Gaming: Which Should You Buy, Final Fantasy 16 Or Diable IV?
Gaming isn’t the same as it was when we were kids. There are far too many shooters, sandbox, and sports games to fit into the short attention span of younger kids. Games that take hours, weeks, or months to beat are out. Unless you’re an adult gamer who has no time. Usually, you buy something that will take you months to play, and then download one of the freebies on Xbox GamePass or PS+. You rarely have time to play the campaigns like you used to so you’re a bit more selective with your choices when buying actual games.
Right now there are two major franchises Final Fantasy XVI and Diablo IV that you could be interested in acquiring. If you’re on Xbox the choice has already been made for you as Final Fantasy XVI is a PS5 exclusive. If you have a Playstation, or both, which should you consider picking up?
Final Fantasy XVI:
Final Fantasy XVI is one of the more divided games on the internet for gamers, for whatever reason. There are traditionalists who want old-school turn-based gameplay. Then there are the ones barking that the story doesn’t fit a typical FF genre. Last, there are the people that just love a good Final Fantasy game and who are loving the creativity of the game.
If you’re one of those people sour because it’s not a turn-based game, don’t buy it. Those days are fading. As stated above, the attention span just isn’t there for the older style of game that takes a little longer to beat. Turn-based gaming slows down the action and thus the new generation of gaming loses interest.
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The ones who think it’s not a true FF game shouldn’t be listened to. Clearly, those are the gamers who picked up the franchise around FFVII and don’t remember the original Final Fantasy on NES. Throw all the way back to the original game and the main boss was Garland, who, like every other game from its time kidnapped a princess. Oh no, we can’t have games that deal with kingdoms and knights because it’s “too Game of Thrones-like”. (insert eye roll here).
Final Fantasy XVI is being called out for being a “button masher” which is the laziest take I’ve heard so far. Yes, you can do nothing but dodge and spam the action button, just like any other game, but battles go a lot quicker with correct combos and well-time dodge, parry, and attack combos.
Diablo IV:
If you’ve played Diablo before, then IV is where it’s at for you (so long as you enjoyed the other ones). If you haven’t, this is an old-school dungeon crawler similar to the glory days of Gauntlet. Again, there’s the whiny crowd on the internet spamming Reddit with their complaints after some minor hiccups upon launch. New-school gamers are so impatient.
Diablo had bugs, they worked quickly to get them fixed. Ignore these Debbie Downers. Developers aren’t making a dot bounce back and forth between two lines anymore. These are complex codes, on complex servers that occasionally have a line or two of code that don’t mesh well together. That’s it.
Diablo is a game with a good campaign and plenty of end-game content to keep you playing with multiple characters to give you a feel for how each class plays. On top of that there are multiple builds for each of those classes.
Are you’re an old-school gamer who has to choose between one or the other, it really comes down to your style of play. If you want something with epic cinematics and attack-sponge bosses, then choose Final Fantasy. If you’re gaming and want replay ability, go with Diablo. Either way you won’t be disappointed.
Rick ODonnell aka Caveman Rick has many years covering the Miami Dolphins, Sports, and all sorts of movies and television.
