Oh boy is that a loaded question.
As someone who has played every game in the series, the trend has been to make them less like RPGs and more like action games. Gameplay wise, this was far and away the best action-y one and had a decent enough story. Anything compared to 15 would have looked like a masterpiece, lol.
I vastly prefer the more traditional RPGs overall though. 16 was a pleasant surprise since I came in with a bit of a bias against the shift towards action games, and really only gave it a shot because the director has earned a lot of credit with his handling of 14 (the MMO)
Shame the game wasn't better. I wanted to like it, the voice acting was solid, but ultimately the combat was unpolished and feels like a early PS2 game.
I hate to say it but I feel like the devs are gonna blame the anti-woke backlash, and while that is obviously a factor, the game simply isn't that great. Needed some more time in the oven IMO, there is the soul of a good game in here.