The Rising Tide on PS5 from igamesnews.com

While it was originally said that Final Fantasy XVI wouldn’t have any DLC, The final numbered installment of Square Enix’s flagship saga is finally entitled to two additional adventures announced after launch. These DLCs were then officially revealed during the Game Awards ceremony. So the first, Echoes of the Fallen, was available immediately after its announcement last December.

And as we already told you here, this very short additional adventure was aimed only at those who appreciated the original game by offering them an additional challenge and that’s it. Vice versa, This second DLC, titled The Rising Tide, promised to be much more ambitious with a real new zone, new powers and a new primal battle. Now that you’ve 100%ed through it, here’s what you need to know to judge whether or not you should dive back into Final Fantasy XVI.

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A superficial story in a beautiful region

Like the first DLC, The Rising Tide takes place just before the final battle and requires completing certain side quests to access. One day, Clive receives a mysterious, unsigned letter asking him to save Leviathan, the lost prehistoric man

. Surprised by the request, he decides to seek out the author, which leads Clive, Jill and Joshua to travel to the Mysidia region. In this green oasis with beautiful blue skies and lush jungle, they discover the dilemma of the northern tribe and the mysteries surrounding the history of the forgotten prehistoric one.

Bon, It’s clear that The Rising Tide doesn’t shine because of its story. Even though the core of the plot can be quite touching, it’s all handled rather superficially and straight to the point, which doesn’t help you feel involved. I have to say that The main quest of this DLC only takes about 3 hours at a time, time to arrive, do the new dungeon and then fight Leviathan. Suffice it to say, that’s not a lot for a DLC that sells for $20. Additionally, it’s difficult to feel involved through dialogue that’s flatly staged like in the original game. Unfortunately, We can’t say that the eleven additional side quests add much more, if not a little more knowledge about this northern tribe. However, these side missions shouldn’t be thrown away, as two of them feature boss fights that are similar to the hunts in the main game. Even though The Rising Tide doesn’t score points with its plot or longevity, rest assured that it still knows how to make up for everything else.

The first point that makes The Rising Tide stand out is obviously the graphics. The Mysidia region is clearly beautiful with its blue skies and lush vegetation, contrasting with the gloomy skies that prevail in the rest of the world. We feel like the developers wanted to impress us with this impressive wave, frozen by a magic beam fired in the distance, that’s more Final Fantasy than ever before. The same applies to the only dungeon in this additional content, which takes place in this city where time seems to stand still. And what about the arena opposite Leviathan, whose minimalism allows you to enjoy all the excess of the confrontation? Ultimately, It’s a shame to see exploration take a back seat again

. But hey, from an artistic and visual perspective, The Rising Tide is a real success and that’s not all.

An adventure full of challenges

As the director announced this DLC, The Rising Tide is a new adventure that focuses primarily on challenges to satisfy players who want more

. If Echoes of the Fallen presented a great challenge, this second expansion goes even further with the final boss of its dungeon with impressive and spectacular patterns. Of course, you should never lose your attention, especially in Final Fantasy mode, which offers the highest difficulty level in the game. This challenge is also reflected in the fight against Leviathan, which is as impressive as it is demanding in New Game+. Without exaggerating too much, we can say that this is one of the most spectacular duels of the title, not far behind the one against Bahamut. But what makes this expansion so exciting in terms of gameplay are the new powers it offers.

Without too many surprises, The Rising Tide allows Clive to control Leviathan’s powers, and the good news is that we get them from the start of this adventure. Beyond the new skills offered, Most importantly, the Leviathan set allows you to disrupt Clive’s gameplay, allowing him to shoot from a distance. The player has multiple shots at their disposal and there’s even a Gears of War-style reload mechanic to power everything up. And the best part is that it doesn’t stop there. Without giving too much away, The Rising Tide offers a second set of powers that also changes Clive’s core gameplay. So we get the impression that the developers listened to player complaints about the repetition of basic moves and decided to add more variety through these new powers. And that’s a good thing, there’s actually a mode to try out these new features.

After completing The Rising Tide’s main quest, you will unlock the Kairos portal. To simply summarize: We can say that it is a kind of survival mode with roguelike elements without actually being one. Specifically, we chain the battles through 20 circles in which the player’s performance is recorded through a score, which is then converted into a point. Between two collisions, These points allow you to complete permanent or temporary bonuses that only last a few rounds. Of course, in the event of death, we start everything from the beginning. And the least we can say is that the challenge is back, because in Final Fantasy mode it is really difficult to overcome the first circles. Suffice it to say that it is a mode intended above all for those who want more and want to show off their skills, since reaching the end requires a lot of determination.

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