Spoiler alert… his name is HappyConsoleGamer if he chooses to post a review, he likes the game. I know John is not the bashing type. 😎 ✌️

I've had my Zelda open world, hyper innovative, and creative gameplay experience. Now I'm ready for my FFXVI cinematic, well structured, and focused storytelling experience.

I want to play this game so bad I broke down and bought a PS5.

John thank you so much for putting the the time and effort to make this review as spoiler free as possible! I avoid everything at all costs when there's a game I truly care about. I haven't watched anything other than the first trailer of the game and this helped me get enough of an idea without giving away anything. I appreciate this kind of stuff so much! Awesome content as always. Thank you!

John is no shill. He’s played more RPGs than most of us ever will, so his opinion carries a lot of weight, which means that we’ll give this one a fair shake.

This is some of the best Voice Acting I have ever seen in a video game. The english cast is so good, I almost couldn’t believe it.

Music in this game is top notch. Climbing the path in garudas storm and the piano music starts to swell and then the boys fight starts and the choirs kick in. And there's this place you go when you're going to find a character named Martha and the locations are just breathtaking. Even if it's not "open world" the smaller but still open areas are packed with beautiful vistas. This game hasn't got me emotionally yet but everything else is top notch. Go buy it for sure.

Finished the game 2 times already, one of the best games I’ve ever played in all my life hands down. Pure adrenaline emotion and passion accompanied me throughout the whole journey.

I played the demo and it definitely moved my meter from 'interested' to 'very hyped' but I still waited for reviews to drop before buying. Stoked.

That was a good spoiler free review, thanks! I’m actually glad they took the linear route. I feel like every game I want to play is open world, and it’s just too much to try and play them all.

I’m going through a rough time in my life. And today I’m in bed with a bad sinus infection. Feeling down and out. I scroll KZfaq and see that Happy Console Gamer has a new review up, and immediately click on it and it lifts my spirits instantly. This channel is a tonic and an antidote to life’s inevitable hard times. I can’t wait to play this game when I’m feeling better. Thank you for this channel and for your infectious enthusiasm and joy. You remind me of why I play games. Much love to you, your channel is so awesome. You are a force for good.

Playing a linear game with great visuals, story and gameplay is what i need now

I enjoy your show and reading the comments too! You have a huge well deserved audience and it shows every time I watch! As always, love your show man!

I was going to buy it anyway, but hearing you speak highly of it is definitely reassuring. You're one of the rare middle aged youtubers that can appreciate retro and new stuff. So many others just get blinded by nostalgia and bash anything new or different. A true gamer.

I share my games with my buddy but in this case I double dipped and bought it twice so we could both play it together and share the experiance. It's because of him I fell in love with the franchise.

It's reassuring to hear your usual positivity! I already have it pre-loaded and I'm definitely still going to give it all I have despite my concerns. I still can't tell the outcome for me but regardless if I end up liking (hopefully), loving (even better) or hating it (hopefully not), I still think it's great that people are excited about a new FF in 2023, especially considering the negative backlash at first when they announced it was centered around a single character.

I'm currently playing through like everyone else and I do have to say I am loving the story, best for me since 10

I have been so excited for this game, and knew it was going to be good because it was Yoshi-P and a lot of his team from FF14 (which is why they gave him such an amazing budget). But, I am so happy to see such a good review for the game and that people are enjoying it!! 🎉

this was my return to FF as a series and i went into this one blind except for some friends telling me to try it. and I am so glad i did and glad i went in blind. i haven't had this much FUN playing and experiencing a FF game in ages.

The release of the demo was a great choice. Final Fantasy 16 felt like it was being talked about and thought about by most a lot less than other releases from the series. The demo changed that.

EDIT: just finished this, it was amazing. 10/10. Finally getting to this title. So far, it’s been exceeding all of my expectations. Like you, I feel like I’ve been having too many open world games lately, and the more linear progression felt fresh. Im only about 20 hours in. Excited to see how it all plays out.

And surprisingly its more brutal than the previous FF games, love it ❤

About ten hours in and all I can think is Square Enix can 100% trusted to make the Neon Genesis Evangalion game we have always deserved.

