Square Enix shows off Final Fantasy 16's big and beautiful world

Square Enix has released a new Final Fantasy 16 trailer focused on showing off its incredibly gorgeous looking landscapes and locales.

Final Fantasy 16 is obviously leaning more into its fantasy elements compared to the last few numbered entries, but that hasn't hurt how it's looking. Square Enix gave us a new look at the game yesterday (March 25) during its PAX East panel, offering a brief tour of some of the different locations we'll be visiting throughout our time spent with it. Personally, the reveal trailer didn't inspire confidence, but the way the world is looking has me eating my words.

Earlier this year, producer Naoki Yoshida noted that Final Fantasy 16 won't be an open world game, though also made the point that it won't be exactly linear either. This feels a lot more evident with this latest trailer, showing off some pretty big, open spaces that look like they should have some opportunities to explore.

Open world or not, it'll definitely be quite the big game to get through too. The game's director Hiroshi Takai and Yoshida recently shared in an interview that the game will take about 35 hours long to play through, a significant amount of time to have to get through, and if you want to fully complete the game it'll set you back 70-80 hours of your time. There'll be plenty of story too, because roughly 11 hours of that is cinematics alone.

Despite some fans wanting the series to go back to its turn-based roots, Final Fantasy 16 has stuck with its action combat to appeal to a younger crowd. Turn-based games just aren't as popular anymore, and with the inspirations from the recent God of War games, it's no surprise that Square Enix is looking to bring in more players.

Final Fantasy 16 is out June 22, on PS5.