Throughout its history, theFinal Fantasyfranchise has been home to some truly noteworthy romances like Tidus and Yuna or Cloud and Aerith, and it seems there will be some love and romance in the story ofFinal Fantasy 16too.Final Fantasy 16is a dark story about revenge, which may make this surprising, but the developers are not afraid of using the theme of love too.
Benedikta has previously been introduced inFinal Fantasy 16as an intelligencer from Waloed and as theDominant of the Eikon, Garuda. She apparently serves as a boss fight, in human form and in Eikon form, for Clive, as played by some media in recent previews. It has also previously introduced Cidolfus “Cid” Telamon, who is the Dominant of the Eikon Ramuh and apparently has some history with Benedikta.
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During a recent interview with Inverse, Director Hiroshi Takai and Producer Naoki Yoshida (better known as Yoshi-P) commented on love as a main theme throughout the game. Love is reportedly explored in many ways, with Yoshi-P citing “things as harsh as using love as a weapon or the true love between two people. Brotherly love, love of a family, love of a nation.”
But it is Takai’s comment that reveals there was, at least once, some romance betweenFinal Fantasy 16’s version of Cidand Benedikta. In short, Takai calls their romance “complex” and adds that there are plenty of situations where there is some type of romance or love in the story and cutscenes.
…You got to see a little bit of interaction between Cid and Benedikta. But there’s a section that we skipped over where we learn about what happened between them in the past. Their love is a very complex situation. We can’t tell too much without spoilers… but yeah.
It remains to be seen if Clive embraces love and romance at some point in the story, given thatFinal Fantasy 16covers three major eras of his life. Fans have already seen suggestions of “brotherly love” between him and Joshua, but whether there is more as Clive walks this dark path remains to be seen. Love is often a driving force to bring someone back, so it’s possible.
Of course, all of this remains to be seen, but everything shown so far forFinal Fantasy 16is no doubt exciting. It remains to be seen if it lives up to the hype before launch, but fans only have to wait a few more months to find out.
Final Fantasy 16will be released on July 28, 2025, for PS5.
