That combat video is so stupid. Is that guy a moron? Wowzers, you can charge magic/melee during the animation for a few other moves. iNsAnEE teCH bRo!
That might actually be the only 'tech' in the game that matters, since charge attacks at least deal some damage. The problem with FF16's combat, in relation to something like DMC, is Clive's moves are pathetically weak and he has only one combo (two if you count his Devil Trigger mode, which is also weak).
It's hard to believe the DMC guy worked on this because it plays nothing like the satisfying, technical gameplay of DMC 3-4-5. I refuse to believe anyone who played DMC3 US version at launch (which locked you to Hard mode by default) would find this game's combat 'good.'
You notice in that video he's spamming weak magic hits and air juggles and the enemy never dies until he hits them with an Eikon Ability. If he started with the Eikon attack the enemy would be dead already. All the combo-ing is totally pointless, it doesn't do enough damage. Compared to Dante, Clive has no Million Stab, no Prop/Shredder, no pause combos, no 'Style moves,' etc. Without Eikon attacks, the only way to hurt enemies is to knock them down and do a finisher move. Charge attack/magic, finisher, repeat. Works on everything that doesn't have a stagger bar.
General melee is not needed nor rewarded, all you need are Eikon moves. Phoenix and Garuda are pretty trash, but once you have Ramuh and Titan you can do Pile Drive/Upheaval -> collect XP/Gil. Battle over. There is no need to bother with anything else. This is not a 'special build' either, these are basic moves you will always have. You don't get a 'style rank' or more XP/AP for doing 'cool' attacks. This is even revealed in the Arcade mode where, surprise surprise, the attacks that earn the most points are spamming Eikon abilities (or using the finisher on downed foes). I walked into a room and combo'd enemies to death: 30k points. Use Pile drive once: 150k points, S rank! Can't do that in Bloody Palace.
I suspect the stagger bar is partly to blame. In order to make it important, enemies are massive damage sponges, so the best strategy is to empty the stagger bar and then dump all your Eikon attacks into them while they're stunned. It works, but it's boring. They should have given Clive fewer room clearing spells (that should be Devil Trigger only), more weapons, more combos, more unique Eikon mechanics, and no stupid cooldown moves.
