For a series that has been around since the late 80s, Final Fantasy has never been one for the same old, same old, with each new main instalment bringing in new worlds and heroes to reinvent whatever came before. Yet even by those standards, Final Fantasy XVI is a radical departure. It hasn’t just switched characters or combat systems; it’s effectively switched its genre.
Sure, it has the fixtures and fittings of a role-playing game. However, all the party-based combat and complex progression systems of previous Final Fantasies have been ditched for something that plays more like a hack-and-slash action game, complete with combos, special attacks, and last-minute dodge moves and counter-attacks. In many ways, it’s no more an RPG than God of War or the last few Assassin’s Creed games. In fact, you could argue that it’s less than that.
