Returning to Valisthea, protagonist of Final Fantasy 16 after having touched the world of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is not an easy thing: if the chapter directed by Naoki Yoshida can be placed among the episodes that were still moving in the search for a modern identity , the recent adventure of Cloud Strife seems to have finally found the right recipe to replicate the original lost magic at the basis of the Final Fantasy saga. Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit 3 has nevertheless brought home its vision, raising the curtain on a mature, cinematic adventure that is also closely linked to the purely action combat system designed by Ryota Suzuki, an element that has been of the announcement reopened an ancient rift in the ranks of enthusiasts.
The story of one of the most divisive episodes of the franchise is coming to an end, at least in its period of exclusivity for PlayStation 5: after publishing the first Echoes of the Fallen DLC at the end of 2023, the developers have coupled the launch of The Rising Tide to a long series of additional content, probably to prepare the ground for a PC version which according to the latest statements is in the final stages of optimization. Before returning to fully dedicate itself to the next expansion of its famous MMORPG, the development team has created a small farewell gift: The Rising Tide is the final content of Final Fantasy 16 dedicated to Leviathanan original adventure designed to say goodbye to Clive Rosfield and his companions.
The story of Leviathan
The Rising Tide is entirely dedicated to the story of Leviathan, the lost Eikon who had long been speculated about due to the mention in the main work. In fact, Clive Rosfield’s new journey develops in region of Mysidia – a recurring name within the confines of the saga – an area of the deep north of Cyclonia which has remained untouched by wars thanks to an illusion projected by its inhabitants, the so-called Water Seeds, capable of hiding it for over a century from the greedy eyes of other superpowers. It is a thriving coastal valley characterized by dense woodland vegetation but above all by the presence of very ancient ruins that have become the perfect home for fearsome creatures such as Tomberries, which Creative Business Unit 3 has completely redesigned to adapt them to the raw and realistic style of Opera.
The main mission lasts about four hours but, unlike what happened with Echoes of The Fallen, the introduction of a new open map has also carved out space for a handful of side activities and a couple of hunting targets. The plot orbits around the fate of the Dominant of Leviathan, actually used as a pretext to tell the entire story of the Water Seeds and open interesting glimpses into the narrative universe of Valisthea, while simultaneously answering some unresolved questions. In fact, no fundamental pieces are added to the great mosaic of the narrative: rather than focusing on the introduction of secret endings for the entire adventure or shocking revelations regarding the Twin Continents, the screenwriters have opted for a pleasant dive into the origins of the world through what configure how a small, extremely well-finished optional chapter.
Same strengths, same flaws
If there is one element of which it is fair to be critical within the confines of The Rising Tide, it lies in the lack of attention paid to the feedback received over the last year. The genesis of this DLC is probably closely linked to that of the main work, but over time it became clear that some of the most heartfelt shortcomings of the project resided in the exploration, in the secondary missions and in the role-playing element, segments which in this expansion present themselves once again as they are. If it was crystal clear that Echoes of the Fallen constituted a sort of “endgame” apparatus dedicated to an inevitable entity like Omega Weapon, in this case the sensation is that of being in the presence of a further fraction of the base game intended exclusively to expand its scope. ‘universe, keeping all the original strengths and weaknesses intact.
The Rising Tide is founded on a story written with great care, on well-characterised characters and on splendid cinematic fights set to perfection, but beyond a pleasant increase in general difficulty it remains anchored to the usual formula: the open maps are more linear than ever and free of dedicated content, the secondary missions are still daughters of the skeleton of Final Fantasy XIV, while the RPG element has not undergone significant changes. The cycle ends as it began: Naoki Yoshida and his team remained firm in their positions, limiting himself just to adding the last nuances to the Valisthea fresco before raising the curtain on a couple of substantial additions and a completely new game mode.
Some news and many revisions
The main innovation brought by the DLC lies precisely in the Eikon Leviathan, which in addition to constituting the backbone of the narrative, hands over its powers into the hands of Clive: it is an Eikon entirely built around ranged combat, so much so as to completely change the gameplay style to bring the combat closer to that of a third-person shooter. The new techniques are very powerful and above all perfect for dealing with the enemies introduced in the DLC, whose movements have evidently been designed to encourage an approach from afar, but on balance they don’t add much to the mix, especially given the fact that in order to obtaining requires having already reached the conclusion of the adventure. The same goes for the second Eikon which is added to the selection of the protagonista small surprise that the developers have managed to keep hidden until now and which is closely linked to the biggest news of the expansion.
The Kairos Portal it is in fact a mode that hybridizes some roguelike-style mechanics with the concept behind Devil May Cry’s Bloody Palace, exploiting the metaphysical Pietra Arete to stage a climb dedicated to the most ambitious players. Crossing the threshold you find yourself inside a 16-bit style menu in which to customize Clive to prepare him for the battles to come: it’s about a descent along twenty floors of increasing difficulty – twenty-one in Final Fantasy mode – in which you reap waves of opponents and slightly modified variants of certain bosses, gathering the resources necessary to unlock bonuses and statistical increases valid only for the current attempt, with the aim of obtaining the highest possible rating and above all to get your hands on some equipment available only on these shores.
However, it is unrelated to the actual possession of the DLC patch 1.31, an update dedicated to all players which affects the skeleton of the title: first of all, the quest icons have been updated to be clearer, five different skill and equipment presets have been inserted which can be changed directly from the menu, and an option dedicated to the complete customization of the DualSense input. On the actual experience front, new scores relating to the soundtrack have been inserted and a feature has been integrated that allows you to return to the reference character once a secondary mission has been completed: while on the one hand this option reduces downtime of collateral activities, on the other hand it represents a sort of admission of the total emptiness of travel. On a side note, almost all of them the Eikons’ abilities have undergone an excellent job of balancing aimed at ironing out the most impactful differences between the different builds.
The Rising Tide and the end of a cycle
Beyond the individual contents of The Rising Tide, on the eve of its arrival on PC the entire Final Fantasy 16 package is in a sort of state of grace: if Echoes of the Fallen has made up for the lack of the more classic contents of end game ed both expansions significantly increased the overall difficulty levelthe additions to the quality of life and the contents of patch 1.31 – which also affect various animated sequences and specific contents of the base game – complete the picture of what in the eyes of those who have yet to experience the adventure will appear almost like an edition Deluxe.
The Rising Tide itself, however, is absolutely not configured as a DLC capable – nor above all willing – of distorting Clive Rosfield’s journey, but as an addition aimed at anyone who wanted to dive even deeper into the narrative fabric that supports the world of Valisthea, without a shadow of a doubt the flagship of the production and a further testimony to the talent already demonstrated on other shores by Kazutoyo Maehiro and co. Thus the story comes to an end – at least on PlayStation – of a chapter of Final Fantasy marked by chiaroscuro, a video game that has found itself supporting the enormous weight of the name printed on its cover to reverse a negative trend that has continued for many, too many years: while waiting for news regarding the publication on PC, all that remains is to find out who will have to pick up the overwhelming burden placed by Naoki Yoshida’s team.
