There was a time when Final Fantasy XVI fans weren’t sure whether they would get any DLC at all for the latest entry in Square Enix’s beloved franchise. But several months after the game's successful launch, the developer eventually revealed that DLC will come in the form of two future expansions. Since that original September announcement, no more information came out until The Game Awards showed off a stunning trailer highlighting both the expansions FF16 will get, along with a mic drop reveal that the first part is out right now.
The first DLC — the one you can play right now — is Echoes of the Fallen. An official press release from Square Enix informs players they should expect a new story taking place before the end of the base game, new battles, weapons, and a higher level cap. The higher level cap means this DLC may be more challenging than anything in the base game.
As for what Echoes of the Fallen will cover, the press release says strange new dark crystals are begging to circulate on the black market and that the story “will follow Clive and company during their investigations as they encounter a group of suspicious traders, leading them to a long-abandoned Fallen tower known as the Sagespire and the terrible secrets that await within.”
The Fallen is a highly advanced ancient civilization, whose ruins can be seen throughout the world of Valisthea. They were a civilization that heavily used magick, as well as their technological prowess, to progress society, and they did not rely on Dominants or the Mothercrystals. The Mothercrystals are a central plot point in the base game, and the tease that a hidden dark crystal exists in the world could have interesting implications.
The second DLC, The Rising Tide, confirms one of the biggest theories about what Final Fantasy 16 DLC could cover. As the trailer reveals, The Rising Tide looks to finally reveal what happened to Leviathan, the Lost Eikon. Rising Tide also seems to bring another new location to the game, the region of Mysidia.
Eikons, the big monsters that Dominants like Clive turn into, are maybe the biggest (pun intended) part of Final Fantasy 16. But by the game’s start, the Eikon of Leviathan has already been lost for some time. We know Leviathan and its Dominant existed at one point thanks to a mural of all the Eikons seen in the game. In-game lore suggests — but does not confirm — that Leviathan resided in the southern half of the continent of Ash, which at the base game’s start, has fallen to the Blight.
We know there was once a Mothercrystal called Drake’s Horn and that the possession of the crystal was the subject of conflict between the local beastmen and the Motes of Water. Leviathan has always been a character filled with water imagery in Final Fantasy, leading us to believe that this was Leviathan’s home.
The trailer even shows we’ll get a climactic showdown between Ifrit and Leviathan. However, that leaves more questions than answers. Is Leviathan’s Dominant alive and in hiding? Is the DLC going to be some weird time-travel story? We don’t know, but the use of Mysidia could hint that this isn’t the time that Clive is familiar with.
Mysidia is a recurring town in the franchise, but in Final Fantasy 16, no town or region of that name is mentioned during Clive’s travels. Rising Tide may open up the southern part of Ash during a time before it was taken by the Blight.
While Echoes of the Fallen is out now, The Rising Tide is set to release in Spring 2024. Both DLCs are paid, with Echoes of the Fallen available for $10, and an expansion pass will grant you access to both DLCs for $25.