First review I’m watching. I value your views. EDIT: Your seal of approval gave me a sigh of relief. Cant wait to play it!

“I love the combat, the animations are amazing…this game is awsome…i love this game”

Maybe I’m stupid.. but I find the story quite difficult to follow.. especially in the beginning when they throw terms at you, and I’m like.. how the hell am I supposed to know what that means?? Why doesn’t it get explained in the beginning.. I geus its non western writing?

Last thing I'll input is... if they took the fight mechanics from the ff7 remake that was a great balance of action and ff tactics with a new game these fays ... it would be amazing

I love this channel so much. Love from Australia

It's nice to have an entry in the series that's not middling. It's the first single player FF in over a decade that I can just say, 'yeah, it's good, play it' to my friends.

This is my 1st Happy console gamer Review and I’m happy about your stance of no spoilers. I appreciate that so many reviews kinda spoiled ff16 esp with bosses and characters

Not my favorite Final Fantasy, however when I have kids and grandkids and they find this game buried in my library, I know that they know they found a gem of a story and I think it will be a legendary game, one of those that are more underappreciated now but will be a treasure for them to experience as a "retro game" in the future.

I just finished it myself last night and oh my god, that ending. Loved it from start to finish

FF16 = Game of Thrones + Godzilla. It is my favorite game of the year.

No crashes, some hitches here and there because I was in graphics mode but overall they released a finished polished game. Story was excellent and the game was basically a single player version of Final Fantasy 14 which is more or less what I was expecting and hoping for. The combat towards the end got a little bit stale but it was fine overall. The side quests tasks were a bit meh but I cared about the world and the characters so I wanted to do them to see how it progressed the side quest character and area. Excellent game 9.5 out of 10 for me (Elden Ring is a 10/10 RPG for me). Glad most people that aren’t hung up on the “it’s not my final fantasy” are enjoying it great review HCG.

to touch on what you said at the end about waiting, luckily for me, I'll have the entirety of FF14 to play if I love that team's work on this game as much as I think I will. I still can't stop thinking about the prologue and can't wait to get off work and install my copy assuming UPS doesn't let me down (steelbook order since I've always wanted the steelbooks of the FF games I grew up on)

Awesome review man! You've always been one of my favorite youtubers! Mannnn! I preordered the collector's edition and havent wait till tomorrow. I kinda wanna get the normal version at some midnight release cuz i can't wait hahaha

Thanks for this. I know what you mean about a long wait between FF games. I sometimes wonder how many more FF games I get to play in the remainer of my life, whatever that might be. But I think DQ12 will be announced next year (Sugiyama's final work).

I played the demo and bought the game yesterday. So far, I am enjoying it really well.

Final Fantasy X's music is iconic for sure, and a a true masterpiece imo. Silence Before The Storm is one of the greatest tracks ever created

The NPR review kind of summarizes my feelings towards this game: "The more I play, the more my heart fills with a childlike joy. I tell my wife, "Sweetheart, I can't believe I'm playing this game right now."" I also nag my wife constantly about my expectations towards FF XVI. Thanks for bringing that cheer up again.

Been waiting on the review. Even if all your reviews are positive, the way you convey that games negatives are always honest and appreciated.

I haven't finished the game yet but I'm about 45 hours in. My initial thoughts are that I absolutely LOVE the game. The story, writing, graphics, voice over work and ARPG combat are incredible. However, this isn't an RPG to me and it's not a FF to me. This is an action game with LIGHT rpg mechanics that are mostly gated by story. When I play a FF I'm looking for those systems. Materia, junctioning, a sphere grid, license board, etc. The ability tree in this game is just new attacks. No passives, no stat increases, nothing like that. The gear system is also so incredibly shallow it drives me nuts. You get a sword and that's all you get until you progress to a certain part of the story. Then you get one new sword until you get to a certain part in the story. Then you get one new sword. Wash/rinse/repeat. You also can't do anything with your party. You can't give them commands or control them yourself, you can't kit them out and they don't get ability trees. So as I said I do really really love the game, but at the same time I'm incredibly disappointed in the lack of rich RPG mechanics and I sincerely hope that this isn't the direction they take the series going forward.

