Final Fantasy XVI already introduced a lot to the long-running Square Enix series. It, as a new entry, brought so much to the table with an all-new expansive world, grueling combat, grand story, and brought many twists on classic elements. Now with The Rising Tide, this game is only going to grow bigger, making an already fun entry even grander. We attended the Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide panel at PAX East 2024 and learned a lot about what to expect in this DLC.
Firstly, The Rising Tide is adding a lot more content than the first DLC, Echoes of the Fallen. The first added a couple hours of new quests and a dungeon. Here, we will be getting a whole new area, new bosses, a new eikon, and so much more. Particularly with the story, we will find out just what happened to Leviathan the Lost, the mysteriously missing eikon from the main story. Just be aware that this isn’t changing anything with the ending. It is building on the lead-up to the finale.
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For those who are fans of Jill, we will be getting much more of her backstory as we travel to the new area, Mysidia. Mysidia feels frozen in time with a giant wave crashing being its big landmark. Mysidia is a vast area with new towns, new side quests, and new enemies to fight. It is also the area from which Jill originated. Shiva pulls Jill and the crew back there for a mysterious reason. As we explore Mysidia we will find out what happened to Leviathan and help Clive obtain its eikonic powers for his own.
With that, Leviathan’s abilities will play much differently than any other eikon so far. Leviathan brings with it a lot more ranged-focused abilities. You may remember Odin from the base game who changed out Clive’s weapon for a dark blade. Leviathan will do something similar, but instead become a snake-like gun attached to his arm. Both light and heavy attacks will change to a laser and shotgun attack. They will also use a gauge that acts like ammo for limited use. When it runs out, you won’t revert right away. You can use an active reload to get back into the fight and time it right to get unlimited ammo. This all changes Clive’s kit immensely to let him deal massive damage from a distance and will let you create some new impactful combos when used in tandem with other eikonic abilities.
Leviathan will be great when going up against one of the new enemies introduced in the DLC, the Tonberries. This classic Final Fantasy enemy got a grim facelift. They are grizzly, they look meaner, and the Master and King Tonberries have a giant knife that could cut anyone cleanly in two. Plus, as hinted during the panel, they will occasionally sneak up on you during combat. Be ready for some tiny, menacing jumpscares. Thankfully, Leviathan’s range will come in handy with taking them down quickly while avoiding their massive hits.
The DLC also brings along a new end-game mode called Kairos Gate. This is a new gauntlet-style mode only accessible after beating the base game and The Rising Tide DLC. It brings new combat challenges to face. You’ll have twenty stages that get more and more difficult to get all-new weapons and crafting materials. What makes this mode unique is its classic look. The menus are reminiscent of Final Fantasy I-VI. You also slowly get points to make Clive more powerful in this mode. Plus, it was hinted that if you beat every one of the twenty stages on Final Fantasy mode, the hardest difficulty in the game, and get an S rank on each stage, you’ll unlock a grand secret twenty-first stage that will have you face an epic boss battle.
Finally, there will be a free patch coming to the base game with lots of quality-of-life improvements. These include a new quick complete feature to return to a quest giver after completing their quest, five customizable sets of feats and abilities to quickly change outside of combat, customizable button mapping, tuning of abilities and accessories so they are easier to use, and new orchestrion rolls for use in the hideaway which include eikon battle music.
Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide is adding so much content, that any fan of the base game will not want to miss out on how it expands this grand story. Be ready, and go complete that New Game Plus playthrough now, since the DLC is coming on April 18th.
Final Fantasy 16 : The Rising Tide is available now on PlayStation 5.
