“Come to Me, FFXVI: Why Fans Should Be Excited”

With the arrival of the latest installment of the Final Fantasy franchise, hype levels for the series are soaring, especially with the praise surrounding the FFXVI demo. Adding to the excitement, Square-Enix hosted a pre-launch event for Final Fantasy XVI in Los Angeles, and I was fortunate enough to be a part. Creators and fans alike gathered to celebrate the release of the game

During my time at the event, I left impressed by the game, but even more than that, I was impressed by how Square-Enix catered to fans. Photo ops, demo kiosks, and autograph booths littered the showcase area, while panels brought in huge content creators like Maximilian Dood, Alanah Pearce, and Alex Moukala to facilitate discussions about the battle system, narrative, and music of FFXVI respectively. The whole event was extraordinarily well-done. For the first time in a long time, I felt like the company celebrated both the franchise and the audience that made it popular in the first place.

While I was there, however, I caught up with a few content creators to ask their thoughts on the event, as well as FFXVI. They weighed in on what the series has meant to them, what Final Fantasy is, and why we should all be excited for FFXVI. Here’s what they said.

Tiffany Lockheart (Content Creator, Streamer)

Final Fantasy as a whole made me meet so many friends, loved ones and put me in the position I am in now work-wise. I cherish the series with all my heart, all the tears I’ve shed and hell, I even have a Final Fantasy 14 tattoo on my body. It’s been a complete honor to call myself a fan and to meet so many fans, creators, and even the devs themselves at one point. I can ramble on for weeks on stories or how I met someone because they recognized my tattoo, or just heard me blasting a Final Fantasy 7 song in the street, cosplay events, etc.

I do feel like what makes a Final Fantasy game is a very… up in the air question? Not a bad thing at all but more so it’s what you want or make it to be. I personally believe a Final Fantasy game is just wonderful storytelling, characters you grow to love, exploring a new world and obviously chocobos & moogles. Can’t forget those guys.

The launch event was such a success and I saw so many people who were new to the series as a whole and long-time fans who were excited to just play the demo alone. I always tell people this but you never have to play any other final fantasy game to understand a new number entry, which eases a lot of peoples minds coming into the series. Plenty of action rpg fans have a lot to look forward to (myself being a huge combat fan myself) and it’s a fresh take on the franchise.

David Vincent (Content Creator, YouTuber, on the right)

Well, that’s a loaded question, I would say that a game is a Final Fantasy game if it evokes deep emotions within you and pulls you into its world. A Final Fantasy game gets you invested into the characters’ lives and backstories and leaves you wanting more, and most importantly, a Final Fantasy is just downright FUN to play!

FinalFanTV (Content Creator, YouTuber)

My brother, Shawn, introduced me to Final Fantasy with FFVII when I was seven years old. Years later, its themes of overcoming loss helped me through losing him to cancer. I started the Final Fantasy Podcast and Entertainment Network, Final FanTV, and through that, I was invited by Square-Enix to attend the Final Fantasy XVI pre-launch event! Final Fantasy has impacted my life and continues to do so everyday!

[As a series] Final Fantasy is able to transcend being just a video game and resonate on a deeply personal level. Yes, there’s fantastical elements, gods and monsters, and other things that transport us to another world but it somehow always finds a way to reach the very soul of the player.

Longtime Final Fantasy fans will love XVI’s story. It is filled with nostalgic callbacks such as a scene featuring a Dragoon posing in the identical stance of Yoshitaka Amano’s logo art for Final Fantasy IV and even Clive’s whistle matches that of Yuna’s whistle from Final Fantasy X. The developers of XVI, Creative Business Unit 3, have an obvious adoration of the Final Fantasy series and it shows! Newcomers are in for a treat! If you were a fan of one of the greatest, most popular TV series of all time, Game of Thrones, then you’ll have a great idea of what to expect when it comes to story. If you like action games like Devil May Cry, or the wildly successful recent God of War games, you will be blown away by the fluidity and style of XVI’s combat while matching, if not surpassing, the scale of a God of War game!

Haiyun (Content Creator, Streamer, Cosplayer)

Final Fantasy has led me to meet my closest friends to this day. As someone who picked up gaming after I started college, I was recommended the Final Fantasy franchise by a friend who noticed that I enjoyed story-driven games, and that game was actually Final Fantasy X. Then, I decided to cosplay characters from that title, and I met a lot of new fans at offline events like conventions. After becoming friends, I realized that I actually really liked listening to fans who have been fans of the franchise for a long time because every single time I completed a Final Fantasy game and discussed it with them, they would tell me why they loved the game while recounting memories of their childhood as they themselves played the titles. It was just so amazing to hear and listen to them talk about their experiences so fondly with a smile on their face as they say, met Zack for the first time while they sat in their backyard secretly playing on their console as a small child! Even though I love the franchise myself from simply playing it, outside of that  I love connecting with others and seeing that same passion and excitement. Hearing all of their memories and likes has found me longtime friends with these people! I’d like to say almost all my friends are all Final Fantasy fans now!

I think what makes a game ultimately a Final Fantasy is being able to experience an engaging story with lovable characters while being able to also have a sense of nostalgia! Being able to fight against evil while befriending moogles, chocobos, and re-imagined summons and the like is what I think is a true Final Fantasy.

I’m a relatively new fan to gaming in general, so I’m not the biggest expert on this topic! I think people should be excited about FFXVI because not only visually does everything looks beautiful, but the customization of the gameplay makes the game insanely accessible to both old-timers and new players alike. The fact that you’re able to choose between higher difficulty of gameplay versus taking the game on a very story-driven level is very appealing for new gamers like me!

Final FanTV raised an important point in his response. A common thread among many fans I’ve met is that Final Fantasy is a tie to loved ones. Myself included.

Before I went to LA, I casually posted on Twitter about how my dad introduced me to the series. It’s one of the more wholesome stories I have about my dad, so I wanted to share it. The response was amazing. Nearly 250k views, and thousands of engagements–which I never get, but this resonated. People chimed in with their own stories about how Final Fantasy had brought them closer to loved ones. Siblings. Parents who had passed away. Friends. Spouses. Each one was powerful. (Seriously, you should go read the comments. Some of them are so beautiful!)

I don’t know how Final Fantasy XVI will perform upon release. I don’t know if it will be considered a “true” Final Fantasy game (whatever that means!). What I do know, however, is that the release of a new Final Fantasy is always worth getting excited about. The franchise has been life-changing for many, and this new installment is turning heads like the franchise used to. This means more players than ever will again create memories, forge relationships, and consider their own lives in light of whatever story the developers tell us this time.

Between the fandom’s hype, Square-Enix’s renewed commitment to the fans, and the release of what appears to be a great installment in the franchise, I would say we as gamers have a lot to be excited about future Square-Enix games– starting June 22 with Final Fantasy XVI.

Want more FFXVI content? You can read FFXVI demo impressions here.

Editor-in-Chief of The Pixels, Wade (aka ProfNoctis) teaches and plays video games at the University of Alabama. His dissertation combined Judeo-Christian kingship and Final Fantasy XV. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitch.