Final Fantasy 16 Targeting a Mature Age Rating

F in the chat for @Anti-Matter

To be fair, some of the older ones would be rated for older ages if they were done in modern graphics. Notably 7R removed all the blood staining the corridors of the Shinra building when Sephiroth goes on a rampage. Aeris being stabbed would probably bump up the rating in 7R graphics. And in 8, one of the first things you see is Squall taking a blade to the face with blood spraying on the floor.

I’m not gonna lie this seems kinda stupid. The game seemed edgy for no reason in the trailer. Like Type O looked like it had a purpose for being edgier, while this just looked like it wanted to be edgy. The story didn’t grab me at all, no reason to care in the trailer (other FF trailers grab me). This seems like the idea was to make it rated M before for they decided why, that’s my impression from the trailer anyway.
I could be wrong, but it doesn’t seem like something the series needs/should have in a mainline title.
I’m kinda sad I’m not excited for it. FFXV’s announcement made made me lose it with excitement. This one really didn’t.

I knew it! 😠
FF XVI is officially condemned by me.
I'M DONE with FF Roman numbers started from XIII-2 !!

@nessisonett
I will NEVER allow that game touching my gaming area.
That game was comdemned.

It definitely looked a lot more mature in the trailer and it looks great so far, one I'm very much looking forward to and hopefully they take some influence from The Witcher for its storytelling as well

Oh, awesome! Might sound like a bad idea, but I just like it more when games to M rated. I hope that doesn't just mean there's gonna be sexual stuff everywhere, rather they tackle more nuanced and darker themes.
I'm so hyped for this game. YES!

Considering the surprising amount of blood in the trailer, this shouldn't come as a big shock.

🤷‍♂️ seems fine to me. So long as the game is good im not bothered. As someone who has been playing final fantasy for 20 plus years the series needs a shake up to recapture the magic not seen since final fantasy x (excluding FF7 remake, which is a magical game). If this is the game to do it, then great.

@Rob_230 Have you ever played FFXIV? In the 68 hours I’ve played in the last two weeks, I’d say it’s pretty magical 😅

Hell yeah I've always wanted a FF game with an M Rating!

@Nepp67 - agreed. now i'm even more hyped for it..........although we probably aren't getting it for quite a while. LOL

Interesting. Curious to see how the gameplay and story reflect the mature rating.

@eddie429 Well when it comes from Square Enix expect a ton of delays and scrapping the story and changing it into something else entirely.

We suspected that from the trailer and is another reason I’m growing to dislike what I’m seeing from FF16.

As a father of young kids this is yet another game I have to wait for the kids to be asleep before I can play.

I don’t like the trend of developers focusing more on M-Rated content. You can still make games tackle mature themes, be heavy hitting and still make them accessible for wider audiences.

@get2sammyb Yep, the first trailer for this didn’t grab me but I trust the FFXIV team, the story and setting is incredible, especially for an MMO!

@Kienda That's such a dumb complaint lol. If people want ro make their game M Rated then let them.

Love it. It looked like it was going to be a mature story and this proves it out. Hopefully we get a tactics level story with political intrigue. Still think that is the best ff story ever.

I've never got why there were so many M-Rated games on the shelf. I mean guys, you can make T-Rated Games too.

But this game looks good either way, so I'm interested.

Big booty confirmed.and breast confirmation.haha word up son

@Rob_230 I couldn't have said it better myself.

@Nepp67 well, thanks for being understanding...

The thing is, most studios focus on horror or more mature games. And some of us don’t like those games.

As a long time fan of Final Fantasy, I’m not enjoying all these changes in FF16. If it is successful and they never go back to their roots then I feel it is a shame because the market is saturated with mature games, gore, horror etc. There is a clear gap in the market for epic fantasy adventures that are for wider audiences, which is what I see Final Fantasy as being.

So yes, I do have that as a complaint because I’m a Dad and most of my (very limited) game time is during their waking hours. Also, I like to enjoy my games with my kids.

Rather than simply calling it a dumb complaint, maybe you could be more open minded and understanding.

