Tour Cid’s Hideout in Final Fantasy XVI

During my hands-on time with Final Fantasy XVI for the cover story, I got to experience the game’s opening hours, which show Clive’s childhood as a 15-year-old and a flashback to a 28-year-old Clive. Here, Clive meets Cidolfus Telamon, or Cid for short—this is Final Fantasy, after all. Not long after, the Cid takes Clive to a place known as the Cid’s Hideout.

This hideout is one of the main hubs in FFXVI. While I’m not sure where it is in Valisthea, where the game takes place, it appears to be built in a cavernous structure. It has a bar where you can chat with locals about what’s going on in the world, side quests, and a music player. I found exploring Valistea’s music tracks, and while these are new to the FFXVI score, I suspect music from other Final Fantasy games may also be found.

Cid’s Hideout

Elsewhere in the hideout, there’s a blacksmith where I can buy new weapons and gear and upgrade what I own, and a general store where I can buy potions and such. I also found Harpocatres in hiding, who I was able to interact with on my way through FFXVI to learn more about Valistean history.

Arcadia Scholar Harpocrates

Otto’s Counter is a feature of Cid’s hideaway that I doubt players will interact with much. Otto is in a way the center’s manager, and his staff will help Clive on his journey. One of them is Gaute who handles Alliant Reports. These track Clive’s ongoing relationship, and players can interact with special menus and read reports created by scouts to document people in trouble across the realm. Clive can simply fast travel to these locations to help them out–or, in other words, to complete a side quest.

Not far from Gaut is The Patron’s Whisper, run by Desiree. In The Patron’s Whisper, you receive gifts from people you’ve helped in the form of crafting resources, Gil (Valisthea’s currency), and more. These gifts were directly related to the popularity Clive earned around Valistea, as his name and good deeds spread to the locals. Renown’s rewards are not what you get from completing quests – you get them immediately – but a reward.

patron whisper

The third major aspect of Otto’s Counter is the Hunt Board. If you’ve played Final Fantasy XII, this board will be familiar, as it looks and works similarly. This isn’t surprising, considering a good portion of FFXVI’s team leads were involved in FFXII. From this board you can collect bounties and hunt throughout Valistea. From time to time, you’ll stumble across prey without a bounty, but there’s no need to feel stressed about picking it up. If you complete the hunt, you will receive the reward associated with it the next time you return to the hunting board.

Enemies will be trapped inside a virtual arena in hunting locations. The fight has to be fought here – leave the arena and the hunt is over, and it’s easy to escape if you’re out of control.

Separate from Otto’s counter, but hidden away is Clive’s room. Here, Clive can read the letters he has received. Sometimes these letters lead to new side quests; other times they’re updates from characters you’ve interacted with, and sometimes they’re warnings. You can also add some personality to Clive’s room with the Wall of Memories, which starts out as empty shelves and spaces where trinkets from Clive’s journey will one day be placed as reminders of what he’s achieved Achievements, places he’s been and people he’s helped.

Overall, I’ve had an extensive tour of Cid’s hideout, but I sense there’s more to it, and I’m excited to see all of that when FFXVI arrives on PlayStation 5 on June 22.

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