Final Fantasy 16: Which Characters Can Players Control?

Final Fantasy XVI throws you into a massive conflict where you’ll be traversing the world of Valisthea and carefully navigating the complex political conflict of the nations within it. The leading character players will be controlling is Clive, but in previous Final Fantasy games, side characters always join the primary protagonist.

With some additional gameplay shown by the development team, we’ve confirmed that Final Fantasy XVI will have several party members fighting alongside Clive. However, will you be able to control them? Here’s what you need to know about what characters you can play in Final Fantasy XVI.

Related: Final Fantasy 16 Complete Game Guide – Stats, Quests, Characters & Eikons

Can you play other characters in Final Fantasy XVI?

It has been confirmed that you can only play the main character, Clive. Like the previous games in the Final Fantasy series, several companion characters will join Clive during his adventure, but they will act independently of the main character. You cannot directly control them like you can in other RPGs.

Previous Final Fantasy games have had a mixture of controlling and not controlling party members. Final Fantasy XVI leans further into giving players limited control of the characters they’re using. Every companion character is controlled by an AI, which will adapt and change to the tactics of the main character.

Hopefully, these remain helpful assets throughout the campaign, and they should respond to your playstyle while engaging the enemy. This is how it worked in Final Fantasy XV. However, players could choose what type of attacks and powers the companions used. Based on the gameplay shown from the PlayStation State of Play for Final Fantasy XVI, it doesn’t seem to be the case, and those are entirely independent of player control. The only control players appear to have over companions is Torgal, Clive’s faithful companion.

The Square Enix team behind Final Fantasy XVI seems to be going about this to ensure players have a linear focus on the main character, making it far easier to highlight the strategic battles and cinematic combat.