download the new version for apple Lost Lands: Mistakes of the Past (free to play)

Set on the isolated continent of Valisthea, Final Fantasy XVI chronicles the story of its hero, Clive Rosfield, over several decades. But there’s a general flatness surrounding those exhilarating highs, as shallow RPG hooks and dated design leave a promising evolution for the series stuck in the past.

A fierce and fast-paced combat system makes for the series’ most exciting stab at real-time swordplay yet, while its blockbuster Eikon fights rank among some of gaming’s most awe-inspiring battles. Those two directions clash within the uneven fantasy epic like two towering summons duking it out.įinal Fantasy XVI delivers on the “action” side of its action-RPG formula. However, it can’t fully divorce itself from that past its RPG instincts are still in its blood. Square Enix’s latest charts a new future for the long-running RPG franchise, confidently stepping into a more cinematic, action-packed territory that’s all the rage in Western video games these days.

It’s a line that sticks with me as I play through Final Fantasy XVI, a game dealing with its own version of that identity crisis.

“I want to live on my own terms,” she tells Clive midway through their adventure, “but first I must come to terms with my past.”

Download the new version for apple Lost Lands: Mistakes of the Past (free to play)