Final Fantasy 16’s Story Length Has Been Revealed, and Fans Are Disappointed
Final Fantasy 16 will feature 35 hours of main narrative game time.
It has been more than five months since we got a first look at a new Final Fantasy game, the upcoming Final Fantasy 16, and the development is apparently progressing nicely. Now, Square Enix revealed that the upcoming epic would feature approximately 35 hours of game time dedicated to the game’s main narrative. This is a major letdown for the fandom, considering that 2012’s Final Fantasy 12 had more than 60 hours of gameplay.
However, these numbers don’t actually add up, and the situation isn’t as bad as one might think. According to IGN, the main narrative of Final Fantasy 16 takes approximately 35 hours to complete, but there’s additional content, such as side quests, which rounds up total play time to 70-80 hours. To put things in perspective, gamers are likely to spend 130+ hours to obtain 100% completion in Elden Ring, some 60+ hours to complete Hogwarts Legacy, and approximately 50+ to complete God of War Ragnarok. So, we’re not actually discussing a short game.
For those who argue that Final Fantasy 16‘s main narrative is short, please keep in mind that the entire Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII took only 30 hours to obtain 100%. As for the reason why Square Enix wanted to keep the main narrative as short as they did, well, the developers wanted to ensure that busy gamers could reach the end of the game in a reasonable amount of time. Of course, completing everything—every side-quest—is highly recommended, and every gamer knows the benefits of completing everything before facing the game’s final villain.
Hiroshi Takai and Naoki Yoshida—Final Fantasy 16’s game director and game producer, respectively—stated that the original idea was to make the main storyline even shorter. Originally, they aimed for a story that would take some 20 hours to complete, but more and more stuff was packed into the narrative, expanding it to 35 hours. Luckily, the developer also implemented a New Game+ mode, aptly called Final Fantasy Mode, that allows gamers to carry over their weapons and stats but also adds to the overall difficulty of the new game.
The implemented Final Fantasy Mode is likely going to increase playtime—though it doesn’t actually make up for the lack of content—and the included leaderboards will allow gamers to compare their gameplay and compete with other players around the world. Final Fantasy 16 has been in development for quite some time now, with Square Enix introducing a major change to the game and Naoki Yashida stating that the game likely won’t cross over to the PC, forcing PC players to buy PlayStations.
Sure, we’re aware that Final Fantasy 16 isn’t Sony’s first-party title, but given that the company has a near-exclusive relationship with Square Enix, we might just as well consider the game as Sony’s first-party release. We, the gaming collective, sympathize with our PC-gaming colleagues and call Sony to write this wrong and have Square Enix release the game on all platforms. Otherwise, why complain about Microsoft‘s purported exclusivity while perpetrating your own? Final Fantasy 16 is scheduled to launch on June 22, 2023, for PlayStation 5.
