Final Fantasy XVI is here exclusively on PlayStation 5, and the action-RPG marks a new approach to a mainline entry for the long-running franchise. Historically, Final Fantasy games are quite long in runtime as they’re narratively driven and typically feature tons of optional content. FFXVI follows suit, but with this one leaning heavily towards action gameplay and a somewhat linear structure, so it can be a shorter endeavor depending on your approach. Whether you mainline the story quests, dabble in sidequests, or take part in the various forms of optional content, here’s how long FFXVI will take to finish.
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If you strictly follow the main quests of FFXVI, the ones marked with a red quest icon, you can get through the game in roughly 30 hours. It’s a cinematic experience with low-key quest objectives interspersed with action-heavy dungeons, boss fights, and Eikon battles, so the game takes time to deliver those elements.
However, sidequests are relatively important to the Final Fantasy experience and FFXVI has plenty of these between the major story beats. Within your homebase called The Hideaway and in the various open regions throughout the game, green quest markers will pop up signifying a sidequest. Those with plus signs in the marker indicate sidequests that unlock new gameplay features, such as unlocking the Chocobo mount. If you do all the sidequests and the main story, finishing FFXVI would take somewhere between 45 to 50 hours.
Then there’s the Hunt Board, which is a bounty list of optional bosses that you have to find in the open hub areas in the game. Sometimes these targets are tied to sidequests, but most of them are simply there to offer a combat challenge, chunks of XP, and materials necessary for crafting better gear. If you include taking down all the Hunt Board targets as I did for my review, you can tack on a few extra hours for a total of about 50 to 55 hours.
There are also combat-only challenges such as the Arcade Mode, which are graded runs of main story dungeons, and the Chronolith battles, which are wave-based fights that challenge you using specific Eikons. Depending on your skill level and desire to get high scores, these can tack upwards of a dozen extra hours. There’s even a New Game+ mode as well that takes you back through the main story with tougher, higher-level enemies, extra fights, and new combat mechanics, which would add another few dozens hours as well. If you want to experience every single feature FFXVI has to offer, you could approximately finish everything after upwards of 80 hours of playtime.
For more on this new entry in the longtime RPG franchise, check out our Final Fantasy XVI review. And if you’re looking for a lore guide or primer to get you up to speed on the complex web of politics in Valisthea, check out our FFXVI lore explained video.
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