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Gaer

chat.exe a cessé de fonctionner
Staff member
Moderator
and that's fair enough; ffxv was my perfect ff, so I'm glad there's people that may feel this way about 16

It isn’t just that. FFXIV was the first game that treated me like I was explicitly wanted as a player and demographic.

Not getting metaphorically punched in the face as a queer person (marriage as a concept in ffxiv was invented by two catbois). Or the emphasis on women NPCs (in a game where you can create your character) not only being powerful but others just existing in the world and not as eye candy.

I’ve never experienced that before. That’s the legacy of Yoship and the FFXIV team, who all seem on board here.
 

Gaer

chat.exe a cessé de fonctionner
Staff member
Moderator
SOKEN TOO?!

Hot damn

It’s obvious if you have *ears* Kazin. Yeeesh. Torn from the Heavens is in the goddamn trailer aka Soken’s favourite song cos he wrote it right after yoship announced they’d burn down 1.0 and remake the game. Which of course resulted in ARR.
 

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
It’s obvious if you have *ears* Kazin. Yeeesh. Torn from the Heavens is in the goddamn trailer aka Soken’s favourite song cos he wrote it right after yoship announced they’d burn down 1.0 and remake the game. Which of course resulted in ARR.

I watched that trailer on my phone half distracted at work, and while I liked the song I couldn't tell it was Soken because the man has a wide as hell range, Gaer
 

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
Also, after watching the trailer 4 times... they never say what the Protagonist's name is. We get Joshua for the Archduke's son and possible rival/antagonist, but nothing for your actual Main Character.

I don't know if we'll get it later on? But that, combined with his rather generic outfits in the presence of other, more uniquely dressed characters, feels like a big hint that we'll get a customizable player avatar (voiced, and with actual lines, but lots of games have had fully fleshed-out custom characters before.)
 

Regulus

Sir Knightbot
Y’all crazy for thinking this looks like Game of Thrones or Witcher. This is literally my dream team for a Final Fantasy.

But... at a glance, it does? It looks like pretty standard "gritty" western fantasy, only the characters have the same generically pretty "realistic" Final Fantasy faces we've been seeing for the last decade.

I'm glad there's plenty to be excited about (I don't like MMOs, but I've heard nothing but good things about the people behind FFXIV), but the visual style is not pushing any boundaries.
 

Gaer

chat.exe a cessé de fonctionner
Staff member
Moderator
Hey @Zef . Get the FFXIV free trial. You'll get an early taste of type of storyline that FFXVI will have.


Also:
OCbBP3o.jpg
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
Character creation in a Final Fantasy? It's a betrayal of everything I know and love!

I dunno. I'm happy for everyone who liked FF14 and is excited for more, but I have little interest in 14 and I am not excited for more.
 

WildcatJF

Let's Pock (Art @szk_tencho)
(he / his / him)
Character creation would get me more onboard. I like what I'm seeing EXCEPT I don't give two poops about the protag lol
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
I don't care about Tattoo-Face Man (and I think there were two of them, and I can't tell, and that's about how much I care). I get the impression that Joshua is the protagonist.

Final Fantasy XV would have been a worse game if it were [INSERT YOUR CHARACTER HERE] instead of Noctis. Heck, I'd even say Final Fantasy I wouldn't be the game it is if it were [INSERT YOUR FOUR CHARACTERS HERE] instead of the iconic character designs.
 
If I were a betting man, I would guess that FFXVI will not have character customization.

Outside of the 8-bit FF and the MMO games, don't FF games have pre-determined avatars? I think Square has done a pretty good job (not a perfect job) of making interesting and compelling pre-determined avatars. You don't get the broadly appealing cast of FFIV, FFVII, or FFX if Square left character creation totally up to the players. I think story telling and cinema scenes are easier to do with pre-determined avatars. I could be wrong, but I thought there was some aging of the characters going on in the trailer (pre- and post- face tattoos). For sure FFXV had aging of the avatars occurring. I would imagine aging requires artists to create multiple versions of the characters; which would also be easier with pre-determined avatars. Additionally, I would imagine that action figures and tie-in movies are easier to sell with pre-determined avatars.

Is any of the combat party based in the trailer or did the trailer always show a single player in combat? If its a single player game, I think a player created avatar is somewhat more likely. I would still bet on pre-determined characters however.
 

Gaer

chat.exe a cessé de fonctionner
Staff member
Moderator
I don't care about Tattoo-Face Man (and I think there were two of them, and I can't tell, and that's about how much I care). I get the impression that Joshua is the protagonist.

Final Fantasy XV would have been a worse game if it were [INSERT YOUR CHARACTER HERE] instead of Noctis. Heck, I'd even say Final Fantasy I wouldn't be the game it is if it were [INSERT YOUR FOUR CHARACTERS HERE] instead of the iconic character designs.

