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126-837: Final Fantasy XVI is a 2023 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix . The sixteenth main installment in the Final Fantasy series, it was released for the PlayStation 5 in June 2023, with a Windows version released in September 2024. The game features segmented open environments and an action-based combat system involving melee and magic-based attacks. There are recurring series features including Chocobos for area travel, and summoned monsters called Eikons, which are both fought as bosses and used through channelling their power in combat. Final Fantasy XVI

252-443: A hub to talk to non-playable characters (NPCs), track Clive's relationships with different characters, interact with different shops such as potion sellers and blacksmiths to make and upgrade equipment, and accept side quests ranging from character requests to monster hunts. Information on locations, characters and terminology is stored in a database dubbed Active Time Lore, accessible to players at any time. Combat takes place in

378-403: A "Story" mode that offers accessories to simplify combat and strengthen the characters, and a normal mode. After completing the game, new options are available including New Game+ which carries character statistics and equipment into a new game, and a harder "Final Fantasy" mode which increases overall difficulty and changes enemy placements. There is also an arcade mode which grades players using

504-446: A "role-playing shooter" due to the heavy RPG elements within the game, such as quest-based gameplay and also its character traits and leveling system. Half-Minute Hero (2009) is an RPG shooter featuring self-referential humour and a 30-second time limit for each level and boss encounter. Other action role-playing games with shooter elements include the 2010 titles Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment and The 3rd Birthday ,

630-593: A 1991 issue of Computer Gaming World criticized several computer role-playing games for using "arcade" or "Nintendo-style" action combat, including Ys , Sorcerian, Times of Lore, and Prophecy . In 1991, Square released Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden , also known as Final Fantasy Adventure or Mystic Quest in the West, for the Game Boy . Like Crystalis , the action in Seiken Densetsu bore

756-457: A Bearer and blessed with some power from the fire Eikon Phoenix. The brothers live with their parents Duke Elwin and Duchess Anabella, with Jill as their ward. The brothers accompany Elwin to a ceremony to awaken Joshua's powers when they are ambushed by Sanbreque soldiers. Elwin's death triggers Joshua's destructive awakening as the Phoenix, and an Eikon named Ifrit emerges moments later and kills

882-634: A book credited to Joshua recording the game's events. Post-release downloadable content expansions Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide expand on the Motes of Water, a persecuted tribe associated with the Eikon Leviathan. In Echoes of the Fallen , fragments from an artificial Mothercrystal created by the Fallen are distributed on the black market. Clive, Joshua and Jill go to the Sagespire,

1008-650: A heart monitor to represent the player's Attack Power and Armor Class statistics. Another controversial aspect of the game involved taking drugs (instead of potions) that increase/decrease attributes, but with side effects such as heart-rate increase/decrease or death. Origin Systems , the developer of the Ultima series, also released an action RPG in 1988, titled Times of Lore , which was inspired by various NES titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda . Times of Lore inspired several later titles by Origin Systems, such as

1134-405: A long time on Final Fantasy XIV , which used multiple styles and paid homage to the entire series, Soken had trouble adjusting to composing for a single-player with a central narrative and musical theme. The music was the last element to be put in place, after the narrative and gameplay were set. One recalled episode from the music writing was a bardic song performed both in spoken and sung form by

1260-458: A lot of popularity on the 2010s with titles such as Warframe (2013), Destiny (2014) and Destiny 2 (2017), The Division (2016) and The Division 2 (2019). New Game%2B The term was coined in the 1995 role-playing video game Chrono Trigger , but examples can be found in earlier games, such as Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei , The Legend of Zelda , Ghosts 'n Goblins , and Super Mario Bros. . This play mode

1386-979: A more dialogue-heavy experience akin to the Baldurs Gate games and even older series like Falcom's Dragon Slayer/Xanadu series had its outing Xanadu Next with similar Diablo influences. The influences also come full circle when the first Diablo game was inspired by rogue-likes Umoria and Angband and in more recent years many games in the rogue-like genre are inspired by more classic dungeon crawler ARPGs that Diablo helped spawn. In this sub genre there are such recent titles as Path of Exile (2013), Grim Dawn (2016), Zenonia S: Rifts In Time (2015), Book of Demons (2018), Shadows: Awakening (2018), Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl Gold (2017), Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition (2016) and its expansions Titan Quest: Ragnarök (2017) and Titan Quest: Atlantis (2019), Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (2020) and Minecraft Dungeons (2020). The prominence of Diablo 2 in

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1512-483: A more traditional RPG-esque system, including experience points and levels with action game elements. Unlike its predecessor, Zelda II more closely fits the definition of an action RPG. Another Metroidvania -style action RPG released that year was System Sacom 's Sharp X1 computer game Euphory , which was possibly the only Metroidvania -style multiplayer action RPG produced, allowing two-player cooperative gameplay. The fifth Dragon Slayer title, Sorcerian ,

1638-498: A point system for combat, with harder Ultimaniac Mode challenges within that. In these modes, Clive can further upgrade his weapons, upgrade accessories in Final Fantasy mode, and challenge trials which place limits on Clive, such as only using one Eikon power in battle. Final Fantasy XVI is set in the fictional world of Valisthea. Scattered throughout the two continents of Ash and Storm are colossal magical crystals, known as

1764-542: A quest to destroy the nations' Mothercrystals, which are causing the Blight by draining aether from the land. They infiltrate Sanbreque's capital, but within its Mothercrystal are faced by a being called Ultima, who mortally wounds Cid before the Mothercrystal is destroyed. Ultima attempts to possess Clive. Joshua, who survived Ifrit's attack due to the Phoenix's powers, stops and contains Ultima within himself. Hugo, who

1890-514: A questioning of the crystal's role of bestowing power on humans. The Eikons were based on established and popular summons from across the Final Fantasy series, with Ifrit given a prominent role to contrast his earlier portrayal as a summon for beginners. Rather than using CGI, the story was told using real-time cinematics and in-game dialogue. The cinematics were handled by veteran series CGI director Takeshi Nozue. Masayoshi Soken served as

