Author: Game Infliction

A brand new PlayStation State of Play has arrived and it was focused entirely on Final Fantasy 16. We already know it is set to be released on PlayStation 5 on June 22, 2023, so this presentation was all about learning more about the game’s world, spectacular Eikon battles, combat, base camp, and more.

We are here to break down all the big news from the State of Play and hopefully give you even more reasons to be excited about Final Fantasy 16.

The Epic Battles of Eikons and Clive Rosfield

The State of Play gave us another big glimpse at the combat of Final Fantasy 16, including the showstopping battles between Eikons, which some may know as Summons from previous games like Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Titan, Bahamut, Phoenix, Garuda, and more.

These epic Eikon battles change up the combat in a big way, and can be anything from a “3D scrolling shooter” to a “heavyweight wrestling match.” The scale of these battles is also unlike most anything we’ve seen in a Final Fantasy game, and some of the bigger Eikons like Titan Lost make others like Ifrit, who look massive in comparison to Clive, look like little action figures.

The battles themselves will surely be one of the big ticket items in Final Fantasy 16, but Eikons play such a huge part outside of these showcase battles. For example, many of the skills Clive unlocks will be earned through these Eikons as you encounter them. You will be able to unlock and upgrade these skills via ability points and will help turn Clive into a magical powerhouse that uses the best parts of the Eikons.

Speaking of Clive, players will only ever play as Clive. There will be companions that join you along the way, but they will be controlled completely by AI. However, Clive will have Torgal by his side for most of the game, who happens to be the goodest dog a hero could ever ask for, and they will be able to issue Torgal commands and, perhaps most importantly, give him treats.

We’ve learned a lot of this before, but Final Fantasy 16 has accessibility items that can be equipped to make the game more approachable for anyone who wants to try it out. These rings, including the Ring of Timely Focus and the Ring of Timely Strikes, will offer assists in combat. The ones mentioned here will slow down time when you are attacked so you can focus on executing a combo attack with the press of just one button.

Clive’s Hideout Is a Base Camp Filled With Characters, Side Quests, Shops, and More

Players will be traveling through the realm of Valisthea in Final Fantasy 16 and will visit incredible and varied locales, but all roads will eventually lead back to Clive’s hideout. This is a base camp of sorts that will let Clive prepare for the challenges ahead in many different ways.

Alongside standard shops that will let you purchase weapons, armor, and consumables, there will also be a blacksmith that will allow you to upgrade your equipment. One of the more exciting spots for high score chasers will undoubtedly be the Arete Stone, which at first just seems like a training mode.

This stone will transport you to a virtual training stage that is “outside of time and space.” You can set a bunch of variables in this mode to test out new combat or abilities, including which enemies you want to fight, if you want regen on, and more. However, there will also be an arcade mode that will keep track of high scores for players around the world. This mode will allow players to show all others that their Clive would reign supreme.

Clive’s hideout will also be a place to begin side quests or complete others you have gained already. In a very convenient map function, you can check your existing sidequests and travel right to them. In addition to standard side quests, players will be able to get their Witcher on by taking Mob Hunts from a friendly Moogle and proceed to take on monsters with bounties on their heads.

If you find yourself tired of combat and need a change of pace, you can visit Loreseman Harpocrates to learn more about the history and customs of Valisthea. Visiting Harpocrates often will be a great thing for players to do as tales of your adventures will help him complete his Thousand Tomes, a book filled with all the knowledge he’s gathered in the realm. For an added bonus, leveling up the Thousand Tomes is done via old-school sprites and classic-style music from the series.

Vivian the Military Scholar is another person worth visiting often as she will keep up up-to-date with the state of the world and its history. Learn more about relationships between characters and events that have taken place in Valisthea. This looks like a great way to recap your adventure, especially if you need to take some time away from the game.

Final Fantasy 16 will be released exclusively for the PlayStation 5. For more, check out our hands-on impressions of Final Fantasy 16, how long it should take to complete the game, and our chat with the devs on comparisons between Game of Thrones, side quests, and representation.

Rocksteady has officially delayed Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League to February 2, 2024, quite a few months from its previous May 26, 2023 date.

The developer announced the news on Twitter today, writing in a statement, “We have made the tough but necessary decision to take the time needed to work on getting the game to be the best quality experience for players.”

“Thank you to our amazing community for the continued support, patience, and understanding,” the statement goes on. “There is much more to share in the months ahead and we look forward to seeing you in Metropolis next year.”

pic.twitter.com/iycWye9X42

— Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League (@suicidesquadRS) April 13, 2023

It’s only the most recent delay for Kill the Justice League, which was previously set for a 2022 release before being moved to Spring 2023.

