Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide DLC is finally here. With over 80 hours in the base game and over 10 in the DLC, here is my honest review of The Rising Tide.
PS: This review is written assuming you’ve played FF16, so I won’t go into the mechanics of the base game too much.
New map (Mysidia)
Mysidia is about the same size as Rosaria, which, so to speak, is not very big. The terrain is mostly forest (which, what a surprise, right, considering Leviathan is its Dominant). There’s nothing special about it aside from the hordes of Tonberries and the locals complaining about the monsters’ penchant for dark curses.
The developers delivered on their promise to integrate more combat, but I wish the explorable area of ​​the overworld was a little larger.
Score: 3/5
New Eikon
One of the best things about The Rising Tide was the new Eikons you can get. That’s right: Eikons, plural. Of course, there’s the Traded Leviathan, but you also get another, more powerful Eikon after completing Mysidia’s story. Both are some of the best Eikons I’ve used in the game. I’ll keep this review spoiler-free, but I talk more about them in depth in this Eikon guide. Check it out if you want to know more!
These new Eikons were a huge help in Final Fantasy mode, which I abandoned a year ago in hopes of getting better kits to deal with it. Suffice to say, the new Eikons worked.
The fight against Leviathan was also a rewarding challenge, something no previous Eikon battle can boast of.
Score: 5/5
Kairos Gate
FF16 The Rising Tide is heaven for combat junkies. In addition to the new Eikons, you also unlock the Kairos Gate in the Arete Stone after your journey through Mysidia. It’s a fiery adventure to the 20 circles of hell.
Related: FF16 Clive Build: Best Skills for Clive
Kairos Gate rates your performance and Eikonic combos with points that you can use to purchase stage upgrades and blessings, allowing you to have a slightly better time trapped in hell. Is it inspired by DMC5? Absolutely, which makes it great! The levels are even timed, if you thought three dozen enemies weren’t enough halfway through.
Score: 5/5
History
Of course, while The Rising Tide has many good things, it also has its downsides, the most notable being its story.
Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide tells the story of the Water Motes, a tribe long thought lost to the history of Valisthea. Their humble civilization is hidden in the far north, behind a veil that diverts unsuspecting eyes from their location. Their patron deity, Leviathan, is also apparently not as lost as the stories predicted. Their Dominant, a baby named Waljas, is alive but frozen in time.
The whole premise seems really intriguing, right? As a history enthusiast, I thought so too. The problem lies in how this story was executed: with a tapestry and a lot of exposition. There are no cinematic flashbacks of the people of Shula and the moment when Waljas was trapped. Just Shula’s character model telling the story with the occasional joke from Joshua and Clive. And this pattern continues until the main story of The Rising Tide ends. The immersion just wasn’t there.
History: 2/5
Side quests
Final Fantasy 16 has a tendency to hide important things in its side quests (be it the fast travel chocobo and the island story), and The Rising Tide’s are no different. In fact, I would say that No Doing the side quests will leave Mysidia’s story incomplete. This was one of my biggest problems in the base game and remains so here.
For example, and if I may spoil some unimportant information: Haven (the village) is something that Clive comes to recognize as having an “ideal” place at the end of the DLC. He says it’s where carriers and non-carriers live as equals and strive to survive.
But where in the story do you find out that the village has bearers? That’s right, in the side missions. If he didn’t make them, what should have been a gradual understanding before Clive spoke probably turned out as a strange and unexpected exposition.
Related: All the secrets of Final Fantasy 16
The side quests themselves aren’t anything different from the base game, you might expect the fact that they all involve combat.
Score: 1/5
Verdict: A DLC is only worth it if you want to experience a more addictive version of FF16’s combat
Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide brings with it a lot of cool stuff that makes the $24.99 worth it, like new Eikons, Kairos Gate, and more. However, as you may have noticed, most of them are combat related. If you didn’t play and enjoy FF16 for the combat, The Rising Tide DLC is not for you to purchase.
The publisher provided PGG with a free copy of the DLC for review.
For more Final Fantasy recommendations, check out my review of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth here on MyFullGames.