Although there are many incredible features in Final Fantasy 16, there’s one in particular players hope will make it into Final Fantasy XIV, the open-world Final Fantasy MMO, and that’s the Active Time Lore.
As Final Fantasy has such an extensive history, with immersive lore, and an abundance of characters, it can be hard to keep track of everything little detail, which is why Final Fantasy 16 implemented a feature called Active Time Lore, and fans have started an uproar today to get it added into Final Fantasy XIV.
Active Time Lore in FF16 showcases details about each character, history, events, places, and any other significant element mentioned in the cutscene. So, if you forget something like a character’s name or have no clue how certain people or places are connected, the Active Time Lore can be accessed directly from the cutscene. You can learn everything you need to understand what’s happening and return to the cinematics.
Square Enix did introduce the Codex to FFXIV, which offers similar features, but it’s not nearly as user-friendly and doesn’t cover many details outside of the Scions.
The Active Time Lore feature of FF16 is so helpful that fans have even suggested all RPGs, not just Final Fantasy games, could eventually implement this feature, especially for those with a rich, long-running history and lore.
Related: Final Fantasy 16’s Active Time Lore should become a gaming staple
However, there would be a few issues implementing a feature like this into FFXIV, including the sheer amount of lore and history that would need to be included in FFXIV’s ATL.
On top of that, there would also be the issue of players pausing the cutscenes to learn more about the lore while in a dungeon or group battle—which would be incredibly frustrating for every player in the raid or group.
So, while the Active Time Lore may be an incredible quality-of-life feature in FF16 because it’s a single-player game, it may not be as beneficial in Final Fantasy XIV or other MMOs, where your lore-reading could be seen as being toxic or disrespectful as you’re holding up other players or your dungeon group.