2016-634: A second large-scale project. Takai, who had also worked with Yoshida on Final Fantasy XIV , was picked as main director for his experience on the series, his popularity among the development team and his experience on visual effects . Full production on Final Fantasy XVI began in 2016 following Patch 3.4 of Heavensward , when Takai and Maehiro had found replacement staff for the next expansion Stormblood . The team received development support from Tai Yasue's Kingdom Hearts team in Square Enix Creative Business Unit I , and

2142-482: A short jingle. Vocal lyrics were written by Fox at Soken's request, with one of the vocal pieces being the victory theme. To create a sense of otherness without using a made-up language, Fox translated his lyrics in Ancient Greek . The main theme song, "Tsuki Wo Miteita – Moongazing", is written and performed by Kenshi Yonezu . Both Yonezu and Yoshida expressed pleasure and enthusiasm at the collaboration, as each

2268-537: A slow start filled with worldbuilding and unfamiliar terminology. Iain Harris of GamesRadar+ described the setting as a throwback to early series games and noted its environmental themes, but noted some poor dialogue. Eric Van Allen, writing for Destructoid , noted the story's ambition but felt some of its themes were poorly resolved. Eurogamer ' s Edwin Evans-Thirlwell praised Clive's storyline and

2394-477: A standard edition and a "Complete Edition" with both DLC expansions. A demo covering the game's opening section was released alongside the port's official announcement in August. The port was produced by the same team as the main game, with new expanded graphics and performance options included to account for different PC setups. Takai later commented that the port's release was delayed both by the exclusivity deal, and

2520-511: A statement requesting those who had early copies not to spoil the game. After release, the game was patched with additional camera, control, and graphical options, and some graphical issues were corrected. In September 2023, Yoshida confirmed that two paid DLC episodes were in development, as well as officially confirming ongoing production of a PC version. Alongside this, a further update was released featuring new costume appearances for Clive, Jill, and Torgal. The first major DLC episode, Echoes of

2646-580: A strong resemblance to that of Legend of Zelda , but added more RPG elements. It was one of the first action RPGs to allow players to kill townspeople, though later Mana games removed this feature. Arcus Odyssey by Wolf Team (now Namco Tales Studio ) was an action RPG that featured an isometric perspective and co-operative multiplayer gameplay. In 1993, the second Seiken Densetsu game, Secret of Mana , received considerable acclaim, for its innovative pausable real-time action battle system , and its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where

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2772-401: A team at PlatinumGames led by Takahisa Taura. When creating both the world design and story, the team took criticism from Final Fantasy XV (2016) into account, specifically its open world design and story delivery problems. Takai's main goal for the game was an action-based combat that was easy to use, and a mature dark fantasy narrative that would tackle difficult themes. Yoshida wanted

2898-414: A trained singer and actor that would change depending on Clive's position in the story. The songs proved difficult as they needed localizing in several languages and recording a cappella , which resulted in issues with the pitch and tempo. A problematic track to include was the recurring "Chocobo" theme, which had an established light tone at odds with the setting. Rather than a full track, it was included as

3024-480: Is "the earliest game I'd feel comfortable calling an action-RPG" but notes that "it doesn't fit neatly into our modern genre classifications", though came closer than Bokosuka Wars released the same year. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com argues that Japanese developers created a new brand of action role-playing game; these new Japanese games combined the role-playing genre with arcade-style action and action-adventure elements. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade also traces

3150-636: Is "the very first action-RPG ever made" according to GameSetWatch. Originally released for the PC-8801 computer in September 1984, it abandoned the command-based battles of earlier role-playing games in favor of real-time hack-and-slash combat that required direct input from the player, alongside puzzle-solving elements. In contrast to earlier turn-based roguelikes , Dragon Slayer was a dungeon-crawl role-playing game using real-time, action-oriented combat, combined with traditional role-playing mechanics. Dragon Slayer's overhead action role-playing formula

3276-570: Is Clive Rosfield, firstborn son of Rosaria's ruling family who is passed over as successor when his younger brother Joshua becomes the Dominant of Phoenix; Clive can acquire and wield the power of multiple Eikons. A future companion of Clive's is his childhood friend Jill Warrick, the eventual Dominant of Shiva who spends much of her life as a political hostage. During his travels Clive is joined by his hound, Torgal; and Cidolfus Telamon, Dominant of Ramuh who provides shelter for Bearers and Dominants, and

3402-482: Is a stage adaptation of the game by the Takarazuka Revue 's Cosmos Troupe, set to premier in 2024. The game was a timed exclusive for PS5 for six months following its release. While a Windows version was rumored based on that, Yoshida denied knowledge of such a port. He later confirmed a Windows version was planned, but would not appear quickly. The Windows version released on September 17, 2024. It came in

3528-495: Is an incarnation of a recurring Final Fantasy character . Other prominent characters include Barnabas Tharmr, king of Waloed and Dominant of Odin; Benedikta Harman, a Waloed spy and Dominant of Garuda; Hugo Kupka, key political figure in the Dhalmekian Republic and Dominant of Titan; and Dion Lesage , crown prince of Sanbreque and Dominant of Bahamut. In his teenage years, Clive serves as Joshua's bodyguard, being

3654-544: Is considered the first example of an immersive sim , a genre that combines elements from other genres to create a game with strong player agency and emergent gameplay, and has influenced many games since its release. The engine was re-used and enhanced for Ultima Underworld ' s 1993 sequel, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds . Looking Glass Studios planned to create a third Ultima Underworld , but Origin rejected their pitches. After Electronic Arts (EA) rejected Arkane Studios ' pitch for Ultima Underworld III ,

3780-404: Is most often found in role-playing video games, where starting a New Game Plus will usually have the player characters start the new game with the statistics and equipment with which they ended the last game. Key items that are related to the story are normally removed so they cannot ruin the game's progression, and are given back to the player at the time they are needed; likewise, characters that

