Final Fantasy XVI has a demo, and it's out now on PlayStation 5

Variable staff

Jun 12

Final Fantasy XVI releases in just ten days, but for those who can't wait any longer, Square Enix just released a demo for the game on PlayStation 5.

Not only will the demo allow players to try the game ten days before its June 22, 2023 launch date, but any progress they make in it will also carry over to the main game.

Naoki Yoshida, the game's producer, announced the demo at a Final Fantasy XVI celebration event. He gave some details about the demo, including the fact that it takes place during the game's prologue, where protagonist Clive Rosefield is still young. As a result, the prologue will feature many cut scenes and Clive will not yet be at full strength.

To give players a better taste of the game a second battle demo will unlock once players have completed the first. This will allow the demo to better show off the game's new real-time combat system, giving the players more powers and abilities to play with. Unlike the prologue, however, players will not be able to carry their progress from the battle demo over to the main game.

Final Fantasy games are no stranger to demos. The most recent releases, Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII: Remake, all featured demos for players to try out. Allowing players to keep their progress from the, however, is something new. The closest the company has done to this before is to give special in-game items and abilities to players who've played the demos.

That said, this move could give players more incentive to try the game, especially with its divisive changes to the Final Fantasy formula. These include its shift to a real-time combat system closer to that seen in character action games like Devil May Cry. (Read: Final Fantasy XVI producer says it's the "first true action-RPG entry in the series")

Whether this demo will convince the doubters, we'll find out when Final Fantasy XVI launches on PlayStation 5 on June 22, 2023.

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