Get Ready to End the Legacy of the Crystals
Final Fantasy XVI was the biggest announcement of Sony’s PS5 Showcase. Harkening back to the fantasy worlds of the earlier games in the series, the game sees the protagonist and his allies embroiled in a war involving crystals and Eikon’s this game’s take on summons, although this time around some characters known as Dominants – including ally Joshua – have the ability to transform into these creatures, and given that the official logo features stylized versions of both Phoenix and Ifrit, it’s a safe bet that they’ll have a substantial part to play in the story.
One of the things that a few people noticed is that the game is… well, gorier than previous entries, which despite routinely seeing people hack at each other with swords, shoot their enemies, or just out and out burn them alive, has been relatively light on bloodshed. Considering pretty much every game has had some world-ending catastrophe to avoid violence hasn’t been an issue too often, but it looks like Square Enix are doubling down on this by making Final Fantasy XVI the most adult in the series thus far, being the first game in the main series with a provisionary rating of M according to a recent newsletter.
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FFXVI CONFIRMED M RATED THAT’S HUGE! pic.twitter.com/sLW693yRjz
— Xel (@ThisIsXel) September 27, 2020
Of course, censorship is a tricky subject. A straight sex scene, for example, is often given a lower rating than a same-sex kiss. We don’t know yet exactly why the game has been rated so highly, and it could just as easily be for language or nudity. Given the visible blood spurts – such as the one that hits Joshua in the face – the most likely explanation would definitely include injury detail, that is the actual amount of gore we see and the context of that gore. Seeing blood on the ground is one thing, seeing a knife actually enter a body, or a bystander being hit by it, is enough to make censors more cautious.
Will you be checking out Final Fantasy XVI? Let us know down in the comments.