3906-411: Is set in the twin continents of Valisthea, currently divided between six nations who hold power through access to magical Crystals and Dominants, humans who act as hosts for each nation's Eikon. Tensions between the nations escalate as a magical drought dubbed the Blight begins consuming the land. Clive Rosfield, guardian to his younger brother Joshua, witnesses his kingdom destroyed and becomes involved in

Final Fantasy XVI - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-860: The Princess Crown series, including Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade . Princess Crown had a more cartoon-like visual appeal. It still had quality visuals due to the George Kamitani style. LandStalker's 1997 spiritual successor Alundra is considered "one of the finest examples of action/RPG gaming", combining platforming elements and challenging puzzles with an innovative storyline revolving around entering people's dreams and dealing with mature themes. Ultima Underworld ' s influence has been found in BioShock (2007), and that game's designer, Ken Levine , has stated that "all

4158-616: The Dragon's Crown Artworks foreword: "The motif within Dragon's Crown is all the fantasy works that has affected me until now: the PC RPG Wizardry that I first came into contact with as a student; Ian Livingstone 's gamebooks; games like Tower of Druaga , Golden Axe and The King of Dragons ." He also cites his early 20s work on Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom as "truly something that I had aspired for". Dragon's Crown

4284-474: The Heavensward scenario, only starting full work in 2016. The initial narrative drew inspiration from the early seasons of Game of Thrones , with other inspirations including classic and contemporary anime being used to prevent there being too many similarities. Maehiro created the initial script, which was checked and completed by Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. The game's dialogue was written before any of

4410-562: The Ivalice universe. The producer, Naoki Yoshida , worked on Final Fantasy XIV as both producer and director. The main director is Hiroshi Takai, known for his work on the SaGa series and The Last Remnant . Kazutoyo Maehiro acts as creative director and lead writer. The lead gameplay designer was Ayako Yokoyama. Yusuke Hashimoto, a former design engineer for Level-5 , was lead system programmer. Hiroshi Minagawa acts as art director, while

4536-790: The MMO vehicular combat game Auto Assault (2006) by NetDevil and NCsoft . Other action RPGs featured both hack and slash and shooting elements, with the use of both guns (or in some cases, bow and arrow or aerial combat ) and melee weapons, including Cavia 's flight-based Drakengard series (2003 to 2005), and Level-5 's Rogue Galaxy (2005). Other RPS games include the Mass Effect series (2007 onwards), Fallout 3 and subsequent Fallout titles (2008 onwards), White Gold: War in Paradise (2008), and Borderlands (2009). Borderlands developer Gearbox Software has dubbed it as

4662-503: The first installment of its Ys series in 1987. While not very popular in the West, the long-running Ys series has performed strongly in the Japanese market, with many sequels, remakes and ports in the decades that followed its release. Besides Falcom's own Dragon Slayer series, Ys was also influenced by Hydlide , from which it borrowed certain mechanics such as health-regeneration. The Faery Tale Adventure offered one of

4788-562: The "Calamity Kid" achievement in the game Bastion . Others may require or be required by additional purchases in the form of downloadable content , such as in Yakuza: Like a Dragon . Final Fantasy XIV is a MMORPG with an extensive story line called the "main scenario quest" or colloquially the "MSQ". A New Game Plus option was introduced during the Shadowbringers expansion patch cycle, which allows players to replay

4914-414: The 1990 games Bad Blood (another action RPG based on the same engine) and Ultima VI: The False Prophet , based on the same interface. Also in 1989, the enhanced remake Ys I & II was one of the first video games to use CD-ROM , which was utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animated cut scenes, a Red Book CD soundtrack, and voice acting. Its English localization was also one of

5040-611: The Eikons and related gameplay and story scenes, was ready that March. Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine the previous month, the team decided to hold off releasing the trailer due to the game's portrayal of warring nations. Yoshida recorded a message to preface the trailer to separate it from world events. A third trailer, featuring more gameplay content and the release date, was published in December at The Game Awards 2022 . The game

5166-514: The Fallen , was released on December 7 and followed Clive's exploration of an ancient tower. The second, The Rising Tide , was released on April 18, 2024, and features the lost Eikon Leviathan. A simultaneous patch offered further control and graphical options, and a new combat challenge. The DLC was directed by Takeo Kujiraoka, who had previously worked on Final Fantasy XIII and the Dissidia subseries. While originally less focused on narrative,

Final Fantasy XVI - Misplaced Pages Continue

5292-637: The Kingdom of Waloed which dominates the Ash continent, and the neutral Crystalline Dominion sitting between Ash and Storm. An outlier is the Iron Kingdom, an isolated nation off the coast of Storm overseen by the Crystalline Orthodox. In the backstory an ancient people, humanity's ancestors the Fallen, once dominated Valisthea before a cataclysm destroyed their civilization, leaving ruins across

5418-591: The Mothercrystals, which provide aether energy to the various populations and drive civilization with shards mined for commercial use. There are also humans that can use magic without crystals known as Bearers who are subject to prejudice and slavery, their overuse causing them to gradually petrify. A powerful force in Valisthea are the Eikons, magical creatures of incredible power that are utilized by hosts called Dominants. There are eight Eikons, one for each of

5544-624: The Night ; new areas, such as in Parasite Eve ; new items, such as in the Metal Gear series; new challenges, such as in the .hack series, or new weapon and armor upgrades, like in God of War II 's Bonus Mode and God of War (2018) 's New Game+ mode. Games that connect to online marketplaces may require the player to complete a New Game Plus game to obtain certain achievements , such as

5670-561: The Phoenix, with Clive swearing revenge. Anabella, who despises Clive's lack of blessing and betrayed Rosaria to preserve her bloodline, has him enslaved to Sanbreque's army. Thirteen years later, Clive is sent behind enemy lines during a fight between the Dhalmekian Republic and the Iron Kingdom to assassinate the latter's Dominant, revealed to be an enslaved Jill. He deserts to free her, and the two are rescued by Cid, who agrees to help Clive search for Ifrit's Dominant. Tracking word of an unknown Dominant, they fight Benedikta, from whom Clive takes

