Buried Memories is a main quest available in Final Fantasy XVI.
Your objective is to chase after the hooded man and eventually confront with the truth.
Here’s a walkthrough and guide of Buried Memories in Final Fantasy 16.
As you begin the quest, you’ll see a huge crater left by the Ifrit fight 13 years prior.
Go into the catacombs
You will then see the hooded man running away. Head inside the catacombs.
Open the gate using the blessing of the Phoenix.
You will then reach the Hall of the Ancestors.
Explore the area
Head into the huge arena-looking place.
Stand at the middle and the platform works as an elevator.
Some enemies will spawn. Take them out.
Proceed ahead and you’ll face some Fallen Hunters.
Continue ahead and open the gate.
You’ll face more Fallen Bugs.
In the next area, you’ll face a Fallen Guardian which is sort of an elite monster.
After you’re done, continue going until you reach a room with some Bombs.
Defeat the Bombs and proceed ahead. Use the platform as an elevator to go up.
You will reach another Fallen Guardian and some other monsters. Take them down.
To continue ahead, interact with the crystal and a path will open.
Defeat the Iron Giant
You will then face the mini boss of this area i.e. the Iron Giant.
During the fight, the Iron Giant will charge some energy for an attack. Keep using your abilities and destroy the pink bar. There might be a time limit for this.
After the battle, you’ll get Fallen Iron among other materials.
Continue ahead
Head towards the platform in the middle.
Defeat the Lich
You’ll face a Lich which is new for this area.
Find a way out
In this area, you will need to explore two more gates.
Each gate will lead to some enemies like the Wraiths.
After completing the fight, interact with the crystal and the floor lights up.
If you go back to the middle platform you’ll see that one part is lit.
Go to the next gate and deal with the Specters.
Interact with the crystal after to light up the floor.
Go back to the middle and you’ll see a circle lit up.
Interact with the crystal in the middle of the circle.
A bridge will then appear. Head towards the new path.
You will then see a mural. Then, Clive will see his shadow.
He will then be transported back to 13 years ago where he murdered his brother Joshua.
Defeat Infernal Eikon
You will now need to defeat Clive’s own shadow. He takes the form of Ifrit at first.
Ifrit runs around a lot and you have to keep dodging (unless you have the relevant ring equipped).
Fortunately, the health of this Ifrit isn’t that much.
Defeat the Infernal Shadow
The harder fight is against the Infernal Shadow which is basically Clive.
He attacks fast and continuously so you have to dodge a lot before landing a hit.
After the first phase is done, the shadow transforms into the hybrid version where he is stronger.
One of the fatal moves is the Hellfire.
When it happens, don’t go near any of the marked areas on the ground. Also, don’t attack the shadow or you might get caught in the middle blast.
After some time, Clive can accept the truth by pressing L3 + R3. This transforms Clive into a stronger version.
Once that phase is done, there’ll be a final cutscene where both turn into Ifrit and battle it out. All you need to do is to spam the attack button when prompted.
After the shadow is defeated, you’ll get a Fire Shard material among others.
The quest ends here. You will unlock Limit Break and Ifrit’s skill tree. However, Ifrit’s abilities are on the same slot as the Phoenix so you need to choose.
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