It has already been two years since the launch of Final Fantasy XVI, and Square Enix wants to take a nostalgic walk down memory lane as the scintillating character art by Kazuya Takahashi is being reminisced. The celebration tweet shared several well-known designs from the game, evoking an avalanche of love from the very appreciative fandom, although some criticism also came through.
Now, what is really the occasion behind Final Fantasy XVI’s celebration? For starters, the character art still manages to hold its grin. There are great appearances and extremely powerful emotions in Takahashi’s art of Clive, Dion, Joshua, and all others. Users have happily posted their favorites, with Dion and Joshua reigning supreme. To expound, one fan described Dion as an “honorable” person who made sacrifices for others, whereas another expressed poetic praise for Joshua’s very nice looks.
It’s not all about pretty character designs; layered with the complaints are demands for a PS5 Pro patch. Gamers are basically pissed off that Square Enix hasn’t yet gotten beyond teasing them with a 4K 60fps upgrade, especially while the PC one is said to be running smooth as butter. “When it comes to Final Fantasy games nowadays, I always wait for the PC release,” one player admitted, echoing a huge majority.
Then the localization debate arose. A fan put forth that, while FFXVI’s multilingual support was a good move, the language options from Square Enix load announcements recently have only been four, leaving out pretty much all non-English speakers. “A ver si espabilamos,” they quipped, which translates into “Wake up, guys.”
Of course, an anniversary celebration without a few controversial comments is hardly an anniversary. Some players found the game, “the next Ubislop” (whatever,” while others straight-up identified it as “bad.” But hey, every opinion counts—they just aren’t relevant when a franchise with a fanbase as passionate as Final Fantasy is in question.
On a better note, one dedicated fan has claimed to have accumulated 1,100-plus hours across PS5 and PC in FFXVI. So that is… quite a bit of Clive Rosfield time right there. Some, however, are still calling for a Switch 2 port or, even, a sequel.
So what is going to happen to Final Fantasy XVI? No big announcements have been made by Square Enix yet, but with a player base that enthusiastic, it is safe to assume the game is going to be held up for a long time. Whether it’s a Pro patch, DLC, or just lots of love for Takahashi, the fans haven’t dropped this one yet.
And really? I feel the same way. Happy anniversary, FFXVI; here’s to much more arguing, meme-making, and maybe a good number of upgrades.
