Remaining Fantasy XVI, the most recent wholly new single-player installment in one among gaming\u2019s most storied franchises, is nearing its first anniversary this June. After the shock launch of its Echoes of the Fallen DLC, which centered Clive and Co.\u2019s efforts on fight in a single dungeon, Sq. Enix is readying its ultimate introduced batch of FFXVI content material with The Rising Tide DLC. Introduced at The Recreation Awards again in December alongside the reveal and shadow drop of Echoes of the Fallen, The Rising Tide options Leviathan, the water Eikon mysteriously absent from the primary recreation\u2019s occasions.
Whereas that reveal trailer guarantees some watery Eikonic motion within the DLC, which takes place earlier than the finale of FFXVI, little else is thought about it. However Recreation Informer spoke to FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida and DLC director Takeo Kujiraoka to study extra. The very first thing I requested the duo concerning the DLC is why Leviathan was disregarded of the sport. It seems Sq. Enix was taking part in good and leaving one thing on the desk for the crew to look at with potential DLC.
\u201cWhen it comes to making the choice of making and promoting a DLC, we needed to wait till the sport was really launched,\u201d Yoshida tells me by means of a translator, explaining Sq. Enix needed to see if demand for extra FFXVI was there. \u201cThat being mentioned, we really did consider a potential route, a potential story, that we may do if we have been to do one.\u201d
That\u2019s why, within the base recreation, the path to the tower the place Echoes of the Fallen takes place was current from the bounce. Followers have speculated {that a} mysterious head-shaped crystal caught into the aspect of a continent in FFXVI may be Leviathan or at the very least associated to the god \u2013 that continues to be unclear, but when so, it reveals one other instance of Sq. Enix creating doorways for it to open with DLC similar to The Rising Tide.
With it happening earlier than the sport\u2019s finale, I used to be curious if Clive acquiring Leviathan powers would have an effect on the ending. Yoshida says it gained\u2019t and that the ending will stay as is. Nevertheless, \u201cYou’re going to get a deeper understanding of how the world of Valisthea is and the way the characters are in Remaining Fantasy XVI,\u201d he provides, stopping brief to forestall himself from spoiling an excessive amount of.
Anybody who\u2019s performed FFXVI is aware of the Eikon fights are the spotlight of the expertise, which implies Clive\u2019s forthcoming bout with Leviathan carries some lofty expectations. Kujiraoka, who led design on the Eikon battles within the base recreation, says he understands that however approached Leviathan like every other: \u201c[ensuring] that we have been shifting these Eikons in the way in which that gamers envision and picture.\u201d
\u201cWhen it comes to what gamers can count on for this battle, once you look again at previous Remaining Fantasy titles, there really aren\u2019t many circumstances the place you see Leviathan shifting round loopy and in a real-time motion battle system,\u201d Kujiraoka says.
With the Phoenix Eikon battle paying homage to third-person on-rail shooters and the Ifrit battle impressed by skilled wrestling, I puzzled how Kujiraoka would describe Leviathan\u2019s inspiration. He performs coy, explaining there isn\u2019t one phrase or style to explain it. \u201cOne factor I can say is that there\u2019s going to be a number of water concerned \u2013 visually, graphically, there\u2019s going to be a number of assaults constructed from Levithan and that comes with a number of water. It\u2019s going to look actually completely different from previous Eikon battles, and that\u2019s one factor that gamers can stay up for.\u201d
Not like Echoes of the Fallen, which runs about three hours, this Leviathan DLC options round 10 hours of content material, and I can\u2019t wait. The Rising Tide DLC for FFXVI has no launch date however is due out this spring.
This text initially appeared in Issue 364<\/a> of Recreation Informer.<\/em>
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