The first time I saw the trailer I thought it was FF15-2. Then I showed it to my wife - she's a big FF fan like me - and it still kind of looked like FF15-2 only I knew it wasn't so I could pay more attention.

Really don't like it at all. Games are called Final FANTASY, and I'm just not seeing the fantasy aspect. Feels like they've gone so far into the red-blue-yellow color scheme w/ Dragon Quest they've decided to go all in on black for the FF games. And as much as I prefer FF8 over FF9 I'd still prefer a new FF game that harkened back to FF9 and all of it's interesting FANTASY characters.

Not saying this is a bad looking game, it could grow on me, but just call it something else, like "Last Remnant", "Last Story" or "Pandora's Tower". There are a ton of JRPG that are not FF, FF should look to go back to the fantasy genre.

But I'm sure they know if they called this "The Adventures of Boys in Black" sales wouldn't go so well.

What they probably should have done is licensed the images of the boys in BTS and made it like 1 of those KISS movies.
"BTS and the Legend of the Crystals"
Guaranteed billion seller then.

Not a huge fan of this. My favorites in the series are 4,6, and 9. I prefer the whimsical fantasy. Those entries were all more light-hearted, and it’s just my FF preference. That said, they can do what they want, and an M rating certainly won’t keep me from playing it.

@nessisonett haha good effort! Honestly i havent played 11 or 14. The online ones were the only ones i have steered away from. I've heard great things, but as a parent to 2 kids i'm not sure i can justify the monthly subscription fee given i have limited gaming time sadly

@Kienda Just because you have kids doesn't mean a game's artistic choice should suffer because of it.

@Kienda If you're looking for understanding I'm afraid you've come to the wrong place.

I've been feeling that way for the past 10 years or so - my sons are 15 and 18 now so I care less - but there were a few games I wanted to play while my family watched that I just didn't. Games that were like - Why is this rated M? Kingdom of Amular Reckoning was barely T for Teen anyway. But I did feel like the action games I liked and my wife and kids would watch me play were moving towards M rating just b/c the game devs though tit made them look cool. Or maybe it gave them more sales. Or maybe it was just the game they wanted to make. But it sure felt like a bunch of M rated games were releasing that could have easily been Teen w/ not much effort at all.

So I get ya. The drift towards more M rated games started awhile ago, and it seems to be continuing, if not getting worse for people who prefer non-M rated games. I agree, FF should have stayed fantasy and family friendly, not this. See long rant above.

Just as long as I don't see a Chocobo get gruesomely murdered lmao

I want to protect each and every one of those guys

@Rob_230 Final Fantasy XIV is amazing now

Especially post Shadowbringers, the community and the game itself feel so dense and connected with the amount of things to do in that game. Highly recommend it.

@Nepp67 you are missing my point.

I think it was a wrong decision for a long term franchise to drastically change its formula. That’s all. And it’s fair for me to have that critique, just as it is fair for Square Enix to make the game they want.

The fact I have kids clearly affects me personal and decisions I make. I’m not saying a game should cater to a narrow situation like mine. Just that is how this decision affects me and probably means I won’t be buying it.

@HotGoomba To be fair, I don't recall a lot of Final Fantasy games touching the M rating at all

I think this is the first main entry that's actually mature-rated, though I think FF Type 0 was also M-rated as well, but that's the only other one I remember

@rjejr yeah, I agree completely. So many games don’t need the gore they add just because they think it makes them look cool.

It’s like many movies that would pass for PG if they simply removed the swearing.

Before I had kids I didn’t care, but now days a lot of things in entertainment are not suitable for families and it’s a frustrating trend for me personally.

I think most here only have themselves to think about so they think more blood is cool and screw what anyone else thinks, but oh well.

@rjejr completely agree with your rant above about this Final Fantasy in particular.

That’s the opinion I have had since the trailer launched. I don’t think it’s a bad game, but it just isn’t want I want from a Final Fantasy.

