What was missing from FF16? I cannot quite put my finger on it. Since it's debut trailer even, I thought something is off. And I think I have identified some possible answers. But I am thinking this through while writing, so please bear with me. Spoilers!!!
1) Facial animation. There seems to be a lack of it. I don't get it though, because square did this way better in previous entries. Is it because most cut scenes are in engine instead of cg-movies where they would work more specifically on stuff like that? Is this just what Business Unit 3 can do (and facial animation just happens not to be their strong suit)? (I suppose a lot of the following points could be speculated to exist because of BU3.)
2) Animation in general, but outside of gameplay. Again, I don't get it. Or I think I don't. When Yuna in FFX walked out into the water to perform her first ritual thing, I believed every step. Yet, when Benedicta walked up to somebody in the demo, she looked like a stiff puppet.
3) Dialogue. There are often these weird Kingdom Hearts -esque pauses. Many conversations don't flow right. As if they recorded their lines sparately. And they often don't fit what we see on screen. Like when there is a bunch of people protesting and yelling and being angry. But what we hear are lines from 2 people. One saying aaa, the other saying please. -What? You could not more realistically portray the audio of a scene like that?
4) The music. Soken is a genius and his music is really very good. But how it is used, I am not such a fan of. There are often weird cuts where everything automatically stops, resulting in weird silences. And while undeniably awesome, it sometimes seems not to perfectly fit what is going on on screen. As if certain scenes are not in sync, as if the resolution of a theme or a change in key should have come 3, 4 seconds later or earlier.
5) The writing. It really is not bad. I like them using this different register to make them almost shakesperean. But when they drop that style for certain scenes, it is all the more jarring. And apart from style of speech, the game is sometimes too verbous and still cannot get the point across. I find myself sometimes befuddled by some scenes, not knowing for what that even was and later on finding out what they tried to say but did not.
6) The action. There are some relly cool battles in here. Yet, I find myself somewhat disengaged. I see what is happening on screen and intellectually it registers as awesome stuff. But my heart is not fully in it. It feels more like a recount of what happened than it actually happening. I guess that one does not make much sense.
7) Personality. They should try giving characters some. That is an overstatement. But there is truth to it. I cannot use any words to discribe Jill. Perhaps quiet. Perhaps hounerable. She just is. And how is Clive exactly? Determant? Hounerable as well? He has no flaws. He is not much fun as a protagonist. The actors do what they can, but you cannot act away a missing personaltiy. Teenage Clive talked about some character trait of himself and about his struggle in the past, but that is over. And he is a different person for most of the game. But what sort of person, we may never know. I also have the feeling that what characters do is more of a focus than who they are. Cid is cool though. Not exactly my style, my type, but he has personality. Therefore, I found myself most engaged with the going-ons when Cid has a presence.
8) Atmosphere. This might be the big one. Perhaps that is the key thing bugging me. And it is difficult to determine how and where atmosphere is created. There is a certain flatness to the game though. A certain lack of inspiration when it comes to visual style. The clothes of characters are stylish, don't get me wrong. But everybody is just standing there, like just now placed into the scene with a courser. The camera is also very matter of fact. There is no cool presentation, just "this is what it is". No tension, no drama, no mood, just: these are the characters and this is the room they are standing in. I guess I also mean cinematography. I like FF16 way, way better than FF15, but 15 had style in spades. There was a distinct visual identity to that game. 16 does not look specific, unique. Just bland. Perhaps that is just me and I have seen this medieval euro style one too many times. But FF9 looks so, so good to me. That game has style for two. But both, 9 and 16, are roughly similar in key visual inspiration in setting, being medieval europe. So what gives?
9) Story: felt generic with Clive being the chosen one. Loose story threats hanging around, no explanation for why things were shaking out the way they did - why Ultima for example decides to show up as a brown hooded mysterious figure and then years later the little brother too. And how were they never able to find each other? And there is a lot of time wasted in the game (even in the main quest) for things that feel trivial. There is way too little time spent with some of the bad guys and the big bad is just a generic anime villain evil doer. I felt so detached from the characters and their story, that I hardly cared about anything. I distinctly remember the game ending and me thinking: it might as well.
Last edited by JuliusHackebeil - on 17 March 2025
