The Rising Tide is the second expansion for Final Fantasy XVI, a story that finally tackles the “lost” Eikon Clive and his party have been alluding to, along with combat improvements, better equipment, and more abilities. But with the world of Valisthea being as vast as it is, many might be wondering if there’s going to be another DLC for FF16.
The Rising Tide may be FF16’s final DLC
After playing the game for more than 90 hours and counting, it’s hard to call it a complete game. While Clive’s story has been neatly resolved in the base game and Valisthea’s lore completed with The Rising Tide, there is still much untackled. Like Cid and his time as Lord Commander in Waloed, or Joshua in the years he went missing. I would even take an epilogue DLC with Jill and Torgal, exploring a changed world.
But is any of that happening? Not likely.
Final Fantasy has always told stories that revolves around a single hero. If any mainline title wanted to tell stories from other character’s point of view, they made a new game, like FF7: Crisis Core or Final Fantasy X-2. Again, Clive’s story is concluded, and all of the missing pieces in his overarching narrative has been filled in with Echoes of the Fallen and Rising Tide.
Despite being a pioneer of many new elements to Final Fantasy, XVI will not likely be the title that breaks the solo story trend.
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But what about DLCs that added small things like new weapons, costumes, or Arete Stone challenges? Maybe. But these aren’t the “DLCs” you’re thinking about, right? What I’m saying is that we’re not getting another story expansion DLCs, the likes of The Rising Tide.
What more Final Fantasy XVI content can we expect?
First off, whether we’re getting any new content at all is dependent on whether Echoes of the Fallen/The Rising Tide sells okay. If Square Enix is willing to capitalize on 16’s success, we could get things like novels for untold stories and surprising ports outside of PC. I wouldn’t get my hopes up for a new game. Remember that Final Fantasy 15 got so much additional content, ports (include mobile), and DLCs (it had six!) but a XV-2 never existed.
Personally, I’d rather Creative Business Unit 3 focus on wrapping up Final Fantasy XIV and new team work on the next mainline Final Fantasy. The wait time between each title should never, ever reach similar lengths again. Can you imagine waiting another seven years for a Final Fantasy 17? Because that’s how long it was Between XIII and XV, XV and XVI.
Interested in more Final Fantasy? Check out my review for FF7 Rebirth here at Pro Game Guides.
Bianca has over three years of experience in gaming journalism, specializing in anything remotely turn-based and strategic, like Pokémon, Final Fantasy, and Honkai: Star Rail. She's a huge fan of Square Enix, RPGs, party games, and visual novels, but will play anything with a banger OST. She's a proud early bird.