Final Fantasy 16: Every Confirmed And Leaked Detail We Know

4. What's It All About, And Who Are You?

FFXVI thumb
Square-Enix

So away from the production details, what's Final Fantasy XVI all about? Is it a personal, empathetic tale about a spiky haired boy sticking the stupidly oversized sword to a silver-haired God à la Final Fantasy VII, or one where you're just part of a bigger picture, as seen with the warring states in the Ivalice-based adventures of Final Fantasy Tactics and XII?

It looks like it's a bit of both. You play as an as-yet unnamed, black haired gruffster with a heck of a face tattoo, who in the trailer's voiceover reveals he is the 'Shield' of a preternatural youngster named Joshua. What's so special about this little whelk? Well, he just so happens to be the master, or 'Dominant', of Phoenix - one of Final Fantasy's many recurring summons, referred to in this game as 'Eikons'.

We see a shot of little Josh invoking the legendary bird in a pique of emotion, leading one downed soldier to comment, "Another fire Eikon! But that's impossible!" - an obvious reference to other infernal mainstay Ifrit. Clearly, said Eikons are very important in this world, a fact further emphasised by a troupe - of which Joshua's Shield is part - taking orders to "take out Shiva's Dominant" at the start of the trailer.

All of this is taking place against the background of the 'Battle of the Twin Realms', which seems to pit the chocobo-riding cavalry of the Dragoons opposite the magic-wielding Dhalmeks. We also hear overtures about something known as the Mothercrystal - the source of all the world's Eikons, perhaps? - and the encroaching 'spread of blight'. That pesky blight, always spreading.

Of course, a lot of this is speculation at present based on snippets of dialogue, but there's a definite Game of Thrones meets Final Fantasy VI vibe here. Not a bad combo, is it?

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.