Final Fantasy 16, analysis and hypotheses on the new details presented by Yoshida
Welcome to Valisthea
Let's start immediately from the narrative context, which is based on the world of Valisthea. We know very well how much respect and reverence Yoshida, producer of Final Fantasy 16, has towards Ivalice, so much so that we have included it in a recent expansion of Final Fantasy XIV, a chapter of which he was and continues to be director: this time the intention is not that of recalling one of the most loved settings by the Square-Enix community: after the twelfth chapter and the wonderful Tactics forays, we have to move elsewhere, towards a totally new world. And as it was clear to expect, Valisthea could only be filled with Mother Crystals, the rocky chains that dominate the kingdoms and flood them with ether.As if they were deities to be worshiped, peoples for years gathered around the Crystals, which allowed them to spend a copiously satisfying life, almost as if we were in that "Om El Donya" which was the 'Egypt with the Nile. Such a power, however, can only spring into something belligerently pregnant, starting from peace agreements that now find themselves threatened by the spread of the Plague: an entity that is beginning to spread with a destructive power and undermine serenity by Valisthea. The same contention for the same universe and at the same time for the Crystals that could be discovered to have different powers and power, could push all the protagonists of our story to give birth to internal wars.
Three brothers for the defense of the kingdom
The whole story will also revolve around our protagonists, obviously the active part of the fight against the Plague: Clive, Joshua and Jill are the three main characters who must be able to take the place of the most beloved Cloud, Squall, Tidus, Gidan, Vaan and so on, some more and some less. Clive Rosfield is the eldest son of the Archduke of Rosaria, a Grand Duchy that seems to be the most prosperous city in the universe in which we find ourselves. Introduced to us as the actual protagonist of the story, at fifteen Clive manages to show his strength in combat by winning the ducal tournament and thus becoming Rosaria's First Shield, with the aim of protecting the Phoenix. However, a title that is close to him, being destined to be the Herald of Rosaria's kingdom.Joshua, on the other hand, is his younger brother, awakened as Herald of the Phoenix, a title that everyone expected could be touched by Clive. . Already introduced in the trailer, the young boy has a very friendly way of doing with all his subjects, despite being an aristocrat and - thinking in medieval terms - he could find himself managing all his subordinates with much more categorical. The aspect that most distinguishes him is the regret for having stolen the title he was entitled to from his brother Clive: we can hypothesize that finding himself being much less fearless than his older brother, Joshua would almost like to renounce this title in order to be able to give it to Clive, thus granting him the strength of the flames of the Phoenix. It goes without saying that we expect a far-reaching awakening from the young son of the Archduke of Rosaria, who appears to be destined to take the limelight.
Jill Warrick, on the other hand, is a girl who grew up under the protection of archduke, like a daughter: she is a sister to Clive and Joshua, despite being a daughter of the northern lands, from which she was snatched at an early age. Twelve, she presents herself with a very generous and graceful manner, in the same style as Joshua, of whom she is a trusted confidant, on the same level as Clive. Unlike the previous narrative proposals made by Kazushige Nojima, this time it seems that Naoki Yoshida wants to put us in front of family issues that will be the fulcrum of the whole story: no group formed by necessity of path, as the Guardians of Yuna could be in Final Fantasy X , let alone the mercenaries who found themselves fighting for the same ethical purpose, like the AVALANCHE at the time of Final Fantasy VII.
Between summons and a jagged territory
To complete the world of Valisthea there will be the Eikon, the ones that - as we had already understood last month during the presentation - will in effect be the invocations, the aeons. A man, or even a woman, can be blessed with the chance to summon one of them during the battle: for now we have been able to see Phoenix, Titan, Shiva and Ifrit, but we are confident that the number can increase and that we can at least get closer to that of Final Fantasy X, including all the secret Aeons that we were called to unlock in the final stages of the game.Next to the already named Grand Duchy of Rosaria, which we understand will be the stage for the first events, we will be called to also know the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, a theocratic kingdom that relies absolutely on the Dragon's Head and its Holy Emperor represents the only authority to which one can rely, configured almost as the only divinity. This is followed by the Kingdom of Waloed, located in the eastern area of Valisthea and a great military power, so much so as to have the aim of attempting to invade the other kingdoms in order to gain dominance. The Republic of Dhalmekhiana, on the other hand, is located in the southern part of the world.
The Iron Kingdom, an archipelago that competes for the Mother Crystal with Rosaria, or the Breath of the Dragon, closes the journey around the world of Valisthea . Extremists and fundamentalists, all the inhabitants of the kingdom uniquely venerate crystals, but they have never abandoned their islands, completely ignoring life on the mainland: a sort of people apart, which somehow could almost be, in the face of the fact to speak their own language, compared to the Albhed. Unlike what happens in other kingdoms, where the Heralds are the protectors of the regents, here this figure is persecuted with the aim of exterminating them. Finally, the Crystalline Domain is a kingdom disputed by all the others, for being at the center of Valisthea and having control of the Dragon's Tail: there is no Herald here.
In short, Final Fantasy 16 has put a lot of effort into it. meat on the fire, with the hope of soon being able to get in touch with some other additional details, which Yoshida reiterated will arrive in the course of 2021. The direction taken is clear, that is to tell us a war story that may concern several kingdoms, candidates for wage war between them: a return, as we had already understood from the trailer, to the medieval-like veins of the series, which could recall that Final Fantasy XII that would have deserved so much more from critics and the public, but also to draw fully hands from the narrative power of Final Fantasy XIV, of which Yoshida was the creator of the rebirth. Just like the phoenix so dear to this sixteenth chapter.
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