The mainline Final Fantasy series has gone through a lot of changes with its core gameplay over time. From turn-based gameplay with an overworld in the earlier Final Fantasy titles right through to party-based action combat in an open world in Final Fantasy 15, the series has tried a few different approaches over the years. So with Final Fantasy 16 (FF16), many of you will want to know if this game follows in the footsteps of Final Fantasy 15 with a massive open world or if it’s changed again — so here is the answer.
Explaining Whether Final Fantasy 16 (FF16) Is an Open-World Game
With the release of Final Fantasy 16, Square Enix has changed the formula again. This time it’s really honed in on the excellent action combat system and exceptional storytelling and character design. Final Fantasy 16 does not have an open world and goes back to a zone-based world, similar to as seen in Final Fantasy 7 Remake. And I have to say — it just suits the series much better. There is still enough freedom exploring each zone, and there are still sidequests and hidden things to discover throughout them. However, it brings the experience around the story and characters together much better than the open-world design from Final Fantasy 15 did.
As you play through the main story, you’ll gain access to new zones that can be fairly large city or outdoor areas to explore, and you can easily travel between these zones with the handy fast travel feature built into your map. So there is much less slowly driving around the world in a car and much more getting where you want to go quickly, which I’ve found to be a better experience.
So in summary, no, Final Fantasy 16 is not an open-world game like it was in Final Fantasy 15. It’s moved back to a zone-based world, and I think that’s a good thing for the series. You can really see the extra polish and detail you get by not having the developers worry about creating a massive open world.
