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If you look around our website, you'll find a review of Final Fantasy XVIand it's very clear how much I enjoyed the game, giving it the highest possible rating. We didn't get this game at the time, so I had to buy it and it was one of the best spends of my life.

But this time, we had a lot of help from Nuuvem to give us a code for the game's season pass, so I was able to play these two additional contents of Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of The Fallen and The Rising Tide. And I can tell you right now that both pieces of content add a lot to the game's story, and today I can't see how anyone could play it without having access to them. But let's start with the first DLC:

Echoes of The Fallen

This first DLC, compared to the second, is very simple, basically a dungeon-style mission with a new story that delves even deeper into the game's universe. Below is the official synopsis of the game, as I don't think I'd be able to explain the story very well, although it's not very complex.

"The sun is setting over Valisthea, and dark crystals are beginning to circulate on the underground market. Could they be the sinister result of a long-dormant Mother Crystal? One that the world never knew existed?

In search of answers, Clive and company encounter a group of suspicious traders. Their trail leads to a long-abandoned tower of the Decayed, known as the Pinnacle of the Wise, and the terrible secrets that await them inside..."

As well as a new narrative, Echoes of the Fallen also gives us access to a wide range of powerful Decayed equipment. There will be battles against various known enemies (and others that aren't) and a very unique new stage. This content will keep you hooked for two to three hours, which I honestly wouldn't mind if it were longer. In fact, you can watch it in its entirety on our YouTube.

Prerequisites

An important point to mention is that in order to play this DLC, and even The Rising Tide, you need to fulfill certain requirements, which are basically some side missions. It is still recommended to be at the maximum level of the game in order to complete these missions, but in this case it is not a requirement, so it is entirely possible to complete the missions without being at the maximum level, which was my case.

The new mission will become available after unlocking Origin as a location on the World Map and completing the missions "Plans and Wills" and "Priceless". To unlock the Plans and Wills mission, we need to talk to Jote in the hideout's infirmary, who will make the "Phoenix, Heal Yourself" mission available. Once you've completed this mission, Plans and Wills becomes available when you talk to Joshua.

As for the Priceless mission, we'll need to talk to Hortense, who is right where we "fell" when we teleported to the hideout and where we'll have access to the "Cuts and Clippings" mission. Completing her mission will unlock a mission related to Jill on the reading table. And finally, by completing this mission, "Priceless" will become available.

These missions are important because by completing them, both Joshua and Jill join our party permanently (at least until we enter Origin, which is the end of the game). But once that's over, let's move on to the second content, which I have to confess was the one I was most looking forward to:

The Rising Tide

"An anonymous letter arrives at the Hideout containing a very curious request: the Dominant of Leviathan, an Eikon of Water, is in need of rescue. To answer this call, Clive and his companions must go to Mysidia, a land hidden under a blue sky, where they will discover the tragic history of a forgotten people."

This second DLC is in fact an expansion of the game, going far beyond a new stage as in Echoes of The Fallen. The Rising Tide brings a wide range of content to the game, from several new enemies, a new map, a new story, new side quests, and much more.

Too beautiful

One of the things that surprised me most about the two additional contents is how beautiful the new settings are. However, I see that The Rising Tide has gone one step further and brought us a map that, with every step we take, we find a work of art through the beautiful scenery we find in the game.

This new map is almost entirely a forest biome, so expect to see lots of trees, rivers and some more mountainous environments. In the center of the map is a town where you can buy and upgrade items. I highly recommend doing the side quests as they are fun and add a lot of content.

Another point worth mentioning is that, along with the DLCs, the base game has had a huge (free) update which, among other things, has brought a significant improvement to the performance mode. Previously, the game only ran at 60 frames in combat, but now it's possible to run it in its entirety at this frame rate.

New enemies and gameplay

Mysidia is a long way from the continent where the base game takes place, and that makes a big difference. This is because the enemies we encounter on this map are slightly different from those we find in the base game. Some are variations on enemies we've already encountered, while others are completely new creatures.

And to face these new enemies, we have mastered a new element whose absence was much questioned at the launch of the original game: water. And this new element unlocks a whole new section of the skill tree, which consists largely of long-distance attacks that are not only effective, but also beautiful.

Verdict

The main draw for me, in this second DLC in particular, was the battle against Leviathan, one of the well-known summons from the Final Fantasy franchise that is only mentioned in the base content. And The Rising Tide gives us an eikonic battle against him that is simply marvelous. It alone would be worth the investment in this new content.

But to my surprise, this point is just one part of a wide range of new content that left me simply amazed. Both Echoes of The Fallen and The Rising Tide bring a lot of fun content whose only downside is that they last so little time.

I would easily keep playing for many hours because these DLCs don't have the main problem that the base game has: the pace. Here in these contents, at no point do we get the feeling that the game is too slow, it manages to keep going from start to finish.

These will probably (and unfortunately) be the only extra content related to Final Fantasy XVI, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that they fully honor the game's story and are of unquestionable quality.

Echoes of The Fallen can be seen from start to finish on our YouTubeand we'll soon be making The Rising Tide available, which is just as complete. Both the base game and the DLC are only available for PlayStation 5, but soon the game will also be available for PC.

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