A good handful of hours into Final Fantasy XVI now and I'm really digging it. It's kinda refreshing having a dark, violent, medieval setting for Final Fantasy, though it does have just enough of the FF flair with chocobo, moogles, magic, and the big Eikons. Those fights are so cool and exciting. Gameplay is solid, similar to Kingdom hearts, but way less floaty, but not fully on super combo crazy deep like a Devil May Cry. Does kinda of a nice inbetween. I feel like I'm almost slapping buttons on an arcade stick for a fighter or something with how I'm working out the combat rhythm at times and it's very satisfying getting multiple quality dodges in. Story is very solid as the settings and character lend themselves to a very grounded story (as much as one can with giant magic beasts in it), that I could see as like a live action story like Game of Thrones.
I will admit to missing some of that Final Fantasy goofyness, some of that out there style, so I feel like by the end of this, I'll want to see them kinda shift back in that direction abit more in the next main game, but would like to keep it more classic sword/magic fantasy like the series was before FF7, or like 9 and 12. Mix in abit of tech with the fantasy and have some more out there characters.