Final Fantasy 16 is an epic action RPG that goes beyond what you would expect from a typical Final Fantasy title. From the gritty, dark, and mature story to the massive Eikons waging destructive wars, there is almost no end to the bosses and secrets players can discover. It isn’t easy to determine what to do first, which is where we step in. Here are 10 things Final Fantasy 16 doesn’t tell you.
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Final Fantasy 16 is a massive game, but it doesn’t seem like it is at first glance. The first few hours are linear, and it takes a while to get going. Once you do, though, Clive can get himself mixed up in all sorts of trouble. Here are some things to do that Final Fantasy 16 doesn’t tell you about.
1) Use the Hunting Board
If you push through the early hours of the campaign, you will unlock a unique board that lets you take on dangerous monsters. These creatures are letter graded, and each one will grant you a ton of experience, ability points, and rare crafting materials for some of the best weapons in the game. This board will also get new monsters the further you progress through the campaign.
2) Pick a Comfy Control Scheme
This Final Fantasy is like none other, as it features extensive action and no party management. The combat is blistering, and it can become pretty complicated with how many actions Clive can use at any given time. If you press Options, then tab to System, you can choose between three control schemes. Head to the training area and practice with each one to find the most comfortable setting.
3) Practice Makes Perfect
Shortly after completing the prologue and meeting Cid, he will take you to a hub called the Hideaway. This hub is home to all sorts of vendors, like a Blacksmith, a General store, and more. One key item is the Arete Stone. You can enter a training mode, similar to what you would see in a fighting game. You can adjust values like health and pick which enemies you want to train against. Every time you fight new enemies, they will get added to this mode for you to practice against.
4) Parry Everything
Clive is an agile fighter, and while dodging is good for avoiding damage, it doesn’t leave enemies vulnerable, either. To maximize your damage output, you must learn to parry. This technique is difficult, as Clive doesn’t have a dedicated block button. To parry, you must use your attack to strike an enemy right before their attack hits you. If it sounds tricky, it is. However, if you want to parry, here is a great tip. Use Clive’s Burning Blade technique. It has a large parry window, and this timing doubles if you parry while you jump in the air.
5) Take Every Special Side Quest
Most side quests will grant you XP, ability points, and some crafting materials, but this game, similar to Final Fantasy 14, also features unique side quests. Instead of the standard green circle over an NPC, if you ever see a cross icon like the one pictured above, always do those side quests. That symbol indicates that you will permanently unlock a brand-new game mechanic upon completing that quest.
6) Ride a Chocobo
The ability to unlock a mount and ride a Chocobo won’t come until much later in the game, once you have reached the main story quest, “The Gathering Storm.” When you have this quest, follow these steps to unlock a Chocobo as a mount:
- Travel to Martha’s Rest and speak with Rowan.
- He will tell you about a white Chocobo who hunts bandits. Accept The White-Winged Wonder quest from him.
- Travel down the road toward the green quest markers. Find and interact with the large white feathers on the trail.
- You will come across a group of bandits led by a boss called the Huntsman. Take him down with your party. He is vulnerable to Wind, so use Garuda to whittle his Will gauge and stagger him repeatedly.
- Once the Huntsman is defeated, Rowan will speak to you and complete the quest.
Once you finish the quest, Clive will realize that the white-winged wonder isn’t some regular Chocobo. It’s actually his royal steed Ambrosia. It has a flock of birds that fight against bandits, and you will then unlock Ambrosia as Clive’s mount moving forward.
7) Check Your History Lessons
One of the things you can do in Final Fantasy 16 is a new mechanic called Active Time Lore. This feature will let you stop the action at any point and get an in-depth breakdown of all relevant characters featured at the time of activation. To use this, hold the Touchpad down during any cutscene or gameplay to bring this menu up.
8) Break Your Limits
Once you progress through the campaign, you will unlock the use of Limit Break. This technique works far differently than other Final Fantasy titles and acts as a transformation. You can upgrade this ability to allow you to stay transformed longer. These are all of the perks of using Limit Break:
- Changes Attack style
- Doubles spell damage
- Increases potency by 10%
- Increases Eikonic Ability potency by 10%
- Slowly restores HP
- Increases Defense by 10%
- Prevents stagger when taking damage
- Prevents KO while semi-primed
9) Pet Your Dog
Clive is your only playable character for most of Final Fantasy 16, and his party will rotate between different allies through the story. One consistent ally, though, is Clive’s loyal hound, Torgal. This wolf is man’s best friend and can be used in combat for many reasons. He can heal you, launch enemies into the air, and he’s a great companion who always has Clive’s back. Approach Torgal out of combat, and hold X to pet your loyal friend.
10) Beat the Game
I know this may seem a bit unorthodox for a list like this, but so much content opens up much later in the game, and beating the game grants you access to a new mode called Final Fantasy mode. This mode features advanced enemy placement, an ultimate weapon to craft, and the level cap jumps to 100.
Now that you have this handy list of the 10 things Final Fantasy 16 doesn’t tell you, get out in the world and hack and slash it up with the best of them.
Related: How To Use Limit Break in Final Fantasy 16
Final Fantasy 16 is available now on PlayStation 5.
