How the Classic Classes Seem to Be Manifesting in Final Fantasy 16

Square Enix’s upcomingFinal Fantasy 16is well on its way, with many suspecting that its release date will be revealed very soon. The game has doubled down on the company’s modern action-RPG approach even more so than pastFinal Fantasy’s and looks to bring a fresh experience to longtime fans. It will be interesting to see howFinal Fantasy 16’s medieval world of Valisthea adapts the many icons of the franchise.

One major change that’s coming toFF16is how it handles the series’ jobs. Because the player will just be controlling Clive Rosfield like they didFinal Fantasy 15’s Noctis at its launch, they will have a lot of customization and versatility at their fingertips. Clive can switch between different move sets that draw power from various Eikons, which take the form ofFinal Fantasy’s signature summons. This is similar to switching jobs or classes in classicFinal Fantasy, although there are some notable exclusions like Summoner due to the obvious redundancy. Every Eikon and Dominant duo tends to be based around a classicFinal Fantasyjob, and some are more apparent than others.

clive in front of a city

RELATED:Final Fantasy 16 is the Perfect Chance to Bring Back Abandoned Feature

Fighter

Being the classic fantasy hero, protagonist Clive Rosfield instantly calls to mind the basic Fighter dating all the way back toFinal Fantasy 1. As Clive is not the Dominant of Phoenix and thus not the traditional heir to the Archduke’s throne, he has instead decided to serve his Dominant brother as the greatest champion in the Grand Duchy of Rosaria. Fan speculation is thatClive awakens as the Dominant of Ifrit, whose brute strength also lends itself well to the basic Fighter template. It’s standard action game fare, but Clive’s class will become considerably more flexible once other Eikons start granting him their strength.

White Mage and Red Mage

Meanwhile, Clive’s brother Joshua Rosfield lacks any such combat training. Instead, as the Dominant of the Eikon Phoenix, Joshua appears to have traditional White Mage curative abilities, andthe choice to bestow Phoenix’s blessing. Combined with Joshua’s red and white robes, it seems like these comparisons might have been intentional. While Joshua may not take to the field in fights, players can still benefit from Phoenix’s swift abilities in battle. Under Clive’s control, Phoenix’s fiery blessing comes off more like the abilities of a Red Mage, combining offensive Fire magic with supportive movement skills, as well as Clive’s usual fleet-footed swordplay. Whether Phoenix will show much of its White Magic roots in-game remains to be seen.

RELATED:Final Fantasy 16 New Game+ Mode Explained

Black Mage

Of course, the original mage trio can’t be complete without the Black Mage.Final Fantasy 16makes a specific Black Mage reference tough to nail down, as each Eikon is associated with a single magical element. Some early footage has shown that Clive is able to use Thunder magic while channeling Shiva’s power, so the duty appears to fall to the player for creating a mixed Black Mage. In terms of character association, the ice-based Shivaand thunder-inclined Ramuhare the two most likely suspects, although Ramuh’s Dominant may prove to be more akin toFinal Fantasy 3’s Sage.

Monk

ComplementingFinal Fantasy 1’s trio of mages is a trio of melee classes, and one of the more popular ones is the barefisted Monk. This class is easy to pick out amongFinal Fantasy 16’s cast, as the stone-infused Hugo Kupka and his Eikon Titan use similar iconography. Hugo himself bears some resemblance to theFinal Fantasy 4Monk Yang, which may be deliberate. Even if Hugo and Titan aren’t as swift asmost famousFinal Fantasymartial artists, they’ll be able to hit just as hard.

Thief

That leaves the last basic job fromFinal Fantasy 1, the humble Thief. Right now, there is no one character that perfectly conforms to this role, but the revealed cast may have a hidden candidate. Benedikta Harman channels the wind-based Garuda, but that’s not where she most resembles a rogue. Rather, it’s her job as a spy and intelligencer for the Kingdom of Waloed that seems like a modernization of the old Thief archetype. This may seem like a stretch, but with howstrong most ofFinal Fantasy 16’s main charactersare, the usual sneaking and pick-pocketing of a Thief doesn’t feel appropriate here.

Dragoon

The last two classicFinal Fantasyjobs evident inFinal Fantasy 16right now have both been acknowledged by developers as deliberate visions for certain characters. The Dragoon class, first introduced inFinal Fantasy 2, is being used by the appropriately draconic Bahamut Dominant, Dion Lesage. Dion leads a squadron of Dragoons who appear to fight just like the high-flying class normally does. As the heir to the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, which itself uses draconic imagery, it only makes sensefor Dion to be the game’s archetypical Dragoon. Whether this will coincide with the air of tragedy that follows many ofFinal Fantasy’s Dragoons will be revealed in time.

Dark Knight

The final job evident in the revealed cast is Dark Knight, anotherFinal Fantasy 2job thatbelongs to Waloed king Barnabas Tharmr. Barnabas is a mysterious individual who rules through strength and is empowered by the mighty blade of Odin. HUD analysis has revealed that Odin’s element is considered Dark inFinal Fantasy 16, further hammering this point in. However, as obviously inspired by Dark Knights as Barnabas and Odin are, there is one other who could lay claim to the class. Clive himself, when paired with the Hellfire-based Ifrit, perfectly conforms to Dark Knight’s image of a dark avenger ruthlessly pursuing their quarry to settle an old grudge. The fact that adult Clive and Barnabas look similar is just the cherry on top. Their meeting inFinal Fantasy 16will likely be an explosive one, and fans won’t want to miss it.