Soapbox: Watch another 20 minutes of Final Fantasy 16? You must be crazy

The final fantasy is XVI with ease My most anticipated PlayStation game. Hell, this is probably the most excited I’ve been for a PS5 game to date. So when Sony confirmed a new State of Play broadcast featuring over 20 full minutes of fresh Final Fantasy XVI gameplay, I turned away in disgust.

Why? Because I think I’ve seen half the bloody game already. From characters to locations to battle systems to boss battles, I’m really worried that I’ve spoiled impressive moments through official press material.

Now look, it’s a bit melodic. You’d hope that Square Enix knows what it’s doing, and that what we’ve been shown so far is only scratching the surface of a massive RPG. But I still feel that modern game marketing has a bad habit of showing too much.

I’ve seen a few trailers in recent years that include key story moments or even twists, and at the time, you might not think much of it. But then when you’re playing the game, and you realize you’ve already seen what’s unfolding on the screen, the experience can definitely be diminished. Just off the top of my head, SEGA managed to do this once or twice with the new Yakuza / Like a Dragon titles — and they’re all about the story!

I get it, though. In the case of Final Fantasy XVI, Square Enix probably feels that way have To go hard on marketing. Not that the game won’t be a hit, but the publisher will have to convince some people that this new direction for its beloved series is justified. From that perspective, a deep-diving 20 minute gameplay presentation makes sense.

But if you’ve been keeping up with Final Fantasy XVI for the past month or so, you’ve probably seen all the raw, uncut gameplay clips from the developer’s PAX panel. If you combine all that footage 45 minutes The gameplay we got back in late February / early March, that is enough of pre-release material. And now we are getting more 20 minutes?!

For me personally, it’s too much. Others may not agree — you may need more convincing, and that’s okay! – But I have seen enough. More than enough — to the point where I’d like to play the game and discover things for myself.

Ultimately, this is a contractual matter for Sony and Square Enix. The former is promoting Final Fantasy XVI like it’s a first-party project (and it’ll be a PS5 exclusive at launch), so a big State of Play blowout is a somewhat predictable move. I don’t have a problem with that, but again, it feels like we’ve already seen a lot of Final Fantasy XVI. I’m tempted to say that most viewers will know if they’re sold at this point.

I think the rumored Sony showcase is also worth a quick mention. I’ve seen a lot of people online bemoan this State of Play announcement as they wait for the big event – and understandably so. If they perform does In the relatively near future, before Final Fantasy XVI’s release on June 22nd, chances are we’ll get one more piece of footage, followed by a launch trailer – and then we’re teetering dangerously close to deathloop territory.

Okay, maybe that’s a little unfair; You’d have to be crazy to compare the soaring hype levels for Final Fantasy XVI to what it was before Deathloop launched – but you know what I’m getting at.

Having said all that, I don’t want to see Final Fantasy XVI anymore, probably a good thing, it basically means that Square Enix has lost my interest. And I suppose the fact that we’ve been handed so much footage in the first place is a positive; The developers are definitely not afraid to show off this game.

But for my future self, I’m covering my eyes for this!

have you Seen enough of Final Fantasy XVI? Will you be tuning into this week’s State of the Game? Summon your own Ekon in the comments section below.