Final Fantasy XVI – Should You Play Story Focused or Action Focused?

The highly anticipated Final Fantasy XVI is finally out this week and fans are given a few options at the beginning of the game regarding accessibility and difficulty tweaking. While the game doesn’t feature traditional “Easy/Normal/Hard” difficulty options, it does offer players a choice between playing Story Focused or Action Focused. Here’s a brief explanation for each mode and what it accomplishes.

First and foremost, the Story Focused setting in Final Fantasy XVI automatically equips you with a handful of “Timely Accessories” that offer various streamlined approaches to combat. These accessories, geared towards making the game more accessible, makes combat easier in the long run if you simply want to enjoy the story without worrying about the action becoming too heavy. The downside to this is the accessories, when equipped, may take up valuable inventory slots which are already limited to begin with.

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Here’s the list of Timely Accessories that come with Story Focused mode in Final Fantasy XVI:

• The Ring of Timely Strikes allows you to string complex combos together easily just by pressing Square.
• The Ring of Timely Evasion makes it so you automatically dodge incoming attacks – this makes it impossible to trigger counter attacks, though.
• The Ring of Timely Assistance controls Torgal for you.
• The Ring of Timely Focus slows time down when you’re about to be hit, giving you time to evade or counter.

If you opt for Action Focused mode, the Timely Accessories are included in your inventory but aren’t automatically equipped when you start the game. You’ll still have the option to do so at any point during the game if you feel like combat is becoming a bit overwhelming, though this setting is mainly for those who are experienced with action games and want a fair bit of challenge during battles since you have to manually input dodges, counters and combos.

In the end, the decision is entirely up to you. Story Focused mode does come with the perks of being able to focus on the story while making combat a far more accessible and easier time, while Action Focused mode presents more challenging combat.

Final Fantasy XVI is now available on PS5.