@rjejr It doesn't have to be all bright colors and walking cat and dog people to be called a fantasy. It's got magic, giant ethereal beings, rideable chickens and lots of magical swordfights. How does this not fit fantasy? Even if it could be described as dark fantasy, it is still a fantasy setting.

Fine with me... I do not play the Box. So as long as the game is good, it can be rated whatever they want.

Super excited for this regardless of rating.

@Cloud39472 Case in point books like A Song of Ice and Fire and the Witcher novels still have mystical elements and stuff like magic and fantastical creatures like dragons, so they're still rooted in fantasy, just under a darker tone

Same exact thing here. I've wanted Final Fantasy to explore the dark fantasy route more in depth for a long time

@Kienda If that's a direction they want to go I say let them. For me personally Ive been wanting an M Rated FF title for a long time. Maybe the gameplay won't be gory cause from what I'm seeing the only thing gory in this game is going to be the cutscenes. I haven't seen anything from the gameplay looking all that bloody but it's only a small look so we'll have to see more later.

@TheFrenchiestFry Exactly that, which is why it's been bugging me seeing people whine about this game, everyone is entitled to their opinion, don't get me wrong but I see it with every final fantasy mainline announcement and its getting to me.

I think it looks great and I'm looking forward to seeing how they explore dark fantasy in a final fantasy title. I seem to remember blood being in the original versus 13 trailer so I think it's something they've wanted to do for a while.

Decapitations, swear words, tits and arses. I'm ready.

@TheFrenchiestFry Yeah true. I was talking about M-Rated Games in general, but you did bring up a good point. Personally I feel like T fits it better, but that might just be me.

@Cloud39472 Only bloody thing I've ever seen in Final Fantasy was when Zack died in the Crisis Core game. (Edit)

Not excited. FF was one of my last bastions for more tame content which I could enjoy. Sorry to see them take this darker turn.

Probably due to the gory nature of this one, but I'm happy to hear this, finally square enix evolving final fantasy

@Cloud39472 The aesthetic in XVI looks super refreshing after years of either science fiction, cyberpunk or fantasy meshed with elements from our world

I also have faith that the combat system will probably be about as in depth as VII Remake at the very least since it's being spearheaded by the lead combat designer from DMC5, a game with super satisfying and crunchy weapons and general manueverability

That in conjunction with this game being worked on by staff from FFXIV makes me think it's going to be a lot better than a lot of people are expecting even with the darker tone in place

@TheFrenchiestFry I definitely share in your optimism, the fact that it has the combat designer of DMC5 makes me very excited indeed, a lot of what we know sounds extremely promising. They have an incredible team working on this game, let's hope it's as good as we're expecting!

@Nepp67 we all have different views and opinions. Neither is right/wrong, but they are different.

I’d have preferred them to stick to fantasy that is on the teen side of ratings.

I just hope they are making it actually mature with themes for adults (not talking about H), not just f-bombs, blood and forced violence with a plot deep as a puddle.

@Nepp67 Yeah pretty much, they've always dabbled in some bloodier moments (squalls face being cut, zacks death, versus 13 trailer etc) but never gone full dark fantasy till now.

Since X the FF series has struggled to tell a coherent story and I have zero expectation that XVI will buck the trend. It'll be another hot mess of underbaked ideas, baffling character development and plot holes you could drive a truck through. My biggest fear is that the devs mistake 'mature' for an edgelord MC dropping f bombs and dripping in the blood of his enemies.

I'm ok with this.

@Cloud39472 the thing is you are constantly going after people who have a different opinion.

We are not “whining“ just because we state an opinion or aren’t entirely happy with something.

This game looks good. And I would be looking forward to it more if it wasn’t a mainline Final Fantasy. Why? Because I don’t personally want Final Fantasy to become dark fantasy and for this to be the trend moving forward.

Lots of people will love thy is game. That’s great. That doesn’t mean people who don’t are wrong. Most of us care a lot about this franchise.

