Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide is a great way to conclude this installment of Square Enix's beloved saga. It adds more content in terms of both story and gameplay, which adds more value to the base game. Additionally, it provides us with more exciting battles we love and a beautiful and intriguing region to explore, not to mention a new challenge for those who want to get more out of its combat.

The Rising Tide may not offer anything new or novel to Final Fantasy XVI, but it does continue its streak of incredibly polished and fun gameplay. The story is a nice cherry on top of the main adventure, and the Karios Gate mode will keep you coming back for more.

Final Fantasy XVI is a fantastic game from start to finish, which manages to combine the classic structure of the series with a combat system focused on action and customization. The Rising Tide is the perfect complement to this experience, and although this marks the end of this chapter in the history of one of my favorite video game series, I can't wait to see how Square Enix takes everything that worked here and expands these concepts in Final Fantasy XVII, or in a sequel to Clive and Joshua's adventure.

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide is an excellent addition to an already great story that fits seamlessly into the world of Final Fantasy XVI. Clive’s latest quest is challenging but rewarding, and it allows him to grow more as a character as he continues serving the people around him.

A short but well written story, a new game mode and some updates to Clive's abilities. The Rising Tide caps off an amazing pair of DLC stories that leaves me wanting so much more.

While I think The Rising Tide has a lot to offer, my statement for the previous DLC applies: if you didn’t like Final Fantasy XVI, this isn’t going to change your mind. But this time, I think anyone who enjoyed Final Fantasy XVI even a little should give The Rising Tide a shot. It offers an excellent fight, new Eikonic abilities, and side quests that lean into the strengths of the best ones in the base game. Granted, nothing is going to match up to the base game for me, but it comes closer than I dared hope, and, for me, that’s the best I could ask for.

While The Rising Tide stumbles with its explorable scope and characterization for select individuals, its combat highs are standout. Fans of the base game and the first DLC should definitely pick this up if they haven’t already.

If I think of Final Fantasy XVI today as a package to play from start to finish, I think of an unparalleled expedition with a lot to tell, with its two expansions, about a world slowly approaching ruin. Perhaps, being a slave to the excitement and mystery of Japanese plot twists made me wait longer than I should have. Perhaps, the "terrible and lost" Leviathan was nothing more than a hope for the players, one that Clive knew from the start would not change his actions and that, in the end, he would have to say goodbye to his fans.

Simply put, The Rising Tide is a fitting end to Final Fantasy XVI. It delivers more stellar gameplay and an interesting narrative, all while further solidifying the legacy of the franchise's sixteenth title. While it may play it safe with the characters, bosses and story, it makes up for it with the addition of Leviathan and Kairos Gate. Furthermore, the DLC is a perfect sendoff to the game, lending itself well to what was established and giving fans a chance to return to Clive, Torgal, Jill and Jonathan one last time. Those who enjoyed the base game will find The Rising Tide to be an enjoyable and worthwhile adventure to travel back to Valisthea for.

Playing through The Rising Tide was bittersweet. For all its flaws, I have a deep fondness for Final Fantasy XVI, so I was happy to have a strong hook to bring me back to Valisthea, even if it was a rather short-lived journey that wrapped up just as I was starting to vibe with the new setting, abilities, and characters. In several ways, The Rising Tide offers something I wish the original game had a bit more of in its story: vibrance and warmth. FFXVI was outwardly grim and dark--fitting what it was going for. But having this contrast that complements the core themes of the original game was a real treat, especially with some great gameplay twists along the way. The Rising Tide is an easy recommendation for those who enjoyed the base game, and a damn fine way to send off FFXVI.

The Rising Tide is a great expansion for Final Fantasy XVI. The battle with Leviathan is amazing and the entire plot involved is very good. Kairos Gate is a fun challenge format, too. The only problem is the duration of the DLC itself: it is very short.

Good DLC should pull you back into the game’s world. Final Fantasy XVI’s DLC sort of achieves this goal. You want to spend more time there, but the version of the world on offer feels a bit bleak. Maybe this is just the ‘end of days’ vibe that permeates the final chapter. Perhaps I’m just cursed with knowledge about these characters and their ultimate fates. Either way, the actual tangible content is mostly pretty fun. Yes, the sidequests are a bit dull, and I wish the main quest was a bit longer. And while I don’t care about the plight of Leviathan and his Dominant, the ensuing battles are a blast. Plus, there’s a boatload of postgame content to dive into. Though the Rising Tide DLC doesn’t quite hit the same story highs as the main game, that gameplay is still tons of fun.