Last month, Bloomberg reported that the game would be delayed following backlash after the February 2023 PlayStation State of Play. During that livestream, it was revealed that Kill the Justice League would be a live-service game with a battle pass and require an internet connection even in solo play, garnering controversy.

However, it’s unclear if this delay means Rocksteady be overhauling any of Kill the Justice League’s live-service elements. At the time of the Bloomberg article, reporter Jason Schreier noted that delays like these are usually for “polish” rather than to “overhaul the core gameplay.”

This latest delay means Kill the Justice League will come out nearly nine years after the most recent major Arkhamverse game, Arkham Knight. It will have players choose between one of four supervillains – Deadshot, Harley Quinn, King Shark, and Captain Boomerang – who are tasked with stopping Brainiac’s invasion of Metropolis.

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Joseph Staten just left Microsoft. Technically it didn’t really change anything when talking about the future of Halo compared to when he left Halo developer 343 Industries to return to his previous role at Xbox Publishing back in January. That came amidst the layoff-fueled shakeup at the studio that saw many senior leads leave either at that time or in the past year since Halo Infinite first shipped. And yet somehow, his complete severance from Microsoft feels a bit more somber for this longtime Halo fan, because it means that he’s unlikely to have much, if any, influence on the future of the franchise – which he still could’ve from his Xbox Publishing perch.

And so while it’s fair to wonder where Halo is heading from here – I’ll get to that in a bit – I wanted to take the opportunity to express my gratitude for someone that had a major hand in creating some of my favorite games of all time. Staten was a Bungie “Grizzled Ancient,” the studio’s internal term for someone who’d been at the company for a long, long time. This is the man who wrote the original Halo trilogy. You remember, the near-perfect first game – the one whose memorable campaign and characters single-handedly turned the Xbox into a major player in the console space – the smartly told and shocking sequel that had you playing as The Arbiter for part of the adventure, and the trilogy capper that gave Master Chief and friends closure and meaning while still leaving a glimmer of hope that Spartan-117 might one day return. “Wake me… when you need me.”

But Staten wasn’t done with Halo there. He followed that by directing Halo 3: ODST, the film noir-inspired Halo game that took you out of the MJOLNIR armor and into the boots of a regular-ol’ human. The Covenant bad guys (well, except the Grunts… who, by the way, were voiced by Staten) looked a lot bigger as a regular person than as a seven-foot-tall super soldier. And all of it was set in a pseudo-open hub world where you could go where you wanted to and revisit locations when you wanted or needed to. Everything was watched over by the mysterious Superintendent AI (“Keep it clean!”), which, coincidentally, was also voiced by Staten. And the mood was set by Halo composer Marty O’Donnell’s jazz-inspired, piano-heavy soundtrack that made ODST feel unlike any other Halo game. It is, to this day, still beloved by Halo fans and, for some, remains their favorite Halo game ever.

And then, of course, we get to Halo Infinite. Its six-year development cycle was messy, even just from what we got to see publicly. And after the gameplay debut for the Xbox Series X’s would-be day-one flagship launch title went infamously poorly, Microsoft took the bold and somewhat embarrassing but absolutely necessary step of delaying Infinite out of the Series X’s launch window and bringing Joseph Staten into 343 as the project’s creative director. Though I know there are fans out there who’d hold Joseph accountable for making tough decisions like cutting split-screen co-op and delaying Forge – and as creative director the buck stops with him – in the bigger picture, look at where Halo was at before Staten arrived (i.e. Craig) and look at the campaign we ultimately got in December of 2021. We got an outstanding single-player campaign – one that soft-rebooted Halo while still continuing Chief’s story. And one, I might add, that successfully washed the bad taste of Halo 5’s disastrous campaign out of our mouths. No, Staten didn’t do it alone, but he nevertheless deserves a lot of credit for pulling Halo Infinite together like he did.

And as I mentioned earlier, Halo’s future is nevertheless murky. It seems highly unlikely we’ll get any campaign content whatsoever – be it a side-story DLC with Blue Team (as they are mentioned in an audio log) or a full-blown “Halo 7” – anytime in the next several years or perhaps more. Another big question is, “Who is going to lead Halo into the future?” It won’t be Staten, whom I’d have trusted implicitly. Instead, it might be a younger generation of game development talent at 343 – similar to the young guns at id Software successfully reinventing Doom for the modern era in 2016 – or 343 might look to poach big-name talent from other studios.

But that’s a conversation for another day. For now, I’d like to express my appreciation and gratitude to Joseph Staten for having such a big hand in creating so much of the best Halo there’s ever been: Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo Infinite. That’s a lot for him to be proud of, and I’m so glad I got to play those games as they came out and enjoy the water-cooler conversation that each one generated – and talk to him about his great journey.

Enjoy your next adventure, Joseph, and thanks for all of the great Halo.