@Cloud39472 The thing that also really helps is that since it's being worked on by the Realm Reborn staff, they probably know how to deliver a higher quality game at greater efficiency compared a team like the Kingdom Hearts staff or FFXV staff since those games have just been bogged down with delay after delay, and FFXV in particular disappointed a lot of people at release including myself personally

@Kienda I wouldn't be too worried about dark fantasy becoming the trend for these games. Each new entry explores a new setting and general thematic elements so this is probably going to be a one time thing similar to the transition from VII's cyberpunk setting to VIII's more traditional high fantasy setting with modern aesthetics, to IX's steampunkish look

@Kienda I understand your opinion and you're entitled to it, just as much as I'm entitled to my view of your opinion. Stop feeling so personally attacked all the time.

@AgentMantis If people played FFXIV they knew what to expect and how ridiculous they are being.
There will be no F bombs. It's a medieval setting. That face splatter and some assassination is the worst that will happen.

I would love for there to be splatter in the combat, but even that is unlikely.
You people are being ridiculous if you think this is gonna turn into a graphic god of war or something.

@TheFrenchiestFry Well, I hope that is the case. I still hold out hope for this game, but I’m still unable to shake the feeling I have.

@Cloud39472 I could say the same to you. You are defending this game like it was your baby and you have personally insulted me simply for having an opinion on previous threads.

I’m trying to help you understand others views are valid also without them being wrong.

@rjejr out of interest. What games on PS4 would you recommend for a Dad who wants a fantasy game to play when the kids around.

It seems you have a similar interest to me and I’m currently between games and wondering what to play.

@Kienda At the very least XVI also isn't the only game in the series that's currently in development since it's highly probable that future VII Remake games are also going to be on PS5 if you're looking for something more traditional and familiar if the dark fantasy setting isn't your cup of tea

That's basically the benefit of Nomura taking Gaia knows how long to get a game out

@TheFrenchiestFry yeah, the FF7R games are the a Final Fantasy’s for me right now.

Who knows how long they will be though. Lol

@Kienda I don't need your guidance sensei but thanks anyway. Don't post your opinion if you can't handle someone disagreeing with it.

This seemed obvious from the trailer to be honest.

@Nem At least God of War could tell a story! My main point was that I don't trust SE to be able to tell an adult story with any kind of nuance or depth.

@Sam-Bridges
Don’t worry, Sony don’t allow “sexual stuff” from Japanese devs anymore.

Ratings boards are idiotic these days. What was once acceptable is not anymore by certain groups. For me growing up during the 80's as a kid, PG or PG-13 rated stuff back then would be considered M or R now in many cases, for example. Basically I ignore the ratings and judge by what I see for myself. Some countries are WAY more strict than others as it is too, so this provisional rating could just be a placeholder until the come is completed for a proper rating review, which in turn would probably be rated higher than it should be anyways.

Don't let other tell you what to think about these games, even on the ratings, just judge for yourself when the time comes.

@Kienda
It sad to see Final Fantasy Roman number have to become like this.
Well, at least FF X-2 with cheesy storyline and girly girly things was the last thing that entertaining from Final Fantasy games.
Oh, do you still remember "Rally Ho yourself!" from Quina FF IX ? 🤣

@Cloud39472 the student is always hardheaded and slow to learn...

/Sighs in Sensei

@Sam-Bridges I had the same thought. Please no pointless nudity and F-bombs everywhere for no reason.

@Kienda your own fault for having kids 🤣

Would be funny if all the edgelords bought it because of the mature rating only to find it was given only because the game had loads of schlongs in it. An army of schlongs. Schlong minigames.

@Artois Silence, zoomer.

@rjejr "moving towards M rating just b/c the game devs though tit made them look cool."

I don't know if this being a typo or this being intentional would make me happier! =)

"timed exclusive" I hate those two words together 🤢🤮

I just hope 16 isn't as boring as 15 which it looks like it won't for now.

good. sick and tired of boy bands aimed at a female audience. final fantasy has been missing the mature storytelling (i.e. set in the ivalice world) from final fantasy xii, tactics and vagrant story FAR too long. that said, we don't necessarily need an "M" rating but it restores some of my faith in the series knowing that s-e has a more mature audience in mind this time around.