Losing the party mechanics is too severe a downgrade for me. I don’t find carousing the world as a lonely lad to be nearly as compelling… There’s really no substitute for party mechanics and intrapersonal capers.

Stop calling it an rpg. This is false advertising 😂

My largest concern for the games story is that I hope everything is revealed to the player, not provided as expositional dumps in the active time lore. For example they talk about a volcano that sits off the coast of rosaria where i guess the iron blood nation is from. I want to be able to GO THERE. I want to see and do everything that is written in the lore. I do not want the active time lore to supplement the plot in ways that we will never discover. That really is my only concerns in terms of the plot. I want to be very dense and almost like an evolving MMORPG.

I'm not a hardcore Final Fantasy fan as I started from FF7, then played 8 and 9. I didn't revisit the series until FF 15 then 7 remake and now 16 which i have completed all of. No matter what FF you play, the soundtrack is the best I have ever heard. Every game delivers and really gets you going emotionally. I thought FF7 remake couldn't be toppled, but FF16 has done that for me. God knows what FF7 part 2 is going to be like. I treat every FF game as it's own experience, which is why i have enjoyed them all. 16 is so good in so many areas and i love the emotional feel to it. There is a section which is basically some fetch quests which is annoying as these should be a thing of the past since The Witcher 3 about 7 years ago. Aside from that if you just play it, embrace it, enjoy the storyline, graphics, the most epic boss fights ever and the soundtrack you're in for a real treat.

How cutscene heavy is full game compared to demo?

All I need to hear was some areas are open I now will commence ff16 radio silence until completion of the game! Thanks @HappyConsoleGamer I can always rely on you to not spoil a game for me :) glad to hear you enjoyed it I am so excited!!

The game is pretty great, I really enjoyed the story and building my character with all my favorite abilities. Took me about 80 hours to finish

This is probably the most honest review we are going to see on this game. Everytime a new FF game comes out every reviewer usually says something along the lines of "this is the greatest game ever made". I am a little upset that square has completely abandoned turn based battles because I suck at action games but I am still excited for it.

I’ve been looking for a game that scratches the itch that FF16 gave me and haven’t found it yet. From the OST, to the characters, the bosses, voice acting… nothing has come close. I’m just gonna have to wait for the DLC

I playing the demo atm and so far i am finding easy to pick up and the visuals look incredible

I absolutely love linear games. Im VERY tired of open world games

I think this is a masterpiece. It easily has the best action combat system of any Final Fantasy game I’ve played. The story is really epic and has a lot of layers to it, as well as some really cool characters. The soundtrack is breathtaking, and it hits all the right notes at the right moments. The design is kind of formulaic like you said, but it nails the formula. It is linear but not to a fault like XIII where you feel like you’re running down corridors, and it’s not open and empty feeling like XV, it finds a really good balance between the two.

I loved this game so much that I typed up a 2,200 word essay review about it, but to condense that, I'll just post the opening and ending paragraphs here. Final Fantasy XVI is one of the most divisive games in the franchise to date, but is also one of the absolute best as well. A game that on the surface looks like it has almost nothing in common with Final Fantasy of old due to its "M" rating, graphic violence, Game of Thrones influenced dark fantasy setting and Devil May Cry styled action combat, but as you advance deeper into the game, peeling these layers away, you reach the heart of Final Fantasy XVI which is one of the purest Final Fantasy experiences in over 2 decades that in many ways captures the soul of the SNES era of Final Fantasy (Especially IV and VI) and feels like a massive love letter to the series roots while adding its own modern and mature flair to it as well. When all is said and done Final Fantasy XVI is truly an epic journey from start to finish in every sense of the word, excelling in every single possible element the game has to offer providing one of the best narratives I've ever experienced in a video game with an incredibly detailed and immersive world to learn about starring a rich cast of well written and realistic characters in no small part thanks to its incredible side quests and masterclass voice acting performances. All topped off with an enjoyable combat system and mind-blowing boss fights which is all only enhanced thanks to the truly next-gen visuals, sound and production values overall alongside a masterfully composed OST too. Some people say XVI isn't a true Final Fantasy and to that I will just say that Final Fantasy XVI reminded me what a mainline Final Fantasy at its best has always been about. A mind-blowing, generation defining experience that will stick with you for life.

