Warning: This article contains minor spoilers for the first hour of Final Fantasy XVI, as well as The Path Infernal collab quest in Final Fantasy XIV.
At the risk of angering the new-school Final Fantasy gods, I feel I must disclose that I have yet to finish playing Final Fantasy XVI. In fact, I dropped it pretty quickly after completing the prologue and a few quests after that. I can’t really tell you why; maybe it’s the dark, Game of Thrones-y tone that put me off, or maybe I just wasn’t really sold on Clive Rosfield as a protagonist. Whatever the case, I quickly put FFXVI aside thinking I’d return to it someday. Which is basically code for “I will never touch this game again.”
Enter The Path Infernal, the latest FFXVI-themed collab quest that’s just been added to FFXIV, and I must admit, this just might be the catalyst to get me to give FFXVI another go.
Just like the FFXV collab quest, The Path Infernal brings Clive into the world of Eorzea in a rather ham-fisted way. He’s somehow been transported to a new world and he needs to find a way back home. In fact, The Path Infernal even incorporates an additional groan-worthy trope: Clive also has amnesia and can’t remember who he is, where he comes from, or what he’s supposed to do. All he knows is that he needs to go home and avenge his little brother Joshua. And yet, this mini-story makes it work somehow, because The Path Infernal has quickly become one of my favorite story arcs I’ve played in FFXIV.
While the arc is short, it doesn’t waste time on silly exposition. The Warrior of Light’s goal is to help Clive regain his memories, and when Garuda shows up, this triggers something within Clive. Soon enough, you and Clive are caught up in a fiery battle with Ifrit, who looks a lot more evil and sinister than the Ifrit you originally fought in A Realm Reborn. This Ifrit — referred to as the Infernal Shadow — is way tougher, complete with moves that can kill you very quickly if you’re not paying attention.
The story reaches a crescendo when Clive realizes mid-battle that this isn’t really Ifrit at all. It’s actually him. This is when the plot twist is revealed: Clive somehow became the second fire Eikon and killed his own brother, who housed the spirit of the Phoenix. This is a revelation that happens quite early on in FFXVI, but it still hits hard here, thanks in no small part to the fantastic score and the cinematic battle between Ifrit and Clive and the Warrior of Light.
The Ifrit fight even gives you access to two unique actions that allow you to dodge attacks, and counter with a precision strike. I was actually pretty surprised by how well that dodge mechanic worked in FFXIV, and almost found myself wishing it could get added to the game, whether as a general mechanic or as an action you could use with one of the existing jobs.
By the end of the story, Clive regains his memories and is also reunited with Torgal the pup, who shows up to lead him home. Before he goes, however, we’re treated to one more lore tidbit that smartly ties the worlds of Eorzea and Valisthea together. The Wandering Minstrel tells Clive about the Seventh Umbral Calamity and how the Burning Wall is really just filled with the remnants of destruction from the Phoenix, and the two figure that these two worlds were likely connected by the spirit of the Phoenix itself.
As Clive leaves, the Wandering Minstrel briefly considers writing a ballad about him, but decides against it because he simply doesn’t have the ability to peer into Clive’s world to get the full magnitude and scope of his story. But, and he looks straight at the camera as he says this, perhaps the Warrior of Light could pull off something like that.
It’d be very easy to view this whole sequence as a cheesy promo to get FFXIV players to go check out FFXVI, but it totally worked on me. The Path Infernal wasted no time in getting things going, and I suspect that’s why it works so well. Within an hour, I’d gotten to know Clive better as a character and had become properly invested in his story and relationship with Joshua. I found myself wondering how he became Ifrit, and what that means for his lineage and his quest going forward.
So yeah. FFXIV‘s new collab quest? Pretty great, I’d say. So great that I’ve already gone ahead and reinstalled FFXVI. You got me again, Square Enix. Maybe this time it’ll actually stick.
