History YMMV / FinalFantasyXVI

** Odin's Lv. 5 Zantetsuken. At Level 5, the move will instantly kill all basic enemies regardless of health and distance from your cast, while dealing massive damage to bosses. While the Zantetsuken gauge has a slow build up if you continue to use basic attacks, the move ''Dancing Steel'' can quickly fill the gauge up while having a relatively short cooldown for an Eikonic ability. This may not be enough to fill up the gauge against just one enemy, but the Pull of Darkness accessory increases the gauge build up to 25% on Dancing Steel, '''50%''' on NG+ if you upgrade it to +1, which is as simple as getting the accessory on both playthroughs. Zantetsuken alone is reason enough as to why many continue to use it going into NG+, even in spite of it being the last Eikon you acquire. The only bad thing you can say about it is that in Arcade Mode it's ''too'' good at its job due to the weird way Arcade Mode handles scoring (it rewards spamming Eikonic abilities and punishes efficiency).

** Ifrit's Dominant is [[spoiler:Ifrit]]. Hand-in-hand with being a CaptainObviousSpoiler, it quickly became widely known and acknowledged after release, including by Square Enix themselves.

* CaptainObviousReveal: Clive [[spoiler:being the second Eikon of Fire and ultimately responsible for Joshua's so-called death]] is treated as a big reveal, considering that the first chunk of the game revolves around avenging Joshua's [[spoiler:supposed]] death by hunting down someone that had similar abilities to the Eikon of Fire. This is also reflected in gameplay where Clive can only use Phoenix's powers initially. The camerawork during Joshua's death scene is supposed to imply that Clive is watching the scene as an observer... except the cutscenes early on in the game flat out ''show'' Clive transforming into Ifrit.

* ItWasHisSled: The game treats a mid-game reveal as a huge plot twist: [[spoiler:Joshua is still alive, having survived the attack at the Phoenix Gate, meaning Clive didn't kill Joshua after all once he transformed into Ifrit]]. However, this twist quickly became fairly widespread knowledge shortly after the game's release. While the game's trailers and other marketing did a good job ''not'' spoiling the twist, this information is critical to a lot of the game's plot and its most emotional and epic moments, and screenshots and fanart based around what happened flooded social media in the months after the game's release. As such, both factors make it difficult to have any exposure to the game without learning about the twist beforehand. At least the reveal is provided fairly early in the story, and there's still intrigued to be had by learning the context behind it. So knowing the twist doesn't really ruin one's experience because of the way the plot expands on it from there, but learning about it too soon can still be a bummer.

** The game's voice acting being recorded in English first made many waves among fans, which quickly got twisted into the false claim that the game's script was also ''written'' in English first. In actuality, the script was written first in Japanese, then translated into English and also underwent expected changes in localization. After the voice recording began, the Japanese script was re-edited to more closely resemble the final draft of the localized English version, and the second version of this script is what the Japanese voice actors used when they started their recording sessions. However it should be noted that there are still quite a few differences between the two languages' scripts, [[https://www.reddit.com/r/FFXVI/comments/14y5x6z/the_game_didnt_do_jill_dirty_localization_did/ like this example.]]

* ContestedSequel: It's a ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' game, so this was bound to happen. While not as divisive as ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' or ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'', fans are still split on the action-based combat of the game, the lack of more traditional ''Final Fantasy'' elements such as {{Superboss}}es or enemies like Tonberries and Cactuars, whether the [[CrapsackWorld overall bleakness]] of Valisthea is enough or too much, the overall grittier tone compared to other installments in the series, the unevenness of the game's second half, and the underutilization of characters that aren't Clive prevents a common consensus on the game from being reached among fans of the series.

** The scoring system used in the arcade mode heavily weighs the use of Eikonic abilities over anything else, and scales up linearly, unlike ''Devil May Cry's'' dynamic scoring that famously rewards precise and steady gameplay. It doesn't matter if you're playing well, avoiding item usage or taking damage, as long as you're consistently landing your Eikonic abilities, your score will skyrocket. This has the knock on effect of ''discouraging'' masterful play in some instances, as you being too efficient won't afford you enough time to inflate your score up to an S.

* DemonicSpiders: Many of the EliteMook-type enemies count as this by their nature: tons of HP, powerful attacks, and large enough to be immune to pulling.

* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound: The classic victory fanfare is backed up by a low-voice choir here, and sounds absolutely ''glorious''. It helps that it only plays after the player overcomes a major battle, making victory feel even more like a massive accomplishment.

** Hugo spends his screentime being a loathsome brute of a person, [[spoiler:namely in attacking the Hideaway after he was led to believe Cid killed Benedikta, bullying the leadership of Dhalmekia into following his every whim, and sentencing Clive and Jill to death when they return to Rosalith. Clive subsequently telling Hugo he killed Benedikta and [[AnArmAndALeg cutting off his hands]], followed by Hugo's VillainousBreakdown at losing his hands and eventually hallucinating himself being cuckolding by Benedikta and Clive goes above and beyond in giving him his comeuppance, and it is satisfying to watch.]]

** Jote has gained this reputation among fans, due to her outfit being based on that of the Tonberry ([[ThatOneEnemy a famously difficult enemy from the wider franchise]]) as well as her no-nonsense nature when watching over Joshua.

* MemeticBadass: Jote has gained this reputation among fans, due to her outfit being based on that of the Tonberry.

