgal on the chin in Final Fantasy XVIClive scratches Torgal on the chin in Final Fantasy XVI

Torgal is an exceptionally good dog and useful in a fight.

Square Enix

Adding to Final Fantasy XVI’s accessibility are the «Timely» accessories, which you can equip to simplify certain aspects of combat. These can let you pull off Clive’s most impressive combos by tapping the same button (instead of learning specific inputs), allow for easier dodging and make doggo pal Torgal battle automatically.

You can tailor this element based on which ones you equip, giving you a chance to get comfortable with different parts of the combat system at your own pace. The attack one had the most obvious impact, since unequipping it reduced Clive’s attacks from visually stunning Devil May Cry-style aerial ballets to basic thrusts and chops — you’ll have to learn a bunch of combos to achieve his most stylish moves normally. 

Elemental Eikons

Your magical combat abilities are defined by the Eikon you have equipped, with Phoenix’s fire, Titan’s earth and Garuda’s wind were available in the demo, but it seems like Clive absorbs or copies these from other Dominants as he encounters them (it’s likely Garuda’s powers were unlocked early for the demo version). Earning experience lets you unlock or improve Clive’s elemental skills. 

Clive channels Eikon power in battle in Final Fantasy XVIClive channels Eikon power in battle in Final Fantasy XVI

You can channel Eikons to employ elemental attacks in battle.

Square Enix

You can also switch between Eikons in battle, essentially allowing Clive to change character classes on the fly. It’s an evolution of the beloved job system that debuted in 1992’s Final Fantasy V, in which you assigned roles to characters and they learn those job-specific abilities through leveling up.

«It was my wish to take that job system and somehow replace jobs with Eikons, and recreate that system in a full action setting,» game director Hiroshi Takai, who worked on the fifth entry in the series, said through a translator.  

«Making it something that’s very customizable and individual to each player … the Clive they have at the end and the palette they use in that final battle is different for every single person.»

Garuda flashes a sinister smile in Final Fantasy XVIGaruda flashes a sinister smile in Final Fantasy XVI

Garuda is awesome looking throughout the intense boss battle.

Square Enix

Flipping between these elemental powers became increasingly natural as the demo progressed, with the mixture of these and the satisfying dodge system making the boss battle against Benedikta and her Eikon a joy to play. The smooth transitions between gameplay and cutscenes peppered the experience with that classic Final Fantasy melodrama without pulling control away for too long.

Battle of the titans

The final section of the demo took place a few hours further into the game, with Ifrit going up against Benedikta’s Garuda in an epic Godzilla vs Kong-style confrontation. It’s the kind of sequence that would have been a cutscene in older Final Fantasy games, but XVI makes it completely playable and extremely fun.

This battle felt completely different to normal combat, conveying an awesome sense of primordial power as the Eikons lay waste to an isolated part of Valisthea. Ifrit employs a mixture of beefy melee moves and fiery blasts against Garuda’s quick slashes and wind-based attacks. Projectiles also neutralize each other, which is a particularly cool touch.

Eikons clash in Final Fantasy XVIEikons clash in Final Fantasy XVI

The Eikons are a force of nature, and their clashes make a huge mess.

Square Enix

The developers noted that the gameplay of these Eikon clashes will vary, hinting that you’ll have to battle each one differently depending on their elemental prowess, unique attributes and Clive’s relationship with the character who’s controlling them.

Even with the shift toward action-oriented battles, Final Fantasy XVI looks set to be an emotional roller coaster in the series’ grand tradition. Speaking through a translator, producer Naoki Yoshida wants players to feel thrilled and hopeful by the time they’re done with the game.

«When those end credits roll and the players experience the whole story, I want them to feel that they can move toward tomorrow, no matter what happened today,» he said.

Technologies

Why Are Switch 2 Games So Expensive? Trump’s Tariffs May Not Be Sole Factor

It still comes down to money.

Wednesday’s reveal of the Switch 2 had a lot of buzz from Nintendo surrounding its successor to the Switch. One shocking bit, though, was the high price of its games. There’s a lot of confusion, especially with news of President Donald Trump’s increased tariffs on many trading partners, including Japan. 

After the Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo released the full details of the upcoming console and games on its website. The price of Mario Kart World shocked gamers and led to some disdain, as the $80 MSRP was $10 more than what most new games cost today. This led many to wonder if this would be a new normal for game prices due to Trump’s tariffs or if Nintendo was just being greedy. The answer, however, might be something completely different. 

Are Nintendo Switch 2 game prices hiking?

To start, some details need to be cleared up. Some people have posted on social media that the price of Nintendo’s Switch 2 games, at least in the US, will be $90. That is incorrect, as of right now. 

One X user posted Switch 2 EU prices for Mario Kart World, which start at 80 euros for a digital version and 90 euros for the physical copy. Typically, US and EU games match in price, which caused some to assume that this pricing would be the case for the US. 

US retailers, however, already posted their Switch 2 game prices, and Nintendo-published games are listed at $80.

Will Trump’s tariffs cause the Switch 2 to cost more?