5796-476: The United States, the game was the second best-selling title behind Diablo IV . During its first week, Final Fantasy XVI sold over three million units. Reports and statements from Square Enix noted that despite strong sales the game did not meet the company's higher expectations, with this and other factors contributing to the company's share value falling. President Takashi Kiryu blamed slow adoption of

5922-413: The archetypes of princes of darkness and light respectively. Crystals, a recurring feature in the series, were portrayed as an analogy to depleted fossil fuels , while Dominants and Eikons acted as analogies for weapons of mass destruction. A recurring marketing tagline, "The legacy of the crystals has shaped our history for long enough", was meant to symbolise both a break from the science fiction style and

6048-416: The bird-like Chocobo and monster types, appear in the game. Following a story-driven prologue section, Clive is able to travel to different parts of Valisthea. The world is split between enclosed dungeon environments, town environments, and wider open fields, all selected from a map via a fast travel menu. Travel within open zones is done either on foot or via Chocobo. Clive's home base is a hideout, acting as

6174-535: The camera to some degree. As such, these are often grouped with other "isometric RPGs". The popularity of the Diablo series spawned such franchises like Divinity , Torchlight , Dungeon Siege and Sacred . Commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; The Diablo series spawned many terms like being referred to as "dungeon crawler" "slasher RPG" "hack and slasher",

6300-424: The cast enjoyable, and IGN ' s Mitchell Saltzman was highly positive about the story and characters, and lauded the lead performances. Game Informer 's Wesley LeBlanc enjoyed the wider narrative, and Edge noted the grand scope of the narrative despite it being at odds with the game structure. Jordan Middler, writing for Video Games Chronicle , found the story well told and its cast likeable after

6426-589: The characters are designed by Kazuya Takahashi. The logo, portraying the Eikons Phoenix and Ifrit in battle and tying into the game's themes and story, is designed by long-time illustrator Yoshitaka Amano . Concept work for the game began in 2015 after Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda approached Yoshida to develop the next mainline Final Fantasy . Yoshida, who was finishing up production on the Final Fantasy XIV expansion Heavensward , understood

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6552-449: The characters memorable, but praised the overall lore. A point raised by some critics was a perceived lack of ethnic diversity and representation . Higham praised the graphics and cinematics as adding to the overall story and design, and both Edge and Wilkerson lauded the detail and variety of the game's graphics. Middler lauded the overall visual design, but noted some stilted animation for side characters in some cutscenes. Talking about

6678-456: The characters, setting the standard for first-person computer RPGs for several years. It inspired many other developers to make real-time dungeon crawlers, such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos . Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss , released in 1992, has been cited as the first RPG to feature first-person action in a 3D environment. Ultima Underworld

6804-420: The choice as Creative Business Unit I had begun work on Final Fantasy VII Remake , but he needed to balance his work between Final Fantasy XIV and XVI . To lay the groundwork, Yoshida assembled a small planning team made up of himself, Maehiro and designer Mitsutoshi Gondai. Yoshida decided to become producer as his duties as both producer and director for Final Fantasy XIV were too time-consuming to take on

6930-424: The concept of Eikons having prominence, Maehiro created the world map and based the nations around their local geography before creating the story around that setting. Yoshida always considered the game as Clive's story and the relationships he forms with different people through the warring nations. The story's central theme was the clashing of values. Clive and Dion were designed as aesthetic opposites, built around

7056-473: The console, and stated the company would continue marketing it. In May 2024, Kiryu stated that Final Fantasy XVI and other major titles had failed to meet long-term sales expectations. Action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG ) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Action role-playing games emphasize real-time combat where

7182-647: The development of Dragon Slayer (1984) and Hydlide (1984). Dragon Slayer , Hydlide and Courageous Perseus (1984) "vie for position as genre precedent" according to John Szczepaniak, and there was an ongoing rivalry developing between the Dragon Slayer and Hydlide series over the years. The Tower of Druaga , Dragon Slayer and Hydlide were influential in Japan, where they influenced later action RPGs such as Ys , as well as The Legend of Zelda . Falcom's Dragon Slayer , created by Yoshio Kiya,

7308-571: The elements – Phoenix (fire), Shiva (ice), Ramuh (thunder), Leviathan (water), Titan (earth), Garuda (wind), Odin (darkness), and Bahamut (light); a seemingly impossible second Eikon of fire, Ifrit, drives the main plot by disrupting this balance. The core nations of Valisthea are the Grand Duchy of Rosaria, the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, and the Dhalmekian Republic on the Storm continent,

7434-453: The ensuing fight, Ultima kills Dion and rips his fragment out of Joshua, mortally wounding him. Joshua sacrifices himself to give Clive his Eikon. After killing Ultima, Clive heals Joshua's wounds and destroys the final Mothercrystal within Origin to remove magic from Valisthea. A post-credits scene in Valisthea's future, where magic is considered a myth, shows a family living in peace and owning

7560-413: The fact that optimising for both PS5 and PC would have been an "impossible" workload for the team. Final Fantasy XVI received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . According to OpenCritic , 92% of 163 critics recommend the game. Regarding the story, Michael Higham of GameSpot praised the writing for its handling of darker themes and found

7686-613: The feature to advance the plot. In Astro Boy: Omega Factor , the player uses the game's Stage Select mechanism, explained in-story as a form of time travel, to avert disaster, while in Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem , the player defeats three different final bosses, one in each playthrough, to access the true ending. Some New Game Plus variations alter established gameplay. This includes unlocking new characters, such as in Castlevania: Symphony of

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7812-411: The final sequences. During the first half of development, an Eikon-based job system was intended for Clive, but it was dropped due to its restrictions on Clive's in-game appearance. Classic Final Fantasy jobs were used as a design inspiration for enemies and some NPCs. Yoshida brought Maehiro on board due to liking his writing style and world-building. While he accepted, Maehiro was also busy working on

