Summary
During the 2023 edition of The Game Awards, Square Enix surprisedFinal Fantasy 16players by shadow-dropping the first of two paid DLC expansions. Titled “Echoes of the Fallen,” the first expansion forFinal Fantasy 16will see Clive and the party uncover a mystery surrounding ancient technology and the black crystals associated with them.
The news ofFinal Fantasy 16’s first expansion arrived as The Game Awards drew to a close.Final Fantasy 16was nominated for four awards during the show, including Best Narrative, Best RPG, and Best Performance for Ben Starr’s portrayal of Clive Rosfield. However, it took home one prize, as it claimedBest Score and Music at The Game Awards, to the delight ofFinal Fantasy 16’s lead composer, Masayoshi Soken. Fans congratulated Soken and Creative Business Unit 3 on social media for their efforts. But the good news did not stop there forFF16fans.
The setting for this expansion takes place beforeFinal Fantasy 16’s climacticbattle against the godlike entity called Ultima. In Echoes of the Fallen, Clive is given a black crystal by Charon, who claims to not know much about it. Eventually, Clive and the party come across some black market traders, which leads to an investigation into some Fallen ruins. This excursion will ultimately lead Clive into a confrontation with the Omega Weapon, one of theFinal Fantasyseries' recurring super bosses. It remains to be seen how the latest conflict with the Omega Weapon will compare to past iterations. The price of Echoes of the Fallen is $9.99.
However, Echoes of the Fallen requiresa newFinal Fantasy 16patchto access. Between the patch and the expansion, players will need to make an additional 18 GB of space on top of the 90 GB that the game takes up. In addition to Echoes of the Fallen,Final Fantasy 16confirmed that the second paid expansion, “The Rising Tide,” would launch in Spring 2024. In that expansion, Clive and the party will travel to the land of Mysidia, which is a recurring location in theFinal Fantasyseries. The second DLC will culminate in a showdown against the watery Eikon called Leviathan the Lost. Only time will tell how the confrontation with the Eikon of Water will play out.
Both Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide are available as an Expansion Pack for $24.99 Given the fact that both the stories of The Fallen and the Eikon Leviathan are amongthe long-standing mysteries surroundingFinal Fantasy 16, it remains to be seen how players will react to these new tales.
Final Fantasy 16
WHERE TO PLAY
An epic dark fantasy world where the fate of the land is decided by the mighty Eikons and the Dominants who wield them.This is the tale of Clive Rosfield, a warrior granted the title “First Shield of Rosaria” and sworn to protect his younger brother Joshua, the dominant of the Phoenix. Before long, Clive will be caught up in a great tragedy and swear revenge on the Dark Eikon Ifrit, a mysterious entity that brings calamity in its wake.
