IGN gave an RPG an 8/10 for having great action and no RPG elements
The Original Review
“Final Fantasy 16 takes the series in an exciting and unexpected direction.”
Ah, an 'exciting and unexpected direction.' You know what else took an unexpected direction? The Titanic. Leana Hafer's review of Final Fantasy XVI reads like someone who played Devil May Cry for the first time and mistook it for a JRPG. She spends fourteen paragraphs gushing about the combat spectacle and approximately half a sentence acknowledging that the RPG elements have been gutted like a fish at a sushi bar.
The review praises FF16 for 'streamlining' the equipment system. Streamlining. That's a fascinating way to say 'removing.' I could streamline my apartment by throwing away all the furniture. That doesn't make it minimalist design — it makes it an empty room.
Most impressively, the review manages to discuss a 40-hour game's story without once mentioning that the middle 15 hours are a pacing catastrophe that makes you want to use the controller as a pillow. The word 'padding' appears zero times. Remarkable restraint, or remarkable omission — I leave that to the reader.
An 8/10 for abandoning everything that made Final Fantasy what it is. Mon Dieu. This is like giving a pizzeria 4 stars for their excellent hamburgers.
