It’s a great time to be a Final Fantasy fan! Rebirth was awesome, a new expansion for XIV is right around the corner, and now we have more XVI content! We’re eating good this year, folks!
As time has gone one, my feelings for Final Fantasy XVI have changed quite a bit. Now that the honeymoon phase has ended and even more incredible games dropped throughout 2023, the game’s many flaws have become more glaring. Still, I love this game, faults and all. It might not be generation defining, but god dammit, I still have a ton of fun playing it!
The game has certainly grown since launch. We’ve had performance fixes, gameplay tweaks, and most importantly: two major DLCs adding new content! Now we must ask the question: have these changes improved XVI? Or have they only added a new set of issues?
Up first, we have ‘Echoes of the Fallen.’ In this new quest, Clive and friends discover a new type of crystal being sold on the black market. This can only mean one thing: someone has discovered a new Mother Crystal. Now it’s up to Clive, and therefor you, to track down the source of these new crystals and finish what he started.
I’ll be honest: I thought the first half of this new story was awful. You run through an area you’ve already been to in the base game, chasing a trio of frankly obnoxious characters. Worse yet, the dialogue is really bad throughout the entire storyline. It’s like Marvel quipping, but stiff and awkward and somehow even less funny or cool. It’s tedious, it’s grating, and it nearly made me quit right then and there.
Luckily, the second half picks up significantly. We get a brand new action stage in the Sagespire, that cool looking tower we didn’t have access to in the base game. There are tons of awesome new enemies and bosses, all of which are a lot of fun to fight. Especially the final boss, Alexander; he’s one of the flashiest and most challenging non-Eikon boss battles in the whole game! He was worth the price of entry on his own!
We also get to learn more about the Fallen, an aspect of the lore that was severely neglected in the base game. We get to see more of their inner workings, and we finally learn why Ultima decided to strike them down. It’s a nice addition for those interested in the game’s lore.
So… me.
Beyond that, ‘Echoes of the Fallen’ doesn’t have much. It adds some new gear (which is still basically meaningless) and some combat challenges. You can play through the entire thing in an afternoon. Maybe faster, if you’re better at action games than I am. Which, if I’m being honest: you probably are.
But hey! Clive has the Buster Sword now. In case you want to pretend like you’re playing Rebirth instead of just… playing Rebirth.
Next up, we have ‘The Rising Tide.’ Of the two DLCs, this one is the larger by far. I’d also argue it’s the better one. More content of a higher quality, a much more interesting story, and a jaw-dropping new area to traverse. It’s more of everything I love about FF XVI.
It’s also more of what I hate about FF XVI.
Back in the Hideaway, Clive receives an interesting letter. According to it, Leviathan the Lost, Eikon of Water, has been found, and their Dominant is in danger. Now Clive, Jill, and Joshua must travel to the hidden land of Mysidia to verify these claims and save the Dominant.
Narratively speaking, this is XVI at its best. The grim story of Leviathan is easily some of the darkest stuff we’ve seen yet, which makes the ending so much more satisfying. It even adds some extra lore to the North and Shiva, giving Jill an active role in the plot.
Unlike Joshua. He’s just kinda there. Hanging out. Asking questions and otherwise not being important.
The final battle against Leviathan is one of the best in the entire game. It’s challenging, flashy, dramatic, and a ton of fun to play! Masayashi Soken brought his A++ game to the score, giving us a veritable suite to listen to as we wrestle with the great serpent! Say what you will about this game, but it’s boss fights are nothing short of peak!
Clive also gets two new Eikonic movesets to play with. Leviathan is a ton of fun, giving him faster mobility and powerful ranged attacks. Once you beat the new story, you can go back to the Hideaway and unlock Ultima’s abilities, letting you take the godly power of the final boss into your own hands. You can fly, unleash devastating AOE attacks, and even shoot a giant laser out of the sky! They’re both a ton of fun to play with, giving you a whole slew of new combo options!
Which you’ll need, if you want to take on the game’s new challenge: the Kairos Gate. It’s basically the Bloody Palace from ‘Devil May Cry.’ Descend into the underworld, facing progressively more powerful waves of enemies. The better you do in each fight, the better your rewards. If you’re looking for a fun way to test your skills or experiment with new builds, this new mode is for you!
Unfortunately, ‘The Rising Tide’ does almost nothing to alleviate the issues that plagued the base game. The new side quests are still tedious and unrewarding. The new zone is drop-dead gorgeous, but it’s still an empty hallway with a few branching paths and nothing interesting to do. I was really hoping this DLC could help to improve the game, but in the end, it’s just more of the same. For better and for worse.
But we do get Tonberries, and they look incredible. Certainly better than Rebirth’s horrifying Moogles.
To be fair, they do add a quick complete option for side quests. Basically, once you get the menial chore done, you can hold down a button and teleport right back to the quest giver. No more mind-numbing running back and forth for several real-world hours. It’s a small mercy, sure, but it does help alleviate some of the monotony.
It is worth noting that the price tag on both these DLCs isn’t all that bad. $25 USD for both ‘Echoes of the Fallen’ and ‘The Rising Tide’ isn’t a bad deal. That said, the base game is still a mean $70 clams, so I’d recommend waiting for it to go on sale if you’re a new player looking to jump in.
Overall, I do think these DLCs put ‘Final Fantasy XVI’ in a better place than it was. It’s basically just more of what we already had. If you liked that, then you’ll like these add-ons. If you didn’t, then you won’t.
With that, we can put this game to rest. So long, XVI. You had a ton of problems, but I loved you nonetheless.
And thus did our journey end.
Jonah's Books & Rants 
Leave a comment