FINAL FANTASY XVI Expansion Pass

I came into this Expansion Pass already knowing where FFXVI lands for me: a game that prioritises spectacle and action over the branching choices and deep characterisation I usually live for, but one that commits so hard to its Eikon battles that I stop caring. The two DLCs packaged here, Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide, follow that exact formula. They are more Final Fantasy XVI. If that sentence makes you lean forward, you are the target audience. Echoes of the Fallen sends Clive, Jill, Joshua, and Torgal up the Sagespire, a tower of Fallen origin dripping with grotesque biological architecture. It clocks in at three to four hours, is almost entirely linear, and is light on meaningful character work. The new faces introduced to justify the premise are forgettable. What saves it is the boss gauntlet culminating in Omega, a three-phase fight that demands you understand the combat system properly rather than mash your way through. The lore connective tissue to Ultima is thin but present, and the Omega Weapon Reforged is a satisfying cosmetic reward for players who want an alternative look to the endgame arsenal. Calling this one essential is a stretch. Think of it as a well-designed side dungeon. The Rising Tide is considerably more substantial. Set just before the main story's climax, it takes Clive to Mysidia, a visually gorgeous hidden region, to uncover the fate of Leviathan the Lost, the one Eikon conspicuously absent from the base game. The new town of Haven brings a handful of side quests that are, bluntly, in line with FFXVI's main game side content, meaning they range from passable to forgettable fetch work. The narrative around Shula, a new character, holds up better than anything Echoes of the Fallen attempted on the writing front, and there is genuine emotional texture in the late side quests that open up after the main DLC story concludes. Jill fans should be warned: her ties to Mysidia are acknowledged but her actual role here is frustratingly peripheral, a recurring FFXVI problem the DLC only partly addresses. On the combat side, Leviathan adds a genuinely distinct playstyle to Clive's loadout. The Serpent's Cry Eikonic Feat transforms his off-arm into a water-based spread-shot, making him a fully ranged fighter at the cost of movement speed. Abilities like Deluge offer high stagger damage at a short cooldown, useful for synergising with crowd-control Eikons like Shiva or Odin to keep enemies still for the follow-up. The Tsunami ultimate is a reliable limit-break filler. Leviathan skews toward range and group control, so if your build is built around Odin and Ifrit for close-quarters burst, expect an adjustment period. The Eikon vs Eikon fight against Leviathan itself is a five-phase endurance test fought exclusively as Ifrit, no special loadouts permitted, just pattern recognition and precision dodging. Opinions on it are genuinely split: some reviewers call it the best Eikon fight in the game; others find the Troubled Waters DPS-check phase punishing and the overall length exhausting. I land closer to the former. The post-game Kairos Gate, a roguelike combat gauntlet with permanent stat upgrades and temporary run boons, is the real treat for players who wanted FFXVI to push its combat harder. Both DLCs also raise the level cap, to 60 in standard modes and 110 in New Game+ Final Fantasy Mode, which matters if you are building toward a second run. The Expansion Pass bundles both chapters together and represents the cleaner way to own them. Neither DLC will convert someone who bounced off the base game, and neither delivers the narrative payoff a character-first RPG player would demand. But for anyone who wanted more Valisthea, more Eikonic ability slots to theory-craft, and a proper answer to where Leviathan went, this is how FFXVI ends, and it ends on a reasonably high note.

Monika · Scout Team

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