I have seen enough of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 16. Almost too much, in fact. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Square Enix has made the upcoming RPG blockbuster a focus of several showcase🔜 events, interviews, and hands-o꧅n previews over the past year that it feels like many of its surprises have now been spoiled.
With its release still a couple of months away, last week’s State of Play presentation felt like overkill. We know the game has gone gold, we know Square Enix is very confident in it as both a defining entry in the series and a flagship PS5 exclusive, and now we know far more about it than I ever expected to going in. Perhaps my standing as a member of the media is clouding my judgem🌊ent because I want my critical perspective to remain unsullied, but man does it feel like we’ve seen a lot of Clive’s super traumatic European kaiju adventure already.
Since the showcase aired, fans have been sharing snapshots of lore and ev🍬ents piecing together the main prologue from menu entries the stream sped past in service of other things. I don’t think Square Enix unveiled anything that wasn’t already alluded to within existing trailers, but to spell out massive moments and character growth so blatantly strikes me as an odd move for a franchise otherwise so mysterious.
The presentation bordered on 26 minutes and followed producer Naoki Yoshida walking us through the big characters and mechanics we can expect to stumble across alongside a comprehensive look at systems and quests that make up the bulk of the game. We saw one of many hub areas, several epic b🥂oss battles, detailed breakdowns of key mechanics, and a glimpse into what felt like every hour of the game. It sucks that it feels as if so many surprises have already been alluded to.
I’m probably just too paranoid, or getting in my own head about potential spoilers that mean too much to me. The same thing happened with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 7 Remake, as later trailers all seemed to hint at major narrative revelations and diversions from the original that worked so much better when kept under wraps. Fi🌠nal Fantasy 16 could be very similar, andᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ a number of incredible reveals remain a secret within an open world that is far bigger than we imagined.
The whole situation reminds me of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Deathloop. Arkane’s time-looping shooter was shown so much - by Sony, no less - that all of the trailers began blending into one. It didn’t help that it revolved aro𝓡und a concept that was difficult to explain until players actually got their hands on it. Without that, 🏅trailers were a mixture of admittedly impressive set pieces dripping with style, but it wasn’t interesting enough to dedicate entire segments of showcases to. I can’t help but think the end product suffered as a consequence.
I understand that refusing to show a thing to the people you want to buy the thing is the opposite of how marketing works, but we’re talking about Final Fantasy here. It’s the 🧸Taylor Swift of RPGs with a brand recognition so ingrained that it will sell millions of copies through that alone. Has more money been put behind this entry because it’s a PS5 exclusive and it needs to be a storming success, or after Final Fantasy 7 Remake, is Square Enix trying to steer this second arm of the series onto an equally successful path?
We are reaching the point of promotional saturation where feverish excitement morphs into needless frustration because so much of the wꦅonder is being repurposed to sell us a game most of us are going𒉰 to buy anyway. Learn a few lessons from Tears of the Kingdom and how, even a month out from release, Nintendo is refusing to reveal the identity of certain places and characters because it knows this mystery enriches our experience. There’s such fun to be had in asking these questions and having the answers withheld from us, or creating our own theories that might not amount to anything. They make us more curious and eager for the full monty even if the truth never comes close to what we dreamed up in our heads.
Final Fantasy 16 doesn’t appear interested in that trajectory, choosing instead to feed us information in an excessive manner that leaves little room for imagination. It’s a shame, b🦩ut not exactly surprising for a company like Square Enix. Just slow down with the trཧailers, or at least trust us enough to connect all the remaining dots ourselves. I’m going to play this game, and right now it feels like I’ve already seen most of what it has to offer.