@Porco FFXV wasn’t aimed at a female audience though. No mainline FF game was aimed at a female audience.

@AgentMantis Depends on who's writing it

Tetsuya Nomura flat out sucks at storytelling imo. He seems to be under the mindset that throwing as many overly pretentious philosophical quotes I'd read off of Instagram posts counts as writing a powerful and emotionally resonant story when it comes to Kingdom Hearts

But FFXIV has done a pretty good job in that department, as has FFVII Remake imo, so I have faith in this one given it's being worked on by the same team as XIV

@Porco Since when does having attractive looking guys automatically mean it's aimed at a female audience?

Does that mean Resident Evil is a girly game just because Leon Kennedy has the most chiseled face known to mankind. or because Chris Redfield looks like a cinderblock on steroids

@Matroska Funnily enough, the demo for FF8 was rated M in the States due to language and such. It was toned down for the full release though.

@TheFrenchiestFry
@Jaz007

that's the vibe i got from it. s-e made a conscious decision to have the game revolve around a pretty boy band consisting of all the typical anime tropes to appeal to a female demographic-- if there is no female appeal in that, i don't know what to say. if you dig into final fantasy xv, you will soon realize that it is by far and away the most popular final fantasy game amongst females in the series — yes, even more so than final fantasy x2 which was made up of an all woman cast.

https://www.fanbyte.com/news/nhk-poll-reveals-the-most-popular-final-fantasy-games-among-women/

i'm not against a mainline final fantasy game having widespread appeal — previous final fantasy games walked more of a neutral line and could be enjoyed by all. but the cast in final fantasy xv was completely immersion breaking and did not work for me. part of the reason was simply because the game had an identity crisis and did not fully understand its target demographic. of course, the game has numerous other problems on top of this making it the worst mainline entry in the series, bar none, in my personal opninion.

@Porco 12's main problem for me was its lack of a more mature protagonist. Vaan doesn't even really belong in the story, and you can see by how little effect he has and how few lines he's given that he was an afterthought (and Penelo for that matter - both of them being the last characters added to the game development-wise). Balthier or Basch as the protagonist would have made the game a good notch better, but Vaan appealed more to the young crowd.

My mini-rant being over, though, I am rather excited for this FF - regardless of T or M rating it feels like it'll be something new-ish.

It will still probably be toned down compared to western titles like the witcher 3 or TLOU 2. A japenese M rating is usually a T western rating especially with language and nudity etc

@Bliquid chocoboobs.

I liked the look of this to be fair, that phoenix/ifrit scene was bad ass.

@YorkshireNed Basically Conan Exiles
Which alot of people bought just for the dongs

@Kienda Shouldn't have had kids then.

😁

There are plenty of kid friendly games out there though, it's not as if that particular demographic isn't catered for.

Again, some gamers aren't happy unless they've got something to moan about!

@ApostateMage Amazing comment, should be on every article regardless of context

@Kienda Don't worry, this is a Final Fantasy game we're talking about. Your kids will be middle-aged before it actually gets released

I see a lot of whiners here about supposedly too much Mature rating games. Maybe you should have reconsidered becoming parents if you can't make that kind of small sacrifices. Play the games when they are asleep or wait a couple years, you genius.

Anyways, on consoles, M means gore and swearing, and if we are lucky, some very tame softcore stuff. Kind of sick to have censored and/or very vanilla stuff in my supposedly mature games. Sony is more conservative than Nintendo on that regards. Shameful.

@Gremio108 Gonna drop that one in the next Bugsnax article.

We want Final Fantasy 16: porn edition.

Future dlc guest characters: Tifa, Lulu and Quistis.

@Turbodream If you've noticed what Sony's been censoring it's usually just sexy fanservice games. They've never censored anything besides those otherwise games like Dmc 5 would've been censored or Metro Exodus.

@TheFrenchiestFry That lovely white 'bobo that the MC is tending to? It's seen dead in the trailer when our boy Joshua goes nuclear.

