Sony’s State of Play event to feature 20+ mins of Final Fantasy XVI gameplay

While the focus of the event will be Final Fantasy XVI, it is unclear whether there will be any additional announcements, as was the case in the previous State of Play showcase, where Sony unveiled five new PS VR2 games. Final Fantasy XVI, which recently went gold, will be released exclusively on the PS5.

Following its withdrawal from E3 in 2019, Sony seems to favor its digital-only State of Play events as the primary platform for showcasing upcoming games. With E3 being cancelled this year, it remains to be seen what Sony has in store for its summer reveals.

Final Fantasy XVI experienced a developmental setback due to COVID-19, leading to a June release date and a six-month exclusivity period on the PS5. While a PC version was originally planned for release soon after, producer Naoki Yoshida confirmed in February that there was not enough time for optimization. In a Japanese PlayStation blog post translated by Google, Yoshida expressed a desire to eventually release the game on PC, but noted that he was not yet able to provide a timeline for its release.

Final Fantasy XVI puts players in the shoes of Clive Rosfield, First Shield of Rosaria, who must navigate a world divided into two continents – Ash and Storm – and confront powerful summoned creatures called Eikons. The depletion of aether, an essential energy source, has caused conflict among the six royal factions, and the player must ally with a rotating party of companions to fight their way through segmented areas across the world and curb the conflicts. This installment is also the first in the series to move away from turn-based combat and opt for a more real-time, action-oriented system with flashy effects.

In a recent interview, Final Fantasy XVI’s game director Hiroshi Takai revealed that the game will take around 70-80 hours to complete fully. Takai explained that the game is story-driven and will take players on a roller coaster ride, with the main story alone taking around 35 hours to clear. However, if players choose to engage with side content, the playtime can easily double. This is a significant increase from producer Yoshida’s initial plan for the main story to end in about 20 hours, but the addition of more content during development led to the longer playtime.

In addition to the lengthy gameplay, Final Fantasy XVI also boasts around 11 hours of cutscenes, not including cinematics during battles or side quests. The game also features a New Game+ mode, allowing players to carry over their equipment and stats to a second playthrough with increased enemy difficulty.

Final Fantasy XVI is set to release exclusively on the PS5 on June 22. The upcoming State of Play event will be broadcasted live on April 14 at 2:30 AM IST in India and on April 13 at 2 PM PT in the US.