Active Time Lore

Active Time Lore (アクティブタイムロア, Akutibu Taimu Roa?) is a menu feature in Final Fantasy XVI that acts as an in-game encyclopedia of terms, cast of characters, events, and locales. It is accessed by holding the PlayStation 5 touchpad to open up the menu during field play or during cutscenes; Active Time Lore is not available during battles or certain cutscenes or cinematics, such as those that are part of battle transitions.

When used during field gameplay or a cutscene, entering the Active Time Lore pauses the game and the player can choose between the lore options, usually including the currently talked about or included characters, the location the player is in or the cutscene is depicting, and any story-relevant terms. Terms tend to appear in the Active Time Lore after being mentioned in the script. When an Active Time Lore entry has not been accessed before, it has a circle in the top-left corner.

Active Time Lore is updated with new entries when the player progresses through the game.

The Thousand Tomes[]

The doors of enlightenment open only to those who persist in rapping upon them.

Harpocrates

The Thousand Tomes

Tomes at Cid's Hideaway and The Hideaway keeps a collection of all Active Time Lore entries in the Thousand Tomes (ハルポクラテスの備忘録, Harupokuratesu no Bibōroku?, lit. Harpocrates' Memorandum), and also contributes new ones when Clive regales his tales and "levels up" the library. The Thousand Tomes is divided in four sections: Persons of Interest, Lay of the Land, Mysteries of the World, and Bestiary.

Level 1: Amateur Annalist - "I feel a revelation might be close at hand!"
Level 2: Ravenous Reader - "We will make a scholar of you yet."
- Entries unlocked: The Valisthean Calendar, Egis
Level 3:
- Entries unlocked: The Continental Accord, The Founder
Level 4:
- Entries unlocked: The Holy Order of Shields of the Blackened Pinion, Creag Loisgte, Drake's Eye
Level 5: Scholastic Savant
- Entries unlocked: Heart of the Mothercrystal "A Stalwart Defense", Lost Mothercrystals, Gil, Adamantite
Level 6: Living Library
- Entries unlocked: The Southwestern Alliance, Dzemekys, The Bank of Gilbard the Great Lender, The Triunity of 859, Magitek
Level 7: Recorder of the Realm
- Entries unlocked: Barnabas's Mother, Moss the Chronicler, Dzemekys Falls, The Continent, Drake's Horn, The War of the Magi, The Circle of Malius, The Inner Sanctum, Echoes

Entries unlocked by leveling up the library, and the ones added by doing sidequests, have golden edges in the Thousand Tomes.

MAX: Sage for the Ages (completed game save file)
- Entries unlocked: The Ultima Civilization, The Children of Dzemekys, The Savior Myth, The Remaking of the World, Ultima's Spell, The First Wyrm, The Sins of Dzemekys "Hidden Truths", Reverie "Hidden Truths"

Persons of Interest[]

Main article: Persons of Interest

Persons of Interest catalogues the cast of characters. If a character's allegiance or appearance changes, the profile picture is updated to reflect the change, and new information is added to the profile when new revelations are made in the story. The characters viewable on the field are the one's currently relevant to the main quest.

Lay of the Land[]

Main article: Lay of the Land (Final Fantasy XVI)

Lay of the Land chronicles information about the locations, nation-states, and their political groups.

Mysteries of the Realm[]

Main article: Mysteries of the Realm

Mysteries of the Realm covers in-game terminology; new terms usually appear after being mentioned in the script.

The Bestiary[]

Main article: Bestiary (Final Fantasy XVI)

The Bestiary covers the creatures that live in Valisthea, from the domesticated messenger owls, stolas, to the beastmen like goblins, animals, and even the Fallen's magic constructs.