The Final Fantasy XVI port will surely go down in the chronicles of Xbox history for those who have looked among the waning for their version of Square Enix’s latest epic. With so many installments dotting this mega-decade-old franchise, the lingering million-dollar question stands: Is XIII worth starting with for novices? Square Enix rounds it up with a big “Yes!,” but the gaming community had… other opinions.
The tweet from Square Enix generated a very intense reaction, as gamers began debating if XVI is really the right start for a newbie. A few more seasoned ones, like Sarkie, did ride the joke, detailing how they had already beaten the game “to a pulp” on PlayStation and wondered whether the Xbox controller could withstand such aggressive and scaly-like parrying. And then you had others like Carlos el gato, who said that both XVI and FFX offer good points of entrance and that the soul of Final Fantasy lies in telling its story, not so much in the crafting of its mechanics.
Others were far from it. Sephrioth was straightforward: “good game, but a bad introduction to the series,” while DemoAkimbo described the gameplay as “horrific”. Then the age-old argument was revived as to whether XVI is even an RPG, with blv_bruno assuring, “It’s an action game, not an RPG,” with Tom Legg fairly quickly responding, “It’s an action RPG.” OG gamer banter.
Then the complaints about performance started, mentioning the game’s resolution being 720p on Xbox—which is like death and pain in 2025! Noirx360 dropped the bomb: “720p60fps on Series X performance. Cmon you can do better.” Ouch. The platform-war started next, and some demands for Final Fantasy XIII on PS5 and Forspoken on Xbox came just to start controversy.
This madness birthed quite a bit of solid advice, Roger (FFXVI Arc) puts it bluntly: “There’s never a bad Final Fantasy game and starting point. Beauty of an Anthology series.” Mahou Shiro agreed, adding: “Any Final Fantasy is a good Final Fantasy to start. Except 2.” Harsh, but fair.
So does Final Fantasy XVI make the perfect start? That depends on whom you ask. If you ask me, go for it if you’re into fast-paced action, political intrigue, and breathtaking set pieces. Otherwise, if you feel a hitch for some turn-based combat and old-school JRPG feel, maybe start elsewhere. Either way, because it getting to Xbox means more people will be able to enjoy the Clive journey-720p be damned.
Nevertheless, that heated discussion signals that Final Fantasy sympathizers (which, as the irony goes, these days connote the new ones) have always been mad. Excuse us? We’ve got to get to work on our parry-heavy runs-RIP Controller!
