![]() ![]() You play the appropriately brooding Clive Rosfield, the son of a ruling family in one of the regions of Valisthea known as Rosaria. These Gods are controlled by hosts called Dominants, and a new Eikon named Ifrit has caused drama across Valisthea. There are no dragons here, but there are Eikons: Giant, magical creatures based on the elements. “Final Fantasy XVI” unfolds in a land called Valisthea, a setting similar to Westeros in how it’s divided into different warring factions in the face of something that could destroy them all. ![]() It’s all about those landscapes and cityscapes that only exist in the imagination. However, a commitment to the artistic process of video game world-building here is undeniable. The repetition issue also dogs a lot of the mission structure, especially side quests, which can be as shallow as walking into a room and talking to the right person. I found the visuals of “FF XVI” much more engrossing than the story, which spins around the same ideas through repetitive cut scenes and conversations. Heavily inspired by fantasy efforts like “Game of Thrones,” it’s a narrative experience that requires investment in new characters and ideas and the complex world in which they exist. While “FF XVI” is undeniably gorgeous, and I admire any game that can put this much effort into its own mythology, I must admit that I have found it less captivating than some of the other recent installments over my dozens of hours played (and yet still not complete, for the record). I wonder if Roger would have admired the “astonishing sights” in those. The newest game is massive, a rich piece of world-building that demands attention, and not just for the hours of cut scenes. They’re hero’s journeys, and they’ve been intensely popular for decades because of their undeniable craftsmanship and ambition. ![]() However, there’s enough similarity in gameplay and theme to connect them. Released last month exclusively (for now) on the PlayStation 5, the latest installment in this massive, epic series of games has little connection to “The Spirits Within,” but it maintains that artistic aesthetic. “Final Fantasy” games don’t tell a continuous story, working more like an anthology series that introduces new characters, worlds, and mythologies. Twenty-two years ago, he wrote about “ Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”: “I have a love of astonishing sights, of films that show me landscapes and cityscapes that exist only in the imagination, and ''Final Fantasy'' creates a world that is neither live action nor animation, but some parallel cyberuniverse.” I wonder what he would think about an experience like “Final Fantasy XVI,” a game of landscapes that exist only in the imagination and an installment in a franchise that has been consistently popular and influential for over 35 years. While Roger Ebert notoriously argued that video games weren’t art, he was also famously enraptured by a film based on one of the form’s most popular franchises. ![]()
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