7938-538: The first to use voice dubbing . The game received the Game of the Year award from OMNI Magazine in 1990, as well as other prizes. Another 1989 release, Activision 's Prophecy: The Fall of Trinadon , attempted to introduce "Nintendo-style" action combat to North American computer role-playing games. Action RPGs were far more common on consoles than computers, due to gamepads being better suited to real-time action than

8064-834: The following games released prior to 1984 as action RPGs: Temple of Apshai (1979) and its sequel Gateway to Apshai (1983), Beneath the Pyramids for the Apple II (1980), Bokosuka Wars (1983), and Sword of Fargoal (1983). Jeremy Parish of USgamer claimed that Adventure (1980) was an action RPG. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton claimed that the Intellivision games Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1982) and Treasure of Tarmin (1983) were action RPGs. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade notes that Adventure lacked RPG mechanics such as experience points and permanent character growth, and argues that Gateway to Apshai

8190-416: The game design was finalised. The script was written first in Japanese, then translated into English for initial dialogue and cutscene recording. The traditional medieval setting and style was chosen due to the team liking that style from classic Final Fantasy games, along with shifting away from the science fiction elements of more recent entries that was felt to be making the series "static". Working from

8316-448: The game is played from a third-person perspective. Players can customize their player character , which learns to cast spells, brew potions, and master combat abilities, eventually developing their own special combat style. In late 1987, FTL Games released Dungeon Master , a dungeon crawler that had a real-time game world and some real-time combat elements (akin to Active Time Battle ), requiring players to quickly issue orders to

8442-400: The game to cater to neither children or adults but rather something that will reach "players of all generations". He also wanted to separate the game from commonly associated stereotypes such as an anime -inspired art style and a story focusing on teenagers. It was initially developed as a PlayStation 5 exclusive, with a PlayStation 4 version being considered but abandoned so as not to limit

8568-432: The game was supported by a variety of downloadable content , including story-focused campaigns and smaller patches to include new features and in-game items. Final Fantasy XVI is an action role-playing game in which players take control of protagonist Clive Rosfield and a rotating party of AI-controlled companions through segmented open areas across the continents of Valisthea. Recurring Final Fantasy elements, such as

8694-502: The game's combat system, Yoshida conducted surveys within the Final Fantasy community, finding a division between fans of action-based and more traditional turn-based combat. After considering the potential impact on sales and modern gaming trends, he opted for a real-time action-based battle system. Yoshida admitted that this approach alongside other gameplay decisions risked polarizing series fans, but believed that trying to please every fan by incorporating every element possible would "run

8820-409: The game's mouse-based combat were mixed. In 1997 Blizzard's Diablo was released and became massively successful. It was an action RPG that used a mouse oriented point-and-click interface and offered gamers a free online service to play with others that maintained the same rules and gameplay. Diablo ' s effect on the market was significant, inspiring many imitators. Its impact was such that

8946-621: The game's version of recurring Final Fantasy summoned monsters . Clive can switch between different Eikon abilities during battle, stringing them together into different combo attacks. A core mechanic of combat is "Stagger", where the party deals specific types of damage which build up a stagger meter to stun an enemy for a short time and make them vulnerable to more attacks. During certain story sections, Clive has battles with Eikons that have dedicated mechanics. After defeating them, Clive gains access to powers and fighting techniques themed around them. The game starts out with two difficulty settings:

9072-585: The gaming market and its influence on the MMORPG genre later popularized the strongly used mouse-oriented point and click combat. While in the Diablo series this type of combat does not have a lock-on key, World of Warcraft and most MMO games uses some kind of key to target an enemy, usually TAB, to lock into it, usually referred to as "tab-target". In tab-target combat the player's character automatic do attack animations with some kind of regular attack, while

9198-468: The genre's roots to Japan, noting that the "Western game industry of the time had a tendency to treat action games and RPGs as separate things for separate demographics". Jeremy Parish argues that action RPGs were popularized in Japan by The Tower of Druaga . It was released for arcades in June 1984, and was intended as a "fantasy version of Pac-Man , with puzzles to solve, monsters to battle, and hidden treasure to find". Its success in Japan inspired

9324-408: The growing conflict between Valisthea's nations and a secret power driving the war. Beginning concept development in 2015, the staff included Naoki Yoshida as producer, Hiroshi Takai as main director, artists Hiroshi Minagawa and Kazuya Takahashi, Kazutoyo Maehiro as creative director and lead writer, Masayoshi Soken as composer, and Capcom veteran Ryota Suzuki as battle designer. Yoshida's aim

9450-399: The idea of turning the mechanics of Final Fantasy V into a real-time battle system. The Eikon battles all had unique mechanics that were not used again in-game. One of the earliest completed Eikon battles was with Garuda, with its foundation remaining mostly unchanged throughout production. There were no loading screens related to these setpiece battles, with gameplay and dialogue mixed into

9576-431: The in-universe isolation of Valisthea's lands. He admitted potential representation issues, but foresaw problems with both breaking player immersion in the setting, and problematic stereotypes being associated with protagonists or antagonists. The team ultimately decided to focus on the characters' personalities and narratives over their appearance. In a follow-up, he noted the game's world was inspired by cultures from around

9702-521: The keyboard and mouse. Though there were attempts at creating action-oriented computer RPGs during the late 1980s and early 1990s, very few saw any success. Times of Lore was one of the more successful attempts in the American computer market, where there was a generally negative attitude towards combining genres in this way and more of an emphasis on preserving the purity of the RPG genre. For example,

9828-481: The land. By the game's events, Valisthea is suffering from a depletion of aether dubbed the Blight which withers all life, driving the nations into conflict with each other. Because of their ability to manifest Eikons, Dominants play a key role in the nations' politics and military. Depending on where they are born, Dominants are hailed as political leaders, tolerated due to their power, or suffer abuse and are either killed or used as weapons of war. The game's protagonist