This was my third Final Fantasy Game ( after FF15 and 7 Remake ). I really enjoyed it. The Ending was insane

I'm very excited for my copy to arrive. As a massive fan/10-year veteran of Final Fantasy 14, this game is an absolute must-play for me... They had me at Yoshi P and Soken lol.

I remember about a year ago when the first trailer was released, nobody was really hyped about it, it came and went. But now that it's here and hearing all the hype about it now I'm excited and can't wait to finally play it!

Devil May Fantasy 16: Bullet Sponge Edition: featuring AI potatos that follow you around

You mention cluple of timww it's an RPG. But listening to other reviews and playing the demo myself I didn't feel that. It was just an action game with very light RPG mechanics.

I HATE Open World RPG; it is boring & waste of time to me. I just want a GOOD STORY that executed well so I won't get stuck in an open space 1000 hours not knowing what the heck is going on.

I’m so excited I cannot contain myself I’m playing this at midnight when it releases, hearing you gush about the game just made me even more amped to play! I can’t wait!!! Thank you for the awesome review!

I’m not sure why there’s a lot of flickering on my screen when I’m playing the game. I’ve played around with the settings but I haven’t been able to fix it. It’s quite distracting at times.

Johnny is the best. I have to say though, I feel like he has more criticisms than usual in this review? Sounds really good but also a little monotonous? I’m buying it tomorrow, regardless. I’m excited.

Love this game! They went full on “GOT” on the story! Intriguing , brutal, and exciting! I looooveee it!!!!

Loved the demo, looking forward to it arriving tomorrow. I have been a big fan since the Original on the NES!

Wait till Johnny finds out Super Mario RPG is being remade was just announced after he uploaded this video on Nintendo’s KZfaq channel

I honestly don't like this Final Fantasy. For me it is way too linear. Go in a straight line wait for the circle to fight. Rinse and repeat. The side quests are boring. Go from point A kill monsters go back to point A. Then the continuing Uber eats delivery quests. Even the main quest quests feel like side quests until you finally get to that real main quest, and trust me you know when it's the vreal, real main quest. Which is great the combat is great. But other than that it's not doing it for me. Shout out to the people who are enjoying it tho.

The only opinion I was interested in hearing. The journalists gave the game an 88-90 on average, but Johnny's passion for the series and the genre as a player makes his opinion really important to me, even if I disagree with him on some points. Thank you Johnny! P.S. We haven't seen Rob in such a long time! So many significant games have been released, including the Resident Evil 4 remake and the new Zelda, and now Final Fantasy XVI! It would be cool to hear his thoughts on all these Japanese games as well. Incredible six months!

One thing I thought was pretty funny about this game is that archers apparently do not exist in the FF16 world at all. lol

I just started playing this today and IM liking it a lot. And my name is Cliva so its easily to love the main hero.

This game is definitely an over the top cinematic experience. Absolutely incredible. I started it on my 82 inch sorround sound and I will NOT play it on my other gaming TV just because this game 100% needs that cinematic set up.

Just wanted to say thank you for not being a spoiler, This is the only review I need. Thanks Johnny!

omg I love your collection, and your whole vibe, totally subscribed

This game made me cry, and I rarely cry

I would've like to hear something about the party dynamics. thats pretty much what makes a FF game for me, but its been kind of difficult to find a straight answer on how your companions actually work and how much i'll be able control/customize them

I haven't played the demo but I was looking forward to this review

I love your reviews and enjoy your positivity, but no, the framerate doesn't dip just occasionally, it's the other way around. Occasionally the framerate reaches 60fps, much more often you have 40-50fps. But I enjoy the 30fps mode since it's surprisingly responsive, stable and looks smooth, thanks to solid motion blur.

