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Final Fantasy XVI review
Meh
by Matthew James

The story and world-building are excellent, so is some of the presentation. But quality control and placement are all over the place. Combat system is not enjoyable until about 40 hours in and has zero depth (elements mean nothing, no meaningful strategy, builds, or even combos). And this game is ONLY combat, excruciatingly dull fetch quests or unanimated (and sometimes unvoiced!) dialogue, or indulgently long animated cutscenes where you occasionally mash square. It should have been a movie or TV show, because however good the characters and world are it's a miserable videogame.
«Disappointment of the year»

Other reviews4

When they first talked about making the whole dev team watch Game of Thrones, I cringed. Now seeing the culmination of the final product I think it was a good decision. What they took from GoT and the overall world of that series was the scope of it's conflict and it's depressingly harsh world, not the gratuitous violence and sex that you might think. This is hands down, one of the best fantasy RPGs ever made, at least in my opinion. The main story is engaging and well written, the characters are great and memorable. Some amazing voice actors in this game. Ben Starr does an incredible job as Clive and there are moments that he nails the emotional delivery so well you'd think it's genuinely happening to him. Also Torgal is the best boy. The side quests are worth completing and flesh out characters. The music is incredible and really gets you immersed. The graphics and all around design of the game is so good, some really beautiful and well thought out art directions. There is great value to this game as well, I completed all side quests and main story clocking in around 80 hrs. Definitely worth the money in that regard. My only real complaint is some of the traversal is tedious and I thought the basic combat could use more combos and flow work.

This is really a beautiful game that any fan of fantasy themed games should play. There is so much good story telling and beautiful moments that really raise the bare for similar games to come.
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«Blew my mind»
«Can’t stop playing»
Oh my... this game is epic. Story was well paced (except for the middleish area it was kind of a filler type scenerio) and overall this game was hype. Graphics, soundtrack, and story was 10/10. It wasn't too difficult but it was enough to keep being engaged.
Pro:
-Masterful composed soundtrack
-Masterful combat 
-Best "giant battles" in gaming
-Beautiful graphics and cutscenes
-Likable and well-written cast.
-Excellent world-building.
-Main story is great until the third act.

Cons:
-Third act
-Exploring is not really rewarding
-Design of how equipment works is weird
-Sidequests could be better
«Blew my mind»
«Beaten more than once»