Final Fantasy XVI Shares More Combat Details
The official Final Fantasy XVI Twitter account has just shared some of the latest news regarding the combat system in the much anticipated JRPG. We’ve been receiving quite a few teaser previews ahead of a larger final reveal likely coming this June, but this clip is the one that’s revealed the most so far. While we did see the extended State of Play in April showing off the combat systems, the recent tweet offered some more details on how the leveling and progression systems are set to work.
The skill tree system allows players to spend skill points on obtaining abilities or upgrading attacks with new, flashy effects. This feels more streamlined than Final Fantasy X and VII Remake’s upgrade system, which allow you to slowly increase stats like HP, attack and magic skills alongside the occasional new move. With this system, Final Fantasy XVI is adding more of an emphasis on each upgrade having a more tangible impact on your gameplay style. While this has been controversial, Square Enix has promised that the RPG elements of previous games aren’t being phased out and are still in place alongside this expansive new system.
The short teaser also confirmed a handy new feature: the ability to refund skill points at any time to switch up your playstyle. This is a more modern innovation in a lot of action-RPGs that has leaned into more flexibility rather than forcing players to stick with a set of moves that they aren’t enjoying. With it appearing that you can refund and spend points an unlimited amount of times, grinding out to get your ideal skills will hopefully be kept to a minimum. It should be noted, however, that it seems you only receive half of the points you put into a skill- so the strategy of creating a build will still very much be in place.
The final two aspects of the trailer simply echoed what we were told in the longer preview earlier last month. The first was the ability to have the game simply unlock skills for you without having to go through each description yourself. This is perfect for more casual players and repeated playthroughs, which will cut down players’ time in menus as much as possible. The other was with the ‘Hall of Virtue’, which essentially just lets you practice skills before using them in the field. This is certain to be useful in the fast-paced combi-based battle system of Final Fantasy XVI. If this teaser piqued your interest enough, you can pre-order it now at all major retails for its release next month on June 22nd.
