7 Monsters We Need To See In Future Updates & DLC
When it comes to iconic monster designs in video games, the Final Fantasy series is definitely up there with the best. From demons and ghosts to all sorts of other entities, the franchise has introduced hundreds of memorable creatures across its many mainline and spin-off games, including the latest release, Final Fantasy 16. Depending on which game players grew up with, they’ll have their own set of iconic monsters that they remember vividly.
While Final Fantasy 16 has its fair share of monsters, there are some that don’t appear in the game that fans would love to see added in future content updates, events, or DLC. Here are some of those monsters:
1. Cactuar – This spiky creature has appeared in almost every Final Fantasy game since its debut in Final Fantasy VI. While Final Fantasy 16 has a darker tone than most other games in the franchise, that doesn’t mean silly monsters like Cactuar are off the table. It would be interesting to see how an action-RPG like Final Fantasy 16 handles a Cactuar fight, especially considering they specialize in evasion and defense.
2. Tonberry – These adorable yet deadly psychopaths are one of the most iconic enemies in gaming history. They’ve appeared in several earlier Final Fantasy games and are known for their ability to instantly KO party members with their attacks. It would be interesting to see how Final Fantasy 16 handles the Tonberry and its multiple OHKO attacks in a more character-action-esque combat system.
3. Sin Eaters – These mimic-like creatures from Final Fantasy 14 would be difficult to write into Final Fantasy 16 due to their heavily tied backstory. However, the game already has concepts similar to a surplus of light or dark energy, so there’s potential for a similar creature to make an appearance.
4. Catoblepas – These gigantic, unique-looking creatures were only introduced in Final Fantasy 15 but would make for a fun fight in Final Fantasy 16’s combat engine. Their long necks and stomp attacks would work well as attacks in the game.
5. Magic Pots – These creatures have been a staple of Final Fantasy games since Final Fantasy V and are known for granting players job exp, level exp, or rare items. They would be a perfect enemy to introduce in Final Fantasy 16 to help players gain Ability Points faster.
6. Ultros & Typhon – While Ultros is usually a relatively easy enemy to defeat, he’s beloved by fans for his awful corny jokes and perverted comments towards female party members. His inclusion in Final Fantasy 16’s bounty hunts would provide some comedic relief.
7. Mindflayer – These eldritch horrors have been around since the early days of Dungeons and Dragons and have been depicted as terrifying creatures in Final Fantasy games. Their inclusion in Final Fantasy 16 would provide a challenge for players.
Overall, Final Fantasy 16 has a great selection of monsters, but there’s always room for more. These seven monsters would make for great additions to the game’s roster and provide players with even more exciting battles to look forward to.
As far as memorable or iconic monster designs go in gaming, the Final Fantasy series has to be among some of the best out there. Across all of the many mainline and spin-off Final Fantasy games, which now includes Final Fantasy 16there have been hundreds of monsters, demons, ghosts, and all sorts of other ‘entities’ introduced.
And, depending on what FF game a player grew up with, the monsters they’ll find the most iconic or memorable vary pretty heavily. So, let’s go over some of the monsters that don’t appear in the newest release, Final Fantasy 16in the hopes that they’ll eventually be added in a future content update, event, or DLC.
Slight Final Fantasy 16 spoilers ahead as to what enemies do not show up at any point in the game.
7 cactuar
Let’s start things off with the one that just about every Final Fantasy fan reading this was already thinking of, the Cactuar. Cactuar have appeared in almost every single FF release since their original debut in Final Fantasy VIso it would only be following precedent for them to show up in FF16. While Clive’s Game of Throne-esque world and story is a lot darker than a lot of other Final Fantasy games, that doesn’t mean the sillier monsters are off the table.
For example, Chocobo can be seen everywhere in Final Fantasy 16 (even if they’re not ‘that’ silly) and there’s even a Moogle hanging out in Cid’s Hideaway as well named Nektar the Bold. It would be interesting to see how an ARPG approach to a FF game handles a Cactuar fight considering they specialize in evasion and defense, and it would be even more interesting if the Gigantaur made an appearance as well to absolutely destroy Clive with the iconic ‘1000 Needles’ attack.
6 Tonberry
These adorable little slasher film psychopaths called Tonberry are probably one of the most iconic enemies in gaming history and are equally as recognizable to Final Fantasy fans as Cactuar, Moogles, and Chocobo are. Everyone who played one of the earlier FF games such as FFV (the title Tonberrys first appear in), FFVIor FFVII likely has some traumatic memory of underestimating these little guys while they ever-so-slowly approach the party and then being instantly blown away when it decimates one of their allies in a single attack.