* ImprovedSecondAttempt: ''Final Fantasy XVI'' has more than a few parallels to ''VideoGame/StrangerOfParadiseFinalFantasyOrigin'', released the year before. Both are Action [=RPGs=] that got a lot of publicity for being rated M and being DarkerAndEdgier and BloodierAndGorier than past ''Final Fantasy'' titles, both star an older male protagonist that is presented as being driven by anger and hatred, and both attempt to deconstruct staple series story elements, particularly the Crystals. The narratives also both see the protagonists [[spoiler:learn that the state of the world has been set up by a race of god-like beings, and they destroy that race to free humanity from their control even if it costs them their lives and risks the end of the world]]. However, ''XVI'' succeeded much better at these efforts than ''Stranger of Paradise'' did: ''XVI'' actually tells a mature plot with graphic subject matter, while ''[=SoP=]'' came off as trying too hard with silly dialogue and gothic world design; Clive is a much more likeable and well-rounded protagonist than Jack with a sympathetic reason for his cynicism; ''XVI's'' deconstructions occur in its own setting and make sense within it instead of taking place within the setting of the original game and retconning its lore; and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the end of the story is part of the base game and not DLC content]].

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
** How complicit was Barnabas in [[spoiler:Ultima's]] plan? Was he being manipulated into doing his bidding somehow? Did he realize the full implications of his master's schemes and was all for it, or was he tricked or lied to? Or was Barnabas so delusional and devoted to his religion that he actually thought that in some twisted way, he was doing the right thing?
** How does Anabella truly feel about her family? While her contempt for Clive is obvious, her relationships with Elwin and Joshua are less clear-cut. The scene of her and Elwin in their bedroom can be interpretated as her trying to win him over to her line of thinking, with the subsequent implication her betraying the Duchy to the Empire only came about because she was unsuccessful. For Joshua, it's clear she cares about him and is heartbroken at his death, but is that out of geniune love for him or a vicarious attachment to his status as the Phoenix? Was her having Olivier with the Emperor proof all she wanted was a powerful son, or had she simply moved on in the decade between Joshua's death and Olivier's birth? The confrontation with her at Twinside supports both views, as she claims her motives for betraying the Duchy and joining the Empire were to produce a son from both the lines of Bahamut and the Phoenix who would be the world's savior, meaning she intended to replace Joshua with a 'better' son even before he died. But she's also clearly saddened at the mention of Joshua and hasn't gotten over his death nearly twenty years later.
** When the game was first released, it was generally assumed that the love between Benedikta and Cid was romantic. However, after the ''Final Fantasy XVI Ultimania'' confirmed that Cid was 44 years old after the first timeskip whereas Benedikta was only 28 years old, many have started to interpret their love as familial, specifically a surrogate father-daughter relationship, rather than romantic, due to their 16-year age gap, especially since Benedikta was only 15 when she first met Cid, who would have been 31, more than twice Benedikta's age at the time and well into adulthood while Benedikta was still a minor. Others choose to interpret that Benedikta's feelings were romantic while Cid's were familial.

* BrokenBase: Admit it, you wanted Anabella to suffer a harsher punishment. Then again, an unceremonious death does seem fitting for her in the eyes of some.

%% Do not add Base-Breaking Character, Broken Base, or Overshadowed by Controversy to this page at this time.
%%
%% These tropes may only be added six months after the work is initially released.
%%
%% Please do not add those tropes until at least December 22, 2023.
%%
%% Thank you.
%%

** Undertakes are the strongest and nastiest of Ultima's Thralls. "Spirits Within" is a giant energy beam that can cleave off a huge chunk of Clive's health in one shot, their other attacks are pretty hard-hitting too, and they have a ton of HP.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Torgal's initial Fenrir transformation is treated as a major and surprising event, but the truth behind it is relegated to a completely optional side-quest the player can simply choose not to do. And the transformation itself only grants Torgal new abilities that the player control over, nor does the player have control over when Torgal transforms.

** During the prologue you briefly play as Joshua, who has his own moveset (albeit highly simplified). You control him for only a few minutes, during which time he encounters a total of three enemies that he can each kill in one hit. [[spoiler:The only other time you play as Joshua is when he and Clive form a TagTeam to face off against Bahamut.]]
** Early on you're forced to travel briefly through an area beset by the Blight and learn that it's a PowerNullifier phenomenon, as your party members can't cast magic in the region and Clive can't use Eikon abilities. This would seem as though it were foreshadowing some future area where Clive would be forced to fight without his powers, but it never comes up again and this one brief area has no enemies in it.

** During the prologue you briefly play as Joshua, who has his own moveset (albeit highly simplified). You control him for only a few minutes, during which time he encounters a total of three enemies that he can each kill in one hit. [[spoiler:The only other time you play as Joshua is when he and Clive form a heroic tag team to face off against Bahamut.]]

** During the prologue you briefly play as Joshua, who has his own moveset (albeit highly simplified). You control him for only a few minutes, during which time he encounters a total of three enemies that he can each kill in one hit. This is the only occasion in the game where you can play as someone other than Clive.

** Despite being one of the eight Eikons, Leviathan [[TheGhost has barely any presence in the story]] outside of being the one who rules over Water. The developers apparently felt the same way, as "The Rising Tied" [=DLC=] was eventually announced for the express purpose of fleshing out its role.

** Despite being one of the eight Eikons, Leviathan [[TheGhost has barely any presence in the story]] outside of being the one who rules over Water. It can written out entirely and nothing crucial will be missed from the story.

** Kihel the medicine girl is this despite her limited presence, primarily due to her [[EarWorm catchy chant]] "curatives, calmatives, restoratives", and for [[spoiler:nursing Dion back to health]] late in the game. [[spoiler:Her fate [[UncertainDoom being left unresolved]] after the destruction of the Crystalline Dominion has even been a sticking point with fans, with many wanting to see her alive and well after it.]]