Your character in FFXIV has a personality, and as player you can direct that personality. IF they made a customisable or female option I'd expect it to be like how you pick Kassandra of Alexios (aka their own character, not a silent one).

If I were a betting man, I would guess that FFXVI will not have character customization.

For the record I'm not expecting a customisable character.

HOWEVER, the protag of FFXVI looks just like the "derplander" (your character's stand in for the trailers) in FFXIV.

Mslc9nYkbTmnBxSbt9On9k2JMJPcckGptVQHLmWBw58.png

(derplander over the years/expacs)


And FFXIV has a long ass history of having cheeky little "uwee hee heeee" foreshadowing that doesn't make sense until after the fact.

So if they did make them customisable or offer a pre-made female protag option, that the trailer protag (who doesn't speak and isn't named) looks just like our beloved derplander would be their cheeky ass little gotcha.

Is any of the combat party based in the trailer or did the trailer always show a single player in combat? If its a single player game, I think a player created avatar is somewhat more likely. I would still bet on pre-determined characters however.

It only showed single character battles and definitely looked like someone hitting a dummy rather an an actual fight.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
IF they made a customisable or female option I'd expect it to be like how you pick Kassandra of Alexios (aka their own character, not a silent one).
Sorry, I don't know who that is. Is that a FF14 character?
 

Gaer

chat.exe a cessé de fonctionner
Staff member
Moderator
Sorry, I don't know who that is. Is that a FF14 character?

Sorry, Kassandra from Assassin's Creed Odyssey. I forget people aren't obsessed with her/the game like I am.
 

Mightyblue

aggro table, shmaggro table
(He/Him/His)
Yeah, it could be a Mass Effect sort of situation where you get a M/F style option that you can customize the head/face, but the body itself remains the same to make it easy for animation rigging.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
Oh, actually! There's no way this game isn't fully voiced. That's not mutually exclusive with a character creator, but in practice, it's never been done, and it's nearly mutually exclusive with a choose-your-own-personality character. I could see at most a choice of male/female, but I think I've talked myself out of thinking there might be a full-fledged character creator.
 

conchobhar

What's Shenmue?
I'm not feeling this. I like medieval-styled settings, but the treatment here is so dour, joyless and self-serious. I know everybody's made the comparison already, but it's really hard to not see Game of Thrones or The Witcher here; that scene of a man being stabbed and his blood splashing on the face of a child is the same sort of raw and edgy bullshit that these "prestige" works love.

I'm sure the final game will have lighthearted and goofy moments, but right now they're not showing that, and I'm not enthused by how they've chosen to unveil this. We'll see, I guess.
 

Juno

The DRKest Roe
(He, Him)
Oh, actually! There's no way this game isn't fully voiced. That's not mutually exclusive with a character creator, but in practice, it's never been done, and it's nearly mutually exclusive with a choose-your-own-personality character. I could see at most a choice of male/female, but I think I've talked myself out of thinking there might be a full-fledged character creator.

wait, what about Mass Effect?
 

Gaer

chat.exe a cessé de fonctionner
Staff member
Moderator
Oh, actually! There's no way this game isn't fully voiced. That's not mutually exclusive with a character creator, but in practice, it's never been done, and it's nearly mutually exclusive with a choose-your-own-personality character. I could see at most a choice of male/female, but I think I've talked myself out of thinking there might be a full-fledged character creator.

Yeah any character customization IF there were one would be just like Mass Effect (having their own name you cannot choose).

In FFXIV voices cutscenes they say things like “friend” or “Warrior of Light” to get around it and only use your chosen name in the non-voiced cutscenes (aka something that wouldn’t be in FFXVI).
 

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
that scene of a man being stabbed and his blood splashing on the face of a child is the same sort of raw and edgy bullshit that these "prestige" works love.

Squaresoft loved it back then too

5rjOlrf.gif


(Then there's Elly's flashbacks to the blood-splattered hallway.)

And yeah, other people have brought up Mass Effect, but I was also thinking of Fallout 4 and the fully-voiced, personality-driven Sole Survivor. They have their own driving motivation and voiced dialogue trees (although I doubt Squex would have trees per se, just regular dialogue.) Companions had... unique ways of referring to them without a preset name, but, like the Persona games, they managed.

(Also Tidus was never officially named by anyone in FFX.)
 

Mightyblue

aggro table, shmaggro table
(He/Him/His)
Yeah, tragic backstory prologue leading into main story is pretty common all things told? That's drama (melodrama even), but one scene does not make something 'edgy' amongst an entire trailer set at night and in dimly lit locations. I kinda despise the 'edgy' construct now, as a lot of people use it as shorthand to handwave away things done for shock and drama value without actually examining them either in context or out of it.
 

4-So

Spicy
I watched the trailer a few times and noticed on the first scene where they show combat, there's another character off to the right, approaching the enemy you're fighting. It doesn't move like an enemy; not sure if that's just some random mook - maybe you can recruit units, or it's a scripted event with helper NPCs - or if it's a character. I didn't notice anyone else in the other fight scenes.

