Final Fantasy XVI was revealed little over a month ago during Sony’s PlayStation 5 price and release date State of Play stream. Producer Naoki Yoshida (just Producer) unveiled the game’s new teaser website in a post over on the PlayStation Blog, and he had quite a bit to share about Final Fantasy XVI’s general story and the world of Valisthea.
Final Fantasy XVI is set in the land of Valisthea, blessed by massive Mothercrystals.
It can’t be a proper Final Fantasy game without crystals playing a large role, and in Final Fantasy XVI’s Valisthea massive Mothercrystals bless the various realms with life-sustaining aether. Of course, it also can’t be a proper Final Fantasy without war of some sort, so naturally these realms have kicked the shit out of each other over the centuries for control of these Mothercrystals. At the start of XVI the realms are at relative peace, but that’s obviously not going to last.
Yoshida also confirmed that the young soldier and the tattooed man from the trailer were indeed the same character – Clive Rosfield. He’ll be our leading man in Final Fantasy XVI, the firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria. Clive protects his younger brother Joshua (the young boy from the trailer who was dressed a bit like a red mage), who is the “Dominant” of Phoenix. Yoshida confirmed Dominants are the human hosts of the various summons – or “Eikons” in XVI’s world – the Final Fantasy franchise is known for.
These Dominants are sometimes revered, though they are often made weapons of war (as we saw with Shiva and Titan in the trailer). It’s Clive’s job to protect Joshua from those who aim to cause him harm, though we saw how well that went. Additionally, Jill Warrick was given some extra time in the limelight. She is the Archduke of Rosaria’s ward, hailing from a nation in the Northern Territories. She, Clive, and Joshua are close childhood friends, but something tells me things won’t remain rosy between the trio.
You can read more about Final Fantasy XVI’s story in Yoshida’s post here, and can check out the teaser website at the link here. Fans familiar with Yoshida’s work on Final Fantasy XIV know XVI is in good hands. Mix in the entire development team behind XIV expansion Heavensward – including director Hiroshi Takai – and it’s hard not to be excited. Also, I hope Masayoshi Soken is composing the score. That man deserves wider recognition for his amazing work, and a mainstream Final Fantasy will more than do the trick. Yoshida teased more information will be revealed early next year, so stay tuned here for the latest Final Fantasy XVI news.