All in all, Final Fantasy‘s finale DLC was a pretty good time. While Mysidia wasn’t quite as in-depth as I had hoped it would be, Final Fantasy XVI The Rising Tide is nonetheless an enjoyable and rewarding journey and a satisfying conclusion to the Final Fantasy XVI DLC duology.

It’s still an enjoyable journey and adds plenty of playtime thanks to the multitude of cinematics, lengthy main story, and generous helping of sidequests. The Rising Tide is definitely a step up from the meager offerings of the boss rush mode that was Echoes of the Fallen. If you’ve been looking for a reason to return to Valisthea, this is it.

While Final Fantasy 16's final paid DLC doesn't break new ground in many ways, it's another fine display of the action RPG's strengths.

Final Fantasy 16: The Rising Tide is a great expansion to an excellent action RPG, offering up one of the game's most intriguing and considered chapters. With yet more memorable boss battles, an emotional storyline, and some downright stunning environments, it's the worthy sendoff that Clive and company deserve.

Overall, Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide DLC is both a satisfying experience and kind of a disappointment. Had this content been part of the base game, I wouldn't have had any complaints, but since this is set at the tail end of the game, it feels like there should've been more to the plot and presentation. Instead, it feels too divorced from the game world to have an impact. The new abilities and additional boss fights are very cool, but the fact they come only at the end of the game means they are basically for fooling around the Karios Gate or doing a New Game+ run. If you are a big fan of Final Fantasy XVI, you'll absolutely have fun, and it isn't a bad DLC. It just could've been better, and it missed the chance to improve on some of Final Fantasy XVI's weaker points.

Knowing the ending of FFXVI, The Rising Tide doesn’t change Clive’s outcome or add a meaningful impact to the world to warrant an emotional introspection like the main game’s story. Instead, it adds additional power to Clive’s Eikonic skillset, making him appropriately powerful for postgame content that will assuredly punish players and test their might in Final Fantasy Mode. It might be a weirdly timed expansion, but it adds enough meat to the core gameplay to encourage replaying.

Final Fantasy XVI says goodbye with The Rising Tide, a new dose of spectacle that will surely please those who loved the sixteenth entry, but which falls short of the expectations.

Rising Tide offers an interesting addition to the story in Final Fantasy XVI with a slightly different atmosphere and the most challenging content yet, which might deter casual players. Aside from a new Eikon and a few additional surprises, it doesn't add much new or impact the already concluded main story. It's mainly for hardcore fans of the sixteenth installment who want a bit more of the same.

It’s hard to say no to a sunny adventure with Clive and friends, especially with a neat new combat style. But, slight on things to do, this isn’t a must-play addition. [Issue#41, p.82]

An excellent slice of DLC that genuinely feels like a missing part of the main story and features some of the best moments from the whole adventure.

The Rising Tide is ultimately a mixed bag. Mysidia is beautiful, but you can feel the DLC’s budgetary constraints sometimes when some of the more important cutscenes are undercut by less involved animations than they’d have gotten in the main game. The boss fights are absurdly good, Shula’s a hoot, and there’s plenty else in there that’s worth your time. But the side quests are (mostly) still kind of whatever, and you’ll have seen everything there is to see in the setting’s village in, like, four minutes. Jill’s chance to shine is a partly-cloudy endeavor. That epilogue quest is merely serviceable. But the worldbuilding is rich, some of the new powers in Clive’s flashy array of murder tools are sublime, and Kairos Gate is a blast.

Final Fantasy XVI: The Rising Tide is settled with a story too short in a new area of great beauty, new characters and a leviathan that is the best of the expansion. The combat shines again in an expansion that again makes the same mistakes and successes as the base game and its first DLC.

Even more than for Echoes of the Fallen, The Rising Tide is aimed at those who enjoyed Final Fantasy XVI and who want more. In the context of a magnificent region, this DLC puts the challenge at the heart of its experience through battles that are as spectacular as they are formidable. The gameplay also evolves with the introduction of two new powers which finally bring more variety to basic moves. However, in addition to the flaws of the original game still present, this expansion only offers a fleeting scenario and above all a really short main quest which puts its price into perspective. It is therefore on a rather positive note that Final Fantasy XVI bids us farewell, after having been so divisive... like all episodes of Final Fantasy ultimately.