Square Enix has recently released the Final Fantasy XVI Ambition trailer and it just showed a Game of Thrones level of brutality.
Final Fantasy XVI Ambition Trailer Shows Gore and Brutality
Most of the time in Final Fantasy games, how characters are killed in the game is quite toned down and sometimes they will not even show the blood. It seems Square Enix wants its games to be child-friendly as much as possible while not compromising on the narrative of the story. It did not show the true gory scenes but it is implied in dialogue or in other ways.
The latest Final Fantasy XVI Ambition trailer just did the opposite, which blows the minds of long-time fans of the series. This is the first time a Final Fantasy showed a real blood-bath of a scene.
Kingdoms Getting Slaughtered
The trailer mostly talks about the many lands of Valisthea and how it is slowly dying. Many wars have been waged and many citizens have been killed along the way. The Grand Duchy of Rosaria gets invaded by the Holy Empire of Sanbreque for ambition and the Mothercrystals’ power, which sustains life for each.
In one scene where Rosaria gets invaded, the prince and his father encounter enemies. The father pushes the prince aside but he gets killed by looks to be a traitor among his knights. He gets beheaded and the blood and gore are shown, albeit not clearly on screen but the thing that rolls nearby the prince’s feet is the head of his father. This triggers his powers as a Dominant and unleashes the powers of a fire Eikon.
Gameplay Showcased
While most of the trailer is composed of cutscenes, a small portion of it shows gameplay. It shows that the protagonist will be fighting these Dominants in the game and will be using his own powers to defeat them all. This could include the prince that went berserk with his Eikon.
Most Mature Final Fantasy Game?
From what I remember, the only other Final Fantasy game that achieves this kind of Game of Thrones level of gore is Final Fantasy Tactics, but it was shown in 2D. In Final Fantasy XVI, however, we will definitely be seeing a lot of blood, dead bodies, and perhaps body parts flying around. A first, for a Final Fantasy game.
Final Fantasy XVI launches summer 2023 exclusively on PS5.