The latest blitz of Final Fantasy XVI information comes to us today after the conclusion of an international media tour in which producer Naoki Yoshida, director Hiroshi Takai, battle director Ryota Suzuki, and English translation director Michael Christopher Koji Fox shared more of the game with press and influencers.

In the new footage, captured by Gematsu, we see our protagonist Clive Rosfield climb through the Royal Army Waloeder Keep in search of the Eikon of Fire presumed to be imprisoned there — the same individual Clive believes murdered his brother Joshua. He is joined by Torgal the dog and Cidolfus Telamon, a Dominant who can become the Eikon Ramuh. As they ascend the tower battling enemies along the way, they are confronted by Benedikta Harman, who can become the Eikon Garuda. While tracking down the Eikon of Fire, Clive and Benedikta eventually square off against each other, invoking their eikonic powers.

Battles will generally take place in two major different types. The first is Clive fighting regular enemies, using his various abilities bestowed by Eikons; Clive will also encounter special enemies or Dominants themselves as we see below — these sequences often include flashy sequences that may include quick time events to evade and counter.

The game features a high fantasy setting, one that hasn’t been seen in a mainline entry in a long time, at which Yoshida shares they wanted to create “Something that was complex and interwoven, that touched upon politics, justice, and values that would be appealing not only to younger fans stepping out into the world, but also older fans who’ve experienced a lot themselves.” [via TheGamer] The title Yoshida implies is Final Fantasy Tactics, in which several team members from that game now work in Creative Business Unit 3 on Final Fantasy XIV and so on.

While the game isn’t open-world in design, there will be a central hub Clive will visit and revisit, from which he can explore larger zones in the game. “We wanted to take full advantage of the PlayStation 5’s power to create a massively detailed world that was only possible in a video game.”[via VG247]

Final Fantasy XIV has a darker, more serious tone to the story, but not without lighter moments. However, don’t expect Clive to be playing blitzball or going fishing in between story beats. “Once Clive meets up with Cid and is able to join that organization [the Hideaway], then you have this kind of hub from where all this side content that’s separate from the main story starts. And so we have things like quests where you can learn about the people in the Hideaway, or quests where you can learn about the people in the world… quests where you can help upgrade Clive, like earning more inventory slots and things like that. There are other type of activities as well, such as the Hunt Board, where you will see the billets. It’ll talk about a notorious monster roaming the land, and your task is to try to find and defeat this monster for fame.” [via Gematsu]

The game features fast-paced real-time action combat, but for players who are less familiar with these games, there are special accessories that Clive can equip to assist in various areas. One ring with allow you to temporarily slow time before an incoming attack, giving you more time to react. Another will allow Torgal to use battle commands independently of Clive’s commands, and others will let you perform complex combos with one button, dodge most incoming attacks, and automatically use potions at a certain threshold. However, for those adept at action games, there will be a New Game+ mode called “Final Fantasy” that will provide further challenge by increasing the strength of enemies and where they are placed through the game — and some battles will be completely different. [via PlayStation Blog]

While today’s infodump is largely based on showing the combat during it’s various forms, we’ll be getting more information about the game in April, including more about a hub you can explore, shops, sidequests and even a Hunt system evocative of the iterations found in FFXII and FFXIV.

Additionally, a demo will be out two weeks before launch and is set five hours into the story, in which you’ll be able to carry over your save data to the retail version.

Final Fantasy XVI will release on June 22, 2023 for PlayStation 5.