Final Fantasy XVI may not have gotten a Game of the Year nomination (much to the chagrin of some Kotaku readers) at the 2023 Game Awards, but it did get shoutouts in the Best Role-Playing Game, Narrative, Music, and Performance categories. While it won’t be going home with the biggest trophy in hand, it did walk away with two new DLC expansions. The first is called out Echoes of the Fallen, it name drops “the Magitec War,” and it’s out on PlayStation 5 tonight.
Echoes of the Fallen is the first of two planned DLCs for Final Fantasy XVI. The second, The Rising Tide, arrives in spring 2024 and features Leviathan, the long lost summon missing from the game’s main campaign. Both DLCs appear to take place before the end of the game, include new allies, monsters to fight and areas to explore. Frankly, both expansions look and sound incredible.
Check out the trailer right here:
Final Fantasy XVI tells the story of Clive Rosfield, a noble-turned-slave who winds up joining a resistance movement led by the charismatic Cid to free the world’s oppressed class of “Bearers”—those who possess intrinsic magical ability—from servitude. The narrative, however, left a few mysteries unexplained. For instance, there are a few references to the sea serpent Leviathan—a common summon in earlier Final Fantasy games—but the beast remains unseen, leading some to hope it might appear in future DLC. Their patience has been rewarded.
Final Fantasy XVI was divisive at launch, with some praising it for its visual splendor, its spectacular battles, its voice acting, and soulful characters like protagonist Clive and memorable supporting character Cid. Others, however, took issue with its shift away from traditional turn-based battles toward a more action-oriented take on the series, and it drew criticism for a few blindspots and some weirdness in its story.
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