As for Trump’s tariffs, that is unlikely to be a driver of this price bump. Tariffs are not applied to digital goods, and when the prices were published, there were no tariffs on Japan. Plus, games are similarly expensive in other countries like Canada and the UK.

With that cleared up, why are Nintendo games on the Switch 2 so expensive? One likely reason is game storage. 

Read More: All the Nintendo Games You Can Update to Switch 2 for Free

The Switch 2 uses what Nintendo calls game-key cards, which are Switch 2 cartridges that don’t have all the game data on the cartridge itself. This helps save on production costs as storage is expensive. The original Switch cartridges went up to 32GB of storage, which doesn’t seem like a lot these days, with some games taking up 100GB or more of storage, but this is for the original Switch. Only a few games, like The Witcher 3, went above 32GB because the graphics for the Switch weren’t on the high end like with a PC, PS5 or Xbox Series console, where a Witcher 3 install size starts at 50GB

Switch 2 games are going to be bigger in size — there is little doubt about it. CD Projekt Red confirmed it would put its Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition on one 64GB cartridge, and there will likely be other games to surpass that 64GB. With the max size of the cartridge doubling in size, it adds to the price of the physical card, as not only does storage have to be bigger, but they will need to transfer data faster. That can get more expensive for physical copies, unlike optical discs, which are still the same price whether it has 20GB or 100GB on the disc. 

What does all this mean for gamers?

This leads to a dilemma for publishers: Put the entire game on the physical card and sell it at a loss, increase the price of the physical copy with the full game on it or use the game-key card to have a card with minimal storage, requiring gamers to download the entire game.

Read More: The 17 Best Nintendo Switch Games Right Now

It appears that Nintendo went with door No. 2. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, knowing the company. Anyone who wants to save money on games knows that Nintendo will seldom bring the price down of its own games. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, for example, is 8 years old and is still full price on Nintendo’s website

According to an industry analysis from Niko Partners, this new pricing could become the new normal in a couple of years when it comes to physical cartridges.

«While there has been some sticker shock regarding the price of games increasing from $60 to $70 or $80, these price points are set to become industry standard over the next two years, especially so for Nintendo first-party games,» Niko Partners said in a statement Wednesday. «One reason for the higher price is the increased cost of the new and faster Game Cards themselves, with higher capacities being more expensive to manufacture than a PS5 Blu-ray disc.»

Nintendo didn’t respond to a request for comment about the higher price of its games. 

That said, this doesn’t explain the lower price of Donkey Kong Bananza, which comes out in July; that’s listed on Nintendo’s site for $70. This could mean the game isn’t using a larger storage card, but that can’t be said for sure until the game comes out. It’s unclear how things will change in the future.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-orders in US Delayed Due to Trump’s Tariffs

The Switch 2 launch is still happening on June 5, and preorders outside the US seem unchanged.

Nintendo Switch 2 preorders in the US were to start April 9, but it appears those plans have changed due to the new tariffs imposed this week by President Donald Trump. It’s unclear if this means Nintendo will also have to increase the price of the Switch successor, which currently starts at $450. 

Nintendo said Friday that it’s delaying Switch 2 preorders in the US, but its June release date is unaffected. 

«Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions,» the company said in a statement. «Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.»

Nintendo didn’t indicate if preorder dates outside the US would change, but Eurogamer reports that preorders are live at various retailers in the UK.

A tariff of 24% has been applied by the US to goods from Japan. Were that rate to be applied directly to the Switch 2’s announced price, it would rise to $558, but it would be up to Nintendo how much of the tariff it will pass on to consumers.

This is a developing story.

Continue Reading

Technologies

Twelve South’s Foldable Wireless Charger for iPhone and Apple Watch Is Up to 27% Off at Amazon

This handy accessory makes it easier to travel with your Apple gear and stay charged wherever you go.

Whether you’re traveling for business or off on a wonderful family vacation, charging your stuff shouldn’t be something you have to worry about. Taking extra chargers and cables can be a pain, and they all take up space in your bag. But the handy Twelve South Butterfly SE charger is a compact alternative that can wirelessly charge an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time. And it’s available with up to 27% off right now at Amazon.

That top line discount applies to the pink version, though the white model is only $7 more and other colors are seeing 15% off the usual $100 price tag if you have a strong preference. It’s not clear how long the discounts will last, though. 

Hey, did you know? CNET Deals texts are free, easy and save you money.

The charger itself offers a way to wirelessly charge a iPhone and Apple Watch from a single AC outlet, and you can even charge your AirPods when your phone is done, too. And because this is a Qi2 charger you’ll get a full 15 watts of wireless charging for compatible devices — including the best iPhones.

When you’re not using the Butterfly SE, it folds up so it can be slid into a pocket, bag or luggage without taking up too much space. It really is the perfect partner for people who like to travel light.

Unfortunately, this charger doesn’t come with an AC adapter in the box, so you’ll need to provide your own. Make sure it’s rated for 20 watts or more. If you need to buy one, Apple’s 20-watt USB-C charger is just $15 right now.

Why this deal matters

We all carry multiple devices around with us these days. Anything that can make charging them more convenient is a win in our books, especially when you’re traveling. This charger takes up little space when it isn’t being used and charges quickly when it is.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Verum World Media