From what little was shown in the trailer, it seems that summons will be a major part ofFinal Fantasy 16’s story. Not only are certain characters seemingly directly tied to specific summons, but theplayable main character of the nextFinal Fantasygamealso seems to draw power from his summons, using their abilities in combat to supplement his own. Square Enix hasn’t elaborated too deeply on how this mechanic will work, but the trailer did confirm as many as five summons to be featured within the game. Given their prevalence, there will likely be more by the time the title finally releases, but these are the ones that have been confirmed so far.
Phoenix
As cool as Phoenix is, this summon is rarely represented inFinal Fantasygames, and even when it is he tends to play a relatively minor role. Because of this, fans of Phoenix were likely thrilled to see that he’d play a major part of the story inFinal Fantasy 16, even showing up on the game’s logo art. This summon is shown in all its glory throughout the trailer, but fans also get to see the main character using its abilities in battle. Sometimes he summons a phoenix wing to attack his foes, and the young prince Joshua seems to be directly related to it in some way.
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Ifrit
Ifrit has a long and storied history inFinal Fantasygames, often being one of the most iconic of the bunch. Because of this, he is usually reserved for important roles. In some cases, this means being the first summon available to the player, as is the case inFinal Fantasy 7 Remake, but in others he may serve as an endgame boss like inFinal Fantasy 15. It’s not clear which character shares a connection with Ifrit inFinal Fantasy 16, but it does appear as though they will end up being the main antagonist.
Titan
Like the other summons, Titan is seen in the trailer plainly, towering above his foes and taking out some of the members of the main character’s group. Beyond this, it also appears as though the main character may end up making a pact of some sort with Titan, as there is a combat scene shown where he summons forth the fists of Titan to deal damage to his enemies. In theFinal Fantasy 16revealtrailer, Titan is shown fighting Shiva, suggesting that the two belong to different warring nations.
Shiva
Shiva’s Eikon is also shown early on in the trailer while she is doing battle with Titan. She wields her recognizable ice powers against the brute, but the outcome of the fight isn’t clearly shown. Unlike both Phoenix and Titan, the main character isn’t shown using any kind ofice powers that could be associated with Shiva, meaning this summon may belong to the forces that oppose the main character. More likely than not Shiva will end up helping the player eventually, but it remains to be seen exactly what form that will take. Either way, conjuring forth the bitter frost of Shiva would be a lot of fun.
Valefor/Garuda
The last summon the trailer showcases is kept very under the radar, as its Eikon never makes an appearance. Instead, fans can see during one combat sequence the main character use bird-like claws to rend an opponent. This is most likely either Valefor, the summon fromFinal Fantasy 10most often associated with Yuna, or Garuda, a Wind-based summon that first made its appearance inFinal Fantasy 11. Garuda is also notable as Naoki Yoshida, the producer ofFinal Fantasy 16,included her inFinal Fantasy 14,and it does seem as thoughFinal Fantasy 16will be influenced byFinal Fantasy 14. Other summons will likely crop up overtime as well, but for now, fans can expect to see at least these five.
Final Fantasy 16is in development for PS5.
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