Review embargo lifted. No spoilers in this post. Probably spoilers in the links below. Here’s a few:
Kotaku: https://kotaku.com/xbox-series-x-game-pass-price-increase-ps5-microsoft-1850561048
A bold shift to action and a stirring fantasy tale make this the best Final Fantasy in ages.
For the first time in years, I’m excited about a new mainline Final Fantasy game. It’s about time.
GameSpot: https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/final-fantasy-16-review-on-its-own-terms/1900-6418081/
FFXVI is a bold shift in both gameplay and narrative, yet captures the Final Fantasy magic in stunning fashion, earning a place within the pantheon of incredible entries in the beloved franchise.
9/10
Variety: https://variety.com/2023/digital/reviews/final-fantasy-xvi-review-1235650066/
‘Final Fantasy XVI’ Is a Messy, but Quietly Brilliant Next Step for Square Enix’s RPG Series
Destructoid: https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-final-fantasy-xvi/
Superb - A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won’t cause massive damage.
9/10
IGN: https://www.ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-16-review
Outstanding story, characters, and worldbuilding earn the right to depart from what fans expect from Final Fantasy.
Amazing - Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.
9/10
Please add and link reviews in comments.
Digital Foundry’s Tech Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Oyjldkh5kE
They love the game, but Performance Mode needs some work, as it’s a very unstable 60 fps during exploration and a solid 60 during combat, albeit with a drastic drop in resolution via dynamic resolution scaling to achieve that (resulting in messy combat visuals).
Interesting. I’ve found unstable less frame rates less jarring with VRR enabled (elden ring for example). Hopefully that applies here too.
Unfortunately it doesn’t. With PS5’s implementation of VRR, there’s a window where it will work of 48-60hz. If a game’s framerate falls out of that window (which XVI does in exploration in Performance Mode), VRR will not be able to compensate. John mentions it briefly in the review that the dips are enough to break VRR, sadly.
Darn. I guess elden ring was not dropping that low.
This is exactly how I have found it,p. It’s by no means unplayable, but you do notice some FR drops exploring. I think the combat looks great.
I had some hitches here and there during the demo, but nothing too bad. I was playing on performance mod then too.
Honestly, I am not usually a person prone to noticing these kinds of things, so I doubt it will affect me all that much. My TV isn’t exactly the best for gaming, so a lot of the bells and whistles wouldn’t work for me necessarily either.