I also noticed where the character(s) that the player seems to control are using the summon/Eikon abilities, like the fiery wing or what I assume are Titan's fists. Augmenting your own abilities with the Eikon's power? That's exciting and something I've wanted to see in the series for a while now.
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
I also noticed where the character(s) that the player seems to control are using the summon/Eikon abilities, like the fiery wing or what I assume are Titan's fists. Augmenting your own abilities with the Eikon's power? That's exciting and something I've wanted to see in the series for a while now.
Let me tell you about Final Fantasy VIII!
 

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
(Tidus was never officially named by anyone during voice-acted dialogue scenes in FFX.)
A few of the non-voiced NPCs refer to Tidus by name (Yevon knows where they learned it though), but everybody else is like "this guy" and Tidus himself is like "the star player of the Zanarkand Abes" and it makes any dialogue exchanges where you'd expect a name drop so ridiculous.

It was weird as hell and I'm glad that Square Enix ditched that by the time of Vaan in Final Fantasy XII.
 

Juno

The DRKest Roe
(He, Him)
I'm not feeling this. I like medieval-styled settings, but the treatment here is so dour, joyless and self-serious. I know everybody's made the comparison already, but it's really hard to not see Game of Thrones or The Witcher here; that scene of a man being stabbed and his blood splashing on the face of a child is the same sort of raw and edgy bullshit that these "prestige" works love.

I'm sure the final game will have lighthearted and goofy moments, but right now they're not showing that, and I'm not enthused by how they've chosen to unveil this. We'll see, I guess.
Do you think that Cloud seeing his entire hometown burn down and shortly afterwards seeing Tifa struck with Sephiroth’s blade was less raw and edgy? Tragic backstories with young characters witnessing violence are not the sole domain of modern western medieval fantasy.
 

Regulus

Sir Knightbot
The depiction was generally less... visceral. Visuals like the one referenced in the trailer are definitely designed to be more shocking.
 

hologramblue

taxonomically dubious.
For those who haven't played FFXIV...

other things that caught my ear
summoned their icon (fun marvel cinematics)

The term used here is eikon, a direct FFXIV reference. A major part of FFXIV's setting and story is primals, entities magicked up into being when you combine a high concentration of aether (magic power) (usually in the form of crystals) with fervent prayer and belief. These entities take the form and character their worshippers imagine for them, but are able to then "temper" those worshippers and other mortals brought before them, rearranging their minds to the primal's purpose. It's an extended metaphor for religious/ideological extremism among some other things. Eikon is another term for them, used largely by the industrial, expansionist Garlean empire who uses the summoning of primals by "savages" (usually in desperation in response to oppression or dire conditions caused by the empire itself) as a pretext to conquer and control, wiping out regional cultures and mythologies to "save them from their own superstition" (and of course set up structures that allow the empire to extract natural and human resources freely from the region).

Like, "the worship of icons". It's a word that carries a lot of thematic weight.

It's also interesting how Ifrit looks more like a Behemoth in this illustration. I don't think I've seen him with a tail very often? Maybe FF14? He also has these giant lion hind legs instead of hooves or the more traditional, spindly wolf/humanoid feet. Combined with the dark and bestial appearance in the trailer, I'm looking forward to the kind of antagonism he will display with Phoenix.

It's basically FFXIV Ifrit but chunkier.

This trailer was called "Awakening" and focused on the characters associated with the two fire eikons. I wonder if future trailers will have to do with the other eikon-havers?
 

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
Do you think that Cloud seeing his entire hometown burn down and shortly afterwards seeing Tifa struck with Sephiroth’s blade was less raw and edgy?
Yes, I think there's a substantial difference between showing lots of bomb sprites dancing around Mist and depicting a kid being showered with viscera as far as "how edgy is this childhood trauma?"
 
Also, if people think a 100% medieval setting is disappointing, and the game does turn out 101% medieval, Tactics says hi.
Yeah def got Ivalice vibes

screw it, if this has DMC-style combat, it will hands-down be the best game with this kind of setting
The Witcher and Gothic are a lot of things but "fun to play for the combat" are not among those things
Eh, maybe. Personally I hate DMC, and that is sort of a complete opposite of what I'm looking for in an RPG. If they keep and iterate on the openness of XV (also a game i dont like, but i feel it's attempting a lot of neat stuff) it may be ok. But rocking endless combos and all that zazz is, for me, trite and boring.
 

MetManMas

Me and My Bestie
(He, him)
I have faith that the FF14 crew can make a pretty cool game, but I'm really gonna need to see more than fighting and cinematics before I start to come around to Final Fantasy XVI.

The reason I put dozens of hours into 14 (when I bother to renew it) and 15 was 'cuz I liked exploring their game worlds. I wanna learn more about the world outside of the battle system and "Angry Medieval Dudes is Angry" stuff focused on in the trailer.
 
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