It seems like we’re learning new and interesting details about Final Fantasy XVI at an increasingly rapid pace in the lead-up to its June 22nd release, and especially those more closely-related to its deeper systems and content offering.
A Game Informer article published over the weekend has revealed a ton of information about the game’s post-game features, giving fans a great idea of what they can expect to get out of Square Enix’s next huge mainline entry once they’re done with their initial playthrough.
The main avenue of play in Final Fantasy XVI post-completion is in a New Game+ mode, which at a base level will allow players to go through Clive’s story again with their previously unlocked abilities and equipment available from the beginning. In addition to this, it’ll also feature a number of extra modes and options to make New Game+ considerably… spicier.
For example, Final Fantasy Mode will make New Game+ playthroughs significantly harder with an increased overall difficulty level, new monster placements and combat “remixes.”
“The main design philosophy is that the first playthrough is about learning Clive, learning the controls, and then enjoying the story,” the game’s combat director, Ryota Suzuki, told the outlet. “The second playthrough, we want to shift that focus – because the story hasn’t changed – to the action. For example, in Story Mode, while players may encounter waves of enemies, a lot of times, enemies don’t attack at once to allow players to be able to handle everything. In the harder modes of the game, we have removed these limitations so that you have multiple enemies all attacking Clive at the same time.
“Basically, what we’ve done with Final Fantasy Mode is give players controlling Clive the sense that they’re always in danger, that death is around the corner, and that you’ll need to really, really pay attention to be able to clear the content.”
On top of that, an Arcade Mode will let players run through already-completed sections of the game and chase high scores and grades – a bit of a throwback to Suzuki-san’s experience working on Devil May Cry. Accessing the Arcade stages in the post-game Final Fantasy Mode difficulty will make them even more difficult, and then on top of that a further Ultimaniac Mode will make them (I assume, at least for me) nigh-on impossible – complete with global leaderboards for the hardest of hardcore to compare scores.
Further to all of that, special “Chronolith Trials” based on each Eikon will put players in different situations with specific character abilities in challenging time trials. These are found throughout the game through special stones, but again will have leaderboards available on the higher difficulty levels unlocked post-game.
Take a look at the full Game Informer article if you’re keen to know even more about all of this.
Final Fantasy XVI launches for PS5 on June 22nd, 2023. Amazon has the cheapest pre-order price at $84 with free shipping.