9954-448: The largest worlds at the time, with over 17,000 computer screens without loading times. In 1988, Telenet Japan 's Exile series debuted, and was controversial due to its plot, which revolves around a time-traveling Crusades-era Syrian assassin who assassinates various religious/historical figures as well as 20th-century political leaders, The gameplay of Exile included both overhead exploration and side-scrolling combat, and featured

10080-473: The lead composer for the game, with additional compositions by Takafumi Imamura, Daiki Ishikawa, Saya Yasaki, and Justin Frieden, who also arranged many of Soken's compositions alongside Yoshitaka Suzuki, Ryo Furukawa, TomoLow, and Keiko. Soken had worked with Yoshida and Takai on Final Fantasy XIV , and was brought on board due to his familiarity with Yoshida, Takai and Maehiro's world design style. He described

10206-440: The music as having a singular direction inspired by the overall dark fantasy setting, contrasting it against the variety and lighter tunes for XIV . Initially asked to provide 140, the game's final total was over 200 songs, including variations on established character themes. He attributed the large number of songs to the wide variety of characters and situations, wanting to avoid repeating the same music too often. Having worked for

10332-415: The narrative's examination of series themes, though noted a tone of "wanton backstabbing and ambient misogyny" among the supporting cast. Similarly, Zach Wilkerson of RPGFan found the female characters underdeveloped, though praised the narrative and the cast overall. Giovanni Colantonio of Digital Trends found the story lacking after shifting away from Clive's revenge quest, additionally finding few of

10458-541: The only controllable character, with other party members driven by AI to simplify the player's control needs, though commands were included to allow for limited control. Outside the Kingdom Hearts team, Square Enix had little experience designing action combat. Yoshida sought out Ryota Suzuki, a Capcom veteran who had worked on the Devil May Cry series, as battle designer. The combat was designed around

10584-407: The opening parts and combat system, but complained that the pacing slowed in later parts. Evans-Thirlwell noted the wide variety of special abilities and customization elements to complement the basic combat mechanics, while LeBlanc called the battle system "[his] favorite action combat system to date" despite pacing issues. Saltzman highlighted the focus on staggering enemies and prioritizing combos as

10710-536: The player acquires throughout the story will also not appear until their scheduled place and time, but will get the enhanced stats from the previous playthrough. Games with multiple endings, such as Chrono Trigger , may feature a New Game Plus mode which allows the player to explore alternate endings. Many games increase the difficulty in a New Game Plus mode, such as those in the Mega Man Battle Network series and Borderlands series. Others use

10836-746: The player can focus on activating other skills and items by pressing other keys. Usually this type of combat is not heavily based on aiming or hit boxes thus the player can hit enemies from different distances and even from a far. Some tab-target MMOs have other targeting options such as an "Action mode". Shooter-based action RPGs include Strife (1996), System Shock 2 (1999), the Deus Ex series (2000 onwards) by Ion Storm , Bungie 's Destiny (2014), Irem 's Steambot Chronicles (2005), Square Enix's third-person shooter RPG Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006), which introduced an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4 , and

10962-512: The player has direct control over the characters as opposed to turn or menu -based combat while still having a focus on character's stats in order to determine relative strength and abilities. These games often use action game combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games . The term "action role-playing game" may also describe action-adventure games , which include a mission system and role-playing game mechanics, as well as MMORPGs with real-time combat systems. Allgame listed

11088-426: The player's stats, or as a currency to purchase items, and penalizing player deaths without imposing an outright failure state. It also incorporated online features allowing players to leave messages in the overworld that can be read by other players, to temporarily join other players' sessions to assist them cooperatively, or "invade" another player's session to engage in player versus player combat. Especially after

11214-529: The power of her Eikon Garuda. A disturbed Benedikta is then attacked by bandits and transforms into a raging Garuda, which in turn triggers Clive to transform into Ifrit and kill her. While Clive briefly despairs at the fact that he is Ifrit and the one who killed Joshua, Cid encourages him to keep searching for the truth behind his transformation. After Clive and Jill see the full oppression inflicted on Bearers and their sympathizers in occupied Rosaria, they join Cid in

11340-511: The power of her Eikon Shiva, Clive manages to kill Barnabas and destroy Waloed's Mothercrystal. Joshua's research into Fallen ruins reveals that Ultima's people seeded Valisthea with the Mothercrystals to siphon aether for a resurrection spell after succumbing to an earlier Blight. The Fallen and their human descendants were created to breed a vessel powerful enough to cast the spell. Clive, Joshua, and Dion assault Ultima's sky fortress of Origin, where Ultima's fragments merge to complete their plan. In

11466-486: The process accidentally kills Sylvestre and is transformed into a raging Bahamut by Olivier, who is a vessel for Ultima. Clive destroys the Dominion's Mothercrystal and reunites with Joshua, helping him defeat Bahamut. Dion then kills Olivier, causing an unhinged Anabella to kill herself. Barnabas later confronts Clive and reveals Ultima's plan to shape Clive into "Mythos", a vessel for Ultima to inhabit. After Jill gives him

11592-514: The release of its spiritual successor Dark Souls (2011) and its sequels, other action RPGs emerged in the 2010s that incorporated mechanics influenced by those of Demon's Souls , which have been popularly referred to as " Soulslike " games. In 2013, Vanillaware released the fantasy beat 'em up ARPG Dragon's Crown , a spiritual successor to Princess Crown and a "deeply moving product" of Vanillaware director George Kamitani. Kamitani cites many classic RPGs as his inspiration, stating in

11718-406: The risk of creating a half-baked compromise of a game". During the game's early production, the growing team had a system of designing gameplay tests and completely scrapping those that did not work, with Square Enix's upper management getting frustrated with the team's slow pace. The team decided against an open world, as it would have extended development time beyond a practical limit. Clive was made