@Nepp67 The point is a game rated 18+ should not be censoring nudity at all. It should not censored anything.

I'm not arguing for more nudity in T rating games... what is the point of a M rating existing if you censor things that are already censored on other labels?

Btw, DMC5 was censored on PS4 and a lot of others games, fanservices or otherwise, are censored too. People are saying, "like it's just some T&A, who cares" but it's the hypocrisy that irks me (gore and violence is allowed, nudity and sex is not).

@Turbodream DMC 5 had its censorship removed, look it up but I agree that there shouldn't be any type of censorship and Sony's reasoning for it is ***** at best.

Are we going to see some Shiva boob.

@Turbodream nudity and sex is only allowed in ND games.

@Turbodream And you’re whining about games not being explicit for the sake of being explicit. You’re saying it’s M so is should have porn, which you literally said you wanted. Maybe some of us want good games that aren’t explicit without any reason or some of is just have personal preferences or limits. Some of us also like a focus on story, instead porn dlc to get off to....
There are plenty of porn games on PC with are fully animated or visual novels if that’s what you want. In fact, many VNs have it to get sales despite not being part of the creative vision. It’s literally an afterthought to get horny people to buy.
For me, I want a balance and FF mainline games don’t seem like they it - especially since the trailer didn’t convince me. If anything it did the opposite.

@AgentMantis They did it with 14.

And you know what’s strange about this, is if FF did a genre switch, people wouldn’t just say “it’s not for you”, or “just don’t buy it and play something else”, or “the creators should do what they want”; they’d see it as a more legitimate opinion and worry for a long-standing series someone has played for a while. I don’t see the difference. Neither complaint should be treated with a dismissed attitude.

The funny thing is a lot of the older FF games would be rated M if made with today's visuals. We can see this in 7 Remake where they had to remove the blood to keep the T rating.

@Nepp67 DMC5 on PS4 was censored though

They censored the scene where Dante picks up Trish while she's bare naked and unconscious because in the other versions the scene cut to showing Dante from behind, carrying Trish while her butt was in frame and that was apparently too much for Sony while the other platforms remained uncensored

@TheFrenchiestFry Looks like you need to look up the news about it being censored on PS4 and then being uncensored in a later patch.

@Nepp67 Yeah I'm aware but that doesn't really excuse the fact that before the patch the PS4 version was toned down compared to the other versions for literally no reason

@TheFrenchiestFry Looks like it was a mistake on Capcom's part and meant for other states or countries. It wouldn't make any sense for Sony to go and censor other games and then go and uncensor one game cause.... reasons. I mean it is a bare naked butt on the screen.

@Cloud7794 the issue with vaan appears to be a common sentiment amongst the community. from what i have read over the years, the inclusion of vaan as the "lead" protgonist was due to pressure from the higher ups to make the game more appealing to a mainstream audience. basch was in fact intended to be the main protagonist prior to this. also, keep in mind that matsuno, the original director, became ill midway into development and some of the chnages made to the story and characters happened when he took a leave of absence. the development was certainly troubled to some degree and was unable to meet the original vision of matsuno. all that said, i still love ff xii due to its atmosphere, tone, art direction and unique battle system. while the story wasn't perfect, i found it to be very enjoyable all the same. truly the last great final fantasy game before the franchise took a nosedive.

@Jaz007 This is nowhere near the level of switching genres though. It's just taking a dip into dark fantasy, like someone else said above, final fantasy changes setting with nearly every release. It's not going to be an exclusively dark fantasy series now, just like it's never been exclusively Sci-fi fantasy or modern fantasy.

It's all just final fantasy man.

@Porco I agree with you. FF12 is the last really good FF game. It’s amazing how well it turned out considering it’s development. Hopefully 16 can turn things around but going by the trailer it’s more hack and slash again, which does worry me somewhat.

@AgentMantis Who can say? The XIV xpacs are famous for having the best stories in the mmo space.
Of course, single player is not the same, but from what i saw, i expect something good. But, it's still a JRPG. Things will end up in fighting gods or whatever. I like that stuff myself. But, if you want hyper realistic stuff, no, you won't find it in an FF game.

