Final Fantasy 16 doesn’t release until tomorrow, but that isn’t stopping the dedicated fan fic writers of the series from getting to work.
As spotted by series fan Audrey on Twitter, one website alone already has 66 works on offer – it was 57 when Audrey noticed, though the number has increased to 66 at the time of writing.
Each fan builds upon what’s been shown throughout the demo or marketing in their own way, be it through imagining new characters or imaging new stories for existing ones. Quickly scanning the tags shows that the gruff protagonist Clive and Odin’s equally gruff dominant – steady now – Barnabas are popular, as are Jill and Dion Lesage.
I’ve also seen the “shameless smut” tag more than I’d like, though not more than I expected. Alongside the popularity of fan fiction both in Final Fantasy and more generally, we all knew what we were in for when Clive awkwardly called Jill “milady” in that one trailer. Fans sprung to life on social media, and that spirit has endured as we near launch.
That’s not all that has fans excited, though. Final Fantasy 16 recently got its long-promised demo, and hype has been through the roof since. It’s got people showing their support through their wallets, too, as Final Fantasy 16 pre-order sales have spiked through the roof.
Word to the wise though, that several Final Fantasy 16 copies have leaked early, so you might want to be cautious on social media so that you don’t come across any spoilers.
Meanwhile, Square Enix has promised to fix the Final Fantasy 16 demo performance issues that some faced in a day-one patch.