Published , by Lucas White
Published , by Lucas White
Final Fantasy 16, faults and all, felt like a complete story when it came out. From beginning to end, the single character-focused narrative was a new approach for Square Enix’s flagship RPG series, but one that accomplished most of its goals. Still, there was a plot hole of sorts, or rather a conspicuously missing piece of the lore puzzle. The Rising Tide, the second post-launch DLC for FF16, fills that hole and offers some bonuses on top. The result isn’t a massive game-changer, but it works as a friendly goodbye to this world and its characters in contrast to the story’s inevitable, bittersweet ending.
Rising Tide’s scenario is practically one massive spoiler, as the circumstances behind Leviathan’s appearance are wrapped up like a big surprise. But the scenario is also the most prominent aspect of this DLC. Nothing like a situation like this to make my job a pain in the butt, folks! I can acknowledge the party makes a journey to Mysidia, a previously unknown part of the game world’s northern region. It’s unknown due to a magical “glamour” that keeps it hidden, which also happens to mimic a healthy, blue sky - something you don’t see elsewhere during Final Fantasy 16's entirety. That sky represents the scenario’s mood in general, an outcropping of optimism in a world of suffering and hardship. It's also a vehicle for some Final Fantasy 2 references, which I appreciate as one of the dozen or so fans of that game.
It’s not a happy story of course, but Clive’s goal is to help Leviathan’s Dominant from the outset, another stark difference from most of the game’s story. It ends up being a rather horrifying premise in a lot of ways once the Dominant’s identity is revealed, but it’s handled in a very caring and human way, showing both Clive’s growth as “Cid” as well as an interesting show of restraint from the creative team. Considering how the proper story ends, I found myself wondering if this was the team’s way of giving both the audience and characters in the story a more pleasant goodbye.
That said, a real bummer once again crops up in the form of Jill, who was supposedly going to be a bigger part of the story here after infamously getting the short end of the stick in the main story. She's from the north, and the creative team behind the game made note of that and her involvement in the scenario at a PAX East panel and in subsequent interviews. They even handed out fancy Jill pins at the panel! Unfortunately in the actual content, aside from a couple stray lines of dialogue mostly amounting to, "oh hey this reminds me of my dad kind of," Jill's role in the story is minimal. Whoops! Joshua is present too and manages to contribute even less than Jill, but considering how important he is literally the entire rest of the game it's much less of a sore spot. There's a new character central to the story here, however, who is interesting and serves as a compelling lore vessel for Mysidia and its history.
Beyond the scenario, Rising Tide offers a big ol’ chunk of more Final Fantasy 16. It’s a miniature storyline, and it’s also a brand new location you can explore, complete with side quests, unlockable amenities (the same ones from the rest of the game, but you’re more or less cut off from them at first), and big fights you can pursue beyond the storyline boss. This is where the infamous Tonberries show up, and they’re a lot of fun to tangle with. Especially because the new Eikon power from Leviathan is a totally new way to approach combat, giving you not only a ranged kit, but one that resembles a shotgun. It’s fun to use by itself, and fun to learn how to weave into a full retinue. The side quests are still boring though, if not more so here because coming back to “please help me pick flowers” after a long break is even more momentum-crushing than before.
Of course, the big showdown against Leviathan is the star of the show. The Eikon fights in the main game were massive setpieces that broke patterns with new kinds of music and gameplay hooks. Here there’s a bit of a twist, as the fight starts with a small bit of popcorn gimmickry before turning into an Ifrit version of the postgame “superboss” vibe of the previous DLC’s boss. Leviathan is a straight up slobberknocker with Infrit’s full, on the ground moveset, and you have to fight hard to survive. It’s a solid, engaging challenge… for the most part.
There’s a particularly brain-dead DPS check that grinds the fight to a halt, which poorly defines what it wants from you and punishes you harshly for making the slightest mistake, even on the lower difficulties. It feels at odds with the design of the fight and really harshes the vibe. Luckily there’s a checkpoint, but you still have to sit and watch the consequences for failing then reload, so on and so forth. There’s a much more engaging moment of desperation from the boss towards the end that’s an actual skill barrier, but by the time the fight gets there it’s more tiring than thrilling. Overall though, it’s a cool “final” fight that feels like a proper post-game showdown.
Speaking of post-game, there are rewards for seeing the Leviathan story through to the end. The first is one that’s a turbo-spoiler, and has to do with those wings we were shown in Rising Tide’s trailers. Many folks immediately started speculating about ending-changing implications, and those folks will be better off writing fanfiction than expecting anything in the text. Sorry! It’s a neat reward though, and tees up the new Kairos Gate mode. That’s a roguelike gauntlet-style mode that has you picking various temporary and “permanent” upgrades while facing stronger and stronger combat rooms. It’s a neat mode with some cool weapon cosmetic rewards, but nothing the more casual end of the playerbase will lose any sleep over. If you aren’t a high score-chaser, your interest in Rising Tide probably wraps up with the story.
Overall, The Rising Tide is a much more substantial DLC compared to the previous release, Echoes of the Fallen. It simply has a longer runtime and feels much more like an extension (or addition) to the story rather than a novel postgame romp. It doesn’t significantly impact the game’s overall story, but does add a solid, new side story that feels fresh compared to what came before. The other bells and whistles are cool too, but feel more like side attractions within a side attraction, for better or for worse. It was nice to have a new reason to visit Clive and pals again, especially with a new set of enemies, bosses, and even weapons to mess around with.
Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide is available now for the PlayStation 5. A Season Pass DLC code was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this feature.