@ApostateMage #91 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Jaz007 I always wondered if there were still people around who enjoyed the cheesy, teen focused angle of the FF games and here you are

Personally I think FF has taken way too long to mature, series long fans are in their 30’s & 40’s now, I have found I have to play these games through gritted teeth in more recent years because they’re pretty cringe. I’m looking forward to a more brutal, grown up, Witcher style FF.

Well, I thought the guts sprayed in that kid's face were kind of a... dead giveaway.

Heh.

@GhostInAJar
It all boils down to how a series is coinceived, though.
Y'all be praising Square for its bold decision, and yet if God of War got a bloodless sequel that showed symbols when enemies were hit - Kingdom Hearts style - you'd be crying bloody murder.

Is this the new 'I won't play Cyberpunk 2077 because there is no third person view'?

Ah yes.. final witcher: fantasy skyrim. I've been waiting for you...

@KirbyTheVampire what the feck is a zoomer?

@nessisonett Didja really have to go and poke the lion?

@rjejr To me the aesthetic screems "spiritual sequel to FFXII." We'll see, but that was the one and only "serious" medieval FF.

I too prefer actual FANTASY from FFIX. But at least this is medieval with swords instead of an Impala on Rt. 66. The compass is pointing North-ish, at least.

@NEStalgia OK so I watched the trailer again and I suppose if they remade FF12 in the FF15 engine and added the premise that 90% of the game took place at night it could look like this. I don't recall much of that story just that if was on the shorter side and the game began after that as I played monster hunter for another 100 hours. I think it was all in the daylight though. I remember a lot of sand.

This just looks like FF15, the way Wii U looks like a tablet for the Wii.

This is FF12. Only Fran the dominatrix bunny girl wore black.

I don't like that mature has to mean - our color scheme consists of black and some dark shades of gray and all the main characters are the same models we used in FF15. Even FF13 had some cast diversity.

Sure, no car, yet, and riding chocobos into battle is cool and all, but it still just looks like 15 to me. I'm really planning on skipping this one, FF15 done did me in.

Oh, and you were likely spot on w/ how this game will roll out. No matte rhow close the base game is to releasing the complete edition is likely a decade away, and likley incomplete as they cancel some DLC along the way. Can't trust the Square side of Squenix no more. For $60 DQXI gave me a full 100 hour game plus a 30 hour post game story that could have bene a $30 DLC. But the whole game was $60, so I'll look forward to and buy DQ12 day 1. Even if that means lousy music before the complete edition releases a year later. It was enough.

@BionicDodo Can I say both?

@Kienda I was trying to think of some when I replied but my sieve brain kind of only works on recognition these days, very limited recall.

We're a big JRPG family. Last really good game was probably DQXI but as a turn based game it's a little slow. I've actually reached the point where I watch my kids play a lot. My 1 son played Star Wars Fallen Order but I think that was a bit intense. Our Switch has been getting the majority of use of late, sorry.

It might be best to go back to the classics. FFX was a fun colorful JRPG, I think that can be had fairly cheap now.

I played White Knight Chronicles but that was on PS3 when my kids' were younger.

Sorry it's all kind of a blank right now but I'll hang on to your email and see if anything pops up.

@Cloud39472 "Even if it could be described as dark fantasy,"

I think I've decided I don't like the dark part. Not dark as in blood, dark as in the entire trailer takes place at night and everyone is wearing black. A bit too heavy on the Game of Thrones influence. I'm a huge GoT fan but even that had scenes during the day.

My wife - a big sci-fi fantasy reader - agrees with you. She said this is fantasy. I guess I need my fantasy to need some non-human main characters.

I don't consider Godzilla movies to be fantasy either, even though technically I suppose they are b/c Godzilla is a fantasy creature. But it's a realistic setting. I'd call this more medieval. And I suppose I don't consider King Arthur to be fantasy either, b/c people in our world, even though I suppose it is.

