Final Fantasy XVI (PC/PS5) - June 22, 2023

[Qalbert]

$10 for the DLC, $25 for expansion pack for both.

[Drai]

yup yup, got the pack, first dlc is downloading now, guess that means Rising Tide is bigger overall, which makes sense since it includes an extra Eikon in it

[Vaspinne]

I'm getting big "FFXIV between expansion meh filler patch" vibes

[Tyrath]

Meaning $10 for the first one lol. I assume the second DLC will be $20 on its own

[Qalbert]

Yeah, it's a bit unorthodox, not a ton of games do different sized/priced dlcs, but it just sounded funny as written.

[Tyrath]

Yeah, it's a bit unorthodox, not a ton of games do different sized/priced dlcs, but it just sounded funny as written.

I figured it's the Witcher 3 model where first DLC will be shorter than the second one.

Also I looooove the 8bit version of Away

[Tyrath]

There's some cool new accessories in this DLC. I'm a little sad, I'm in the middle of a FF mode run and those accessories won't be available until end of that

[Tyrath]

Finished it. About 3 hrs of content.

The 2 dungeon songs + final boss song were great. The final boss was crazy and a lot of fun. Can see that being genuinely difficult on FF mode. I may restart my FF mode to be able to use these new accessories lol.

Spoiler: show

Sad no Ifrit fight this time. Guess we'll get one against levi in next DLC

[Gokulo]

Yeah, the accessories will probably help in FF a lot.

For anyone that already did FF mode though and you want to 100% the DLC trophies do it in that mode, because there's one trophy for final boss on FF. I should have read about that before, completed it on normal since I didn't feel like butting my head with the game too much and now I'm too lazy to replay it lol. Maybe some day.

[Drai]

The one accessory that lets you build up bonus damage to 200% is slick, can’t seem to cap it for that “Double Impact” skill it activates, probably need to stack most of the multi hit abilities to be able to hit the cap.

[Tyrath]

I can't figure out what that Double Impact stuff is supposed to mean. I've hit 200% several times and haven't noticed anything

[BWYuko]

Kujiraoka & Yoshi-P participated in a Famitsu interview yesterday to discuss the DLC and PC port.

The first part of [Echoes of the Fallen] is about 3 hours if you focus on simply clearing the story. It’s like one dungeon from the main game plus a story. Other titles typically release a substantial DLC about a year after the main game’s release, but as Takai mentioned, we didn’t want to keep the players waiting. Naturally, this shortened the development period, but even so, we packed the first part with a story and challenging boss fights typical of FF16.

[The Rising Tide] is quite substantial in volume and includes side quests. When I previously played through the main and side quests, it took about 8 hours. With additional content, the second part totals around 10 hours of gameplay. [The Rising Tide] will have a different theme, so we’re leaving the exploration of the sky civilization at this point. Many people have been curious about the sky civilization since playing the main game, but we deliberately didn’t reveal everything in the first part of the DLC. We scattered hints here and there to peel away layers of mystery gradually, leaving room for imagination.

The "summoned beast battle" is a must-see, and one boss battle, in particular, is made with great enthusiasm as the final boss fight where Clive is controlled. The content could be considered a culmination of FF16’s boss battles.

Yoshi-P mentioned how the first DLC is mostly focused on new boss battles and enemies (e.g. tonberries) and stage layouts, while the second will feature zones as vast as those designed for the main game. He also discussed setting:

Some players who have played the main game might have wondered, "What is that?" It’s beyond the mysterious mass visible from a certain field. The setting for the second part of the DLC seems to be north of Northreach, in the Macleod Durow Hills, beyond the mysterious mass visible across the sea.

Then he discussed the PC port:

As Kujiraoka mentioned, it’s common for large-scale DLCs to be released about a year after the game’s launch, so we aim to meet that timeline. We’re also diligently developing the PC version. We hope to have the PC version playable with the DLC, so please wait a little longer for the exact release dates.

We will announce the details later, but an SSD is recommended. Even with our efforts to optimize GPU performance, FF16, which relies heavily on loading speed, would be challenging on an HDD. We’re doing our best to optimize, but there are limits to hardware, so an SSD is a must. We’ll announce the exact recommended specs at another time.

[BWYuko]

Oh and Echoes of the Fallen key art (featuring Omega):

[Tyrath]

Yeah, the accessories will probably help in FF a lot.

Even more importantly, I'll have My Star and the Omega battle theme in my orchestration for the whole FF mode lol

[brozy]

Was a fun little piece of DLC, took a bit to get back into how shit played after not touching it for what 4? months with the Omega fight taking me a couple tries, and yeah that fight theme is a banger, kinda surprised they kept that whole...i guess motif? if thats even the right word for it but its our boy Soken so i ain't even mad cause i did have a shit eating grin when it first played on the way up the tower.

[Kirin]

Just finished the main game, along with the DLC (because why not when it was right there).

Spoiler: show

You can't convince me Clive didn't survive. He may have been down a hand, but there is no way he didn't survive because who else would have known to title the book in the post credits scene as "Final Fantasy"? Joshua had started the book, but Clive finished it when he returned to the hideaway. His left hand was also the one turned to stone, and hes right handed so he could still write.

Also, him and Jill have been the best romantic FF storyline since X. Having it end with him dead and Jill heartbroken after all the promises they made to eachother is just too much. And thats on top of all the "we lift eachother up" story in defiance of Ultima's plan.

We all knew Joshua was on borrowed time, but damn his passing and gifting Clive full power of the Phoenix was beautiful.

And the best character of them all, Dion the Dragoon. MVP, VIP, DGD all in one package.

The game overall was well done. Cohesive, thoughtful, and well planned. Which is all nice considering the multiple attempts to get XIII right and the clusterfuck that was XV.

There were some narrative negatives, personally. Benedicta was done too soon as a villain and Clive/Joshua's mother could have had a few extra scenes in the mid game to really cement her villain status.

I didnt mind the shift to an action title honestly. Not sure I want this to be "the way" going forward (thought it likely is), but I wouldnt mind keeping this system in something like a new Type-0 or used in mainline titles now and then if we get some more classic "3-4 party members and ATB" classic setups along the way.

Yoshi-P has earned the trust of the fanbase, and this did nothing to change that. Thank you to Business Unit 3 in showing what can be done without Nomura being all over the place.

[Tyrath]

https://twitter.com/The_Ben_Starr/st...ky7Lbh7aO1EOJg

[Kirin]

Something occurred to me in digesting the game after completing, possibly involving dlc lore...

Spoiler: show

We know Ifrit as fire for FF reasons. But Ultima's ashen Ifrit burns different (bluish I think) and doesn't fit in with the 1 element per Eikon motif.

Could Clive as the vessel simply bestowed an empty beastly husk of Ifrit with fire due to him already being blessed by the Phoenix at the outset of the game?

And if so, could Leviathan have been a previous attempt by Ultima at Mythos through utilizing an existing Eikon and their mothercrystal, it failed, and then destroyed that mothercrystal and Eikon's physical form?

[BWYuko]

If you haven't happened upon it already, this guy's rock arrangement of No Risk, No Reward is sensational. Well edited too.

[Anoat]

FFXIV & XVI crossover event announced for April 2024. This might be a clue to the XVI PC release because Yoshi P had been saying they didn’t want to do the collab until PC release was close