IGN is continuing its month of “IGN First” Final Fantasy XVI coverage with a lengthy new gameplay video showing off two of the game’s “dungeons,” including plenty of combat against a variety of enemies and three of Clive’s Eikonic ability palettes.
The first section of the video takes place in an area called “The Inner Sanctum” in Drake’s Breath, one of the five Mothercrystals standing in the game’s world of Valisthea. We see Clive fighting Ironblood soldiers, hailing from the nation that this particular Mothercrystal belongs to. In the footage, Clive is accompanied by Jill and Torgal who assist him in combat, and he’s wielding the Eikonic abilities of Phoenix, Ramuh and Garuda.
The second area shown is a more underground, mine-looking environment packed with glowing crystals and “Akashic” enemies that look like infected or magic-imbued humans. Cid is here as well, recounting a story of a prior tussle with the Eikon, Bahamut, in the very Mothercrystal the group stands in. After fighting some more crystal/magic-like enemies the footage ends before we can see what lies at the end of this particular dungeon.
It all looks super flashy and fun from a combat-perspective, and should be indicative of how the “dungeon” experience stacks up to what we’ve seen of the more open areas in previous gameplay showcases. Check it out below:
Hopefully eager fans will be able to get a taste of the game for themselves, with Square Enix having confirmed a demo is on the way but stopping short of revealing when. With the Summer Game Fest showcase happening tomorrow morning, there’s a pretty good chance we’ll know more about that soon enough.
We played Final Fantasy XVI for ourselves earlier this year, saying “…the two-and-a-bit hours I spent immersing myself in Final Fantasy XVI has painted a reassuringly positive picture. It’s been in good enough hands this whole time that I’ve always felt rather confident in the game to really bring the single-player Final Fantasy experience back into good stead, but knowing what I now know and playing what I played I’m almost certain that this will be the Final Fantasy to truly wow the world once again.
Final Fantasy XVI launches for PS5 on June 22nd, 2023. Amazon has the cheapest pre-order price at $84 with free shipping.