11844-421: The same area players navigate, entering battle once the enemy sees the party. Clive is the only controllable character, with other characters being AI-controlled and having their own attack and magic abilities. Another common companion is the dog Torgal, who responds to Clive's commands to perform special attacks or heal. While in battle, Clive can use normal attacks, a dodge, and use elemental abilities from Eikons,

11970-589: The scale and spectacle of Eikon battles to setpieces from God of War III and Asura's Wrath . Recurring criticism was focused on the lack of mechanical depth, and uninteresting side quest design. Final Fantasy XVI was the best-selling retail game in Japan during its week of release, with just over 336,000 physical units being sold. In the United Kingdom, the game was the best-selling title during its first week, but had notably lower physical sales than Final Fantasy XV . During its first month on release in

12096-459: The second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time, rather than players having to join the game at the same time. The game has remained influential through to the present day, with its ring menu system still used in modern games and its cooperative multiplayer mentioned as an influence on games such as Dungeon Siege III (2011). Most other such games, however, used a side-scrolling perspective typical of beat 'em ups, such as

12222-411: The series was also heavily criticized by players and media for not being a proper RPG due to it being focused more on fighting enemies and creating character builds than following a proper narrative and dialogue-heavy journey. After its success many other games tried to mix its influences with different structures and narratives, there are multiple games like Divine Divinity that were an attempt to have

12348-424: The source of the crystals. They discover the merchant Famiel is selling crystals taken from the Sagespire. Clive and his party fight an artificial Eikon dubbed Omega and destroy the tower's Mothercrystal. In The Rising Tide , Clive, Jill and Joshua travel to the land of Mysidia with Shula, current leader of the Motes of Water. They learn that the Dominant of Leviathan, a baby called Waljas who shares family with Shula,

12474-424: The strongest part of the combat system. Wilkerson praised the customization available to expand the combat options for new and experienced action game players, but felt the difficulty too easy overall and noted a lack of enemy variety. Middler praised the action combat, positively noting its brisk pace and lack of unnecessary filler would allow players to speed through the campaign. Several reviewers positively compared

12600-506: The studio instead created a spiritual successor : Arx Fatalis . Toby Gard stated that, when designing Tomb Raider , he "was a big fan of ... Ultima Underworld and I wanted to mix that type of game with the sort of polygon characters that were just being showcased in Virtua Fighter ". Ultima Underworld was also the basis for Looking Glass Technologies' later System Shock . The 1988 Origin Systems title Times of Lore

12726-406: The team decided to focus the expansion scenarios on exploring hidden or unexplained elements of Valisthea prior to the game's ending. The two scenarios, one revolving around the Fallen civilization and one around Leviathan, were hinted at in-game but left unexplained in case post-launch content was approved. A crossover event with Final Fantasy XIV ran from April 2 to May 8, 2024. Also in development

12852-488: The team's ambitions. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the staff needed to move to remote working, and production ended up half a year behind schedule due to communication issues with both Square Enix's head office and outsourcing companies. By late 2020, basic work on development and game scenarios was complete and work was continuing on "large scale" resources like boss battles and development tools. By April 2022, development

12978-620: The template for many future action RPGs, even though it does not strictly fit the definition of later action RPGs. In contrast to previous action RPGs, such as Dragon Slayer and Hydlide, which required the player to bump into enemies in order to attack them, The Legend of Zelda featured an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. It was also an early example of open-world, nonlinear gameplay , and introduced new features such as battery backup saving. These elements have been used in many action RPGs since. In 1987, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link implemented

13104-427: The temples to refuse to level him up. Xanadu Scenario II , released in 1986, was an expansion pack , created to expand the content of Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu . Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness (1985) also featured a morality system. Eurogamer cites Fairlight (1985) as an early action RPG. An important influence on the action RPG genre was the 1986 action-adventure The Legend of Zelda , which served as

13230-468: The term "action RPG" has come to be more commonly used for Diablo -style games, with The Legend of Zelda itself slowly recategorized as an action-adventure. Very commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; even with 3D graphic engines, such point-and-click games are still presented from a similar isometric view, though providing options to rotate, pan, and zoom

13356-713: The things that I wanted to do and all the games that I ended up working on came out of the inspiration I took from [ Ultima Underworld ]". Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski also cited it as an early influence, stating that it had "far more impact on me than Doom ". Other games influenced by Ultima Underworld include The Elder Scrolls: Arena , Deus Ex , Deus Ex: Invisible War , Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines , and Half-Life 2 . FromSoftware 's Demon's Souls (2009) emphasized unforgiving enemies and environments, combined with risk-and-reward mechanics such as limited checkpoints, collecting "souls" that can be consumed as experience points to increase

13482-553: The third game in the Parasite Eve series, features a unique blend of action RPG, real-time tactical RPG, survival horror and third-person tactical shooter elements. Shooter-based RPGs include Imageepoch 's post-apocalyptic Black Rock Shooter (2011) , which employs both first-person and third-person shooter elements, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV (2016) , which features both hack and slash and third-person shooter elements. The online live service version gained

13608-494: The throne with Olivier, her son by Sanbreque's emperor Sylvestre. Hugo invades Rosaria to lure out "Cid", prompting Clive to mutilate Hugo in a fight and reveal himself as Benedikta's killer. Desperate for revenge, Hugo transforms into a raging Titan. Having gained full control of Ifrit, Clive kills Hugo and destroys the Dhalmekian Mothercrystal. Under Joshua's advice, Dion stages a coup against Anabella but in

13734-422: The variety of ability combinations possible later into the game. Colantonio was pleased by the scale and spectacle of Eikon fights and enjoyed the combat despite it being driven by the story; he hoped the series would continue refining these elements in future installments. Allen called the gameplay "flat out good", while Harris called it potentially divisive but still enjoyable due to its action focus. Edge enjoyed

