Final Fantasy XIII vs Final Fantasy XVI
Final Fantasy XIII is an action-RPG JRPG game from Square Enix (2009) while Final Fantasy XVI is an action-RPG JRPG game from Square Enix (2023).
Quick answer: Final Fantasy XIII rates higher, 6.7 to 6.6 on the GamingPickz Score, and Final Fantasy XIII is the cheaper at $15.99.
What each one is
Final Fantasy XIII is filed under Action-RPG and JRPG. In contrast, Final Fantasy XVI under Action-RPG and JRPG.
Final Fantasy XIII is a fantasy RPG in which a band of brave humans struggle against fate in the utopian sky city of Cocoon and the primeval world of Pulse. Follow stylish heroine Lightning's fast paced battles and high adventure in a mysterious new world.
An epic dark fantasy where fates are decided by mighty Eikons and the Dominants who wield them. This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a tragic warrior who swears revenge on the Dark Eikon Ifrit, a mysterious entity that leaves naught but calamity in its wake.
Story, characters and reception
Plot
Setting Final Fantasy XIII is set on the futuristic world of Gran Pulse (often simply called Pulse). Central to the story is Cocoon, a massive artificial sphere that floats above Pulse's surface and is ruled by the Sanctum, a theocratic government. The two worlds are controlled by fal'Cie / f æ l ˈ s iː / , mechanical beings with godlike power. (Wikipedia)
Characters
Main article: Characters of the Final Fantasy XIII series The six main playable characters of Final Fantasy XIII are Lightning ( Ali Hillis / Maaya Sakamoto ), the main protagonist of the game, a former soldier and older sister to Serah; Snow Villiers ( Troy Baker / Daisuke Ono ), Serah's fiancé and leader of NORA, a paramilitary group; Oerba Dia Vanille (Georgia van Cuylenburg/ Yukari Fukui ), the game's narrator and an exile who is later revealed to be a… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Final Fantasy XIII received generally positive reviews. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 83/100 based on 83 reviews, the Xbox 360 version 82/100 based on 54 reviews, and the Windows version 65/100 based on 6 reviews. It was rated 39 out of 40 by the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu . (Wikipedia)
Plot
Setting Final Fantasy XVI is set in the fictional world of Valisthea. Scattered throughout the two continents of Ash and Storm are colossal magical crystals, known as the Mothercrystals, which provide aether energy to the various populations and drive civilization with shards mined for commercial use. There are also humans that can use magic without crystals known as Bearers who are subject to prejudice and slavery, their overuse causing them to… (Wikipedia)
Characters
Main article: Characters of Final Fantasy XVI The game's protagonist is Clive Rosfield, firstborn son of Rosaria's ruling family who is passed over as successor when his younger brother Joshua becomes the Dominant of Phoenix; Clive can acquire and wield the power of multiple Eikons. A future companion of Clive's is his childhood friend Jill Warrick, the eventual Dominant of Shiva who spends much of her life as a political hostage. During his travels… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Critical reception Final Fantasy XVI received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic . According to OpenCritic , 91% of 205 critics recommend the game. Regarding the story, Michael Higham of GameSpot praised the writing for its handling of darker themes and found the cast enjoyable, and IGN s Mitchell Saltzman was highly positive about the story and characters, and lauded the lead… (Wikipedia)
At a glance
| Final Fantasy XIII | Final Fantasy XVI | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 6.7/10 | 6.6/10 |
| Steam rating | Mostly Positive (75%, 19,914) | Mostly Positive (78%, 33,368) |
| Critic aggregate | No aggregate | No aggregate |
| Price | $15.99 | $49.99 |
| Install size | 60 GB | 170 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | unsupported |
| Released | 2009 | 2023 |
| Developer | Square Enix | Square Enix |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Final Fantasy XIII vs Final Fantasy XVI, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Final Fantasy XIIIAction-RPG JRPG gameFinal Fantasy XVIAction-RPG JRPG gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Final Fantasy XIIIJRPG, RPG, Female ProtagonistFinal Fantasy XVIAction RPG, Spectacle fighter, Story RichThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Final Fantasy XIII ✓Score 6.7 · 75% on SteamFinal Fantasy XVIScore 6.6 · 78% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Final Fantasy XIII19,914 reviews · 3 add-ons · 60 GBFinal Fantasy XVI33,368 reviews · 5 add-ons · 170 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Final Fantasy XIII ✓$15.99Final Fantasy XVI$49.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Final Fantasy XIII ✓PlayableFinal Fantasy XVIUnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Final Fantasy XIII takes 3 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueFinal Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XVI on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Mobile
- PlayStation
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Final Fantasy XIII (GamingPickz Score 6.7)
- The cheaper right now: Final Fantasy XIII ($15.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: Final Fantasy XIII (playable)
- Lighter on storage: Final Fantasy XIII (60 GB)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
JRPGRPGGreat SoundtrackSingleplayerFantasyStory RichCinematicAction
Where they differ
Female ProtagonistLinearAdventureSci-fiTurn-Based CombatFuturistic
Spectacle fighterDark Fantasy3DMagicEmotionalDrama
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Final Fantasy XIII is demanding, for players who want a challenge. Final Fantasy XVI is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Final Fantasy XIII | Final Fantasy XVI | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | NVIDIA® Geforce® 8 Series/ ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 series | AMD Radeon™ RX 5700 / Intel® Arc™ A580 / NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070 |
| Minimum CPU | 2GHz Dual Core CPU | AMD Ryzen™ 5 1600 / Intel® Core™ i5-8400 |
| Minimum RAM | 1 GB | 16 GB |
| Install size | 60 GB | 170 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Final Fantasy XIII · Final Fantasy XVI.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 5 accessibility features for Final Fantasy XIII and 7 for Final Fantasy XVI. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XVI in scope?
Final Fantasy XIII has drawn 19,914 Steam reviews, ships 3 add-ons and installs in 60 GB. Final Fantasy XVI has drawn 33,368 Steam reviews, ships 5 add-ons and installs in 170 GB.
Is Final Fantasy XIII or Final Fantasy XVI better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Final Fantasy XIII rates higher (6.7 to 6.6). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Final Fantasy XIII or Final Fantasy XVI?
Final Fantasy XIII is cheaper right now at $15.99, against $49.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Should I get Final Fantasy XIII or Final Fantasy XVI?
Final Fantasy XIII rates higher, 6.7 to 6.6 on the GamingPickz Score, and Final Fantasy XIII is the cheaper at $15.99. It also depends on what you want: the "which to pick" section above calls out which is cheaper, lighter on storage, better on a Steam Deck and the safer bet by weight of reviews.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
All comparisonsHow we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.