Think I'm going to give up now. I'm ok w/ the blood, sex, violence, curing whatever, The Wither 3 is great, but I don't consider that a "fantasy" game either, it's a western action adventure game. FF16 may be fantasy, but no my idea of a fantasy video game I suppose. And not an FF game, even though the past 2 mainline games, 13 and 15, have bene just that. 🤷‍♂️

@Kienda My rant, it seems, is never ending. 🤣

@rjejr thanks for the reply. Funnily enough a lot of my gaming takes place on Switch also these days and a lot more with the kids or watching them play. My son is currently working his way through Mario 3D All-Stars. It’s nice reliving those games through his play through.

I’m actually getting DQ11 when the new version releases on PS4. I actually bought it and played the first few hours of it and thought it was excellent but two days after I got it they announced the definitive edition and I thought I’d hold off playing anymore until that. Being the fickle person I am.

Anyways, thanks for the input. I’m gonna give Genshin Impact a try and see if it captures me at all.

@GhostInAJar M rated does not equal mature or dark in a good way necessarily. I'm not saying FF has to be light-hearted or cheesy. I highly doubt any of the content in the game will offend me as well, I just question if we really needed or the series shouldn't have taken a different approach to its story that isn't being graphic. The trailer has also only convinced me that its edgy, and an m rating won't do anything to solve problems in that case. In fact, it has almost nothing to do with your issues.
also, Witcher is just not FF. I don't want to see them be directly comparable ever. Witcher is great, but it's not definitely not FF in any sense. I'm fine with darker, though.

@rjejr So you played the DQXI PS4 original version then? I've been trying to figure out if I should play that one or the additions of Definitive is enough. Despite the ear bleeding soundtrack do you regret not playing Definitive, or was the original well-playing enough?

I have both. The game looks 100x better on PS4 Pro (PS5?) than on Switch.....and the "Switch port to PS at higher res" hasn't sold me.... Not sure which to start. The ear bleeding soundtrack offsets the ugly gfx somewhat though.

As for Fantasy, I think Fantasy generally involves any medieval period setting that is not set in an actual European or Crusades context historical medieval location or period. It can have magic, or not, but any kind of fictional medieval environment not based on actual locations, wars, or settings. A game set in the Holy Land in the 5th century isn't fantasy. A game set during the Hundred Years War or War of Roses, is not fantasy. A game set it Faralan during the War of the Redeemer.....fantasy. Even without magic, elves, or dominatrix bunny girls. 3/10.

@Nepp67 Didn't know that. Thanks for the update. I couldn't agree more that DMC5 should not have been censored at all from the start.

@YorkshireNed I bought Conan for the schlongs.

@Jaz007 Nice strawman. I'm against censoring nudity and sex scenes in games so I must be a perv who wants to jack off.

@NEStalgia I played the original DQXI on my PS4 slim; it is gorgeous and runs smoothly.

The sound quality of the music don't bother me to be honest. It is quite nostalgic. What bother me though is the variety (not enough tracks and some tracks are way overused). This can't be fixed by the new orchestral soundtrack of the definitive edition.

@Fenbops Don't forget about David Cage lol

@Turbodream "We want Final Fantasy 16: porn edition.

Future dlc guest characters: Tifa, Lulu and Quistis."
Yes, such a strawman combined you talking about wanting more than softcore (a porn term) and vanilla stuff. You didn't (you did actually) directly and indirectly say you wanted to see FF characters in official porn. And we all know what porn is for.

@Turbodream I always forget about Conan's schlong adventure. Its in my pile. How big are the schlongs? I expect a solid turn out for Conan

@YorkshireNed At launch, you had schlongs slider for customization on PC. Don't know now. I don't think you ever had that option on consoles.

@Jaz007 Nice story bro. Go play Rez with the Trance peripheral, you need to loosen up.

@Turbodream wow, could you go all the way down to micro?

Don't worry guys, my mom said I could play it so we are good.

@Nepp67 - i hope they don't change the setting for the game - i love it. and yea, i'm certainly not expecting the game any time soon. LOL