13860-492: The visual effects used in battles and Eikon setpieces, Harris felt they sometimes obscured the action for players. LeBlanc noted a lack of detail or variety in NPC designs and felt the visual effects got in the way of gameplay at times. Both Saltzman and Higham noted an unstable frame rate . Soken's score for the game met with high praise. Higham described Final Fantasy XVI as the series' most drastic gameplay shift to date, praising

13986-401: The world, acknowledging that some might disagree with their approach. There was a similar response inspired by Yoshida's reluctance to classify the game under the "JRPG" moniker, as he was uncomfortable with negative associations historically attached to the term. Final Fantasy XVI was released worldwide on June 22, 2023. It was notably given high age ratings in major release regions. The game

14112-432: Was a fan of the other's work. Rumors emerged in late 2019 about Final Fantasy XVI due to reports that Creative Business Unit III had finished groundwork for a major new title. The game was officially announced in September 2020. The trailer used real-time footage instead of pre-rendered cutscenes to show the game was well into development and not too far from release. The second trailer, released in June 2022 and showcasing

14238-549: Was a real-life replica of Clive's sword, created by blacksmith Tod Todeschini and exhibited at the Royal Armouries collection at the Tower of London from June 20 to July 19. The team wanted to deliver the game without the need for a software patch at launch, but ultimately the game received a patch to fix minor gameplay bugs and optimize performance. Copies of the game leaked a week prior to release, with Square Enix releasing

14364-478: Was also one of the earliest action RPGs. Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu , released in 1985 (billed as a "new type of real-time role-playing game"), was an action role-playing game including many character stats and a large quest. It also incorporated a side-scrolling view during exploration and an overhead view during battle, and an early "Karma" morality system where the character's Karma meter will rise if he commits sin (killing "good" enemies), which in turn causes

14490-508: Was also released that year. It was a party-based action RPG, with the player controlling a party of four characters at the same time in a side-scrolling view. The game also featured character creation, highly customizable characters, class-based puzzles, and a new scenario system, allowing players to choose from 15 scenarios, or quests , to play through in the order of their choice. It was also an episodic video game , with expansion disks later released offering more scenarios. Falcom also released

14616-433: Was an action RPG with an icon-based point-and-click interface. Bad Blood , another Origin Systems game from 1990, would use the same interface. The designers were inspired by console titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda , to make their interface more accessible. The 1994 title Ultima VIII used mouse controls and attempted to add precision jumping sequences reminiscent of a Mario platform game, though reactions to

14742-496: Was announced in December 2022. Compared to other recent Final Fantasy titles, there was no plan for "tertiary content" such as downloadable content (DLC) and books, instead having the entire story told within the game. Some Western media outlets criticized the team's explanation for the game's lack of ethnic diversity. Speaking on the portrayal of ethnic diversity in the game's world, Yoshida stated that its relative lack of diversity fitted into both its Medieval European setting and

14868-513: Was confirmed to have gone gold at the end of March 2023, and a demo covering the opening sequences and a later dungeon area was released on June 12. The localization was directed by Fox, with casting and recording handled by the UK branch of audio company Side. While the script was written in Japanese, in contrast to earlier entries it was translated and motion captured in English. Due to this, there

14994-524: Was for a dark fantasy storyline that would have broad appeal and reinvigorate the series. Its production and promotion were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic , and later by the Russian invasion of Ukraine . The game was praised by critics for its story, graphics, music, and gameplay. Criticism focused on its lack of role-playing elements, technical issues and side quest design. The game sold over three million units during its first week after launch, but failed to meet Square Enix's expectations. After release,

15120-560: Was forced to awaken his powers and imprisoned with magic to shelter and enrich Mysidia. The party weaken the spell, which releases the raging Leviathan. Clive pacifies it, and Shula takes in Waljas to raise in her own. Final Fantasy XVI was developed by Creative Business Unit III, a development division within franchise developer and publisher Square Enix . The staff includes members from the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Final Fantasy XIV , and multiple veterans of

15246-452: Was in its final stages, with the team finalising side quests. It was fully playable from start to finish by June of that year, with development focusing both on polishing the game and voice recording for different languages. Initially planned as a two-disc release, the team managed to fit the game onto one disc to lower production costs and issues with mastering. Following release, the production team disbanded into other projects. When choosing

15372-480: Was in love with Benedikta, is manipulated by Barnabas's agents into seeking revenge against Cid for her death. Five years later, Clive, now using the title of "Cid" and carrying on Cid's mission, destroys the Iron Kingdom's Mothercrystal with Jill, who takes revenge on her enslavers. With Sanbreque having occupied the Crystalline Dominion for its Mothercrystal, Anabella schemes to replace Dion as heir to

15498-469: Was no Japanese lip syncing, though the team unsuccessfully tried using an automated system to match the Japanese dub to the characters. Yoshida stayed away from the recording process both due to company policy and out of "respect" for the writers. All the English voice work was done by European actors, a non-standard approach to appeal to the North American market. The English and Japanese voice cast

15624-575: Was re-released with a PS4 "Pro" edition in 2018. Assassin's Creed , a long-running Ubisoft franchise, also shifted towards the action RPG formula, inspired by the successes of The Witcher 3 and the Dark Souls series, with its titles Origins (2017), Odyssey (2018) and Valhalla (2020). Avalanche Software released Hogwarts Legacy in 2023. Set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its surrounding areas,

15750-537: Was refused classification and consequently banned in Saudi Arabia due to Square Enix's refusal to alter the game's content to suit the country's guidelines, namely the portrayal of a relationship between two male characters. The game had digital and physical Deluxe and Collector's Editions available for sale through Square Enix's online store, featuring additional in-game items and accessories such as an art book and steel case with unique art. A notable cross-promotion

15876-515: Was used in many later games. T&E Soft 's Hydlide , released in December 1984, was created by Tokihiro Naito, who was influenced by The Tower of Druaga . It was the first action RPG with an overworld . The game was immensely popular in Japan, selling 2 million copies across all platforms. According to John Szczepaniak, it "cannot be overstated how influential Hydlide was on the ARPGs which followed it". The same year, Courageous Perseus

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