For all the ways thatFinal Fantasy 16shakes-up series tradition in an effort to move the series forward, perhaps no change is greater than its switch to a fully real-time action combat system. Even though the new combat model has sharply divided the fanbase over whetherFinal Fantasy 16can be considered a true game in the series, it’s hard to argue against the new model being incredibly fun and standing toe-to-toe with Ryota Suzuki’s previous work on theDevil May Cryseries. The combat inFF16truly shines when playing in Action Focused mode with no combat-aiding accessories, but there is one feature that could have used more variation – Clive’s Eikon Abilities.
After starting with the Blessing of the Phoenix and having access to fire elemental Eikonic abilities at the start of the game, Clive gradually unlocks more Eikons through his unique ability to absorb the Eikonic essence from other Dominants. These new Eikons open upFinal Fantasy 16’s combat dramatically, granting Clive access to new suites of abilities as well as new elemental magic. But with very few exceptions, most of these abilities fall into the same general categories of functionality and attack types, leaving the impression that there’s a bit of missed opportunity for creativity in some ofFinal Fantasy 16’s most impressive spectacles.
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Most of Final Fantasy 16’s Eikon Abilities Fall Into Predictable Categories
Thanks to his lineage and relation to the previous and current Dominants of the Phoenix Eikon, Clive beginsFinal Fantasy 16with the Blessing of the Phoenix. This blessing gives himaccess to four Eikon Abilitiesharnessing the element of flame, with each of these abilities having a specific attack type. In addition to an area-of-effect (AoE) attack in Scarlet Cyclone, Clive has the Rising Flames ability which allows him to launch enemies into the air, and the Heatwave ability that’s great for countering magic attacks. The only problem is that these same general categories are reused in almost every other Eikonic ability set.
Every new set of Eikon Abilities that Clive acquires, from Garuda all the way through Bahamut, each fall into one of these same general categories. There’s a rush/charging forward attack type, an area-of-effect (AoE) type, a launch type for facilitating aerial combos, a multi-hit damage-over-time (DoT) type, and a homing attack of some sort. The one exception to this rule being that only the Phoenix andTitan Eikon Ability setshave moves that work toward blocking or countering. But aside from these two unique abilities, almost every Eikon Ability in the game can be classified into one of these categories.
Of course, these categories are almost universally used in just about every ARPG or RPG, with most unique abilities outside combat relying on fitting into one of the aforementioned parameters. The difference, however, is that many modern games in the genre have found ways to diversify these attack types or make them stand out between different classes. A goodcounterpart toFinal Fantasy 16would beDiablo 4, which definitely uses many of these same basic templates for its class abilities but finds ways to make them unique and allow players creativity in how they spec their builds.
Because players only control Clive and don’t have the option of choosing a class inFinal Fantasy 16(something which many longtime fans have taken issue with, especially in the absence of the classic party system), the Eikon Ability sets could have supplanted the class archetypes from the franchise’s past. Instead, each one is basically a different mix of similar abilities, with the only real incentive to switch things up being the juggling of cooldown timers between ability uses.Final Fantasy 16’s combat feels greatand carries much of the experience, but it’s hard to not shake the feeling that it could’ve embraced more uniqueness among Eikons and treated each one like its own separate “class”.
