Final Fantasy 16’s Boss Battles Isn’t All QTEs; Naoki Yoshida Explains

Naoki Yoshida went on a panel with localization director Koji Fox at the recently concluded PAX East to share information on Final Fantasy 16.

We are highlighting Naoki’s comments about QTEs in the game, and explains the nature of the boss battles, which they have also called Eikonic Battles.

Naoki reveals that Square Enix’s Creative Unit 3 received a lot of negative feedback for the QTEs fans saw in the previews. Yes, the devs heard this complaint loud and clear.

To be clear, the boss battles in Final Fantasy 16 will not all be QTEs. The battles will actually take on several phases. These phases will be presented as major parts of that boss battle. The bosses and the environment around them will change in cutscenes, and so will the gameplay style of that entire phase.

QTEs come up in between those phases of a boss battle. They give the players a chance to do something so they don’t just get bored watching a cutscene.

There will be three different types of QTEs; Attack (square button), Evasion(R1), and Clash (rapidly press square button). The boss battles will not stop or restart if you fail these QTEs.

They will change the outcome of the battles, so it seems failing a QTE can lead to the player entering the next phase in an unfavorable position. However, you will also get a lot of leeway so it won’t be hard to beat these QTEs. Naoki even joked about calling them Slow Time Events.

As for the Eikon vs Eikon battles, Square Enix promises something special. The fight with the Garuda that they have shared on previews is only a tutorial battle, a taste of what the full game has to offer, and one where the game is still holding the player’s hand somewhat.

Each Eikon vs Eikon battle will be unique. The more Eikons Clive defeats, the harder and more complex future battles will get.

As we had already covered, Eikons will come in all shapes and sizes. There is a gargantuan Eikon, there are flying Eikons, and each type requires players shift to a completely different gameplay style. Some of these fights play out like conventional PvE action game battles. As you can imagine, the fight with airborne enemies will more closely resemble a rail shooter. These truly are designed to be a memorable highlight of the game, and Naoki hopes they make an impression on their players.

Final Fantasy 16 will be released on the PlayStation 5 on June 22, 2023. A PC port is also expected to be announced in the future. You can learn more by reading this post about the panel, which will also link to other articles based on it.