Guess I'm on a FF kick lately?
In September, we got the announcement trailer for Final Fantasy XVI.
So, a few things of note:
The first, most striking thing about this is that the game seems to be set in a truly medieval fantasy world, which is something that the Final Fantasy series hasn't really done since... Final Fantasy V?
On one hand, I've always enjoyed how Final Fantasy has expanded what a fantasy setting can be, and fully intend to bring in more VII-like elements into my homebrew D&D world (it was heading that way already, to be fair.) On the other hand, I can see how, for this series, this is a change of pace for a series that surely needs to change things up every now and then, given how prolific it is. I guess for me, having played tons of Dark Souls and the Witcher, and having just spent 9 years watching Game of Thrones, I'm not exactly starved for medieval fantasy media, but I'll give this one the benefit of the doubt.
XVI seems to be leaning toward a much darker tone than your typical Final Fantasy game. Based on what I've read on the official website, it's set in a world with several independent, rival kingdoms. Each of these kingdoms is built around a Crystal (always a big thing in FF games!) that seems to allow for an individual known as a Dominant to summon the kingdom's Eikon - which is this game's version of the summonable creatures like Espers from FFVI or Aeons from FFX. Not every kingdom treats its Dominant the same - in some, the Dominant automatically becomes their monarch, while in others, they're treated as a pariah and kind of forced to serve the kingdom.
The central character appears to be Clive Rosfield, who is the elder son of the Archduke of Rosaria (one of the kingdoms.) Though he was expected to become their Dominant, controlling the Phoenix Eikon, instead, his younger brother Joshua inherited that power. Without that destiny coming to him, he trained to become a knight and won, at a young age, the title of First Shield of Rosaria. However "something" happens involving the Eikon Ifrit (one of the staple summons from the series) that sends him on a quest for revenge.
Now, I'm hesitant to get into any of the other character bios on the website, given that I suspect we're in for some narrative twists as to who is really central to the plot.
We do know that the two faces we see at the end of the trailer are both Clive, suggesting that the story might involve a big time jump from Clive's teenage to adult years.
The rest here is really just speculation, based on the trailer:
We hear some dialogue about how the appearance of a second Eikon of fire is, well, unexpected. The art for the game's title, which tends to be pretty important, depicts the Phoneix and Ifrit in some sort of combat.
According to the website, Eikons reside within their Dominants - which makes me wonder if they aren't so much summoned as much as the Dominant transforms into the Eikon when they call upon their power.
There's clearly some court intrigue going on, with betrayals and such (that set Clive on his path of vengeance) and we see what is presumably one of Joshua's guardians (EDIT: actually, I suspect it's his and Clive's father, the Archduke, which would certainly heighten the trauma) slain, splattering the young Joshua in blood (a seriously M-rated moment for a Final Fantasy game.) This, it seems, sets Joshua off, and you hear some of his other guards begging him to calm down, as his eyes begin to glow with flame.
So here's my theory: Joshua is supposed to carry the Phoenix Eikon within him, but actually, he has Ifrit, which in this game looks like a Godzilla-sized fire-demon. While we do see Phoenix arrive to combat Ifrit (maybe?) I suspect that Joshua is actually the more monstrous of the Eikons.
Furthermore, if that's the case, and if Square wants to go super-dark with the story, I wonder if Clive's promise "I'll kill you, if it's the last thing I do," is not actually about taking revenge, but might instead be a promise to put his brother out of his misery, having become this terrible monster.
I've got to say, they've got me on the hook. Probably going to need to get a PS5 some time next year...
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