In what will presumably herald the beginning of a months-long media blitz, Wccftech was invited out to attend an on-site preview event marking the first time Final Fantasy XVI has been openly playable by Western media. Square-Enix invited me to attend a brief session with four hours to dive in and play as much of the preview build as we could in that time. During that timeframe, I had the pleasure of playing through multiple chapters and getting a first taste of the massive Eikon battles. Square Enix requested that we inform our readers that this is a special version made for media to experience, and contents may differ from the final version.

　　The Final Fantasy XVI media preview event opened with a brief presentation conducted by Producer Naoki Yoshida with an interpretation by Koji Fox, both gentlemen intimately involved with Final Fantasy XIV and prior titles in the series. In this briefing, the general setting of Valisthea, the world of Final Fantasy XVI along with the six territories and factions that make up the dual continents. The main character that players take control of is Clive Rosfield, the older of two siblings where the Eikon of Phoenix resides and is passed along to Joshua Rosfield rather than the older sibling that would rightfully be its heir or Dominant.

　　Final Fantasy XVI’s preview opens up with a brief tutorial session as younger teenage Clive. As with all proper character action games, the first steps in Clive’s boots are that of learning the basic ropes of combat at the ripe age of 15. Players quickly get thrown to the wolves, so to speak, with a one-on-one combat instructor that teaches the player and Clive all about the finer arts of basic combos and how to properly counter an enemy attack (striking at the same as an enemy attack will not only block an attack but also temporarily leave the enemy open for a counter, or parry in other words).

　　After the tutorial and a brief time skip, players see themselves as an order Clive once more at 28, long after his brother Joshua disappears and is presumed dead. During that time, he’s acquired a branded tattoo on his face and a literal wolf companion named Torgal that’s stuck with him through and through. While players play solely as Clive Rosfield, Torgal fights by his side and can even be commanded through the occasional suggestive command to attack and heal.

　　Despite the trappings of your typical JRPG, Final Fantasy XVI largely plays as the character action game that Square-Enix has been attempting to get right with Final Fantasy XV and the recent remakes of Final Fantasy VII. By completely eschewing the turn-based mantra, control is freely given to the player to freely attack and maneuver through waves of enemies as they see fit. The stats that typically dictate everything from MP, turn speed, and luck are instead distilled down to four raw stats: HP, Strength, Vitality, and Will. Combining the latter three stats with gear quality gives the player their Attack, Defense, and Stagger stats. The first two are fairly obvious, while the Stagger stat makes it easier to knock down targets.

　　The main bulk of the Final Fantasy XVI preview demo takes place in a darkly lit castle with the Kingdom of Waloed where the Dominant of Garuda presently resides. Clive’s combat prowess is put to its first real test with players getting the full grasp of juggling foes in combat or swapping between normal sword slashes and hurling magical spells (with no MP to be consumed doing so). Players can swap between the three currently equipped Eikons in the middle of combat. Each Eikon permits to have two combat abilities equipped out of those unlocked and each taking a small amount of time to refill and be used again, all the while Clive can swap to another and keep combat going. The skill menus that permit Clive to purchase new skills with the investment of skill points (which can be freely reallocated at any time) offer a hint that seven Eikon will be available for Clive to unlock and learn skills from which makes sense to fit an Eikon from each of the six provinces of Valisthea along with the wild card of Ifrit.

　　After waves and waves of mindless Empire troops and the beasts they fight alongside, the chapter culminates with a boss fight against Benedikta Harman, the Dominant of Garuda herself. At this point, Clive already has the powers of Ifrit, Titan, and even Garuda within himself. This boss fight highlights the pinnacle of the character action combat that uniquely defines Final Fantasy XVI. As is typical for the genre of character action games, the boss fight is presented across a variety of phases and health bars, often split up with spectacles of dynamic transitions into cutscenes and QTE actions to pull off flashy attacks.

　　Gear slots are similarly quite limited for the player in Final Fantasy XVI. Clive can equip one or two weapons (Longsword and Bastard Sword were the two available to choose from) in addition to a belt and vambrace plus three accessory slots (some offer passive abilities or stat increases while others boost the effectiveness of particular Eikon combat abilities by a certain percentage). Consumables carried into battle feature a very low cap (by JRPG standards but suitable for your typical character action game). From the early chapters, Clive could only bring along four Potions, three High Potions, and two each of Strengh, Stoneskin, and Lionheart tonics; 10% attack power for 60s, 10% defense boost for 90s, and a gradual limit break restoration for 30s. Perhaps this will get increased with additional inventory upgrades, but only time will tell. At least crafting materials have a far more substantial cap (99 for rare materials and 9,999 for the more common pieces).

　　For those that prefer to enjoy Final Fantasy XVI for the story, rather than offering different difficulty levels, the players are granted a variety of accessories to help offset various aspects of combat. The Ring of Timely Assistance takes away the necessity to control Torgal by automatically giving him commands that adapt to Clive’s playstyle; this ability is included automatically in the Ring of Timely Strikes. This ring reduces all of the complex actions down to simply pressing Square for all actions. Players still have some control over the combat but as Clive automatically switches around Eikons, this makes for a relatively awkward experience when you’re anticipating a specific counter such as Titan’s physical. The Ring of Timely Focus slows down time before an evadable strike hits Clive to allow players to dodge out of the way, while Timely Evasion automatically evades any possible attack (much like the Black Hood from FFXV). The last one, Ring of Timely Healing, simply uses a potion once Clive’s health reaches a particularly critical point.

　　Not much was discussed around the third era of Clive’s life, but the character render showed a distinctively more grizzled and aged Clive. The distinctive tattoo on his face instead appears to have been damaged leaving a scar or perhaps a burn mark that lingers (no doubt somehow related to the Dominants of Phoenix and Ifrit in some fashion). Of course, those are matters that the Final Fantasy XVI development team wishes to keep under wraps (much like a second Titan health bar for Dark Titan that’s showed off in one of the combat presentations prior to the demo).

　　While these two chapters of Final Fantasy XVI took a majority of my time spent with an exclusive preview of Clive’s journey, that wasn’t all that I was able to explore and see firsthand. Both a preview of the Eikon combat and an interview with members of the Final Fantasy XVI development team (in tandem with The Verge’s Ash Parrish) will also be coming very soon. Expect to read more about these and further details on Final Fantasy XVI in the lead-up to the global launch on June 22nd, 2023. Only the PlayStation 5 version has been confirmed for release at that time.

　　[Editor's Note: FINAL FANTASY XVI © 2023 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. All Rights Reserved. Per Square Enix: This is a special version made for media to experience, and contents may differ from the final version.]