If they were to appear in Final Fantasy 16it would also be interesting to see how a more character-action-esque game handles the Tonberry and its multiple OHKO attacks. As an example, they could do something where the Tonberry is designed to be killable while downed during a single Staggered phase, but there’s a catch. If Clive can’t finish them off before their Will refills, the Tonberry could use some variation of ‘Everyone’s Grudge’ to deal immediate damage to him based on something like the number of hits he inflicted or the number of enemies he’s killed in the game so far.
5 Sin Eaters
This next monster is one that would be relatively difficult to believably write into Final Fantasy 16but FF14 fans would adore seeing these creatures redone in a game with a higher graphical fidelity such as FF16. And for those wondering, the reason that the mimic-like creatures called Sin Eaters would be difficult to write into the setting of Final Fantasy 16 is that their backstory is pretty heavily tied to the plot of FF14. The massively popular MMORPG plays around with the idea of light and dark constantly, and the Shadowbringers expansion plays around with this concept even more so by introducing Sin Eaters.
However, FF16 already has concepts in it similar to a ‘surplus of light or dark energy’ with concepts like ‘going Akashic’ implying that too much aether can cause massive changes or transformations as well. So, there are grounds for the developers to write Sin Eaters into the game or at least a creature similar to them.
4 Catoblepas
A lot of the monsters on this list are tried and true designs that were introduced way back in one of the earlier Final Fantasy games and continually reappear in future games as homages or because they’re so iconic. The Catoblepas, however, is a relatively new monster to the Final Fantasy IP, as they were only introduced in the last mainline game, Final Fantasy 15. Well, they’re mostly new, as the design is obviously built on the concept and design of the summon of the same name in Final Fantasy V.
There’s no grandiose reason to include these creatures other than the fact that they’re just so gigantic, unique looking, and seem like they’d be fun to fight in FF16’s combat engine. Plus, their long necks and stomp attacks both seem like they would work really well as attacks in Final Fantasy 16 as it seems like every larger-than-average monster in this game has some wide sweep attack or a big AoE stomp to test the skills of beginner and veteran ARPG players alike.
3 Magic Pots
Ability Points are a very vital resource in Final Fantasy 16. These are the currency by which Clive gains new moves in his ever-expanding repertoire of abilities during his surprisingly long adventure. With every new Eikon, players will need to gain a pretty big chunk of Ability Points in order to unlock and eventually master that Eikon’s abilities. So, a perfect enemy the developers could introduce to make that process a bit easier for players who explore every inch of every map is to introduce Magic Pots into the game. These creatures have been around since the days of Final Fantasy V and have always been a way for players to either gain a ton of job exp, level exp, or some rare items. Well, as long as they fulfill what the Magic Pot asks for, of course.
This concept would work exceedingly well in an ARPG like FF16 because if Clive happened to find one of these creatures the Magic Pot could ask him to use a certain combo or reach a certain damage threshold within a certain time limit in order to get their rewards. This way, players who manage to find the Magic Pot will get a big chunk of Ability Points to level their skills faster and players who love the Devil May Cry-esque combat of the game will have a mini Bloody Tower-like challenge to complete. Additionally, this would help make repeat playthroughs or NG+ in ‘Final Fantasy mode’ a lot less repetitive for grinding Ability Points.
2 Ultros & Typhon
Even if Final Fantasy has sillier creatures in it already, it would still be relatively difficult for them to somehow believably introduce an Ultros (sometimes called Orthros) into the FF16 world, which is also exactly why they should try it. For those unfamiliar with this recurring monster, Ultros is this squirmy mass of purple tentacles and sharp teeth that appear across numerous FF games. Funnily enough, he’s usually relatively easy to defeat and over-relies on his cohort Typhon (who would also appear), but is a beloved enemy by the fans simply for his awful corny jokes and perverted comments towards female party members.
There’s no real combat-based reason to include Ultros as one of Clive’s many Bounty Hunts in Final Fantasy 16 as he’s never been much of a threat in combat, but it would still just be so funny to see how Clive deals with their jokes, being such a straight-laced guy. Plus, it would also be interesting to see how Jill deals with and responds to his gross advances, given that she’s usually rather calm and composed.
1 Mindflayer
For the final enemy, let’s look at a creature that even predates Final Fantasy itself, the Mindflayer. Mindflayers have been around since the early days of Dungeons and Dragons, and plenty of video games have made their own variations of these eldritch horrors.
In Final Fantasythey’re usually depicted as pretty terrifying mages who use their signature ‘Mind Blast’ attack to paralyze their foes. In Final Fantasy 15in particular, the Mindflayers were extra difficult to go up against and even more horrifying, so it’d be interesting to see how FF16 would handle it given the game’s difficulty overall.
Final Fantasy 16 is available now for PS5.
