Final Fantasy XVI Demo: Phoenix vs. Ifrit – How to Survive Purgatorium

Dear fellow sufferers,
oh, how desperate I was during this fight … but let’s take it step by step:

Suddenly you’re flying through the air. It took me a moment to even realize that I was now the Phoenix (Joshua) – and that the other fire monster was my enemy.
The game then throws you around like crazy and gives you terrible instructions.

No. 1 – Don’t panic!
You don’t need to move at all – the game does that for you. Just keep your camera on the enemy and hold down the attack button (on keyboard: left mouse button) – the fireballs will lock on and find their target automatically.
If a big circle flashes around the target: right mouse button = strong attack.
If the dodge circle appears – of course: press dodge.

But then comes the final phase.
And that’s the tricky part, because the game never explains how it actually works!
There’s a countdown – 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
I wondered what this even meant, tried moving with WASD (which was actually recommended at that moment), and kept pressing the dodge key.
Then the word “Purgatorium” appeared – and I was like: Huh? What is that? What am I supposed to do now?
Before I could even think it through – boom, dead, Game Over …

No. 2 – So what now?
Dodge at the right time? Try to nail the exact second?
Nope! Much easier. As soon as Ifrit starts his final attack, he just stands still. That means you don’t need to shake your camera around anymore – just keep it centered, find the big targeting circle, and fire away: attack, special attack, whatever you like.
The only important thing: bring Ifrit down to zero HP. He’s basically dead, but his attack keeps going.

Now lean back and wait until your little Joshua-Phoenix cries: “No! Too late!” – at that point, he also drops to 0 HP.
⚠️ Careful: exactly in that moment, “Flames of Rebirth” will appear on your screen – right where “Purgatorium” was before.
Immediately press Shift (on controller: the button previously shown for triggering “Flames of Rebirth”).
Phoenix’s HP will instantly refill to 100 – fight over.

Victory at last – and after a short cutscene: the demo ends.

I hope this helped you. Let me know in the comments 😊