A mixed bag, where dull moments alternate with highly intense ones - I think that in the end Final Fantasy XVI has more ups than downs, even if some players might need some patience in order to appreciate what the game has best to offer.

To describe some downsides the game has, well, it has a lot of talk - too much to my taste, and I usually am not against some heavy reading in games - but there was so much to read that I had the impression at some point of playing a jrpg mashed up with a visual novel; which may not be inappropriate nor illogical, given that the game is in fact a tale. Yet I couldn't help ending up quickly passing most of the dialogues - even if I caught the story's core, I believe it's a frustrating point, a lack of balance concerning what fun the game may offer, coupled with loads and loads of cinematics. No worries, they're all great, as well as the dialogues are well written, the true problem is their absolute excess, that may break the fun or momentum for some players.

Another negative point that I found, common to some other FF games, was the consequent number of boring / uninteresting subquests: from "going to a point to another, then back" to "going there, beat an enemy, claim reward", I tended to feel overwhelmed at times by the blandness and lack of originality those subquests had to offer - they felt "classic", but not in the best sense of the term. So my advice about these would be: either skip some of them, or just take your time, playing them casually, as some low effort gaming - what I did, which at least offered me the pleasure of contemplating the very beautiful graphics and sceneries the game has to offer.

As for the game's perks, they are actually numerous: the graphics, as just said, although sometimes a tiny bit blurry, are simply fantastic, and quite varied - the story's core takes place in medieval settings, but there is a lot more to be seen, with areas reminding of more futuristic times and themes. The musics are varied as well, going from calm themes to more vibrant and symphonic ones, with the FF composers quality seal, simply irreproachable.

But what I preferred were definitely the combats - the combat system is very easy to grasp, as well as to master, which makes the game playable by basically anyone with minimal skills. Just that for some battles, such as withLeviathan, you'll have to time your moves close to perfection at some moment in order to win the battle, which was some welcome challenge. There are equally some very simple QTEs, more there to justify the cinematics than really essential to the battles' fun imo. But of all aspects of the game, the battles were a very strong point, that kept me going on until the end, with some moments which were truly spectacular.

The story is good too, although as said before, you might start having the impression of reading a book between the gameplay phases - good, although pretty much classic, a story of brotherhood, friendship and love - and as for the characters, although I found them a bit generic at start, the unfolding of the story proved my first impressions wrong, they revealed to be quite attaching and charismatic / funny for some.

So although I wouldn't say it's the best Final Fantasy game you could play, FFXVI has imo some of the best and most intense and grand battles I've experienced among all of them - and maybe this alone could justify a purchase. I overall enjoyed it much in the end and can't wait for FFXVII to arrive - with the hope that the devs will have learned from the often justified complaints of their public about this one. Maybe not a must-play, but a very interesting and particular / peculiar jrpg for sure.

I started off "Like a Dragon Gaiden" with a strong feeling of déjà-vu, concerning the sceneries, map and gameplay - a feeling that progressively vanished as I went on playing the game.

So, true; the bases of the gameplay are relatively the same as before, even if each Yakuza game has the talent to show some notable differences for this matter. The map consists in only the city of Sotenbori, and later on the castle, and at start I wished Kiryu could have evolved through a different area, city, as he was supposed to be "incognito".

Well . . . fact is, now that I've finished the game, I feel just blown away by those few dozens of hours I've played, and its' captivating story; it's a Yakuza title that is very worthy to appear in the series, even essential - with an ending that is certainly long, but "Grand Finale" style. And I think that what strongly participated to my feeling of satisfaction in the end was, as for other Yakuza games I've played (including the Judgment ones), I just took my time, with the mini-games, with the Coliseum, and the Akame requests - and all just fit together perfectly, the game was a real blast and don't regret one bit playing this to the end. I also felt that the combat difficulty was a bit higher, which I appreciated.

It isn't perfect though, some lengthy grinding may be necessary for the Coliseum for instance; or once again, the map is actually the most limited in the series - but whatever, Like a Dragon Gaiden is a total banger, mostly if you care to not rush it and explore well all of its' map and everything it has to offer.

So if you already played and liked some games of the franchise, you can buy this with no hesitation ; and if you're a newcomer, my personal advice would be to play the games in the most chronological order possible, starting with Yakuza 0, the first game in the series, and a most well reputed one, for all its' great qualities and fun. But overall I can only recommend such a great game, that made me feel that RGG took all possible care in respecting their audience and followers, and executed that close to perfectly.