For a game that was released exclusively on PlayStation 5, Final Fantasy XVI has hit an important milestone by selling 3 million copies, barely a week after it was released. The announcement was made through the game’s official Twitter handle.
In 2016, Final Fantasy XV sold 5 million copies in its launch week. However, it was released on multiple platforms including PS4 and Xbox One. Final Fantasy 7 remake sold 3.5 million units in the first three days of release. However, it was also available on multiple platforms. It is also important to mention that PS4 didn’t experience availability issues like PS5 which was blamed on chip shortage.
ALSO READ: Best Video Game Art Books Of 2023
According to Square Enix, the game’s developer, the 3 million copies sold include digital and physical sales across the globe. Although Final Fantasy XVI’s sales number is impressive, it is dwarfed by the 10 million copies sold by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in three days. Interestingly, Tears of the Kingdom was a Nintendo Switch exclusive.
What Final Fantasy XVI has done is still laudable considering the historically poor performance of JRPGs in the West. It is possible that Final Fantasy XVI is simply riding on the glowing reviews it has received across the gaming world—mostly for its well-built environment, story, and music.
Final Fantasy XVI has no single negative critic review
On Metacritic, Final Fantasy XVI has been reviewed by 110 critics and none of them was negative. Only 8 out of the total reviews by critics were mixed while 102 were positive. It had two perfect scores from Pocket-lint and MMORPG.com. From our experience, it is rare for games to get perfect scores.
ALSO READ: 13 Confirmed Huge Upcoming Games Of 2023
“Final Fantasy is a gorgeous epic that oozes polish and has some of the most spectacular sequences the series has ever seen,” wrote Pocket-lint. “Not everyone will love its full action-RPG combat, but we think it’s an absolute terrific ride.”
The least critic score (60) came from Digital Trends. Some of the features that gave the game mixed reviews included the fetch quests which The Enemy thinks is “an insult” and the new combat system which can take hours to master.
“An excellent battle system shackled to a dispiritingly dull and long-winded fantasy adventure, that takes an inordinate amount of time to say nothing of value,” was the way Metro GameCentral described Final Fantasy XVI.
While the reviews were also highly positive on the user end, they had more mixed and negative reviews as well. One thing we do know is that newcomers to the series may struggle a bit to get a hang of the gameplay mechanics. However, once you catch the Final Fantasy XVI fever, there is no going back till you experience the entire story.
Final Fantasy XVI was slammed for “being too white”
Final Fantasy XVI was set in a medieval European fantasy world. However, this was not enough to shield it from the diversity card. Kotaku, a popular game review website praised the new installment in every other area except for lack of racial diversity.
ALSO READ: AI Voice Synthesizer Could Steal Video Game Voice Actors’ Jobs
“If there’s a fault to be had, it’s in lack of diversity,” part of the review said. “Producer Naoki Yoshida told IGN in November 2022 that the design concept always focused on the ‘historical, cultural, political, and anthropological standards’ of medieval Europe. These cultures are mostly different variations on familiar-looking white medieval patriarchies like Transylvania or England and represent only a small corner of this world.”
According to the reviewer, the developers failed to accommodate the Brown and Black people that must have existed in medieval Europe. The reviewer’s point was further buttressed by the fact that some locations in the game took inspiration from the Middle East and North Africa.
Earlier in the month, the game was also criticized on the same issue by a Eurogamer reviewer that said, “I find the deletion of people of color from these spaces more sinister than the racial stereotypes of older Final Fantasies, particularly in a game that wants to talk about overcoming structural injustice and bringing people together”.
Notwithstanding the bashing from Kotaku and Eurogamer on the lack of diversity, the high review score can only mean one thing: most players never really cared. While diversity matters, making it a yardstick for reviewing every game can stifle innovation and kill brilliant stories.
Do you think the diversity card has a place in Final Fantasy XVI? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
Remember to share and bookmark this website to stay up to date on all the hottest news in the gaming industry.
