Final Fantasy XVI is, in many ways, a simple game. The gameplay is relatively straightforward, pivoting the series even further into the action genre, and its sidequests are as basic as basic can be. The exception is its plot, which can be slightly complex to keep up with at times because of its various different nations, alliances, side characters, and unique terminology. Fortunately, the Final Fantasy XVI developers gives players a tool to help keep track of it all: the Active Time Lore (ATL) system.
Homaging the series’s Active Time Battle system, Active Time Lore is somewhat similar in concept. At any moment, by holding the touchpad on the DualSense controller, a menu will pop up that has anywhere between two and six different bios on all of the major characters / terms / locations present in the cutscenes or on the mission you’re currently undertaking. The bios aren’t that long, usually lasting anywhere between a couple of sentences to a paragraph, but it brings you up to speed on what you need to know at that particular moment. Once it was introduced to me, I knew one thing — I need Active Time Lore in every RPG moving forward.
Generally speaking, RPGs can be incredibly long and arduous experiences. If you are a storyteller, if you want to tell a captivating story that spans dozens of hours, it can be difficult to keep track of all of the information the player needs to understand what’s happening in the moment. Major dramatic reveals may be spoiled or ruined simply because a player forgot what’s happening in the plot or who a pivotal character is supposed to be allied with. Lord knows that there have been RPGs where that’s happened to me, like with the excellent Odin Sphere Leifthrasir. It’s one of my favorite games, but due to its structure, some major story beats were lost on me on my first playthrough because I forgot what was happening thanks to its multiple characters and unique story structure.
To an extent, that may have been my fault. There have definitely been times when I’ve checked my phone and sent out a message during what I thought was a minor cutscene but turned out to contain a key plot point. But then there are times in RPGs when forgetting information isn’t my fault. If an RPG takes dozens upon dozens of hours to play through, it could take a player weeks to finish it. When I first played Persona 5 back in 2017, it took me a solid month to go through the game, and I forgot some moments from earlier in the game that would have been important as you approach the endgame. I had to think back to weeks ago just to try to hopelessly recall information that the game didn’t present all too well. Not everybody can dedicate their entire lives to playing a video game nonstop. People have other responsibilities, and games should be cognizant of that fact.
That’s one of the beautiful things about the ATL system. It respects the player’s time. If you didn’t play Final Fantasy XVI for a couple of days, when you come back to it, you won’t be left out in the cold with no idea what’s happening. Accessing the system will get you right back up to speed and understand what’s important to know at that exact moment. It doesn’t overwhelm you with a ton of information that isn’t immediately necessary. And by the end of the mission or cutscene, if you’re still lost, the system can be accessed at any time something important happens that will help you remember.
It’s not a flawless system, mind you. One could argue that the fact that a player would need to consult what is ostensibly an in-game encyclopedia in the first place is poor storytelling. It also grinds the gameplay and cutscenes to a halt as the player peruses the Active Time Lore system, potentially killing any dramatic moment the game was building up to. And then there’s the fact that if the story is so complex that even the developers needed a system for them to follow what’s going on, the ATL system is a Band-Aid to a larger problem. All of these are valid criticisms of the system and the game’s plot, but the presence of the ATL system has more benefits than not.
However, at the end of the day, the system is optional and does not need to be engaged with at all. It’s just a tool to assist players and bring them up to speed. Not everyone is going to remember a random side character in the tutorial who shows up 15 hours later and has importance to Clive’s journey. It’s not cumbersome either, being hidden in menu after menu like in Final Fantasy XIII.
While I don’t have issues with how it’s implemented in Final Fantasy XVI, ATL can be refined to go beyond just random character or location bios. I’m thinking about it being put into a game like Mass Effect where we can be reminded of the major decisions that we made previously and how other characters reacted to our decisions. It could be as simple as a little box in the corner that shows our actions and a checkmark or an X showing who approved or disapproved of it. While XVI has a very linear narrative, if there was more variation in how the various kingdoms expanded and retracted, the ATL system could show that off as well, though that could probably benefit something with more of an MMO structure than a story-driven RPG.
Active Time Lore may even show some of the relationships between each of the characters present inside the cutscene. For example, in the tutorial, we see Clive, Joshua, and their father all present. The ATL system could be expanded to show simple arrows displaying the relationship between characters. (Although, something like this is notably offered in-game eventually, at your main base.) We could see what Clive thinks of Joshua and his father or vice versa, and it would do a lot to remind players quickly and easily how they perceive each other instead of reading it. You could even click the left or right stick in and have a brief triangle pop up in the corner that keeps the cutscene going but enlightens players on their relationships quickly and easily.
While there are improvements to be made, that isn’t to say the Active Time Lore system is bad. It’s a great addition for players to help them follow along with the plot and keep engaged with what’s going on over the 30ish hours players will spend in Valisthea. The criticisms against it are valid, but its optional status and convenience outweigh the criticisms that could be thrown against it. I encourage Square Enix and other companies to implement this system in their games. Not every gamer will dedicate their life to playing the latest release, and making it easier to follow along with the plot will only help keep more gamers engaged and increase the odds of their reaching the credits more.
