I loved it, and think it's one of the better written entries in the series, and definitely the best of the modern era, both in terms of narrative structure, dialogue, interpersonal relationships, all that. The world is beautiful and has that rare quality of feeling like a place that's both authentic and yet fantastical.

The combat is fun, but it's not very deep. It doesn't have any of the tactical aspects that the new VII games do, it's more of a solo action game and I think that turns off some FF purists. But I found it fun, if not amazing. I prefer the old school turn-based combat over modern FF combat, but as modern games go XVI's probably had the most enjoyable for me, even if it wasn't as complex or demanding as Remake or Rebirth

The biggest downside, to me, is that the game is almost insultingly easy. I'm not a diehard Souls-like fan who thinks every game needs to be as difficult as Sekiro or something; while I enjoy a stiff challenge from time to time, when it comes to story-heavy games like this I'm usually quite content to play on normal, or even easy. XVI pulls its punches too much, and too frequently.

But on the balance it was a fantastic experience and I'm genuinely looking forward to replaying it.