Is there a difficulty level ? I am not good at action RPG'S . i prefer turn based but would like to give this a shot ? Is it difficult ?

To be honest im glad to hear its not a massive open world game, makes me wanna jumpmin more ✌️

Great review been skeptical on the game even as a huge FF fan. Will be picking this up now!

Finished already?? I've been hyped forever for this and it comes out tomorrow on my birthday! Hoping its everything I'm expecting. Do you think there is replayability in this?

Glad to see your review up on the day of the review embargo lift! I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your time with it.

So excited for this. Did creative business 3 once again save the final fantasy name?! we will find out soon!

It seems you must’ve missed the comments by Yoshi-P all year long so far, as he has specifically gone out of his way to make the point that the game is not an open world game, and that he believes that not every game has to be an open world game.

Hi Johnny I just have a question if that’s ok. You’re an immersive gamer like me. You also love Skyrim (like me). But I’ve never seen you talk about the Fallout series? I might have just missed this. But if you have played that series I’m interested in your thoughts. Would love to see it talked about on an episode :)

Defo one of the best games I've played in a while, great review m8 👍

I really wonder how many of these reviewers actually finished the game, because at this point the people who say it is fantastic from beginning to end clearly do not have even a basic understanding of how a video game should function or what downsides are. Combat becomes beyond stale due to limited ability use and bloated AP costs for later skills, enemies are repeated constantly, crafting is useless, the MAIN QUEST has literal FF14 side quest design in a single player game....

This is a great review but having played the game, i think i want to temper peoples expectations, coz this game really doesnt feel like an RPG in the classical sense. It has skill trees like most action games, has level up, and crafting, but the classic rpg mechanics are nowhere near typical ff games, and even less extensive than god of war or horizon type games. Its really bare bones. Unfortunately this makes the game and the world feel less alive, open areas, while beautiful, are devoid of exciting items u can pick up or unpredictable events and are nothing but large areas to hold enemies. It reallly makes u feel like ur only playing a video game. Still, theres lots to love in the game, there are tooons of unique NPCs and characters and assets, and the epic boss battles, so theres def lots to see, but the simplicity really makes me feel like im playing FF1 but with greater graphics, which may not be a bad thing. Story and writing and dialogue are the fing good esp compared to past titles, so that fact alone makes me happy with this game, considering how bad and cringy and too anime like the previous games were w their story and dialogues.

Yeah something my friends and i noticed too and agree with you on is the rinse and repeat nature of things. It gets pretty formulaic and you do start to notice it. Like go here, do this, keep going, fight tougher and tougher enemies until the boss, after that you get a cutscene and then you start all over again. I was making sure i did all the side stuff and that kind of enhances the issues. Its nothing i cant look past but it's definitely noticeable, i have to play a bit and take a break as to not get bored of the loop.

Wow, that was fast hehe, glad you like it, I will give it a try this week ;)

It's killing you to not mention the ending and I respect u for that. Solid review. Less than a minute before I can play. U earned a sub.

I'm about 7 hours in, and have been completely blown away the entire time. It's so nice to see everyone talking about Final Fantasy in a positive light again

8/10 Great combat Great story Great graphics - too much cutscenes - no puzzles to solve in main story, always having a marker & go talk to someone 😑 - not many likeable characters like ff7 or ffx - no minimap

Respect, didn't think anyone could finish the game in that amount of time.

So nice to see such a positive outlook on AAA games in 2023. This year has been abysmal for games, but FF16 and Zelda seem to be turning that around. Cant wait for the PC release!

I’ve been looking forward to this game since it was announced 2 years ago. Can’t wait to pick up a ps5 just to play it. 😊🎉

I love this game too yo! I also kept thinking the game was over way before it actually was. Almost every boss really does seem like an end game boss tbh.🔥💪😂👍

Can’t wait to play it tonight when it launches

When you said it's not an open world game, not gonna lie I'm ok with that. I feel like everything is trying to be a huge alternate universe to live in now, and it's just hard to play too many games like that when you're on limited time.